9Sail

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Marketing Manager of Hansen & Rosasco

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

9/11 Victim Law Firm

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire 9Sail to accomplish?

• Increase position in organic search results (Google)
• Become the "go-to" law firm for 9/11 Victims
• Increase conversions by providing helpful content to potential clients

SOLUTION

How did you find 9Sail?

Referral

Why did you select 9Sail over others?

• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from 9Sail were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

9Sail provided us with comprehensive keyword research and a competitor analysis to be able to define our strengths and expand on areas that needed some work. They worked with our web developers to create a sitemap analysis and website audit with schema recommendations to build us a brand new website. 9Sail redid all of our title and meta tagging along with the old site redirects. 

As for ongoing work, they continually provide us with optimized content for SEO, backlink opportunities, and Google My Business and website enhancements. They report all findings on a weekly and quarterly basis using Google Analytics, Search Console, and CallRail.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Increase in organic traffic, increase in leads/clients via organic search, increased website authority, "Snippets" at the top of Google searches and overall Google search positions being higher.

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

9Sail continues to impress me with their organized approach. They continually deliver items on time and keep our law firm on track for approving things. They're always on top of the to-do list, and free to answer any of our questions in a moments notice. 9Sail will go above and beyond by scheduling last minute meetings that may be out of their scope of work, recommending incredible vendors, and fulfilling urgent requests that may come after hours.

What was your primary form of communication with 9Sail?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

The staff at 9Sail is top-notch. Every single member I've worked with is as good as the next. The team continues to impress me with their knowledge, competitive attitude, and successful results.

Are there any areas for improvement or something 9Sail could have done differently?

N/A

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Owner of Nina Dietrich LLC

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

A public relations firm providing media relations and marketing communications services to professional services, finance, healthcare, tech, publishing, education and other clients.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire 9Sail to accomplish?

• Address law firm's website SEO
• Update and improve website content

SOLUTION

How did you find 9Sail?

Other

Why did you select 9Sail over others?

Other

What was your primary form of communication with 9Sail?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

9Sail works with my client, a med mal/PI law firm, to develop a strategy to significantly improve the firm's SEO. After conducting thorough research, 9Sail presented a comprehensive plan for the law firm which had not turned its attention to SEO in any meaningful way until this time. 9Sail developed a, informed and strategic content calendar so that we could develop new pages and update existing web site pages with their SEO strategy in mind.

Within the first month, the law firm saw impressive results and continues to do so. The team at 9Sail is wonderful at explaining the process to the client, telling them what they need to hear and being vigilant about staying on top of the plan to keep it moving forward. At the same time, I have found this team just lovely to work with, responsive and very knowledgeable and I have referred them to other clients. I am so glad to have met Joe and found this resource for our clients.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• improved SEO in just one month and consistently thereafter

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

They are responsive and committed to meeting all deadlines

What was your primary form of communication with 9Sail?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

A trustworthy team that is extremely knowledgeable

Are there any areas for improvement or something 9Sail could have done differently?

na

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Managing Partner of State Creative

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Design, Develop and Maintain WordPress websites

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire 9Sail to accomplish?

• SEO
• Improve technical search performance

SOLUTION

How did you find 9Sail?

Referral

Why did you select 9Sail over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

What was the size of 9Sail’s team?

2-5 Employees

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

9Sails is an important partner for our agency because they provide a necessary service for our customers and they do it very well. We've worked with 9Sail on multiple projects over the year and in all cases, they take our custom websites and make them rank high in search.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

9Sail understands the web and search like no other firm. They are not only on top of the latest trends and algorithm updates, but everything that they do is data driven. When it comes to identifying keywords or ranking for a key phrase, 9Sail has all of the tools and they follow best practices to ensure their clients come out on top.

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

They are great communicators. They clearly and respectfully respond quickly to messages and requests. They do not shy away from the truth and we find a lot of value in that. They hit deadlines, are extremely well organized and their experience comes through all of their interactions.

What was your primary form of communication with 9Sail?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

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Are there any areas for improvement or something 9Sail could have done differently?

9Sail works a lot like our company and that's why we're such big fans. They value clear communication, timely delivery, and premium service. I suppose the one place for improvement would be grow larger so that they can service even more clients.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the owner of a marketing agency focused on helping professional services firm with copywriting, social media advertising, and email automation.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire 9Sail, and what were your goals?

