Awesome Web Designs

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Cubs Refrain, is an electro-pop duo based out of Toronto. Reimagining synthpop as a dynamic rock subgenre, this male-female duo is combining retro synth tones with driving rhythms and harmoniously edgy indie-rock vocals.

As half of the duo, I play synthesizers and sing vocals. I am also the manager of the duo, handling all communication with concert venues, media, and contractors, as well as admin, social media, marketing, and finances. Blue Pebble Music is an artist management and services company providing education, tools, and services to emerging artists in the music industry. I am the founder, responsible for finding clients and completing the work that will assist them, on a case by case basis. I also handle the business itself as the sole proprietor.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Awesome Web Designs?

I hired Awesome Web Designs for both of my businesses to create our websites and for online marketing assistance.

What were your goals for this project?

The goal for the website creation was to have a place for those interested in each business to land and learn more about us. In the case of the band, the website is a place for bookers and media outlets to go and hear our music, watch our videos, learn more about us through our biography, and find our contact information. For fans, in addition to learnig about us, it's also where we wanted people to be able to sign up for our email newsletters.

By having a webpage, we planned to have inquiries increase for bookings. For Blue Pebble Music, I plan for the webpage and associated SEO to attract prospective clients to the services I offer and have inquiries come to me rather than me reaching out to prospective clients.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I know Guillermo of Awesome Web Designs personally and had been familiar with the work he's done for others in terms of web design and SEO. I only considered him for the work with both of my companies since I'm confident in his abilities and we have a great working relationship.

Describe the project in detail.

For Cubs Refrain, the branding of our business was thought out and we had some concepts that we brought to AWD as reference for what we wanted the website to look like and the capabilities we wanted such as having video and music players and newsletter signup. AWD provided template options and built the site with our feedback and back and forth communication.

The site has been up and running since 2015 and we still work with AWD for updates and support. Most recently, for Blue Pebble Music, I had several discussions with AWD about the company, my mission and branding. AWD helped me purchase my domain, showed me options for website templates and assisted in the selection. I was then sent a questionnaire for SEO and the design of the website, and AWD made a landing page for the company in the meantime so I could start my work.

What was the team composition?

We have worked only with Guillermo for web design and SEO, though over time his team grew and we also worked with a graphic designer through him.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

After working with AWD, Cubs Refrain's website appears on the first page of Google. We have received positive feedback on Cubs Refrain's website from fans and music industry members, and it has served as a valuable tool for booking performances. Blue Pebble Music's website is not yet at the point of completion.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Communication was always easy and any requests or revisions were completed without issue and in a very timely manner. We have used Trello with AWD to organize, delegate and prioritize tasks and it has worked efficiently.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Guillermo is very knowledgable in branding, SEO and marketing and is patient in explaining the benefits of certain applications. It's impressive how quickly work is completed given the size of the AWD team. Guillermo is also great with communication and very friendly and caring!

Are there any areas for improvement?

I've had only positive experiences!

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a real estate agent who owns a realty business.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Awesome Web Designs?

I had a website, but I wasn’t happy with it. I also wanted to generate leads through SEO and increased web exposure.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

After listening to my business story and vision, they redesigned my WordPress site. They also provided digital marketing services, which included email outreach and SEO efforts. Guillermo (Founder, Awesome Web Designs) helped me set up my Google Business account, and worked to target specific keywords.  

After delivering the web layout, he asked for materials from me, like blog posts, to help with SEO. He’s given me great recommendations for content creation.

What is the team composition?

My only point of contact was Guillermo.

How did you come to work with Awesome Web Designs?

Since it's important to me to support local businesses, I was looking for agencies in my area. After a Google search, I found that Guillermo was located in Toronto. I decided to go with him then.

How much have you invested with them?

I’ve spent roughly $800 with them so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2019, and the website was live by the end of that month. He was very quick.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project has had largely successful results. I’ve received great feedback about the website, which is now user-friendly and easy to maneuver. Thanks to his work, I’ve been getting good reviews on Google, which I hadn’t had before.

How did Awesome Web Designs perform from a project management standpoint?

Guillermo was wonderful. He listened to my concerns and ideas before providing effective suggestions. While I’m not a tech expert, he was exceptionally patient with keeping me on the same page. I always had a good idea of what he was doing.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The extent of his knowledge and his commitment to delivering a successful project are both outstanding. There are many vendors who just hurry on to the next project, but you don’t get that sense from him. I also felt that I was in very good hands.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I really can’t think of anything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make the call and talk to them. You’ll be surprised how many ideas they’ll come up with.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a product developer at Harris Time. We manufacture scoreboards for hockey arenas and gymnasiums, and we also do LED signs, digital signs, and interactive digital media. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Awesome Web Designs?

Before we had them, our website had been done by a US-based company and turned out just alright. There was a lot of stuff missing, and the SEO was non-existent. It wasn’t polished. Guillermo (Founder, Awesome Web Designs) and I had worked on a project together previously, and I watched him discover his passion for web design. I asked him to take over my website, and he’s been making improvements ever since.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Originally, I had a shell of a website. There were some pictures and content, but it wasn’t up to the level we wanted. Guillermo handles page fixes (broken links and bad pages) and updates, SEO, graphic design, and other initiatives. Just last month he implemented credit card payment capabilities. He’s also gotten me to do blog posts, which we work on together. We’re also increasing our citations. He’s also done a great job with our Google My Business page.

What is the team composition?

He uses a content writer for some of the stuff, and also a graphic designer.

How did you come to work with Awesome Web Designs?

He was far better priced than our previous vendor, but that wasn’t the whole reason. I also liked that he was local to us and we could get him on the phone whenever.

How much have you invested with them?

I’ve spent $5,000–$10,000 with him so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together for a full year now.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Just these past two weeks, we received our first clients from England and Australia. Based on a case study Guillermo did two months ago, we’d already seen 50% growth in Google organic traffic, 71% of our leads generated through the website, and a 114% bump in local SEO searches. Those numbers have probably increased since then, as well.

How did Awesome Web Designs perform from a project management standpoint?

We speak mostly every two weeks, and at least once a month. I’ll come up with an idea or initiative and he’ll get it going.

Guillermo is one of the few people I work with that I know will always get a job done without issues about pricing, invoicing, or deadlines. He’s very organized and uses Trello.

What did you find most impressive about them?

His performance and numbers speak for themselves, but that’s not all. He also works very diligently, never leaving a job half done. He’s extremely professional.

Are there any areas they could improve?

He probably has some suggestions for me, like me getting him my stuff faster. But for him, no, I don’t have anything. I’m extremely happy.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Turnkey solutions with content and good-quality pictures can be expensive, so I provide as much of that myself as I can. If you have those things yourself, a web developer will just put it all together.