In this second installment of ‘SEO First Steps’, we sit down with Meaghan StPeter, Wikimotive’s Director of Search, to discuss fixing broken pages and tools—and why website functionality should come before further optimization. Whether you want to read the full transcript here or watch the conversation for yourself, we’ve got you covered.
What are 404 errors, and why do they matter?
404s are broken pages on your site. Everyone’s had it happen where they’re on a website, they go to click to a new page, and suddenly, nothing. Right? That’s a 404. And when someone lands on a 404, they’re probably going to exit your website, and that means you just missed out on a sale.
In addition to that, Google will devalue you if you have tons of 404s on your website because it just looks like you’re not even maintaining things.
Dealer Takeaway: Check for broken pages that interrupt a shopper’s visit and prevent them from moving forward.
What causes a page to return a 404 error?
404s happen for a couple of different reasons. The first could be as simple as someone added an internal link in content.
What is an internal link?
An internal link is a link that’s embedded in content, and it’s meant so that users can easily travel from one page to the next that’s related to the content. And if someone adds a link in there that has a typo in it, then when someone clicks on it, that page doesn’t actually exist—the one with the typo. So you’ll end up going to a broken page.
The other reason that you might end up with a 404 on your website is that there was a page that was previously on your website, and it ended up getting taken down.
Dealer Takeaway: Check whether a broken link contains a typo or points to a page that has been removed.
Why might a page have been taken down?
Sometimes people make mistakes. They draft a page for whatever reason. They maybe actually wanted to take it down. Maybe it was a promotion for something that’s ended, and they took the page down, but now it has a link to it somewhere on the website, so people can still land on it.
In that case, you would either republish the page if it was supposed to be active, or you would redirect it to a different page that is still active on your website.
Should a broken page be restored or redirected?
What it really comes down to when you have a page that’s returning a 404 is: Do you want that page on your website, or do you not want the page on your website?
If you do, it should be restored and put back to active on your website. And if you don’t, then it should be redirected.
Dealer Takeaway: Determine whether the missing page is still needed before deciding how to address it.
What website tools should dealers check?
Third-party tools. Like a chat tool, “value your trade,” a credit application—anything that’s meant to be there to enhance user experience.
If it ends up being broken—we’re talking about someone trying to apply for financing, and the credit application isn’t working—they’re gonna leave your website, and you’re gonna lose the sale.
Dealer Takeaway: Test your chat, trade valuation, and credit application tools to make sure shoppers can complete their intended actions.
What causes third-party tools to break?
It could be as simple as the vendor pushed an update, and it didn’t push through properly to your website, or someone could have gone into the website back end and edited the code in a way that sort of just broke things.
How do you get a broken tool fixed?
If there’s a tool that’s broken, you need to contact the vendor who owns the tool. They’re the only ones who are gonna be able to either restore the original version if the code was edited or make sure that the update that they did is properly pushed through to your website.
Dealer Takeaway: Contact the tool’s vendor when something stops working so they can investigate the code or update.
How do broken pages and tools affect shoppers?
When you’re trying to do something on a website and you land somewhere that just doesn’t function the way it’s supposed to, you’re just gonna get frustrated and leave. At least that’s what I do. That’s what I know a lot of people do.
And for a dealer, that means the sale is gone. If they’re on your website and they’re trying to convert and they can’t, and they leave, you just lost a sale. And that’s a big deal.
Dealer Takeaway: Prioritize problems that stop shoppers from taking the next step toward contacting your dealership.
How can website problems damage a shopper’s trust?
If a user’s on your website and they’re just finding broken tools and broken pages, what about that would make them wanna come back? They’re probably thinking, “This dealership can’t even manage their website. Can I really trust them to help me find my vehicle?”
Dealer Takeaway: Consider what your website’s functionality communicates about the experience shoppers can expect from your dealership.
Why fix website functionality before expanding your SEO efforts?
The most important part of your website is its functionality. If someone can’t land on your website and go to pages or use tools on it that they’re supposed to be able to use, there’s no point in all the other stuff. You can do things to help yourself rank, like target keywords and add content and so on.
But if the poor user experience is still there, we’re going to end up with people leaving again. You can rank for something, but that doesn’t mean that you’re going to convert and make a sale.
You wanna fix all the functionality issues before you get to optimizing and doing all these other things. You don’t wanna add to something that’s already broken. You wanna fix what’s broken and then add to it.
Dealer Takeaway: Fix broken pages and tools before building on your SEO strategy. Getting found should lead to a website shoppers can actually use.
