Driving conversions: A content funnel analysis of UK car dealership and marketplace websites

It’s fair to say that the UK national car dealership market is ultra-competitive, with large websites battling each other to generate the most revenue year-on-year.

One way to stand out from the competition is to optimise your website for relevant organic search terms while ensuring your content effectively helps users navigate from the first stage of their buying journey to converting as customers.

An effective content funnel is crucial to boosting sales and revenue, which is the most important thing for a large business, especially in the car dealership industry.

In this article, we’ll analyse a wide range of the largest car dealerships and marketplaces in the UK from the perspective of their content funnel, explaining what they do well and what they could improve on to increase their market share and boost conversion rates.

What is a content funnel?

A good place to start is to explain what a content funnel is. It’s essentially a marketing approach designed to guide customers through a website, build brand awareness, help people who are in the consideration phase, and ultimately encourage a conversion or sale.

There are four stages to a standard content funnel:

1. Discovery

This is when customers first encounter your brand, which is usually due to marketing efforts such as organic search, digital PR campaigns, paid marketing, social media, or advertising.

All content at this stage of the funnel is designed to get your brand in front of more eyes, offering engaging copy or campaigns that help potential customers learn who you are and what you offer.

Example: A Digital PR campaign that uses internal market data titled ‘The most popular car models now vs 5 years ago: see the difference’. 

2. Awareness

The awareness stage, it’s usually when the potential customer has decided that they want to buy/sell a car and is actively looking for more information about your product or service.

The content at this stage of the funnel should be there to answer the customer’s questions and establish your dealership as a trusted place to shop.

Informational content is crucial here, and all national dealership websites should have an extensive guides section that offers information on car buying, selling, maintenance, finance options and more.

Example: A guide hub featuring informational content such as ‘A guide to different car finance options’ or ‘How to choose the right vehicle for your family’.

3. Consideration

When at the consideration stage, the customer is comparing all of their options. They’re likely to have compiled a list of dealerships they’re considering buying a car from and are researching each one a little deeper.

To help your brand stand out from the rest, the content at the consideration stage should look to highlight the unique selling points (USPs) you have while ensuring that they can navigate to the right cars that suit their needs.

Example: Ensure that all manufacturers and models have bespoke pages optimised with useful and unique content. Reviews from experts and/or users are also a great way to push people from consideration to conversion. 

4. Conversion

This is the final step, where you’re looking to convert users from potential customers to paying customers.

As the users are ready to buy once they reach this stage of the funnel, the content here on product detail pages (PDPs) should create a sense of urgency, with clear calls to action (CTAs). The content of these pages also needs to provide enticing reasons why the customer should convert, such as monetary savings, exclusive deals and quick delivery/pick up.

Example: Vehicle PDPs featuring clear CTA buttons such as ‘Book a test drive’, ‘Apply for finance’ and ‘Part exchange your car’, while also allowing the customer to enter unique details (such as the initial payment amount, number of monthly payments, finance type) to build a bespoke deal for them.

Which national dealerships stand out with excellent content funnel journeys?

For this article, UpShift has analysed 32 of the UK’s biggest national car dealership and marketplace websites to see how well their onsite content aligns with each stage of the funnel. They were each given a score from 1-10 for each stage of the funnel: discovery, awareness, consideration and conversion, to then average out the four scores to receive an overall score out of 10.

Some companies in this list will have multiple brands and for the purposes of this analysis, we’ve purely focused on the one site listed, not the company as a whole and their sub-brands (for example, Vertu Motors has Bristol Street Motors, but only vertumotors.com was analysed).

Full rankings list

Top 10 – Auto Trader and Cinch lead the way

Key findings

So, why did each site receive these scores?

