Bop Design

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a Client Experience Specialist at Olberding Brand Family. I was the project manager on our website project.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Bop Design?

We hired Bop Design for the design, development, and launch of our four new websites.

SOLUTION

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

We were looking for vendors who were experts in CX for B2B companies. We decided on Bop Design as we had the best connection with them and they provided the most impressive portfolio of work and recommendations.

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

We have four websites that we wanted to completely rehaul. We wanted them all to feel different so that they had their own identity, but similar enough to feel like they were connected. We walked through many weeks of proposals and once we finally decided on Bop as our vendor, it was off to the races. They provided us all of the promised items (mockups, copy, etc.) on our before their promised date. All "delays" or "holds" on our process came from us, the client, as we were a bit harder to tie down due to everyone's busy meeting schedules.

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

We worked with a large portion of the Bop Design team to begin with, but our constant communication was with our Project Manager, Jess, and our Web Development Director, Emily.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our sites are visually incredible and they offer a much better flow of engagement and experience.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Our two teams worked together very beautifully. We streamlined communication to the best of our ability and nothing ever got lost.

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

It is most impressive to us how quickly and efficiently this company can move and switch paths. They were quick on their feet, and they didn't let anything slip between the cracks.

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

No. Like I said previously, the only slow downs were due to hold-ups on our end.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the marketing director of a technology company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Bop Design?

We needed to redesign our website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Bop Design has done the website architecture, layout, and design. They’ve also created the site map, made recommendations, and done the copywriting. The project is launched, but we’re still working with them on revisions and new requests. 

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked with a project manager, a copywriter, a designer, and a programmer. It’s been about 4–5 people at different stages of the project. 

How did you come to work with Bop Design?

I found them on Clutch and decided to use them because of their overall well-rounded capability of both technical and branding services. 

How much have you invested with them?

Our company has invested over $30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement started in October 2020, and it's ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Since the website has been recently launched, it’s hard to provide hard metrics. However, it has been received pretty well by external and internal users. 

How did Bop Design perform from a project management standpoint?

They have been very good at meeting deadlines.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m very satisfied with their work. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have anything for them to improve. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Allow the team to make recommendations because they’re really good at it. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of marketing relations for New Source Corporation. We are stocking distributors of raw materials for the aerospace industry in the defense and commercial sectors. We supply metal such as aluminum and titanium extrusions to help build planes. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Bop Design?

Our website was extremely outdated and incapable of keeping up with our growth. We wanted to have an accurate representation of who we are with an updated website and logo.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Bop Design completely redid our website’s design and development. The site is built on WordPress. Their team also does our SEO. Based on a questionnaire we filled out, they helped us narrow down keywords that’d be most beneficial within our industry. They created an updated logo as well. Bop Design is currently working on marketing campaigns.

What is the team composition?

We worked with 6–8 people for the web development and added 2–3 people for marketing. We worked with one copywriter initially, but have a different one now. We also interact with Jeremy (Business Principal).

How did you come to work with Bop Design?

I found them on Clutch. They were one of the first companies I interviewed. Unlike other companies we considered, I appreciated that they listened to us and what we wanted rather than trying to convince us to do things their way. Jeremy had also done his research on our company and industry; he put together a great proposal.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested $53,000. The web development was $50,000 and marketing is $3,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together around June 2020, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The website launched at the end of February 2021. We’re more searchable now with the keywords they used. Our company sent out newsletters to announce the new website, and we’ve gotten incredible feedback from some of our top customers about it. We’ve gotten responses and requests for quotes through the contact form on the site, as well as increased traffic.

Regarding the logo, Bop Design did an amazing job in balancing the similarities of our prior logo and modernizing it. They created a more aesthetically pleasing and modern design that pleases everyone concerned. Their team has exceeded my expectations and those of our company’s president, who was hesitant in the beginning. I couldn’t be happier.

How did Bop Design perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve been great. We went into a busy season during the project, and they gave us just the right amount of push, staying on our case politely, to keep us on track. We expanded beyond the initial scope, which extended the timeline, but that was mostly on our end.

