Ignite Visibility

BACKGROUND

We are an online school that mainly caters to high school. We have about 35 employees and are located in multiple areas throughout San Diego County in California. I wear multiple hats at the company with one of them being in charge of the web and much of the company's marketing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

We were using a pre-packaged solution for our website and marketing. It was a big company that supplied it all. That company did an OK job but was incredibly expensive, and we knew we could find a more cost-effective solution. We were faced with a big dilemma. We needed a new website to maintain all our rankings and then increase enrollment.

SOLUTION

Specifically, they helped us migrate the website, optimize all our pages, and create a plan for growth. My husband is one of the founders of Ignite. The board of my company voted to accept their offer compared to a couple of other firms. They started in spring of 2014.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

I could not give Ignite Visibility a better rating. Our account rep Mitch [Haw, project manager at Ignite Visibility] has been amazing since day 1. They helped build us a beautiful new website, transferred the website with no loss in traffic, and put a plan in place to increase rankings. As a result, we increased total organic sessions 95% year over year for the entire year, increased total organic new users 73% year over year for the entire year, and increased our signups by the hundreds year over year for the entire year. They also were able to get us ranked #1 for 19 of the terms we were targeting, including our biggest term. We did not rank for any of these terms before hiring Ignite.

This was in 2013. We have been an Ignite Visibility client for nearly 4 years now, and I continue to be amazed at their professionalism, willingness to go above and beyond, and expertise. We are now ranking higher than large national companies for extremely competitive keywords. They have earned our trust. Recently, we signed up for pay-per-click as well. Their team on the SEM side has proven to be just as good. You can't go wrong with Ignite. They are a stand-up company and have won many awards for good reason.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a non-profit organization based out of San Diego, California, organizing a 2-day cycling event that raises money for local cancer research within 4 institutions. I am the director of marketing and communications. I handle all the communication intended for our audience.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Ignite?

We needed help raising the profile of our organization throughout San Diego as well as nationally. Our website, social media and overall digital footprint were limited, confined to the small amount of work we'd done in-house. We had not worked with a digital agency in the past, so we wanted an agency that could help us grow this presence.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Ignite has provided SEO work for our web profiles, particularly on Google. On the social media side, they have helped tighten up our profiles and processes, creating a marketing plan for regular content. This included individual posts, blog articles, infographics, and other assets which can be used for keeping our content engine going.

Ignite has also helped us on the structural side, making our backend more SEO-friendly. We're currently undergoing a migration of our site to a new domain as well as performing an entire redesign. Ignite is putting together a plan for that move, making it as painless as possible from an SEO and ranking standpoint.

How did you come to work with Ignite?

I had originally talked to a few agencies in town, not necessarily looking to put one on retainer or to set up a long-term engagement, but rather for one-off projects. After meeting Ignite, we had big conversations around what we were trying to do. They were open to the idea of helping us and offered some pro bono work. As a non-profit, we don't have the kind of budget that a typical business might have. Ignite has a program by which a non-profit is selected every year for help on a pro bono basis. They were drawn to our concept and reason for being, and Ignite has even participated in our event. We were thrilled to engage an agency of their stature on that basis and everything has worked out. I'm sure that Ignite offers services beyond what they offered us and I appreciate not being offered more. Our budget is limited, and it may have turned us off to working with them.

How much have you invested with Ignite?

Ignite's work was pro bono, but its annual value is around $45,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our original 1-year term will run out in the summer of 2017, but we plan to keep working together in the same capacity. Ignite is looking to extend that through to the end of the year. Our event is held once every year, with the November 2017 one being our 5th edition. It's been a great relationship and we're happy to count Ignite as a partner.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

I come from an agency background and have been the main contact person for our work with Ignite. I'm familiar with how the process works on the other side of things, but I've also worked with many groups on the client side. Ignite has been one of the best agencies I've worked with, not only from a technical expertise standpoint—even though I'm impressed with that side of things—but rather from a service side. Ignite understands our organization and has engaged with us, taking the time to understand our business, audience, and mission. Ignite pitched us a menu of services which they felt would align with our goals, rather than giving a set approach from the start.

It's safe to say that we've doubled our social media presence overall, in terms of fans and followers, likes and views. Ignite was instrumental in helping us have our most successful year to date. We have grown our fundraising to $2 million, up from 1.3 in 2015. More impressive was the number of riders we were able to secure: our participation went from 820 in 2015 to 1,500 in 2016. Ignite has played a huge role in that by helping raise our profile, engage on social media, and connect with our audience. Social media plays a huge role in our activity, given that our model is peer-to-peer fundraising. People participate in our event and spread the word to their friends, basically soliciting donations. Everything is based on volume and spreading the word, and Ignite has helped us craft our approach and use it to our advantage.

