Temper And Forge

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of communications for the Institute for Systems Biology, a nonprofit biotech research organization based in Seattle. Our 14 faculty members study various topics, including cancer, wellness, aging, environmental factors, and issues. We’re made up of computational biologists and lab workers. We were the first institute devoted to systems biology, and we remain at the forefront of it.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Temper And Forge?

We needed to revamp our website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Temper And Forge helped us rethink our website; they recoded, updated, and renovated our code base into something contemporary and industry-standard. We had an old code base that wasn’t built on the Gutenberg platform, and they got us up to speed on that. They ended up creating a new website for us. 

My colleague was a designer, and she worked with Temper And Forge to create a contemporary website with far more functionality and capabilities than we had ever had. For context, we had a linear, vertical experience block, but Temper And Forge helped us create a hero feature on the top of our website. 

During that process, they ensured we had an accessible website. They made sure that even though we offered much more dynamic and visually interesting content, it was delivered in a faster way than what we had before.

We also had a lot of scientific information on our page, and they helped make that content accessible. They helped with the taxonomy and the site architecture to make sense. Our team helped them with the keywords. They took their best stab at our keywords from our old website, and we helped refine that.

At present, Temper And Forge is maintaining the website. They make sure that all plug-ins are kept up to date. If there are any security vulnerabilities, they monitor them and keep us safe and secure. We’re signing an additional scope of work with them to do a v2 project for this website upgrade. We’ve had some financial constraints on our side, so we’ve earmarked 6–8 other things that we want to do, and we’re going to do them in 2025. Temper And Forge also helps with SEO.

What is the team composition?

We work with about 5–6 teammates from Temper And Forge. Our main point of contact is Nate. We also work with a designer and a web developer.

How did you come to work with Temper And Forge?

We did a robust web search and came up with a list of 6–8 firms. After looking through their websites and reviews, we narrowed that down to about three teams. The conversation with Temper And Forge had a night-and-day difference from the other two. They understood what we wanted, and their communication, responsiveness, and professionalism checked all the boxes.

How much have you invested with them?

Our investment has been around $40,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

The engagement started in October 2023, and it’s ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re at or above the level of web usage. We’ve met our previous goals and even increased our numbers as far as the number of people visiting our website and time on site are concerned. All of those are positive.

I’ve had a pretty long career in digital communications, and it’s always a concern to ensure that when we make changes, it’s a net positive — this engagement has certainly been like that. I’ve also received positive feedback from everyone in our organization and website visitors. 

Overall, the dynamism of the new website is evident, and people like that. I’ve received dozens and dozens of comments, emails, and in-person comments from people who love the new site.

How did Temper And Forge perform from a project management standpoint?

Temper And Forge’s project management is excellent. They’re mindful of our timeframe. We’re a small two-person team, so we’re pulled in many directions. Nate is fantastic. They use monday.com, and they’re great at laying out timelines. 

If there’s a lag in the production schedule, it’s on our end, not theirs. He’s great at alerting us when that’s happening and jumping on phone calls or Zoom calls to ensure we have what we need and can keep the whole process moving seamlessly. Typically, we communicate through email. When things get complex, we do Zoom calls or virtual calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’ve done a number of website redesigns during my career, and what I find refreshing about Temper And Forge is the ease of communication and their responsiveness. That’s not always typical.

They give us what feels like white-glove service. They prioritize us, and it feels like we’re their only client, even though we know that isn’t the case. That’s appreciated. Moreover, I’m still in awe of the final product. Their team has delivered what we’ve asked for and more. 

On top of that, Temper And Forge has honored our financial constraints and found ways to work with us that fit our budget. That doesn’t always happen.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there aren’t any. Temper And Forge is local to us, and it’s nice to have them in the same time zone. They work remotely around the country, but you couldn’t tell. It feels like a local company working with a local organization like us.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Know exactly what you want to do. If you go to them with a clear idea of what you want, they’ll help you refine your plan and ensure you get what you want. Be adept with some sort of project management, and make sure you understand that process and have the time to meet deadlines.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner and manager of MKC Associates Home Inspection. I’m also a home inspector. We provide home inspection services for buyers and sellers of homes and anyone wanting to know the condition of a property. We also provide commercial property inspection, radon testing, pest inspection, and other related services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Temper And Forge?

I engaged Temper And Forge’s services for SEO assistance and general website repairs and corrections.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Temper And Forge offers SEO services for our company. The team is currently making tweaks, repairs, and adjustments to my website, which is based on Webflow. Whenever I need new content, a new page, or something added to my blog page, they do that.