We communicate mainly through email. We do screen shares for them to show us how to use different programs and used Buzz Heard so they can teach us how to utilize and give feedback on presentations.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re extremely personal in nature. I feel like I can reach out to Jeremy at any time, and he responds quickly. They’ve never made us feel like we ask a bad question or that any issue was too small to be addressed. Bop Design is great at working with people who aren’t tech-savvy.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We had some issues with the initial copywriter. She didn’t grasp exactly what we did at first, so we had to repeat explanations and comments. She got it eventually. However, we have changed copywriters for the marketing and couldn’t be happier.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Ask all your questions early on; they will give all the answers.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the head of marketing for a new global infrastructure construction services and solutions integration company. We currently have 35 employees based throughout the world and our primary industry focus is the transportation (road, rail, airports) and industrial (oil, gas, and chemical) infrastructure industries. I oversee all aspects of marketing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Bop Design?

As a new start-up company, we needed a website to best represent what we do, including the services and solutions we offer, the value and benefits we provide to prospects and customers, and also highlight the outcomes we enable customers to achieve.

We also wanted the website to support inbound marketing and to generate leads and we wanted to be able to attract a thought leader following, which includes peer members of industry, partners, and associations. We were also in the middle of branding ourselves and needed some help with that.

We requested a staged launch of the website. We had a major company launch event in Singapore coming up in a short period of time and needed a basic website live for the launch event and press conference. We then had specific sections and capabilities which we knew we needed for the website requiring a staged plan.

What were your goals for this project?

For our go-live of the website for our company launch, we needed a basic website, including our services, solutions, about us, and contact us. We also wanted to post our corporate launch video. We needed help with developing our branding and our logo too.

The launch event was a major conference and we wanted to be able to capture new contacts from the event via a contact form on the website. We needed the website to represent that we are a major contender in our field. Immediately after the event, we wanted to start working on further building out the website functions, including additional navigation bars and drop-down menus and selections.

We added a Resources navigation with our blogs, webinars, downloads, news, and case studies. We added a careers section and additional capabilities for our Partner's pages. SEO was a major concern of ours as well and we wanted a web design agency who really knew how to build a website to enhance our SEO.

Our expectations of the website were for it to function as a lead generation website, but also position us as thought leaders in our field.

SOLUTION

How did you select Bop Design?

This isn't my first, second, or third rodeo in launching a new website or microsites. Since the 90's I've launched several B2B websites, B2C websites, microsites, e-commerce sites, and subcontracted the Investor Relations portion of websites to an IR agency.

I went through a careful selection process to find a B2B website designer who was successful in what they do, understood the importance of building a website to enhance SEO, had great references and examples of work, who were not too expensive, and were willing to work with us on a staged website plan.

I researched website reviewers, including Clutch, to see where various web design companies fell within reviews and rankings. I had my spreadsheet with the following minimum requirements fields and did side-by-side company comparisons for 9 website agencies:

• Are they B2B, not D2C? We need strong experience in B2B.

• Experience in our Industry?

• Do they design for mobile, including tablets and smartphones with mobile indexing too?

• How do they approach site planning for usability, visitor ease?

• Can they provide content management or marketing solution for a website? Do they use WordPress or some other custom backend CRM? Can we make edits and updates ourselves without having to go through them?

• How strong are they in SEO site implementation and do they realize how critical it is, especially when the site is designed, in page URLs, tag management, and content implementation?

• How does their website look and rank?

• How are they tracking insights and gathering ROI data on websites? Ex: Google Analytics and others? Do they have visitor tracking?

• Can they create workflows to import contacts/leads/subscribers to our CRM?

• What testing do they do as they build and populate the website?

• Hosting services, speed, security, and cost?

• Inbound marketing, how do they populate content for followers and conversion?

• Can they support blogging?

• What’s the design/build process?

• Can they provide site maintenance after the site launch?

• Who will be assigned to us, schedule, availability?

• How do they rank among web design agencies?

• What are they and their talent doing to stay up to date on website algorithms and to keep us up to date?

• Do they provide a website user manual?

• Can they provide 3 references?

• Can they provide additional services for us, including branding, logo design, colors, ppt templates, and create our LinkedIn home page for us?

