Big Leap

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the CEO of GRIP6, a startup belt manufacturer.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Big Leap?

We were looking for a vendor to help with our long-term marketing strategy, including SEO.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Big Leap oversaw our initial marketing strategy and provided SEO services, including keyword research and management of Google AdWord campaigns. They also created blog content for the website.

What is the team composition?

We worked with about four to five people, and Ryan (Digital Marketing Director, Big Leap) was our main point of contact.

How did you come to work with Big Leap?

They were referred to us by another company we trusted. We had a number of disappointing experiences with other marketing companies, so we were happy to finally find a vendor that could actually deliver on their promises.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested around $90,000–$100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from around June 2016 to December 2017. We've since hired a couple in-house marketing staff to bring costs down.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Since working with Big Leap, our organic search rankings have continued to climb. They created some very relevant blog content that performed exceptionally well.

How did Big Leap perform from a project management standpoint?

Ryan was great to work with; he's the no. 1 reason we had such a good experience with Big Leap. He was always very proactive and on top of tasks, working hard to come up with solutions and new ideas to help improve our online performance. We mostly kept in touch through phone and email, but also met in-person on a monthly basis.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were very competent, fair, and easy to work with overall.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We were very happy with their SEO services, but less impressed by their knowledge of Facebook advertising services. Although they started managing some social media ads for us in a transparent way, we decided to keep managing it on our end instead.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I don't really have any advice other than to give them a try–they're great at what they do, and I continue to recommend them to anyone looking for SEO services.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the owner of Westway Sales. We're a vending machine manufacturer.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Big Leap?

We were looking for a company to develop a new website for us and help us with SEO and PPC campaigns.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started with a monthly contract and they were doing SEO and PPC for the website we already had. Two years later, they rebuilt our website and made it better optimized. They handled everything, from the wireframes to the design, and also helped us with the content and the keywords.

What is the team composition?

I work with their owner and 2–3 other members of their team.

How did you come to work with them?

They were recommended to me.

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent about $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in 2014 and the relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our website moved up to the top page in Google search (we used to be many pages down) and has maintained its high ranking.  

How did they perform from a project management standpoint?

They do an excellent job. We communicate through email 80% of the time and the rest of the time we use phone.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They deliver exactly what we need and stay within our budget.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. Everything is great.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Trust their advice and be clear about what you're trying to accomplish.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the senior SEO manager for Pluralsight, an online technology learning company that provides in-depth training for developers, IT, and creative professionals.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Big Leap?

I needed additional help with SEO. Before hiring Big Leap, I was the only person at the company managing SEO for the over 6,500 courses we offer online—it was a daunting task.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Big Leap fulfills multiple roles, from web optimization work to keyword research, content expansion, and developing a strategic approach to SEO. They provide support as algorithmic changes occur, and make suggestions for us to improve the content and meta tags on our website. They also contribute content, including long-format blogs.

What is the team composition?

I work with a dedicated account manager directly and two other senior staff. I believe they also have a team of three or four working on our account.

How did you come to work with Big Leap?

I've worked with Big Leap at other companies in the past and had such a great experience with them that I brought them with me when I came onboard at Pluralsight.

How much have you invested with them?

We spend $60,000–$80,000 on an annual basis, so we've probably spent close to $200,000 in total thus far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We brought them on around October 2015 and the relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Big Leap's page optimization efforts have significantly increased our page rankings and conversion rates. We're seeing an improvement in both the quantity and quality of web traffic, so the results from their keyword research and SEO support have been stellar.

How did Big Leap perform from a project management standpoint?

Compared to other agencies I've worked with, their project management is definitely above average. They consistently meet deadlines and keep promises, so it continues to be a relatively seamless process. While we communicate a lot through phone and email, we're also able to meet with them in person from time to time.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their level of transparency sets them apart. It's a trait that's increasingly important in the SEO industry, so I truly respect their openness and honesty.

Are there any areas they could improve?

At first, their content creation wasn't as strong as it could've been, but they've made significant improvements since.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the President and CEO of the Utah Valley Chamber. We are a member-driven organization with a mission to build relationships, advocate principle-based public policy, and promote community and business prosperity.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Big Leap?