Temper And Forge started by fixing errors and problems with the website’s structure from a searchability, content, and metadata standpoint. They’ve audited the site and fixed everything that wasn't working or was incorrect. Then, Temper And Forge made various modifications and added new content to help drive more activity on our site. They’ve also partnered with me to advise me on what I was already doing to offer advice.

Now, Temper And Forge is helping us restructure some of our pages for optimal searchability. We work closely with the team on keyword research, and they’re also working on backlinks, which is a continual process.

What is the team composition?

I work with Nate and Sam.

How did you come to work with Temper And Forge?

I found them through a Google search. I was looking for companies that knew my area and worked on SEO. I was looking for companies based in Massachusetts, and it turned out Temper And Forge used to be here, but now they're on the West Coast. I also wanted to make sure they were familiar with and had expertise with Webflow, which is the platform my site is on. I didn’t want to work with a WordPress company.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $8,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in February 2024, and our relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve had a higher click rate and visibility, meaning our website has higher impressions. Our rankings have gone up, and the total inspection jobs we’ve completed have increased over the last year. Our market share has increased when other companies like ours are going out of business and losing work. 

Temper And Forge has a dashboard that we consult at every meeting to see where we’ve gone and how we’re doing. Based on those metrics, it’s clear that they’ve helped my business dramatically. They’ve completely changed my view of SEO services from my previous experience.

How did Temper And Forge perform from a project management standpoint?

Temper And Forge’s project management is great. They use monday.com to organize work, and we have a monthly standing Google Meet for progress meetings. We communicate extensively by email. Nate is available anytime by phone if I need him. He’s made it clear that he’s available to deal with any emergencies that may arise.

Overall, the team is incredibly responsive and immediately answers my concerns and questions. They're very accomplished and come to the table with many new ideas.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’ve worked with two other SEO companies in the past, so I have experience with them. SEO companies generally have smoke and mirrors; they say they’ll do things for you, but you don’t know what they’re really doing.

When I met with Nate for the first time, it was clear that Temper And Forge had a completely different approach. They talked about specific things they could do right away. They had ideas and specific projects in mind, and Nate was extremely good at communicating those.

I’ve been impressed with Temper And Forge because they always do everything they say they will do. We had technical issues changing over some of the tracking and hosting at the beginning. Temper And Forge made sure everything was perfect right out of the gate. They’re incredibly communicative, easy to work with, kind, and results-oriented, which is great.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have much to say because they’re so great to work with. They’re really good at communicating and very professional.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Ask Temper And Forge what big projects they can do and what they’ll be doing ongoing. This way, you can allocate your budget appropriately. We've worked on special projects that were above our monthly maintenance fee. They’ll tell you what’s best for you, and trust them to get into your site and fix everything that needs to be fixed.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the CEO and founder of Incisive Dental Network. We support dentists in their procurement efforts.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Temper And Forge?

We hired Temper And Forge to develop our website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Temper And Forge has created our website from scratch, including a membership login area. Initially, they laid everything out for me, detailing timelines, requirements from our side, and requirements from their side, which was very helpful. We spent a couple of hours on calls talking about my company, who we were, and what our mission was. From there we talked through how the website layout needed to be and which areas it needed to include. That was how we scoped the website design out.

After discussing the website design and requirements, Temper And Forge gave me a sense of the different copywriting the website needed to include. I worked with someone they referred me to on the copywriting and got a first draft. Then, Temper And Forge went into the website design process and came back with three different options for the look and feel. They asked for feedback on what I liked and disliked about each of them.

I chose the different elements I liked about the three proposals, which gave Temper And Forge a template of the color scheme and design style I was looking for. From there, they continued refining the website design. There were three iterations of the design layout. During this process, I was able to use different tools that they provided to add comments and give feedback.

The website design process ultimately led Temper And Forge to do the full website development to make it functional. After that, we had a round of QA, where I was able to point out more changes that needed to be made before the website's launch.

Currently, Temper And Forge helps us with maintenance and hosting, which also includes support in helping me choose content to steer me in the right direction. The technology stack used includes WordPress (I actually have a WP Engine account) and Figma.

What is the team composition?

I've worked with Nathan (Founder & Owner), who works closely with me, Connor (Lead Designer), and Jesse (Lead Developer). There have also been others involved in the project, but I haven't worked with them as much.

How did you come to work with Temper And Forge?