After my research and a few conference calls and presentations with Jeremy at BOP Design, which included a presentation to our CEO, COO, and Head of Business Development, it came down to two final agencies. My decision and recommendation to our CEO was to hire BOP Design.

OP met all of our requirements. Their availability and response time was immediate and out of all the agencies I interviewed, BOP was most on the ball with providing a proposal, references, web design, branding, and logo design questionnaire, website buyers guide, and additional resource materials.

They understood how important it is to position our company as a leading digital services and solutions company and as an industry thought leader. They understood how important content marketing is for our website to support inbound marketing, thought leadership, for our community.

They are very well respected for web design and SEO, and they are also hired by SEO specialty agencies to build websites for them. They have been doing this for several years and their team has the experience to support our needs. They are on top of new website trends and algorithms. They understand what we want to accomplish.

They are in it for the long haul, not a short sale. They provide continued support. They also have strong branding experience, which we also needed help on at the time. Their pricing is good.

While they came in a couple of thousand dollars higher than the opposing agency, it certainly wasn’t enough to make a difference in the decision. Their process is great. They provided excellent examples and references.

Describe the project in detail.

As a startup organization, we were building a site and its contents from scratch and BOP Design worked with us to accommodate our needs and developed a staged plan for the website and its contents. We also asked BOP to provide additional marketing services for us as well.

The initial stage of our agreement included a stakeholder discovery session, site design, basic navigation, initial content for specific brands, and on-page SEO. We utilized BOP for initial branding and they also designed our LinkedIn corporate page, and our PowerPoint template.

The second phase included on-going content, blogging, email template branding, newsletter, and other content. Once we had enough content, BOP added our "Resources" to the main navigation to be the home for our blogs, downloadables, webinars, and more.

BOP worked with our CRM support team and our webinar hosting platform vendor to add our on-demand webinars and webinar registration to the Resources section of our website. Additionally BOP Design has been helpful in specific workflows for contacts/leads from the website into our CRM.

We moved to a monthly web design and services retainer agreement with BOP and they continue to build and manage our website. We renewed our agreement for 2021 and continue with ongoing website projects, but additionally, BOP has helped us with other marketing projects and has taken on our Google Ad campaign.

What was the team composition?

BOP Design provided a supportive team, including a principal lead, lead designers, and writers. They also utilized an excellent website sandbox tool for reviewing drafts and content. This team worked primarily with me, but also with two of my marketing colleagues.

Depending upon the different website projects we were undergoing, BOP Design would assign the right team member(s) from their side to support the project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

BOP Design met all of our website milestones as set forth in our original plan. Additionally, they provided expert guidance on the best way and best methods for implementations and features and functions we wanted to add to the site.

I can go to BOP with an idea or even an idea a colleague has and I can get a well-thought-out professional response from them. They listen to our requests and think them through.

When we get a wild request from a colleague who thinks we ought to do something with our website because so and so does it, I am able to ask BOP what they think and they are able to provide me with a response of why it is or is not the right thing for us to do. I have had several requests from other organizations, asking who designed our website and I refer them to BOP Design.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

BOP managed our website projects very well. Aside from the initial stakeholder discovery session with myself, our CEO, COO, and Head of Business Development, and a few others, BOP really took time to understand us and what we do.

We had weekly, then bi-weekly touchpoint meetings and BOP also has a project manager assigned to our account, with whom we try to drive everything through. BOP would submit concept ideas to us, then once approved would have their development team build out the pages.

We also utilized a webpage review sandbox tool, which was pretty cool. In addition, we would communicate via email on the status of projects and we'd also deal directly with other BOP team members as appropriate, for other marketing-related projects, including, for example, their writer who was helping to write our blogs to be posted on our website.

I often joked to BOP, telling them they will need to project manage me, to keep me on track because I was so focused on other marketing-related projects from my day-to-day job. They do a fantastic job!

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I had specific requirements from a B2B website design agency and I performed stringent comparisons of 9 agencies, including two others who are Clutch reviewed agencies and BOP Design was the clear winner.

