A survey by leading automotive digital marketing company Razsor has found that 70% of dealers believe that a phone lead that has come through their own website is more reliable than one from a classified print ad.

The survey of over 200 car dealers looked at the importance of having a website to generate leads and sales, with it being discovered that leads that are from the website generated a sale for every 3 calls received or 10 emails.

Andrew Whitehair, managing director for Razsor, said: “Our research demonstrates how important websites have become for dealers, in this incredibly digital world. An online presence offers them a new and proven channel to engage consumers and bring qualified sales leads into the business. Car dealers operate in a tough market and with consumers increasingly researching purchases online before visiting the forecourt, it’s more important than ever to have a high quality website.

“In the last few years, dealers increasingly have seen the importance in having their stock available online. The results of this survey show that there is an appetite for further growth online, with dealers keen to offer their customers a full range of products online, whether this is insurance or personalised number plates. Razsor was created to help dealers improve their visibility online and improve SEO, ultimately attracting more sales leads.”

49% of dealers surveyed reported that the key reason in deciding to upgrade their website was the ability to have a high quality website in order to generate more calls and email leads into their business, with 26% calling the ability to generate more visitors to the website ‘very important’ as part of the decision.

The dealers also reported that they would be interested in selling additional services through their websites, with 34% ‘very interested’ in selling insurance through their website, with a fifth interested in offering warranties, personalised number plates and parts or accessories, and 16% interested in selling bikes through their website.