Rankings.io

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of Legal Marketing Arm. We manage paid online marketing campaigns for law firms across the U.S. and Canada.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Rankings.io, and what were your goals?

We hired Rankings.IO to manage the SEO for several of our law firm clients, with the goal of increasing their traffic & inbound leads from Google organic search.

SOLUTION

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

We were referred to Rankings.IO by a law firm client of ours who was already working with them for SEO. Not only was this law firm raving about their results, but they also had great things to say about their entire team, their account manager, and their CEO (Chris).

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

They've always started with an audit of our clients' websites and current Google rankings, and then they come up with a realistic plan of attack with their SEO strategy. They are very specific with their direction as it relates to keywords they plan on ranking for, timelines for doing so, changes to current site structure and content, backlinks, etc. Most importantly, they can show verifiable results of other law firms they work with who have had a ton of success in similar sized markets.

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

Always a dedicated account manager who is very knowledgable about SEO, and access to the executive team when need be. We've worked with very large agencies in the past, and none of them have provided anywhere close to the accessibility and knowledge that Rankings.IO has.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Yes, a lot of them. We have law firm clients in some the most largest and most competitive markets in the U.S., who somehow rank organically at the top of Google - for some of the most competitive keywords on ALL of Google (mainly "personal injury lawyer/attorney" and "car accident lawyer/attorney" and related keywords).

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

Very proactive and savvy. Unlike most agencies, they bring new ideas to the table and seem to have their foot on the gas at all times. In addition to regular calls, emails and updates, I LOVE that we have access to slack messaging communication and Trello boards for project management.

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

Just their ability to produce incredible results; the proof is in the pudding with them, they have verifiable results on their website and all over Google, all you have to do is search. And the fact that they are a larger agency with a lot of resources, but they operate like a boutique company and are always accessible.

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

Well I sometimes wish they offered other services for law firms besides SEO, but I understand that's their bread and butter so they stay focused on that. I will say that their fees are on the higher end, but there's a pretty clear reason for it...literally every single one of our clients who has hired them has been extremely happy, and the results and increase in traffic & leads is the reason why.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the owner of a personal injury law firm in the State of Michigan called Michigan Injury Lawyers. We handle all types of personal injury matters ranging from auto accidents, dog bites and medical malpractice.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Rankings, and what were your goals?

When I originally reached out to Rankings back in 2015, we had recently been through a number of different SEO vendors and had been hit rather drastically with some Google updates. Rankings was very quickly able to “right the ship” and bring our website back on page 1 of Google listings for virtually all practice groups. We have a highly competitive market in the Detroit area, and they were very successful in navigating this landscape.

SOLUTION

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

Candidly, it was by trial and error initially. As mentioned, I had a number of different vendors and well-known vendors in the personal injury space. Some of the top companies. I believe I received a referral from another vendor that I knew who had met Chris at a seminar and we were able to connect.

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

Our website had been dramatically delisted as the result of some other SEO work that was done on our site. Rankings was able to bring the site back up and also transition our site over from its founding name of The Stroble Law Firm to what we now operate as – Michigan Injury Lawyers – and have for the last seven years.

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

I have worked with a number of different vendors through Rankings from content social media and web design and development.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The measurable outcomes have been astounding. We went from generating very little traffic online to where we get anywhere from 5 to 10 organic leads per day coming in through our website. The value on an annual basis is well north of a $1,000,000 for what it would cost in any pay per click campaign.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Workflow and communication have been great with Rankings and I cannot say enough good things with how responsive they are to our needs.

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

The most impressive attribute of the company is their attention to detail and doing things the right way so that they produce results.

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

I am not aware of anything that could have been done differently. I know for sure that there were a lot of things that could have happened poorly as I have been down that road before.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the managing partner of an employee and consumer rights law firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Rankings, and what were your goals?

We hired them to perform SEO services to increase our rankings and traffic to our website.

SOLUTION

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

We found out about Rankings through a trusted colleague who had great success using them. After talking to Rankings, we decided to use them because of the transparency in the services they provided and how they said they would run the SEO plan.

