Custard Online Marketing Ltd

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m a director at Arboles UK. Arboles UK supplies high-quality laboratory taps, Vulcathene chemical drainage, laboratory sinks, emergency showers, emergency eyewashes, and PED boxes to businesses and education centers. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire this vendor?

Arboles UK hired Custard Online Marketing to assist with the launch of our new website to ensure a smooth migration. Custard Online Marketing also conducted some initial optimization activities and helped us launch a blog for the site. The initial optimization work included outreach and content creation.

What were your goals for this project?

First and foremost, our main goal was a smooth migration from our old site to the new site. Our website is a core part of our business and is used to drive inquiries. We hoped that a modern-looking website would appeal to new customers and be well received by our long-standing customers. However, we knew that we needed to handle the migrations carefully, which is why we sought out Custard Online Marketing’s support from the beginning.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

After interviewing several SEO and web advertising agencies, we felt that only Custard Online Marketing fully understood what we wanted to achieve. The team listened to what we thought we needed, and then we had an open and honest conversation about how their services could align with what we actually needed. Throughout the selection process, there wasn’t any ‘selling,’ which we appreciated.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

To assist with the site migration, Custard Online Marketing split the work into three sets of activities: a pre-launch review, launch day testing and analysis, and a post-launch audit to ensure that everything was functioning properly.

As part of the pre-launch review, Custard Online Marketing mapped old URLs and identified the most relevant URL on the new site to redirect to. This was extremely important because we made several changes to our URL structure on the new site. Alongside the URL mapping exercise, Custard Online Marketing also charted and rewrote the metadata for every page, reviewing our robots.txt file, XML sitemaps, pagination tags, and meta robots’ tags to ensure that every element of new site had been thoroughly inspected. 

On launch day, Custard performed a full crawl of the site to ensure that everything had successfully moved across from the development site. Once they were happy that our development agency had performed each task correctly, they alerted Google to the new version of the website via Google Search Console.

Post-launch and for the first month after the migration, Custard Online Marketing performed a weekly review of crawl stats, indexation levels, keyword rankings, analytics traffic, organic visibility, and broken links and pages. Custard Online Marketing worked with our web development agency from start to finish to ensure that all of the recommendations were implemented quickly and correctly.

What was the team composition?

Our primary contact was our account manager and Alex (Head of SEO, Custard Online Marketing). Both were present during our initial meetings regarding the migration. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

The migration was smooth and completed easily with Custard Online Marketing’s support. Users and sessions were not a core KPI for this project. But after the site went live, the number of organic users increased by 21%, the length of sessions grew by 16%, and the number of overall pages visited per session rose by 4%. Seeing this boost within three months of the new site going live was positive. It was also a testament to Custard Online Marketing doing a thorough job and advising valuable improvements.

By the end of the six-month period, we also saw our core keywords’ positions improve for the first time in a very long time. Our core terms saw noticeable improvements. As an example, for the term “gas tap,” we went from position 50 to 5; as of June 2019, we’re in position 2. Similarly, for terms where we were ranking on page 2, we were able to move up to page 1 by the end of the six-month campaign. This has significantly improved our organic traffic.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it? Did you use any specific project management tools?

We had an account manager appointed from the outset to manage the delivery. They were our day-to-day contact and worked closely with our web development team. Although some of the checks were conducted by some of the more junior members of the technical team, Alex reviewed everything personally before giving it the go-ahead. This level of service and attention to detail is something that we don’t always get when we work with a big agency.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Custard Online Marketing’s technical knowledge was very impressive. They were also extremely proficient with organization and time management. The team replied to all emails and questions immediately, and they met every deadline in advance. Someone was also always on hand for calls and meetings or when the need arose.

Are there any areas where they could improve?

No. We would not hesitate to recommend Custard Online Marketing moving forward or to consider working with them on future projects.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m a director at DBS Bathrooms, a panel and cladding specialist in the UK. Since 1999, we’ve provided complete refurbishments to businesses and homes across the UK.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Custard Online Marketing?

