Canesta

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CEO of Diapedic, LLC. We are a CBD Wellness company with CBD topical creams. We market our products to the consumers through various wholesale and retail channels.

For what projects/services did your company hire Canesta?

Our company hired Canesta to develop our website and also help with the design and feel of our product packaging. Canesta will also be hosting our website and performing ongoing services like SEO.

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

We selected Canesta based off of their attention to detail and organized project management aspects during our initial consultation.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

Once we finished our initial consultation, Canesta started to immediately present us with the options for our homepage and several suggestions for our product packaging for consistency for our brand. Then we started to layer the other aspects of our project.

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

In total, we worked with two people, which relayed the information to the design team. This was nice because we got to work with a project manager consistently, who was able to understand our goals, and cut down on potential misunderstandings. It was good to have direct contact with our project manager!

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

We needed to redesign some product packaging, and Canesta was able to assist with this issue, while also working on the website portion of the project. This allowed us to meet our deadlines with the printing company.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow is unbelievable. Each day we were in communication and thoroughly updated on the progress of our project.

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

I was highly impressed with their initiative to go above and beyond with the service! Their communication and professionalism gives great confidence to continue a long lasting relation with this company!

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

I prefer quality work over everything! As a consumer, I'm very pleased with our business relationship!

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of marketing at a travertine quarry.

What challenge were you trying to address with Digitawise?

We were trying to expand our digital marketing, online presence, and brand awareness.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Digitawise created our website for us and set it up as an e-commerce platform. More recently, the team has taken over our SEO and most of our digital marketing. They’ve run an SEO campaign to boost our Google rankings, have worked on keyword research, and write blog articles for us. Currently, we’re also using Digitawise for graphic design. 

What is the team composition?

We work with four people from Digitawise regularly, plus a fifth teammate. The core team includes the CEO, a graphic designer, and copywriters. 

How did you come to work with Digitawise?

Although I’m not sure how we got in contact with them, I believe we found them through an internet search.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around €30,000–€35,000 (approximately $30,000–$35,000 USD). 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together around March 2021, and the engagement is ongoing.

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

Since working with Digitawise, our Google rankings have steadily improved. Although the growth hasn't been fast, we've seen constant progress. The team is very collaborative and innovative. They're always coming up with solutions for us instead of only listing problems and potential issues. Additionally, our site layout is really good and simple to use, which we're really keen on. 

How did Digitawise perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicate via Slack, where I can speak to all the teammates and upload files and photos. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I appreciate Digitawise's responsiveness. Overall, I'm happy with the work they're doing.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The only thing they could improve is email communication. We often talk verbally, and I would prefer to keep a paper trail. Otherwise, there's nothing they need to improve.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the digital marketing manager for a luxury fragrance brand with 25 years of experience in department stores like Macy's and Hudson's Bay. My role is to manage all of our e-commerce platforms and digital marketing strategies, including for our DTC website, which is growing exponentially.

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

We were looking to grow/expand, and we wanted to optimize our organic reach. We hired Digitawise to provide SEO services to improve our site speed, our organic rankings and grow traffic to our existing pages. Once we worked with them on the SEO project, we added them on as our E-commerce/Web Development team.

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

We were referred to Digitawise by an internal agency partner and compared them to others in the market. After hearing their proposal and meeting the team, we felt their team was the right fit. After the initial SEO engagement, we were very impressed with their work with is why we decided to work with them longer term.

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

Our engagement started with an initial meeting and subsequent audit where they laid out the areas where they could help us improve in SEO. Once we reviewed and signed on, they added us to their internal workflow dashboard. They had three areas of improvement:

• Website Updates Technical
• Website Updates – Visual / US
• Quality Assurance

Each area had tasks underneath. We communicated for each task as ranked by priority until the work was complete. This structure allowed clear and fast communication so was one of the reasons why we decided to engage them for longer term development.

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

They have a lead manager who we work with, alongside their team of an additional 2 web developers and a designer.

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

Since implementing the SEO efforts and engaging Digitawise longer term, our website traffic, conversion rate, returning customer rate, and sales and AOV increased. We also have more retailers requesting samples wanting to sell our products after initially viewing our DTC website.

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

Communication is mainly though our Active Collab website. We have project meetings if there is something that is a larger scope and needs to be discussed.

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

They have a lot of experience with development, UX, design, but it is coupled with a very deep knowledge of SEO so we are confident that everything they build is helping our website get ranked better organically. In addition they are extremely responsive to our requests.

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

None.

Please describe your company and your position there.

