SEO Brand

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the social media and marketing coordinator for a food manufacturer. We specialize in Asian appetizers and dumplings.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SEO Brand?

We needed help with SEO optimization and web development optimization.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We work with SEO Brand on website content optimization, web development optimization, maintenance, QR optimization, as well as SEO optimization. We usually provide them with what we want to do. For example, we wanted to have a sticky board telling every visitor who visits the site about our current promotions. They help us bring our ideas to life.

When it comes to SEO, I will provide some keywords that I want to focus on. I will let them know what my idea is, and they usually will give me feedback on whether they think it is worth it to put more effort and money to try to make those keywords rank higher in Google searches.

What is the team composition?

We had a couple of changes during our engagement for one of the roles.

How did you come to work with SEO Brand?

My team began working with them before I came on board. When I initially spoke to them, I shared my ideas as well as my direction with them. Afterward, I found that my processes and what they are good at were a good match. I decided to continue working with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

I began working with them in March 2019, and the work is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

After a year of working with them, I feel they are excellent and work very hard to deliver on all my requests. They're proficient in keyword ranking and website optimization. Our ranking has increased a lot during our time working with them. We receive more visitors through organic searches as well as more inquiries. They've optimized our photo quality as well as the website content description.

How did SEO Brand perform from a project management standpoint?

I think their teamwork is good. I’m not in charge of direct contact, but the person I'm in touch with is more focused on SEO, but if I want some changes to the website itself such as adding a page, she will pass it onto another team member. The person in charge of that department will contact me directly to see what I need. They give me feedback and results very quickly. I would say their management is very good and very efficient.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I like how quickly they respond to their clients. They're very patient and responsive. They try to solve every issue we encounter.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could put more effort when creating content for the client’s industry or product. Any changes are very minor; overall, it's very good.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I think their strongest area is SEO.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Our company specializes in providing credit card processing to a wide range of businesses and verticals both retail and online.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire SEO Brand?

We hired SeoBrand to build out our new site and branding for one of our services.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goals were to rebrand what we already had while differentiating ourselves in the marketplace. We also wanted an easy lead capture form that would post directly into our CRM.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I spoke to various companies and was introduced to SeoBrand through a colleague of mine. They had an extensive background in not only branding and web dev but they specialized in lead generation with a proven track record with many other businesses.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

The project entailed branding, web development, and lead gen tool to post into our CRM for our sales team. We wanted a frictionless flow while educating our prospects on what we offer. We also setup various campaigns and SEO to increase visibility and generate leads.

What was the team composition?

There were several team members working on our project. A centralized system helped keep tasks organized and done on time.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

Our business is now actively collecting leads and ranking organically for our cash discount program product offering.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Our site and branding were completely unique in the marketplace and I believe strongly positioned us to stand out among the competition.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The company was extremely knowledgeable, helpful, and understood exactly what we were out to accomplish.

Are there any areas for improvement?

My only suggestion would be to offer multiple project/task organizing options because it took some time for me to get familiar with Basecamp.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Designer Eyes is a luxury eyewear retailer and e-commerce player in the United States. We have 13 stores across the United States and are the exclusive dealer for several well-known brands. I’m the CEO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SEO Brand?

Our marketing expenses were continuing to increase, and I needed help managing our investment in those services.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started with an audit of our entire marketing department, from the head of marketing to the data entry analysts. They helped us change some of our processes to match the demands of e-commerce SEO. We modified our approach to handling data and integrated a variety of their softwares. 

SEO Brand now manages all of our websites, our third-party marketplaces, our marketing spend, our PR, and a few additional tasks. We’re still building and implementing new services. SEO Brand recently launched a third-party marketplace for us in the UK, and we’re working on an Australia iteration now.

What is the team composition?

I work with Michael (CEO, SEO Brand), and my team deals with 3–4 different people there. There are two main points of contact and a few developers that get involved on an as-needed basis.

How did you come to work with SEO Brand?

They were recommended to me by a friend of mine. They earned the contract mainly because of the initial audit. SEO Brand came in for three weeks and gave a substantial analysis of my department.

They showed me upwards of $500,000 worth of savings that I could implement. I was ready to try out those types of strategies, and they won me over that way.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent at least $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working with them for over a year, probably the last 15 months.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Before SEO Brand, we were spending close to $1,000,000 per year on marketing. I don’t have the exact number, but they’ve helped me save about $600,000 of that. Our business is doing better than before, our conversion rates are higher, and we’ve been able to eliminate positions because of their software.

Our data is also much cleaner, and we’re no longer scrambling to prepare for the holidays. We’re continuing to build new things, like the two third-party marketplaces that I mentioned earlier. It's all about conversion for me, and they're hitting the metrics that we want.

