October 21, 2005 | Friday

Search driving car buyers to auto sites

By Jackie Danicki - Blogger in Marketing |Online Sales |Search Research

This research doesn’t come as much of a surprise, but the numbers make for interesting reading:

Nearly 70% of automotive researchers who purchased a vehicle said search was the first place they turned to for research. The majority also noted search results were instrumental in helping them find useful information regarding their vehicle purchase.

...Among automotive researchers who purchased a vehicle, search was considered the most credible source in helping with their auto purchase process. Close to 70% said they used search throughout the entire research and purchase process and half of all buyers stated search helped them narrow down the list of vehicles they were considering before purchase.

One of our clients, Lookers car dealerships, could vouch for the power of search in the buying process: Latitude’s search engine optimisation work for Lookers has yielded a jump of nearly 80% for enquiries, and sales increases of more than 50 per cent.

There is more to this research - read the whole thing.