My company, Honkaku Spirits, is an importer of shochu, awamori, and other spirits from Japan. I am the founder of Honkaku Spirits.

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

We needed to find a website programmer that would work closely with our designer to create a beautiful and useful website to represent our company, display our products, educate our consumers, provide point of sale resources to our partners, and allow people to find our products on store shelves.

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

We interviewed a few different outfits, and we decided to work with Digitawise because they were highly responsive to our queries, made believable promises, and provided a quotation that was right in the middle range of the offers that we had received.

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

Scope: Digitawise was tasked with building a WordPress website with certain content age-gated and strict adherence to the design themes that our company has developed over the last couple of years.

Steps:

1. We introduced Digitawise to the overall look, feel, and function of the website that we hoped to create. Digitawise provided us with a list of items and best practices that would be necessary in order to develop an effective website.
2. Based on the above feedback, we worked with our design team to chart out the pages of the website, the content on those pages, the media that would be required, and mockups of how things should look. This included specific colors, fonts, heading and paragraph requirements, and general spacing between elements.
3. Digitawise began creating bespoke elements for the website that would do the following: a) satisfy our needs in the near term; b) offer scalability over the medium and long term.
4. Our lead designer worked directly with the Digitawise team to implement our requests and respond to/relay issues that came up during development.
5. The site was launched and Digitawise remained in contact in order to deal with any

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

At least two people were on our calls (much of the time), and it seemed like there may have been three people directly involved in the development of our website. The lead person on our particular project is the CTO of the company.

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

We don't have any specific data, but I can comment that the website is nimble and beautiful.

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

We communicated primarily via email and Zoom (etc.) meetings. They were very realistic in their assessment of how long things would take, and they even beat their expected turnaround on a few aspects of the project.

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

I was impressed with the hierarchy that they set up related to post types, tags, categories, and geographical locations. It was incredibly logical and everything was spelled correctly (despite the use of a lot of Japanese words in the above hierarchies).

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

Not really. It was a complicated project, and they worked efficiently and communicated proactively at every turn.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president of Speedy Appliance Service.

What challenge were you trying to address with Digitawise?

We were trying to get service calls through New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut for refrigeration repair.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Digitawise did some research on what kind of work we did. The team then did Google Ads and SEO work. They reformatted my website, and they’ve worked on seven websites in total. 

What is the team composition?

Nick (CTO) is my main point of contact.

How did you come to work with Digitawise?

They were recommended to us. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spend $2,000 per month on Nick’s fees.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in April 2020, and our engagement is ongoing.

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

I had worked with other companies on my website and I didn’t like what they did. Digitawise did exactly what we wanted after the first try. Nick is on schedule, which is unusual since it takes time to build traffic. I’m very happy with the websites.

How did Digitawise perform from a project management standpoint?

Nick does very well, and his project management is exceptional. We primarily communicate via email, and we also use Skype.

What did you find most impressive about them?

He spends time with us, explains everything he does, and follows up.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There was another market that I was looking for but Nick wasn’t able to do work for it, which was a little disappointing. He was very honest about it, which I appreciated, and he didn’t try to spend my money where he didn’t need to.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Give him as much work as you can in the beginning.

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are an e-commerce CBD retailer and cultivator of highest quality products and I am the Co Founder

For what projects/services did your company hire Digitawise?

We are a start up in a new industry riddled with false claims and bad products where we are finding the best products and companies through a stringent 12 point check list. Our challenge was to get noticed for our approach and given most companies are not following any guidelines or moral standards we are in an underdog position.

What were your goals for this project?

organic search discovery

How did you select this vendor?

We interview several companies and proposals but the team there just felt like a fit...and it turns out they were!

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

managing existing website while developing and coding new more custom website managing SEO for organic search managing marketing with new ideas and avenues given the restrictions on buying ads for our industry email marketing social media management

What was the team composition?

we had a team of 5-6 all with dedicated jobs and specialties in each area

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

They are still working hard and they are a vital part of our company!

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

It was very effective and we could ask question and make requests to anyone on the team no matter their specialty and it was addressed and answered within at max 12 hours

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their caring and understanding is far most for me but also diligence, ingenuity, creativeness and efficiency.

Are there any areas for improvement?

no

Please describe your company and your position there.

Vegetarian Traveler provides plant-based protein products for consumers. I am the EVP Sales

For what projects/services did your company hire Digitawise?

We were introducing a new product, Munchy Crunchy Protein which needed a new website and related marketing assistance.

What were your goals for this project?

Goal was a website completed in record time prior to an introduction at an international food show. Had less than 60 days from concept to delivery.