I found them during a Google search. I was looking for firms in the Boston area so that I could work with someone local, and I found Temper And Forge.

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent around $30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

I first contacted Nathan in May 2023, and we signed the contract in June 2023. Temper And Forge launched our website in February 2024, but our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Ultimately, our collaboration has led to a successful website launch right on time. I've received feedback a number of times on how professional our website looks and how easy it is to navigate. Thanks to Temper And Forge, we've gone from a DIY webpage to a professional site.

How did Temper And Forge perform from a project management standpoint?

Temper And Forge has delivered the project within budget and on time. Honestly, they could have delivered a bit faster, but I was the bottleneck more than they were. Overall, I'm very pleased with their work. They're incredibly thorough and responsive, especially for someone who hasn't done website development before. From my perspective, this has been a very easy process.

As for collaboration tools, we've used monday.com for project management and Pastel for providing feedback. Moreover, we've primarily communicated via email. Still, whenever we need it, we just jump on a quick meeting, which has been great. Their team has been really responsive in that regard.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The thing that impresses me the most about Temper And Forge is that they've been able to bring my vision to reality while guiding me through the process, making it fairly seamless. For someone who hasn't done website development before, like me, no part of the project has felt overwhelming.

They've been very good at breaking the project into actionable parts. Moreover, whenever I've been stuck, they've jumped in to ensure I had the support needed. They've basically made the project very simple to get through.

Additionally, Temper And Forge's entire team has been fantastic. Connor has been great at providing guidance on best practices; Nathan has acted as a mentor to the entire team, providing great direction on what looks good and what will work well; and Jesse has been phenomenal regarding responsiveness and getting the actual development done. Overall, their whole team has been phenomenal to work with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can't think of anything Temper And Forge could improve on.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Temper And Forge takes a lot of pride in what they do, which is a good thing. Still, that means that their timelines might be a bit longer than what someone could experience with other service providers, but this is caused because they truly do their work from scratch to match exactly what the client is asking for.

If you're looking for a high-quality partner who will listen to what you want and make it come to reality, they're a great partner to work with. Ask a lot of questions because they have a ton of knowledge regarding best practices. As the project has progressed, I've realized that I should be leaning on them more and more.

Therefore, you should lay out your vision and let them run with it, constantly pushing them to provide feedback and challenging them. They're very creative problem-solvers, so don't try to dictate the project's path, but do try to dictate the outcome because they're capable of getting you there.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of marketing at a company that distributes specialty chemicals.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Temper And Forge?
We hired Temper and Forge to rebuild our website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Temper And Forge rebuilt our website from scratch and changed our hosting provider. The first step was evaluating how our product catalog would be structured since we have over 200 different products; this was the biggest reason we went forward with Temper And Forge. The team took the approach of structuring the catalog and building out a new feature for customers and prospective customers, which was like an e-commerce feature where products could be added to a cart and quoted by our sales team.

We initially had a very big discovery session to understand our sales process and funnel to ensure that the solutions would work for our desired customers. Temper And Forge utilized Octopus.do to create the site's map and Figma and Pastel for design. The team built the site on WordPress.

What is the team composition?

We worked with Nate (Founder & Owner), Connor (Lead UI/UX Designer), Jesse (Lead Developer), Scott (Developer), and Katelyn (Account Manager).

How did you come to work with Temper And Forge?

We contacted Temper And Forge through a referral from a marketing agency we know. Although they hadn't previously worked with Temper And Forge, we took a chance with them by reading their reviews and speaking to their references. We worked closely through different rounds of interviews and the proposal stage. Temper And Forge wasn’t the least expensive, but we liked what they presented in the proposal and their out-of-the-box ideas compared to other teams we interviewed.

How much have you invested with them?
We spent around $50,000 on this project.

What is the status of this engagement?
We engaged Temper And Forge from September 2022–November 2023.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Temper And Forge successfully launched our new website, and our clients and suppliers reported a more streamlined UX. We saw an increase in web traffic and retention rates on our product data sheets, showing that the new calculator built by Temper And Forge was accurate and that customers were using it. The team delivered excellent and high-quality work. 

How did Temper And Forge perform from a project management standpoint?

Temper And Forge stayed on budget and only extended deadlines on one occasion, which we approved. This was based on the massive product database our company had. We didn't stick to the original deadlines, but the team adapted timelines based on immediate findings during discovery sessions. Overall, Temper And Forge stayed on time. We communicated via video calls, email, and Google Chat. I never waited more than 24 hours for a response from the team.

