The speed of your dealership’s website can have a huge impact on its profitability. Load times hold are important for desktops, but even more so for mobile sites. Fifty-three percent of mobile internet users immediately vacate web pages when load times exceed three seconds, according to Google’s DoubleClick division. Think about it. Half your visitors… poof. Gone!
Why It Matters
Many potential customers will shop for cars elsewhere if you have a slow website. This behavior doesn’t merely reduce web traffic; lost sales opportunities could really affect your bottom line.
For example, DrivingSales.com users report that most automotive websites produce around 20 leads per 1,000 hits. If your site takes four seconds to load and you lose 53 percent of visitors, the same traffic only yields about nine or 10 prospects. That’s lost money to you.
The Effect on Sales
Lead conversion rates vary, but they often range from 10 to 25 percent, according to AutoNews. If one-fifth of your leads turn into sales, a fast website might sell 30 more cars to every 15,000 visitors. Kelley Blue Book reports that the average transaction price for new light vehicles is $37,577. Let’s think about it… 30 x $37,577… you do the math.
Want an example? Google reports that parts and accessory retailer AutoAnything achieved greater success when it cut load times. The company’s sales increased by about one-eighth. Would you like to increase your sales by one-eight?
Search Visibility
If your pages take a long time to load, potential buyers might not even find them. Google automatically prioritizes faster websites in its search results. It also rewards them by indexing new pages more frequently. To measure your site’s performance and see how Google evaluates it, use the search engine’s PageSpeed Insights tool.
Mobile vs. Desktop
Smartphone, tablet, desktop and notebook users all care about load times. However, Lifewire reports that mobile devices often connect to the internet at significantly lower speeds. Users tend to notice a bigger difference in large cities. This disparity makes it even more crucial to optimize the performance of a dealership’s mobile website.
Numerous Americans still prefer to shop for cars on home computers, but portable internet devices continue to gain popularity. Fifty-six percent of drivers use mobile electronics to find automotive information, according to J.D. Power. Furthermore, many motorists turn to smartphones as they visit car lots and test-drive vehicles.
Get a Competitive Edge
Although we’ve offered compelling reasons why you must develop a fast mobile site, the truth is that most dealers are unlikely to do anything if general trends are any indication. According to Entrepreneur Magazine, a survey showed that 79% of small business owners don’t intend to reduce website load times. Are you one of those people?
The bottom line is that you’ll benefit from happier visitors, more search traffic, more sales and lower costs if you fully optimize your mobile site. SurgeMetrix can help you achieve these goals. Unlike many of our competitors, we’ll ensure that your responsive website performs well on Google and loads rapidly on a variety of devices. Call us at 954.507.6454 or contact us via this website. We want you to succeed.