Markitors

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the owner and CEO of LurnAgile. We are a an Elite Team of Agile Coaches and Instructors providing SAFe as a Service and Scaled Agile (SAFe) Certification Courses

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Markitors, and what were your goals?

We are growing and wanted to expand our reach in this extremely competitive industry. We hired them to provide full-scale SEO services to improve our rankings and grow traffic to our site

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We followed a referral and after interviewing them we felt they were a fit for us

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and campaigns.

Our engagement began with a discovery phase where they explored our goals and provided keyword research and competitor analysis. From there, they devised a strategy to update our site with new collateral, keywords, and tactical revisions

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

They assigned a project manager who ran point and coordinated a large group of highly skilled individuals from their side

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Their work has increased our impressions 54% in just 3 months!

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

They’ve been great at meeting and often exceeding deadlines. We’ve mostly communicated via email (which works best for me). They are always quick to respond and implement changes. They’ve also been fantastic and helping me better understand this SEO world

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

The work was outstanding. They did extensive research and showed me where the google results could be improved which was enlightening to say the least. They then devised a strategy and executed it flawlessly. Further they were amazingly collaborative, seeking deeper understanding of the corner of the world my company functions and were open and adaptive to feedback on content they created. The work was nothing short of outstanding quality As great as the work was, the interactions were even better. Brett, Jen, and the rest of the crew work their tails off and do it in a way that makes you feel like so much more than a client. They could not have been easier to work with

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Nothing!

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the co-founder of a SaaS business that has developed a tool for aggregating digital communications such as email, phone calls and SMS.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Markitors, and what were your goals?

We were looking to launch our product globally but without any real sense of what sector or size of customers our products would be best suited to. Therefore we wanted to test a range of keywords using PPC to see what messages would resonate with the end user. Having then established our core market, we worked with Markitors to develop our SEO and content marketing strategy.

SOLUTION

How did you select Markitors and what were the deciding factors?

We worked with a third party consultant who identified Markitors as being the best fit for our business. We are a UK based company but the majority of our customers are US based and we needed someone who could work with us and understood the US market.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and marking tools used.

Markitors started out by trialling our product for themselves and working with us to brainstorm a list of keywords. They then helped us create a PPC strategy providing weekly feedback on the results. From there they worked up a content and SEO strategy based on the results.

How many resources from the Markitors team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We worked with an account manager who was supported by an SEO strategy manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

The SEO project was incredibly successful. We went from a domain rating of 2 to 53 in 2 years. From a standing start we have seen incremental month on month increase in our overall clicks and impressions which has led to an increase in the number of quality leads and sales.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow was excellent. Notwithstanding the time difference Markitors have stayed fully engaged in our progress and we have monthly video meetings to discuss wins and losses and next steps. The process is very much two way and both parties contribute to the discussions required to evolve the plan of action.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

They were one of the only companies that didn't insist on a fixed term retainer. They invested their own time in our business to really understand and trial the product and have been with us on our journey since day one. Even when times were tough during COVID, they stuck with us and offered us additional support during difficult times and have never let us down.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Genuinely, I can't think of any negatives about Markitors. They have been outstanding partners and a true pleasure to work with. I would highly recommend them to others.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a global boutique organization design firm, and we work with companies around the globe in all different industries to help them determine the best operating model for their business.

My position at the firm is marketing director, so I market the company in all different channels to reach new customers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Markitors?

We were trying to reach more customers through SEO.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Markitors provided SEO services for us. We worked together with them to provide them insight and make suggestions, and they did some research on their own. They also wrote some blogs for us and created a newsletter.

What is the team composition?

I worked with Markitors’ founder, a project manager, and two other people.

How did you come to work with Markitors?

Markitors was a local company, and we’d heard good things about them through other companies, so we decided to give them a try.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent roughly $50,000 per year.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together around the middle of 2018, and we stopped working with them around November 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

We measured the success of Markitors' engagement through our site’s traffic, the number of submissions received, and our placement in keywords search.

How did Markitors perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management was pretty good. Although they were a smaller and newer company and had some issues that we had to work out, they were very good overall. We had monthly meetings with them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Markitors’ customer service was impressive.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It would be good for them to not overpromise. They wanted to please us, so they ended up overpromising at some point.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be upfront about what you need and what you don’t need, and make sure that you’re clear on the services that they provide versus the services that they don’t provide.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of Arrow Lift, a specialty subcontractor that installs accessibility-centric devices. One of the areas that I oversee is marketing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Markitors?