We initially hired Custard Online Marketing to assist with our organic search performance. Before we started working with them, our traffic was declining year and year. Eventually, we engaged with them for paid search activity as well.

What were your goals for this project?

On the organic search side, our goals were to boost organic traffic, increase website conversions, and improve the number of offline inquiries. For paid search, we wanted to improve our ROI, increase the number of sales, and drive more relevant paid search traffic to our website.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

After searching thoroughly for available SEO agencies, we narrowed them down to three agencies. Custard Online Marketing was by far the standout choice.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Custard Online Marketing has provided a range of services to improve organic performance. Within the first month, their team conducted a backlink audit, removing any links that were holding the site back. They’ve also completed a technical and blog audit. The technical audit identified over 60 action points for us to work through with our web development partner.

Their team conducted keyword analysis of the main category pages for optimization and created blog content for the site. Over the last three years, we’ve strengthened our backlink profile with Custard Online Marketing’s outreach services.

For paid search, Custard Online Marketing focused on granular campaign management. They also introduced dynamic search ads along with a brand campaign. Their team managed the paid search account to improve performance, making tweaks when necessary.

What was the team composition?

We were appointed an account manager as our daily contact. Occasionally, we interface with the Head of SEO and the technical SEO team. Their team works closely with our web development agency.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

We’ve seen significant improvements from the work they’ve carried out. Since appointing Custard Online Marketing, we’ve seen growth year after year. Users and sessions have increased by over 35%. Transactions increased by 26%, with organic revenue up 30% as a result. Our search visibility score rose from 95 to 328 in three years. This represents an increase of 245%.

Since Custard Online Marketing manages our paid search campaign, the e-commerce conversion rate increased by 55%, and transactions increased by 57%. Our revenue generated has grown by 132%, and when combined with the reduction in spend, our overall ROI has increased by over 200%.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Throughout the month, we regularly communicate with our account manager and receive PPC and SEO reports. During each SEO campaign, we had campaign review meetings to discuss the overall strategy. We didn’t use specific project management tools for this particular project.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their level of knowledge was impressive. Their team was able to identify issues and make considered recommendations with clear expectations. These explanations helped prioritize certain tasks or expedite projects to ensure that we would realize the benefit of their recommendations. The PPC reports and reviews were incredibly detailed, with a data-driven approach to optimize campaign performance.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Overall, we’re pleased with their performance and the results we’ve seen. Custard Online Marketing made a clear contribution to our success as a business.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We manufacture and retail high-end memory foam dog beds.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Custard Online Marketing?

As a new brand, we enlisted them to create initial awareness for us.

What were your goals for this project?

Our main goal is to generate sales and brand awareness.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We selected them based on a recommendation from another company in our retail sector.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

They were very proactive about learning who we are as a business and what our brand represents. This helped to create a sturdy foundation for them to represent us. They implemented this by creating effective Facebook and Instagram campaigns, along with efficient campaigns on Google.

What was the team composition?

There are a number of people who are involved in our projects. They all are brilliantly talented.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They were excellent at hunting down our audience and ensuring we converted them effectively. Our brand exposure is growing steadily and sales are continually rising.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Our correspondence is fast. I rarely have to wait over an hour to hear back from them. They make last-minute adjustments seamlessly, with no issues whatsoever.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their communication is impeccable. They are always available.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, I can’t see much room to improve.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the e-commerce manager at UK’s largest specialty leather retailer. We have 15 stores and growing web business.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Custard Online Marketing?

We hired Custard Online Marketing to manage our Google Ads. We also started Bing Ads at their recommendation.

What were your goals for this project?

We knew that PPC advertising would drive immediate sales to our website. Future developments would see us refine our Google Shopping feed, activate local inventory ads, and dissect and identify key categories to drive ROI.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We vetted a number of companies but had previous dealings with some of their team. I felt confident in Custard Online Marketing’s abilities.

