SEO Brand

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a private client mortgage group. I am an area manager for the western division of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SEO Brand?

We needed to improve social media branding and have better lead generation.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

SEO Brand has provided SEO [search engine optimization], social media marketing, branding, and pay-per-click management services for our company.

How did you come to work with SEO Brand?

I was referred to them by a friend who knew SEO Brand's CEO [Michael A. Salvaggio]. I researched a number of other companies, but chose SEO Brand and never looked back.

How much have you invested with SEO Brand?

The cost of SEO Brand's services has been more than $100,000 during the course of 4 years.

What is the status of this engagement?

We have been working with SEO Brand since mid-2012 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 have grown our business, and there's been a terrific ROI [return on investment] from SEO Brand's services. We've continued to invest in lead generation and social media campaigns using SEO Brand. There's been a great response, the conversion is high, and I like SEO Brand's services. If something isn't working, SEO Brand has been flexible in making changes.

How did SEO Brand perform from a project management standpoint?

The service level is very high with SEO Brand. I've always been able to get in touch with account managers, sales agents, or even SEO Brand's principal when needed.

What did you find most impressive about SEO Brand?

SEO Brand is results driven, and has delivered what was promised. Whenever anything didn't work well, we were able to make adjustments and have price concessions. SEO Brand has made a sacrifice on their end in order to make us successful. I've known many people who have has bad results working with SEO companies, so I've been fortunate.

Are there any areas SEO Brand could improve?

I have no complaints.

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

Clients should make sure that their funding is in place before engaging in any type of SEO, SEM [search engine marketing], or PPC [pay-per-click] campaign.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We're a Nissan car dealership in the Philadelphia area. Our company has been in business for 9 years. I'm the owner and Director of Marketing for the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SEO Brand?

We wanted to improve overall awareness for people entering the automobile purchasing process, extending our radius from the place of business.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

SEO Brand has been in charge of our website's SEO [seach engine optmization] in terms of meta tags, backend programming, and so on. SEO Brand has also built awareness campaigns for the fringe marketplace.

Our website was built off of a standardized platform required by our manufacturer. This has made it a bit more of a challenge when making custom changes. I would love for SEO Brand to create a custom site for me, but my hands are tied by the manufacturer.

SEO Brand has worked more like an expert boutique SEO company, they have been able to adapt and listen to our goals in order to develop a comprehensive game plan which can be put together over a period of time.

How did you come to work with SEO Brand?

I found SEO Brand through a referral.

How much have you invested with SEO Brand?

I expect to spend around $50,000 on SEO Brand's services in 2016.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've done many smaller projects with SEO Brand over the years. We've recently undertaken a bigger project which will be finalized soon.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

SEO Brand has pioneered strategies which have worked for our company. I cannot give specifics because the car business is a very complicated game, and I don't want to allow competitors to employ the same tactics. Currently, only the more aggressive, smart and innovative people can get a bigger footprint and awareness, from a digital perspective. This is what SEO Brand has helped me do.

I'm not in a great location, with only 2,500 cars going by the company doors each day, but I sell a lot of cars. My only advantage is being located in a densely-populated geographical area. The only way to lure those people in is through marketing, referrals and repeat business. I need to introduce myself to new people in the car-buying process, making them consider a Nissan. The only way to become a part of the options is through a cohesive digital plan, which is where SEO Brand came in.

How did SEO Brand perform from a project management standpoint?

SEO Brand has had outstanding communication skills, compared to other companies I've dealt with. They provided us with everything that we needed, and nothing that we didn't. SEO Brand followed up on emails and delivered work ahead of schedule many times.

What did you find most impressive about SEO Brand?

I've worked with other digital companies, dealing mostly with sales people and project managers, and moving from one resource to another because they weren't the decision-makers in their organizations. Usually, they had trouble navigating and getting things done.

SEO Brand is an innovative boutique and has facilitated access to real decision-makers within their company. Their principals formulated a good plan, making it easy for the rest of the team to follow along.

Are there any areas SEO Brand could improve?

There isn't anything to improve in terms of the work done by SEO Brand but, in the digital space, there is always an opportunity to grow. This would make it easier for me to assign to SEO Brand things that I am farming out. They should continue to be innovative, and grow within this space. The amount of money being spent for automotive marketing is exorbitant. I don't know if SEO Brand handles any other car dealership work. This is good for me because I can utilize the best practices from other areas and have them applied to my own business, thus gaining an advantage.