How did SEO Brand perform from a project management standpoint?

My team speaks with their people on a daily basis. They’re very efficient; I’ve only heard positive things. I talk with Michael once a month to review everything. We talk through the numbers and come up with ideas for improvements.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Most software companies and B2B providers will overpromise at the beginning, and I can tell you that SEO Brand doesn’t. Their service is only getting better because they’re efficient and good at what they do. Transparency is also a factor. SEO Brand keeps us updated and lets us know about potential problems. 

Another thing that I love about SEO Brand—and you don’t encounter this very often with technology companies—is that they make a point of coming to our office. They send someone once a month to come to sit in on reviews with my team to get a sense of everything that’s happening. It’s nice to have face-to-face interactions, especially during a development project. It’s clear that they want to understand our business needs.

The last thing I’ll say is that they focus on continuous improvement. Their software is managing everything for us on one platform. We’re dealing with 15 different channels that can all be manipulated, and SEO Brand is always looking for ways to make things better.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Any company can improve by bringing more resources to the table, but I haven’t found that to be a problem with SEO Brand. If I were them, I would look into gathering more resources for design optimization. I know that they do that for a variety of other platforms. Outside of design, though, they’ve helped me with a couple of headaches that I’ve had, especially with Shopify.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Know that you won’t have to negotiate for a better quote. They’re straightforward people that will give you fair prices. They’re also going to stick to the timelines that they set out. Most of the time, they complete projects at least a week before they’re supposed to be done.

Also, be ready for a team that loves testing. Some of their tests seem like incremental changes, but they often make a huge difference in the long run. Often, addressing a very simple issue can help you avoid a major problem. Because they’re not always fighting against the clock, they’re able to focus on these things.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a mall owner and manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SEO Brand?

When we purchased the mall, there was minimal marketing and no one was visiting it. We hired SEO Brand to build a professional website and to help market the mall online.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They designed and built a new website from scratch. Now people can easily register and pay for new events. To promote these events, SEO Brand writes press releases and creates content. In addition to improving the new site's SEO, they created a PPC campaign. Taking control of social media, they manage our Facebook and Instagram accounts and create social media ads.

What is the team composition?

Kelly is our main point of contact, but we have a team of 4–5 comprised of writers, SEO experts, and a Facebook ad specialist among others.  

How did you come to work with SEO Brand?

I was searching for different agencies online and they had a lot of good reviews. A few years ago they were listed as one of the best companies to work with and won an award.

How much have you invested with them?

The website was a $7,000 flat fee, and we spend $2,300 a month on the rest of their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in January 2018 and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

When we started, we only had 1,000 followers, but now we have 10,000 followers on social media. We have significantly more people coming to events at the mall and are aware of things going on, so we’ve definitely received our ROI.

The website’s functionality is great and we don’t usually need to call them to come fix anything. The content they’ve created for press releases is fantastic, and we’re very pleased. We continue to work and grow our business with them. This process is going to take time, but we’ve definitely seen an impact from their work.   

How did SEO Brand perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re very proactive and responsive. The few times we’ve needed something fixed, they’ve gotten back to us quickly. We usually communicate via email. They’ve delivered everything in time and in budget.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re based nearby, so it was easy to communicate with them. They’re responsive and professional. While a lot of other local agencies outsource to their work to other companies, we appreciate that everyone on their team is nearby and easy to get in touch with. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t think they need to improve anything. They’re doing what we hired them to do, are receiving good feedback, and are driving results.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Financial Services, serving affluent clients retirement and estate planning needs.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire SEO Brand?

SEO and lead generation to grow our top line revenue and client acquisition.

What were your goals for this project?

Save time by having an excellent firm take over our SEO efforts. Increase client acquisition results. Leverage expertise by allocating our planners unique abilities away from lead generations and SEO. Have a modern and user friendly internet client and prospect website.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We were referred to SEO Brand and a number of other providers. SEO Brand impressed us the most and we are happy that they were the ones we decided to work with.

Describe the project in detail.

We started with a meeting to discuss our goals and objectives with the project. SEO began by helping us focus and quantify the goals for the project. They then designed our solutions and worked with us to make modifications before going live. We are ecstatic with the results already.

What was the team composition?

SEO managers John, Juan and Pollethe worked hand in hand with us.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have seen an immense increase in traffic and leads, we are in discussion now to increase our planner base to handle this increase.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Effective is a great word to explain our experience. We do not like to waste time and SEO brand was concise, effective and efficient in how they worked with us.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their professionalism was unparalleled. When the team said they would do something it got done without us having to follow up. We were kept abreast of progress and inevitable roadblocks and solutions to them.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We are happy with all aspects so far.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m one of the co-founders of a household appliance company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SEO Brand?

