Rev up your online reputation: Unlocking the potential of reviews on platforms often overlooked by dealers

It’s no secret that car dealerships main goals are to be found, trusted and ultimately, chosen. But first, car dealerships need to have a good understanding of how online reputation on both primary and secondary platforms plays a fundamental part in this. We will also delve into how our reputation management software can hold the key to your online reputation success.

The importance of reviews

The importance of reviews cannot be overemphasized. They can quickly give potential customers an insight into the attitude car dealerships have towards them and how they might be treated after their purchase. A recent study has found that 92% of car buyers use online reviews to inform their purchase decisions.  Online reviews also give your car dealership credibility, help click through rates and increase your Google rankings. Lets also not forget that they can give you a good insight into how you can improve your products and services.

Why quality matters

Your car dealership might have gained hundreds or even thousands of online reviews, but are they of good quality? Autotrader reports that 57% of car buyers will not buy from a dealership with an average rating of four stars or less. This means that even if you have a 4- or 5-star rating on Google, potential customers can still be put off if you have a less than 4-star rating elsewhere.

Where are potential customers finding your reviews?

We all know that Google, Trustpilot and even manufacturer reviews are the major players in the world of car dealership reputation. However, did you know that reviews on secondary sites such as Bing, Yelp, and Yell also have a major impact on your potential customers decision to purchase? Let’s delve into why…

Review- hungry customers use search engines.

Do you search for company reviews on Google before deciding to purchase? We thought so. Whilst the main reviews that show here will be your Google My Business reviews, search engine results pages highlight reviews from a whole host of different platforms. This includes Autotrader, Yell, Yelp and other websites which you might not have heard of or even realise your dealership is on. Yikes! The example below shows how you can have a 3.8-star rating on GMB but still only have a 1.4-star rating on another website which shows at the top of the search engine results page.

Bing users are real.

Bing users are real. According to Backlinko, after Google, Bing is the second most used search engine worldwide. Microsoft products use Bing as it’s default search engine and it gets over 1 billion visitors each month. Bings GMB equivalent is Bing Places which uses Facebook reviews as its default way of judging your business. Under the ‘reviews from the web’ section it shows ratings from sources such as Autotrader and others you might not have heard of such as Yably, Reservations, and Infobel. Do you know how your car dealership ranks on these?

Apple reigns supreme.

According to Uswitch, when comparing mobile phone brands, Apple continues to dominate the UK market.  By July 2022, Apple contributed over 50% of UK mobile phone sales statistics. With Apple maps being the default navigation app on all Apple devices, many users will not switch to another navigation app. Instead of importing reviews from Yelp, the app now uses its own rating system where customers can rate products and services separately using a ‘thumbs up, thumbs down’ system. So, it’s important for car dealerships to keep their Apple maps listings in check too.

Autotrader drives to the top.

Autotrader is a leading online marketplace for new and used vehicles. In fact, its reported that in 2021 there were more than 64 million visits to the site. For its retailer partners, this resulted in two out of every three of their used car sales being generated from the platform. These stats alone highlight the importance of having good quality reviews on the platform. Not only do search engines display these ratings, Autotrader reminds customers of these ratings at any given opportunity. Each car dealership has their own ‘Forecourt’ on the platform which shows your ratings and reviews along with showing them on every product page. Can you imagine how many potential customers you could be losing with a small number of reviews and a 2- star rating like this dealership?

Growing your reviews

Are you regularly requesting reviews from your customers? If not, then your car dealership is undoubtedly missing out. It is reported that customers searching for online reviews choose to read those that have been posted within the past two weeks or so. If you aren’t keeping up with obtaining those fresh reviews, your online reputation can quickly become stale and put off any potential customers or worse – send them to your competition who have fresh reviews. You will also not be doing your Google rankings any favours if you only have a small number of reviews.

Managing reviews

Are you regularly checking your online reviews across all platforms and responding to them? If not, then you could be hindering your dealerships online reputation. It’s reported that customers don’t just look at star ratings when making their decision to purchase, they read individual reviews along with the car dealership’s responses. When responding to reviews, especially negative ones, time is of the essence.

To be found, trusted, and chosen, schedule your demo today.