Bop Design

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 It was okay, but it was outdated with old aesthetics and had functional limitations and UX issues.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.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Marketing Manager for a technology company. We are located in San Diego, CA and have 70 employes. I’m responsible for the strategic direction four all aspects of our marketing and advertising.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Improve SEO rankings and online leads.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted help to research the best keywords for our various product pages, optimize each webpage, and increase our SEO rankings with the goal of increasing our online leads.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We previously used BOP Design to help redesign our website. They were great to work with, so we partnered with them again.

Describe the project in detail.

The path we decided to implement includes; SEO keyword research, on-page rework, improved advertising strategy, AdWords campaign, regular content generation and monthly newsletter and blogging to increase web traffic and increase leads.

What was the team composition?

I usually go through the Content Marketing Director, but I also work with the owner for various tasks. Each person on the team is friendly, professional and always willing to share their knowledge to help me grow.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Within the last few weeks, we've seen our SEO rankings improve, our web traffic increase and we've received over 20 new website leads. Our Sales team is also vey happy with the quality of the leads.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

BOP’s team is great to work with. They always respond right away, keep me involved in every decision, and help keep me on schedule with each deliverable. They are always available and willing to help when I need them.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Aside from the increased results, which have been great, they’re a great team to work with. The due-diligence they put in at the beginning of the project and their follow-through since have made all the difference.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None at this time.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a B2B employment screening organization. We work with HR professionals to run background checks on their new-hire employees. My role is the digital marketing and operations manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Bop Design?

We did a rebrand as well as a new website. This year we implemented a new brand and new brand guidelines. With that, we wanted to improve our website to align with the guidelines. We also wanted to expand content on our site.  

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They developed a custom WordPress site and built the entire thing from scratch. They rewrote all the content, and ensured that the look and feel of the site matched our guidelines.

What is the team composition?

There were a couple of point of contact. There was a copywriter, a developer, and a project manager.

How did you come to work with Bop Design?

I did a lot of online research, specifically looking for B2B and WordPress experts. I looked at quite a few reviews sites, including Clutch. Their samples were great, and they were located nearby, so they could come on site to get things kicked off.

How much have you invested with them?

It was between $25,000–$50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted from November 2019–April 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

 Overall, feedback has been positive, especially form employees. We’ve seen a huge improvement in the UX and how people are contacting us. We’ve also seen an uptick in traffic. We’re doing some feature evaluation, but in general, the addition of new content has helped our rankings for certain keywords.

How did Bop Design perform from a project management standpoint?

There was a lot of email communication, and they were pretty responsive. They’re good at communicating upfront about what the steps are and what’s happening to the provided timeline. As things changed, they let us know when there were issues and how it impacted deadlines.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re very organized, and from the beginning, everything has been very clear. They tell me what’s going to happen and when. All of their information helped us understand what this project will look like over time. Whereas some of the other providers we talked to gave us general information, they gave us project schedules and walked us through what the process was like.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could be a little more proactive on setting up calls to review things. Check-in calls, and having built-in conversations could be helpful.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

The biggest thing is following the timeline and putting in effort to making sure that it’s a partnership. You have to make sure you give them all the information to do the job.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of a firm that provides consulting and executive search services for accounting and finance talent.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Bop Design?

I was trying to increase our opportunities in the market as well as improve our branding. We wanted to increase lead generation and needed help with our digital strategies.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Bop Design created a fully functioning website with SEO capabilities. They did the design, the development, and the content. Their team also created several different marketing pieces for us such as brochures, a salary guide, and other print collateral. They create blog content to get backlinks to our website. Their team manages email and other advertising campaigns. I’ve been expanding the scope of their services because we’ve been impressed with the products.

What is the team composition?

The size of the team depends on the project. Overall, we’ve probably worked with 5–7 different people from their team. We've had a project manager for each project.

How did you come to work with Bop Design?

I saw a company’s product and asked about their service provider. The company sang Bop Design’s praises. Their team’s past work and the customer journey were impressive. They were direct, upfront, and honest, so they won trust and credibility with me right away. Their team led with value as opposed to trying to sell to me.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $40,000 on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together around April 2019 and their work’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They created a website that put us in a strong place in our market. Our team’s excited about the website’s new look and feel. Our new approach feels modern and matches the level of our firm, which empowered and engaged our team. I’ve heard feedback about the website, which mentioned how it looks professional and caters to our clientele. Everyone said that it’s crisp, clean, and professional looking.

How did Bop Design perform from a project management standpoint?

We’ve split our contact between verbal communication and digital communication, usually via email. Their team’s been good about being communicative. They delivered everything that they said they would deliver on time.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The visuals and the content that they’ve created are impressive. Bop Design’s the first company that performed above our expectations.  They’re flexible with our firm and are firm centric. Their team’s concerned about our accomplishments. They’ve been able to make major pivots to accommodate us. Bop Design’s a partner more than a vendor.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I’m stuck on coming up with anything to mention.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Understand what you want and be able to communicate that. Their team helped me to articulate what I wanted to achieve but it would’ve been easier if I were able to better communicate that.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the website product owner for a tech company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Bop Design?