We were in the process of redesigning our website and wanted to make sure it was optimized to its fullest potential, while ensuring any new copy was positioned for SEO. We hired 9Sail to help us with our initial strategy, including content and on-site technical aspects.

SOLUTION

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

We had known 9Sail through previous client interactions and knew that a stellar reputation for providing white-glove service for their clients. We wanted a partner who would really get to know our business and help us focus on the revenue-generating pages while keeping a big picture focus.

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

Our engagement started with an initial onboarding form. Then we had a discovery call, and they came prepared with information and research based on what we had submitted in our form. We went into a deep dive into our services and goals, and from there they then put together a detailed strategy plan for us. They help put together a significant content plan, focused on the services we were aiming to promote, recommendations for site optimization and opportunities for backlinks.

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

We worked with two people on their team. We were assigned a highly proficient digital strategist who oversaw the majority of the research and strategy, while we also worked with someone else on their team during the high-level discovery and strategy delivery calls.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Working with 9Sail made it incredibly easy to build a site that we knew would be primed for SEO. With their recommendations, we had no question about the particular pages we should focus on, what we needed to do in order to create the content search engines wanted to see and most importantly, how to do it.

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

9Sail's team is one of the most communicative and transparent that I've encountered. They're on top of all of their deadlines and set clear expectations about when things would be over to us - then delivered on it.

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

Their entire team was clearly very knowledgeable about all things SEO, but combined with their responsiveness and willingness to go above and beyond to deliver a great product and experience really stood out.

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

I couldn't have asked anything more out of our experience with them. They delivered excellent quality and came to the table prepared, engaged and ready to work hard.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of marketing and business development for a boutique national healthcare and life sciences law firm. We’ve been in existence for about 20 years. We deal with pharmacy and healthcare law issues — anything that falls under these two broad categories. We also have a small division that deals with personal injury. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 9Sail?

Recently, we underwent a website redesign process. Essentially, a large part of our business comes from our website.

One of the bigger challenges that we had was that we were ranking organically, but we weren’t always ranking top for ads. As a result, we wanted to integrate SEO into the website, and we hired 9Sail because we wanted a company that would be strategic about it. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I brought 9Sail onboard to serve as my right hand since I’m very busy marketing a number of different practices. Their other purpose is to make it easy for my attorney to understand SEO. 

They already finished implementing a personal injury type of campaign for the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program (CICP). It was a COVID-19 pandemic death claim, and 9Sail helped us bring in new clients for that program using Google. 

Overall, they’ve taken over our Google account, and they also help us create keywords. Moreover, they also conduct a little bit of research and come up with organic topics that we can write about. 

What is the team composition?

I only work with one person the majority of the time, but we also have a person in charge whenever we need specific Google research. 

How did you come to work with 9Sail?

I knew Joe (Founder & CEO) from a previous company that I had worked with. As a result, when I landed in my new role, I immediately contacted him and his team. What convinced us to engage with them was their amazing proposal.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in March 2020, and we’ve been collaborating ever since. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our traffic site and website inquiries have increased exponentially. 9Sail has been wonderful to work with, and I’ve never had issues with them.

How did 9Sail perform from a project management standpoint?

We have monthly meetings with 9Sail’s account representative and during our meetings, we run all over our status reports. We also have weekly meetings where we discuss new practice areas that we’re going into and bring up any pages we’ve launched. That’s also the time where I ask them for any clarifications. The check-ins that we have with their team have been helpful. 

They’ve always been responsive, and they help us navigate tricky situations. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I like that they’re an entrepreneurial kind of company; they’re always looking to make connections for us and with us. On top of that, they’re constantly looking at how they can develop our brand and business while utilizing their connections.

Moreover, they want to learn and understand our business so that they can craft more solutions for us. That speaks volumes and confirms that 9Sail truly wants to be a partner to us. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there’s nothing that they can improve. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure you know your market and industry so that you can explain it to the 9Sail team. By providing that, you can definitely help them. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a senior consultant at Red Clover. We’re a strategic human resources and change management consulting firm based in New Jersey.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 9Sail?

Our main goal for working with 9Sail was to generate more leads through our website and content creation, within the context of SEO.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

9Sail has helped us improve our website. In May 2020, they helped us create all of the content to update our website. Now, they guide us on our blog writing to drive more organic traffic to our site and, hopefully, convert that into business.

Joe (Founder & CEO) and I worked closely on the website project; he developed the site map for me. We worked with an external partner on the web design, but Joe worked with me page-by-page and gave me SEO guidance from beginning to end.

