Stop relaunching your site - Evolve it with WebOps
WebOps is changing how the web works, from web development and design to copywriting, SEO, and PPC. With data-driven strategy and effective development plans, WebOps helps you get where you want to go and eliminates the need to constantly redesign and redevelop your website.
Want to know more about WebOps? Check out the Video linked in our Portfolio!
For over 13 years now, Cheeky Monkey has spent more than 200,000 hours helpig clients kick butt online. Our team of experts comes from a variety of backgrounds, with significant web design, development and digital marketing experience.
Our Promise
Convenience
- Easy-to-engage help for your day-to-day WebOps needs.
- Wide open, responsive, informative communication. No guessing
- Transparency in usage, billing, and information
Efficiency
- Sensible solutions and quality work you can rely on.
- Quality born of specialization - we focus on WebOps support
- Efficient time and resource management so you aren't wasting time.
Expert Guidance
- Our team guides you through the WebOps process to ensure you get the best advice and consultation regarding your online presence.
- We’re dedicated to explaining solutions in a way that makes sense to you.
- A passionate group of designers, developers, strategists, and marketers, we will put the best of our expertise to work in pursuit of your goals.
Flexibility
- There is a solution for everything, including impossible situations. We’ll work with you to discover great options for even the toughest tasks.
- No ask is off limits. If you have specific needs, parameters, or requests, we're always open to conversations on how best to handle it.
Focus
Portfolio
Environmental Law Institute, National Hemophilia Foundation, Souls Grown Deep, The Drupal Association, University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, Northern Lights College, Corban University, Brandman University Big White Ski Resort, Tourism Calgary, Grand Canyon Guru Wenco Mining Systems, Big Steel Box, Inside Track, City of Armstrong
MyPoppy.ca Website Development
Basno and the Royal Canadian Legion wanted to create a new English and French web application to enable users to accept donations and seamlessly connect to Basno’s platform to create their custom designed poppies in less than 1 month.
The application would need to be desktop and mobile compatible while integrating with Basno’s platform which allows users to share their finished custom poppies on social media. Further, the web application needed to accept donations using the bandora payment gateway as the payment processor.
Specifically, the new website needed to convert users to fill out a form to receive their digital poppy and to make a donation.
The Solution
Cheeky Monkey Media worked closely with Critical Mass and Basno to outline the goals of the website and put together recommendations on development strategy.
Recommendations from Cheeky Monkey Media included development done from the ground up, using custom code for integrations and for implementing designs that were supplied by Critical Mass. Upon execution of the development, Cheeky Monkey Media ensured the site was,
- Mobile Responsive
- English and French versions
- Lightweight, fast and able to process high volumes of users through Basno’s poppy creation platform and bandora’s payment gateway without crashing
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO) was set up properly
- Anti-spam features on contact forms leveraging the honeypot anti-spam method
The site met its deadline and launched the week of October 26th, 2018. It was promoted heavily by DDB Canada and has been widely used by audiences every year from October 30th to November 11th including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
ELI Website Migration, Enhancement, Maintenance
The Situation
When they first contacted Cheeky Monkey Media, the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) was in need of a significant design update. Not only had the aesthetics of the web site begun to age, but the navigation of the site had become troublesome. Originally, the Drupal 6 site they were using was adequate to their needs. However, as time went on, and more information was published to the site, the general flow and usability suffered. Articles, information, and publications were difficult to search and find, and this left ELI users with a poor browsing experience. With much of the organization's work involving events, publications, and learning materials, it was critical for the group to get a handle on the site design and information architecture.
The Solution
Though the look and feel of the site was ELI’s primary motivation, it became clear in the early stages of the project that significant work needed to be initiated to organize not just the navigation, but the overall organization of topics, article types, and information. Cheeky Monkey set to work on a full scale card sort procedure that allowed ELI to clarify topic “buckets” to be used in the development of an intuitive and efficient Information Architecture. From a well-organized IA, to the completion of wireframe layouts, the strategy and user flow through the site was planned for optimal user experience. With design concepts based on solid strategy, the creative team was able to create an engaging, professional and sleek look for ELI that encouraged visitors to browse and review the site, but also locate specific information easily.