We needed services for SEO, social media marketing, content creation, and website support.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to increase our Google rankings, as well as our reach and engagement in Utah County.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Big Leap had partnered with another Chamber business. I met with Bryan (Founder and CEO, Big Leap) and Dan (VP of Business Development, Big Leap) to explore a partnership because their work to increase awareness for the client’s event impressed me.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

We met Big Leap to determine what outcomes we were seeking to achieve. We then received a monthly report and feedback from the implementation team. They documented how the work progressed from the previous month and recommended adjustments. We met quarterly together to review goals and outcomes throughout the partnership.

What was the team composition?

We worked with Big Leap’s principals and their staff.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Big Leap created content that was on-message and scheduled to meet our targets. Page views on our website increased. We got more followers on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram, and were able to engage those people more thoroughly.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The manager was responsive to questions and feedback for the ads and implementation. Both teams had a hand in content creation and provided helpful suggestions during that process.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Big Leap had a very strong group of folks who knew their business and trade. They were helpful and not afraid to push back on our crazy ideas or misunderstandings of social media.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Some posts’ messaging or graphics didn’t reflect our service area, but Big Leap responded quickly and made appropriate changes. The Chamber’s business and services areas are hard to learn, and we could have done a better job helping the team avoid mistakes.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the owner and president of an AlphaGraphics franchise location in Sandy, Utah. We help companies grow brands by delivering custom print materials and marketing strategies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Big Leap?

One of our clients was developing a new website and wanted to make sure their digital marketing efforts would align with the new platform.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to minimize the negative impact on organic traffic and conversions during the website transition.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Having worked with Big Leap for many years, we thought they’d be a perfect fit for the project. We knew they deliver high-quality results and, after speaking with them, they understood our client’s goals.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Big Leap met with our client to discuss their digital marketing strategy. With that information in mind, they provided recommendations that focused on maintaining a strong online presence.

What was the team composition?

Over the years, I’ve worked with the CEO, sales representatives, project managers, and implementation specialists.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

With Big Leap’s advice, the client was able to successfully migrate their website. The new website’s digital marketing performance exceeded all expectations.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow between our two teams was seamless. They acted as a part of our internal team and they went the extra mile assure we were happy with the results.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I really appreciate Big Leap’s level of expertise. They can solve complex problems in a timely manner.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Big Leap could benefit from a more organized management style and more attention to detail when dealing with smaller side projects.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the co-founder of COO of Evolved Commerce, an Amazon consulting company. We specialize in helping companies of all sizes sell more efficiently on Amazon through optimization efforts.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Big Leap?

We were looking to expand our SEO presence beyond what we had the time and knowledge to accomplish ourselves. Many of our employees come from an SEO background but we didn’t have the time to dedicate to ranking our own website and services.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to rank for more search terms faster than our competitors, without breaking the bank with our spend.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We reached out to them because we heard they were the best in the industry and that you got a dedicated resource instead of outsourced helped. We chose them because they were personable, knowledgeable, and did their homework on our industry. They didn’t just give us a basic SEO pitch. They knew what our business was all about and showed us a path to ranking for terms we wanted.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

The campaign started with an in-depth audit and analysis of our current web presence and rankings. In just a few short weeks, after reporting and making a game plan, Big Leap has taken steps to clean up our presence and improve our rankings.

What was the team composition?

To this point, we’ve worked with our project manager and his supervisor, as well as two members of their executive team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve seen a huge climb in our rankings to this point. Again, SEO is a long-term play but we’re seeing progress on terms we never imagined we’d rank for in just a few short months.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

It’s been very clean and easy. They let us know what they’re focused on in each call and we provide them any details they need. They’ve been hands on and helpful with all of our requests.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They maintain an intimate relationship with each client, even though they’re at top of the industry. You don’t feel like just another client in their portfolio.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Nothing comes to mind right now. We’ve been very happy to this point.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the VP of business development for Disruptive Advertising, a marketing agency that focuses on paid media.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Big Leap?

We need a company that could help our clients with SEO and content.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goal was to find a partner that could do a great job and take care of our customers.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We researched several companies, checked referrals, and had a bunch of meetings. Out of this, we determined that Big Leap could help our clients.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Big Leap helps clients rank organically on Google. They provide great content, links, and handle all the technical SEO aspects of a given website.

What was the team composition?