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

Rankings had to first switch over our website from our current provider's proprietary site to word press. They then met with us to identify our goals and top search terms. We meet monthly to see how we have moved up in rankings and if we are meeting our goals. They also handle website maintenance and content development.

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

They is a project manager, a content writer and the director that oversees them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Since working with Rankings, we have moved up to the 1st page for many search terms and they are constantly finding ways to move us up on the rest. Quality of calls has increased.

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

We meet monthly to discuss the month's progress and that provides us an opportunity to ask questions and address any concerns. Throughout the month, if we request for an update to our site, they deliver.

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

I really like the transparency and solution-driven approach. Seems simple, but we worked with 3 other companies before and this is the first time we get a monthly report and meeting identifying where we were and were we are at now and what they are working on for the others where we are not ranking on the 1st page.

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

Not that I can think of.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a law firm that deals with personal injury, employment, oil, and gas litigation.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Rankings?

We hired them to develop a new website and then provide SEO services for the site. Our goal was to drive business organically through Google and other search engines.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started from scratch, as my partner and I had split off from our previous partner. The domain was new, so we had to start the rankings from scratch. They were able to copy a lot of our old site and modify it to omit our old partner. We weren’t a brand new business, so it wasn’t completely from scratch. They built our site on WordPress.

They created our keywords around oil and gas subject matter, employment law, and sexual harassment, and personal injury topics.

What is the team composition?

The two main people I deal with are a strategy resource and a technology specialist. There was also a salesperson that I spoke to initially, as well as a billing contact. The strategy resource is our primary contact.

How did you come to work with Rankings?

I was looking for companies that handled SEO for law firms, and Rankings seemed to be very competent and capable. My partner and I considered and talked to multiple options, choosing Rankings over five or so other companies.

How much have you invested with them?

The total cost is just under $250,000 USD.

What is the status of this engagement?

I’ve been working with them since July 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Describe the impact this engagement has had on your business.

I don’t have any metrics, but, generally speaking, our website is ranking very well — in the top 2–3 spots for most of our keywords.

We’re optimized very well in our city, but we don’t rank nearly that high when you search outside of our city, so we haven’t seen the ROI we’ve hoped to We’re hyper-focused on our city, and I think that works well if you’re in a larger market, say Indianapolis, a city that has many outlying suburbs, but in a rural area like Morgantown, West Virginia it doesn’t work like that.

How was project management handled?

They delivered the website in a timely manner, and we have no complaints. Both our main contacts are great to work with. We communicate over email, phone calls, and texts.

Is there anything that the vendor did well or that you would consider a strength?

Their cost is certainly a distinguishing feature. We knew that going in, but we haven’t seen the ROI that justifies that cost yet. There are three levels above SEO: PPC, Google screened ads, and Google My Business, so they may have to adjust their cost structure based on effectiveness.

They’re also very good at what they do in helping us rank very high in our city. It’s very impressive. Other people in our area and industry have worked with other vendors and they’ve told me that they’ve never ranked as high as we are now.

In what specific areas can they improve?

If they’d heeded our advice that focusing only on our city wouldn’t drive results, they could have broadened the scope. When we talked to them about it, they said it would cost more, and that was a non-starter.

Rankings knows what they’re doing, and I think they could have done a good job, but they haven’t gotten there quick enough for this. Acknowledging the market your client is in and that all markets aren’t the same (Morgantown compared to Atlanta or Columbus, for instance) would be beneficial.

What advice do you have for clients with similar needs to yours?

I would be hesitant to work with them if a company was in a similar situation to what we were in. If I were in a larger metro market and had the money to spend to dominate the area, I wouldn’t hesitate to hire them. Consider your market.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the managing Partner of Finkelstein & Partners and Jacoby & Meyers law firms.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Rankings, and what were your goals?

We wanted to maximize our SEO results when people are searching for legal services in our practice areas.

SOLUTION

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

The transparency of reporting and clear goals and benchmarks in their proposal.

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

Initially there was an audit of the existing sites, clear objectives of types of matters we were seeking, a strategy to build and enhance SEO presence and then a transition to maintenance for continued growth.