How did Ignite perform from a project management standpoint?

Ignite's staff is extremely attentive and engaged, talking to us on a weekly basis or even more. We often communicate via email and Basecamp. There were times when I called on Ignite for tasks which either fell outside of the scope of our engagement or were last-minute. They've always responded to the call with a smile on their face. If every vendor I've used was as easy to work with as Ignite, my job would be a whole lot easier.  

What did you find most impressive about Ignite?

Ignite is a homegrown agency from San Diego, which is great for us. Being based in the same city, it's good to see that all the money we raise stays in San Diego. To have an agency of Ignite's caliber in our backyard has meant that our identity was immediately embraced. I'm sure that there are a number of agencies in town which could do the same job, but not many of them would give us the same level of service.

Are there any areas Ignite could improve?

I couldn't begin to point something out, given how satisfied I've been.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with Ignite?

It’s important to be open and upfront about the goal at hand. Clients should put everything out on the table and be honest with Ignite. They're receptive to that kind of communication. Ignite wasn't immediately turned off upon hearing that we didn't have a lot of money to pay them, but that we had some very specific needs. Ignite embraced our project and did what was right for us.

I come from the agency world, so I know what it's like to be driven by big accounts and what that can mean for smaller ones. I've not gotten the sense that Ignite operates that way, at least not with us.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a 15-person skin care company based in Beverly Hills, California. I run e-commerce for the brand.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Ignite Visibility?

We needed to increase organic traffic. We also needed to optimize our paid search through Google AdWords and Bing. Overall, our revenue growth goals were very high, and we enlisted Ignite to help us.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The overall scope was an aggressive SEO, social media, and PPC package to scale our e-commerce growth. It included everything from content writing to viral campaigns to remarketing. They help us on Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. They also help with content writing and on-site optimization.

How did you come to work with Ignite Visibility?

Ignite was recommended by my Magento design agency.

What is the status of this engagement?

We have worked together for about 16 months with no plans to stop. It started in July 2015.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

Ignite helped us achieve 40% YoY [year-over-year] revenue growth in their first year on board.

How did Ignite Visibility perform from a project management standpoint?

Our traffic dramatically increased via organic search for our relevant keywords. They manage our account very methodically. They send great detailed reports with weekly calls.

What did you find most impressive about Ignite Visibility?

They are very nimble with changing strategies and redirecting efforts to things that work. They use Basecamp for project management, which helps organize things.

Are there any areas Ignite Visibility could improve?

I have no improvements to note and think that they are one of our top vendors.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with Ignite Visibility?

Overall, it was a very successful endeavor to work with them. Make sure your team can push forward with them and keep up with their speed and passion. You should have a dedicated project manager for Ignite's campaign.

BACKGROUND

We are a leading online marketplace connecting engaged couples with wedding vendors. We serve upwards of 10 million monthly unique users across our mobile and web platforms. I am responsible for SEO and analytics for our mobile and web platforms.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

We are a very large enterprise site from a technical perspective. We are operating in an industry that is very competitive, and are constantly working on different areas of our site. Because of our large site, it requires special effort from all teams to implement SEO strategies, however, this gives us a large opportunity in SEO.

SOLUTION

We have used John's and IgniteVisibility's services and expertise for over 6 years. We work with Ignite Visibility on SEO strategy, spec creation, and quality assurance. We also do development and implementation. John has done SEO training for our different teams with great success. We work with Ignite on a weekly and daily basis on various SEO projects.

I inherited Ignite Visibility from my company, so I wasn't responsible for hiring them. They are working on social influencers to build links.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

John Lincoln and Ignite Visibility have been a valuable partner for us from the very beginning. Ignite Visibility has always been there when we need them, and have consistently gone above and beyond. Sometimes, we have tight schedules that we need to meet, and they spend the time to meet our deadlines.

We have experienced increases in traffic and conversions after their work.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our company's founder is considered to be the number-one life and business strategy coach. He's also a best-selling author and philanthropist. I am the social media manager of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Ignite Visibility?

We needed to become visible to a broader online audience.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Ignite Visibility has helped coach us through our SEO [search engine optimization], providing insights into what we should be doing to optimize our web pages for search visibility. Ignite Visibility has guided us through content which needs to be created, also helping us get placement on other websites. Ignite Visibility also helped with our online reputation management for a particular subject.

We aren't using Ignite Visibility for pay-per-click management.

How did you come to work with Ignite Visibility?

We consider Ignite Visibility to be the top SEO agency in San Diego, which is also where we're based. We wanted to have a face-to-face relationship.

How much have you invested with Ignite Visibility?

The cost of Ignite Visibility's services is $5,000 per month.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working with Ignite Visibility for over a year, and have an ongoing relationship.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

We're very satisfied. Ignite Visibility's work has been successful for our company.

