BFO (Be Found Online)

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I worked with BFO when I was the SVP managing director at Zimmerman advertising, as well as after that as the CMO of IPIC.

What challenge were you trying to address with BFO (Be Found Online)?

We were looking to implement a dramatic growth plan over a 12-month period, and needed a primary search partner, both for paid and organic search as well as a number of other initiatives.

What was the scope of their involvement?

At Zimmerman, their team served to handle our paid and organic SEO efforts, as well as to place a number of programmatic buys for us across about twenty-five different retail accounts. When I moved to IPIC, I brought them on to restructure our digital presence, which meant taking over all of our paid media and some of our SEO there as well.

They helped us to restructure our entire media plan, which included allocating an enormous amount of budget into digital from other channels. Based on the early performance we saw, it became our primary platform for new customer acquisition, and they worked within that role to clean up our digital footprint and internal infrastructure for our website’s SEO.

What is the team composition?

Dan (President & Co-Founder) has always been our main point of contact, but we also interacted significantly with Josh (VP of Digital Strategy) and Maya (Account Director).

How did you come to work with BFO (Be Found Online)?

I had worked with their team at a previous company on a project that went extremely well, so it was an easy decision to bring them on in my new role as well.

What is the status of this engagement?

I first worked with them in 2005. They came on with IPIC starting in December 2018, and I left the company in December 2019, but that partnership is still ongoing.

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

In helping us finalize and executing our growth plan, BFO basically helped us increase our customer acquisition by double digits from a digital standpoint. We had specific metrics that we were targeting in terms of traffic and sales, and really saw a huge improvement in all of those areas. We were able to demonstrate results even within the first 30–60 days of them coming on board, so we had no hesitations about the success that we would eventually see with their team.

How did BFO (Be Found Online) perform from a project management standpoint?

Especially working with them on the agency side, they are very buttoned-up and organized with the process that they have in place. They’re used to working with different clients and members of their own team in different geographic locations, so structured project management is very important to them.

There are a number of digital tools that they make use of, but they’re very flexible in being able to lean into whatever we wanted to use for those purposes as well. If we needed data input in a specific format or template, they were more than willing to do that, and they always provided us with weekly status updates on any progress or challenges that they had run into.

What did you find most impressive about them?

When I think about Dan specifically, but their whole operation in general, it’s clear that they really are search artists. Navigating both the art and science of balancing paid and organic search is their sweet spot, and the passion that they have about their industry really comes through in their work.

They are constantly on top of any innovation or new trends, and a lot of really reputable companies rely on their expertise to help them survive in such an ever-changing landscape. They’ve also developed a reputation as being an incredible place to work, which goes a long way in demonstrating their energy and excitement to their clients on a day to day basis.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It’s really hard to say that there’s anything they should be doing differently. My only advice would be to stick to what they’re good at and really try to keep their passion alive because that is what makes them so uniquely great to work with.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

For anyone trying to improve their SEO or digital marketing presence, maintaining agility is really key. They will stay on top of everything that you need to be successful, so the hardest part of the collaboration is sometimes just keeping up with them.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an SEO manager at an online education company.

What challenge were you trying to address with BFO (Be Found Online)?

When we acquired smaller education programs, they were already working with them on SEO services.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They offered SEO services. This included organic marketing, paid advertising, PPC, and keyword research.

What is the team composition?

I worked with a team of three.

How did you come to work with BFO (Be Found Online)?

They had already been working with the companies we acquired.

What is the status of this engagement?

The work started in April 2019 and ended in December 2019.

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

They definitely helped us grow our traffic. The smaller websites saw significant growth. We garnered more clicks, impressions, and traffic. I had a great team and they were all very personable.

How did BFO (Be Found Online) perform from a project management standpoint?

The project management was great. Everything was completed on time. It was mostly managed through email and phone calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The subject matter expertise was impressive. Their team had all the background knowledge necessary for the work. They’re ahead of the game in terms of keeping things up to date.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have any complaints. They made my job much easier.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a digital strategist for a professional sports franchise.

What challenge were you trying to address with BFO (Be Found Online)?

I recognized there was a much larger opportunity to improve our presence in the search engine marketing (SEM) space. We wanted to create an SEM campaign to get us ready for the next season. It was initially focused on retail sales, but transformed into more from there.

What was the scope of their involvement?