We hired SEO Brand to build an e-commerce site and assist with SEO.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

SEO Brand built our e-commerce platform from scratch, involved in all aspects of coding and design. With our help, they also create a lot of copy. Their team focuses on indexing all of the web pages for SEO, performing keyword research. Since they’re new to our business, we work together to craft the right phrases and words.

What is the team composition?

We work with Kelli (Project Manager, SEO Brand), Mike (CEO, SEO Brand), and someone who handles all of the SEO work.

How did you come to work with SEO Brand?

I’ve used SEO Brand several times over my 12 years working in the digital space.

How much have you invested with them?

I believe we’ve invested about $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement with SEO Brand began in October 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We haven’t launched the platform yet. Hopefully, we will engage with SEO Brand to use their PPC services in the future.

How did SEO Brand perform from a project management standpoint?

Kelli acts as the project coordinator. Overall, they’re fantastic. Their team is extremely detail-oriented, consistently hitting deadlines and goals.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They excel at explaining processes and ideas that might not translate well to the site. Their team knows what’s going to work and what won’t.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not really. The whole process takes time, but that’s not their fault. Sometimes this type of work takes longer than it should.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Clients need to make sure they reply and give them what they need in a timely fashion, so it doesn’t end up taking longer than expected.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the director of marketing at a health clinic.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SEO Brand?

I hired SEO Brand to replace a vendor that had been doing a poor job. I relied on their team for SEO services, website maintenance, and content creation.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

In addition to SEO Brand, I also work with another vendor for content creation, but they operate on different schedules. I tend to allow SEO Brand to steer the ship and determine what they think is actionable each month.

What is the team composition?

We work with the digital marketing manager, an assistant digital marketing manager, and a digital marketing specialist.

How did you come to work with SEO Brand?

I found them through an online search. I interviewed several companies, but I felt the greatest confidence in SEO Brand. They seemed to have all the right answers and the capabilities for expansion if I decide that I want to grow my program.

How much have you invested with them?

I prefer to keep that figure confidential. I'm confident that I'm getting my money's worth based on the quality of their work, but they are expensive.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement began in January 2018 and remains ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

My website's traffic has increased, and I’m benefitting from an improved conversion rate because we’re seeing more clients. The website is in better overall condition because they’ve eliminated most of the existing errors. All told, my domain authority is strong and seems to be growing.

How did SEO Brand perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re team players. They work well with my internal staff and with my external vendors. We communicate primarily through emails and phone calls, but we also hold Skype calls when necessary.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I know I’m a smaller client, but they take care of us as if we were long-term clients or friends. They give me a lot of personal attention. I also admire their flexibility and their willingness to think outside of the box.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We initially had some workflow issues because we had never worked together. The use Basecamp internally and with clients, and I didn’t adapt well to that portal, so we had some early frustrations. They have since accommodated me by being open to other forms of communication.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

As a client in an SEO project, it’s vital to remain responsive to the vendor so that they can meet expectations. Without clear expectations or goals, it’s hard for them to meet all of the requirements.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of marketing for an electronic component manufacturer. We specialize in connectors and cable assemblies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SEO Brand?

We had performed a mobile-responsive redesign in May 2017. Although we saw a spike in traffic, we reached the capacity of on-page optimization. We were looking for off-page SEO and content creation opportunities—high-domain-authority link building.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Their off-page work included cleaning up our backlink portfolio and removing disavowed and spam links. We do a lot of international business and have an offshore factory, meaning there are a lot of unauthorized e-commerce sites distributing our products. Many of these have high spam scores, which can act like anchors for our main site. I handle all the on-page optimization, but I did have a few questions for them related to our high-ranking or high-volume product pages, keywords, title tags, and meta descriptions.

In our case, the hurdle of dealing with outside agencies is that they can’t simply make up content that sounds great. They were less involved in terms of content creation, but, once we got the material refined, they were helpful with the publication of it. At the end of the day, our audience is made up of design engineers, so the material needs to be extremely technical. As far as this was concerned, I had to do a lot of handholding, but SEO Brand definitely was the avenue to release it. We also created two press releases: one for our general product offering and one for a trade show.

What is the team composition?

I was in contact with one of their business developers, a project manager, and an assistant SEO manager.

How did you come to work with SEO Brand?

I saw a “Top SEO Firm” badge from a listings site on LinkedIn. I went to that site and looked at the top 5–6 firms with mid-range pricing. SEO Brand did all its work in-house, which was an advantage. I know that a lot of agencies use freelancers for the actual work. They also had prices in-line with our budget.