Bop hit the mark with understanding what we needed to achieve and understanding our vision of driving rich content, thought leadership, building a community, and inbound marketing. BOP Design response time and follow-up are impeccable.

They were willing to accommodate multiple time zones from all over the world for initial meetings with stakeholders. They continue to be this responsive and super easy to work with.

BOP provided pricing options and a well-thought-out methodology for pricing for a staged approach to building our website -- from building a basic site for go live to the pricing structure for additional navigation and content build-up through to the inclusion of blogging and other content marketing.

Are there any areas for improvement?

BOP Design is an excellent website design agency that we were lucky enough to find who also performs other marketing agency work as well, which we take advantage of. I don't think there are any areas where BOP needs to improve.

In fact, I've often laughed and told them they need to project manage me so I can be sure to be responsive and timely with what I need to provide to them so they can do their job.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the client development director at a restaurant consulting firm. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Bop Design?

We needed a brand refresh and website redesign.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They created a new homepage as well as a communications strategy for the homepage. That included a new site map that incorporated new services and adjusted for our new brand positioning strategy. In addition to design work and content curation, they built out the technical aspects of the website’s functionality. They created a custom WordPress template for the new platform. 

What is the team composition?

We interacted with about five people, including a creative designer, a content manager, and a technical lead. The others played administrative roles. 

How did you come to work with Bop Design?

We worked with them about five years before we started this project. They did such a great job in the past that we hired them again.

How much have you invested with them?

The project fee was $34,600. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them from February–October 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The quality of service was very high because they’re experts on B2B websites. They have plenty of experience in lead capture and communicating strong messages through their work. They did a great job. 

How did Bop Design perform from a project management standpoint?

We had regularly-scheduled Zoom calls and a few in-person meetings before the pandemic hit. We were expecting the project to be complete earlier, but that wasn’t their fault. The pandemic complicated our timeline. They were strong at scheduling and meeting deadlines.  

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were flexible with our team when building out pages. We were launching a new program as they were developing the site, so we integrated those elements as our engagement progressed. The designer was very collaborative, responding quickly to feedback. We felt like the collaboration was very strong.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they were a pleasure to work with.  

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure you’re internally aligned on approvals for design and content. Having a tight team of decision-makers is important for efficiency.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Communications and Operations Coordinator at La Piana Consulting. La Piana Consulting has helped more than a thousand nonprofits and foundations leverage strategy, structure, and culture to realize their goals.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Bop Design?

La Piana Consulting hired BOP design for website redesign. This project included the development of, user interface design, responsive design, web development (HTML, CSS, PHP & jQuery), WordPress content management system (CMS), and a customized website manual post-launch.

BOP also provided a content audit, recommendations & sitemap, brand messaging & copywriting, and content migration.

What were your goals for this project?

The objective of this projects was to create a more compelling and credible website that would better showcase our work, resonate with leaders and board members of large national/international nonprofits and foundations; as well as smaller, local organizations.

Our goal was also to drives more organic traffic by being more prominent for targeted keyword phrases and to increase overall business by giving us the marketing tools to clearly communicate our unique value proposition, drive ideal decision makers to the site, prompt conversion, and in turn, increase client base.

SOLUTION

How did you select Bop Design?

Our Business Development team researched and selected six potential agencies to support us with our redesign. We requested proposals from each and then held calls to review the proposal and best recommendations. Our team was able to narrow down our selection to two. Then, we were able to meet with BOP and a larger internal team to ask questions and meet our potential web redesign team.

Describe the project in detail.

Once we selected BOP design, we kicked off with a creative discovery call (2 hours), which was followed by a creative pitch (1 hour). From there, we were provided with 2 homepage concepts, a sitemap, and 2 brand messaging directions. We reflected as a team and once we selected the direction we wanted to take, we kicked off the project.

We worked closely with BOP to develop content and narrow down relevant SEO terms for our site. BOP stayed consistent with their timeline and were very communicative throughout the entire process.

What was the team composition?

