Sure Oak

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Pro Tool Reviews started in 2008 and writes about construction industry power tools, hand tools, and accessories. We provide reviews, editorials, and news. I am the owner and editor-in-chief.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Sure Oak?

Having written more than 5,000 high-quality articles and reviews, we realized we needed a better sense of direction for our editorial team. We provide a lot of content, but that content didn't target proper keywords and lacked prioritization. We also had some technical website issues that held us back from achieving the best possible SEO for our content.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goals involved increasing traffic to our existing content, gaining insight into proper directions to maximize our core areas of expertise, and maximizing the efforts of our editorial team as a whole.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We did an extensive online search for domestic SEO companies with excellent results and who worked with companies of similar size and reputation (or better) as Pro Tool Reviews.

Describe the project in detail.

Sure Oak works with us to focus our SEO efforts so we can optimize our editorial team on better keywords and topics. It also works to suggest modifications to existing articles.

What was the team composition?

We worked closely with a small group of team members who specialize in our exact project needs. Eventually, the team honed down into a point person who we work with to generate the recommended SEO directions and modifications for the site. This is desirable because it presents a more specialized client experience with someone who we feel truly understands what we do, how we do it, and the goals we want to achieve.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

In three months, our traffic has grown roughly 125% and our team has dialed in specific directions for optimizing and creating more optimized content that matches our target user-base. We have achieved dozens of targeted high-value search terms that have gone from double-digit results to top 3—including many top 1 positions...and we feel we've just gotten started.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Communication and accessibility continue to be excellent and includes weekly emails and monthly video calls.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Our results show that Sure Oak delivers on its goals. They are professional, and we've been very pleased with the results.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None that we've experienced.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president of Throughline Group, a media and presentation training firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sure Oak?

We are in a competitive industry with a lot of companies that offer presentation training. Our company has something different to offer than many of our competitors. Our goal was to be more visible in organic search for search terms related to media or presentation training. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Sure Oak did keyword research, on- and off-page optimization, and backlink work. Additionally, the team gave us feedback that went into business strategy beyond the narrow sleeve of SEO.

What is the team composition?

We work with 4–5 teammates in total, but a core 2–3. 

How did you come to work with Sure Oak?

I did an exhaustive online search and found their brand presence to be smart. The way they talked about their own company was similar to how we talk about ours. I interviewed a few different companies, and even in those initial conversations, Sure Oak stood out as different and sharp in their approach. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spend about $4,000 per month which comes up to around $50,000 per year.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement began in May 2019 and it’s ongoing. We do a monthly retainer and there’s no specific end date in sight.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

There have been definite improvements in where we rank for some of the more important keywords for our business. Every month, Sure Oak assesses our keyword rankings and how that compares in terms of traffic and conversions, as well as overall Google ratings and positions. 

We haven’t achieved everything that we have our eyes set on, but in many ways, we’re on our way there. We can definitely see an upward trend in terms of our visibility and rankings. We’re also starting to see results in terms of our site visits and impressions.

How did Sure Oak perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management is one of their greatest strengths. We have a monthly call which is preceded by a detailed report, allowing us to review it and come to the call with informed questions. Given the moment we’re in with the pandemic, the team has been incredibly flexible, shifting the scope of work to meet the business strategy for us. 

This specifically means focusing more on remote or virtual trainings as opposed to in-person trainings. That wasn’t part of the original scope of work, but they didn’t hesitate to make a change to it because it was obvious that that’s what needed to happen in order for us to be okay during this time. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re very responsive. When we email them with questions, we usually hear back from them within 24 hours. They’re also accountable, showing us the areas where they have and haven’t had success through their monthly reports. 

