Noble Studios

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the head of product for Healthy Lifestyle Brands. We’re a company in the health and wellness space that works with authoritative brands to facilitate work around licensing relationships and online businesses.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Noble Studios?

We have a site that focuses on health and wellness content from Dr. Andrew Weil, a well-known expert in the field. The user experience was outdated, and the site was not performing well from a technical standpoint. We felt that there was potential to increase revenue, so we engaged Noble for a complete overhaul of the site.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Noble led all aspects of redesign and development, including UX/UI and a transition to cloud servers – all while we needed to keep the site visible to customers. They also provided input on key content placement throughout the site. The project began with a site-wide audit to get a series of baseline measurements, and we used those to identify aspects of an overhaul that would improve the business most. They then moved forward on a complete UI redesign, a full hardware transition, all technical development, and engagement testing to validate parts of the UI before launch. They also provided full post-launch maintenance and support.

What is the team composition?

We had a project lead that we spoke with every day and a technical manager that we spoke with several times a week. We also worked with a variety of specialists throughout the project including UX/UI designers, data analysts, specialists in SEO, advertising, QA, and so on. They also did some data and content analysis work and customer surveys. This was in addition to overall account management and an executive sponsor. I’ll add that they value treating
their employees well, and as a result, we’ve had no turnover in the core team during all the time we’ve worked with them.

How did you come to work with Noble Studios?

Someone in our company had worked with them in the past and highly recommended them. We felt confident enough with Noble’s strength and experience that, candidly, we made the decision not to consider anyone else. Since this project, we’ve also started working with them on a second project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in August of 2015. We completed the initial project, and now have a second project with them that just launched additional projects in the pipeline.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Since launching our first project, we’ve seen an increase in the rate we
charge advertisers for our site (eCPM) of between 30 and 40 percent. That’s very tangible and gives us a lot of leverage in that we can now essentially charge more money for the content that we bring to the site. We’ve also had increases in revenue per page.

The site has become much more technically stable as well. We had outage problems in the past, and have not experienced any since the launch. Qualitatively, it’s become somewhat of a showcase for the company, which has helped us to attract additional business.

How did Noble Studios perform from a project management standpoint?

I would label it as very strong. We had a dedicated, very engaged project lead, and there was a whole range of supplemental services that could be scaled up and down as needed. They were very responsive and very agile. Some aspects of projects like this are not originally anticipated, and Noble was very flexible in helping us find solutions to any issues that came up. Collectively, we worked together to make all the right trade-offs and hit our schedule as well.

What did you find most impressive about them?

At one point we were heading in a very new direction for what the UI design was going to be. It was going to be very different, and we were concerned that our core audience might not react well. They worked with us to conduct some prelaunch testing of the UI from two different perspectives: Qualitatively, we sent screenshots to current customers for directional feedback and quantitatively, Noble integrated certain aspects of the planned design into our current site to see how they performed. The latter became a source of live, hard data, which is usually very difficult to gather in a project like this. They distinguish themselves in rising to the occasion on some very unique challenges from us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

After the first project, we had some issues with our transition from the launch to the maintenance phase. That transition required that Noble transitioned the work they were doing to our in-house team, and it was a significant adjustment for us that we underestimated. Work to help us prepare for that transition is always appreciated. It’s interesting to see how their performance in this area has improved over time. Since the first project, we’ve developed a deeper level of technical integration with Noble, in that we both started using the same system for code changes and both our dev teams are working simultaneously on the same code base. These iterations have allowed us to work more collaboratively and has made for a much smoother post-launch transition in this second project.

Advice for potential customers?

Communication is first and foremost, as well as a spirit of collaboration. Noble offers a very experienced point of view and they advocate it, as opposed to constantly deferring to the client’s wishes – this works to our benefit. My advice: put the toughest aspects of the project in front of them, and ask them to challenge you. That will be the path to superior results with them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Bridgepoint Education owns two online universities: Ashford University, and University of the Rockies. I am the Associate Vice President of Creative.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Noble Studios?

We wanted to redo our main institution’s public-facing website, Ashford.edu. We had a desktop-only site with an m.dot mobile version. We wanted to create a modern, singular, responsive content hub.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They helped us bring the site into the 21st century. They helped us migrate content into the cloud, and leveraged modern CMS to provide more flexibility and easier site management. Though they didn’t provide any marketing support, they do provide suggestions, and their strategy is SEO-focused.