Describe the project in detail.

Custard Online Marketing is proactively managing PPC for our business. We work closely with the account manager to ensure we promote the same key campaigns. They give us regular feedback, calls and monthly performance reports. Because of their feedback, we also implemented page and category changes to support the channel.

What was the team composition?

We have regular interactions with our account manager and the PPC strategist.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any statistics or metrics that speak to the quality of their work and impact of the engagement?

In the last two years alone, we’ve seen our revenue on Google Ads double. Our revenue for Bing Ads has increased as well. Our spend increased four-fold due to the excellent ROI their team helped us achieve.

How did Custard Online Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

Our account manager is quick to respond. They maintain regular contact, ensuring we always understand our campaign performance.

What impresses you about Custard Online Marketing?

I’m impressed with their communication, personal touch, and of course, the results. Their team gives tailored monthly reports.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Overall, we’re pleased with their performance.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I manage partnerships and brand development for Canavape. We produce consumer cannabis products such as vape liquids and oral tinctures.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Custard Online Marketing?

Our industry was flooded with competitors during a 12-month period. Due to several other factors, our Google rankings suffered considerably. We engaged Custard Online Marketing to provide SEO services and create blog content creation for our new platform.

What were your goals for this project?

Our main goals for this ongoing project were to improve our Google rankings for existing terms across our platform. We also wanted to incorporate new keywords and search terms relevant to our products and services. We hoped these factors would grow organic traffic to our website and increase our sales.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We approached four agencies about working on this project. Only Custard Online Marketing came back to us, demonstrating their keenness to produce results that matched our goals.

Describe the project in detail.

Custard Online Marketing led a yearlong SEO project consisting of technical site recommendations, on-site content, and outreach. The project started with several audits that then influenced our activity for the next 12 months.

What was the team composition?

An account manager looks after us personally while specialists carry out the work. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any statistics or metrics that speak to the quality of their work and impact of the engagement?

As a new venture, we have no year-over-year comparisons to make. However, we are pleased with the progress that Custard Online Marketing has made to date.

How did Custard Online Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

Custard Online Marketing has been great to work with on all fronts. Chris (Account Manager, Custard Online Marketing) is highly responsive. The team is always open to our suggestions without compromising their expertise and knowledge with the service they provide. We do have access to the specialists if required, but it’s great to have one point of contact for anything we need.

What impresses you about Custard Online Marketing?

The team has a very professional yet approachable nature. It has been a seamless process understanding how to optimize our website and produce content relevant to our business. The real magic, in my opinion, is in the account management. 

Are there any areas for improvement?

We are still working on this project and are happy with the service being provided. We have yet to find any suggestions on where Custard can improve their service.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of marketing at Digital Ventures.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Custard Online Marketing?

Vivastreet, one of our brands, had historically enjoyed a strong performance in organic rankings. Over the past couple of years, however, our business was concerned that it had seen a slowdown in growth in both the UK and internationally.

Our websites are very large and complex, so we suspected that the cause was a combination of underlying technical issues and changes to the search landscape. We also wanted to investigate if any manual penalties were in place.

As a result, we needed an agency with a strong technical focus to analyze the situation in detail. Our main objective was to improve performance globally across several verticals such as property, vehicles, jobs, and adult classifieds. We hired Custard Online Marketing to help us plan a holistic strategy and identify additional opportunities for growth.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

After Custard Online Marketing put forward strong ideas during the pitch stage, we formally engaged them as a partner. They put together an initial three-part consignment of work. The first element was an extended technical audit. It focused primarily on our UK site, but also included 15 other international sites within its scope. 

The team conducted a thorough analysis on over half a million URLs, categories, and filters. A following detailed site structure analysis identified millions of redundant and duplicate URLs. 