What did you find most impressive about them?
I was impressed by Temper And Forge's investment in our company's mission and values. Their company culture set them apart, and Temper And Forge seemed to genuinely care about our market — that was unique. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

The only thing Temper And Forge could improve was providing expectations of deliverables on our end earlier in our engagement. The team suggested they'd give us a copy document for our products page, but we couldn't do that since we had an extensive database of products. Having that information since the beginning would've been ideal.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?
I recommend being upfront about your goals and expectations. Temper And Forge was very organized and wanted to make the customer happy. If you go in with a clear mindset and tell them what you want to accomplish, the team will deliver and exceed your metrics. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the marketing director of demand generation for an online tutoring services company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Temper And Forge?
Temper And Forge was tasked with redesigning our website and developing new pages to publish them on a new domain.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?
Temper And Forge redesigned and migrated our existing website to a new domain. The team migrated our site from Adobe Experience Manager to WordPress and from our parent company’s subdomain into a unique domain. 
The initial phase was a discovery process where we established the scope of the project. We established three release phases, and Temper And Forge reviewed our existing website and documented the required missing content, ultimately creating our project plan using monday.com 
Temper And Forge worked on Pastel and Octopus to share the site maps with us and develop the site’s content. Temper And Forge provided web maintenance, too.

What is the team composition?

We worked with Nathan (Founder & Owner), who oversaw the project, and Sam (Frontend Developer), who did most of the development work. We also worked with Scott (Developer) and Jesse (Lead Developer).

How did you come to work with Temper And Forge?

I had previously worked with Temper And Forge at my last company and had such a good experience that I wanted to work with them again. I originally found Temper And Forge through a Google search.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $45,000 in our engagement with Temper And Forge.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Temper And Forge in May 2023, and our project was completed in October 2023.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
After Temper And Forge completed our website, our engagement metrics improved by more than 50%. Temper And Forge’s work exceeded our expectations, and our page speed went from a score of 10–60 on mobile.
 
How did Temper And Forge perform from a project management standpoint?
Temper And Forge was highly responsive and provided quick deliveries. The team delivered work ahead of schedule and stayed on budget, communicating in a quick manner. We used Slack, email, and Google Meet to communicate.

What did you find most impressive about them?
What stood out the most about Temper And Forge’s team was their technical expertise.

Are there any areas they could improve?
I can’t think of anything for Temper And Forge to improve.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Potential clients will have a great experience with Temper And Forge if they communicate well, have reasonable expectations, and deliver their side of the project on time.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior marketing operations manager at Swing Education, a marketplace that connects substitute teachers with school districts.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Temper And Forge?

We needed help with website design, development, enhancement, and support.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started our engagement with Temper And Forge to rebuild our website. We had a lot of requirements to migrate from our old website instance to a new one. We also had certain specifications regarding how the site architecture needed to be set up, how we could better manage and maintain our website’s content on the backend, and how we could rank better in search engines for the pages we wanted to rank for.

As for the technology stack, Temper And Forge has built our new website on WordPress and used some custom development items and plug-ins to help us accomplish our goals. Additionally, they’ve used a number of tools on their end to create the designs.

Currently, we have a monthly partnership with Temper And Forge as we continue to scale for future phases of the website. For example, we’ve added a number of other sections, pages, and templates to our website.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with Nathan (Founder & Owner), Jesse (Lead Developer), and Katelyn (Account Manager). We’ve also worked with a graphic designer and other developers who have supported the project with unique activities. On a weekly basis, we work with three of Temper And Forge's teammates, but throughout the project, we’ve worked with another five of their teammates.

How did you come to work with Temper And Forge?

We had heard about them from a consultant who was working with us. This consultant was aware of other websites Temper And Forge had built, but they hadn’t worked directly with Temper And Forge in the past.

Still, Temper And Forge was one of the several service providers we vetted. We decided to go with them due to their overall presentation and approach, as well as the report we developed. We did our own research and were able to ask for client references, which was also an important part of the vetting process.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $50,000–$100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together around June 2022. Temper And Forge completed the initial project around September 2022. However, our relationship continues as we work with them on a monthly basis.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

One of our goals was to have a better UX on our website. We’ve been able to see an increase in our conversion rate since launching the website, which directly relates to a better design and UX.

We also wanted to ensure we ranked higher for the pages we wanted to rank for. The new website’s backend infrastructure has allowed us to add technical content and elements to the site in order to rank higher. As a result, we’ve seen a significant increase in organic traffic and search engine rankings.