1. autotrader.co.uk – 9/10

• Discovery (8/10) – Lots of PR and discovery content. Their campaigns are mainly advice-based, and they produce regular market reports.
• Awareness (9/10) – Extensive content on car buying, selling, trends and news. Highly optimised for users at the top of the funnel.
• Consideration (9/10) – Model-specific information is detailed, with in-depth reviews, comparisons and user-generated content. One of the best in terms of helping users through the consideration phase.
• Conversion (10/10) – Streamlined and easy-to-use conversion process, which leans on the trust and authority of the brand. Plenty of user-friendly CTAs, finance calculators and comprehensive car listings.

Auto Trader excels across each stage of the content funnel, showing why they take a large market share of organic traffic.

2. cinch.co.uk – 9/10

• Discovery (9/10) – Excellent PR content, with highly engaging, shareable campaigns that use unique data in their ‘Ask the experts’ section. The brand has strong visibility through social media and viral TV ad campaigns too.
• Awareness (9/10) – High-quality guides and articles, focusing on car buying, financing and vehicle maintenance. Clear, simple language makes it accessible for all audiences, as they explain different things in an easy-to-understand way. 
• Consideration (9/10) – Provides thorough content on individual car models, including comprehensive reviews and easy-to-use comparison tools and quizzes like their ‘Help me choose’ feature. The layout is designed for easy user navigation through the consideration phase.
• Conversion (9/10) – Seamless and highly optimised conversion process, with user-friendly financing options, easy-to-use CTAs and a finance calculator for transparent pricing. The user experience is one of the best in the industry.

Cinch offers one of the most consistent user experiences across the entire content funnel, with unique tools and features combining brilliantly with their brand marketing efforts.

3. motors.co.uk – 8.75/10

• Discovery (8/10) – Strong discovery content, including PR campaigns, blogs and car-buying guides. Shareable content and the use of unique data (such as their ‘2024 Used Car Buying Report’) have helped boost visibility.
• Awareness (9/10) – Comprehensive guides and educational articles on car buying, financing and vehicle care. The content is well-organised, and the website has a user-friendly interface for informational content.
• Consideration (9/10) – Includes detailed car model pages, in-depth reviews with embedded videos and all of the model information needed to help users weigh up their options. The layout is intuitive, aiding the user in the consideration phase.
• Conversion (9/10) – Optimised for conversion with clear CTAs, finance options and a user-friendly path from browsing to buying. Product pages have enquiry forms with options to book a test drive, reserve a vehicle, view service history, ask for a personal video and more.

Their excellent content at the awareness and consideration stages along with their unique ‘Smart Search’ car matching tool are definite standouts for the brand.

4. carwow.co.uk – 8.5/10

• Discovery (8/10) – Various content campaigns and video content that are sharable for PR are updated very frequently. These include the likes of ‘85% of drivers don’t know the rules of the road when it comes to travelling with their dogs’ using survey data and ‘Motorists fined £2.15bn as DVLA sells driver details’ using FOI request data.
• Awareness (9/10) – One of the best automotive sites around for guide content, with helpful advice and recommendations at all stages of car ownership.
• Consideration (10/10) – Really extensive model-specific content, with highly insightful in-depth reviews on all available models, including video reviews to give a real-life view and feel of the car. The gold standard of online car reviews in the UK.
• Conversion (7/10) – Options to compare deals in each model review for both new and used models. You do have to answer a quite lengthy survey to see the deals (and enter your email address), but it does eventually help people find a suitable model.

Their car reviews are the best in the business, and it’s easy to see why they’re the go-to website for a balanced review on any available model.

5. webuyanycar.com – 8.25/10

• Discovery (8/10) – A lot of video advertising (TV, YouTube) that helps users discover the brand. Some guides are PR-friendly.
• Awareness (9/10) – Clear and informative guide content explaining the process of selling your car, including FAQs on vehicle valuation. Great for building awareness and answering user’s pain points.
• Consideration (8/10) – Helpful tools like instant car valuations, MOT and car tax checks as well as detailed breakdowns of the selling process aid users in the consideration phase.
• Conversion (8/10) – User-friendly process with clear CTAs, making it easy for users to book appointments and sell their cars. Strong and seamless conversion path.

Their unique tools and easy-to-use website help make selling a car a seamless process, while video advertising helps get the brand name out there.