How did you select this vendor?

We interviewed several companies and freelancers. We chose Digitawise based on their capabilities and budget.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Started with wireframes to choose a style and look, and flushed out all the components including the store to purchase and the look up feature where we will list retailers that carry the product.

What was the team composition?

The two founders with two others quickly reviewed each iteration on a very tight schedule to keep it on track. Input was received and implemented very quickly.

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

We met our launch date - unfortunately due to the CoronaVirus the trade show was canceled. We are using the website to introduce using other resources.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We regularly received web pages to test and comment on. Very impressed with the speed and responsiveness.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The budget was one of the lowest while the had the development team equal to other much more expensive players.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No - we expect to engage them for other upcoming marketing projects.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the founder of Inner Heights Meditation. We provide meditation education services, courses, workshops, personal training, and retreats to enhance customers’ well-being.

For what projects/services did your company hire Digitawise?

I needed someone to make several design changes to my website.

What were your goals for this project?

I wanted to have a visually appealing website for my formal launch.

How did you select this vendor?

I researched design partners extensively and interviewed three candidates. Digitawise was the most responsive and reasonably priced.

Describe the project in detail.

Digitawise handled two tasks for me: creating a parallax effect (the design changes in real-time as you scroll) and optimizing favicons (the logo that appears next to a URL in the search bar or on a browser tab).

What was the team composition?

I collaborated with two team members. They assisted me with both project management and technology.

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

Traffic and brand recognition have both increased thanks to the adjustments Digitawise made.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

I was impressed by their quick turnaround time, daily communication, friendliness, and efficiency. They handled the project in record time.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their attention to detail and focus on achieving my goals have convinced me to use them again. They get things right the first time.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I’d love for the parallax effect to be implemented on my entire website instead of just my homepage. I’m hopeful they’ll be able to do that for me.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the founder and CEO of Pajamas for Peace. We’re an e-commerce store that also promotes a message of peace.

For what projects/services did your company hire Digitawise?

We engaged them as our website development and design partner.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted a fully-functional and highly-integrated e-commerce store with a seamless UX. We hoped the site would help customers understand our organization’s mission.

How did you select this vendor?

We hired Digitawise based on their portfolio and reviews. The team had previously worked with the BigCommerce platform.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Digitawise is currently designing and developing the BigCommerce site. Deliverables include layout design, product pages, iconography, typography, and coding. The team also provides SEO and page optimization services, which complement social media management.

What was the team composition?

We work with four dedicated resources on a regular basis.

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

We hope to launch in February 2019.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Digitawise is an active, collaborative, and transparent partner. Communication, resource allocation, and workflows are all effective. The project updates are very helpful.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They are e-commerce development experts. The team provided helpful feedback via open lines of communication.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We continue to work with Digitawise and there are no issues at the moment.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the founder and CEO of Practice U, an apparel company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Digitawise?

I needed help to promote my brand, elevate awareness to the general public, and generate sales.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Digitawise came up with a plan to improve my Google rankings through SEO efforts. They create content for our website such as articles and blog posts. All content posted is consistent with my branding and the concepts of self-improvement.

A few months after launch, we added social media services. They manage our Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. They get my input before posting any content. They also made some improvements to the website to make it more attractive and faster.

What is the team composition?

I work with four members of their team.

How did you come to work with Digitawise?

I was determined to find a reputable partnership so I did a lot of online research, as well as calling and waiting for responses from various firms on my list. I tried another company for several months but was dissatisfied. Eventually I made contact with Digitawise.

How much have you invested with them?

We spend $1,000 per month.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in November 2017 and the engagement is ongoing.

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

We anticipate that sometime this year we'll start getting some return for this investment. We’ve been working with them on SEO for over a year, and almost a year on social media. They’ve advised me to be patient. They say the results are coming but that it takes time to build up.

How did Digitawise perform from a project management standpoint?

Their team is efficient, especially compared to the firm I used before. We use ActiveCollab as our tool to share and collect information and send ideas back and forth. I like that I can use it on my phone or laptop at any hour of the day.

Part of the appeal of Digitawise over other companies is that they provide a team of four instead of just one or two people. They respond day or night if we ever have a question. They lead the way, but are responsive if I have any concerns or thoughts.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are knowledgeable, transparent, honest, and patient mentors.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Something that would be of interest to me is creating captivating video commercials to promote our content. I wish that was within their package of offerings. It's something that we’ve discussed but that they don’t yet provide.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Each project is different. Give them a call, and they will provide a professional answer. Mine is a challenging project because the apparel industry isn't easy to break through.