“Should I have a custom website or a template website?”
This is a question dealers often ask and the truth is, it depends. Are you a franchise dealer or an independent dealer? Are you in the Buy Here Pay here space?
The hybrid model is often the best answer.
If you’re a franchise dealer, consider this. If there are three other Ford dealers in the area and you are a Ford dealer, you don’t want your website to look the same as the other two. The look and feel of your website is the first thing a potential new customer experiences and it may be your first (and best) opportunity to stand out. This is not a criticism of Ford’s dealer template sites – I don’t recommend any franchise dealer use the same template website as anyone else in the area.
If the other dealers in the area all have their own custom-created website, the Ford template website will look different to the consumer. Forget that it looks the same as your twenty group members because you are not seeing the same thing your customers see. In this case, the appearance of your website will look unique to your area so it can work, so long as the functionality is still there.
If you are an independent car dealership your situation is different than the franchise dealer because you are not provided with the corporate franchisor solution. Most used car dealer websites appear to be at least, partially custom.
The benefits of template websites:
- Price – It can cost less money because they are primarily plug-and-play.
- Speed of delivery – They can be up and running quickly.
- Ease of use – The website developer has tested the usability of similar websites on several other dealers to find the easy-to-use solution.
In recent years dealer template websites have been made to look different to the eye of the web visitor so the main concern is in the functionality of the website.
The most obvious functional need is the ability to easily and quickly upload and change information on the inventory page. Additional functional needs can include lead capture, call-to-action statements and buttons, blogging capabilities, video embedding, and more.
When consulting for a new client we often make recommendations for changes to the website while we work on other media. The most important changes are always functionality and messaging of the website. Your website should function as more than just a sneak peak at your inventory and your location. Your website should have a purpose. That purpose should be more than simply announcing to the world, “we exist.” Your site should lead to more applications, phone calls, ups on the lot, and sales.
Automotive SEO Functionality
Are you able to make the necessary changes to the website in order to increase your SEO factors? These factors are too many to explain in one article, but every single dealer website I have ever looked at, whether I have consulted with them or not, I would recommend changes – changes that would likely lead to better results. There has been a time or two that a template website, or even a partially custom website, required changes involving more than the just a click of a button. Therefore, it requires some time and/or additional fees paid to the website developer. (We would not recommend it if we did not think it was worth it.)
Custom Website Benefits
Typically you have the ability to make changes to the website design and content whenever you like. Minor changes may be free depending on your agreement or you may have a certain number of changes allowed per month.
Custom Dealer Website Concerns
- Like anything else that’s custom, it costs more money. So you have to determine if there is value and if it is worth the added expense;
- Any changes may require custom coding and take more time; and
- If you have a custom website built on a proprietary platform and if you ever decide to switch website companies, a new company will have to start from the ground up.
So, what’s the answer? As mentioned above, it depends on your situation.
If you are having a new website built because you are unhappy with your existing company or you just opened a new store, you should consider hiring an outside company to oversee the project. Most dealers are not familiar enough with website design and, consequently, are at the mercy of the website developer’s lone opinion.