BFO (Be Found Online) launched a full-service SEM campaign, primarily with paid advertising on Google products. We were basically going from zero to one with our SEM presence. They began with a paid search campaign on Google Shopping. We then transitioned into servicing other parts of the business such as generating season ticket and membership leads with Google Ads.  

The goal was to run a successful proof of concept campaign and understand what parts of Google Ads they could support the best. After that, we could scale and expand horizontally and vertically. I wanted to get this done in the offseason to get some information before the first game occurs in the fall.

What is the team composition?

I work with about five different people from BFO (Be Found Online)’s team. In particular, we work with Josh (VP of Digital Strategy, BFO) on the sales side and a team of three on the SEM team.

How did you come to work with BFO (Be Found Online)?

6–7 years ago, I worked with them at a different agency. When I arrived at the organization, I reached out to Josh and explained the business opportunity.

How much have you invested with them?

I would say about $20,000–$25,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The initial scoping began in April 2019. The campaign is ongoing and we’re looking to grow it further.

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

BFO (Be Found Online) has definitely helped us capitalize on this SEM opportunity with Google Ads. They’ve hit and, in some cases, exceeded our benchmarks for conversion rate and cost per purchase that we see with our established paid channels. Their team accomplished this despite some technical issues on our end with the Shopify feed not syncing to Google Merchant Center. So, they’ve hit that benchmark without being able to advertise our No. 1 retail product.

How did BFO (Be Found Online) perform from a project management standpoint?

Their team has really committed to understanding our business and have caught on very quickly. They are easy to work and intelligently think on our organization’s behalf. They are proactive in communication when they find optimization opportunities. Some agencies pitch great KPIs and performance, but they don’t have good project management, but BFO (Be Found Online) is a pleasure to work with and very professional.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re very good at dealing with the granular, ticky-tacky stuff that slows organizations and agencies down. They are good at note-taking, following up on deliverables, and giving meaningful perspectives rather than a fancy PowerPoint presentation. They truly give me their own point of view—sometimes they’ll tell me if it’s not the right time to explore a certain option, even if that means they’re not getting paid for those services. They really look after the best interest of the business and not just their own bottom line.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I think they could’ve used more contextual knowledge of our industry from a fan and business standpoint. Working with someone brand-new to the industry that has a fresh take is also good, but sometimes it’s more convenient to work with people that are more experienced in the sports marketing field.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It’s incumbent upon the agency to help BFO (Be Found Online) understand the nuances of our specific business, context, and industry. If we arm them with context, they can plug into the work as a puzzle piece rather than just bulldozing through different areas. That applies to work with a specific tactic like paid Google advertising. Explaining the nuances of what you want with retargeting traffic, generating interest, or capitalizing interest, among other examples, is important.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a non-profit independent graduate school offering primarily business degrees. We have master's courses in business administration and science, and also have a corporate development arm, training people on both soft and hard skill sets like business acumen and leadership development. We work with different audiences and echelons within companies. I am the digital marketing manager of the company, in charge of digital properties, particularly our website, making sure that leads are coming in and funnels are being met. I also help with internal database administration.

What challenge were you trying to address with Be Found Online?

We needed help maintaining and establishing a good SEO health. When I first started working here, this area was unwanted, and not being applied to our digital properties. The benefits of it were also not well-established or known within the company.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Be Found Online helped develop a healthy SEO for our digital properties. We did work with them on search engine marketing pieces as well, but this wasn't our main focus. We also used Be Found Online for offline SEO, mainly blog writing. Our social media is either done in-house, or through another organization.

How did you come to work with Be Found Online?

We were unhappy with our current digital organization. One of our VPs had worked with Be Found Online's owner and introduced us to the company.

 How much have you invested with Be Found Online?

The cost of Be Found Online's services has been between $25,000 and $50,000 per year, depending on our scope.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Be Found Online at the beginning of 2014, with both SEO and SEM [search engine marketing]. Our work was ended for the moment, 2 months ago.

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

Be Found Online did phenomenal work regarding SEO. I have a level of confidence in the underlying build quality of our website, which wasn't present before working with Be Found Online. They've given me many of the skills required to move forward myself, instead of simply coming in, doing the work, and keeping us in the dark. Be Found Online allowed me to pick up the gauntlet and run, which was very important and made me feel that their company was legit, not trying to make us dependent on their services. Be Found Online's team took their work to heart.

I don't have any specific metrics off the top of my head but, regarding qualitative data, we've increased the size of our website two-fold during our time of working with Be Found Online. Even today, when I run 504-compliance reviews, there is very little that doesn't come through as A+. This was a testament to how meticulous Be Found Online was on the backend. We consistently rank high for certain terms in a very crowded MBA market.