I work with their sales reps and account managers. Big Leap has great people that are very responsive.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Big Leap delivers, proving to be an excellent partner! I’ve been greatly impressed with the results they’ve produced for our clients. They consistently deliver and have been a great partner to us.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow has been easy, and I’ve never had any scheduling issues with them. They answer questions quickly.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their communication is amazing. I never have to guess at how the campaigns are performing.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No. Keep up the great work!

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior SEO manager at Technology Brands, a division of GameStop. We have authorized retail locations for two national brands—a cellular service and a computer company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Big Leap?

Recently, we received permission to do our own marketing for the two brands. Prior, the cellular service owned our listings and our e-commerce storefront ran within the computer company’s website. Under this arrangement, we weren’t utilizing these platforms to their fullest potential. Technology Brands hired me to build its SEO program and I subsequently reached out to Big Leap for supplemental support. We needed outsourced help with link building, content creation, and SEO audits to improve our online properties.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Big Leap does SEO for both brands. For the cellular service, they build backlinks to increase domain authority and improve our online reputation. The team is also creating content for various pages and optimizing titles, tags, meta descriptions, linking structures, and headers. The cellular domain is very new while the computer company domain is much older. For the latter, Big Leap focuses on cleanup from a URL and backlog standpoint; the site had acquired spam links over time. In addition, they provide SEO services similar to the cellular brand that focuses on the end-user, traffic, and search engine.

What is the team composition?

I interact primarily with our account manager and his boss. I also work with the founder and CEO, and the VP of sales, whom I’ve known personally.

How did you come to work with Big Leap?

I met Big Leap through a previous job when that company needed help with online initiatives. A co-worker recommended them after having a positive experience with a separate project. We then engaged them on an on-and-off basis for nearly eight years, during which the company had its most successful campaign. For Technology Brands, I decided to re-hire Big Leap—for what I considered their strongest services—to make us more competitive.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $60,000 in the first six months.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in February 2018 and the partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Technology Brands has been in existence for 20 years, but has only recently focused on its online reputation. Big Leap has successfully enhanced our effort to be more competitive by robustly supporting our in-house team and marketing efforts. We’re now building a strong foundation that has already exceeded our upper management’s expectations. Big Leap is an important portion of our overall strategy, which continues to make good progress and generate positive feedback.

How did Big Leap perform from a project management standpoint?

Although we’ve had growing pains since the project’s beginning stages, Big Leap is always receptive to feedback. They’re very customer-centric and truly want the client to be satisfied. We’ve already seen improvement around communication and visibility and plan to work further on those areas. We mostly use phone, email, but in-person meetings as well; our next monthly review will be face-to-face.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The team wants to learn and improve for their clients’ benefit. They’re also approachable without being condescending, as happens often in our industry. Big Leap has industry leaders that conduct themselves in a professional manner and genuinely care about client relationships.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Communication could be clearer. Big Leap provides Google Docs, but the amount they create is slightly overwhelming to track. The team does strive for better communication; however, it could still be cleaner because it would benefit them in the long run.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the Director of E-Commerce for a travel group.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Big Leap?

We had an SEO agency in-house but, over a four or five-year period, we came to the conclusion that we needed to replace them. We were looking for a new, fresh voice – somebody that could speak both to the executive level and explain SEO challenges as well as to the developer level and help with content.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They handle all of our SEO – organic search only – for all of our brands in North America. They did keyword research originally to develop a basket of terms and now they optimize the content, its presentation, and its links in order to make us an online authority on the topic.

They’re also creating new content since we’ve been pretty weak in that area. They research keywords they can put in the content and make sure that it's on brand before doing QA with our people.

What is the team composition?

We have one main contact person and a team of about ten people.

How did you come to work with Big Leap?

They were recommended to me by a friend of mine that had done some content creation work with them in the past. We invited Big Leap and three other agencies to participate in an RFP and they just really impressed everyone.

How much have you invested with them?

We spend high six-figures annually.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since January 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We're looking at things like where we're ranking in the top three or where we're ranking in the top 10, and we're starting to see that top 10 number moving. Some of the new pages they've created starting to rank and we're seeing some small jumps in our year over year organic search traffic.

It takes a while with organic search, especially with a big company because the agency has to get used to who you are, figure out the places where you want to drive revenue, and create that content. It took a few months for any words Big Leap created to actually hit our website. We've really been happy with our relationship with them – couldn't be happier.

How did Big Leap perform from a project management standpoint?