We wanted to improve our SEO performance.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They help us with site content and digital PR. On the site content side, they update our website to reflect our most recent product offerings and write blog posts for us. They also provide onsite SEO, where they make changes to our website to maximize its search positioning. They utilize Google Analytics and provide us with performance reports.

What is the team composition?

We worked with 4­–5 teammates. We primarily communicate with Brett (CEO) and Nikitha (Account Manager).

How did you come to work with Markitors?

We googled something along the lines of “small business digital marketing,” and they were on the first page of results. We thought that that was a pretty good sign, since we’re also gunning for that kind of visibility. We interviewed several companies but received a fantastic impression from Brett. He was responsive, knowledgeable, and communicative throughout the decision-making process.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project began in February 2020 and is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

They’ve effectively increased our domain authority (DA). Our customer health score has also gone up since we engaged them.

How did Markitors perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re excellent on this front. I get the impression that project management is their forte. We communicate via phone, email, and video conferencing.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’d highlight their communication skills; their trustworthiness is off the charts. Even if Brett and Nikitha were running a different business, I’d wholly trust in their ability to deliver. They’re very professional.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I really can’t think of anything major.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure to listen to what they say, and don’t hesitate to follow their lead. Once you provide them with information about your specific industry, they’ll take it and run with it. They’ll eventually infuse that information with their digital marketing expertise.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

MATClinics is an outpatient addiction treatment group. I am one of the founders and CEO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Markitors, and what were your goals?

We hired Markitors to help bolster MATClinics' visibility on the internet. Local SEO was the piece that we could not seem to solve on our own. We had engaged two previous SEO firms but both failed to make a difference after six months.

SOLUTION

How did you select Markitors and what were the deciding factors?

We had experience with two previous SEO firms so we knew what we didn't want. We were pretty frustrated that we could not seem to move the needle on SEO.

Markitors was able to address our needs by talking us through the steps that they take. Their responses were detailed and credible and demonstrated an understanding of why our previous efforts did not work.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and campaigns.

1. Google My Business--Cleaned it up, made it consistent across all locations.
2. Keywords--Experimented with a range of keywords and determined the most effective.
3. Blog writing and content updating
4. Backlinking--Prior SEO companies tried but failed to get us backlinks.

We get new backlinks every month with Markitors.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

Four people (visible to me) have worked on our campaign. The CEO started us off and then passed us along to an experienced customer rep who guides our work each month. A content generation person writes our monthly blog posts and the social media expert has chimed in when relevant.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Our local SEO is functioning much better now. Our locations consistently show up on Google maps and in search. Overall SEO has improved markedly to the point where we receive a number of inquiries each week from potential patients who are far outside our service area.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timelines.

I receive weekly updates by email and monthly status calls. Staff are responsive whenever I have questions or concerns.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Markitors is both professional and effective.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

I have no complaints. It has taken them some time to learn the specifics around our business but they have done so.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of growth at Qwick, an on-demand staffing platform that helps hospitality and food, and beverage businesses connect with staff when they’re in need of additional help

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Markitors?

Markitors is our SEO partner. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

When we first met with Markitors, we told them what we wanted to do. They came back with a really good, wholesome three month strategy. 

The team does a few things on a monthly basis. One of those is a technical SEO audit, so each week, they review our website and look for opportunities to make it more efficient, whether it be loading time or fixing broken links. 

Markitors also publishes four pieces of content per month — the team comes up with the topic and writes the entire piece. 

Each week, they check in and let us know what they did and how we’re performing.

What is the team composition?

We work with Nikitha (Director of Client Services) directly. She fields our requests and does our meetings. She works with about three to four people on the content side. 

We also work with Raquel (Author) who does a lot of the technical SEO, and we check in with Brett (Founder & CEO) every once in a while.  

How did you come to work with Markitors?

We knew we needed SEO help, so we started shopping. Markitors does a good job of appearing really high on Google, which is a good sign because that’s the service they’re trying to provide. We also have a connection with Brett. 

All the agencies we considered came in and gave us a pitch, but Markitors’ stood out from the rest. Overall, they were just the best.

How much have you invested with them?

We pay an average of about $2,500 per month.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since February 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

They’re a really great team. We’re still pretty early on in the engagement, plus our numbers have been affected by the pandemic. Overall, though, we’ve noticed that we’re starting to rank for keywords that we never had in the past.  

As part of our engagement, we really wanted them to help us learn more about SEO, and they’ve been incredible about that. We’ve had a couple of different workshops, where they’ve taught us different elements of SEO. They’ve walked us through how to write a blog post,  how to use Google search console, and how to analyze our results there. It’s enabled us to have better conversations with them, because now we know what they’re talking about. 