What is the team composition?

We interface primarily with two individuals at every stage of the project. Kimberly [Senior Account Manager, Noble Studios] is our main point of contact, while Jodie [Lead Project Manager, Noble Studios] is our project manager. At different phases, we also focus on strategy with Jill [Strategic Planning Director, Noble Studios], and build the information architecture and audit the site with Chad [Director of Digital Marketing, Noble Studios], who also is their SEO person. We work with another team member for development.

How did you come to work with Noble Studios?

When we first considered redesigning, a consulting agency we worked with recommended them. We reached out to them and determined they were the right agency for us. It took a year or more to greenlight the project, but they were still our first choice. We liked their vibe and decided to bring them on. They gave us a quick pitch, and we went from there.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested a sizeable amount with them for this engagement.

What is the status of this engagement?

We contracted them around December 2015, and the project ran from January 2016 to the end of that year. Maintenance and conversion rate optimization are still a big part of their continued work with us.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

All of their improvements have been positive. First and foremost, they’ve improved the site’s accessibility. We can make changes quickly, and our productivity has at least doubled or tripled. From a framework perspective, SEO and other technical pieces have definitely increased the site’s traffic.

How did Noble Studios perform from a project management standpoint?

Their performance is excellent. Jodie is on top of everything and communicates constantly. During the project, we exchanged emails and had conference calls, and Slack was a big part our minute-by-minute communication.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Noble feels like a partner, or an extension of our team. We’re always there to help each other work through things. It’s not always a formal process, but they bring a friendliness and consistency that sets them above the rest.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Not at all. This was a much bigger project than we thought it would be. It came with its share of issues and complications, but they dealt with all of it so well. Their name really suits them. They’re noble, positive, and very classy. If anything went wrong and they were at fault in any way, they always owned up and fixed it.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Treat them as a member of your team. Make an effort to visit them, have lunch, or just say hello. You’ll get the most team support from them if you treat them like an insider. The more open, inclusive, and transparent you can be, the more they’ll succeed.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the director of admissions and marketing at a private preschool-through-eighth grade college prep school in Nevada.

We’re planning to add high school in the coming years, as well as boarding school. We’re part of an international family of schools, and we recently went through an ownership change within the past 12 months.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Noble Studios?

For the last several years, we’d been under a corporate structure based out of Chicago. Within the context of this previous ownership model, a lot of the marketing efforts were centralized in Chicago. We were working almost exclusively with partners and vendors out of Chicago or the East Coast. The ability to branch out and experiment with other vendors happened once the ownership change was finalized.

Moving into this current structure, we were able to decentralize our efforts. Decentralization let individual schools within the larger group identify and hire their own vendors. As a result, I went on the hunt for a reliable digital marketing agency. I wasn’t especially satisfied with the agencies based in New York, at least the ones I had firsthand experience with.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’re handling all of our digital marketing like SEO, SEM [search engine marketing], display ads, and social ads through a variety of different platforms. They recently performed a UX/UI audit on the site. They’ve done heat mapping to help identify improvements that could be made. A lot of focus has gone into site optimization.

They then built out the entire marketing piece for various campaigns. Only one campus is being marketed and there are some sub-products within that. They’re involved in our open house campaigns and now they’re doing campaigns around freshmen admissions because we’re opening up ninth grade next fall (for the first time).

The website that we currently have was built and paid for under the old corporate umbrella out of Chicago. Because of this, our website looks identical to multiple other schools around the country. It was built on a platform that I’ve come to learn is going extinct very quickly. It doesn’t transfer well when it comes to remote hosting. We did quite a bit of work tracking down a web development team that could upgrade the site. Once the hosting was taken care of and the web development team was on retainer, we could begin the backend programming. That’s when Noble was able to take a look at the functionality of the site and make some true performance recommendations.

The website’s mobile performance, which is where most of our traffic comes from, had some real functional defects. For example, certain pages showcasing tuition and fees in a table format are only to visible to desktop users. In other words, anyone who tried to access the same pages from a mobile device couldn’t see the same data. Embedded images were also prone to malfunction and then failed to render. Noble used a holistic approach to eliminate distractions as well as streamline the user experience for both desktop and mobile users. Much of the work remains ongoing.

What is the team dynamic?

There have been three people on the project team and two have been with us since the beginning. One is my main point of contact. Only one resource was shifted away from our project and the change was very well-managed.

