Dealership websites
Nailing Your Powersports Dealership Homepage: What Goes Above the Fold and What to Cut
How to design a powersports dealership homepage: what goes on the first phone screen, a section-by-section wireframe, real trust signals and what to remove.
Quick answer
A powersports dealership homepage should route visitors, not sell to them. On the first phone screen, put inventory search, shop-by-category tiles, a tap-to-call number and directions. Below that: in-stock featured units, service and parts links, hours and real reviews. Remove autoplay sliders, pop-ups and clutter that slow the page or hide inventory.
This article first ran in June 2019. Its core idea still holds: a dealership homepage has one job, which is to send each visitor to what they came for, fast. This version turns that idea into a layout you can hand to your web team, written for dealer principals, general managers and marketing managers.
It covers the homepage only. For standards across the whole site (inventory accuracy, speed, service paths, offers, local search and measurement), read the companion checklist of powersports dealer website best practices.
What the homepage is for
Your homepage is a switchboard. Riders arrive wanting a few things: find a unit, see what is in stock in a category, call, get directions, book service or order a part. The homepage should make each of those one tap away and get out of the way.
It is not the place to tell your whole story, list every brand partner or run five promotions at once. Every item you add pushes the things visitors came for further down a small screen.
What visitors actually click
There is little public research on powersports homepages, but one analysis of car dealer websites is useful. Overfuel, a dealer website company, studied dealership sites with Microsoft Clarity session recordings and heatmaps, and published the results on Microsoft's Clarity blog in December 2023. The post does not give a sample size, and it covers car dealers, so treat it as a pointer rather than a rule. It found:
- About eight in ten visitors left the homepage before scrolling a quarter of the way down.
- Inventory search was the most-clicked homepage element, at 24.87% of clicks.
- Vehicle type tiles took 13.97% of clicks and the "All Inventory" button 9.2%.
- Content unrelated to inventory drew very little engagement.
The lesson for a powersports store is simple. Whatever a visitor needs must be on the first screen of a phone, and inventory search comes first.
What goes above the fold on a phone
"Above the fold" means what shows before anyone scrolls. On a phone that is a small space, so be strict. In order of priority:
- Header: your logo (linking home), a tap-to-call phone number and a menu button. The logo goes top left, where people expect it.
- Inventory search: one search box ("Search by make, model or keyword") with a clear button.
- Shop by category: tiles for the categories you sell, such as motorcycles, ATVs, side-by-sides, personal watercraft and snowmobiles, plus "New" and "Used".
- Location and hours line: today's hours and a "Get directions" link.
If your hero image is pushing the search box below the first screen, shrink the image or remove it. A big lifestyle photo is not worth losing the search box.
A homepage wireframe, section by section
Use this as a brief for your web team. Sections 1 to 4 should fit on the first phone screen.
| # | Section | What goes in it | On mobile | Leave out |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Header | Logo, tap-to-call number, menu, link to directions | Sticky and slim; number tappable | Multiple phone numbers, social icons |
| 2 | Inventory search | One search box and button; optional new/used toggle | Full width, large enough to tap easily | Ten-field advanced search |
| 3 | Shop by category | Tiles for each category you stock, with real photos | Two tiles per row | Categories you don't carry |
| 4 | Hours and location | Today's hours, open/closed status, address, directions link | One line, tappable | A full map that loads before inventory |
| 5 | Featured in-stock units | Four to eight units with real photos, price, condition and a link to each listing | Swipe or stack | Units not in stock, "photo coming soon" |
| 6 | Service and parts | Two clear buttons: request service, request a part | Side by side | Long text about your service department |
| 7 | Current offers | One or two live offers with end dates and terms | Stacked cards | Expired or vague offers |
| 8 | Why us | Real reviews with their source, OEM brands you are authorized for, a photo of your team or store | Short | Invented awards, stock photos |
| 9 | Footer | Address, phone, hours by department, accessibility contact, privacy link | Stacked | Repeated keyword lists |
Every section links somewhere useful. If a section has no link and no action, ask why it is there.
Search and shop by category
The search box should search your live inventory, accept a make or model name, and show results even when the spelling is a little off. The category tiles should open filtered results pages, not general category articles.
Use real photos of units you sell for the tiles, and label them in words. A tile that is only a picture is hard to understand for someone using a screen reader or a slow connection.
Featured inventory that is actually in stock
The featured strip is where many homepages go wrong. If it is hand-picked once and forgotten, it soon shows sold units or last season's models.
Pull it automatically from current inventory using a rule, such as newest arrivals, units with photos, or a category that suits the season. Show the price and condition on each card. Our guide to powersports inventory photos covers what makes the first photo work.
Hours, phone and directions
Show today's hours, not just a weekly table, and list sales, service and parts hours separately if they differ. Make the phone number a tap-to-call link. Link "Get directions" to your Google Business Profile or a map.