I find that transparency really helpful. It also suggests that, rather than trying to make themselves look good, they really are focused on being business partners. If there are areas where they aren’t achieving success, we’re able to work together to come up with a strategy. I really appreciate that partnership. Increasingly, I see them as a partner, not a vendor.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there’s nothing I can think of. We’ve been very happy with their work.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Think about what’s most important to you and come to the conversation with very specific objectives that you’re hoping to achieve or methods of work that are important to you. Each company should figure out what their bullseye is and Sure Oak will be responsive. However, they can’t be responsive to objectives that aren’t clearly articulated.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Inbound Marketing Manager for Hearst Bay Area, Northern California's largest news media and services group.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Sure Oak?

As a publisher in the B2B space, Hearst Bay Area is focused on creating and distributing high-quality marketing-related content. However, we were not seeing a ton of inbound links to our articles, despite the effort we put in to create each blog post. We decided to hire Sure Oak to help us generate some high-quality backlinks to some of our articles.

What were your goals for this project?

At our budget, the goal was to have 5 new backlinks generated to the articles of our choosing each month, which would hopefully improve our overall website rankings, domain authority, and search performance.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I had met the CEO at a conference a couple of years prior to joining Hearst Bay Area and when the need for good SEO services arose, I knew who to contact.

Describe the project in detail.

After our initial strategy call, we settled on a budget and a timeframe, and after getting some initial information about our biggest competitors and the industry landscape, we agreed upon which articles they would target for their backlink outreach campaigns. We also discussed a number of different tactics like guest posting and varying the anchor texts to make sure we were hitting the project from all potential angles.

What was the team composition?

When we initially started, I was working with an account manager and a strategist. The roles did shift slightly over time, but my main interactions were with my account manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Sure Oak delivered on their promises every month by generating 5 (and sometimes more) links back to the content in question. At the same time, we were ramping up production into a bunch of different target verticals, so the work they did in conjunction with our efforts helped to push our website traffic well above what it had been at the start of our project. It is hard to say exactly which piece of the puzzle contributed the most to the overall success of the website, but I am certain that the backlinks they generated for us had an impact on our overall growth.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We communicated once per month about which article to focus on for that time frame, and once every 3 months to do a more in-depth touch base. We mostly communicated via email and sometimes over a zoom call.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Sure Oak are very knowledgeable about white-hat SEO best practices and as a remote agency, they have good communication and were able to deliver exactly what they said they would.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I am pleased with the work they performed and I will likely hire them again in the future when I have a larger budget for SEO services. The only feedback I have would be for them to provide more in-depth reporting on the impacts of their work. I would have been able to potentially scale my investment if they could have shown me more concrete evidence of the improvements for each article they worked on, which backlinks were proving the most valuable, and what it might look like if I, for instance, had decided to double my investment in backlinks for that specific article.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Our company is a fintech offering online personal finance tools as well as educational content on personal finance topics.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Sure Oak?

We launched a content-driven organic search strategy in the spring of 2019, and enlisted Sure Oak's help late in the year to assist with this effort, particularly in the area of linkbuilding.

What were your goals for this project?

Our domain authority has always been fairly low, and we've never had much success in linkbuilding - most of our existing backlinks were organic or the result of partnerships, publicity, etc. The goal for this project was to start to build a stronger backlink profile, while targeting key pages we would like to get on page 1 for high-converting keywords.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We compared several vendors and consultants for this project. Among them, Sure Oak rose above the rest due to their methodical approach, strong team, and demonstrated success in linkbuilding.

Describe the project in detail.

The project began with an in-depth SEO audit, which they call the "Game Plan." This audit was far more thorough than similar audits we have done with other firms. It also included keyword research and a backlink audit with comparison to several of our competitors. From there, we decided to optimize 5 key pages on the site, and primarily target those pages in linkbuilding (in addition to the homepage and other relevant pages).

What was the team composition?