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

Project manager and copy editors

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Since implementing the SEO strategy we gradually increased our presence to where we now rank on many key words in the first three positions in target market areas.

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

They provide detailed reporting in a timely way and provide a monthly meeting to review results. The outcome of the meetings are to often tweak the strategy such that we are constantly seeking improvement.

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

Level of communication and a clear mutual goal of enhancing the site to find results. They are one of the few SEO companies that does not offer excuses but rather solutions.

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

Creating a written long term strategy to grow geographically that can be measured against results.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the director of marketing for Perenich Law Injury Attorneys in the Tampa Bay Area.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Rankings, and what were your goals?

Staying competitive within the SEO world of personal injury law is really difficult, especially in the Tampa Bay Area. We needed an agency that could accomplish our goals of ranking in our area.

SOLUTION

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

We interviewed probably a dozen companies, and when I found out Rankings was available to take us on as a client, we were excited to move forward!

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

They put together a plan to get us ranking in multiple areas and they had the experience and the results, so we knew it would be a great fit for us.

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

The account manager that was assigned to us was Matt. He did such a great job for us! He was extremely professional, was always available to take my call, and worked extremely hard for our firm!

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They got us ranking on the first page for several key words in a very short time!

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

They kept us updated with monthly meetings, and were always available to take our calls in between meetings.

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

They are probably the most knowledgeable in the industry and are known for getting results.

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

It's always important to manage your clients' expectations at the beginning of the sales cycle.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the marketing director at a Law Firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Rankings, and what were your goals?

Our goal was to increase online visibility and increase our SEO traffic.

SOLUTION

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

I selected this vendor because I had seen their work for a San Diego law firm.

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

The focus was on a lot of content, rather than other efforts to drive in traffic.

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

I mainly worked with one person with whom I had a monthly online meeting. She was very knowledgeable and professional. I also worked with a content manager who would send me a list of content topics and the actual content to check before it was published.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It has currently been 9 months and we have not signed up even one client from our SEO efforts.

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

They were always available and replied to my emails quickly.

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

Responsiveness.

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

At our initial meeting, there were promises made that weren't kept. For example, I had asked about the number of backlinks that would be delivered and they did not deliver on that. Also, I was told that after 6–9 months, we would need to hire more staff to help with leads — this never happened, or we would have continued with their services.

Company Responses

The service provider responded on June 1, 2022

I am sorry to hear that your experience with Rankings did not live up to your expectations, but first and foremost, I want to thank you for taking the time to bring this to my attention.

I take all our reviews very seriously and won’t hide behind excuses. We set a standard for our service and, unfortunately, we missed the mark for you.

At Rankings, accountability starts at the top. That’s why I would like to talk with you further so we can explore how I can make this right for you.

Sincerely,

Chris Dreyer, CEO + Founder (chris@rankings.io)

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I handle IT and marketing efforts for The Soffer Firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Rankings.io?

Increase new leads (cases) from organic traffic and leads.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

SEO, content, ad management, website updates.

How did you come to work with Rankings.io?

UPDATED to 4.5 stars: I'll leave my original 1 star review below this updated review:

Many companies fail to deliver, and some are even respectful enough to admit it, but few fix the wrongdoing. Steve and the rankings.io team have definitely left a better feeling towards them in my mind. We aren't working with them in the long term, but they did do makeup work to make right on the wrong at no cost.

We did see great results from the makeup work, and had this been the original quality AND level of service/communication, we'd probably still be working with them today. Although we are not working together in the long term, thank you Steve and team for correcting this wrong.

Original 1 star review:

They did a great sales presentation and were nice, but did not deliver, and missed deadlines to the point where we had to remind them 3-4 times to create content and deliver reports. Once delivered, work was not high quality and their suggestion was to increase $ spend.

How much have you invested with them?

$60k

What is the status of this engagement?

Over, they did 3 months of free work to make up for initial poor work/service. The makeup work was good quality.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

How did your relationship with the vendor evolve?

UPDATED to 4.5 stars: I'll leave my original 1 star review below this updated review:

Many companies fail to deliver, and some are even respectful enough to admit it, but few fix the wrongdoing. Steve and the rankings.io team have definitely left a better feeling towards them in my mind. We aren't working with them in the long term, but they did do makeup work to make right on the wrong at no cost.

