Beardo Group

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the director of marketing with BC technical. We are a medical imaging service provider to hospitals and imaging centers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Beardo?

We went through a website re-do several years back with a different company, and our corresponding SEO was not working. The website wasn’t up to par with what we needed. So, we reached out Beardo, who had done some graphics work with us in the past. We wanted something very clickable and more interactive.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The website design was completely rebuilt. On the back end, they added proper tags and titles and all that kind of stuff. We added a lot more contact forms on all the web pages, and a lot more images on the home screen. They did a lot of our graphics work for brochures, tradeshows, and banners. They also worked on SEO.

What is the team dynamic?

My two main contacts are Nathan and Josh – they’re both very great to work with. Nathan was always super-fast in getting back to me any time I have a question through email. He’s really good at explaining what they’re doing step by step, especially with the SEO piece, which can be a little confusing. He breaks it down for me which is great. Josh has been great as well. He’s done a lot of our tradeshow banners and brochures. They’re easy to work with. I can come to them with a concept or small idea that we want to do, and they’re good at fleshing that out and making suggestions.

How did you come to work with Beardo?

I knew some of their employees before they started Beardo. I’ve worked with them on other projects in the past with different companies.

What is the status of this engagement?

We have an ongoing relationship with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

SEO can take a while to pay off, sometimes three to six months to start seeing some changes. But after Beardo’s work, almost immediately we started seeing positive changes on a lot of our targeted search terms. In some cases, we weren’t popping up on the front page of Google, and now we are first page on many of our targeted terms. We even rank in the top 5 for some terms.

They reorganized our menu structure, which was a huge help for our users.  If something was looking for something on our site, we didn’t want them to have to click more than twice to find that page.

How did Beardo perform from a project management standpoint?

Very well – Nathan is always very quick to respond. If there was ever something that was going to be a delay he was good about communicating that.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Communication is great. They were really good at breaking things down and taking you step by step. We could come to them with a problem, and they’d have great suggestions. They brought up ideas that we didn’t realize we needed.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Not that I can think of.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the vice president of client development at RightPath Resources, a leadership and talent development company that delivers innovative web-based tools for selection, development, and retention. We specialize primarily in solutions for team building and leadership development to help individuals better understand themselves and others. Our processes start with externally validated behavioral profile assessments and a career development program tool. This tool also includes a leadership 360 that measures emotional intelligence.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Beardo?

Our website is primarily a promotional and informational website. Our main focus was to redesign and implement a new, visually appealing site featuring all of our solutions and tools. We were also seeking consistency within the site so users could easily navigate between solutions.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Beardo started working with the prospect client facing website completely from scratch. They didn’t work with the online tools and backend, but they did develop the frontend using WordPress and helped with image selection. RightPath provided the actual content as far as verbiage goes. SEO was a consideration, and I plan on reaching out to Beardo again to help us enhance that. They did a fantastic job.

What is the team dynamic?

We presented them with some of our ideas, and then they incorporated those into 2-3 prototypes for us. They provided us with wireframes and sketches throughout and then dived headfirst into the website design.

How did you come to work with Beardo?

We went into the market looking for a developer, and Beardo was recommended to us by one of the bigger development firms in Atlanta. We chose them due to their customer service and price competitiveness.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from April 2016-November 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have had some very positive feedback regarding the look, design, and feel of the website. It provides a much more friendly and interactive experience for users.

How did Beardo perform from a project management standpoint?

Everything from their customer service, to follow-up, and to the fact that they were always there if we had questions was fantastic. They were also good at meeting deadlines.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I most appreciate their customer service in regards to response time.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I would highly recommend them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a graphic designer and photographer for a company that provides uniforms, apparel, and promotional items.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Beardo?

Frankly, the old website was quite old and didn't reflect our personality.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Beardo did all of the redesign and development of the new site on WordPress. We provided some of the graphics for the site, but they did all the layout design and coding. They also came up with some ideas that we implemented. Beardo created an informational website that shows what we do. It also allows people to give us a call or do a live chat. We don't do any sales or e-commerce.

How did you come to work with Beardo?

I did a Google search for local web development companies. We interviewed at least 3 or 4 companies. Beardo stood out because of their capabilities and knowledge. They really fit what we were looking for, and it was pretty clear that they were the ones to go with.

How much have you invested with Beardo?

It would be hard to estimate the hours, but I think the cost was about $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started about a year ago. They completed the project, and we launched the website this month.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

We're absolutely satisfied with what they provided for us. The new site shows where we are and where we're going. They have delivered exactly what we talked about and then some. Some of the effects — like the way it pops up when you scroll down — have been well received by the team here.

As of now, we haven't gotten any external feedback or validation on the website since we’ve just launched it. Along with the website, we've launched other updated branding items, including a sales PowerPoint. It's still very new, so I don't think it has been used in front of our clients.

How did Beardo perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve been super patient with us, given all of our setbacks. They originally quoted us 2 months, but we kept pushing it back because of issues on our end, so it ended up taking a bit longer.

What did you find most impressive about Beardo?

Beardo’s presentation had a lot more personality, whereas everyone else was very stiff and factual. During the interview, Nate was very knowledgeable. He took a lot of initiative to explain that “We do this to draw your attention here.” He had a lot of ideas that none of the other companies brought to the table.

Are there any areas Beardo could improve?

It would be hard to say because I know they have services that we didn't even use. Honestly, I have no complaints.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with Beardo?

It’s best to have an idea of what you want and then trust the professionals.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the marketing director of Shadow-Soft, an open source integration company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Beardo?