6. motorpoint.co.uk – 8/10

• Discovery (7/10) – Features some great PR-worthy content, including the use of unique data, surveys and trends related to used cars. It’s also well presented with authoritative authors listed.
• Awareness (8/10) – Strong guide content on vehicle purchasing, financing and tips for car buyers. Information is well-organised and in-depth, making it easy to access and visually engaging.
• Consideration (8/10) – Manufacturer and model pages have in-depth unique content with FAQs answered well. This content helps users in the decision-making phase.
• Conversion (9/10) – Smooth user journey with adjustable finance options, well-placed CTAs and a transparent purchasing process, including home delivery options.

Motorpoint excels at the conversion stage, which will help with sales when users navigate to key product pages.

7. buyacar.co.uk – 7.75/10

• Discovery (7/10) – Some of the informational content is sharable for PR campaigns, such as ‘Cheapest cars to insure for new drivers’.
• Awareness (8/10) – Good use of buyer guides and articles to drive traffic and inform users. Comprehensive and easy to navigate.
• Consideration (8/10) – Strong car reviews and model page content. Expert content is available on most pages (though it is missing on some models), helping users make informed decisions.
• Conversion (8/10) – Pretty easy to build your deal on a model derivative page, with the option to buy/apply for finance in a click or two. Each derivative has a full list of specs.

BuyaCar performs steadily across all stages of the content funnel, with room for improvement in providing more shareable Digital PR campaigns.

8. arnoldclark.com – 7.75/10

• Discovery (7/10) – Some sharable content in the blog, including listicles and expert advice pieces. Also some good sponsorships such as with Scottish Rugby for increased visibility.
• Awareness (8/10) – Comprehensive and structured guides for new car buyers, sellers and car care. A wide array of articles and videos to help educate users in the awareness phase, though some guide content gaps do still exist.
• Consideration (8/10) – Detailed model-specific pages, video reviews and buying guides that give users the information they need to make a decision.
• Conversion (8/10) – Smooth buying process with clear CTAs, finance calculators and easy navigation. Conversion is helped by clear product listings and the option to choose between new, nearly new and used cars.

Arnold Clark offers a solid consideration and conversion experience, but there’s potential to enhance the discovery stage with more impactful PR content.

9. bigmotoringworld.co.uk – 7.5/10

• Discovery (7/10) – Lots of PR-style content campaigns e.g. ‘The Best Places to Take Your EV on Holiday in the UK’ and ‘Which Drivers Are Most Likely to Have Sex in Cars’. However, not all the URLs or page titles are optimised for users to find them.
• Awareness (7/10) – Some relevant guide content on the site, although all structured within the news or car-advice section so not easy for users to find.
• Consideration (7/10) – Has a ‘Five things you need to know’ content series about many models. However, this content is separate from the model pages, not well linked to and can often ‘bury’ other informational content in the advice page. Overall, a good level of content on the model pages.
• Conversion (9/10) – Features are well-presented and clearly laid out with supplementary information such as overall model reviews.

Big Motoring World shines in conversion with strong product pages but needs improvement in awareness and consideration stages to make content easier to access.

10. motorway.co.uk – 7.25/10

• Discovery (6/10) – Has some PR-focused content, such as some selling trends and Motorway regularly provides expert comments, data and info on car buying and selling trends to UK and global news publications via the Press section.
• Awareness (8/10) – Comprehensive guides for selling your car, including detailed explanations of the process.
• Consideration (7/10) – The selling process is pretty clear, with lots of content to help users along the way. A separate site for buying (buy.motorway.co.uk) lacks content across the board.
• Conversion (8/10) – Converting/selling is pretty clear and easy (just enter your reg) and is kept hassle-free on purpose.

Motorway is optimised for conversion but could benefit from improved discovery content and a more integrated buying experience.