The fact that Temper And Forge was able to meet our website launch deadline has been another of our success metrics. Initially, we had a timeline for launching our website, and they were able to succeed in that regard.

An additional measurement of success is the fact that we still work with them and view them as a valued partner. Although this is a subjective result, Temper And Forge has been very present, attentive, and supportive of our needs. Additionally, they’re very knowledgeable in website development and design best practices, and they’ve been able to meet all of our needs successfully.

How did Temper And Forge perform from a project management standpoint?

Temper And Forge has a very organized way of managing the project and presenting and iterating on designs for us using various tools. Moreover, their ongoing project management is excellent. We connect to Nathan through Slack, where we communicate one-on-one.

We also hold biweekly meetings with the team to address updates, concerns, and additional items. Overall, I’m impressed with their ability to continue to maintain a relationship with us, which benefits both parties: we get a valued partner to whom we have access, and they get a client who continues to invest with them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Temper And Forge has been a great collaborative partner. We’ve come to them with an idea for which we don’t know how to get to the end result, and they’ve been able to fill those gaps and present really good options to achieve those results.

Additionally, Temper And Forge’s overall ability to deliver the look and feel we were going for with our website is impressive. They presented us with multiple options to achieve what we were looking for, and I was very impressed with the direction they took. It even was difficult for us to choose which design direction we wanted to go with because all the options were very good.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Our engagement has gone so well that I don’t have any areas of improvement for Temper And Forge.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be an active participant and client. Temper And Forge is a very collaborative team, so be actively involved in the project. They’ll be very receptive to your requests and understand your needs, so don’t hire them expecting that they’ll do the entire project on their own.

Although I’m sure that Temper And Forge is very capable of completing a project on their own, I’ve noticed that our relationship has grown very strong due to our continued communication and collaboration. Be engaged with them on a regular basis so that both teams can be very well aligned.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of marketing and communication for Casana. We are developing a smart toilet seat and pursuing FDA clearance before commercializing the product. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Temper And Forge?

We brought Temper And Forge on as a web development vendor. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We gave Temper And Forge our branding materials, and they used those to create a design and infrastructure. They helped us construct a brand new website from the ground up; the site was built with WordPress, and we worked out of a Figma file for design. The site that Temper And Forge helped us create would be classified as an MVP site; we intend to expand on it later, but the team built an operational and efficient platform we can manage. 

They designed the user journey and UX flows for our audience profiles. Temper And Forge also designed the layout that gives an overview of our product offering and overall business. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with Nathan (Founder & Owner) and three other individuals, this included a project manager. 

Are there any employees from the service provider's team that you would like to give a shout-out to in this review?

Nathan did a great job; he was a strong communicator regardless of the task and always kept us on track. 

How did you come to work with Temper And Forge?

They were a referral from a colleague. They came highly recommended by someone who had worked with them previously. After a discovery call and looking through their portfolio more closely, we decided to move forward with Temper And Forge. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together between January–June 2023. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They did a great job of building a website for all the audiences we needed to appeal to. We’re not currently selling a product, so we don’t have any concrete metrics, but we’re looking forward to looking at those metrics once the website goes live. Temper And Forge exceeded our expectations across the board.

The website is the first thing our audience sees, and Temper And Forge did a great job of putting a site together that showcases our product's capabilities and our company. We’re proud of the site they built and confident that anyone who comes onto the website will have a wonderful experience. 

How did Temper And Forge perform from a project management standpoint?

We had very strict deadlines; they always met them and even submitted some deliverables early. They were very clear when setting expectations and did a great job communicating with us throughout the project. Temper And Forge was transparent about what they brought to the table, which helped us to plan accordingly to be successful. We communicated via Zoom and email; I believe we used monday.com for project management. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They brought our vision to life. The team worked effectively together and was collaborative with our team. The partnership was seamless; we recommend anyone work with Temper And Forge. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I have nothing but positive feedback for Temper And Forge.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Set expectations and be honest; ensure everyone knows the project's needs. Don’t be afraid to address any issues that arise because that will make the process easier in the long run. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of brand and creative for Acclivity Health Solutions, Inc, a healthcare IT company focused on the seriously ill population. We have a SaaS product that helps hospices, care providers, accountable care organizations, and healthcare systems to give patients the right care in the right place at the right time.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address Temper And Forge?