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

Clients should make sure to list out all of their goals, and clearly explain what they envision as the destination of the relationship to be. SEO Brand's team are good listeners, and they'll be able to formulate a plan which will get the client to the end-result.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We provide software and revenue-enhanced services to marketers. I am the founder of the company. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SEO Brand?

We've used SEO Brand on a number of different initiatives regarding development, and working with various modules of our software. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

SEO Brand has provided business development consultation, working with us on tactics for pinpointing certain parts of the market. We have also used SEO Brand for SEO [search engine optimization] on a side-project.

How did you come to work with SEO Brand?

SEO Brand has a very strong reputation regarding providing software development for marketing tools within our industry.

How much have you invested with SEO Brand?

The total cost of SEO Brand's services has been between $50,000 and $60,000 overall.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working with SEO Brand for 5-6 years. We 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've been satisfied with SEO Brand.

How did SEO Brand perform from a project management standpoint?

I cannot answer that question.

What did you find most impressive about SEO Brand?

For our particular niche, SEO Brand has been one of the most experienced agencies in the business, allowing us to take projects from concept to execution in the least amount of time.

Are there any áreas SEO Brand could improve?

No.

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

No, I can’t answer that.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We offer payment options for small merchants. Our activities are separated into two businesses, offering services to both high-volume e-commerce merchants and low-volume retail businesses.

What is your position?

I am the CEO [Chief Executive Officer] of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with SEO Brand?

We needed help in developing a transparent marketing strategy for our website.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

SEO Brand built the backend database for lead tracking, from the form submission on our site, all the way to the application process. SEO Brand built out the design and content on our site, as well as managing our SEO campaign, which consisted of a lot of link sharing, keyword implementation, and pay-per-click management.

We have an internal social media manager who worked with one of the individuals from SEO Brand, making sure that the content being posted by us was up-to-date with the one posted by SEO Brand. They were in charge of content creation, including 100+ articles written by merchant services experts. There is a portion of our site called "Ask The Experts", on which we address a number of questions related to merchant services.

How did you come to work with SEO Brand?

I've known SEO Brand's CEO for a number of years. We were initially introduced by a mutual client and stayed in touch over the years through trade shows and by bouncing ideas off of each other.

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

The cost of SEO Brand's services has been between $50,000 and $200,000 per year.

What is the status of this engagement?

SEO Brand did our original site development in 2009. Our relationship became more involved 3 and a half years ago, when we developed a transparent strategy. SEO Brand was instrumental in helping us design the marketing content for that. We have ongoing work with SEO Brand which will be rolled out in phases. Right now, we're updating the Ad Words campaign, building a new website, and updating our existing vantage payments one. There's typically always something ongoing with SEO Brand.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

SEO Brand is a great company. They always seemed to be on top of the knowledge base for the industry. SEO Brand has a diverse amount of developers and other resources, which made it easy to work with them. SEO Brand has taken care of every aspect needed in building out an online company. We've had a lot of success.

We've worked on many different campaigns with SEO Brand. Our retargeting efforts have been very successful, getting us ranked highly for many of the relevant keywords in our industry. Googling "restaurant merchant accounts" will show us on one of the first three positions, depending on our current activity. SEO Brand has managed our ranking more effectively than what I've seen for other SEO companies in the market.

How did SEO Brand perform from a project management standpoint?

Our main point of contact has always been there for us and gets things done. SEO Brand's CEO is also a great person. He is the one who introduced me to the team. I've been very satisfied.

What distinguishes SEO Brand from other providers?

SEO Brand has been a great company to work with. They stay on top of the industry, are honest, ethical, and have the relevant information for pushing out campaigns. SEO Brand has a great team of employees who have done a great job for us.

Is there anything SEO Brand could have improved or done differently?

Our only small issue is with the background noise that we get during conference calls with SEO Brand. Overall though, there's nothing wrong with SEO Brand.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are a classic car handler for European clientele. Our company is based in Miami. Our business requires a large marketing presence within Europe, given that our customers come from Germany, Belgium, Spain, France, Luxemburg, and so on. We mostly have people looking for classic cars like the '65 Mustang or '58 Corvette. We handle very particular classic cars which are hard to find anywhere other than the US. We seek cars all over the US, negotiate sales, qualify the seller and the car, and take care of the entire process, from A to Z, including shipping the cars from wherever they are located in the US to the port in Europe. We take care of customs clearance and everything else.

