Spring cleaning is upon us, and what better time to declutter your dealership website? The time has come to take a look at what should stay and what should go, what is helping your site, and what’s just getting in the way.

Why?

Because no one likes to hang around a mess– in person or online. Having a clean, decluttered site will do a better job of engaging your visitors and converting leads.

So how does the enterprising dealership go about decluttering its website? We’re glad you asked. Here are some ideas:

Think goals

Before you put on your metaphorical rubber gloves and get started, think about the goals you have for your website. What values do you want to convey? Maybe your dealership is all about quality, or value, or community. Those can and should come through on your website. What information do you want your visitors to be able to get? What parts of the shopping process should they be able to accomplish on your site?

With your goals clarified, check out your site and see if it helps you accomplish them. From features to design to content– anything that furthers your goals is worthwhile, and anything that detracts should get the boot, or at least some serious modification.

Clean up your design and navigation

When it comes to design, less is more, friends. Do not try to cram everything you offer onto your homepage. Do not use colors and flashing banners that send your users racing for the Tylenol– or the exit button. Embrace blank space and clear design. Allow your visitors to focus without getting overwhelmed. Take down old photos and videos that are poor quality, or no longer relevant.

This is also a great time to make sure your navigation bars are clear, and to check for extra pages you no longer need . See if there are pages you can remove or combine with other pages for a more streamlined experience.

Pay attention to your “about” page

A lot of about pages are super generic, but yours doesn’t have to be. Here’s a great place to highlight the core values of your dealership, and show your users what they get if they choose you over other dealerships.

Update your VDPs

Make sure your VDPs are up to date with great information– and without dead links. Nothing worse than finding the car of your dreams and realizing the link leads to something else, decidedly not of your dreams. Upload some great photos and videos taken at your dealership– not generic ones– to show your visitors an accurate and personalized view of your inventory.

Make sure your links are helping, not hurting

Watch out for links that take your users away from your site. If you send a shopper to a third-party site, they are likely not to return. Instead, as much as possible, allow your customers to get everything they need from your site, whether it’s content, tools, or any kind of research they might want to do.

Examine your lead-capture tools

You probably use a number of tools on your dealership website, and it’s useful every once and while to make sure they are providing enough value to you and your customers to be worth it. Is your chat tool truly answering questions? Is it helping your shoppers get what they need? Try it out and see. Are your trade-in and valuation tools efficient and effective? Now’s the time to find out.

Next, check your popups and overlays. Are they customized and optimized to reach the right customers at the right time? If you’re showing the same offer to everyone, that’s probably just a lot of clutter for many of your users, who are looking for something more relevant and less repetitive.

Are all your lead-capture tools appearing at the same time? Here’s another case where less is more. Make sure your popups are not competing with each other and overwhelming your visitors. If they are, that will likely hurt your lead capture rather than helping it.

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