Bryan (Director of Operations) helps us with backlink opportunities. He actively searches for backlinks for us so that we can get published across the internet by reputable sources. That way, people are drawn back to our website after reading about industry-relevant topics. At the beginning of this year, he got me a spot on a TV interview for a news station.

Then, we regularly work with the 9Sail team to create our content calendar and leverage current HR topics that we can quickly convert into content to drive traffic. For example, when a celebrity was accused of a toxic work environment, they were able to do a quick turnaround on that keyword search.

We write the content, and 9Sail gives us keyword guidance. Currently, we’re focusing on trying to improve the search traffic of all of our team members because a lot of the blogs that are getting traffic are written by me. We have three other team members who also need to get attention, and Ben’s really focusing on helping us do that.

What is the team composition?

We mainly work with Joe, Bryan, and Ben (Digital Strategist).

How did you come to work with 9Sail?

Our founder met Joe at a business networking event. They’ve worked together for quite some time and ended up sharing an office. Ultimately, Red Clover needed help with SEO, and 9Sail needed help with HR. They’re a client of ours and vice versa.

What is the status of this engagement?

I’ve been working with Red Clover for two and a half years, but the companies began working together around the start of their operations in 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Over the last year, our organic web traffic has been consistently improved by 300% year over year.

The services that 9Sail gives to their clients are bar none. When I had an idea to improve our traffic when people were searching the celebrity’s toxic workplace, Ben was able to turn that research around pretty quickly. They approach the work that they do with their clients as a good partnership.

How did 9Sail perform from a project management standpoint?

They provide really strong feedback as we're working through the project. They commit to monthly meetings, so we get an hour of Ben's time where he walks us through what we're doing, which is effective. He always sets goals for the next meeting.

They meet with us and provide a breakdown of our web traffic year over year and month over month. They're readily available. If I pick up my phone and call them, I know they'll answer and give me the answer I need.

What did you find most impressive about them?

9Sail makes SEO really understandable. SEO is not a tangible product that you can sell; they're not selling me an object. Rather, they're selling me a technological concept that not a lot of people understand, so they can't see the value in it. They make it really easy to understand, and they get really excited about what they do. They want to help businesses grow, and that comes across in every interaction I have with their team members.

Joe is really focused on creating a company culture that people want to work for. He's committed to remaining competitive in the market, attracting top talent, paying them above market average, and giving them incentives to perform well and serve their clients. As an HR consultant, I work with a lot of different businesses who probably make a lot more money than 9Sail does, but they don’t treat their employees as well as they do.

Are there any areas they could improve?

9Sail works really hard, and they just need to continue growing their team. I know that’s a goal they have, but it’s hard to find the right talent. They’re trying their best, and they’re offering a great job experience.

Joe is really committed to scaling up the organization, finding good talent, and retaining that talent. He wants to build the next group of SEO and search engine marketing superstars. He does that by having a strong culture, but also by recognizing the influence that pay has on people's desire to work somewhere. His employees have an opportunity to work and grow at a really great firm. There’s really no other area of improvement. I enjoy working with them — they’re great. They just need to keep pace.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for a company called Tandem Contracting. We are a general contracting firm that works in northern New Jersey. My position is Marketing Director and I handle all the marketing, as well as sales administration and client relations. I also work with outside vendors such as 9Sail to maintain our website and SEO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 9Sail?

The website we had built for us when we first got off the ground was very basic. 9Sail is helping us completely overhaul the design of that.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They have facilitated redoing the website. They’re updating and upgrading it, which rolled into extensive work with SEO. They also provide two blogs every month, which has been a tremendous success. WordPress is what we use to host and edit our website. In the beginning, we also did some Google AdWords with them for about a year.

We’re actually talking about rebuilding our website again at this point and really taking us to the next level.

What is the team composition?

It depends on the project but overall, we mostly deal with a project manager. We’ve dealt with the owner a handful of times in the beginning until he turned us over to one of the project managers.

How did you come to work with 9Sail?

Our owner met Joe(Owner) at a networking event. They hit it off and started talking about some stuff.

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we probably spend anywhere between $18,000–$20,000 a year with them.    

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in January 2018 and it’s still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We manage everything through Google Analytics. They give us monthly reports that show key highlights that we’re looking at. Part of the reason we’ve continued to use them is because of the growth and success we’ve had. COVID-19 obviously changed everything, but we got extraordinarily busy again around May or June of last year.