11. evanshalshaw.com – 7.25/10

• Discovery (6/10) – An acceptable level of PR-worthy content, including vehicle data campaigns and sponsorship news that is engaging and shareable. However, more viral or high-impact campaigns could improve discovery for the brand.
• Awareness (8/10) – Comprehensive and easy-to-navigate guides on buying, selling and maintaining vehicles. Educational awareness content is well-presented and useful for a broad audience.
• Consideration (8/10) – Well-detailed model pages with comparisons to other models, embedded video reviews and detailed specifications copy that support users in the consideration phase.
• Conversion (7/10) – Easy and clear conversion paths on product detail pages with well-placed CTAs to enquire about the model and finance options. On some models, it does lack the option to build a bespoke deal via entering your preferred initial payment and contract length amounts before enquiring though, which competitors have.

Very good informational guides and model page content help carry the Evans Halshaw offering, though improvements could be made at the beginning and end of the funnel.

12. cargiant.co.uk – 7.25/10

• Discovery (7/10) – Some good discovery content in the blog, including news and general car advice, along with listicles and unique data campaigns.
• Awareness (7/10) – Strong educational content, with guides on car buying, car care and financing options. These are split into relevant sections so the information is well-structured and accessible.
• Consideration (7/10) – Manufacturer and model pages mostly have content though it could be shown in a more visually appealing way. Car review content is found in its own section in the blog, which helps people at the consideration stage.
• Conversion (8/10) – Clear conversion path with user-friendly CTAs, easy navigation and adjustable financing options. Book a viewing, apply for finance and part exchange options are given on product pages.

Cargiant excels in conversion, but could significantly improve awareness and consideration stages with more engaging, accessible content.

13. stratstone.com (Jardine Motor Group) – 7.25/10

• Discovery (7/10) – Some PR-friendly lifestyle content found on the site such as “Guide to Travelling in the Car with Your Dog” and “Best UK Off-Road Driving Experiences”, which can help with visibility for the brand.

• Awareness (7/10) – Lots of guide content found in the blog, and it’s well structured into different categories. 

• Consideration (8/10) – In-depth model content for all brands, with video content and independent reviews also available. 
• Conversion (7/10) – Adjustable cash deposit and monthly payments on PDPs, with a solid CTA structure to buy now or reserve online.

Their in-depth model content is a definite standout, with the overall content funnel offering being pretty strong.

14. jct600.co.uk – 7.25/10

• Discovery (7/10) – There is plenty of PR-related content in the blog, such as “The 10 Best Cars for Dog Owners to Buy in 2024” and “What Does Your Car Colour Say About You?”.
• Awareness (7/10) – There are lots of guides in the news section, and they’re well structured into different categories. 
• Consideration (8/10) – Rich model details including full specification information to help with the consideration phase. 
• Conversion (7/10) – A lot of options when on PDPs, such as “I’m interested in this car”, “Book a test drive”, “Reserve this car” and “Finance this car”.

There is engaging PR content along with structured guides, comprehensive model specifications to assist users in the consideration phase, and strong conversion options on product pages.

Bottom 5 – Who’s left behind?

There are some sites out there that could improve their content funnel offering though. Although the following didn’t score particularly well, it doesn’t mean they don’t have their benefits. Here’s why we scored them slightly lower than other competitors regarding the content funnel experience.

1. cazoo.co.uk – 2/10

• Discovery (2/10) – Any previous PR-friendly content has been removed recently as the site went under new management.
• Awareness (3/10) – Only a handful of guides under the ‘car advice’ section, again with previous content being removed.
• Consideration (2/10) – Manufacturer and model pages were also removed, which is a major issue that will hamper SEO performance.
• Conversion (1/10) – Product pages are on the external Motors.co.uk site, so it’s unfair to judge it.

Cazoo is currently going through significant business changes which makes it tough to grade, but these changes have harmed its content funnel. The removal of consideration and conversion content makes it difficult for users to progress through the funnel.