Cheeky Monkey has continued as a valued expert practitioner for ELI's website needs:
- Maintained and enhanced their Drupal 6 site past D6 end-of-life
- Built a Drupal 8 base install theme or upstream for their eventual Drupal 8 migration project, and used it to quickly spin up other D8 sites for their organization
- Migrated the entire site and associated sites from D6 to D8
Website Redesign - Wenco
The Situation
Before the redesign, Wenco's homepage had a bounce rate of over 50%. That means over half of their potential customers left the website before they even see anything else! That’s a big problem.
Improving their bounce rate and pages per session were the two top goals Wenco had for their new site. According to SEMRush, pages per session is the third most important ranking metric on Search Engine Result Page (SERPs), with bounce rate being the fourth most important. This meant it was paramount for us to improve those numbers.
The Solution
To determine the most important design decisions we developed landing pages and conducted multiple A/B tests to find the “sweet spot”. On these pages we tested copywriting styles, messaging, call to action placements, and more.
Test results in hand we could then make decisions, backed up by data, about how to use each page element to meet Wenco’s goals. We found that even tiny tweaks and subtle switches to the content could impact that number by almost 15%! Now we’re getting somewhere!
Moving forward, we used compelling visuals, intuitive navigation, and clear messaging to build a great Wenco web experience. So good, in fact, that we were able to change the bounce rate from over 50% to under 28%.
Before the redesign, Wenco’s homepage had a bounce rate of 50.15%. After the redesign, we measured a bounce rate decrease of 36.21%, with the final resulting homepage bounce rate being 27.9%.
The average number of pages viewed per session increased by 33.75%, with the average session lasting 67.14% longer than before!
Not only were we able to decrease their bounce rate, increase the pages viewed, and increase the time spent on those pages, we also decreased the average page load time by 16.2% and the average page download time by 23.1%. Now that’s efficient!
SportMedBC
The Situation
SportMedBC is an organization comprised of sports medical and paramedical practitioners, with the mission to promote leadership, public awareness and education in sport health. Before engaging in their website redesign, the site was an amalgam of pieces that were integrated to add functionality while keeping overhead and expenses low. The result was a site that presented navigation challenges to users, and made it difficult for staff to manage. Built on an older version of Drupal, the site had expanded far beyond the usability threshold, and it was time for a full scale renewal.
The Solution
By upgrading the site to Drupal 7 and its improved administrative themes, Cheeky Monkey Media was able to alleviate many of SportMedBC’s web management issues. More than just upgrading to D7, the site saw a significant upgrade as Ubercart – a Drupal eCommerce module – was phased out in favor of Drupal Commerce, an updated and improved online shopping platform. With this in place, the site was made easier for users looking to register for courses and programs, as well as for those just seeking to purchase items.
Through the methodical application of Cheeky Monkey’s strategy & planning phases, the resulting layouts and site structure were far more in tune with SportMedBC’s audiences, while ensuring that important content and information was easy to find. At the end of the day, Cheeky Monkey Media helped SportMedBC breathe a little more life and vigor into a site that had hit the runner’s wall.
Branding DrupalCon 2015
The Situation
It’s a glorious situation when a client is so happy with the Monkeys that they ask us to be part of another project. It’s even more fun when you’re able to follow up a development heavy project with one that allows the creative design team to show off their talents.
On the heels of the Drupal Job Boards project, the Drupal Association again turned to Cheeky Monkey Media to help design the branding for the 2015 North American DrupalCon in Los Angeles. Having already impressed with pure development and programming skill, the Monkeys were more than excited to showcase their creative talent as the designer for one of the largest Drupal events of the year.