Lastly, Custard Online Marketing reviewed our XML sitemap and hreflang setup. They helped diagnose further issues and devise a new structure to ensure the various properties remained untangled from each other. Throughout the duration of the project, they also gave us beneficial technical consultancy and advice. 

What is the team composition?

My primary contact throughout the engagement was the owner and technical director. I was also in regular communication with a senior member of the technical team. Our dedicated account manager kept a close eye on the project from day one. 

How did you come to work with Custard Online Marketing?

We were keen to appoint a top UK-based technical SEO agency, and Custard Online Marketing came up on several sources. We gave them an initial call to explain our challenges and provide an overview of our needs. 

During a two-stage pitch process, we interviewed a handful of agencies. Custard Online Marketing and one other agency made it through to the final round.  Their international SEO knowledge, attention to detail, and friendly, straightforward approach won us over. They also had experience with clients of a similar size and structure as us. 

What is the status of this engagement?

Our initial engagement commenced in September 2018. As promised, they delivered all the work during the initial three-month period. Since we’re currently working through a backlog of development tasks, we’ve put new work for this project on hold for the moment.  We anticipate working with Custard Online Marketing again in the future once we’re caught up. 

After the recent contract, we appointed them as our SEO partner for another one of our other brands called EasyRoommate. They have delivered more technical SEO audit work and consultancy since then.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Custard Online Marketing delivered an extremely comprehensive 180-page technical audit that contained advice and recommendations. We could tell it was written specifically for our site; there was minimal boilerplate, copy/paste, or generic data exports from automated tools.

The identified issues ranged from low-priority to critical action items.  Based on the explanations, we understood the adverse impacts on our organic performance. In total, they outlined over 155 action items for our developers to implement along with a rationale for each one. 

Alongside the audit, they produced an archive of supporting documents and data to back everything up. We benefited greatly from Custard Online Marketing’s inclusive follow-up consultations and ad-hoc technical consultancy throughout.

Since commencing our partnership, our Searchmetrics visibility score increased by approximately 12%, even though we’ve only implemented a relatively small number of the most pressing recommendations so far.
 
How did Custard Online Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

Before starting the project, Custard Online Marketing provided a clear timeline which included estimated completion dates for various milestones within the project. They stuck to the agreed-upon timeframes throughout the project. We only lost the odd day here or there, which was understandable given the length and complexity of the engagement 

They kept in regular communication with us throughout the project via email and Slack. We held conference calls where necessary. Whenever we contacted them, we received a prompt response from either the owner, our account manager, or another member of the team.
 
What did you find most impressive about them?
 
The most impressive thing about Custard Online Marketing was the depth of their technical knowledge. They were highly capable of not only diagnosing detailed technical issues, but also closing the loop by providing pragmatic and commercially-focused advice and solutions to address them. 

Working with SEO experts who had hands-on web development experience meant that our in-house developers could facilitate an open dialogue with the team. Custard Online Marketing also had realistic ideas about the difficulty and timescale of completing specific development tasks from our end/ and this helped us to build a roadmap of activity which was achievable.

Aside from their technical input, Custard Online Marketing wasn’t shy about expressing their opinions on the most valuable organic commercial opportunities for us. They have helped to guide the business towards wider-reaching strategic decisions.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not as far as I’m concerned.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you’re looking for a technically focused SEO agency, they’re a great choice. Custard Online Marketing’s white hat SEO services offer great value. We’d have no hesitation recommending them for complex projects like ours.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

Metroplan is a manufacturer and distributor of display and presentation products. We produce a wide range of notice boards, whiteboards, exhibition systems, and other kinds of products which are distributed mainly within the UK market though a range of resellers.

What is your position?

I am the Sales and Marketing Director for the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Custard Online Marketing?

We aimed to improve our organic SEO ranking within Google listings, with the aim of increasing traffic to our website, as well as building brand awareness for our product ranges.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

We had launched a new website, so the aim was to initially get the technical SEO done in terms of setting up different tags, descriptions, and keywords. Custard provided content work for the website, which can be seen when looking at the category pages on the bottom. They also created blog articles for us, which we added to our WordPress blog, as well as sharing through Twitter and LinkedIn.