What is your position?

I am the founder and owner.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with SEO Brand?

Our target audience is in Europe, 8,000 kilometers away, so we needed creative branding in order to get people interested in spending anywhere from $20,000 to $200,000 on a car. By being so far away, we need to provide a guarantee that we are a trustworthy, liable company, and that we do our jobs right. The context in which we work is very scientific: we build clientele and branding based on trust. If we miss one deal, then our reputation suffers. The core business of our company is dependent on our marketing strategy. We needed to make our company known, starting with our branding effort.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

We had a briefing with SEO Brand a number of years ago. They operate in Canada and the US, but SEO Brand has good knowledge of the European market. We had to define our real needs, so we set the goal for our company to become emblematic in the business. People from 8,000 kilometers away needed to know about us in order to provide business on a regular basis. We considered what other companies were doing and how they were doing it. SEO Brand did the research and we found out that our specific niche had never been marketed properly. The only advantage of our competitors was that they had been there before us. They didn't do much branding from a digital standpoint.

SEO Brand gave us a clear understanding of what we were up against. From there, we built a strategy, namely to strengthen our branding through pay-per-click advertising. SEO Brand analyzed the components we could use in Europe. They researched marketing approaches and websites in our target area.

The second part of our work included lead generation, which came with its own strategy. Pay-per-click can also generate leads, but since we're in a niche and Europe is a bit old-fashioned when it comes to AdWords, we're only using this tool for exposure, more than anything else. We researched the available websites on which we could publish ads for our cars and came up with interesting possibilities which have become the core components of our marketing.

We then went to on work on SEO, generating text and trying to define what we did. Even though I'm a good writer, one text per month would not help our goal. We needed a strategy through which we could produce information about our business on a regular basis. SEO Brand did a great job of generating exposure for our company through content generation. Because of SEO Brand's effort, I have come to consider that I have no competition in my market. No one else does what we do as far as marketing.

I've also asked SEO Brand to develop a website and a mobile application for my business.

How did you come to work with SEO Brand?

Most SEO companies act as contractors, working on 100 jobs at the same time. There are also many one-man-show companies which claim that they have full teams available. I've had many experiences of this kind in the past through companies found online, so this was no longer a solution for me. I considered it to be a waste of time, so I started asking people in my area for recommendations. Out of the 10 people I talked to, 7 of them barely knew what I was talking about, but the other 3 directed me to SEO Brand. I found this to be a good indicator, so I checked the company out. I met with SEO Brand's principal, who introduced me to the team in Canada. I could see right from the start that they were a hardworking and organized group, not a one-man-show.

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

The average cost for SEO Brand's services is $50,000 per year or more. The cost of the last website SEO Brand built for me was $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

I have been working with SEO Brand for more than 5 years. Once I find someone reliable, I ask them to bring their tools and we go for it.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

Even though I do have competitors, as far as marketing goes, no one in my niche produces the energy that we have achieved through SEO Brand. Working in a niche has made the job of positioning my company easier, though. I have the advantage of not competing with large companies.

How did SEO Brand perform from a project management standpoint?

I like to stay involved in the project management because it's important for my business. SEO Brand uses Basecamp, through which they keep me updated on the work. I also receive email reports with detailed charts.

During the web development project, I was also kept informed about every step taken, including internal iterations that SEO Brand made. SEO Brand included me in the project, almost making me a part of the team. They considered me a partner, not just a client, and involved me in the processes for running campaigns and building my website. I am a dedicated person, and as such, I've appreciated SEO Brand's way of working. I'm not a developer, but I feel like I'm a part of the process. SEO Brand wants me to understand what they are building, which shows me how the money I invested is being used.

What distinguishes SEO Brand from other providers?

I go back-and-forth on the phone with SEO Brand every week. I like to be on top of the work, but I also know that I can trust SEO Brand to run operations even without constant interventions from me, as opposed to other SEO companies I've worked with in the past.