We did see great results from the makeup work, and had this been the original quality AND level of service/communication, we'd probably still be working with them today. Although we are not working together in the long term, thank you Steve and team for correcting this wrong.

Original 1 star review:

They did a great sales presentation and were nice, but did not deliver, and missed deadlines to the point where we had to remind them 3-4 times to create content and deliver reports. Once delivered, work was not high quality and their suggestion was to increase $ spend.

UPDATED REVIEW

This review was published on September 21, 2021.

Jake Soffer

Founder, The Soffer Firm

Legal

1-10 Employees

Miami, Florida

Less than $10,000

Jan 2020 - Jan 2021

Project summary:

Rankings.io was hired by an AI company to handle their SEO and PPC initiatives. The team was tasked with creating content for the client's site, managing their ads, optimizing their site, and more.

Feedback summary:

Rankings.io failed to provide any substantial results for the client. They were too inconsistent to provide quality content for the client's site. In the end, their unreliability, lack of follow-through, and inability to adhere to the project's timelines led to the termination of the engagement.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Founder

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Rankings.io, and what were your goals?

SEO and ppc to grow our firm

SOLUTION

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

They gave a great sales pitch but did not deliver

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

SEO via content creation and site optimization and ppc ad management. promised us so much and delivered things always late, stopped responding, tons of typos in work, and very poor quality saw close to no results

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

2 - managers

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

kept missing promises on deadlines nad metrics, also never fixed things after asking multiple times

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

almost no style, missed phone calls and meetings very often

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

nothing

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

be honest and actually do high quality work that they promised. actually care about our success

Star Ratings

Overall rating: 1.5

Quality: 2

Cost: 2

Schedule: .5

Willing to refer: .5

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner and attorney of The May Firm. We’re a personal injury law firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Rankings.io?

We were trying to grow our online presence.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Rankings.io updated our website. They restructured the platform, which involved backend formatting. Although, their team made some cosmetic changes too. It’s a WordPress website. Their team works closely with ours on keyword research and manages our SEO campaigns.

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked with three people but primarily communicate with Wil (Director of Accounts). I also talk with Chris (CEO & Founder).

How did you come to work with Rankings.io?

I followed them for quite a while and liked their work with other groups. I chose them because I saw their success with other clients.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent probably $100,000 on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our partnership began around November 2020, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We measure the success of Rankings.io’s efforts by leads, site visitors, and page rankings. Since beginning to work with them, we've experienced a 20%–25% increase in monthly visitors. Our pages are also ranking higher. So far, their team has delivered on all of the important metrics.

How did Rankings.io perform from a project management standpoint?

We primarily communicate through email. Any time we want to make a change, their team’s responsive. They’re super organized. Their reports are clear too.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Rankings.io is up to speed on the newest trends, algorithms, and Google updates. They’re more proactive than other SEO companies. Whereas our previous vendors waited for problems to happen, Rankings.io gets in front of potential problems.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I like what they’re doing.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Understand your goals. If you know your goals, you can narrow the project's focus and make specific requests. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the President and Founder of a Personal Injury Law Firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Rankings.io, and what were your goals?

We are growing, both into different practice areas, and into different geographic markets. I hired Rankings.io to improve our organic rankings in each of those markets, plus our existing ones.

SOLUTION

How did you select Rankings.io and what were the deciding factors?

We met with them at a conference and several firm owners recommended them highly.

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

The scope of work is to work to improve our rankings in every relevant market. They provide monthly reports and upon request.

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

We work directly with the President and at least two dedicated SEO specialists.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We are now either #1 or on page one for every important keyword. Traffic to our site has increased substantially. Many new clients tell us they found us on Google.

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

They are excellent communicators. They provide us monthly in-depth reports and respond immediately to any question or request for information we have.

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

Results first. I am amazed at how fast and effective they got us to the top of the market. Second customer service. Incredible communication and responsiveness. Third, just good decent human beings.

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

Nope. I love them.