In every sense of the word, Markitors is a partner. They’re not just someone we hired to delegate work to — we actually work with them. 

How did Markitors perform from a project management standpoint?

Markitors performs really well. They’re really fluid, check in every week, and complete everything in a timely fashion. Whenever they finish content, they take our feedback and suggestions and implement them. If they come up with ideas we don’t agree with, they’re very receptive to us. 

We keep in touch using email and Zoom. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their friendliness and ability to teach sets them apart. A lot of agencies have a lot of clients, and you can tell they’re just scrambling to get through it all. When we’re on a call with Markitors, they make us feel like they actually want to be on the call with us. We get the sense that they’re really excited about our success. 

When the pandemic hit, they continued our services without charging us for a few months, which was incredibly cool. We actually cut almost all of our partners except for them. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

They do everything pretty well. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Don’t be afraid to ask and provide feedback. Markitors is really good about customizing the experience.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

FanSided is one of the fastest growing network of fandom-focused sports, entertainment and lifestyle sites on the Internet. I was the Co-CEO for FanSided at the time of this project.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Markitors?

Markitors performed a series of SEO audits for two of our websites.

What were your goals for this project?

The goal was for them take a detailed look at the individual sites, and to make actionable recommendations based on the audit's result.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We have used various 3rd party vendors for forensic SEO audits in the past, but those vendors typically had long turnaround times. I have worked with Brett and his team in the past, and I knew that he would likely be able to deliver in a fast time frame. Though the audit wasn't necessarily urgent, we didn't want to sit around for several months after decided it was time to have a 3rd party take a look.

Describe the project in detail.

The scope of the project was to take a look at one of our websites, in this case our New York Giants site: gmenhq.com. Markitors' task was to take a thorough look at all of our SEO from technical to content and make actionable recommendations. After the first project's success, we decided to have Markitors perform a second audit on another site.

What was the team composition?

I worked primarily with Brett Farmiloe directly on this particular project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Markitors delivered to FanSided a few weeks later a comprehensive SEO audit for GMENHQ.com. It provided actionable recommendations, spreadsheet analysis, the best SEO presentation I have ever seen, and a corresponding document that further expanded upon the presentation.

Brett then presented his findings to the FanSided team, and we were able to then create a set of tasks to begin implementing the action items that were delivered to us. Without a doubt, the things that we implemented had an almost immediate result. While our SEO was already good, several key low hanging fruit allowed us to see an immediate impact.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Workflow was great. Markitors used the Google Suite of Apps to great results. The Google Slides contained links to the Google Doc, which contained links to the Spreadsheet, etc. It was very easy to within the Google Apps, to leave comments and ask additional questions.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I was blown away by the end product delivered. We have seen very comprehensive audits before, but nothing that was at this level in terms of presentation and documentation.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

My family’s business is called Brick Fix. As the name suggests, we fix & install bricks, stone, stucco work, concrete, glass blocks, etc. for homeowners mainly, but also serve a handful of corporate clients. We do the ‘Smallest Repairs with Pride’. I am the Marketing Director & also help with payroll & anything else that needs to be done. The typical family business arrangement, I’m sure.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Markitors?

We ran ads for over 15 years in the L.A. Times, The OC Register & other local newspapers so making the transition to online marketing to keep up with the times seemed a bit scary at first. We wanted to advertise online to generate more local visibility but weren’t sure how or if that was even a possibility.

What were your goals for this project?

Our older demographic was still reading the newspaper, but we serve homeowners of ALL ages, so we began to realize that we needed to do some outreach to a younger demo online. We hoped to rank on the front page of Google for some of our keywords in our local area. The ultimate goal being to save money on newspaper ads by shifting more & more of our marketing budget online as we saw results.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We found Markitors when we searched for SEO company in the Los Angeles area on Google. They were ranked high on the first page, we called them & setup a time to talk about our problem.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

It feels like magic to us, because I still don’t really understand HOW they do what they do to help us rank better on Google. That being said, Markitors really took the time to help us better understand the concept of keywords & their role in SEO. They worked well within our budget & before you know it we started seeing results.

What was the team composition?