The team included a Web Content Director, a Web Development Manager, a Content Marketing Director, a Lead Developer, a Senior Designer, and an SEO Director.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have been keeping an eye on our analytics internally, but it is worthy to note that BOP continues to send us a monthly recap of our website performance. We have also noticed a tremendous increase in our number of client intakes, which makes use of the contact buttons that BOP strategically placed throughout the website which has made it convenient for potential clients to reach out to us.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

BOP is very adept at communicating and scheduling. Our team always felt as though we could reach out at any time and would receive a prompt reply. Expectations of each party was clear and the timeline was followed throughout the process. If our team had questions, they were answered courteously and were always well explained.

We communicated largely over email with several Zoom calls placed appropriately throughout the project.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

This company is approachable and warm and feels like a small family that delivers huge results. We were impressed by their levels of knowledge in each area of the web redesign and their follow through and overall implementation.

Are there any areas for improvement?

BOP remained consistent from our very first interaction to the very last (although we still keep in touch)! We do not have any areas for improvement.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the marketing director at mPulse Mobile, the leader in Conversational AI for healthcare, providing healthcare consumer engagement solutions throughout the industry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We badly needed a website refresh after 5+ years, a lot of growth, and some dramatic improvements to our technology and business. This included improved messaging, a site structure that better lined up with our business goals, and an all new look and feel.

SOLUTION

How did you select Bop Design and what were the deciding factors?

Bop's portfolio demonstrated they knew how to solve our challenges and understood the space. We were initially drawn to their B2B expertise, which has some unique challenges and requires a different understanding of website goals than many other development companies offered.

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

We initially met with the Bop team in person to discuss the goals of the new website, including our desire to remain on WordPress and be able to easily manage / update ourselves going forward. We provided design ideas and preferences, which led to wireframes.

After a few rounds of feedback, we finalized design and they got to work developing. Meanwhile, others on our team worked on keyword strategy and copy with Bop to improve SEO and update brand voice. Finally Bop made sure our existing technology, including HubSpot and Jazz HR, was properly implemented.

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

Roughly 8-10 outside of sales, ranging from design to copy and technical dev,

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We just launched the site less than a week ago, so no measurable metrics yet. We look forward to benchmarking the rest of the year against the first half to see improvements to traffic, lead gen and even deal velocity.

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

Bop is able to take the lead and fill in gaps proactively while also being open to direct feedback without ego. We primarily communicated via email, though they were open to other project management software. BugHerd was a big help during final site review and feedback.

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

They felt like true partners. They didn't rush along progress to hit an arbitrary deadline, though they pushed us to keep up on our end. Rather they made sure we got what we really wanted at each step of the way. I was especially impressed by our technical discussions.

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

Some rounds of revisions lagged a bit for what seemed like small revisions on our end. I suspect this was either due to working in sprints or division of labor on other projects, both of which are fair. A bit more clarity on turnaround times for revisions, especially in the middle of the project, would have provided peace of mind at that stage.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I lead the marketing team at QuickFrame, a video-as-a-service platform. We enable companies to produce data-driven videos much faster and more affordably than traditional production methods.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Bop Design?

We needed to better empower the marketing team to drive greater inbound leads so that we could pass more marketing qualified leads through to the sales team for sales opportunities.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They did a total redesign of our B2B website, including the site experience and map. It’s the same domain as our old site, but they created an entirely new one and switched us over to WordPress. They did development, UX/UI and graphic design, development, and Google Analytics set up. They did everything through to actual launch, and then they monitored the site for performance.

What is the team composition?

We had a full team, including a dedicated project manager who was on for the duration. Then, depending on the phase of the work, we worked with designers, copywriters, digital marketing specialists, technical managers, and their development team.

How did you come to work with Bop Design?

We came across them through various Google searches. They really specialize in B2B websites and striking the line between a custom-looking site that is unique to your brand and organization, and one that is template-based, so that it’s easy to maintain and update. We were looking for a website that can evolve over time because we’re a fast-growing but small organization with limited marketing resources, so we needed something that would really empower our team to take control of the site.

How much have you invested with them?