After initial conversations with the founder and sales head, we were assigned an account manager who has been our point person throughout the process. During the game plan process, we worked with a senior SEO and junior SEO, and during the ongoing portion of our relationship we've been working with a small team which includes SEO and linkbuilding specialists.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It's gone very well so far. We've seen our targeted pages climb up the rankings, and some of them are edging onto page one for key search terms. The linkbuilding has been very consistent and steady...they are very good at it.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Communication is very good and everyone is great to work with. The account manager is quick to respond by email, and when we've had more technical questions, the relevant experts have given us thorough responses in a very timely fashion.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I'm just extremely impressed with how well they deliver on the linkbuilding front. Some consultants we talked with wouldn't guarantee results, saying that linkbuilding is difficult and can have sporadic success...Sure Oak sets a target number of links, and they get it done. They also won't charge you for links they don't earn (if that were to happen).

Are there any areas for improvement?

Not yet.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the SEO Manager for The American Red Cross Biomedical division.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Sure Oak?

During a website transition a few years back, some of the backlinks were broken. In addition, we had not ventured into the strategy of building quality backlinks. The site was struggling with a few important keywords. I enlisted help from Sure Oak to review the current backlink profile and make recommendations on how to improve it. In addition, I asked for their assistance in reaching out to comparable websites to provide quality content.

What were your goals for this project?

Improve the organic performance of a handful of major keywords.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I met the owner at an SEO conference.

Describe the project in detail.

The team worked closely with me to clean up the backlinks in our profile, by either reaching out to have them removed or building a disavow file for those we couldn't easily remove. In addition, they reached out to comparable sites to the Red Cross to provide quality content on our behalf.

What was the team composition?

We had a team of three people.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our rankings improved tremendously. We moved 5 major keywords to the first page of the SERPs, where they were not in the first five pages in the beginning.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

They are very responsive and efficient. The follow up and communication was top notch.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The professionalism, customer service and thoroughness of their work were impressive.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the content creation specialist at an online training company, where we teach people how to successfully write, market, and self-publish their books to bestseller status on Amazon with 1-on-1 coaching, a step-by-step process, and more.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Sure Oak?

We hired Sure Oak for SEO purposes, to help us grow our organic reach as well as help us grow our scholarship campaign.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goals were to get applicants for our scholarship campaign in order to service more up-and-coming writers.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We chose Sure Oak because of their stellar reputation and specific service offerings.

Describe the project in detail.

The details of the project were pretty simple: we paid Sure Oak to broaden the reach of our scholarship campaign by connecting with universities and listing our scholarship on their pages.

What was the team composition?

There have been about 4 people involved overall. 2 points of contact with Sure Oak and 2 on our side.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We've had major success working with Sure Oak! Our goals were based on number of college websites we were able to be listed for the scholarship campaign, and they exceeded our expectations.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Very! It's been very easy with email communication that's quick.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I found the ease of communication and speed at which we obtained results to be the most impressive part of Sure Oak.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I don't think so! From our end, Sure Oak has been amazing!

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Justice Solutions Group, and we are a private investigations and intelligence firm based in Southern California.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sure Oak?

We were looking to address our SEO performance on Google.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Sure Oak started by taking a holistic look at who we were, and what we had done so far with our site and our presence on the internet. From there, they created a plan for our goals and how to achieve them, and then once you approve it they get to work. For us, that included a bunch of SEO work as well as Google My Business optimization, landing page optimization, copywriting, and a scholarship campaign.

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked with around 4–5 members of their team.

How did you come to work with Sure Oak?

I met Tom (CEO, Sure Oak) through Upwork and hired them for a job with a client I was working with at the time. They did a great job there, so I brought them on for my project as well.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent somewhere in the $14,000–$15,000 range.

What is the status of this engagement?

The official project ran from January–March 2019, but we are continuing to tweak and maintain the final product with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They were able to get us to page one on quite a few keywords that were pretty critical to us within a few months of launching their improvements. We started to see increased traffic and have managed to maintain that for quite some time since then.

How did Sure Oak perform from a project management standpoint?