How did you come to work with Noble Studios?

I requested three formal bids from companies, but I was already familiar with Noble through another business associate. Noble came highly recommended, but their proposal was impressive by itself. That paired with the great recommendation from my contact. Those two factors convinced us to go with Noble.

How much have you invested with them?

$75,000-$150,000 per contract.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in August 2016 and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

This is my fourth full cycle of enrollments while working at this school. This has been the highest number of enrollments that I’ve had in a single cycle. This was the first year that we’ve increased our overall population from end of year to the beginning of the next school year.

There are much higher conversions despite fewer leads coming in. That was one of the problems we had previously while working with other agencies. We’d receive reports outlining all the traffic visiting our site, but it was worthless because zero were contacting us to schedule tours.

Once Noble came into the picture, they fine-tuned the analytics and got the site traffic under control. As a result, the leads became viable. They weren’t spam anymore. They weren’t users who didn’t understand the product, which was another tricky thing when you have a private school. Sometimes people think you’re a charter school or they think that you’re a college. It could be any number of things. Before Noble, it was almost impossible to rectify those issues. Now those improvements have manifested in a higher enrollment and the growth of our overall population. That’s all I can ask for.

How would you compare your experience with Noble Studios to others?

Compared to other agencies I’ve used within my work at the school, the difference is night and day. Our previous agency couldn’t deliver on the KPIs we targeted. They were handling us as a group instead of as an individual school or as a singular client. To them, the client was a group of 10 schools and they figured they could set it and forget it. They would send reports and tell us everything looks great because there’s been an increase in traffic to the site, despite the traffic being useless.

Noble takes a completely different approach. They answer to only me. They’re not concerned about my being a part of a larger account, where they’ve got to spread themselves thin to make sure that they’re sharing their resources. That’s been a huge difference.

Another big difference is that they’re local. They’re in Reno, which is still an airplane flight away, but I get to see my account rep every one or two months, which is important. I’d never met the people in New York City. I couldn’t tell you how many people were even on the old team with those previous agency partners.

How did Noble Studios perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicate primarily by phone and email. I haven’t had a chance to go up to their offices in Reno yet. That’s not for lack of them inviting me to come out; it’s been my own extenuating circumstances.

It’s really effective being able to speak with them whenever necessary. Every month, we have a set meeting to go through all of the data for the month. We review historical data and they propose new ideas. Updates on progress and completed activities are also shared in great detail. Everything covered is sent to us separately for our own records. They keep me plugged into what’s going on what they’re working on, which is important.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Noble is always monitoring site performance and making proactive changes, which completely separates them from other agencies. They’re always fine-tuning.

For example, they’re always running A/B tests and implementing minor tweaks to improve the user experience. There have been other times in which they’ve suggested we spend money proactively because of ad performance, despite knowing how limited our resources are. What’s important is that those suggestions are data-driven, and almost always end up in our favor. That kind of thing is important to us because if we’re going to throw money at campaigns, we need to be reasonably sure about the returns.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. I tell them not to ever leave me. I’ve worked with marketing agencies long before my time at the school. I understand the environment and working in client-based business. I understand how difficult it is to constantly refresh and introduce new ideas to an account that you’ve had for a good, long while.

If and when you find a capable partner, they can do wonders for a marketing director. Since there aren’t many experts in-house, I absolutely rely on them to guide me down the right path. The fact that they’ve been able to do that for me has been tremendous.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president and CEO of the Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority (LTVA), which was created in 1986 as the South Lake Tahoe Destination Marketing Organization. Over the years, we expanded to marketing both Nevada and California South Shore assets. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Noble Studios?

We work with an advertising company in San Francisco called Duncan Channon. After they did a branding exercise with the LTVA, we were in the market for a new website that would support the brand. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Noble Studios spoke with us about the most important decision-making points. For instance, events and lodging are important because that drives our revenue. Noble Studios synthesized that information into a site that was easily navigated by potential visitors. They worked closely with Duncan Channon on the development of our new website. It’s gone through a few changes, but they still maintain that for us and make recommendations. The website has lasted through our quickly changing technological environment.

Inspiration is really the purpose of the site. We’re trying to attract additional visitors to the area. The whole design process involved hero images and background selection. We had some right bar navigation that was really important for directing people and getting them quickly to the information they wanted. By inspiring people to travel, our most important goal is to refer business to our constituency and usher them down the funnel of decision making to purchase trip components. The site is not specifically designed for someone to stay on it for a long time. Our purpose is to give users cool information about the destination and then offer resources to get them to purchase a visit.

