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Okay, check it out.

In my last article I wrote about how most dealerships come across a little conceited online, but say that they are a customer-centric organization.

I mentioned that it's alright to talk about yourself, but ONLY in a way that demonstrates maximum benefit to your customers.

Well now I'm going to reveal how to kick your website up a notch and dominate the web, (and your market).

Like I was saying, people don't care about you nearly as much as they care about themselves.

That means that the name of the game is presenting information on your website that people care about.

But how can you produce content and information that EVERYONE will find interesting?

It's more simple than you think.

Unlike traditional media, your website has the power to cover a wide array of topics that address the needs and wants of different customer segments AT THE SAME TIME.

How do you get started? Fhugetaboudit, it's easy peasy. 

1.) Look at your current customer portfolio and identify the variety of customer segments that you already serve.

These could include Seniors, Young Families, Bachelors, Bachelorettes, College Students, Union Workers, Military/Veterans etc.

2.) Create a list of topics that those various segments would find interest. Use logic and common sense. 

What I mean by that is this:

If you want to create content topics geared toward Seniors, think about the things that they are interested in. 

a.) Vehicles that are easy to get in and out of (maybe just had a knee surgery or something)

b.) Vehicles that can tow a travel trailer

c.) Vehicles with a little more luxury (they're done raising children and have a little more money to keep for themselves etc.)

Do you see where I'm going with this?

Once you've identified the topics for each segment do this:

3.) Identify the objectives for each piece of content that you want to create.

If it's a video, figure out what the call-to-action will be so that you can track the effectiveness of it.

If it's a blog, think of the path you want that customer segment to take and what action you want them to complete.

Here's why this is important:

Everyday, millions of automotive shoppers around the globe go online to find information that addresses their concerns or answers their questions.

Right now, there aren't really any dealer websites that provide the content that automotive consumers are looking for.

You're giving the OEMs and other third party websites the power to scoop up qualified vehicle shoppers and distribute them how they please. Most of the time, to your competitors.

By segmenting your content, you're empowered to reach various people with the topics that they care most about. 

In my next article, I'm going to reveal why this strategy works so extremely well and why you HAVE to start doing it.

Want help identifying your customer segments? Send me a friend request and we can set up a time to get connected.

This photo cracks me up because it looks as if the guy wants to make sure that you've noticed how good he looks in the reflection of the car!

What a stupid, selfish, conceited sounding question, right? "What do you think about me?"...

Yet this is what I see on the majority of dealership websites that I visit. 

A whole lot of "We're so awesome" and "Look at how pretty we are" or "We are the best"...

Okay, so you aren't using those words exactly, but you're using words that nobody cares about like these:

"We're a family-owned and operated facility with 35 years of experience" OR

"We have the best team of professional sales people ready to work with you..." OR

"Come visit our state-of-the-art facility to find out why we're the best choice for new and used cars in [location]"

Man oh man, I'm cringing just writing those phrases.

But why are they so bad?

BECAUSE THEY HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH YOUR CUSTOMERS. 

And then after all of that crap, you have the nerve to put a "Rate us" page or link on your site.

"But enough about me, let's talk about you. What do YOU think about me?" 

Sounds more stupid the longer you think about it right? So let's talk about how to turn things around so that you can kick you dealership website up a notch.

First things first.

You MUST understand that every individual on the planet has a favorite word and letter. Their name and the letter 'i'. 

Why? Because nobody cares about you as much as they care about themselves. 

Now I'm not saying it's entirely bad to talk about yourself, but you need to focus on presenting yourself in a way that demonstrates maximum benefit to your customers. 

"Great, you are an award winning dealership. What does that mean for me?"

"Fantastic, you have the best leasing specialist in the entire state - that benefits me HOW?"

"Wonderful, you have a state-of-the-art facitility - how does that have a positive impact on me?"

The information you present on your website needs to be carefully thought out for maximum market penetration and benefit to your customers.

Think about the message you are conveying about your dealership to the largest traffic source you have. 

Are you presenting yourself as a truly customer-centric dealership, or are you like the rest of the pack?

In my next article, I'm going to talk about how you can take this concept and really ramp up your game. 

It's all about setting yourself apart from what others are doing, and I'm going to show you how to do that through your dealership website. 

Stay tuned...

Actually, scratch that. 

This isn't just going to be about Bounce rate, but all of your dealer website's metrics in general. 

Starting with Bounce Rate.

First, you MUST understand what bounce rate is exactly.

Bounce rate is measured by the number of people that visit your website (or a specific page on your site) and leave without a second interaction.

An interaction is measured by how deep a visitor travels through your site. A click-through from a call-to-action button on one page to another is considered an interaction. So, if your site visitors are clicking from link to link on your site and viewing a lot of pages, your bounce rate will be LOW.

BUT, there are so many people out there trying to teach you how to lower websites bounce rate, arguing that doing so will somehow help you see an increase in leads, but I'm here to prove them wrong.