The Solution
As the Drupal Association was focused on ensuring the success of DrupalCon Amsterdam, the creative design team was eager to begin initial concept development. Upon selection as the partner of choice, the Cheeky Monkey team dedicated significant time and energy to brainstorming potential themes, logos, and colors. By taking steps in advance, the Monkeys ensured that the project could really catch fire when Association staff were finally able to catch their breath.
Of course, when you’re entire corporate culture is dedicated to pushing the limits and stretching the boundaries, it was important to the team that the designs not fall back on standard Hollywood clichés and show-biz fare that Los Angeles has come to be known for.
Sfter this project we again engages with the DA to brand and develop all collateral and the website for DrupalCon 2016 and 2017.
Project with DrupalCon 2017 – Baltimore
The Situation
In 2017 the Drupal Association looked once more to Cheeky Monkey Media to brand and design DrupalCon. 2017 would see Baltimore as the chosen host city. The conference needed a partner experienced in handling all of the branding and design needs of a large conference. The Drupal Association wanted more than just a visually appealing and inspired design, the material had to personally connect with the Drupal community.
Having been the designers for 2015, and 2016 DrupalCons, Cheeky Monkey Media had the chops for the job and were eager to take the challenge on one more time.
The Solution
Once again, the Cheeky Monkey team worked with the local Drupal community in Baltimore and the Drupal Association to come up with a theme that was appropriate and unique to the host city. Many ideas were floated around but in the end, the 'Raven' concept inspired by Edgar Allan Poe was the winner.
The final logo went even further than the previous DrupalCons in incorporating the 'Drop' without making it too obvious by containing the shape (inverted) in the negative space of the wings. The rest of the Con was peppered with darker, and moodier imagery (well it was Poe after all).
Amanda Gonser, the lead DrupalCon coordinator talks about the DrupalCons and her experiences working with the Cheeky team.
Project with San Francisco SPCA
The Situation
Founders of the no-kill movement, the San Francisco SPCA (SFSPCA) is committed to preventing overpopulation, rescuing animals, addressing “barriers to veterinary care,” and working to resolve pet behaviour issues through education and training.
When the SFSPCA came to Cheeky Monkey Media, the animals they helped had to spend too much time at the shelter and few people were coming in to adopt them. The website was a big problem. When people interested in adopting a pet came to the SFSPCA website, they found a website that had broken parts, was slow, and extremely difficult to navigate.
The site was built on an old framework and there were multiple platforms running at the same time, all which didn’t work well together.
Things weren’t any easier for staff who were charged with updating their nonprofit website, all while juggling a number of other high priority tasks. Given how long the website took to load and how difficult it was to change content on the website, it was actually surprising that the website was bringing in as many people as it was.
The Solution
The monkeys migrated the website to a Drupal 7 framework, which has a better working foundation and allows for simplified cross-platform interactions. In other words, with Drupal 7, SFSPCA was able to easily manage their website and streamline many of their daily online administrative tasks, all while keeping the site working great on both desktop and mobile, with Drupal's responsive design capabilities.
We also integrated fantastic new creative templates by Tractor Studios (another SFSPCA partner), which saved the nonprofit money and allowed visitors to navigate the site easily and get the information they needed.
And the best part!? In addition to a number of other changes, the new website contributed to a decrease in the length of time animals spent in the shelter.
From 2014 to 2015, the average length of stay per animal decreased from 45.4 days to 40.1 days, an 11.7% improvement.
Project with National Hemophilia Foundation
The Situation
The online and print magazine, Hemaware, a project of the National Hemophilia Foundation (NHF) was starting to feel and show its age. The NHF asked Cheeky Monkey Media to update not only the platform from Drupal to Drupal 8 but the site look and feel as well. There were a number issues with the original site that needed to be addressed over the course of this project.
The site was not mobile friendly, it had interstitial ads popping up on every page, and the current platform was a now unsupported Drupal 6. In addition to this, there were a number of tagging and taxonomical issues that needed to be fixed as well.