We rank as the 2nd result for "business coaching", which was a huge win for us, given that we weren't even on the first page initially. Ignite Visibility helped tremendously with our link building strategies, while also syndicating our content across other publications.

How did Ignite Visibility perform from a project management standpoint?

Ignite Visibility has taken charge, providing great direction for us, with weekly updates which helped move things along. There is great communication, and Ignite Visibility is a fun team to work with.

What did you find most impressive about Ignite Visibility?

Ignite Visibility is great to work with, very accessible, and always quick to reply for any questions we may have.

Are there any areas Ignite Visibility could improve?

Not that I could say.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with Ignite Visibility?

I would advise clients to listen to Ignite Visibility's advice, and trust that the direction provided is going to be the right move to make. The people at Ignite Visibility are experts in SEO.

BACKGROUND

We are a SaaS solution providing an e-commerce solution servicing the small and medium-sized business market in Encinitas, CA.

I am the Marketing Manager responsible for new customer acquisition.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

The ongoing challenge is to continue growing traffic with limited marketing resources compared to our competition. In addition to our regular traffic needs, we also had a site structure (subdomains vs. directories) that wasn't as optimized for Google as it could be, and engineers were hesitant to change this structure.

SOLUTION

While working with Ignite Visibility, we presented a plan that satisfied the engineering team’s needs, and were able to complete a project that meant 4X the inbound links to our main domain with no impact to our end users. This project took over a year, from conception to launch, even though the final technical changes were relatively minor.

I've worked with them on content creation, social, and traditional SEO. It's more based on technical SEO, and they also moved our e-commerce store from one format to another.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Ignite was patient and able to communicate the importance of the change with the technical team. They are also good at providing answers to the various issues that arose.

That project is just one example of a service that they provide over the course of our monthly SEO contract that goes above and beyond the usual services. We have been a client for over three years now, and believe they are an integral part of our traffic growth during this time.

BACKGROUND

We believe that the Earth is the common link we all universally share. We all live on the planet Earth and we can utilize the energy of the Earth to tap into ourselves. Wearing healing crystals and gemstones allows you to go within yourself and align your body with the energy of the Earth, which vibrates at the highest energy, LOVE.

Energy Muse Jewelry’s soul mission is to empower people and help them tap into their own personal magnificence. We provide empowering tools, in the form of crystals and crystal jewelry, to assist you on your spiritual journey. Each sacred piece is handmade with love, then cleansed, energized, and programmed with intention to create a desired outcome.

I am responsible for marketing and all visual aspects, including the photography, website, blog, social media, and email content.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

A couple of years back, we found ourselves with a penalty against us due to some previous SEO work with another company that was not up to Google's standards. We had been pouring money into PPC campaigns, but we found that the results were all over the place.

We are also in a very niche marketplace, being that we are in the health and wellness marketplace in the business of crystals. We are a small business based out of the South Bay, and we needed to find ways to stop "fishing in the same pool," in terms of customers.

SOLUTION

Frustrated with our results, we asked our web developer if he knew of anyone specialized in SEO, and Ignite came very well recommended. We met with John and Krish and were excited to start our new SEO journey.

We began work to re-optimize all of our content, create blogging strategies and come up with a digital marketing plan to capture as much online business as possible.

About a year ago, we also had built so much trust and faith in Ignite that we were willing to try the PPC campaigns again, although we were hesitant due to previous experiences. They also provide some SMM [social media marketing] consulting suggestions and infographics.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Being that we are by no means you're average clients, Ignite did everything possible to understand what we do and learn more about our niche market. They are amazing to work with and continue to impress and amaze us with their continuous success.

You can always count on them to come to the table with a plan well-backed with data and results to prove the effectiveness, and they're always willing to jump on any new project (especially because we shift quickly over here). Everyone on their team is so knowledgeable and an absolute pleasure to work with.

As a result of their efforts, our e-commerce business is much stronger. We have grown our sales metrics and brought in many brand new customers through online channels.

BACKGROUND

As the California franchise of Medifast Inc., Medifast Weight Control Centers, also known as Medifast California, provides comprehensive, individually tailored 1-on-1 weight loss counseling to clients throughout the state. Medifast California is on a mission to enrich lives by providing innovative choices for lasting health - making this the last weight loss program ever needed.

I am the Marketing Manager but our Chief Executive Officer is very involved. We were into traditional marketing techniques.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

As a franchise, Medifast California struggled greatly in organic search, PPC, and social media marketing, always having to compete with Medifast Inc.'s digital presence, not to mention traditional competitors in the diet, health, and wellness market(s). With the obvious growth of the digital space, our business began to become affected and many marketing firms were worthless in effectively solving the problem. We found ourselves flooding money into PPC but ignoring the bigger problem with SEO and content development.