Our website was slow, and we needed help redeveloping our website to reflect our new messaging and make it easier for users to find and navigate the site.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Initially, we provided a creative brief and an overall design brief. I spoke with Temper And Forge about our brand philosophy and brand elements and​​ provided a rough wireframe that noted where all the content should go. I gave them access to our digital access tool, which included all our brand colors, stock photos, and other assets. We looked at other websites together to get an idea of the aesthetic I wanted.

Temper And Forge has done a lot of the design work in conjunction with me and presented design options based on our brand and discussions; they’ve helped us redesign our website layout and architecture and created wireframes for us in Figma. They’ve also used Pastel and Adobe Creative Cloud products, including Photoshop and Illustrator.

We’ve worked together to make sure the parts of the website are connected in the best way possible, and Temper And Forge has executed UX design; they’ve revamped our resources section of the site. We have a considerable amount of resources on the site, and Temper And Forge has enabled users to sort them by section and market.

They’ve also built the new site mostly from scratch in WordPress using Advanced Custom Fields; We’ve used Elementor in the past, which we found slow and bloated. Temper And Forge has helped us transition from the old site to the new one, and they continue to provide maintenance.

Additionally, Temper And Forge has worked with a third-party agency that provides SEO and Google Ads management services to make sure the website is optimized.

What is the team composition?

We work closely with Nathan (Founder & Owner). Connor (Lead UX/UI Designer) works on frontend design, and Jesse (Lead Developer) is the primary development contact.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $30,000–$40,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together around October 2022, and we have a retainer with them through the end of 2023.

How did you come to work with Temper And Forge?

They were referred to us by a colleague in my industry.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Temper And Forge has optimized the backend, making the site run much faster and more smoothly. Within the first week of the engagement, the speed and responsiveness optimization of our website jumped from around 40% to 92%. They’ve increased the speed and usability of our resources section. 

We’ve received leads, so we know that the website is functioning properly; everyone is very happy with the new site. The website was just launched in mid-May 2023, so we haven’t collected many metrics yet.

How did the company perform from a project management standpoint?

Temper And Forge has added developers to help us launch the site 18 days ahead of schedule. The team is extremely responsive, extraordinarily organized, and a pleasure to work with. 

The intake of our information was very quick and coordinated; Temper And Forge is quick and efficient. They also work seamlessly with our third-party SEO and PPC agency.

Everything has been on track, and the meetings are well-run. We communicate with Temper And Forge via phone conversations and biweekly video conferences on Zoom or Google Meet. They manage our project using monday.com. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Temper And Forge’s quality of work is exceptional; they’ve delivered everything they promised they would and more. We get excellent value for our money. 

Their attention to the design process left from the get-go has made me very comfortable. I’ve worked with other companies doing similar projects, and they usually haven’t put much importance on the design aspect. Temper And Forge is a very design-focused group that can back up their designs technically, which is rare; usually, agencies aren’t able to do both pieces.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they've done everything we asked.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

The better you can articulate your expectations, the better they’ll be able to meet those expectations. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Designer / Marketing Lead of Caveney Architectural Collaborative

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are an architectural design firm located in Lowell, MA.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Temper And Forge to accomplish?

• Website Development

SOLUTION

How did you find Temper And Forge?

Online Search

Why did you select Temper And Forge over others?

• High ratings
• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

We worked with Temper & Forge on updating our website. We had a rough outline of what we wanted our website to look like and Temper & Forge delivered on the vision we saw. Our site is broken up into different sectors with a lot of content located within. 

We laid out a few pages in detail with T&F and they delivered the site to us. We wanted a website that was structured and clean while also displaying all of the work we do at CAC. This concept was transferred through the rest of the site.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

• We had regular meetings every few weeks to go over deliverables and goals for the site. T&F was very transparent about the process that the website design took. They shared with us live documents and sources for us to view and leave comments on. T&F were very responsive with our requests and patient with the time it took for us to gather all of the material we needed to complete this project.

What was your primary form of communication with Temper And Forge?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

T&F delivered our work on time. The timelines that were set out at the start of each phase / deliverable was clear and followed. There were meetings and email correspondence for every decision that was made. They were very quick to respond and we were happy with how they dealt with our needs.

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

One thing that impressed us about T&F was there ability to listen and deliver on what we wanted. They truly listened to our wants and delivered. They let us design alongside them. Nothing was too hard to complete.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Temper And Forge could have done differently?

One area that T&F can improve on is their ability to manage client gathering material time. We spent a lot of time on our end gathering materials which pushed timelines back a bit. Also if they had the ability / closer relationships with copywriters our project would have gone smoother. These are minor improvements in the grand scheme of what our project entailed.