The magazine is sustained by donations and sponsorship ad revenue. CMM needed to find a way to integrate ads better (without interfering with user experience).
With a large amount of helpful content (and more being generated all the time), the site needed to be more readable as well (on both desktop and mobile).
The Solution
To solve Hemaware's problems, we first had to address the Drupal 6 situation (Drupal no longer supports Drupal 6 or older core installations). We all agreed Drupal 8 would be a good fit for Hemaware's needs and content.
Using an open and closed card sort, we were able to help identify some areas for improvement in the site architecture, and recommendations for taxonomy and tagging. Once we had the site structure down, we could concentrate on improving the user experience by first creating wireframes to illustrate general layout and functionality, and then move on to more hi-fidelity designs.
With some alternative methods of showing sponsorship ads (and options for more ad formats) Hemaware now has more to offer sponsors and more granular control of placement. In addition, the annoying and SEO hindering interstitial ads were removed.
Hemaware's new site is now performing faster, is much easier to read and find information as well as mobile-friendly.
City of Armstrong Website Redesign and Migration
The Situation
The City of Armstrong was in need of an updated website that had a fresh new look, while staying true to their country roots. Their old site was packed with information which was organized in a way that made it hard for users to find what they were looking for quickly and efficiently. In addition, updating the site was time consuming for the staff.
The City’s old website did not reflect the experience of what today’s web user is expecting. The website was not mobile friendly and for those unfamiliar with the site, finding information was hard. The City of Armstrong needed a newly designed website that met today’s design standards, was attractive, and mobile friendly. The design of the new site must communicate the city’s unique value as a community for businesses, residents, and visitors while effectively communicating all the information and services the City of Armstrong typically provides during business hours at its municipal offices.
The Results
The Cheeky Monkey team completed the website build and launch under the estimated hours, which allowed for further tweaks and additions of a couple “nice to have” future features.
The new website is much easier for the City's internal team to add and update content. They are no longer reliant on external resources to make small and frequent website edits. The site provides a significantly improved user experience, as it's now easier for visitors to find information and get to know the City of Armstrong better.The updated design meets today's design standards, including improved WCAG Accessibility features. It finally represents the city's unique value as a community for businesses, residents and visitors, while effectively communicating all the information and services the City of Armstrong provides.
ELI ProBono Clearinghouse Web Design & Development
The ELI Pro Bono Clearinghouse connects environmental attorneys with communities and organizations looking for pro bono representation in environmental matters. The Clearinghouse was created to ensure that no environmental matters go unrepresented and to act as a resource for environmental law clinics that need to expand their internal capacity.
This project had an altruistic overarching goal, which was to systemize what was an inefficient, ad hoc process which was undertaken by individual attorneys seeking out environmental pro bono matters.
Phase 1 project objectives:
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Provide an easy-to-use micro-portal on the ELI website that allows Environmental Law clinics to get matters in front of attorneys, allows attorneys to connect with matters and contact the Environmental Law clinics that posted them, and allows communities and Organizations to find and contact Environmental Law clinics to discuss matters.
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Easy to manage for ELI staff, clerks, & interns.
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New, sophisticated landing page design and blends seamlessly with the current site
The first phase of the project was a basic portal, with the second phase adding in more advanced features.
In order to have the portal feel like it was part of ELI but also be distinct on its own, Cheeky Monkey took inspiration from the logo - with the outlines placed around each filtering block, and iconography to inject personality into that area of the site. In these areas we created a layering effect by using a medium green, that was in the same tone as the raspberry colour in the vertical menus, for the outlines, a light grey for the icons, and a darker green for the buttons.Using this technique allowed the buttons to pop off the page and draw users in to opt into the Clearinghouse.
Having the Clearinghouse integrate so seamlessly into the existing website meant that all attorneys that are members of ELI could easily access the micro-portal through the website during their regular browsing, without having to leave the actual site.
