Do you have any stats or metrics to track improvement from the project?
It took a while because it can take up to six months to get some traction. We knew that, we were not impatient going into the project. I knew that they were already improving things logically, based on all the new content that we were putting on the new website. That has definitely improved. The organization of the website is definitely improved. Some of the cleanup work and getting fresh eyes has helped quite a bit and probably improved the user interface. It probably forced us to look at the site when we were in a bit of denial or ignoring it because we were so busy with everything else. That has been a measurable difference.
On the organic side, I would say that anywhere between 25 to 40 percent, now that we’ve gone off the penalty, is what I have seen kicked up on our organic search. There are quite a few terms that we used to rank for years ago that we dropped off, but now we're back in. Call it the top 20, top 30, and there are definitely some top 10s. We're making progress. Obviously, I need to see some of those go up to top 10 and top 15. They weren’t on the radar before, so I have seen some measurable improvement. A lot of that has come over the last few months. You have to be patient, but once you are, it pays off.
How is their general work performance?
I’m very satisfied with my team. They are extremely organized, which I appreciate. I never feel like I have to chase them down. We use Basecamp back and forth and get together for calls twice a month. They also spend as much time as we want to spend. We're probably rushing them more often than vice versa. With respect to action items that we come up with from each call, I feel very comfortable with the team. I appreciate how organized they are with the project. I know they’re busy with a lot of other clients, but I never feel like I’m an afterthought.
Is there anything unique about them that really makes them stand out, compared to other companies?
Forcing me to go to training stood out. I can’t say it was the most exciting three days I ever spent, but I get it. I thought that was very interesting, that they force you to take some personal responsibility and make you understand the strategy. Even though I learned a lot of things in the class that I may have forgotten since, it was valuable. That stood out to me. I’ve never been asked to do that, but I appreciated it. I also appreciate the fact that the founder gets involved up front with our strategy.
I haven’t worked with an SEO firm that’s been this structured and organized. That was always a downfall for the others, which were sometimes haphazard.
Looking back on the work so far, is there any area that you think they could improve upon or that you might do differently?
You always want quicker results. It's like having a house. Once you get into the walls, you find things that you didn’t know existed. We found some things that we didn’t know were there. It has taken a little bit longer in some cases, but I don’t put that on them. I think it's things that you don’t expect, you have to prepare for.
MartonMedia exceeded the expectations of the client and performed better than previous vendors. The team was responsive and easily accessible.