My company spent $32,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project kicked off in April 2020, and it went live in July. The only ongoing maintenance is standard to their engagements, where they monitor the site for 30 days to make sure there are no broken links or red flags. However, once the site went live, the majority of the work had concluded.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It’s only been live for about two weeks, but we’ve already seen a 250% increase in weekly inbound leads. Right out of the gate, we’re already seeing much higher conversions on similar types of unique traffic to our site per week. Overall, it’s a more effective site for explaining what our services are and driving people to take action and contact us. Initially, we’re seeing very strong results, and hopefully the numbers will only increase.

How did Bop Design perform from a project management standpoint?

It was very clear; they set a project schedule from the very beginning and really adhered to it. We had the same project manager for the duration of the engagement, which was really helpful so that we could build a relationship with them. It was always very clear when things were going to be delivered and when we owed feedback. We had a weekly call on Thursday afternoons just to go through any ongoing work and check in on progress. They were really easy to communicate with and very fast in their e-mail response times. They were very polished in that regard. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

The ease of working with them sets them apart. They are clearly experts in building B2B websites. They lead with a sense of authority and credibility in that regard, so when we didn't necessarily know which direction to go in, they were able to use that experience to guide us. It all stems from their extensive experience in this domain, which makes them very easy to work with and simultaneously consultative and action-oriented. They got the work done in the timeframe we needed them to.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It worked for us, but if a company is looking for a really out-of-the-box website with a lot of bells and whistles, Bop Design is probably not the place to go. However, if you’re looking for a really polished and professional B2B website that is effective at driving conversions, I couldn’t recommend them more.

Any advice for potential customers?

Have a strong sense of what you’re trying to accomplish on the site. Come to the table with ideas of what types of web pages you’re looking for on your site and what services and products you want to promote. Also, have as many inspirational websites as possible to provide as examples; they really go a long way in shaping the ultimate deliverable that you get from Bop.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of Smart Works, an event and travel agency.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Bop Design?

We needed a new website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Bop Design designed and developed a new website in WordPress. They were responsible for everything, including content, pictures, and designing the pages.

What is the team composition?

There are about 10 people working on the project. 

How did you come to work with Bop Design?

I found them on Clutch. I considered about five agencies, and I chose this team because they submitted the best proposal and were great at communication.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together around January 2020, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The website just launched, and the feedback has been great so far. The team really understands our industry, and it is a pleasure working with them.

How did Bop Design perform from a project management standpoint?

Bop Design is flexible and accommodates our requests. They’re also responsive. We communicate via conference calls and email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The team is flexible, easy to work with, and shows an interest in our company. They are good at what they do.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I have no suggestions.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the director of marketing for a copper wire manufacturer.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Bop Design?

I joined the company about two years ago. We had an old website that was outsourced abroad. It was okay, but it was outdated with old aesthetics and had functional limitations and UX issues. It wasn’t a progressive, modern website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

There was the old website that they worked off of, but we had to create a new sitemap and while we were building out the site, during the initial engagement, they did a great job of really understanding our business goals to help with the new website. They understood our perspective and what we needed. They did a good job of showing the project timeline and we went through all that.

While we were creating the website, there were definitely some issues from the old website that had to be addressed such as missing content, dividing the blog from company news, and they did a really good job of addressing all those issues when we hit them quite quickly.

We stayed in WordPress because we wanted to make sure our SEO did a good job of maintaining the website. We wanted to be Google-friendly and mobile-friendly which was obviously an important concern for us.

What is the team composition?

Overall, they are quite cross-functional in how they work. It was a waterfall methodology, meaning while we were doing different parts of the web redesign, you still have different functional experts within the company. While we were doing the initial concept of the homepage, it involved a lead designer. When we started going into the content creation phase, we had more interaction with their head of content. In the last phase, we had more interaction with their lead web developer. There was always a project manager involved along the way but one of the things I liked about Bop Design is that I was interacting with the functional expert as well. Whenever I had a question, I would CC the project manager, but I always interfaced directly with the expert at the time.  

How did you come to work with Bop Design?

I turned to Google first. I have some SEO expertise, and I googled B2B website redesign agency and they showed up at the top of Google. That is a pretty hard keyword to rank for, and I thought that was very much a stamp of approval of Google and they must be doing something right to have that prized position.