NLC CLIMB Centre Web Development
The Northern Lights College Continuing Education department needed to create a user-friendly microsite on WordPress for the CLIMB Centre. The site would primarily have users complete surveys and collect sensitive data that would be shared with BluePrint ADE (a non-profit research organization dedicated to improving the social and economic well-being of Canadians) and Future Skills Canada until 2021.
Solution
Cheeky Monkey Media worked closely with the CLIMB team to outline the goals of the website, each assessment, and elements. Cheeky Monkey Media worked with the NLC CLIMB Centre team collaboratively throughout the project, from user experience and design to custom assessments and work data security.
The NLC CLIMB Centre website is the first public-facing web interface to be hosted on EduCloud. To meet the federal requirements for the collection of sensitive data, Cheeky Monkey Media and the NLC I.T. department worked collaboratively to configure the site for EduCloud's unique server environment.
To export and securely transfer sensitive data to BluePrint ADE, Cheeky Monkey Media created a custom database query and export solution that tracks users through the portal experience. This custom solution provides daily exports of various user data and indicates which point of the process users have reached.
The website solution uses a child theme from the main Northern Lights College website, which was designed and created by Cheeky Monkey Media. The child theme boasts fluid responsiveness, wide browser compatibility, accessible design and coding, and a very clean and modern approach that keeps users focused on the informational aspects of the portal.
Reviews
the project
Mobile App Development for Health Foundation
"Cheeky Monkey Media delivered exceptional customer support through all phases of the project."
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
Canadian Men’s Health Foundation (CMHF) is a national, not-for-profit organization with a mission to inspire Canadian men and their families to live healthier lives. The statistics around men’s health in Canada are alarming; 70% of men’s health problems can be prevented by adopting healthy lifestyles. Learn more at MensHealthFoundation.ca and DontChangeMuch.ca.
I’m TC Carling, the organization’s CEO.
What challenge were you trying to address with Cheeky Monkey Media?
The challenge was modernizing the YouCheck application so we could meet men where they were at with new technology. We needed a platform that would grow with us over time, and the old platform had reached its capacity.
What was the scope of their involvement?
CMM played a critical role as our selected partner agency to design and development Men’s Health Check from the ground up. Leveraging our experience, knowledge and research-backed assessment protocol they produced a UX design to enhance the usability of the tool and developed the assessment using modern frameworks such as React and Drupal. Our goal was an ever-green tool that could last for the next 5+ years and they delivered.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
Mens Health Check was released to the public on March 24th, 2022 and over the initial 5 days of the announcement over 166 men engaged with the assessment and a consistent engagement of visitors since.
How did Cheeky Monkey Media Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?
Cheeky Monkey Media delivered exceptional customer support through all phases of the project. Their team was responsive to all requests and inquiries during the design and development phase and was critical in supporting CMHF with the launch of this product. They are a professional group and we felt supported the entire way through the process
What did you find most impressive about them?
The CMM team was always responsive in all our communications, it’s a pleasure to know they are just as quick to pick up the phone versus hiding behind emails. They dove into the development of the React app and our high expectations, not only did they technically pull it off they kept the project within budget.
Are there any areas they could improve?
The CMM team was a pleasure to work with and we look forward to the opportunity again for future projects.
the project
Web Dev, SEO & PPC for Liquidation Company
"Cheeky Monkey has allowed us to stand out, and they’ve delivered exactly as we asked."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the owner and president of a liquidation solutions company. We buy and sell large quantities of excess inventory, canceled orders, and discontinued items from manufacturers and distributors. Sometimes, we purchase these products through bankruptcies, and we typically resell our items to discount retailers or online retailers.
What challenge were you trying to address with Cheeky Monkey Media Inc.?
We needed help developing our website and implementing SEO, which we wanted to do for a while.
What was the scope of their involvement?
Cheeky Monkey revamped and implemented SEO to our WordPress website. They added data and new pictures on certain pages to highlight what we do in an easy-to-understand fashion.