Keep these details identical to your Google Business Profile. Google's help pages say businesses with complete and accurate info are more likely to show up in local search results, and advise keeping regular and special hours up to date.
Trust signals that are real
The 2019 version of this article recommended social proof. That advice holds, with one rule: every trust signal must be true and checkable.
- Reviews: show real reviews, say where they came from, and link to the source.
- Brand authorizations: show logos only for the OEMs you are authorized to sell or service.
- People and place: use real photos of your staff, store and customers (with permission), not stock images.
- Facts: years in business, certified technicians or rides you host, only if they are true today.
Never invent counts ("10,000 happy riders"), awards or badges. A shopper who catches one false claim will doubt the rest.
What to remove from your homepage
Most homepage problems are things that were added, not things that are missing.
| Remove or change | Why | Replace with |
|---|---|---|
| Autoplay hero slider | The W3C notes carousels are disputed for usability because their content can be hard to discover, and users must be able to pause movement | One static banner, or a slider that never moves on its own |
| Moving content with no pause button | WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.2.2 (Level A) requires a way to pause, stop or hide moving content that starts automatically and lasts more than five seconds | Static content, or a visible pause control |
| Pop-up offer that covers the page | Google says intrusive interstitials may lead to poor search performance | A small banner that takes a fraction of the screen |
| Chat window that opens by itself and covers content | It hides search and buttons on a phone | A small chat button the visitor can open |
| Autoplay video | Slows the first screen and competes with search | A short captioned video lower down or on another page |
| Wall of brand logos at the top | Pushes search and categories down | Brand logos lower on the page, linked to brand inventory |
| Tiny buttons and links | Hard to tap on a phone; WCAG 2.2 Level AA asks for targets of at least 24 by 24 CSS pixels, with exceptions | Large, well-spaced buttons |
| Heavy hero image | It is often the largest element; Google's "good" Largest Contentful Paint is within 2.5 seconds | A compressed, correctly sized image, or none |
Accessibility on the homepage is part of accessibility on the whole site. Our guide to ADA compliant powersports dealer websites covers the wider picture. This is general information, not legal advice.
What car dealer homepage advice misses in powersports
Most homepage guidance online is written for car dealers. A powersports homepage has three extra jobs, and none of the results we reviewed covers them.
It changes with the season. Snowmobiles in July and personal watercraft in January waste your best space. Reorder the category tiles and the featured strip each season, and put the season's service work (winterization, spring tune-ups, storage pick-up) in the service block.
It serves many vehicle types. A car buyer picks between body styles. A rider may want a dirt bike, a side-by-side for the farm or a cruiser. Category tiles carry more weight on a powersports homepage than on a car dealer's.
It serves owners as much as shoppers. Parts, gear, service and group rides bring riders back long after the sale. Give service and parts a visible block, not a link buried in the menu.
A 10-minute homepage review
Do this on a phone, not a laptop, before every season change.
- Open the homepage on cellular data. Note what loads first and what you can tap before scrolling.
- Can you see the search box, the categories and the phone number without scrolling?
- Search for a model you have in stock. Did it come up?
- Tap each category tile. Does each open in-stock results?
- Tap three featured units. Are all three still for sale, with real photos and prices?
- Tap the phone number. Does it dial?
- Tap "Get directions." Does it open the right location?
- Do today's hours match your Google Business Profile?
- Open each offer. Is it current, with terms shown?
- Does anything move, pop up or play by itself? If so, remove it or add a pause control.
If the page fails several of these, the problems may run deeper than the homepage. The nine signs of a poorly designed powersports website help you decide whether to fix or rebuild, and our piece on why bounce rate matters explains how to read quick exits from the homepage.
How PSX Ascend approaches the homepage
PSX Ascend builds AI-powered powersports dealer websites designed to adapt across phones, tablets and desktops while keeping inventory, forms and the main customer actions easy to use. The websites connect with inventory tools, so current vehicle details, pricing, photos and merchandising support the online showroom, homepage included.
PSX treats accessibility as an ongoing practice, with navigation, focus, labels and forms reviewed as the site changes. See PSX website accessibility for dealers. For button wording on the homepage and beyond, see our guide to calls to action for powersports dealers.
You can also see the same certified dealership websites on our sister site, PSXDigital's certified dealership websites page.
Sources
- Microsoft Clarity blog, 5 Browsing Patterns of the Modern Mobile Car Shopper (December 11, 2023; analysis by Overfuel; car dealer sites; sample size not stated)
- W3C Web Accessibility Initiative, Carousels Tutorial
- W3C, Understanding Success Criterion 2.2.2: Pause, Stop, Hide
- W3C, Understanding Success Criterion 2.5.8: Target Size (Minimum)
- Google Search Central, Avoid intrusive interstitials and dialogs
- Google Business Profile Help, Tips to improve your local ranking on Google
- web.dev (Google), Web Vitals