In the beginning we worked w/ Brett mainly but as time went on & his company grew, we became more familiar & friendly w/ the whole Markitors team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

They helped us rank #1 for search terms like "small masonry jobs" (a part of our tag line) & prominently for terms like "brick repair near me" and "masonry contractor near me". This allowed us to shift our marketing budget more and more online, allowing us to advertise in the papers less, eventually going from running ads daily to weekly w/out losing eyeballs.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Anytime that I had a question, or my Dad wanted to talk to someone about trying new keywords or what was working or not as successful and why, someone was always willing to call or email answers to us, a lot of times on short notice. My Dad and I are rarely short on questions & and have a genuine curiosity about our keywords & numbers and Markitors was always very accommodating, professional, helpful & knowledgeable on both our specific case and their industry trends at large.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Making the much needed switch from print to internet advertising was necessary for us, but it was also scary and exciting and a perceived risk in the beginning for a decent, but historically inflexible marketing budget. I’m certain it would not have been successful without the patience, guidance & expertise from Markitors. They held and continue to hold our hand throughout the relationship. They earned our confidence over the years & now continue to help keep us relevant and in front of our target demo.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None at all. We wish all of our vendors were as effective & professional as the Markitors team.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Barrel Brothers Brewing Company is a production brewery in Northern CA in the town of Windsor. We focus on a continuously rotating portfolio of lagers, ales, and barrel aged sours. I founded the company with my Brother-In-Law in 2016 and am currently the Dir. of Business Operations and Head of Sales & Marketing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Markitors?

Our brewing company was looking for a simple WordPress site that would help our tasting room and beers appear on Google. Being a newer brewing company in a competitive locality, the challenge was around how to cut through the noise to connect with our target customer.

What were your goals for this project?

To have a functioning website that would present our brand to customers and drive traffic to our brewery taproom.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Markitors experience in the beverage industry was a nice selling point. They had helped Hugh Jackman launch a coffee company, and assisted another brewery in establishing a devoted online following. We figured that if they could help those companies, they could certainly help ours.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Their agency created the initial WordPress site that helped market our brewery online for the first four years of our company history. Over the years they made sure the right keywords were included on our site to help attract tasting room traffic, and to help raise awareness of the brand online.

What was the team composition?

The CEO was our main point of contact. I believe that sometimes he would share our requests and project with his team, but he was always the project manager running point on the engagement.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

You cannot operate a business successfully without a website these days. Especially in the ever-changing landscape of craft beer. Having a website designed from start to finish with the ease of use that Markitors implemented was critical for the launch of our business. Also, When you Google “windsor ca brewery” we’re one of the first breweries to appear on Google.Not bad considering we're located in one of the top brewery counties in the country.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We couldn’t have asked for a better partnership. Price was right. Performance was good. Only thing I could wish for is to have them local. They’re in Arizona, we’re in Northern California.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They care. Most agencies don’t. But with Markitors, you get a team of people who actually think like it’s their own business. As a result, the innovations and end work is strong.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I wish they were local so we could collaborate more in person over beers. But, the only other thing would be offering more services. They’re the best at SEO, and don’t offer anything else. Sometimes I wish they could support email, or social, or paid ads. But that’s similar to our brewery. We don’t offer food. We just make great beer. And that’s similar to their agency.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a technology and marketing consultant hired by Unique Building Concepts to elevate their organization through rebranding, creating new online tools and furthering outreach with marketing and digital strategies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Markitors?

Once the rebranding was complete, we needed a partner to help increase traffic and exposure. We put Markitors in charge of all of our SEO initiatives, from Content creation to Digital PR to the Technical SEO optimizations of a catalogue website.

What were your goals for this project?

- Drive awareness of custom mosaic tiles with consumers. - Increase sales in our network of retailers across the country by empowering consumers to ask for UDS products directly in stores.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Another company we knew had experienced tremendous SEO success with Markitors, so we figured that we would give them a try as well.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

We put Markitors in charge of all of our SEO initiatives, from Content creation to Digital PR to the Technical SEO optimizations of a catalogue website.

What was the team composition?

We primarily interacted with the Director of Client Services, who then interfaced with their internal Content, PR, and Technical teams.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Our organic search traffic tripled within 6 months. We experienced a 5x growth of organic keywords ranking in the top 100 search results within that 6 month time period as well. We achieved first page search rankings for our target keywords, like “subway tile” and “backsplash” related search terms. And, we had a 66% growth in Domain Authority through our Digital PR initiatives.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

They did a fantastic job managing many different moving parts within the engagement. From incorporating the voices of several stakeholders to rolling with the development of a few different website initiatives, their team was able to shift strategy and incorporate changes into their efforts.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The results are really impressive. We were told that SEO would take between 4-12 months to go into effect, and within a few months we saw a significant uptick across the board for SEO KPIs like organic traffic, impressions, and conversions.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Since much of SEO is related to content creation, some of their content could be more in line with industry expertise. They are an SEO company...they’re not experts in custom mosaic tile. But, they certainly made the effort to learn the language and create expert level content. They came to the factory multiple times, and worked closely with our team to ensure that content was in line with our brand and industry standards.