The definitive guide to automotive landing page

Cars sell better when you sell the experience of driving them, as do all car-related products. While you can sell this experience in the car dealerships with a great salesperson, how do you do it online? 

The answer is— an optimized automotive landing page!

When your automotive business goes online, you can use digital ad campaigns to target your audience better. However, ad money goes down the drain if you can’t capture your audience’s attention and tickle their fancies with an attractive landing page.

This article gives you everything you need to create a high-converting landing page for your automotive company, including:

• What is an automotive landing page?
• Importance of landing pages for car company
• Different types of automotive landing pages
• Key components of an automotive landing page
• Three examples of landing pages in the automotive industry  

Let’s speed into the topic!

What is an automotive landing page?

An automotive landing page is a website page used to promote a specific automotive product or service. Its primary purpose is to convert visitors into leads or customers. 

An automotive landing page persuades users to take action with the right message. 

For example, you can have a car rental landing page or a landing page for car dealerships for each product, every car dealership location, and current deals/offers.

Importance of landing pages for car businesses

You must build an automotive landing page if boosting conversions is your primary goal. 

A landing page dedicates itself to achieving a single objective. This single objective in the automotive industry can be anything, like:

• Getting a price estimate
• Encouraging car dealership visits
• Collecting e-financing and loan applications
• Increasing test drive signups

In addition to helping you get more conversions, optimized landing pages also help automotive businesses with:

1. Lead generation: Customers are likelier to find the information they need and fill out a contact form on an optimized landing page. A simple contact form, a striking CTA button, and minimal distractions make it easy for visitors to submit their information.
2. Showcasing products: The landing page focuses only on a single product, capturing 100% of visitors’ attention on the offer. It’s a dedicated page to showcase your car products or services, boasting all the features and special price offers that help your automotive business stand out.
3. Enhancing the user experience: Page layouts that focus on certain car offers or vehicles allow you to provide visitors with the most relevant information, pictures, and material. This targeted experience will appeal more to prospective clients than a generic site.
4. Improved SEO performance: Use keywords across the landing page to increase your website’s exposure on search engines like Google. Include them in the title, content, image alt text, and meta descriptions. Search engines will give more weight to a targeted landing page with a distinct message and subject matter than a generic homepage. 

Let’s now look at the different types of landing pages you can create for your automotive business.

Types of automotive landing pages

Automotive landing pages come in two main types: 

1. The traditional landing page 
2. The product landing page. 

Let’s understand the two types of landing pages so you know which one to use to optimize lead generation and conversion rates.

The traditional landing page

These landing pages focus on one goal—lead generation. To achieve the goal, they present the value of their product/offer without any other distractions, with:

• Coupons
• Financing options
• Test drive signups 
• Exclusive or promotional event invitations

A traditional automotive landing page is characterized by very few clickable elements, such as: 

• The main CTA 
• A contact form
• The contact information of the car dealerships

Here is an example of a traditional automotive landing page from Village Ford: 

This page streamlines the process for customers interested in taking a Ford for a spin.

The product landing page

While a traditional landing page is the first stop in a sales funnel, an automotive product landing page focuses more on educating and nurturing visitors as they purchase your car products or services. These pages target more casual browsers and website visitors than serious car buyers. 

Many of the design elements of the product landing page are the same as those of a traditional landing page. Therefore, even these landing pages can attract potential buyers. However, unlike the conventional automotive landing page, the main goal of the product landing page is informing, not selling.

The product landing page often allows visitors to:

• Explore product features
• Discover incentives and eligibility process 
• Understand how to initiate the car-buying process 

Here’s an example: 

This page showcases the 2023 Dodge CHALLENGER SXT with all elements spot on. 

You’re now interested in creating a landing page for your car business. But where do you start? Let’s see.

Critical components of an automotive landing page

To create an impactful automotive landing page for your car dealership, you’ll need to focus on the following key components.

1. A compelling headline

Don’t ignore your headlines if you want potential customers to stay on your page. Your automotive landing page’s headline is its first impression, so it must make an impact. 

The following tips will help you write great headlines:

• Be direct and truthful. Tell the reader the offer and benefit, and don’t exaggerate.
• Keep it concise: Deliver the value in a short statement that makes them want to learn more.
• Keep it simple: Use simple language by avoiding technical jargon.
• Use numbers and power words: Headlines with numbers are 36% more powerful. Therefore, it would be great if you could quantify your value proposition and communicate this in the headline.
• Create urgency: Get your visitors to take quick action by specifying a time frame for the offer.
• Stay focused: Focus on only one feature/benefit that gets them to click on your CTA button.

2. Call-to-Action (CTA) buttons

Believe it or not, visitors need prompts to take the next step. One crucial thing you must do right on the automotive landing page is the CTA. 

The conversion rate is 202% greater for automotive landing pages that use personalized CTAs than generic ones. So, how do you nail this crucial landing page element? 

• Make them stand out: Using good visuals or color contrasts is a CTA best practice to make them visually appealing and prominent. Studies show that red CTA buttons have 21% better conversion rates.
• Keep them connected to the headline: Are you promising something in the headline? Your CTA button should direct visitors to the action that benefits them from the promise. E.g., a free quote or test drive.
• Place CTAs above the fold: “Above the fold” placement means the CTA is immediately visible when visitors land on your page, i.e., they don’t have to scroll to see it. You may also want to add CTAs at different locations throughout your page, especially if you have a long landing page. 
• Stick to a single action-oriented CTA: Don’t try to get your website visitors to take too many actions. Instead, focus on a single action with a compelling CTA. 
• Use A/B testing: Use A/B testing to test different elements of your CTAs, like the CTA text, color, and placement, to see what combination attracts the highest conversions. These tests remove guesswork and assumptions, allowing you to build an optimized data-driven landing page. If you use GetResponse’s free landing page builder, it comes with inbuilt A/B testing and analytics features.

