The Reynolds and Reynolds Company on Jan. 20 announced that it is introducing WebMakerX 4.0, a new Web site management platform. WebMakerX is the new foundation for Reynolds Web Solutions, and it will be previewed at the 2004 National Automotive Dealers Association (NADA) convention, January 31-February 3 in Las Vegas.

Reynolds Web Solutions provides design, development, deployment, marketing and hosting of Web-based software solutions available for automotive retailers. Built on Microsoft .NET technology, WebMakerX is an advanced platform designed to enable automotive retailers to drive e-commerce through increased traffic, powerful consumer-facing features, unprecedented administrative controls and Web site reporting and analysis tools.

"WebMakerX is the best of both worlds,” said Stuart Lloyd, solutions executive for Reynolds Web Solutions. “By combining the top features of Reynolds Automark® and Third Coast Media’s WebMakerX platform with a number of brand new features, we now have a solution that is unsurpassed in the industry. Not only are the sites faster, easier to administer, and highly scalable, they are also structured around generating even more leads and results for the dealership.”

After acquiring Third Coast Media in October, Reynolds began merging the top features and capabilities of its Automark platform with WebMakerX. The resulting WebMakerX 4.0 solution, according to the company, "offers the latest in speed, reliability, security protections and scalability."

Supported and hosted in a data center environment, the solution can handle thousands of concurrent users across an array of load-balanced Web servers with highly reliable up-time, according to Reynolds.

Internet Lead Generation

Designed to drive online traffic, capture Internet leads, and improve e-commerce results, WebMakerX is search engine optimized based on the newest technologies. According to Lloyd, the solution has a proprietary SpiderMAZE search engine technology that drives traffic to customer sites by enabling the entire site to be easily indexed and prioritized by search engines such as Yahoo! and Google.

“Today, major search engines have gotten away from META tags and key words, and ranking is now based much more on popularity and organic relevance,” said Lloyd. When it comes to leveraging next generation search engine and spider detection technology, WebMakerX is a step ahead of the rest. The entire site is search engine friendly, and as a result, is indexed correctly to win the search engine battle.

Once on a WebMakerX site, an enhanced inventory search application permits visitors to access and view vehicle inventory in one or two clicks. The application then prevents prospects from receiving a “no vehicles found” message by always presenting customers with similar or the next best inventory matches.

“At the dealership, a salesman doesn’t turn away a prospect just because he doesn’t have the exact vehicle the customer is looking for. Instead, he recommends other similar vehicles. The same needs to happen in the virtual showroom,” Lloyd said.

With LeadTRAP™ Web design optimization, call-to-action buttons and lead forms are available at all times, making it convenient for consumers to contact the dealership. Additionally, customer information is automatically solicited at key intervals helping to maximize lead submission rates and drive qualified leads. In a variety of delivery formats, submitted leads are then routed to appropriate sales professionals for follow-up.

Site Administration and Management

Whether it’s a one store dealership or large enterprise group, WebMakerX delivers, according to Reynolds, an unprecedented level of administrative control with roll-up Web reporting tools to help retailers further drive and optimize results for their dealership.

WebMakerX integrates with major dealer management systems to deliver inventory updates. Reynolds says the solution’s inventory management tools enable administrators to determine and control the display aspects of their online inventory. Easy-to-use wizards empower dealership administrators to quickly update their Web site’s design and content, as well as make changes to marketing promotions, forms, inventory displays and specials.

With one-touch-change capabilities, revisions can be applied across one Web site or across a large enterprise group, saving retailers valuable time and money. Additionally, with WebMakerX’s unlimited language capabilities, retailers can easily create, manage, and integrate multi-language Web sites, according to Reynolds.

Reporting and Analysis

To help retailers track their online performance and return on investment, WebMakerX provides the latest in Web site reporting and analysis tools with StatMakerXä. With an automatic reporting engine, retailers can access and evaluate the latest Web traffic and lead generation reports to identify trends and campaign results across one or more sites.

Automotive retailers can create customized reports according to their unique needs, and for large dealer groups, they can view dynamic roll up reports for multiple sites.

About Reynolds and Reynolds

Reynolds and Reynolds (www.reyrey.com) is a provider of integrated solutions designed to help automotive retailers manage change and improve their profitability.

Serving the automotive retailing industry since 1927, Reynolds says it enables OEMs and retailers to work together to build the lifetime value of their customers.

The company's product, service and training solutions include retail and enterprise management systems, Web and customer relationship management solutions, learning and consulting services, documents, data management and integration, networking and support, and leasing services.

Reynolds serves more than 20,000 customers comprising nearly 90 percent of the automotive retailers and virtually all OEMs doing business in North America. The Reynolds International Division serves automotive retailers and OEMs through Incadea AG and its partner network as well as a worldwide consulting practice.