How to choose a website for your dealership.
Every demo looks good. These checks show how a site works after launch: on a shopper's phone, when inventory changes, when a lead comes in, and when you need something updated.
- 01 Vehicle pages on a phonePhotos, price, a call button
- 02 Where every lead landsEach form, each recipient
- 03 Who makes the updatesYou, them, or us
- 04 Domain and old linksYours, with redirects
Put any vendor through these, including us.
Judge it on a vehicle page, on your phone.
A vehicle page is where a shopper decides whether to call. Start there, not the homepage.
What to check
Open a few live vehicle pages on your phone. Can you see the photos, the price, and a way to call without hunting? Then ask how new arrivals, price changes, and sold cars get from your inventory system onto the site, and what a sold car's page shows afterward.
With DriveDevs
We connect to the inventory feed from your provider, so new arrivals, price changes, and sold units flow onto your site. Sold cars stay up marked sold, then are removed after 180 days. On phones, a call and contact bar stays on screen. Open the demo sites on your phone to try it.
- New arrival
- Price change
- Sold 3
Know where every lead lands.
A lead only counts if the right person on your team sees it.
What to check
List every form on the site: availability, financing, trade-in, and contact. Ask who receives each one and whether leads can go into your CRM as ADF XML. Before launch, send a test from each form yourself and confirm it reaches the person who follows up.
With DriveDevs
Every vehicle page has Confirm Availability and Get Pre-Approved right next to the price. Every inquiry goes straight to your team, and leads reach your CRM as ADF XML.
Decide who makes the changes.
Specials, banners, and holiday hours change all year. Settle up front who does that work.
What to check
Ask whether you will make updates yourself or send them to someone. If it is you, try the editor before you sign. If it is them, ask how you send a request and whether you see the change before it goes live.
With DriveDevs
No logins and no website builder. Send us the banner, special, or new page. We build it and send you a preview, and nothing goes live until you approve it. See what fully managed includes.
Add a Labor Day banner to the homepage.
Keep what your current site has built.
Your domain and the links people already use should keep working after the switch.
What to check
Make sure your domain is registered in your name. Ask what happens to your old page addresses after launch and who sets up redirects for them. Look for vehicle URLs that describe the car, a unique title on every page, and structured data on vehicle pages. Nobody can honestly guarantee rankings, so treat any promise as a red flag.
With DriveDevs
Your domain stays yours, and we connect it to your new site at launch. Every vehicle page gets a descriptive URL like /inventory/2018-ford-f-150-raptor, structured data, and a title written from your inventory. No ranking promises, just a solid foundation.
Put DriveDevs through the same checks.
We will design a free preview with your inventory so you can check it on your phone before you decide. Plans start at $199/month, based on the size of your inventory.
Get a Free Site Preview