From 2010 to now, we’ve seen a lot of changes in websites from static, one-dimensional, informational content to interactive. Every two or three months, something new comes up. Noble Studios has had to adapt and stay on the cutting edge of those changes in order to anticipate how potential visitors make decisions and on what kind of platform. In 2010, we were all basically using desktop computers to research vacations and to plan and purchase them. Now, people primarily use mobile devices. We’ve had to follow an adaptive process over the past 7 years.

Our biggest overhaul was to make the site mobile-friendly. Noble Studios spearheaded that process for us. After the increase in mobile traffic, we’ve made some other changes. They actually have a continuing relationship with our advertising agency supporting some of our digital media buys. We’ve also expanded into organic search versus paid search and all those kinds of things. They also headed a personalization project last year, which is still evolving, to deliver information to a specific psychographic so that we can quickly identify what type of person might be considering South Lake Tahoe and deliver relevant information.

What is the team dynamic?

We’ve had a fairly consistent group of people with some changes over time. The team is digital, so I’m not directly involved in the day-to-day conversations. At least 3–5 people are working on our business on a regular basis. There may be more in the background who I’m unaware of. Andy [Client Success Manager, Noble Studios], our lead on that account, has bi-monthly calls with our digital team. They are constantly looking at information and analytics and adjusting accordingly. We’re never out of touch with them.

We’ve always had an interactive relationship with Noble Studios. There was a lot of conversation because the website is quite complex. We represent primarily lodging, but the site is designed to offer inspiration and contains a lot of information.

How did you come to work with Noble Studios?

Noble Studios had some experience with Duncan Channon in the past, so Duncan Channon actually brought them on board. However, Michael [CMO and Partner, Noble Studios] and I knew each other previously when he was with the Reno Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority. We probably considered several other companies. Noble Studios offered creative solutions for a complex website. That probably had something to do with the final decision.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $500,000–$750,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in 2010, and the collaboration is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Three people on our team are actively involved with Noble Studios. Noble Studios also coordinates with our advertising agency. So, they have a set of goals that I can’t speak to. For our goals, we’re looking for interaction with a potential visitor. Unique visitors are always important to us. The personalization was another attempt to increase the number of page views and referrals. Our organic traffic grew by 23% this year, compared to the industry average of about 10%–15%. Those results are pretty impressive.

Our mobile growth in 2016 and 2017 grew to 53% from 46% the year before, thanks to the mobile platform that we’re using and offering. In our target market, San Francisco, we’ve had 10% growth year over year. We’ve grown by 12% in Los Angeles and 19% in San Diego. After our personalization project, our page sessions went from 2.61 to 3.14. Session duration grew from two minutes and 29 seconds to three minutes and 34 seconds. Our bounce rate went down by almost 10%. Our conversion rate for partner referrals was really important to get our visitors to an event page, a lodging page, or a restaurant page. That went from 6% to 12%. Our revenue source comes specifically from lodging and transient occupancy tax. Year after year, we did 30% more lodging referrals than the past year, which is impressive, particularly when we’re approaching a renewal of the tourism district that funds us.

How did Noble Studios perform from a project management standpoint?

Noble Studios constantly communicates with our digital team and has also been available to attend our board meetings and present some of the most meaningful information. They also explore ways to improve our performance on a regular basis. We communicate face to face, as well as via email and lots of phone calls. For the most part, with our staff, the relationship is very personal.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I joined the company in 2008. I can’t really compare them to another digital vendor. After working closely with Noble Studios, I don’t think we would be in such a strong position or have such great stats without their assistance. We have renewed our contract with them every year and don’t feel the need to look any further.

Michael and a few others from Noble Studios have impressive backgrounds that are tourism-related. They’ve become very knowledgeable in the tourism space and added other destinations that led to new solutions. They understand what we’re trying to achieve. Other digital companies may be suited to building something but aren’t necessarily as intuitively capable of working with a destination marketing organization.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’ve run into a few hiccups but no red flags. Noble Studios is always challenging themselves and looking for additional ways to provide value. That’s part of their culture. They pride themselves on being able to evaluate their performance and knowledge base so that they can grow their expertise, which why we hired them. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the vice president of marketing and communications at Terry Lee Wells Nevada Discovery Museum, a hands-on science center located in Reno, Nevada. We opened to the public in September 2011 and we see about 180,000 visitors a year. We have a large collection of permanent exhibitions and we house about one temporary exhibition a year.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Noble Studios?

