By Kurt Philip, Founder & CEO, Convertica

Here’s something to consider. 80 percent of all car buyers look to third-party online sources before purchasing a new or used vehicle, and 32 percent of car buyers finish their research using online dealer sites. Given these figures from a 2019 CoxAuto consumer survey, it’s evident that focused initiatives on the performance of a website should be a concern for all auto dealers, parts sellers, and others. But which online techniques yield the best return on investment?

While most people are familiar with SEO, fewer people have caught onto its cousin, Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO). CRO is the method that converts your site visitors from passersby into purchasing power. Setting up CRO for your auto website could be the answer to a higher conversion rate without the added pressure of generating more leads. The basic concept is to target what your site is doing well for conversion and capitalize on it. 

Ever think of what you can do on your website to generate more revenue? Building a new website simply to keep up with the times can be costly. You run an auto business, and while you know you need to invest money on your site, you don’t want to spend it in the wrong place.  

For savvy auto dealers looking to make the most of their website, CRO could be the answer. If you don’t know what CRO is, this article will give you a quick and basic rundown with leveraging techniques that will put your site ahead of the competition. In the end, you’ll be able to decide if this is the direction you want your auto site to go.

What is CRO?

When it comes to online content, you’ve likely heard of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). However, you may be just coming into Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO). The latter can potentially help increase conversion rates on your site.

While SEO is excellent, its sole purpose is to increase traffic to your site. The goal of CRO is to take that traffic of site visitors and convert them into buyers. In short, CRO converts people who might be stopping by for a ‘test-drive’. 

What does this have to do with my auto website?

Let’s say you have a website that sells parts. In this website, you know you have repeated customers who purchase the same catalytic converter over and over again. You can trust that, for now, they’ll keep buying that part from you, which lets you concentrate on getting even more traffic to your site to attract new clients. Nothing wrong with that. 

However, CRO can help you maximize results for the existing clients who already buy from you. You already know what they need. Why not cater to them so that they’ll spend even more time and money on your site? This targeted approach is what CRO does. It concentrates on the clients who are already bringing you business.

How does CRO work?

CRO uses A/B testing, which establishes a control group and a variant. 

Let’s say your site is selling a decent number of catalytic converters, but you theorize there has to be something that can increase the sale of this expensive part on your website. This speculation is where A/B testing comes into the picture.  

Here are the fundamental steps for conducting an A/B test:  

• Control: Select the page on your site that you’d like to test.
• Variant: Duplicate said page and make the change you theorize will make conversions spike.
• Test the control and the variant pages.

You’ll want to set a specific time frame in which to test (could be days or weeks). Then, all that’s left is to sit back and await the results. 

If the variant did better, you were right! You can launch this page and know that your traffic will spike because now you have tangible results to demonstrate it.

How do you get test participants?

Now that you understand the basic idea of A/B tests, the immediate next question is: Who is doing the testing for you? 

You may think you have to create an entirely different dummy site and send a focus group to it. But no, this isn’t necessary, and it would be costly. The best part about A/B testing is that you can do it with your existing clients.

A/B testing is a fundamental part of data science. It lets you track the data from traffic to your site and figure out which methods work to direct that traffic to take the actions you want. 

When you create the two pages, all you’re doing is sending 50 percent of your current traffic to the control and the other 50percent of traffic to the variant. This way, your clients are doing their regular shopping, but you’re able to test which site they click on the most.

How do I decide what to test?

Figuring out what to test can be as easy as you, the site owner, speculating that you could increase revenue if only your site had “X” and creating a variant page that includes this “X.”  

Another option is to survey your clients directly and get their opinion on whatever you’re thinking about changing. Rather than sending out a formal survey, you can open it up and ask what improvements they’d like to see.  

Can you set up CRO on your own?  

If you know what you’re doing, why not? CRO can be profitable when done right, so if you can do it well, then more props to you.

However, most business owners leave it to the pros. You’re already running an auto company after all. A professional CRO agency figures out what and how to conduct A/B tests for your site. Another benefit is that they’ll make sure your SEO doesn’t take a hit from your CRO, which can be a risk.

Conclusion 

For car parts or anything that can potentially increase sales on your auto website, keep CRO in mind. Testing the success of a control auto part versus another could yield positive results. Don’t leave money on the table by doing what you’ve always been doing. Use your existing resources to maximize the profit on your auto site.