Part of the problem with our website was that it was so old. It wasn't the latest or greatest. We needed help in figuring out what was relevant and trendy with website design.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Initially, Beardo helped us redesign our website, which was probably the biggest thing they did. The website redesign was my first experience working with them. They also help with other ongoing tasks. In the past year, we focused more on content creation, and Beardo helped us a lot with the flow of information. We needed to pick a direction and figure out what content we needed to get to them. We've got three different websites that they're helping us do SEO [search engine optimization] for. We recently kicked off a campaign where we are trying to target one particular market. Beardo's working on a series of pay-per-click ads for that. We've created the landing pages, and they're helping us figure out the type of content and track the success of the advertisements.

How did you come to work with Beardo?

We've been working with Beardo for a long time. The relationship started before I joined the company a year ago [2015].

How much have you invested with Beardo?

We paid $10,000 to $50,000 last year. It's probably around $35,000 this last calendar year.

What is the status of this engagement?

I believe they did the design for our initial website. The company started probably back in 2008-2009. Now, Beardo is working with us on a monthly basis to do search engine optimization.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

Feedback is really word of mouth, but I don't have anything specific to share with you. We're struggling with gauging the success of our digital marketing effort on a daily basis. Beardo has shared Google Analytics and other metrics on a monthly basis. Their monthly reports show that the bounce rates have improved. People aren't jumping off our site quickly since we got this new website up and running. We're also getting an increase in the number of visitors. I can definitely say that overall things are trending upward from month to month.

How did Beardo perform from a project management standpoint?

I wouldn't say that project management was Beardo's strongest point when I first started working with them. But, I do feel that, during the last year, they've gotten better at it. Beardo recently implemented a new tool to help them with project management. That has improved communication. I would say they've made strides during the last year to improve their project management. One of my coworkers now works more directly with them on a daily basis.

What did you find most impressive about Beardo?

I think Beardo is reasonably priced, pretty Johnny-on-the-spot. When you ask them to do stuff, they're responsive. I do think they've got a good creative team, and they do great work. I have positive things to say about them. The creative aspect, the design aspect, and the customer service aspect – I think they're great overall.

Are there any areas Beardo could improve?

The only thing that I wouldn't give Beardo rave reviews on is their project management. However, I think they are making efforts to improve that. I think that's one of those things that you can constantly improve upon.

BACKGROUND

Please introduce your business and what you do there.

ACM Chemistries sells chemical admixtures that go into manufactured concrete products like concrete pavers, concrete blocks and masonry – that sort of thing. I am the coordinator of marketing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Beardo Web Group?

Our existing site hadn't been updated for about five years, and it was just old and needed to go. We asked Beardo to create our new website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We needed photography and all the graphics, so we had Beardo's creative team work on the design part of the new site while their technical people worked on the functional part. We had them do both the form and function of our new website. It's a bulletin board site using WordPress. We don't do any e-commerce off the site.

We did not want the standard WordPress design. We had a unique design in mind that we asked them to do, and they did. What we wanted was all of our tabs to be down the left-hand side to remain open while people were searching, making it very easy to use. People can always tell where they are. There's no looking back and forth between drop-down boxes and that kind of thing. It's very clean in that way. Then, they also had photographs and graphics that integrated very nicely. We do have videos on the site, but they are not something that Beardo worked on. Those are something we produced in-house.

How did you come to work with Beardo Web Group?

A mutual friend of the company recommended them. We had asked another person in the industry to recommend a company that could do both the creative and the technical part. They also recommended Beardo, so that's how we got to know them.

How much have you invested with Beardo Web Group?

I think the website was slightly more than $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them about three years ago [2013]. We had some preliminary discussions about the look and feel we wanted for the site, but I think from the time we started, the work took about a month. Since then, we've used them for other projects. We've had them design banners and other marketing material for us.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

We have a potential customer that offers very high design pavers, and they spend a lot of effort on their catalogs, advertising, and promotion of their products – they are top of the line. After we approached them as a potential customer they took a serious look at our website and liked what they saw in terms of our understanding of pavers from both an engineering and design point of view. We take the design part seriously and our website communicated that effectively.

We've also had several compliments on the site. People like the way that it looks and how easy it is to use. It's not the standard WordPress site, and I think people sometimes enjoy something a little different.

How did Beardo Web Group perform from a project management standpoint?

This wasn't a big project, but we still appreciated their attention to us and to our timelines and needs. I think everything worked very well. I enjoyed working with them, and I think we had good back and forth communication. If we needed to make changes or we needed to add something, they were always open to doing that.

What did you find most impressive about Beardo Web Group?

Their website shows that they take the creative part very seriously. They're not just cranking out another generic web page or user experience, and that's what sold us on them. We keep on going back to them because we feel like they have created a unique look for us. That's important to us, and that's why we continue to use them.

Are there any areas Beardo Web Group could improve?

There might be some small functional things, but we weren't spending much money on the website, so we didn't expect the full catalog of options. I don't think that's necessarily even a critique of them. Maybe it's more of a critique of us and on what we chose not to do.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of a fee only financial services company

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Beardo Group?

We wanted to design a StoryBrand website. After reading the books Building a Story Brand and Marketing Made Simple, we needed a web designer to implement some major changes using Wordpress.

SOLUTION

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

We had been using Beardo already and decided to stay with them.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

We laid out our design ideas on PowerPoint then had Beardo add their expertise to it. The sight was them reviewed by Donald Millers Team during a webinar and we tweaked a few more changes.

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

We worked directly with Josh

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The redesigned website has helped generate many more leads than the previous layout.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow went well. Good communication

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

The ability to work with one person vs being passed through to different people. We also were able to create a unique site vs a cookie cutter approach.

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

Things can always be done faster.