What did you find most impressive about Be Found Online?

Other than the fact that Be Found Online is incredibly meticulous and patient at the same time, which is a unique combination, I appreciated the fact that they were always willing to take a call and answer any questions. I was able to IM or email my account manager, and receive a response within minutes or later on during the day. Their SEO team seems to be in touch with other aspects of Be Found Online so, whenever we needed to get a hold of someone in the analytics or SEM sides, we could.

Are there any areas Be Found Online could improve?

I don't have anything at this point. Be Found Online should continue their great customer service, and be authors of what they're doing.

Do you have any recommendations for others considering working with Be Found Online?

I advise any clients to go ahead and test Be Found Online, and not afraid to ask tough questions. They will pass. Some agencies have a tendency of talking over clients' heads, and discouraging them from asking questions, but not Be Found Online. They repeated information as many times as was needed for us to understand it.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for one of the largest global Smartphone providers. We have a presence in almost every country in the world. I work out of the Chicago area office.

I am the Integrated Marketing Manager of the company. My main role is generating demand for products and solutions on several commercial markets, including education and utilities. I am also responsible for managing relationships with our search agency.

What challenge were you trying to address with Be Found Online?

We wanted to improve our organic search rankings over all the priority pages that we focus on. This involved cleaning up certain pages and improving organic results overall.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Be Found Online has mostly worked on SEO for our site, providing recommendations and identifying keywords and what the highest-value pages on our site are. Be Found Online is also involved in analytics projects, but I'm not a part of those teams. They also help us with new product launches and page reorganizations.

How did you come to work with Be Found Online?

I was not part of the selection process. I think that we had an existing relationship with Be Found Online.

How much have you invested with Be Found Online?

The pricing is confidential and to be completely honest, I wouldn’t know that information. I only handle the project management aspect, not pricing.

What is the status of this engagement?

We have been working with Be Found Online since June 2015, for our current engagement. We have an ongoing relationship with Be Found Online.

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

The results speak for themselves. Our total traffic for all regions increased by 33% month over month with the help of BFO. We've gone up by 44% on a yearly basis, according to our June 2016 data.

We have experienced a technical issue with a module of the website. Be Found Online did a great job in fixing it and giving us recommendations on how to bounce back from the issue, from a traffic point-of-view.

How did Be Found Online perform from a project management standpoint?

Be Found Online is a great work partner. They are very knowledgeable in their area. One of the main reasons for hiring an agency was to gain access to expertise which we didn't have internally. Be Found Online provided great feedback and they were very open in going back and forth with us when there was a mismatch with brand guidelines.

What did you find most impressive about Be Found Online?

A big perk has been that Be Found Online is located in Chicago, so we've been able to meet face-to-face without having to travel great distances. Be Found Online is very responsive, they're experts in their space and I've received a lot of education from them in terms of web trends. We've had a number of smaller side-projects for which Be Found Online provided assistance. Be Found Online's team members have great personalities. They're down-to-earth and it's been great working with them.

Are there any areas Be Found Online could improve?

No. I've had headaches working with other agencies, but Be Found Online has been great.

Please describe your organization.

We provide network security software that allows companies to protect their infrastructure.

What is your position and responsibilities?

I’m in the marketing department, and act as webmaster for the company. I’m in charge of how the website performs internally, as well as how it’s marketed and how it does in terms of bringing in new business.

What business challenge were you trying to address with Be Found Online?

We were having traffic issues, and were struggling to show up in search results. We wanted to completely overhaul our approach to search engine marketing.

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

They’ve helped us with SEO, managing the pay per click campaigns and the paid media for Google AdWords, Bing, and LinkedIn. They also manage our Google analytics account, to make sure all of our reporting is as accurate and detailed as possible.

How did you come to work with Be Found Online?

We got started with Be Found Online before I was here. I was brought on to help utilize that outsourced resource. So although I don’t know the selection process, I can tell you that I haven’t had any reason to switch since I’ve been here.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

We are spending an average of $10,000 a month with Be Found Online.

What is the status of this engagement?

The company started working with them in February 2014, and the relationship is ongoing. 

What have been the results of this engagement?

