Dealers use homepage banners as a main way to let car shoppers know about their deals and specials. While there is some value to them, too many general managers create and place far too many on their site.

You might be one of them, and that’s OK — digital marketing and the way consumers behave is always changing. Plus, there are plenty of reasons to put a half a dozen up:

● Advertising monthly specials

● Advertising Dealership events

● Using them because of their high visibility

● Branding opportunities, etc.

Still, just because they can help spell out your discounts or can be seen front-and-center, it does not mean that all of them are worth the effort.

Here’s a Breakdown of What the Numbers Tell Us

In a recent study, 24 dealerships had their banners tested for click-through rate (CTR). Here are the results:

Nearly 50 percent clicked on the main navigation.
Only about 30 percent clicked on the search widget.
Just 6 percent clicked on homepage banners

That’s about one out of every 20 people who landed on their homepage clicked on the homepage banner. Yes, that person could turn into a shopper, but there’s more.

When looking at that one out of 20, here is the breakdown of which banner this person clicked on:

● 45 percent — First Banner

● 26 percent — Second Banner

● 14 percent — Third Banner

● 9 percent — Fourth Banner

So How Do We Use This Information?

We now know that only 6 percent of people who visit a dealership’s Website click on homepage banners. And, out of that fraction, the first and second banners get the vast majority of the clicks (71 percent). So, with all that you or your agency partner is doing to keep your digital marketing strategy going, is it really worth the time and resources to create a dozen banners?

This is why we recommend that you create and place no more than three homepage banners.

What do you think?