Here’s a great example of impactful CTA buttons in an automotive landing page from the Your Mechanic:

This landing page has a single CTA that’s readily accessible from anywhere on the landing page.  

3. Images and videos

Have you ever noticed that most automotive landing pages have a stunning banner of an image or video at the top? This is the hero section of the landing page, and it usually takes up most of the above-the-fold area. 

Images and videos in the hero section are vital in supporting the rest of your landing page copy. They also make your landing page more engaging by showing the fine details of your product or service. 

Use powerful imagery, including close-ups of your product flaunting the intricate details, to capture attention with a WOW factor and build a desire. Hiring professionals to take pictures of your product or service in action is wise to make your landing page look professional.

Check out the banner video on the 2024 Mazda 3 landing page:

The Mazda 3 sedan’s landing page shows the visitor how smoothly the car drives. It isn’t just selling a product but an experience. Also, note how high-quality the video is. It gives a glimpse of the tiniest details that appeal to the viewers.

4. Forms

If you’re going to collect lead data, you’ll need contact forms. User experience is paramount with these forms because potential customers won’t bother filling them out if they appear complicated. 

In addition to making them simple and straightforward, make them worth filling out by giving them a clear end goal (your CTA). 

Here are some tips to help you create an effective lead capture form:

• Keep them short: Shorter forms get you more conversions, but remember to capture crucial lead information.
• Add essential fields: Collect names, contact information, and location details so sales teams can follow up efficiently. 
• Use placeholder text: This gives potential customers an example of what should be entered.
• Balance content and space: Keep the form layout uncluttered and easy to read with plenty of white space.
• Use responsive layout: Ensure the form is fully responsive and works seamlessly on mobile devices.

Here’s a contact form example from Citreon that we like:

You can build lead capture forms with GetResponse’s free form builder, which easily integrates with the landing page builder.

5. Trust signals

Reviews greatly impact what people purchase online. Research shows that 93% of online consumers read reviews before making a purchase. While trust elements are an optional element of an automotive landing page, social proof can be very helpful as cars and car-related purchases are significant. 

If you have a car rental landing page or a used car landing page, trust signals can benefit you in the following ways:

• Increase your brand’s authority and credibility
• Establish trustworthiness among potential customers

Here’s how you could use different trust signals:

• Seek customer testimonials: Collect testimonials from previous customers and showcase them on your landing page. Where possible, add the customer’s name and picture to boost the authenticity of those testimonials. 
• Collect reviews and ratings: Seek reviews from your past clients and share them on your website and independent business review platforms like Yelp and Google Reviews. 
• Show off recognition: Display any certifications and awards your automotive dealership may have received.

Check out how Car Wow shares reviews from Trustpilot right above the fold. 

This is essential, especially in the used car market, where customers tend to be very wary of the business they work with. 

Best examples of automotive landing pages 

Let’s now look at three automotive landing page examples, examining what’s good and what areas need improvement. 

1. Tesla Model 3

What works:

• Stunning visuals: We love how Tesla uses high-quality images and visuals to sell the experience. There’s not much left that needs words to express. 
• Efficient layout: Buttons, navigation bar drop-downs, pop-ups, and sliding banners allow more information to fit in less space. 
• Interactive content: Using numbers, tables, and animations allows car buyers to imagine the car specs better.

Areas of improvement:

• Clumsiness: It doesn’t always load smoothly when you scroll too quickly.

2. Lexus IS

What works:

• The hero section: The Lexus IS’s hero video is everything that sells a great experience. It delivers excitement, thrill, and style!
• Strong visuals: The gallery section is very creative, with a sliding banner displaying the highest-quality images and videos to display the best IS features.
• The interactive customization: Click to change colors and see how your new car’s exterior, interior, and wheels will look. It’s so fun! 

Areas of improvement:

• Lack of content: While Tesla had more images and less text, it still provided the necessary information in an easy-to-navigate form. It would be nice if all the essential information were right in front of the customer.
• The features section: A features section is necessary for a conversion-optimized landing page. Given the limited information available, it is difficult to get all the information required to promote a conversion.

3. Geico Car Insurance

What works:

• Effective use of white space: The design is clean and uncluttered, making it easy for users to focus on the main content and CTA. Ample white space helps to reduce distractions and direct attention to the key elements.
• Secondary CTA: While the primary CTA is prominent, the landing page offers convenience to returning users with the secondary CTA of “Continue your previous quote.”

Areas of improvement:

• Lack of high-impact visuals: While the illustrations are friendly, they lack the WOW factor to capture more attention. Adding high-quality images of cars or happy customers would be a good idea.
• Storytelling elements: While there is social proof as you scroll down, testimonials could create a stronger emotional connection and build trust with storytelling.

Conclusion

An optimized landing page takes on the role of a salesperson in a physical car dealership. Its only goal is to convert visitors into leads and eventually paying customers. 

This guide covered everything you need about automotive landing pages, from their definition and importance to the key components and examples. Use the tips we gave to implement compelling headlines, effective CTAs, engaging visuals, user-friendly forms, and trust signals. 

These will help you create a targeted, visually appealing, and informative landing page that will significantly improve your conversion rates and overall user experience.

Check out the GetResponse AI landing page builder to create your dealership or car rental landing pages. Get started with the process by creating a free account today!