Zo Digital Japan

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of a department for the Japan-based offices of a global language learning company. Our main offerings are language and cultural training services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Zo Digital Japan?

We needed help with our SEO efforts in 2022 since we had difficulty finding the right service provider.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Zo Digital Japan helped us with our SEO throughout 2022 and took the lead on keyword research using the briefing we initially provided. Zo Digital Japan created our corporate blog’s content strategy and delivered a steady stream of written content monthly. 

Moreover, Zo Digital Japan also managed our link building efforts. They outreached around 50 different media channels each month that could serve our strategy. 

Lastly, Zo Digital Japan provided SEO consultation and developed proposals to improve our site’s performance. They used SEO tools, including Screaming Frog SEO Spider.

What is the team composition?

We directly interacted with 3–4 teammates from Zo Digital Japan, but they had other specialists working on our project, including writers and link builders.

How did you come to work with Zo Digital Japan?

I originally found Zo Digital Japan listening to a business podcast where they interviewed one of their department heads. I looked up Zo Digital Japan and met with them and our global marketing team. 

One difficulty we’ve had as the local office for a global corporation is being understood from a global strategic level. We chose Zo Digital Japan because they could present their digital marketing experience to our international stakeholders. 

How much have you invested with them?

We invested around $50,000–$60,000 throughout the year.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with Zo Digital Japan from January–December 2022.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Thanks to Zo Digital Japan’s SEO strategy, we achieved a 45% increase in organic traffic in 2022 compared to 2021. We couldn’t have been able to achieve this growth without the support of Zo Digital Japan.

Moreover, we also had a significant increase in Google search rankings for some of our most relevant keywords. 

How did Zo Digital Japan perform from a project management standpoint?

Zo Digital Japan met deadlines. We talked on a daily basis through Slack and had virtual meetings using Slack and Microsoft Teams. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was most impressed with Zo Digital Japan’s deep knowledge of the Japanese market nuances and their international global perspective. Zo Digital Japan had a great ability to understand international trends and tied that all together to present it to global stakeholders, who sometimes have difficulty understanding the local market nuances.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The only thing Zo Digital Japan could have improved was the communication from their link building specialists. That being said, we had very good results thanks to their work, but perhaps some members' language issues or communication styles could have been better. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I recommend customers take as much lead as possible in setting Zo Digital Japan’s team with their business and industry, especially if it's an industry they don’t have experience in. We achieved the desired results thanks to this.

Other than that, I recommend treating Zo Digital Japan as a partner. Future customers shouldn’t treat them like any other vendor and expect deliverables at the end of the month. We incorporated Zo Digital Japan into our team, and this worked beautifully for us.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Head of SEO for a print on demand dropshipping company. We have a global customer B2B and B2C customer base.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Zo Digital Japan, and what were your goals?

We hired ZoDigital to provide a wide range of SEO services ranging from on-page to off-page SEO as well as content creation in order to help us optimize and grow the organic traffic generated in Japan/from our website in Japanese.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

I was looking for an SEO company that has local (Japanese) language knowledge and experience working in the Japanese market but is also proficient in English to ensure smooth and effective communication. In addition to the fact that ZoDigital is based in Japan, the deciding factor was probably the fact that Jeff, the owner of the company, is a native English speaker, and that the company does not have a long chain of command that made communication and decisions making long and arduous. Not having to worry about miscommunication and being able to work directly with the main decision-maker made collaboration simple and efficient.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and campaigns.

Collaboration started with a sitewide SEO audit for our website. ZoDigital provided a comprehensive on-site SEO audit alog with an in-depth keyword research for the Japanese market. Following this we started collaborating on a monthly basis on various on-page optimization tasks - my team would create or plan content for which ZoDigital did SEO review or prepared keyword research and optimization suggestions upfront. A while later we also started using ZoDigital to help us create a content strategy for our blog and after that we also started outsoucing blog post creation itself.

On a monthly basis, ZoDigital provided on-page SEO review/optimization recommendations, prepared content briefs for our JP copywriters, and prepared blog posts we published on our website. As our collaboration went on, we even started using ZoDigital for off-page SEO. While our collaboration was always primarily about SEO, other aspects of website optimization (CRO, UX/UI) play a huge role in performance, so I also appreciate the fact that throughout our collaboration ZoDigital also provided insights and recommendations for how to optimize these areas as well.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

The main contact person was the owner himself; we had a dedicated data analysis/research person who performed the initial SEO audit and continued doing research and providing recommendations throughout the entire collaboration period. In addition to this, there were several other people who worked on the project:

• content creators
• off-site SEO specialists

During the peak of our collaboration, I think there were a total of 5 people working on our project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

The deliverables were always very carefully prepared and easy to work with. Thanks to ZoDigital we were able to grow our organic traffic in Japan. The blog content they helped create generates the majority of the organic traffic we get from Japan.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

Communication was easy, Jeff was always open to suggestions and the team as a whole was quick to react to our requests. In addition to having monthly results review calls, we had Google Docs and later shared Slack channels via which our teams could communicate directly, which made the whole process simple, as there was no need for me or Jeff to get involved as messengers between our teams. They were able to communicate directly, things got done quickly. If we had urgent deadlines, these were mostly met as requested.