We needed Noble to redevelop our existing website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They developed a completely new website for the museum. Their work also included strategic planning, which was helpful. Through the course of the strategic planning, we had some interesting realizations about the market that we serve and where we attract our audience from. We have insight into that through demographics that we can collect at the museum, but they were able to confirm some of that information and then add on to that with a deep dive into the analytics of our current site relative to web traffic.

The regimented process started with interviews with key strategic staff on their end. Some meetings were done at the museum and some were done in their offices, which are a couple of blocks from us. After spending time gathering information and planning, they presented us with a couple of proposed designs for the site in PDF. We melded the two designs and ended up with something they are proud of. The site is visually appealing, functions well, and is very easy for us to maintain. Our visitors and members have given the site positive feedback; the site is easy to use and simple to navigate.

One of the key features that we had them incorporate into the site was a robust calendar. We do a lot of daily programming at the museum for visitors. Because of the hours of the museum, the programming fluctuates from day to day. We needed a back end function for our calendar that would allow us to make changes and add events without adding a lot of labor. Our previous site was coded in HTML, so any changes we wanted to make required us to go in and hand-code the calendar page to add entries. We wanted the calendar to be able to set up reoccurring events, and that was something they were able to do for us.

They were able to integrate our Google Analytics from our previous site into our new site so that we can keep that data. We use a third party point of sale system at the museum and we are able to add external links to our site for event ticket sales. They set up an integration with Gravity Forms, allowing us to do registration forms for our camp program or membership sales on the website, which is a seamless system for us.

After we launched the site and that one-year grant program was done, we stayed on with them on a monthly retainer basis. The site runs itself with us managing content through the backend. The monthly retainer lets them keep plug ins and WordPress up to date. Occasionally, we'll run across a feature that we would like to include in the site or a tweak that we want to make to the design. When we do, we reach out and cover that with the retainer hours.

What is the team dynamic?

We have worked with between 10 and 12 people on their staff, including an account person that we interfaced with, the programmers, and the designers.

How did you come to work with Noble Studios?

We had started conversations with a couple of other firms and realized that our project was going to cost more than our non-profit budget could afford. We found Noble because they run a project called Noble Deeds that accepts applications once a year from local nonprofits for a development project. Their internal committee reviews the applications and chooses one worthy non-profit each year. In the year that we were chosen, we were the sole beneficiary. We were excited because we knew that we would end up with a robust web presence through the grant process.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We saw a decline in bounce rate on the new site versus the old site, and we have seen individual user sessions grow in length by about a minute and a half.

We see about 1,000 campers per year at the museum, and previously, we had a PDF-dependent registration process. We were able to move that entire registration process onto the website using the Gravity Forms integration that Noble created for us. 100% of the registration process is done via the site now, making it completely paperless and a huge labor saver.

How did Noble Studios perform from a project management standpoint?

We had regular check in meetings every other week. The meetings usually included a well-sized cross-section of their staff so that if there were technical questions, we could ask a programmer directly, and if there was an interpretation issue between us and the developers, we could ask an account executive.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The biggest surprise was the strategic findings they made during the discovery process of the project. A lot of the demographic information that they discovered through our analytics were real eye openers for us, and we were able to use that information to influence the campaigns that we do for traveling exhibitions.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not really. We have been pleased with everything that they have done for us. They are a great resource for us. They're always great about recommendations for ways we can improve the way that we maintain the site, increase user sessions, and decrease bounce rates.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the director of marketing at a destination marketing organization. We represent three cities in two states. Fargo and West Fargo are in North Dakota and then Moorhead is in Minnesota. We are a population of about 250,000 people and we promote the cities as a place for people to visit, do business, host their meetings, and host sporting events.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Noble Studios?

We rebranded in January of 2015 and we knew, following the rebrand, we would want to redo our website. It was over 15 years old and the backend was MODX, which isn't even a CMS [content management system] that you can have built anymore.