From a performance perspective, it’s been good to see that we are steadily increasing the number of visitors we see to the website each and every month. Inquiries and leads have also increased every month since our work with Be Found Online began. When we first started with them, we were receiving right around 60 leads, or what we call “free evaluation requests”, which is our top goal. We always had a goal of getting to 200 a month, and last month was the second time in three months that we’ve hit over 200. That’s more than triple what we had before we started with Be Found Online. That’s the main metric we grade them on, and they’ve been doing a great job delivering more and more traffic each and every month.

I’m also thankful for Be Found Online because their work allows me to focus on new projects and build-outs, as far as the website goes, which have been requested internally. I don’t have to worry about our SEO at all. My guess is if we wanted to bring in all their work internally, we’d have to hire an additional three or even four more employees.

How did Be Found Online perform from a project management standpoint?

In essence I am the project manager, and I think that has been crucial to our success. You don’t want to just throw a project over to an outsourcing company, and hope it gets done well. To to ensure you get the best results, there are a lot of circumstances where you need to coach a search marketing company on your business to make sure they know exactly how to position you online.

What distinguishes Be Found Online from other providers?

Two words come to mind: professionalism and integrity. They always do what they say they're going to do, and if they need something from me, they’ll stay on me until I get it to them. A lot of other companies would say, ‘If you don’t get me this, it won’t get done,’ and then they don’t really follow up with you to make sure you stay on it. Be Found Online is really great to work with. They’re incredibly kind, laid back people who happen to be search geniuses.

Is there anything Be Found Online could have improved or done differently?

The only thing that would make my life easier would be when it comes to SEO recommendations if they could not only make the recommendations but also make them happen, as in actually getting their hands dirty in the code and doing the updates are done. Taking on some of the development requests and such would be ideal, and the only thing I could recommend for them.

Please provide a description of your company. 

Arizona Tile is a slab and tile importer and distributor. We sell to both commercial and residential customers from our 25 brick and mortar locations and, of course, our online store as well.  

What is your role and responsibilities?

I’m the director of marketing. I'm in charge of traditional marketing functions: advertising, public relations, and merchandising. In addition to these, I am also responsible for our digital presence and website.

What was your goal for working with Be Found Online?

We were trying to increase traffic to our website, and were looking to improve our SEO [search engine optimization] and SEM [search engine marketing] efforts. We were looking for a partner to help us do that well.

Please describe the scope of their work.

Initially, the scope was just pay per click. We weren’t doing much with SEO or social media; however, after the tremendous success we've had with pay per click, we've expanded the work to some of those areas as well. 

What was your process for selecting Be Found Online with which to work?

One of their employees was someone we had worked with at a previous agency. I don’t recall the exact details, but I believe she reached out to us at that time.

Our selection process was perhaps a little unorthodox. We were already working with a different digital marketing firm, but we were not particularly thrilled with the results they were giving us. We decided to let both companies prove what they could do. So, we divided up our territory and gave them each half. We gave them similar budgets and parameters based on the markets they were in, and had them essentially go in a head-to-head competition to see who could provide the best results. In the end, it wasn't even a contest. Be Found Online clearly gave us the best results.  

Can you provide a ballpark dollar figure for the size of the work that they’ve done for you?

We spend north of $200,000 with them annually.

When did your relationship with them begin, and is it ongoing?

The relationship started six or seven years ago and is ongoing.

Can you talk about the results and how you feel they performed in terms of the quality of their work?

The results have been great. Their analytics are very impressive, and we’re pleased with the growth that we continue to see. The quality of people on our account has almost always been good, and we’re happy with the support and attention they give. It’s been a great partnership, and we really do consider them an extension of our internal team.

Are there any statistics or metrics you could provide that give an idea of the performance?

It’s hard to say because we've been with them for so long. The percent increases we see are anywhere from a couple percentage points to 300 percent increases.

Is there anything unique about them that really makes them stand out, compared to other companies?

I think their customer service certainly is above average when compared to any company. In my mind, customer service incorporates everything from the attention they give to our account, to the quality of people, and the results they deliver. Ultimately, I think their people are what set them apart.

Looking back on the work so far, is there any area that you think they could improve upon or something that you might do differently?

This is a small point, but one thing I ask them is to try to give us data in a digestible format because there are so many figures and analytics.

What advice would you give to a future client of theirs?

Be open to their suggestions.

Please provide a description of your company. 

We’re spice merchants. We sell spices from around the world to customers across the nation. We have five retail stores in Chicago in addition to our e-commerce store online. 

What are your role and responsibilities?

I am president of the company.

