I wanted to take a moment to share my feelings about the website upgrade we went through first quarter of 2025. Our previous provider (CDK / Sincro) has been a valuable asset for Sutherland Chevrolet for many years and we participated in numerous SEO / targeted marketing programs they have offered. Our marketing team at Sutherland was concerned about numerous items during the transition to DealerOn, however Tony Cejmer and his support team addressed each and every concern. The process was quick and painless for us at the dealership once the pre-transition questions were all addressed.
Our prior website performance was above average across the US due to aggressive SEO and strictly following Google’s guidelines. We were concerned about a reduction in website traffic and the quality of visitors to the site. Additionally our prior website had a strong national reach and often appeared in top tier searches in competitive markets nearby. We were never completely satisfied with the appearance or speed of the prior website and numerous support tickets requesting help with these issues never improved the situation.
Since switching to DealerOn, we have been extremely impressed with the appearance, speed, ease of use and the performance of our new website. The new appearance is fresh, clear and concise. Quick search functions are greatly improved as well as the appearance of our inventory. Our sales staff use the website daily to show customers inventory, discuss options and setup vehicle financing. Their feedback has been positive and complimentary. Within 24 hours of the new system going live, it became very apparent that switching to DealerOn was going to be positive and profitable. Site speed was greatly improved and Google search results have not been negatively affected. The reach and demographics have changed some, but time will tell if this is an overall positive for our dealership.
One important aspect of the switch to DealerOn that we find extremely valuable is the training and webinars available within the DealerOn system. The material is extremely valuable and provides everything from basic information to advanced search training. The instructors providing the material are knowledgeable, friendly and easy to understand. I would recommend anyone considering switching to DealerOn to look into the training materials, they are fantastic.
Fortunately we have not needed to contact support for any major issues so far and ALL of our minor issues were handles very quickly and professionally. The support process has been easy to use and follow-up has been seamless.
Since our DealerOn website has not been live for 12 months yet it is difficult to measure overall performance, however we have been pleased with increased traffic numbers to the site, VDP views, link clicks and dealership contacts. All of the metrics we use to evaluate our site are positive and on track to be significantly better than the Sincro / CDK website.
Louis T.H. Gaver
Vice President / Executive Manager
Sutherland Chevrolet