I receive regular reports of our work and maintain my involvement because it allows me to assess the work being done. SEO Brand's team always knows exactly where we stand and I can see information about our progress on a week-by-week basis. I can see the areas in which we're succeeding and the ones in which we need a new strategy. As a business owner, I've been incredibly relieved to work like this. Within the SEO industry, it can be easy to get lost in the details, and many companies take advantage of the fact that their clients don't understand technical details. SEO Brand is made up of passionate people who care about what they do. I always push the people with whom I work and try to stay on top of things, which can become too much, but this hasn't been a problem with SEO Brand. They simply deliver, which is impressive to me, especially in the SEO field.

I went through a few companies before using SEO Brand. They simply acted like paid contractors. They did their job and gave answers in Chinese for any questions I asked, putting me in front of a wall. It was a relief to be a part of a project and have SEO Brand's team understand what I wanted. There was never any miscommunication with SEO Brand because I was involved at every step of the process.

SEO Brand's approach inspired me even in my business. Providing this level of relief is something I've tried to do for my own clients. If everyone worked like this, we'd live in a perfect world.

Is there anything SEO Brand could have improved or done differently?

There is always something which can be done better, and we're always on the look for that, either from my side or SEO Brand's. The moment we stop evolving is the moment we start going backwards. In the digital industry especially, everything moves very fast. Google algorithms change every 6 months or even sooner. They'll soon be using artificial intelligence instead of the old algorithms. This is not my industry, but I have been forced by the circumstances to understand and adapt to it.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

Dr. G's Weight Loss & Wellness is in the business of medically-supervised weight loss and elective aesthetic medicine.

What is your position?

I am the president and Chief Executive Officer of our 4 locations and 8 entities.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with SEO Brand?

We predominantly target women in the 25-54 age bracket. The soccer-mom is our sweet spot, and we utilize everything from radio to television advertising for this goal. The crux for our strategy is our PPC campaign. We have a local presence, with 3 of our offices being located within 20 miles of each other. The 4th one is 90 miles away. We run within a geocentric circle and have reasonable estimates with regards to how far people are willing to drive to our location. The average number is 30 minutes, so we simply target the people around the centers.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

We use SEO Brand on an ongoing basis for our PPC campaign management. They handle the setup, execution, and maintenance of our Ad Words and Bing campaigns.

SEO Brand has created landing pages for our various campaigns, whether they are for Botox or weight loss. The traffic for these keywords includes people searching for things at the top of their minds, searches done as a result of our TV ads and so on. SEO Brand is tasked with getting us as many leads as possible at the lowest cost-per-acquisition. They've done a great job in refining campaigns, communicating the results of A/B tests, and have been creative in their approach. Our campaign manager has kept the cost-per-acquisition at a manageable and low number.

We have utilized SEO Brand for the development of our landing pages, deciding where to place contact forms for maximum return, and so on.

How did you come to work with SEO Brand?

We tried a number of different companies over time. In the beginning, every agency is very attentive and eager to learn the client's business. After that, we were handed off to the campaign manager and everything was put on autopilot. Some of the previous companies we used either spent our budget too generously, or didn't ask enough questions as the campaign progressed. I don't remember how I connected with SEO Brand initially, but I saw that their approach was different and that our account managers were dialed in, doing their best every week and month, for our account.

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

The average budget for our PPC campaigns is around $115,000 per year for all our locations combined. We have a flat-fee arrangement with SEO Brand for $1,700 per month.

What is the status of this engagement?

We have been working with SEO Brand for 12-18 months. We have an ongoing relationship with no plans to stop.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

I've been pleased with the results. We have a low cost-per-lead and our campaign manager is dialed into all of our services, from Botox, to weight loss, to tattoo removal. We have a set budget for each month. If a particular type of lead proves too hard to acquire, he won't spend a lot of money there, instead going for the low-hanging fruit. SEO Brand never spent money recklessly. They concentrated on what made sense, just as if it was their own money.

We look at results based on cost-per-click. In my opinion, SEO Brand has done its job. It's the job of our company to close those leads. I can't hold any SEO company up to a standard based on our closing percentages. If those leads were inordinately unqualified, then I would question some of the acquisition tactics used by the management company. We find that our prospective clients are generally qualified.

SEO Brand implemented unique tracking phone numbers for the people that call us, so we can factor them into the cost-per-acquisition as well.

How did SEO Brand perform from a project management standpoint?

There seems to be a hands-on approach with their upper management. SEO Brand does a good job and only changed our account manager once during 18 months. This gave us a great bit of consistency.

What distinguishes SEO Brand from other providers?

