In the world of Digital Marketing, traffic gets much attention. It seems like you can’t go anywhere online without reading a traffic metaphor invoking red and green lights, rush hour, and things of that nature.

Don’t get me wrong; traffic is relevant. But ultimately, it’s not the amount of traffic you get that will determine how many vehicles you sell.

Conversions are the Name of the Game

You can stop beating your head against a wall trying to figure out how to get more people to your site – for now. You’re about to discover how to take the traffic you already have and increase conversions for your dealer.

Simplify Your Forms

There’s lots of evidence showing that simple forms get more conversions than complex forms. WPForms tell us that removing a single field from your form could boost your conversions by as much as 26%.

As of 2020, the average number of fields on online forms is five. I recommend paring your forms down to include only the most basic information you need. In many cases, you will need only the lead’s full name, phone number, and email address.

That said, don’t hesitate to ask for additional information if it is necessary. The idea is to strive to make your forms easy to complete to minimize the likely risk of your leads being annoyed and navigating away before hitting submit.

Add a Pop-Up to Your Website

Pop-ups have a terrible reputation, but it’s mostly an unfair one. Said reputation is traced back to folks who overdo it, setting up repeated and intrusive pop-ups that lead to frustration and irritation.

Add a single pop-up to encourage people to sign up for your email list(s) or to schedule a test ride. Time the pop-up to appear 30 seconds or a minute after a visitor lands on your page. They’ll have time to read some of your content before it appears. You can also trigger the pop-up on exit intent, meaning when the visitor is about to leave the site.

Add and test multiple offers for people that join your email list. Then, stick with the one that gets the best results. Don’t forget to make it very easy for users to close the pop-up. Be sure to have a static call-to-action (CTA) on a page where they can get claim your offer later if they want to.

Eliminate Excess Content

Many dealers make the mistake of using the “everything but the kitchen sink” approach to web design. They add a lot of bells and whistles on their landing pages and don’t realize that much of that content distracts from their main objective: conversion.

The best way to identify content that’s not serving your goals is to use a heat/click map temporarily. You’ll be able to spot the sections of your page that aren’t grabbing visitors’ attention. We use services like Crazy Egg and Hotjar for this purpose.

Your goal is simple; a focused page with a clean, easy-to-navigate design. Making it easier for visitors to discover the info they’re looking for will build trust and increase the likelihood of a user completing your forms.

Improve Your Call-to-Action (CTA)

There’s nothing wrong with a simple call-to-action (CTA). After all, “Sign Up” and “Subscribe” can get the job done. They’re just not that exciting. Increase your conversions by spicing up the calls-to-action on your site.

Here are some suggestions and statistics from protocol 80:

Turning your CTA from a link to a button can increase conversions by 45%

Adding an arrow to direct people to your CTA can increase click rates by 26%

Using first-person wording (Schedule My Test Ride) can increase conversions by as much as 90%

Putting your CTA above the fold (the part of the page visitors can see without scrolling) can increase conversions

Address Potential Objections

Your marketing content must overcome obstacles in a potential customer’s mind to make a sale. That’s just as true for website conversions as it is for sales.

Ask yourself what the most common objections to filling out your form are. Some may be solved by simple programming – for example, reducing the number of fields in your form. However, others may be obstacles that you haven’t addressed on your page.

Here are some examples:

Overcome concerns about your dealership’s customer service by adding reviews and testimonials throughout your pages – as physically close as possible to your forms

Overcome FOMO (fear of missing out) objections by comparing your vehicles and services directly to other options on the market

Overcome price-related objections by offering a satisfaction guarantee for your sales process

The more you do to alleviate potential concerns upfront – before a lead completes a form – the more likely it is that you’ll see a jump in your conversion numbers.

None of what you’ve just read means you shouldn’t try to attract more traffic. Using the methods outlined above, however, will cause you to see your dealer’s current traffic in a much more different, valuable light.