We went with Bop Design because we needed a website redesign. It was a nightmare to work with our CMS. It was impossible to make any updates and we were looking to optimize that experience to provide people with a better website experience.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Bop Design provided guidance in terms of design elements. Their team designed pages and built templates for us to have a great CMS experience. They also gave us writers to support the content that we needed for SEO initiatives. Additionally, their team provided development support and have helped with a number of other projects.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with 6–8 people including account and development project managers.

How did you come to work with Bop Design?

I came on board after the company hired Bop Design. I believe that our company evaluated several agencies and made a decision based on a cost-benefit analysis and what each agency could provide.

How much have you invested with them?

The website redesign cost about $40,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The redesign project kicked off in June 2019 and we still collaborate with Bop Design on different initiatives.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

There’s been a huge improvement in our ability to make updates on our own. The website’s really user-friendly on the back end. It was built in a robust way on their end to easy for non-technical people to use. 

We restructured the site to be more SEO friendly overall. We reduced the average site speed but there’s still room to minimize the code and compress images so we’re working on that.

How did Bop Design perform from a project management standpoint?

We’re in different locations, so our method of communication was digital. We had Zoom calls that involved the entire team. Towards the end, we had a lot of back and forth and I made Zoom calls more prominent to make sure that we could answer everyone’s questions for efficiency purposes. We used Basecamp to track the projects as well as a tool to upload and review content.

We met our final deadline but there were deadlines that weren’t met in the process. It was easy to communicate with them. I’m a huge fan of their web development team’s project manager. She’s organized and detailed. We had good notes.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re personable, so I haven’t felt like one of a thousand clients. Additionally, it’s easy to communicate with them to accomplish our goals.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s room for improvement on their end. For example, some of the feedback that we sent back seemed to be a little repetitive. They’re taking on a lot of work, but they could improve by giving the same priority to everyone. That’ll also help with meeting all deadlines.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have a holistic view of all of the project requirements built out with specific deadlines so that they’re staggered. Make sure that there’s alignment internally so there’s not a lot of back and forth with the Bop Design team, which makes their work more difficult.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a marketing director at Agile Velocity. We provide business coaching and training services to Fortune 1000 companies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Bop Design?

We asked Bop Design to revamp our logo. Our website had a ton of content that we patched together over the last 7–8 years. Our blogs generated traffic but didn't turn into leads. We thought that it was partially because people didn’t understand our business.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Bop Design helped us to rebrand. Their team transformed the logo and gave it a much more modern look and feel. They kept certain elements that our founders wanted to keep but produced 5–6 different options. We picked one that their team then tweaked. They also softened our colors while keeping our basic look. 

Bop Design also built our WordPress site with a custom theme, streamlining the product to reflect our services. Their team built a new site architecture with us. We fed them content from our site that we thought was the right fit. And then, they copyedited the pieces.

What is the team composition?

We worked with probably five different people on the project. We worked with a lead, a creative lead, and a content editor.

How did you come to work with Bop Design?

I worked with them in the past, so I decided to bring them on board at my new company.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $35,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We closed the statement of work in December 2019 and kicked off this project in January 2020. We’re still working together.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We got great feedback on the site and the rebrand. We launched the platform during a big event. Our team loves the site and the rebrand but it’s still too early to see the total impact of the site. 

How did Bop Design perform from a project management standpoint?

We were on a short timeline and their team accommodated it. Their team came through on the deadlines and met our expectations. They were quick but also listened to all of our feedback.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They hold to their process and stick to the project plan, both of which are good qualities. Their team won’t start development until the creative and the content are 100% set. When those components aren’t ready for the development, a project drags and timelines extend because the plan changes.

Are there any areas they could improve?

At first, we didn’t have weekly meetings. Then, we asked for them and that changed everything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I recommend weekly check-in meetings. As well, invest the time upfront to establish your goals and expectations. Do that across the stakeholders in your company.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Marketing Director of a Managed IT and Cybersecurity Company based in Los Angeles and I was tasked to do a re-brand as well as launch a new website for our company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We have worked with different web firms over the last couple of years, and realized that we were not getting the full potential out of our website and wanted to focus on a new direction, especially since our business works with other businesses and not direct to consumer.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goal was to be able to compete with other national and international companies in the IT world, showing our capabilities and professionalism all while being focused on our business ethics.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I researched the top B2B web firms and after speaking with the BOP Design team I knew they understood what we were looking to do and how to accomplish it for us.

Describe the project in detail.

The scope was an entire rebrand of our website, truly starting from scratch with new ideas on design and concept. We wanted to make it seamless for our old and new customers to see what our offerings were without all the boring details they might not care to see. We also wanted to make it easy for anyone on our team to be able to edit the site as we saw fit later down the line, so they made it very seamless for us.

What was the team composition?