John (SEO/SEM Manager, SEO Brand) was the main reason we ended up doing business with them. He got on the same side of the table as us, making sure we were satisfied.

What is the status of this engagement?

We had a discovery call in October 2017. The project wrapped up in February 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our hope was to get our domain authority number up from 33 to 40. We weren’t able to do that, but we have cleaned up our backlink portfolio by disavowing 115 non-valid links.

They increased our ranking for a particularly high-volume keyword from the 18th to the 9th position. I’ve seen a significant traffic bump after the press releases and the disavowing of links. We've gone from 5,000 to 6,000 unique visitors per month after working with their team for a very short period of time. One of the links we acquired had a domain authority score of 81.

How did SEO Brand perform from a project management standpoint?

They provided a project management board where we had access to a list of tasks, and through which we could share files.

We would definitely recommend them. We had a 100% satisfaction guarantee and John went above and beyond the scope in order to give us additional intel and on-page auditing. He was was with us to help every step of the way throughout the content delivery.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re not fit to spend $10,000 per month on SEO, so their cost was an advantage.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the co-owner of Perfectly Priscilla, an online women's clothing boutique.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SEO Brand?

We wanted to improve our organic rankings within the searches. We went through three SEO providers in two years, but we were not seeing the results. So we started looking for a new company to help us.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had an initial conversation with them about the keywords that we thought were relevant and discussed our goals. After that, they created backlinks, added some content to category pages, and managed keyword mapping to ensure our website gets organic traffic.

How did you come to work with them?

We found them through a Google search and read some reviews about them. After interviewing several companies, we decided SEO Brand was the best candidate to help us accomplish our goals.

How much have you invested with them?

We paid them around $1,600 a month, so it was approximately $20,000 in total. 

What is the status of this engagement? 

We worked with them between October 2016–December 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They did an excellent job helping us increase organic traffic. They were very proactive and got us on the first page of Google searches on a number of key phrases. 

How did they perform from a project management standpoint? 

They used Basecamp for project management, but I preferred talking to them on the phone.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They truly wanted to see our company succeed and delivered on promises. Also, they were very transparent with us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

One thing they could improve is cross-selling. I wish we had known about other services they offered before we switched to a different agency. (If we had known, we would have stayed with them.)

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m head of business development for The Bagel Club. We’re based in Canada and decided to launch a website that sells bagels online, mainly to the United States. It’s a membership-based business. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SEO Brand?

We needed our name and brand to be more widely known on the web. The challenge was getting the first 1,000 memberships. The main focus was to get a website built. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They built and designed our website, including the credit card platform and the shopping cart. They helped with the business because we receive orders on a daily basis and recurring orders. They gave us a few designs and we had some brainstorming sessions. We decided on which look we wanted. Then we sent emails back and forth with some screenshots and Dropbox links. We took a few weeks and then we decided on exactly each page. 

They wrote a marketing plan and designed the marketing strategies. Now they’re doing all our SEO [search engine optimization] and managing the whole marketing platform. We’ve been doing some pay-per-click [PPC] campaigns. They helped us do an analysis.

I rely a lot on their expertise. They provided us some keywords that were particular to what we want to do. It was a little bit of back and forth of a list of keywords and cost. They also did a cost analysis. We mainly took a lot of their propositions because of their experience. They’re in the United States and they know the market well.

How did you come to work with SEO Brand?

They were referred by a friend. I also did an online search and looked at their website and portfolio. I had a few contacts with them and decided to hire them. 

How much have you invested with them?

We have spent around $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together December 2013 and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The first test we did was conclusive: we saw that the market is there. It’s something we’re going to continue working on. The work has produced good results. We have a report of the keywords and SEO and the impact is great so far. We’re satisfied with the quality. 

How did SEO Brand perform from a project management standpoint?

When we started the project, they assigned 2 people for project management. They have a platform through which all the emails are sent and they use Basecamp for the work. 

We have weekly conference calls where they give us feedback on what they’ve done. They send me reports and we talk about what they’re going to do in the next week. There are always 2–3 people on the call. Once the website was launched, they sent us some analytics. They’re great with follow-ups and when we’ve had a few issues, they always answer fast. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

The quality of service and efficiency is impressive. If we email them, we get an answer within 48 hours. Their knowledge of marketing has helped us a lot. I've discovered a lot of things that I didn’t know because of them. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. It’s been a great experience so far. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I’ve recommended them to a few customers already as there are so many companies out there and when you find a reliable company, you stick with them. I have only good things to say.