JAZEL AUTO BLOG

When the time comes to design your dealership’s website with Jazel, you have a lot of decisions to make. One of, if not the most important of these, is your homepage. For many websites, it’s the first thing your customers will see when they visit your website. By having a dynamic homepage with various options for your customer to use, you can stand above the competition and secure your customers’ interest. In addition, these features are designed to take your customers to inventory, making it easy for them to view the various vehicles and services you’re selling. All of these options are customizable to fit your needs, and our talented team will help you achieve the design you want. With that in mind, let’s go over a few of the shopping options that you have when designing your homepage.

Menu

First up is the menu. This is typically represented as a bar across the top of the screen that can offer your customers places to go depending on what they’re looking for. It can be divided up several ways, such as New, Used, Specials, Financing, as well as other non-shopping options like an About Page or a menu devoted to Services and Parts. Each of the menu sections has a drop-down as well, offering more options for customers to navigate to.  

Freetext Inventory Search

Another option for customers to find the vehicle they’re looking for is a freetext search module. This is a search bar on your homepage where shoppers can type in the words that they’re looking for and be given their results. What’s even better is that anything that may populate the details of a VDP (Vehicle Detail Page) can be searched for here, beyond just standard features. Looking for a truck? Type it in and you’ll see what’s available. Looking for an Electric Vehicle? No problem, type it in and see what’s there. Looking for This is the most powerful tool for customers to find exactly what they are looking for, because it gives them the ability to search for whatever options they want without being limited by lists or pages. 

Homepage Shopping Module

The homepage shopping module is a separate bar from your menu that can be customized to show different things that your customers may want. Most websites will run three sections on their search module: New, Used, and Certified (If the OEM supports this program). You can also show models by other factors like condition, electric vehicles, MPG, body type, pricing, etc. This is a helpful inclusion for customers who are looking for a particular vehicle status, whether New or Used. In addition to that, you can set it so that any of the modules can display the current inventory numbers, as well as customizing the color of the vehicles. With the way the car market is right now, highlighting vehicles that are used is a surefire way to interest customers, and this is an effective way to do that. 

Jellybeans

Jellybeans are images of the various models available. They are small enough that they don’t take up a lot of space on your homepage, but give a visual of each model. Jellybeans turn out to be some of the hottest areas clicked when we analyze our heat maps. With Jellybeans, your customers can directly see and compare different models next to each other, and are able to click on the one they want. All of these Jellybeans are clickable, leading them to an inventory page that includes all the trims available for that model. If the model is not in stock, these jellybeans can lead customers to our powerful DOOR tool, allowing customers to build their vehicle and submit their order request directly to your CRM. Like in the search modules above, inventory numbers can be shown, and the vehicle colors can be customized.

Tiles

Homepage Tiles are another great resource for customers where you can call out more of your inventory or other non-inventory items. These tiles could link to pages about service, custom orders, specials, options for contactless purchasing, and even “About Us” pages or “Why You Should Buy From Us” types of pages. Sometimes your customers are looking for these types of pages, and not for a new or used vehicle, so having tiles that can show a larger, visual representation of what they’re looking for is a fantastic way to call out the other services and products you provide outside of vehicle sales. In other words, it’s prime real estate for you to get your message out!

Banners

Banners are the large images that can live on your homepage. Typically created to call out a new model release or current offers, banners are a popular feature on dealership homepages. Got a big holiday sale coming up? Banners are the perfect way to build anticipation for these events, and when these events are in full swing, direct your customers to the proper inventory or specials pages. Jazel’s talented designers are more than happy to work with you to create the designs that you are looking for! Banners take up what is called the “Hero Section” which could also be used to show video or photos of your business.

If you’d like to learn more about your options when it comes to customizing your homepage, reach out to your account manager. If you’re not yet working with us, reach out to have a demonstration here.