Treat Your Homepage Like a Train Depot for Your Customers
Our team has built hundreds of websites and we’re always using analytics and user tracking data to find ways to optimize the experience for customers on equipment dealer websites. One of the most common missteps we see is that dealers treat their homepage like a massive bulletin board where everything deemed “important” gets piled onto the homepage in the hopes that customers will see it. In actuality, homepages should act more like train depots that provide very brief info leading customers quickly to the content they care most about and turn those interested into leads for the dealer.
The data shows us that customers really only land on the homepage and then quickly navigate to either the manufacturer equipment showrooms, the dealer’s live, in-stock used and new inventory listings, and the both the manufacturer’s and dealer’s special offers pages. Let’s talk more about the best way dealers can arrange their homepages to shorten the amount of time customers have to look for the pages that consistently drive leads to the dealer most often.
Based on over two years of comprehensive dealer website data, we found that 66.84% of all leads come from four core pagesets (we’ll refer to them as the Core Four): the homepage for general contact information (phone, address, email), manufacturer showroom pages that show every item a dealer carries for a given line (requesting quotes or trade-in valuations), dealer’s in-stock inventory listings (requesting quotes or trade-in valuations), and inquiries on special offer pages for both the dealer’s unique special offers and incentives from the manufacturers the dealer carries. While heatmaps and analytics show customer priorities on dealer sites are all centered around these Core Four pages, many homepages are overcrowded with additional content that buries the items that interest customers the most further down the page. This leads to long, trailing pages that slow pageload speeds and have little to no relevance to users; both of these issues are detrimental to search engines like Google’s scoring and search rankings for results.
This should make the steps to correct long crowded homepages straightforward: When a customer lands on your homepage, prioritize links to the Core Four and the content related to those pages. While links/references to other content should have minimum detail and be placed lower on the homepage for customers to click to learn more if interested. Here’s a quick list starting from the top of the page to show the best way to set and stick to customer priority:
- Hero Section – List the top 3-4 product/dealership highlights plus clear calls to action and search
- Special Offers – Feature the best offers from Kubota and your dealership(s)
- Products – Tell customers what manufacturers/product lines you carry and feature new/used inventory items
- Auxiliary Services – Let customers know about your parts, service, and financing options
- Dealer Information – Tell customers more about your dealership including upcoming events and blog posts
Lastly, don’t forget that almost 60% of website traffic occurs on mobile devices, so triple-check that your homepage content (and on every page for that matter) is easy to navigate and read on mobile screens so you can covert those visitors into leads as well.
If your site could use help prioritizing for your customers, contact us to learn how we can help.