We have weekly calls at my level and then they talk daily to other members of my team. We communicate via Slack and then we have a review with them around once every four months.

They manage the project in a very clear way. They'll give us a chart to show the different phases and they keep us updated on that. We also have a set of Google Docs with them where they show us all the work product they do, how they’re progressing, and any questions they have. It’s a real clear way for us to know exactly where we're at.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Most importantly, the way they work with people internally and externally is so transparent, open and honest. They're just very nice to deal with. We'd been turned off to SEO from our previous agency and I think it's really helped us get excited about it again. When we work with them, I feel like I'm a small company getting big company service. I feel like I'm working for a startup and they're giving us a level of attention and explanation that’s really hard to do. It's been very refreshing.

For example, they came to us the other day and said that they noticed that one of our competitors was doing this new thing – and they're a small competitor and they're doing it on some low traffic pages. They suggested that because we're so big we would benefit a lot from this. That just blew us away because they haven't been with us long enough to know to look at those small competitors. The rigor that they showed by independently deciding to go and look at this trend and come up with an action plan was really surprising and awesome.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Any of the roadblocks have been on our side.

Any advice for potential customers?

As long as they’re very clear with their goals, Big Leap will execute for them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I head up digital and demand generation for a customer interaction software.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Big Leap?

We needed to improve our keyword rankings and our overall site optimization. We have a lot of great content on the blog and website that wasn’t getting indexed as it should. We knew it was an issue with the consistency and quality of content.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They helped us rank for keywords that we knew generate leads and sales for us. They focused on the rankings for our main website, figuring out how to get more traffic from the content, and guiding our content strategy.

They identified a lot of keywords that were worth considering. With our existing content, they helped us with how to add more featured articles, internal linking, and different types of content. They left it up to us if we want to create and work on the content or if we wanted to have them do it. They helped us with outreach on people that could help share it. Overall, they put together a whole strategy for us. We’re still executing that strategy and evolving it as we go.

We rebranded and relaunched the website a couple months ago. They helped us with some of that. They just finished a speed analysis for us on optimizations so we’re starting to implement a lot of their stuff.

What is the team composition?

I work with four people, including Bryan (CEO, Big Leap). If we were curious about something or had a question, he was quick to respond. When we launched a new website, it was a quick conversation to ask them to help us, and the next day we had one of their web developers going above and beyond to help us hit a deadline. Most of the time we had our main project manager helping to orchestrate everything and running point on projects.

How did you come to work with Big Leap?

I’ve used them before at other companies and had good experiences. Our company wanted a proposal as well as an analysis of potential results from them. It came right in line with what we were trying to accomplish. Since I had a track record with them and had talked to other companies that had been using them, we decided to work together.

How much have you invested with them?

$5,000–$10,000/month.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in September 2017 and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The site structure is now more refined. It’s easier for search engines and easier for people to understand. Having their team throw ideas at us is really helpful and they help us make sure we’re not going crazy anywhere.

The overall breadth of our keywords, ranking, and search has increased. A lot of what we post is internal, but the direction that they’ve given us, as well as the help in making sure everything is indexed and backlinked properly is great. Now we’re slowly moving up the rankings. For some of our main keywords, we bumped up a spot, while it’s been slow and consistent on the more competitive ones, while still adding breadth generally, which was our main focus.

How did Big Leap perform from a project management standpoint?

There’s a lot of spreadsheets and as much information as I want. A lot of times I’ll have to ask for a more dumbed down version. I have high confidence in all the details, but I’d like to see, at a high level, what’s going on. Anytime I’ve ever asked for anything, I’ve gotten it. Any adjustments I ask for after the monthly or weekly reports are implemented by the next one.

It’s been great. We communicate mostly by email. Once in a while, they’ll reach out to get together for lunch. When we ran into some issues, they dropped everything and helped us.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have good experienced people. If I ask any question, there’s somebody at Big Leap that is an expert in that field and they bring them in, even if we’ve never worked with them before. They’ve always been experts and that stands out to me. It’s very comforting that they’ve figured out the right way to do it all.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’ve been working on a content piece. I’ve introduced somebody else on our team to help manage that. One piece of feedback from him was on the faux creation projects and them needing to be a little more proactive on their side, as opposed to reactive. We do have to ask for things or make sure things are on point with specific content creation pieces.