We knew a refresh of a website wasn't going to cut it, so we started from scratch. The project was an overhaul of our existing stuff and the creation of a completely new website. One of the reasons we liked Noble was that they had tourism clients but they weren't specific to the tourism industry. Sometimes you see companies that only do tourism-specific websites and they tend to start to all look somewhat similar. So it was nice that they understood the tourism industry and what we stood for, and how we operated. We didn't want to be a guinea pig of a client.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They designed and built the new site from scratch. We had some WordPress sites that were integrated into our old website, such as a speakers’ bureau and a blog. They moved the blogs over to our new WordPress site. They also integrated our CRM [customer relationship management] to the site through an API. We are also building out a media page right now which will be a page on our website where people can direct download select images that we've approved and grab all of our logos.

What is the team dynamic?

Chris [Matthews, Project Manager, Noble Studios] is our main account manager and Michael [Thomas, CMO/Partner], who oversaw the project since day one, has really come on board post-launch to help with SEO and optimizing our site. Christine [Harcinske, Senior Creative] was our designer. And then Nitish [Narala, Senior Web Developer] was our website developer and he was always very open-minded with any challenges we threw at him.

How did you come to work with Noble Studios?

We were told about Noble through Get Smart Content. We had an RFP [request for proposal] process both with local companies and companies throughout the U.S. Some bids were from developers of websites that we really liked and some were companies who approached us. Our tagline is “North of normal”; we try to be a little bit outside of the box, a little bit quirky, so we wanted someone who was going to really get behind our rebrand and be willing to take some risks creatively. We saw that come through in the RFP process with Noble.

What is the status of this engagement?

We really started to dive into the project in June 2016 and then we launched in March of 2017. We are also still adding things because there were some things that just didn't make the launch date that we wanted as part of the website. We've also kept Noble on through a monthly retainer for both SEO and maintenance.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We've seen really good numbers so far. Every month we sit down with Chris, Andy [Walden, Client Success Manager], and Michael and they go through the analytics of our site. We see which keywords and photos are performing best and how the blog posts are linking.

We're looking forward to seeing what comes next year. It's really nice to see where people are accessing our website, how they're using it, and what's most popular. The heat maps are really interesting to see and they help us make improvements. We just added a home page button on our website based on what we've seen with heat maps. We're constantly able to improve our website because we have a better understanding of how it's being used.

How did Noble Studios perform from a project management standpoint?

We have been using email and phone to communicate. One thing I really liked about Noble's approach is that, before going into the build, they actually came to our destination and did a fam visit. I thought that was really great to have to have Andy there, but specifically Christine because she's a designer. She was the one who took in everything with our brand and made it into the visuals of the website. For her to be able to be in destination was very valuable going into the website.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I think Noble did a great job with transparency, communication, and professionalism. It's nice to know that we have a full team that supports us, rather than just one individual. I think it's interesting how they embrace their clients. You never know if a company you work with will completely understand the tourism industry and it was nice to see that Noble really understood. You can also tell that they have a really great corporate culture in their organization and it shines through in the way they treat their clients.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I do wish that there was a BaseCamp style communication hub because we're already inundated with so many emails. That is one recommendation and it is something we already gave feedback on.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m responsible for all communication channels for the Yosemite Mariposa County Tourism Bureau (YMCTB), which is the official destination marketing organization for the County of Mariposa and Yosemite National Park.

Its function is to manage the branding, sales, and marketing efforts for the territory in order to attract leisure and group overnight stays through website, social, and print advertising. The primary focus is to generate room nights during the off-season.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what reason(s) did your company hire Noble Studios?

We needed to merge our 2 existing websites into one new website with updated branding and SEO [search engine optimization].

What were your goals for this project?

Our goal was to maintain and increase the traffic that the two websites had separately but leverage the power of a single URL.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We took bids from several companies but identified 2 very important aspects in Noble Studios that separated them from competitors. First, they emphasized their passion for our destination and the project, so as clients, we felt like our business was extremely valuable to them. They truly exceeded all our expectations with their knowledge and approach to our destination website.

Second, they are data- and results-driven. Their emphasis is on moving towards our key objectives and providing in-depth reporting that we can share back with our stakeholders.

Describe the project in detail.

They prepared design comps, executed the build on time and within budget, and provided staff training and ample follow up to ensure we were tracking the success of the project. Overall, the project took roughly 3 months to complete but we have expanded our agreement with them to include ongoing site maintenance as well as SEO and content development.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our newly redesigned site performs very well with an annual increase of more than 160% in total sessions and a 230% increase in page views. Visit duration has increased by nearly 50% and our bounce rate has decreased by 23%. Our site looks great, performs well, and is easy for staff to maintain.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We continue to be satisfied with their knowledge, innovative approach, and commitment to our business. Even though we are no longer a new client, they treat us as though they are still wanting to win our business every day.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company.