I had dealt with several different agencies but several were unprofessional. Bop Design impressed me with their portfolio of other companies in my own vertical they have worked with. I did like they are an agency that doesn’t say they do everything. They are quite specialized. They told me what they focus on which is more on manufacturing, IT, and financial services, and they actually do that.

Their content was good. They have a pretty good content marketing operation in-house. It didn’t have too much jargon; it was really helpful and good content. When I spoke to them, I thought they were very first class in the way they handled our engagement. They weren’t pushy. Those initial points of interaction were important.

I asked them to send me some of their own marketing materials so I could know how they go about designing a website, and a couple of days later I got a box in the mail with a handwritten card in it from Jeremy (Business Principal) and that definitely stood out.

How much have you invested in them?

Altogether, it was maybe $44,000. They are really great at trying to stay in budget and they really went out of their way to find ways to not charge us for things. There were things that we did not include in the scope and they were great to try and find a way to work around it.

What is the status of this engagement?

I believe it was September 2019.

I kept them on for a content marketing retainer. The website is live, and the content marketing retainer started in June and that is a one-year engagement.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Typically, when you launch a new website, your SEO takes a big hit but it is normal. It was an important thing to me that we knew we were going to take a hit but we needed to recover as quickly as possible for keyword positioning. It is totally normal to fall but the question is how long you stay down for. I currently track a lot of keywords and monitor them regularly each day to see if we were falling more flat or increasing.

Compared to where we were a year ago, we are up in organic search and we are starting to see the uptick. They made a website that is now working towards our SEO, and I think that as we grow as a company, it is the right website we want people visiting. They did a great job making the website SEO friendly and that is reflecting in the analytics.

How did Bop Design perform from a project management standpoint?

I think they used Basecamp. I sent a lot of emails, and I would say our most dominant form of interaction was probably email. We also had a periodic video conference. We had an internal web design team of about five members who represented different organs of the company. Then towards the end of the debugging process we used a tool called BugHerd where myself and other members of the company would go through and mark areas to fix. It has a Trello board in it.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Marketing agencies are not like law firms that are accredited and have to take the bar exam which is a method of quality control. At the end of the day, a lot of people think of agencies have minimal experience, it can feel a little Wild West with agencies and any of them can say whatever they want. If you don’t know what you’re doing, a lot of them can squeeze a company for a lot of money.

When I looked at the price comparison, it was such a good value. I remember talking to one agency who said it would be a minimum of six figures which I thought was absurd. Bop Design has a lot of integrity in how they go about doing their business. That really stood out to me and I thought they really got us. They took the time to interview us and talk to the different members of our company. When they did the creative pitch and reviewed the website and went through the pages, apart from the debugging process, I felt they did such a good job executing on the vision we had. As a company, we loved our partnership with them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It can feel like a risk working with a remote company especially on a web redesign and one of the advantages of the company I was thinking of choosing instead of them had at the time was that they were a lot closer to us. Where Bop Design can improve a little bit is to have some more scheduled phone call meetings. We had some of those, but it wasn’t the easiest to have a phone call just to talk about something. They were pretty fast with emails, but I think it is important to have more regular communication and if someone has a question, they can pick up the phone and call that point person for that. I wouldn’t say it was a frustration but something they could get a little better at.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You need to know your business. You need to know what you are doing and have someone that can do that. In my opinion and with my expertise, I think that often when a relationship goes sour between a client and the agency, I think it can often be on the client-side.

They don’t know what they are doing or don’t have realistic expectations. You need to have real reasonable goals you are trying to achieve, and you need to have an internal evangelist in that company who can argue for that. I have that individual in my company, so I knew what the company wanted, and Bop did a really great job of trying to understand that.

Especially for a lot of manufacturers or anyone is in the technical space, it isn’t really fair to expect an agency to know your business or know your profit margins the way you do. You have to approach them knowing that and give them direction and they will achieve that. I think Bop has been really great at that. They aren’t trying to constantly upsell us, and I think a lot of agencies will try to do that.

I feel a great deal of trust with Bop. I think they are totally transparent in trying to achieve your goals. They know what they are really good at and they stay with that and that is great for companies like mine.