SOLUTION

Frustrated, we began to research new marketing firms. Ignite Visibility came highly recommended from various businesses in the San Diego area and through several industry rankings. The owners were very well respected, and compared to the 5 other firms we met with, they presented a creative, cost efficient, and cohesive approach to solve our problem and increase our online presence.

They performed SEO services, social media marketing, and provided a PPC expert. They write white papers, blog posts, and high quality content. This is ongoing and started one year ago. We will definitely renew our contract for year 2. This has been very profitable.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Since coming on board, the team at Ignite Visibility can be credited for fully educating themselves on our brand like no other previous provider had. They “get us” and are incredibly refreshing to work with. They have proven to make smart choices in SEO, social media marketing, and PPC, and have earned our trust. Every project and service is completed with full transparency, and every member of the team is an expert. Furthermore, the responsiveness and willingness to go above and beyond for our company is really wonderful.

We can now report improved conversions, several new initiatives, and better SEO rankings. Our conversions were up 400% for PPC and our keyword ranking is much better. They are great at growing social media likes and they manage a great email marketing campaign.

They have no improvements to make and we love their efficiency. They even helped us write some of our online job postings, which is definitely out of the contract scope. They love to pitch in and give extra value.

Their team of three experts work very well together and coordinate on all activities to cross-promote and create strong impacts on social channels. Our traffic is up and our sales conversions have quadrupled. My CEO is beginning to place more faith and budget into Ignite Visibility.

BACKGROUND

We are an Urgent Care Business located in the Southwest with over 30 locations. We offer a full suite of services including not just Urgent Care- but also Primary Care. All of our locations provide onsite x-rays and lab work, plus you can fill your prescriptions onsite as well. My role is Digital Marketing Director, and my responsibilities include overseeing all things digital marketing, i.e.: SEO [search engine optimization], PPC, content management, blogs, social media, website maintenance, etc.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

We needed a local focused SEO company that could help build both SEO and PPC campaigns for a multi-location corporation. We also were launching a new website and needed to make sure the transition went smoothly with no drops in traffic.

SOLUTION

The reporting they offered was key. We have a scheduled weekly call that is never missed. We also receive monthly reports that have been modified to include additional information that I would like to see. All calls and emails are responded to on the same day, which is very important when running any business, but absolutely necessary with a large chain.

The customer service at this company is exceptional! They did SEO, social media, and PPC. They also do content marketing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Throughout the year, we have seen growth in traffic and conversions. Our traffic is way up for 2016 and our business has also grown. The guidance received by the team at Ignite Visibility has always proven to be on target, and communication and follow through is excellent. No request is too big.

They are always up to date on the ever changing landscape of the SEO world and that offers its own reassurance as those changes are swiftly implemented into my campaign.

BACKGROUND

Please introduce your business and what you do there.

Based in San Diego, California, Fix Auto USA provides a platform that enables independent owner-operated collision repair facilities achieve success in a consolidating marketplace. Fix Auto members benefit from a trusted brand, multi-level insurance representation, leading edge technology, centrally managed claims processes, and pooled purchasing power—all combined to ensure consistent performance and greater profitability.

As the marketing manager, my role is to oversee all marketing, communication, and PR activity for Fix Auto.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Ignite Visibility?

In 2014, our web presence was totally ineffective. In fact, we were obviously doing ourselves harm by delaying the decision to move forward and seek help from Ignite Visibility. As a service that is only generated as a result of an accident, this was a problem.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

After Ignite Visibility analyzed our current online market position relative to our competition, they outlined a detailed plan that included heavy on- and off-site optimization and content development for social media. They overhauled our website and blog, and also promoted our business using infographics, contests, and education-related content for our demographic. They write all our blogs and do journalist PR outreach. We simply monitor and approve this content creation. They are responsible for everything online except design and development.

What is the status of this engagement?

They started working with us in 2013 after our new website went live. Unfortunately, we were receiving no traffic from the site and needed help making it more effective from a marketing standpoint.

We decided to extend our contract with them through the end of the year since we are so confident in their results.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work or the impact of the engagement?

In about two short years, we’ve gone from not being on the Internet’s radar to building a web presence and platform that’s snowballing into an avalanche.

Traffic has grown each month since the beginning of our relationship, the number of new visitors continues at attractive levels, the number of pages per visit continues to remain high, and the size of our online presence continues to grow faster than that of our competition.

We track our keyword growth, both branded and unbranded. We need to cast a wide net and Ignite helps us attack more keywords. Traffic was up in June 2016 by about 20%.

What did you find most impressive about Ignite Visibility?

Ignite Visibility is a difference maker, with extensive knowledge of SEO. They are a unique talent that other agencies can’t match.