We've had great communication with SEO Brand. They're responsive to any questions we may have and proactive in pointing out trends and tendencies. Even though I don't look at our stats every day, I get the feeling that SEO Brand is.

Is there anything SEO Brand could have improved or done differently?

I could talk to SEO Brand about anything that would fall into this category, and they'd probably change it. I haven't needed to make this type of request yet.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

Our company specializes in dietary supplements for different medical specialties. We manufacture and distribute fertility supplements for both men and women across Canada and the rest of the world. We have other lines of products aimed at pregnant women and men's prostate health. We are based in Montreal, Canada and were founded in 2010.

What is your position?

I am the Chief Executive Officer and founder.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with SEO Brand?

We work within a niche market, catering to different medical areas, so we don't have a lot of off-site advertising. We mainly promote our products through reps who visit doctors and clinics. The offline effort is simple, but we needed help in maintaining our website.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

SEO Brand is managing our website and online reputation. They write newsletters and social media content for Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and so on. SEO Brand also offers organic SEO for us. We don't run a pay-per-click campaign.

SEO Brand built our first website 5 years ago, which they’ve reworked 2-3 times since then. SEO Brand has helped us a lot, and the results are evident.

We don't engage in a lot of advertising. Our marketing is done through word-of-mouth, but in terms of reaching markets outside of Canada, we have gotten calls from prospective clients from areas for which we knew we hadn't done any advertising. SEO Brand's effort has helped us bring in leads from outside the Canadian and US markets.

How did you come to work with SEO Brand?

I have a few contacts in Canada who have used SEO Brand. I've known one of the owners for a long time as well. As such, it wasn't a difficult selection process. We didn't go through quotes or consultation sessions with other companies. SEO Brand has a great reputation locally.

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

The annual cost for SEO Brand's services is between $25,000 and $35,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working with SEO Brand for 5 years. We're planning on starting a new marketing campaign with SEO Brand in order to attract a different clientele, adding different services and having a different marketing approach online. This will be something on which we'll work in the next few months.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

SEO Brand's services are not visible, but we see the results from their effort. A client from Jordan called us. We learned that they'd found out about our company from the internet, which means that our brand awareness has been improved significantly.

We don't sell our product online, but instead try to attract leads in order to get distribution rights for certain countries. SEO Brand provides us high-quality leads.

Since we launched our website in 2010, our online sales have doubled and tripled year by year. SEO Brand is responsible for this growth and have made online lead generation a larger part of our strategy.

How did SEO Brand perform from a project management standpoint?

SEO Brand has been very good in managing the work. Their response time is very effective.

What distinguishes SEO Brand from other providers?

I like the fact that I can give a project to SEO Brand without having to spend a lot of time explaining its details and correcting the work. SEO Brand employs specialists in the medical field who can write content on demand.

Is there anything SEO Brand could have improved or done differently?

No. They're specialists in their field, which is why we hired SEO Brand.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are an independent insurance agency with four offices.

What is your position?

I manage personal lines, IT [information technology], and marketing within the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with SEO Brand?

We were looking to increase our online traffic.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

SEO Brand built a new website for our company and improved our SEO [search engine optimization] tremendously, during a period of nine months. Social media work is handled by another company.

How did you come to work with SEO Brand?

The owner of our company and the owner of SEO Brand are acquaintances. I was given their name, and I researched them. I also talked to their owner and thought that SEO Brand would be a good fit for us.

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

The monthly cost of their services is in the range of $2,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working with SEO Brand for 15 months. The work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

We've gotten many more hits for our website and obtained many more leads from those. SEO Brand has also worked on optimizations for our four different offices. They all rank within the first page of Google results, coming from positions within the sixth and seventh pages. The number of clicks on our site has increased, but also the time spent on it is longer. We're very happy with the results.

How did SEO Brand perform from a project management standpoint?

SEO Brand's owner stays very involved in the company's activity, even though he doesn't micromanage it. I've always had an open line to contact him whenever I wanted. I contacted him for other initiatives like lead generation and received quotes for those. We haven't decided if we want to go ahead with those yet. Everyone else in their company has also remained very responsive and open.

What distinguishes SEO Brand from other providers?

SEO Brand is more of a national company while our business only covers a third of the state of Pennsylvania. They've done a very good job of accommodating us.

Is there anything SEO Brand could have improved or done differently?

