GETTING things right on the internet is all about simplicity – as one of our first Ewards entrants will testify. Archie Morrison of Morrisons Garage is one of the first to submit his firm’s website in the Car Dealer Ewards in association with Motors.co.uk.
Morrison holds franchises for Land Rover, SEAT, Fiat and MG Rover and all are taken care of on the morrisons-garage.co.uk site. The garage chief said he wanted his site to be eye-catching and have an interesting layout – but at the same time be easy to use.
‘We wanted to give people information about our business as well as contact information, news and our location,’ said Morrison.
‘The site was not to expensive to produce, but is easy for us to maintain and update as we’re mostly non-technical web people.’
The website is updated daily by Morrison Garage staff with the latest used car stock and this is also posted on Motors.co.uk, Auto Trader and eBay Motors sites among others.
‘Customers can book services online as well as join our VIP Owners Club which displays special offers to members who can access a password-protected are of the site,’ added Morrison. ‘Our site has achieved our objectives in a very cost effective manner.’
Every month in the run up to the Ewards we’ll be asking our judges to take a look at one of the sites from that month’s entries. This will help other dealers find out exactly what the judges are looking for.
Katie Armitage, marketing manager of Ewards headline sponsors Motors.co.uk, liked the clear navigation on the Morrison Garage site. ‘It’s great to have a special offers section as that page is likely to generate a lot of interest from users,’ explained Armitage. ‘The news section is up to date and the fact you don’t have to hunt for contact information is a boon. However, we think the email us should be a form rather than a “mailto” as this is difficult for webmail users to use.’
We also asked G-Forces sales director Jamie Dixon to take a look. ‘The Morrison Garage site is a positive step for the business as it has provided the group with a gateway to presenting themselves online,’ he said.
‘One problem, though, is that the website allows you to “leave” it to read car reviews, which shouldn’t be encouraged.’
Josh Berkovits from Motortrade-mail was impressed with the Morrison Garage site. ‘It’s very easy to use and is healthily maintained with current content,’ said the Ewards judge. ‘I also like the fact it is clear and concise. Some might say it’s plain but others would describe it as practical. I’m in the latter camp.’
The Morrison Garage site will now go through to the next stage of the competition.
If you think your site is better or a match for the Morrison Garage send us the details. Every month we’ll be picking an entrant out at random to feature on these pages, so the sooner you get your entry in the higher the chances of a featured slot in Car Dealer.
For full details of how to enter check out the story at the top right of this page.
HOW TO ENTER
We’ll be handing out gongs in four categories – so first you need to pick which one suits you. They are:
Independent Car Dealer Website of the Year
Franchised Car Dealer Website of the Year
Special Web Achievement Award
Car Manufacturer Website of the Year
Once you know which category best suits you simply send an email to [email protected] with the name of the category in the subject bar, your website address and no more than 250 words as to why you think your website should win. Good luck!
TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE EWARDS IN ASSOCIATION WITH MOTORS.CO.UK CLICK HERE
