Big Cedar Agency

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Owner of Downtown Florist

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Flower arrangements and bulk flowers

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Big Cedar Agency to accomplish?

• Development of a new e-commerce website
• Website search optimization
• Content strategy

SOLUTION

How did you find Big Cedar Agency?

Referral

Why did you select Big Cedar Agency over others?

• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Big Cedar Agency were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Big Cedar played a pivotal role in the development of a new e-commerce website for our flower shops, focusing on Shopify platform integration. They meticulously designed and developed a user-friendly website, ensuring seamless mobile optimization for enhanced accessibility. Their efforts included migrating over 500 products and detailed descriptions, optimizing them for improved SEO performance. 

Big Cedar conducted thorough competitor research to identify growth opportunities within the floral industry, implementing targeted strategies to boost online visibility and maximize website conversions. They also facilitated partnerships to enhance brand authority and attract quality leads, while continuously monitoring and optimizing website performance metrics to achieve strategic business objectives.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have a stunning website that is now ranked well among local flower shops in our area.

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

Victor and his project manager, Erica did a wonderful job of keeping us in the loop at all times with regular updates. They were quick to follow any of our feedback and always willing to help support us in anything that came up.

What was your primary form of communication with Big Cedar Agency?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Victor and his project manager, Erica were not only organized and attentive to our needs, but their design abilities were exceptional. Our final website turned out wonderfully and much better than we initially imagined. 

Their competitor research was also incredibly thorough, and it opened our eyes to the market. It was a wonderful learning experience working with them and finding different tips and tricks to help improve our website's search ranking. Having non-technical staff, I appreciated Big Cedar Agency's support and ability to guide us to this new platform with ease.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Big Cedar Agency could have done differently?

None

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO and Founder of an information technology company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

SiteRocket Labs designs, develops, integrates and maintains health and medical applications.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Big Cedar to accomplish?

• Create a workable marketing plan for us
• Figure out ways to consistently attract quality leads
• Enhance our website to maximize SEO and conversions

SOLUTION

How did you find Big Cedar?

Online Search

Why did you select Big Cedar over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned
• High subject matter expertise

How many teammates from Big Cedar were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Big Cedar developed a marketing plan that aims to increase brand awareness, boost brand appeal and enhance the user experience of our website; maximize website conversions to increase quality leads; boost online visibility to attract organic search engine traffic; build brand authority and establish expertise in the industry; as well as increase partnership opportunities and attract quality leads.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Big Cedar crafted a well-researched and very thorough plan that contained a detailed description of all of items that should be implemented at various stages, to ensure proper execution.

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

Victor from Big Cedar was highly attentive to our needs and was able to tailor their deliverables to exactly match what we were hoping to achieve.

What was your primary form of communication with Big Cedar?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

I have worked with many marketing and SEO consultants in the past, and I can say, hands down, that Victor stands out as the best of the best. On the one hand, they had an extremely deep technical understanding of SEO. They knew all the latest tips and tricks to get a website to perform well in search engines. 

At the same time, however, Victor has a flair for creative design and content. He can create and improve websites and content in a way that lets them captivate and engage audiences, and turns them into customers. This combination of technical geekiness and marketing flair is very rare, and was what I was specifically looking for in a consultant.

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

None that I can think of.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Owner of Jackpine Paddle

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Guided trips of a lifetime by canoe and kayak in Northern Canada

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Big Cedar to accomplish?

• CDAP Digital Adoption Plan

SOLUTION

How did you find Big Cedar?

Online Search, Referral

Why did you select Big Cedar over others?

High ratings, Great culture fit, Company values aligned, Other

What was the size of Big Cedar’s team?