Our organization is a destination marketing nonprofit organization. What we do is we market destinations, this project was for Newport Beach, Calif. 

What is your role and responsibilities?

My role here is the director of digital marketing. I handle everything that has to do with websites, SEO [search engine optimization], SEM [search engine marketing], email, and social media. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your goal for working with Noble Studios?

Our goal was to further our digital imprint and to reinforce the brand message that we’re trying to cultivate about the destination. We’ve done that in a number of ways with them, we have built a fully responsible website for our destination, to enhance our organic search results, and to work with them on our paid search campaigns. 

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their work.

Web design, SEO, and PPC [pay-per-click] were the services included in their scope of work. There’s a strategy component. They’ve been a great resource and a great partner in strategizing some of our digital plans as well as helping us brainstorm solutions for digital problems.

What was your process for selecting Noble Studios with which to work?

Originally, our first project was the website redesign. We put out an RFP [request for proposal] and they were one of about 10 initial digital firms that we talked to and interviewed. From that, we narrowed it down to about four and brought those people into our offices to meet in person.

They ended up having the most digital knowledge from A to Z as far as the strategy behind it to the execution so we gave them the contract. Their work is still ongoing on a lot of forefronts. We like that we have options with them; they built the website, but it’s not on a proprietary CMS [content management system], so we have the keys to our own car and can go to anyone we want to for design.

Likewise, we’ve recently worked with them to bring our paid search back in house as far as control. They’re helping us manage it, but it’s our account, so even if we move away from them, we take it with us.

Can you provide a ballpark dollar figure for the size of the work that they’ve done for you?

We’ve signed a service contract that gives us a defined amount of development. They’re very efficient. They accept suggestions about workflow that will reduce their work hours, which is unique. Their pricing structure is similar to buying a bulk of hours because it reduces the cost of what they normally would charge.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the results of the project?

The best result is that we have won 17 different awards from various marketing organizations during the last year and a half. We have drastically improve our search engine optimization and seen continual improvement of key terms that we’re monitoring and looking to improve upon. With paid search, again, we’ve brought it in-house and that’s made it more effective giving me more control on [Google] AdWords.

Do you have any statistics or metrics to track improvement from the project?

We have seen a great improvement in our Google analytics. We’ve seen improvement on our visits. We’ve had a dramatic decrease in our bounce rate. Our bounce rate was more than 40 percent and it’s now dropped to half that.

Is there anything unique about them that really makes them stand out, compared to other companies?

A lot of their uniqueness starts with their team and leadership. Reno, Nev., is known as the little big town, and I think that embodies their personality. They’re not a huge firm, but they’re filled with a lot of experience and smart people. They really listen to clients and work with companies in a partnership.

Looking back on the work so far, is there any area that you think they could improve upon or something that you might do differently?

The reporting we do with them is really good, but when it comes to billable hours, I’d like to see a little bit more definition into what’s being attributed to what and seeing that kind of track ability.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Digital Marketing Analyst

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are a not-for-profit financial institution that serves Nevadans and Nevada businesses.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Noble Studios to accomplish?

• New Modern Design
• Mobile Friendly
• Search Engine Optimized Content

SOLUTION

How did you find Noble Studios?

Other

Why did you select Noble Studios over others?

Close to my geographic location, Great culture fit, Company values aligned

What was the size of Noble Studios’s team?

6-10 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

This project's SOW included analyzing existing website activity, creating a detailed content plan for SEO, designing a new website look and feel which included several custom blocks for page designs, implementing approved design into WordPress, and writing 75 pages of content for our most valuable topics.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

• Increase in organic search traffic
• Modern designed site that shows well on mobile devices
• Word-of-mouth feedback from employees and members

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Project management was excellent. They delivered items on time and were accommodating to a few curveballs from our side along the way, and were quick to follow up to our requests/comments.

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

They were website experts who brought a lot of valuable recommendations to the table. Their project management was awesome as well.

What was your primary form of communication with Noble Studios?

Virtual Meeting, Email or Messaging App

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

The only knock came during the content development for their assigned 75 pages, and certain topics from our industry were foreign to them which resulted in extra time for more granular feedback and more renditions to get to final approval.