I'm not sure if SEO Brand was very familiar with the insurance industry in the beginning, so it took some time for them to get traction. They were quick to do so and engaged me numerous times in order to get a better knowledge of the subject matter.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are a glass manufacturing company, also providing packing services within the pharmaceutical arena.

What is your position?

I am the Vice President of IT.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with SEO Brand?

We have an e-commerce website and we function as an SAP shop. We needed help with bridging our Magento e-commerce system to SAP.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

SEO Brand has written the interfaces between SAP and Magento for us. We've also used their company for some website traffic monitoring. They manage a pay-per-click campaign for us as well.

How did you come to work with SEO Brand?

I reached out to companies working with SAP. I was looking for expertise on the e-commerce side as well. Interfacing with SAP can sometimes be difficult and I didn't have a developer on-staff that could do this type of work. When we were looking to enhance our website, I hired SEO Brand because they met both of our requirements and their proposal was reasonable. They weren't the cheapest option, nor the most expensive. SEO Brand had the right resources and they understood our business.

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

For their support services, the yearly cost is around $25,000. We've cut back our work because we've hired an internal resource. Each project, like revamping our website, has been contracted individually. For small tasks though, we allocate a set amount of hours per month.

What is the status of this engagement?

They've been with our company for at least four years. We have an ongoing relationship. I have hired a Magento expert internally, as our company grew. He is handling the Magento side, but SEO Brand has remained fully engaged with us, managing our AWS [Amazon Web Services] platform.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

Overall, SEO Brand is very good to work with. My marketing department uses their services constantly, and they've enjoyed working with SEO Brand as well. They've provided a good return on investment for the marketing group.

After implementing our Magento e-commerce site, we grew by 70%.

How did SEO Brand perform from a project management standpoint?

There have been hiccups, but I am satisfied with their work. If they ever respond slower than I'd like, all I have to do is call their principal and they'll get right on the task.

What distinguishes SEO Brand from other providers?

One reason for choosing them was the fact that they have SAP experts. Anyone looking for that type of service should contact SEO Brand. Most companies which I contacted were able to handle the e-commerce part of the work, but I had to get my own SAP specialist for the rest. SEO Brand can handle it all, but they also work well with other vendors, which was demonstrated when we switched to our AWS platform.

Is there anything SEO Brand could have improved or done differently?

No.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

Rapid Realty Franchise LLC is based out of New York City. We are the parent company of a real estate brand operating across the US. Our company focuses on apartment rentals, as opposed to traditional real estate sales. We employ over 1,000 people.

What is your position?

I am the Chief Operations Officer.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with SEO Brand?

We have a large database application which houses listings, connects our different offices together, serves as a payroll and communications disbursement system, communicates with our accounting team, manages staff lists, commission disbursement, and so on. It's a very robust system, unique to our company, on which we have spent a lot of money. We needed maintenance services for our platform.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

SEO Brand has been the chief architect in terms of support and maintenance behind all of our web-related work. They mostly handle technical backend items. SEO Brand has numerous strategies, including microsites that specialize on particular keywords and have specific page tagging. They've also employed a number of SEO [search engine optimization] and social media strategies that have enabled us to rank high for the phrases that concern us.

How did you come to work with SEO Brand?

We were doing business with the owner of a printing company for which SEO Brand was also providing services. They had built systems, websites, and databases for that client. They referred SEO Brand to us and we've been working with them ever since.

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

The cost for their services in 2015 was around $160,000. In the previous years, we spent around $200,000 each year, so the total is above $500,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working with SEO Brand for four or five years. We have no plans on ending the relationship.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

We have a lot of experience in working with companies in the tech space. We've never had a better experience with someone than the one we've had with SEO Brand.

Not only do they deliver results through the tools that they build out and the support that they provide, but they do it with a business-owner's mindset. SEO Brand provides a lot of consulting that they don't charge to us, resulting in better decisions for our brand.

How did SEO Brand perform from a project management standpoint?

Even though they're an outsourced team, they practically work as an in-house one, making themselves accessible at all times. I appreciate the business component of the relationship.

They work well with our graphic design team. This type of work is entrusted to other teams which we employ.

What distinguishes SEO Brand from other providers?

Not only do they provide great technical support, but they also have great business minds in charge. We feel that SEO Brand brings a lot of fresh ideas to the table, ultimately leading to an increase in revenue.

Is there anything SEO Brand could have improved or done differently?

No.