I worked with about 4 different team members depending on where we were in the project, which actually made it seamless. I knew who I would work with in design to content to technical and it was easy to work with everyone.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Within a week of our new site launching we already have a couple different potentially large sales leads that we have meetings with.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Extremely effective! The tools they use for content editing and testing were fabulous and easy to use. No problems at all.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I loved their professionalism, their creativity, and their thoughtfulness. We have a lot of people on our end with varying opinions, but they were able to work with us and really make everything come alive. They are also extremely fast in response time to any question we may have, which I really appreciated.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the founder and CEO of SolusGuard. We provide wearable and software safety solutions to help companies keep their employees safe. I am also the founder and CEO of ORA, which is a personal wearable safety device company for consumers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

At the time we were creating a new B2B company as a pivot from our B2C company. We needed assistance with creating a brand that was completely unique from our B2C company. This was harder than one would think, because we had been so focused on consumers and what they needed. It was imperative that we created a brand/logo/presence that was properly geared to the B2B market.

We didn't feel we would be objective enough nor creative enough to create a unique enough brand. After the initial brand and website design, we engaged Bop in digital marketing strategies. Although we had some success with our consumer company, we wanted a much deeper and more sophisticated approach to our B2B company than we could do ourselves.

What were your goals for this project?

Firstly the creation of a new, unique brand that clearly communicated our differentiation. Secondly, ongoing digital marketing support to close internal gaps.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

First we searched for B2B tech marketing companies. They came on top of Google results as #1. That was key for us. If a company wasn't ranked #1, how could we expect that they could get us to #1?! We narrowed our search to 3 companies 1 in the USA and 2 in Canada. From there we reviewed their products and services, the results they had with other companies, etc.

We selected BOP for a number of reasons, primarily because of their ability to clearly demonstrate successes they've had with other companies. Also because they specialized in this area.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Strategic, creative, media planning & buying, marketing execution, tracking, reporting, and more... such as:

• brand design
• website design
• digital advertising
• SEO, Ad Words, Ad re-targeting
• social media management 
• blogs

... and much more!

What was the team composition?

Over the past year we have had 9 people from BOP working with us, two of which are our primary contacts.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The results have exceeded all expectations!

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Excellent communication between teams.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Bop is the complete package! They are able to do everything we need them to do in all areas. We don't need to go to any other company to help us meet our needs in this space.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None that I can think of.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m one of the co-founders of Quertle. We’re a search engine for the biomedical field that has operated for nine years. We use AI to direct people towards published information immediately. We employ visualizations to help people understand and an exploratory feature.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Bop Design?

The website was my attempt to learn WordPress, so it wasn’t necessarily the best product and wasn’t working.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Bop Design developed a corporate WordPress website for my business. Their team went through the website and used the existing template from our previous website to build the new one. We spoke with them a lot and worked with their team on content. They also directed SEO, coming up with images and an outline to implement on the website. Their team created a platform that flows nicely, and all the important content’s done multiple times. They implemented sliders and images. Now, folks know how to use the site and how to request demos of our products. We did go to an individual to create the front page, but Bop Design did a lot of work.

What is the team composition?

We interacted with a number of different people, probably about five different individuals. There were more people on the backend team who helped us.

How did you come to work with Bop Design?

The woman who helps us with our social media presence searched for the best agencies and contacted Bop Design, which sent an original proposal to her. We interviewed four different companies and picked Bop Design because they seemed to have a proven step-by-step process to get what we needed: people to click through and interact with the website.

How much have you invested with them?

The project cost $25,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We signed the agreement at the end of March 2018. The project started around April and the site launched in October 2018. If we hadn’t been so picky to find the perfect front page, the website could’ve been released a month earlier.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We started announcing the website in October and into early November. After the launch, website traffic doubled. In October, we had one real request from a user for a product demo. In November, we had 19 qualified leads. I was blown away—it was amazing.

How did Bop Design perform from a project management standpoint?

They had their own system, working on different versions at the same time. We struggled to find an image for the front page, but Bop Design worked with us as we went back and forth. Their team was well organized and responsive. Everyone that we interacted with was knowledgeable and professional. They’re a great company that managed the project well.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their team has proven mechanics and processes for building a good website. They were really able to help us out as we went through the project. When we gave ideas, Bop Design not only made recommendations but also told us why. Multiple people were able to provide research to support their suggestions. Their team was on the ball. They stood out a cut above others because their team knew the best way to do what they do.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They had a version of the website for us to look at and make changes. And then they had the official developers version, which was not in the same location. That confused us, trying to figure out how the developers would access the changes. That could be fine for some but we’re used to coding. It would’ve gone smoother and faster if we had had one place where we knew when we made a change that a developer would see it.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure to have your own research done. We had to write what we needed because you can’t wait for them to come up with everything. But, when they have an idea for a modification, I would recommend letting them go with it. They’ve done this for a long time and provide great ideas. I would highly recommend them to anyone. Don’t even think of it.