While I will agree that getting deep within a site provides more opportunity for the site visitor to complete an action, it doesn't necessarily mean that they will complete an action. Catch my drift?

If you really want to get your website producing quality traffic and leads, you need to consider two things.

1.) What's the overall objective of the site as a whole, and

2.) What's the objective of each individual page on the website

Without those two things clearly defined, it doesn't matter what your bounce rate, click-through-rate, behavior flow, time on site, visitors vs. unique visitors and the butt load of other metrics are. Your website will never perform the way you want it to.

Why? Because you won't even know for yourself what the definition of performance is.

So, do me a favor right now. Take some time to identify what the objectives of your website are.

Now back to bounce rate.

There are hundreds of high-traffic blogs out there that have near 100% bounce rates. 

Any idea why?

Because, even though they didn't create a second interaction, the page or blog post that the visitor landed on had the primary objective on the same page.

In other words, they completed the desired action on the first page that they landed on.

It might've been a lead submission form to download a free whitepaper or ebook, it might even just be a sign up form to stay connected via a newsletter.

What you MUST understand is that your website's bounce rate is directly proportionate to your objectives and the path you desire the visitor to take to get to those objectives. 

Understand that if your objective (the desired action) happens on the same page that the visitor lands on, your bounce rate will be higher. 

If you want the customer to click through a funnel of links before they get to the final desired action on your site, your bounce rate will be lower.

There's a reason that some website providers refuse to place your dealership's phone number on the homepage of your website. Because they are trying to force the user to create a second interaction to find it, causing them to click deeper into your website...

If your bounce rate is low, your provider get's to boast how effective they made your website perform, and so far, a ton of you are buying into it. 

STOP!

Here's the problem. Your website isn't performing the way it should or you wouldn't even be reading this.

Are you picking up what I'm putting down?

Before you worry about bounce rate and the plethora of other metrics to track on your website, focus on what the objective of your website is in the first place.

Identify what path you want the customer to follow that will lead them to your desired end result.

That path may be going deep on your site from page to page, or it may be on the same page they land on.

Once you know what you want the customer to accomplish, understand what normal bounce rates look like in those scenarios.

Have questions about tracking bounce rates properly? Hit me up in the comments below. 

Success is a fascinating thing because every individual on the planet has their own definition of the word.

The dictionary defines success as a “favorable or desired outcome”

This is SO genius because it means that, not only can everyone have their own definition, but that THERE IS ENOUGH SUCCESS TO GO AROUND!

For some people, success is having the necessities…

For others, it’s making loads upon loads of money…

BUT, no matter what your definition of the word is, there is something that so many people miss out on when pursuing success.

Any idea what it is?

Have you ever heard that saying, “Success Breeds Success”? 

Believe it or not, there is something so powerful about rubbing shoulders with highly successful people.

How do you know who's truly successful though? The best way for you to know if they’re successful is to ask yourself two simple questions:

1.) Are they the type of person that you hope to be (character traits, qualities etc.) and, 

2.) Do they have the things that you want to have? (Could be material objects, status, expertise etc.)

When you find someone that you can answer ‘yes’ to those two questions, do whatever you can to be apart of their circle.

You see, when you rub shoulders with successful people (the people that are who you aim to become), there are natural born opportunities that arise from your mere association with them.

One of the best ways that I know of to be in the presence of successful people is to attend as many workshops and conferences as you can. Where else do you get the opportunity to be in the same room with these successful people, have lunch with them and ask them questions?

There are approximately 17,000+ dealerships in the United States today. Including every employee, how many people work in the retail car business? LOTS! …

Yet, there are very few who attend conferences. 

There is no question that these conferences come with a price tag, but you absolutely, 100% CANNOT let the price of success, cost you your success.

Listen, I am not involved with any particular conference for financial gain. I have just come to learn that if you want to be successful, you need to get connected with other like-minded, successful individuals and I don’t know any other better place than at the plethora of workshops and conferences going around. 

One of the next ones you can see me at will be the Internet Sales 20 Group in Boston this coming September.

Supercharge the achievement of your personal definition of success. Start rubbing shoulders with successful people. 

Have questions? Hook me up in the comments below.

If you've watched my other video's, we have discussed the following:

→ What role gratitude plays in your success
→ What is the definition of success
→ Developing a 99.9% WHY statement

Now we move on to the recipe. With so many people wondering how to be successful, I suggest that success comes from following a process. It's no different than baking a chocolate cake. If you want to end up with the proven result of chocolate cake, you'd better follow the proven recipe that will get you there.

In my career, I've had the privalege of being mentored by many very successful people and you know what? They all say the same thing. When asked, "How did you become so successful?", the response is, "By doing what other successful people do".

That validates what is written in such books as Dale Carnegies, "How to Win Friends and Influence People" or Napoleon Hills, "Think and Grow Rich".

If you'd like to achieve your own personal definition of success and you want to know how to become successful in life, you MUST follow the recipe.

Stay tuned for my next video where I'll introduce you to the 1st ingredient in the recipe for success.

Your success starts here.