2-5 Employees

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

1. Develop a CDAP approved digital adoption plan tailored for The Client to make recommendations on their content marketing strategy and digital marketing including these required elements: Information about the current state of the SME that will help the digital advisor understand the strategic goals, the business and process challenges of the SME and the current baseline of their current technology. Technology options analysis, for those SMEs who have some components of a digital strategy or analysis. With the digital advisor's expertise, identify what types of digital solutions it should consider and how those solutions align to the business goals and business imperatives. A digital strategy and associated business benefits which take into account the SMEs governance and culture, its business model, its key processes that technology can help to optimize, its current digital strategy, its work methods, its informational and technological capabilities as well as its cybersecurity maturity. Implementation roadmap to identify key business actions to be done prior to adoption of digital solutions as well as a proposed list of technology projects or initiatives. For the main projects proposed in the digital adoption roadmap, the advisor will also provide high-level project timelines, dependencies and an appreciation for the costs, the complexity and level of change adopting these new technologies will require.
2. Assist The Client in uploading the completed plan to receive funding if requested.
3. Business consulting, marketing consulting and IT consulting and implementation services outside of the CDAP plan billed hourly at the Project Hourly Rate. Project Deliverables 1. SEO site audit report with priority and time estimates on each action item. 2. Content marketing strategy for site pages and blog (social media not included). 3. 6 full content briefs, in priority, listing top article opportunities with target keywords, recommended headings and header tag structure (h1-h3).
4. One page recommendations report with general website optimizations and overall digital marketing recommendations.
5. Baseline SEO report.
6. Rank tracking in ahrefs.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Completion of the deliverables

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

Yes - Victor delivered on time and kept me up to date on progress, changes, additional inputs from me. He was dependable and was concise in his engagements - respecting our time to commit to the project

What was your primary form of communication with Big Cedar?

Virtual Meeting, Email or Messaging App

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

Very high quality of recommendations - based on in depth background research. Clearly experienced in this field.

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

Can't think of any improvements at this time - we are very satisfied with the project outcomes.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the artisan and owner of Soul Path Shoes. I make high end custom designed and custom fitted leather footwear for a niche market worldwide, online.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Big Cedar, and what were your goals?

• Increasing organic traffic to my site
• Increase sales - Identify and Target specific markets
• Technical help with outdated website that was bogging down, and not effectively functioning.

SOLUTION

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

I found by searching online for someone local to my province (British Columbia). We sent out several requests to the most promising candidates from that list, and I chose Big Cedar because of the responsiveness and personalized service. I felt this company really cared about understanding my unique business, and provided a strategy that made sense.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and marking tools used.

• SEO research and targeting specific clientele: ie. Renaissance Fair participants looking for quality custom period footwear.
• Identified a broader scope of key words, based on actual search results
• created better performing landing pages based on above findings
• improved user experience, from loading speed to attractive landing pages, and cleaned up extraneous page elements.
• increasing sales conversions due to more traffic, but especially the target clientele
• website function improvements: much needed maintenance and speed improvements: we discussed options and found most cost effective solutions, such as changing web hosts for better, faster service.

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

I worked and communicated exclusively with the owner, Victor. I know he had other help on his team where he delegated where necessary.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The Analytics show definite improvement in the organic search results, and the new landing pages are performing well. Sales have increased due to this, but I can't offer any exact percentages since I have not taken the time to investigate the results in detail. I am an artisan and business owner and time is scarce for me in these areas. I see improvements in all the areas mentioned, so I am satisfied.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

I found the communications top notch from Big Cedar, and my questions were always answered. I would say the workflow was only limited by my own availability, but Victor adapted to this well, and to any changes along the way.

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

Like I said, I not only appreciate, but require personalized support and communication from people I hire, as I have a very unique custom product and niche clientele. Big Cedar delivered consistently and showed flexibility for changing needs, as well as competence in every area that we worked in.

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

In my experience here there was a complication and hickups with the email server when we switched hosts, but Victor responded to this and persevered until the problems were resolved. What I expect from any professional is to learn from mistakes or to take responsibility for anything that goes wrong, and Victor proved his integrity here by following through and putting in a lot of extra time of his own to resolve this issue. In this day and age, I'd say that is a rare quality.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a new naturopathic doctor practicing out of a clinic in Vancouver, BC.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Big Cedar, and what were your goals?

As a new naturopath I needed help with increasing my reach to new patients. Big Cedar helped educate me about what our options were for marketing and sales, and we were able to develop a plan together to improve our SEO and launch an ad campaign.

SOLUTION

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

I searched online for BC based marketing companies. After interviewing with 5 we chose Big Cedar because of the scope of expertise.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and marking tools used.

First we went through a brand exploration stage, where he helped me clearly define my brand goals, messaging, and target audience. We also did market research on competitors at this stage. Next Big Cedar did an SEO audit for the clinic website, identified spaces for improvement, and assigned tasks to our team to implement those changes. This included web design and content creation. After the SEO was on track, he also helped us launch a google ad campaign.

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

We worked with the owner.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The SEO and ad campaign was very successful. It has tripled my new patient bookings, which is more than I had hoped for.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We had virtual meetings once a month to discuss our goals and deliverables for the month. He would always follow up with clear meeting notes, which were very helpful to refer to. Whenever we had questions he was very responsive to emails.

