Razorfrog Web Design

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

Vibrant Reiki is a community-based healing practice in San Francisco, founded in 2004. We offer extensive reiki and shamanic training, individual treatments, regular community circles and events, a low-cost community clinic, and host visiting speakers about contemporary healing practices from around the world.

What is your role at the company?

I am the owner and founder.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was the business challenge that you were trying to address with Razorfrog Web Design?

I'd been designing and coding my own website in Dreamweaver since founding Vibrant Reiki in 2004. The site was serviceable and attractive, but also unwieldy on the back-end. It lacked the contemporary, sleek feel necessary to anchor space in San Francisco, and move into a more global online presence and brand.

Our goals were to have completely overhauled website that synthesized a large amount of classes, events, and information in a graphically beautiful way; capacity to handle forms, sliders, video, class deposits, and integrated calendars; and fresh perspective on the organizational aspects of the site and user experience.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

It was for a full site redesign. I provided the copy, images, and color brand, and Razorfrog provided the new template, structured everything in WordPress, and taught me how to handle WordPress updates and site changes. This was important, as I need a hands-on approach, with the hosting of 100-plus classes and events every year, and am constantly changing my online content. I didn't want to have to ask someone to make a change every time I needed one, and Max [Elman, founder and project manager at Razorfrog] not only provided something beautiful, professional, and cutting edge, he taught me what I needed to know so I could make the changes I need myself, and is extremely available for questions and support.

How did you come to work with Razorfrog Web Design?

Through a Google search, which turned into a Yelp search, which brought up Razorfrog. The logo and name drew me initially, and the Razorfrog site closed the deal. Honestly, after talking with Max, the search ended there. I was, and am, impressed.

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

The original site redesign was somewhere around $6,000, and I can't remember how many hours went into it. As I'm pretty hands-on and am responsible for the copy and images, a lot of my time went into the project, which was what I expected and wanted.

When was the project completed?

I want to say around 2013.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

The results are superb. I love the site. Everyone who looks at the sites loves the site. It's opened doors for me with colleagues and contemporaries, and I feel confident that as I continue to expand my online and global presence, and begin publishing books, that the site will evolve with me and represent me in a way that feels aligned. I wasn't doing a lot with tracking how users viewed and moved through the site, and now have my pulse on how many weekly views VR receives. That's helpful, and I appreciate it a lot. My income has increased since the new site launch, and I attribute this to both Razorfrog's work and the launch of a new premium program.

How did Razorfrog Web Design perform?

Brilliantly. Absolutely brilliantly. I glow about Razorfrog all the time, to anyone who will listen. The work was delivered beautifully, on time, and I'm continually impressed with Max's super-quick responses to my questions as they arise with WordPress and new site aspects. We recently, within the last two months, [2015] added capacity for clients to sign up for classes in house, as we moved away from PayPal,) and Max was superb with handling SSL [secure socket layer] and creating a solid user interface. I couldn't be happier with Razorfrog.

What distinguishes Razorfrog Web Design from other providers?

Max is my main contact so far with Razorfrog, and he's great at branding his company as accessible, professional, courteous, patient, and prompt. He's always been gracious and kind, and I can't remember receiving better customer service. Anywhere. Ever. I really mean that. I also appreciate the "locally owned San Francisco" feel I get from the Razorfrog site that's still sleek and beautiful, and also enjoyed the bustling, co-workspace environment in downtown San Francisco.

In hindsight, are there areas in which they could improve, or things you might do differently?

Honestly, no. There are occasional aspects of WordPress that I find unwieldy, but that's WordPress and not Razorfrog. Max is always so prompt to help that I feel well supported and held.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the marketing manager of NIDEK Inc. We develop and manufacture advanced diagnostic and treatment equipment for retinal diseases, glaucoma, and other vision disorders. We serve vision care providers worldwide with innovative technologies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Razorfrog Web Design?

We needed help with website development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Razorfrog Web Design has taken on the unenviable task of inheriting existing code from the previous developer and transforming it into a more stable site with optimized experiences for our web visitors. The team has optimized the current code, increased the security and stability of the website, deployed a CDN for faster performance, enhanced existing pages, added new product pages when necessary, and assisted with SEO. Overall, the team has worked on backend improvements, frontend design, and content updates.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with 2–5 teammates from Razorfrog Web Design.

How did you come to work with Razorfrog Web Design?

We found them through an online search. We chose them over other options because they had high ratings, were close to our geographic location, had pricing that fit our budget, had a great culture fit, and offered good value for the cost.

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we’ve spent less than $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in February 2023, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The performance and structure of the site have greatly improved. First Contentful Paint has been drastically reduced to 496ms, the speed index has improved to 1.3 seconds, Time to Interactive has been greatly reduced to 619ms, and total blocking time has been reduced to zero. Additionally, we've seen an increase in the number of new users (+55%), active users (+50%), overall web traffic (+68%), and SERP rankings (+67%).

How did Razorfrog Web Design perform from a project management standpoint?

They deliver on time and are communicative during the project. We communicate via virtual meetings, emails, and messaging apps.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their proactiveness and promptness are impressive.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they delivered at all milestones, and we launched the new site during the target date.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the principal at a landscape architectural firm. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Razorfrog Web Design?

We wanted a new portfolio type site that looked great on all platforms and easy for us to update regularly ourselves.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goal was to have a website that was aesthetically pleasing and responsive to the general user. And a site that is easy to update with new photos, project descriptions, resumes, and other website edits.

SOLUTION

How did you select Razorfrog Web Design?

We were in the middle of working with another web developer but we were unhappy with their adherence to their schedule they set and design work. We decided it would be best to ditch the work in progress and start over. 

I looked online for an online team in our region who developed sites through WordPress and showed good design sense. After and my interview with Max at Razorfrog I felt that confident that they understood our need for great design and responsive communication.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project was finished on schedule, the end design was seamlessly worked through between Razorfrog and me, their setup of the site is easy to update. Their response time to any additional updates to the sites or questions I may have continues to be excellent!

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm partner at a boutique law firm in San Francisco.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Razorfrog Web Design?

We formed a new practice that needed a website.

What were your goals for this project?

The website needed to communicate information to prospective clients.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I worked with this vendor at another law firm. That engagement produced good results.

Describe the project in detail.

We met to discuss goals, and subsequently supplied content and design specifications. During development, they created three iterations of the site. We reviewed them during feedback sessions.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They launched the site within a month; we were pleased with the design. We also received positive feedback from clients.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We valued their responsiveness, particularly when we had time constraints near the launch. We also liked their design choices.