They were great at project management. I have a thousand things to do in a day so that was something I was concerned about, but they stayed on top of milestones at all times. Everyone knew their role and was always in communication with the project manager.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re very future-leaning, so they focus on tactics that are not going to get you immediate results and then disappear the next day from Google. All of their tactics are completely above board and really deliver in the long term.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not that I can think of. They’re a growing company, so there are always things that they are improving, but I didn’t have any complaints that were complete blind spots for them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They’re one company that you can trust to do honest work for their clients and do the best work they can. Definitely go out and get quotes from other agencies but know that you’re going to end up paying around the same amount for SEO, and it doesn’t get better than Sure Oak when it comes to execution.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We provide lead-generation business services to EdTech, CleanTech, HealthTech, and other technology companies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Sure Oak?

SureOak helped us tremendously by developing strategic backlinking for our company website. Through building high ranked backlinks, guest posting, and technical optimizations, they helped get us from DA of 21 to over 30!

What were your goals for this project?

Improve our Domain Authority to have more ranking power on our existing web pages and blog content.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Found online and since they were local.

Describe the project in detail.

Discovery of our existing website, analysis, and implementation of SEO site-wide and externally.

What was the team composition?

Helpful crew of SEO experts with a variety of talents.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Got us over 30 DA!

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Very good overall. They are extremely responsive.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their helpful and friendly approach. They're a pleasure to work with!

Are there any areas for improvement?

Possibly an interface to track their progress and create more visibility in addition to their generated reports.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

 I’m the CMO of an online luxury retailer offering curated clothing, accessories, and jewelry from over 400 top European designer brands, with express delivery, elegant packaging, and personalized customer service.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sure Oak?

 We needed help increasing our SEO visibility.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

 Sure Oak has successfully built an average of six links per month with an impressive average domain authority score of 50. The team has also run a one-off SEO audit of our website.

What is the team composition?

 We work with one teammate from Sure Oak.

How did you come to work with Sure Oak?

 We found Sure Oak through an online search. We chose them over other options because of their prompt reply, professional approach, and fair pricing.

How much have you invested with them?

 We’ve spent a substantial amount.

What is the status of this engagement?

 We started working with Sure Oak in February 2024, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

 Our domain authority has gone from 4 to 28, and our SEO impressions have increased by 900% in one year. Sure Oak also shares our keyword rankings during monthly reviews.

How did Sure Oak perform from a project management standpoint?

 Sure Oak’s project management is highly professional. The team always delivers on time. We communicate via video calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

 Sure Oak is very effective; we get what we pay for with no surprises. The team is also extremely committed to our success and sometimes goes beyond their scope.

Are there any areas they could improve?

 There’s nothing Sure Oak could improve on.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a company in the education sector, focused on providing cultural exchange programs. My role involves overseeing digital marketing initiatives to support our business objectives.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sure Oak?

We needed to improve our website's SEO after a recent re-launch, optimize our content and site structure, and ensure our readiness for AI-driven changes in search. Our goal was to enhance our organic visibility and performance in a competitive market.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Sure Oak conducted a 3 full website audits, performed keyword research and competitor analysis, and provided content guidelines and optimization recommendations. They also carried out AI research relevant to our site. While we implemented most of the recommendations ourselves, Sure Oak handled some technical settings, such as llms.txt and schema markups.

What is the team composition?

There were between two and five team members from Sure Oak involved in our project.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project began in October 2024 and is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Since working with Sure Oak, we have seen continuous improvements in our search rankings, particularly for our location and conversion pages. Our organic traffic has grown, and we received comprehensive content guidelines and a detailed website audit review.

How did Sure Oak perform from a project management standpoint?

Sure Oak delivered their work on time and communicated clearly and quickly. Their project management was detailed and effective, using virtual meetings and email or messaging apps to keep us updated.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was most impressed by their flexibility, responsiveness, and the level of detail in their work.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there aren't any.