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

I really liked that he has such a wide scope of knowledge. He also was able to really tailor marketing strategies to our specific business.

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

It was a pleasure working with Big Cedar and I don't have any notes of improvement.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I own a financial consulting company called Captivate Advisory Inc., and I do business as InformedESG.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Big Cedar, and what were your goals?

I needed an online presence for my new business that would look professional and needed help generating ideas on how to make a website that my potential clients would want to visit.

SOLUTION

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

I had worked with Victor in the past. I originally hired him over ten years ago to help us with a complex Excel document. After I formed my own company I learned he was doing Digital Marketing. It was an easy decision to trust Victor to help me with this based on how great he's been to work with over the years.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and marking tools used.

Victor laid out his plan in his proposal, and we basically followed it all the way through. We met every two weeks for three months. He had me fill out an initial questionnaire to find out more about my business. We then worked together to define my target clients and fine tune my messaging.

During this part of the project, Victor helped me with my LinkedIn posts to make them more readable and more likely to be shared with others. We then concentrated on my website. He helped me build in a Calendly online booking function to my site. He helped me set up a CRM to track my clients/potential clients.

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

My only interactions were with Victor himself.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Quite frankly, I was blown away at the end result and I have received so much positive feedback about it since I have shared it with others. Victor has elevated what I thought was possible from this project and I am proud to have this be my online home for my new business.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Victor is just really easy to work with. He set up a Google Drive that we could work together through. The Zoom meetings were always productive. And he hit every deadline - if anyone missed a deadline it was me :-)

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

The thing that stands out the most for me about Victor is his ability to put himself in other peoples' shoes. Even though he doesn't work in financial services. I felt like he understood what exactly I needed to attract my financial services clients.

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

I got nothing.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a health and well-being coach, yoga teacher and hospitality entrepreneur. Self-employed.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Big Cedar Creative, and what were your goals?

I hired Big Cedar to help me rebrand as a wellness coach. We revamped my website with a coaching emphasis. We also fixed some glitches left behind by my previous designer. Big Cedar helped me create an email marketing plan and way to capture emails for future communication. I asked for web development using my squarespace platform and to create a new domain for my business. We also redesigned the blog to be more intuitive to readers/visitors.

SOLUTION

How did you select Big Cedar Creative and what were the deciding factors?

It’s hard to find a responsive company, someone reliable who will get the job done and not leave it half complete. I chose Big Cedar for it’s reputation from business contacts I have met in person. Also, I chose Big Cedar based on fast response to my initial interacations.

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

We had an initial meeting to access my goals. Then we set up a project management board and came up with individual tasks for each project. We prioritized and communicated swiftly and directly on each task.

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

Just one person, Victor, developer

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The outcome was mostly in the deliverables, a functioning website with all of my requests fulfilled. I am good at creating sites on the front end but needed assistance with the technical settings. We completed my web site and blog with all my preferred features.

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

We used a project management app. This was very organized and easy to keep me on track.

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

Most impressive is the integrity in the work and delivering on promises while being wonderful to work with.

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

No, everything was great.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Co-founder of a CPA practice providing Accounting, Technology, and Advisory. A digital and remote first company servicing small-medium businesses in and around the Vancouver, British Columbia area.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Big Cedar Creative?

Create a distinct website for specialized services in a way that distinguishes it from our main brand and used to help drive traffic between the sites.

What were your goals for this project?

Keep the branding distinct in order to avoid diluting our main brand and minimizing any confusion. But had very subtle hints of our main brand to possibly help people make a connection to our specialized skill set. Big Cedar helped pull this off.

SOLUTION

How did you select Big Cedar Creative?

Conduct key word analysis to optimize SEO and make it competitive to the few other similar firms out there. Plus help us determine how to make a distinct look and feel while keeping some distinct elements to make subtle connections between firms.

Describe the project in detail.

Several discovery meetings to look over our brand guide, doing analysis of our content and key words, select certain themes that fit our appeal and then several meetings to tweak

What was the team composition?

two partners from our firm worked with Victor at Big Cedar

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Like the look of the page. It's not basic but not complex, very much like our personalities, so a look and navigation around the site was enough to "fit the eye"

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Great. Very communicative, active in suggestions and approach, and open to feedback

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their speed of delivery and experience was well beyond many other startup agencies

Are there any areas for improvement?

no can't think of any right now

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a dentist, and I recently opened my own medical practice here in Germany.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Big Cedar Creative?

