Focus Online Travel

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Chobe4x4, a Botswana registered company in Kasane. We are an overlanding, self-drive specialist vehicle rental company Our rates are extremely competitive and we are 100% compliant with Botswana car rental regulations.

All our vehicles are registered in Kasane Botswana. Our offices are in Kasane International Airport, this is very convenient for our guests arriving with SA Airlink and we have a service workshop in Kazungula. Our fleet consist of newly built 79 series V6 4L and 4.2L Land Cruisers in single and double cab configurations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Focus Online Travel, and what were your goals?

The right look and feel to convey a feeling of Africa and for the website to have a subtle look and feel of wild African adventure.

SOLUTION

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

I found a website that i liked and contacted the web designers.

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

Kick off meeting with a by monthly catch up and a handover date.

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

Three people worked with us from the Managing director, CEO and web engineer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Newly launched so no measurable as yet

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

By monthly calls to assess progress and targets met

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

That they "got" the design and feel that I wanted straight away.

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

Web audit the website for any issues so that the SEO tracks are better.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

The Royal Portfolio is a group of luxury boutique hotels in South Africa and I am the Marketing Manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Focus Online Travel?

Focus Online have been employed as as Digital Agency for over 5 years to develop and maintain our website and manage our SEM.

What were your goals for this project?

To build a world class website for our multiple properties and drive high quality traffic.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

A recommendation.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Focus Online built our website for our multiple properties and they have also redeveloped it last year. We meet monthly and they provide detailed reports and manage our Google campaigns and Facebook campaigns.

What was the team composition?

We have dedicated personal service from the Focus Online team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Increased web traffic by 100% and increased enquiries. Much better quality website and brand presence. Increased bookings.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Ongoing management, planing and monthly meetings.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The highly personalised service, great value, and high quality of work. They really understand our needs and the travel industry.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of FlightSite. We’re a travel company that started in 2008.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Focus Online Travel?

The initial challenge was the need to improve our SEO.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Focus Online Travel has helped us with SEO and paid search strategy. Their team works on our ranking for certain keywords and search phrases in the online travel space. These are either branded names or action phrases like “cheap flights London.” They’ve also provided bespoke development services. They built a UI that talks to an API on our platform.

What is the team composition?

I have three main contacts on their side, including Stan (Co-Founder and CTO) and a paid search specialist.

How did you come to work with Focus Online Travel?

Stan had done some digital marketing at our previous business, and we had a good relationship so we followed him around.

How much have you invested with them?

The cost is around $100,000 per year.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Focus Online Travel in late 2008, and we’re still making active use of their services.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The value for money has been the primary benefit for me. I know I could’ve started with a bigger agency at the time, and Focus Online Travel has grown into a bigger agency since, but there's always been good value for money. Partnering with an independent, agile, smaller agency has allowed us to grow our company at a fraction of the cost of using a larger one.

How did Focus Online Travel perform from a project management standpoint?

Our technology manager liaises with Focus Online Travel, and I believe they use a Google Doc to track the schedule.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Particularly with Stan, it’s his ability to be the bridge between the technology and the use case. Often with projects, we might overthink things but Stan is very good at bringing everything down to practical necessities for a business of our size. He’s also great at working back with the development required to match whatever the goal is.

Are there any areas they could improve?

As with all development, there are unforeseen delays, and we’ve made use of other agencies for other things. Some deliveries have been harsh, but that speaks to scope as well as to the information Focus Online Travel is working with. I’d say that we share the responsibility equally on that front.

They’re a small team, they’ve done good work, and there has always been value for money. They don’t have experts for each field, and I don’t think it’s possible for one agency to be good at everything, but as an all-around package, they’ve delivered great value.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

The best work they do is when they’re given a proper brief and the client’s involved throughout the process. It’s important for clients to be prepared and to involve themselves throughout the process in order to achieve the best outcome.