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

In addition to their expertise and passion for work, their flexibility was of great benefit in meeting our needs.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

They need a new invoicing system (which I think Jeff is already working on) as the one they had was not the best.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am co-founder of medium size IT services and consulting company. Business development and tech sales.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Zo Digital Japan, and what were your goals?

We wanted to increase our presence in Japan, we ask ZoDigital to help us with SEO, paid advertising, campaigns, content and etc. The language barrier is a huge problem to enter the Japanese market so we needed an expert in that.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

Their portfolio, community review, giving back to the community events, fair pricing, and tailored approach.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and campaigns.

We started first by discovering our potential competitors, we found out that we don't compete with a company but with regions. Which was quite interesting. First, we worked on improving our general impression on the website and everything we did so far in Japan. Then we moved to campaigns, content, SEO optimizations, and paid ads. The results started showing after 4-6months (as said initially), we started popping up for some keywords and topics in the top 3 and in some first place on google search.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We had 1 SEO expert, a Digital marketing consultant, Paid ads expert.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

In just a few months we were 1st on google search for some keywords and in the top 3 or top 5 for others. Amazing. The reach and recognition started to pay off. We got traffic to the website from Japan, which increased a lot.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

Jeff the CEO is taking good care of us. Always trying to give us as many options as a possible and honest approach. We used slack, email for communication. Always responsive and productive. Great results with not so many meetings, they asked the questions they needed at the early beginning.

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

The results they delivered, I didn't expect to be so fast. They have some big clients that they could bring in the top 3 or first in the results in Japan. That means they understand the market, language, and culture.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Nothing I can foresee now.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of a private investigation agency in Japan.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Zo Digital Japan, and what were your goals?

To incase bilingual online marketing and advertisement.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

Because they are good at bilingual marketing.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and campaigns.

They set up strategies to select the right keywords to promote our services based on statistics. Also, they support us to create contents that work best for the keywords. They assist us to build effective backlinks to our website, as well.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

Five SEO specialists in the team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Since we worked with them, the number of online outreach to our website increased by 10 times.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

They are excellent in creating strategies for digital marketing.

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

Mr. Crawford is not only the best marketing consultant to promote Japanese commodities or services overseas but also the total adviser who knows the true essence of marketing and can generate a fundamental revolution to our business structure. His services are not limited to simple advertisements, but he is the unique bilingual consultant who is capable of providing consistent supports including organizing personas of customers, creating optimized landing pages for the personas, generating marketing funnels, and planning the best marketing strategies based on the funnels.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

We need to work together with challenges and revisions because bilingual marketing is a new genre with few past success stories in Japan.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Country Manager for Nord Security in Japan. We develop and sell cyber security software which is use worldwide in both B2C and B2B markets, such as NordVPN, NordPass, NordLocker.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Zo Digital Japan, and what were your goals?

We hired ZoDigital to run out SEO marketing, keyword optimisation and content creation for the Japanese market.

SOLUTION

How did you select Zo Digital Japan and what were the deciding factors?

We receive quotes and interview 4 different SEO companies or varying company size and ability, but had personal recommendations for only one ZoDigital. After meeting with the CEO, Jeff, I quickly released his understanding of our needs at the time, and his ability to scale his services rapidly to meet our future needs as we grow in the JP market.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and campaigns.

Our engagement began with a kickoff phase, with ZoDigital's team growing to understand our local needs in the Jp market, and giving us feedback to align our expectations with the reality of SEO marketing in Japan. ZoDigital helped us tremendously with keyword research for a host of topics across our site, and we made onsite changes to our site pages, with real terms gains across the board.

Their team also creates highly viral blog content, which we use in house on our own blogs, and release via PR networks in Japan with great success.

How many people from the Zo Digital Japan team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We have a PM who runs point on all interactions, and 3-4 other members, who run keyword research, blog content creation and outreach programs for us full time.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Our site has become to No.1 searched VPN site in Japan, we have several keywords which now rank no.1 in SERP ranking, and several natural mentions in Japanese national press as a direct result of the content creation by ZoDigital.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

ZoDigital is available via both email and slack, we have almost daily contact with specific team members on a very open basis. The team at ZoDigital has been instrumental in developing out inhouse understanding of SEO marketing in Japan, and provides highly insightful feedback for the JP market, which our team at Nord uses to implement changes to online interaction with customer in the JP marketplace.

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

Overall knowledge of the JP market is second to none, and the flexibility of the team at ZoDigital to grow inline with our needs, and over achieve keeps our team coming back for more. They have gone above and beyond and never fail to meet and exceed expectations.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

In general, for the needs to brought to them, there is nothing we feel they have failed to do. We are very satisfied. In general, it would be good to be given proposal which are slightly outside the remit of our current relationship, meaning SEO, keyword and content creation, which they feel might add to our overall success in the JP market. i.e SNS content creation, PR management etc.