We engaged in some Twitter marketing aimed at teachers. Custard wrote an outreach article for us which was listed on an educational magazine's website and linked back to us. The magazine liked the article and actually decided to run it in their printed edition.

How did you come to work with Custard Online Marketing?

We were looking to bring a digital marketing expert in-house, but we later-on decided to outsource the work. We interviewed a person for the position and he mentioned Custard as a reference, having provided work for the company in the past. We researched Custard and they seemed to have the best knowledge, and also looked like a nice company to work with, one that would explain the work in simple terms to us.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The initial cost is confidential. We haven't decided on a budget for the upcoming work. Custard have offered us customized options on a month-by-month basis in terms of what services we can use. We've received hourly estimates for each project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Custard in January of 2016. At the moment, the work is on pause, but we're looking at engaging with Custard again within our company's next financial year, in August. We're letting the work done by them settle-in and grow; the work we plan on doing will focus more on outreach articles and blogging. Custard's technical work has been completed. We only receive occasional consultation for it.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

We've only done organic listings so far, given that our website was within its final development stages. Custard made behind-the-scenes work for technical SEO, which only went live at the end of March, 2016. The only figures we've gathered are for the month of April, during which we've seen some increase in traffic. It is too early to tell what long-term impact Custard's work has had though.

We have had keywords improvements for targeted keywords, but there is a long way to go in terms of getting the site high within results.

We haven't engaged in pay-per-click advertising because we mainly sell our products through reseller channels, so we can't have conflicts with our partners.

We've seen many more non-returning visitors on the website, which we attribute to the work done by Custard. I'm sure that their results will become more significant, but we've only had one months of real statistics, following the load of technical elements with which we've had to deal.

How did Custard Online Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

Any time when we asked Custard for information reports, they've provided them very fast.

What distinguishes Custard Online Marketing from other providers?

Throughout the 5 months in which we've known Custard, the experience has been very positive. They're professional in the work that they do and we've been able to proofread their material before approval. Even though this can be time-consuming, we need to fact-check the content, given that it reflects on us.

They act as an extended marketing team for our company, working closely with our internal staff for different aspects. Custard has recommended other companies to us in terms of hosting the website because it was very slow when it launched. They've been very good at assisting us beyond the SEO work, acting as consultants for us.

Is there anything Custard Online Marketing could have improved or done differently?

I'm not an expert in the field, so it would be hard for me to give accurate feed-back of this kind. In terms of the services provided to us, Custard has been timely. Some of the image content that they've supplied may not have been specifically catered for us, but we have good images ourselves and thus have supplied them with proper content.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the founder of Foodinate. We’re a social enterprise that’s designed to tackle food poverty in deprived communities across the UK.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Custard Online Marketing?

We hired Custard Online Marketing to write & distribute press releases, support our social media and general marketing, and help with SEO.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to spread the word about our initiative through the press, and to make sure we were coming up on the right searches.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

After reviewing their website and previous projects, I reached out to their owner because I loved their work. Custard Online Marketing understands the vision and what we were trying to achieve.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Custard Online Marketing has written a variety of press releases and was involved in the distribution. They also assisted with SEO and social media.

What was the team composition?

I worked closely with their team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Custard Online Marketing goes the extra mile. We’ve landed many press pieces. Their team is great at chasing outlets, ensuring we receive backlinks from each article to bolster our SEO.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The team at Custard Online Marketing are excellent to communicate with. They’re quick to respond, regularly updating their clients throughout any campaign. Everyone is helpful and flexible. I have been to their offices on several occasions. They were welcoming and always seemed happy to see me.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I was impressed with their knowledge, efficiency, and communication. Their team is warm and friendly.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We’ve been happy with all the support received from their team.