Our phones are still catching up from November and December. It’s because of them that we are now more organically found on a regular basis. We don’t pay a dollar for Google anymore, and we’re getting 300–400 hits on our website every single day — and for a small business, we’re ecstatic about that.

How did 9Sail perform from a project management standpoint?

Unbelievable. 10 out of 10 every time. They’re always in contact with us to make sure we’re satisfied with what’s going on. They check in regularly to ensure that the project is moving along to their expectations.

What did you find most impressive about them?

What I like about them is that they’re progressive. They don’t just see what’s happening today and stick with that plan for 12 months. Trends change and as things get updated, they constantly come to us and tell us the best course of action.

It seems like they work with a lot of small businesses in similar capacities. They network with us so we get to see what’s working for everyone in the industry, and how it’s impacting us as a whole. We’ve now created relationships with these other businesses because of 9Sail.

They’re very trendy — I know it’s almost too cliche, but they are, and they’re really on top of everything that’s going on in the industry. As things change concerning Google or social media, they’re on top of it and they change with it.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I joke with them all the time that I wish that their personal social media presence was a little better. As a company that preaches about SEO and how they are able to do an unbelievable job with it, they really underutilize their own social media.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be responsive because they are quick to get you the information that you request. When they want to set up a meeting to talk about your monthly request, do it because it’s unbelievably educational and informative. It’s changed how we’ve looked at some of our online marketing and if it wasn’t for 9Sail, I don’t think we’d be nearly as productive and successful as we are right now.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of a residential roofing and siding company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 9Sail?

We needed help with organic SEO. We wanted more leads through Google.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They do our SEO work. First, they did a comprehensive analysis of the competitive market and saw what keywords are really hard to get traction on, what our niche, and which kinds of customers we want to get.

They help us organically improve our rankings for specific keywords in locations we want to do business in. The team helps us with backlinks to different websites, too. They used to write blogs for us but they’ve since put us in touch with a different vendor for blogs.

What is the team composition?

We work with 2–3 people from their team.

How did you come to work with 9Sail?

I knew Joe (Owner) and knew his level of integrity. When I saw they started 9Sail, I reached out to him and picked his brain when I started my company. Joe brought us on board and started helping us out from there.

How much have you invested with them?

Our monthly spend is $4,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in Q4 2017, and our work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our company revenue went from $750,000 to $6 million after working with them. We brought on a marketing manager last year and 9Sail has been an integral part in helping her get on her feet, understand our industry, and understand our goals for driving high-quality leads. She’s given them positive feedback.

How did 9Sail perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re great. They meet with us every month and deliver a full presentation where they go over the good and the bad. If there is anything that we can adjust, they advise us accordingly. We typically communicate via email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They understand high-quality leads and track all of the metrics. They’re not afraid to say when something looks bad and it needs to be changed. The team is open and honest about giving us feedback on anything that could help, including our website.

They have a great overall marketing knowledge and they’re willing to help with more than what we hired them to do.

Are there any areas they could improve?

As they grow, I’m sure they’re going to need to bring more people on. For right now, the team is adequate.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

As we grew, it was important to bring on a marketing manager to be a direct liaison between our teams. Make sure the monthly meetings get done. Learn from what they’re telling you. They’ll help you with tips on your whole internet identity and how you can improve.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Founder / CEO of (a/an) Advertising & marketing

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We do web design services for Wordpress and Hubspot CMS.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire 9Sail to accomplish?

• SEO
• Grow our organic traffic to our website
• Gain insights of new keyword opportunities for SEO

SOLUTION

How did you find 9Sail?

Referral

Why did you select 9Sail over others?

• High ratings
• Referred to me

What was the size of 9Sail’s team?

6-10 Employees

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

We wanted to get insights from the best about our own SEO efforts. 9Sail was instrumental in the audit of our website, finding keyword opportunities, and helping execute the SEO roadmap created.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• We've increased our overall impressions on Google.

What was your primary form of communication with 9Sail?

Virtual Meeting

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

Yes! There was weekly meetings to make sure we stayed up-to-date with our goals and tasks.

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

How organized that were as they only focus on SEO efforts and not try to do everything like most agencies we've collaborated with.

Are there any areas for improvement or something 9Sail could have done differently?

No, we really enjoy working with them and it's clear that they have great leadership and wonderful processes implemented