What was your goal for working with Be Found Online?

We were trying to grow our online business, since our sales had stagnated for a couple years. At that point, we were introduced to Be Found Online.

Please describe the scope of their work.

Originally, they did some SEO [search engine optimization] for us, which required a few changes to the design and content of the site, and they worked with our developers to implement those changes. Then, we backed off on the optimization and concentrated on the paid search end of it, which has been very effective and profitable for us from day one.

What was your process for selecting Be Found Online with which to work?

We found them through a referral from our Web developers.

Can you provide a ballpark dollar figure for the size of the work that they’ve done for you?

During slow months, we average $3,000 to $4,000 a month. When things get busy around the holidays and such, we ramp up to $10,000 a month.

Do you have any statistics or metrics to track improvement from the project?

We get weekly performance reports from Be Found Online. In the report for the week of December 15th, for example, the summary shows that clicks increased 20 percent, from 6,600 to 8,400; impressions increased 19 percent, from 232,000 to 277,000; cost per click increased from 36 cents to 38 cents; conversions increased 20 percent from 451 to 538; the conversion rate increased 5 percent, and our revenue increased 37 percent.

Is there anything unique about Be Found Online that really makes them stand out compared to other companies?

I'm not very well versed in digital marketing, but when I share our metrics with people who are, they're blown away

Looking back on the work so far, is there any area that you think they could improve upon or something that you might do differently?

I wish we had more time to meet with them. There are always projects that we don’t implement because we don’t have the time, and they’re very busy. So, we end up meeting two or three times a year but, in a perfect world, we’d probably sit down and meet with them every other month.

What would you say to future clients of theirs?

They keep their word. If they tell you they’re going to do something, they do it.

Please provide a description of your company. 

We’re a multi-channel sporting goods retailer with stores throughout California, Arizona, Nevada, and Utah as well as a nationwide online presence. We are in the upper tier of sporting goods retailers. We carry high-quality brands and first-to-market products across sporting gear, apparel, and footwear.

What are your role and responsibilities?

I am the director of online marketing. I have full responsibility for our online presence.

What was your goal in working with Be Found Online?

We needed to revise and relaunch our website without taking a significant hit in our visibility in search engines, which is always hard to do in this kind of project.

Please describe the scope of their work.

Be Found Online worked with us on revising our website. We upgraded our platform and completely relaunched the site last August. That involved a complete switch of all URLs on the site, which involved massive potential SEO [search engine optimization] risk. Be Found Online helped us assess risk, identify areas of concern, and create a mitigation plan, then partnered with us in reducing the inevitable impact on SEO in launching our new website.

What was your process in selecting Be Found Online with which to work?

I had worked with them through a previous company, and they met my two key criteria. Number one, they demonstrated significantly more knowledge about SEO than I have. Number two, they demonstrated the hands-on, daily attention to detail and sense of urgency that I have with regard to my business.

Can you provide a ballpark dollar figure for the size of the work that they’ve done for you?

The SEO project was less than $100,000. The paid search billings are in the millions.

What were the results of the project?

The SEO project started in February of last year and was successfully completed in December. Our paid search work with them is ongoing.

Do you have any statistics or metrics to track improvement from the project?

We avoided any significant drop in SEO traffic with the site relaunch, and that was the primary KPI [key performance indicator] for us. Not only did we minimize any potential hits in site traffic, but also our traffic actually grew substantially year-over-year. Overall, we met or exceeded every single KPI for the project.

Is there anything unique about Be Found Online that really makes them stand out compared to other companies?

Be Found Online has absolutely top-flight people working on our account, and they have created an extremely complex and targeted approach to paid search optimization. They are accessible at a very high level, and the involvement of senior-level executives is hands on. I always appreciate that in a company. It’s a very personalized approach to dealing with clients. Their client base is not large and, as a result, they’re able to provide highly personalized attention. They don’t have a “one-size-fits-all” approach.

They were great about optimizing our budget and giving us input on where they thought our marketing dollars would be optimized.

Looking back on the work so far, is there any area that you think they could improve upon or something that you might do differently?

They have to do a better job of understanding what their client’s skills and resources are. There’s a tendency not to be concerned about what the client can bring to a project. I’ve found that this is an issue across the board with agencies.

What advice would you give future clients?

Do your due diligence in clarifying what you are responsible for versus what the agency is responsible for. Make sure those different areas of responsibility are clearly identified in the statement of work, because this will determine whether or not you get what you paid for.