Big Cedar helped me set up my website on WordPress. They also linked me to various German online booking platforms. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Big Cedar created my website from scratch because I didn’t have a website before. Victor (Owner) initially developed a one pager for me when I was just transitioning from being an employed dentist to opening my own practice. He also put me on online booking platforms, which was quite tricky since he didn’t know how to speak German. 

In terms of SEO efforts, Victor suggested strategies that we could use to let people find me easily on the internet. We came up with meta-descriptions and meta-tags, and I learned how to check my website’s traffic via Google Analytics.

Victor also coordinated all other domains that were linked to my website. I didn’t want my website to link to the domain of the practice I was previously working for. However, Victor said it had a good ranking, and linking to it could make my website more authoritative. 

What is the team composition?

Victor was my only contact from Big Cedar. 

How did you come to work with Big Cedar Creative?

A friend of mine recommended Victor. When we first talked, he asked me what I had in mind, how I wanted to come across to customers, and what kind of clientele I wanted to target. I had a feeling that he quickly understood what I wanted to do. He then sent me the concept of his plans for the website. When I saw it, I realized I didn’t even have to explain a lot.

I always go by my gut feeling, especially in areas where I’m not an expert. With Victor, I felt I was in good hands. He was also creative and flexible, so I hired him for this project. 

How much have you invested with them?

I spent about $4,800 CAD (approximately $3,800 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from November 2020–January 2021. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

After the website was launched, it took me only a couple of weeks to get good results. Before, I couldn’t even rank on the first page of search results. Now, I’m among the top five search results around Rellingen, where my practice is located. My acquaintances, friends, and patients also complimented the website, saying it looked both modern and classic. 

Moreover, my practice is innovative and modern. We have many innovative german techniques that not everyone has. The website reflected that, and it served as our main marketing point, performing well online and on social media. At present, a lot of new patients are either calling me or booking my services online, and I truly feel that that’s because of my internet presence. 

How did Big Cedar Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

Victor was highly responsive, and he had the ability to be customer-oriented and cater to what I wanted. I could have engaged other people here, but I didn’t have the feeling that they understood my goals. 

Victor guided me on what I had to do and what to provide him. He introduced new things to me, including Trello and Pastel, a visual website feedback tool. He taught me how to do Zoom calls, share my screen, and edit screenshots. These things made our communication easier. We also communicated a lot via email and WhatsApp. 

Additionally, he prepared a handover document in case I wanted to find someone local to maintain the website, and it was super helpful. Every maintenance person I approached here in Germany said that the site was done quite nicely. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Victor was always calm and cheerful even when things got stressful. Some people may not be amused if we asked them to change things over and over again. However, Victor didn’t treat that as a problem. He made us feel like we could change things thousand times over. I could also honestly say if I liked a certain thing or not.

Moreover, Victor knew how to approach things from different angles. When I was frustrated because something didn’t work, he would suggest another approach from another point of view to help me understand the problem better.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there aren’t any. There was a bit of a challenge in terms of time differences. My evenings were basically mornings in Vancouver, so it was hard to communicate over the day. However, we handled this problem quite well since we used multiple channels to communicate.

Aside from that, I can’t think of anything else that didn’t go well. It was a pleasure to work with Big Cedar.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you know what you want, it’s easier for the designer or developer to deliver. In our engagement, Big Cedar gave me a four-page questionnaire where they asked me about my goals. It also asked me about the most important thing for me as a dentist. 

None of the other companies I’ve worked with before had this kind of questionnaire, and it helped me have a clearer view of what I wanted.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Lawyer & Principal of CSP Law Corporation

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Construction lawyer for general contractors, building trades & material suppliers in the construction industry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Big Cedar Agency to accomplish?

• SEO Review & Summary Recommendations Report

SOLUTION

How did you find Big Cedar Agency?

Referral

Why did you select Big Cedar Agency over others?

• Good value for cost
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Big Cedar Agency were assigned to this project?

1 Employee

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

Review of firm website and generation of SEO recommendation summary report for improvement of online presence & digital marketing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

SEO recommendation summary report containing useful insights that are easy & cost-effective to implement.

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

Very responsive, report delivered on-time.

What was your primary form of communication with Big Cedar Agency?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

The team is expert on all things SEO and provided valuable insights on some simple ways to improve our firm's online presence - highly recommend Victor & the Big Cedar team!

Are there any areas for improvement or something Big Cedar Agency could have done differently?

N/A