2. barnes-group.co.uk – 2.5/10

• Discovery (3/10) – Little in the way of discovery content; predominantly broader manufacturer news shared which isn’t unique to the brand.
• Awareness (3/10) – Little guide content on the website. In some cases, users are directed to other websites to find out more information e.g. Motability.
• Consideration (3/10) – Unsure if the site has unique content on model pages or whether it just pulls the content from the manufacturer’s site, which could cause ranking issues.
• Conversion (1/10) – Don’t have individual product listing pages on the site; redirects to the Vauxhall site, for example.

They have significant gaps in all areas, especially conversion, where users are pushed to external sites, limiting control over the customer experience. Strengthening awareness content and ensuring unique consideration content is essential to improve rankings and user trust.

3. autostore.co.uk – 3/10

• Discovery (1/10)  – No blog/news section and no PR campaigns attempted.
• Awareness (1/10) – No guides section on the website either, which is a missed opportunity considering the unique nature of the luxury car buying/selling market.
• Consideration (5/10)  – Each car has unique information listed, including a full service history and the number of miles completed.
• Conversion (5/10) – A lack of pages on the site in general helps the conversion path a little, as users can navigate to most car listings in one click. The model pages are all based around enquiring, but CTAs aren’t designed in a great way.

The lack of informational content, guides and PR campaigns means it’s tough for them to bring in traffic at the top of the funnel, which severely hinders the entire process.

4. carcraft.co.uk – 3/10

• Discovery (1/10) – No shareable or PR-worthy content on the site.
• Awareness (1/10) – No informational guide content on the site, leading to lots of content gaps and missed potential traffic.
• Consideration (5/10) – The lack of a main navigation makes it difficult to navigate to model pages, especially after a manufacturer is chosen.
• Conversion (5/10) – There’s some good model specification information included on product pages, although the summary section is a wall of features and is not very readable.

The site lacks the foundation of a solid content funnel, with discovery and awareness content nearly non-existent which holds the site back. Improving the navigation and content readability is crucial for better consideration and conversion outcomes too.

5. cashitcaruk.com  – 3.25/10

• Discovery (2/10) – Very little discovery content (the blog hasn’t been updated since 2021), mainly focusing on valuation services.
• Awareness (2/10) – Links to guides are also broken, while the selling and buying guides page is simply a ‘coming soon’.
• Consideration (4/10) – Key category pages and manufacturer pages don’t really offer any value and are poorly designed with just text and no imagery/design input.
• Conversion (5/10) – The valuation tool is fairly easy to use and is a straightforward process but requires personal details upfront, which could deter some users.

Overall, the site struggles across the board, especially in discovery and awareness content, which is a common theme with those at the bottom of our list. They need to focus on updating content and enhancing the user experience during the consideration stage with better design and more detailed, engaging information.

How can dealerships improve their content funnels?

To maximise conversions at the bottom of the funnel, national dealerships should focus on the following areas:

1. Create discovery content

• Utilise SEO best practices to ensure the dealership ranks high for relevant target keywords.
• Implement more PR-friendly, shareable content such as blogs, news and viral campaigns to enhance visibility and attract new users.
• Invest in paid advertising to capture the attention of high-intent buyers.

2. Enhance awareness content

• Create comprehensive guides and educational content to help users understand the car buying/selling process and increase trust in the brand.
• This includes educating potential customers about vehicle options, financing methods and after-sales services.
• Utilise email marketing and retargeting campaigns to stay top-of-mind for prospects.

3. Optimise the consideration stage

• Improve the design and depth of model and manufacturer pages, including visual content like videos, reviews and comparisons.
• Focus on addressing common customer objections, such as price and service concerns.

4. Focus on driving conversions

• Optimise conversion paths with clear, well-placed CTAs and user-friendly navigation, especially for product listings.
• Implement special promotions, limited-time offers or exclusive deals to encourage immediate decisions.

In summary, the automotive industry is extremely competitive and one of the best ways to stand out and increase sales and conversions is by optimising your website for customers at each stage of the content funnel.

Contact UpShift to learn more about how we can help your automotive business with all aspects of onsite content, technical SEO, Digital PR, paid marketing, CRO/UX and more.