They also created a page where users can fill in information about the inventory they’re looking to sell. In addition, they placed various calls to action and contact details across the site. They are currently hosting and maintaining our website.
Our SEO campaign is ongoing, and we’re working on it daily. Cheeky Monkey first sat us down and explained what we could do to improve our site’s performance. They study our industry, keywords, and competitor companies.
Additionally, Cheeky Monkey is helping us create blogs and social media posts. We write the copy for the blog and pages, and they apply SEO improvements. They also provide support so we can get more reviews on Google.
Lastly, Cheeky Monkey also provides strategic guidance for our PPC efforts and LinkedIn ads campaign. We have our ads checked by their team before implementation. They also access our accounts to check that our campaigns are correctly done with the right keywords and settings.
What is the team composition?
I’ve worked with Dennis (Sales Executive), Kaiden (Developer), Vanessa (Producer), Natalie (Strategist), and one other teammate. Vanessa is one of our primary contacts, and she ensures tasks are getting done. Meanwhile, Natalie helps us with blogs and SEO.
How did you come to work with Cheeky Monkey Media Inc.?
We won an award as one of the fastest-growing companies in Canada, and Dennis reached out to us.
We were speaking and getting quotes from several companies, but Cheeky Monkey has stood out. We liked their personalized approach and that they asked the right questions. Many of the other vendors provided cookie-cutter solutions, while Cheeky Monkey’s solutions were customized to our needs.
During our video conference, I also found Dennis to be a great guy, and he was upfront and informative. I liked him and his team. After reviewing their proposal, our team unanimously chose to work with them.
How much have you invested with them?
We’ve spent about $13,000–$15,000 CAD (approximately $10,000–$12,000 USD).
What is the status of this engagement?
We started working together in April 2021, and it’s ongoing.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
The site is much better now compared to before — it’s easier to use and more professional. Cheeky Monkey has allowed us to stand out, and they’ve delivered exactly as we asked.
They’ve also pushed us to be better. Working with them feels like they’re an extended part of our team. They constantly look at all of our blogs before we post them, and they provide us with actionable feedback.
Other vendors wanted us to spend a fortune on Google Ads. Meanwhile, Cheeky Monkey has prevented us from unnecessarily spending on things that won’t benefit us. They bring that level of honesty.
How did Cheeky Monkey Media Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?
Cheeky Monkey is doing a great job with their project management; we’re delighted with our partnership. If anything, we’ve slowed them down by not getting back to them fast enough.
We collaborate using Basecamp, and they conduct presentations through video calls. They’ve followed their timelines, and they’ve communicated to us whenever they needed information or feedback. We go back and forth with suggestions and feedback for wording, layout, and other design elements.
What did you find most impressive about them?
Cheeky Monkey’s team is personable — it’s composed of nice people who we enjoy working with. They’ve been very helpful and accomodating to us.
Are there any areas they could improve?
I can’t think of anything.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Be specific with what you want because they can achieve that.
the project
Drupal 8 Dev for Travel Publisher
“Cheeky Monkey Media Inc. was, by far, the most professional organization I’d worked with.”
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the founder of a hybrid publishing site that focuses on a niche travel area.
What challenge were you trying to address with Cheeky Monkey Media Inc.?
I needed support on a Drupal 8 development project. After having several poor experiences with development agencies, I landed on Cheeky Monkey Media Inc.
What was the scope of their involvement?
Cheeky Monkey Media Inc. provided Drupal 8 development for my site. There were some basic design updates, but they primarily focused on integrated hybrid tools and a custom map module.
What is the team composition?
I worked with three people in total. One primary developer did most of the work, and then a few others jumped in from time to time as needed. There was also a project manager.
How did you come to work with Cheeky Monkey Media Inc.?
I found Cheeky Monkey Media Inc. after a lot of research. The main reason I chose them was that they were one of the only developers I met with that was willing to work with a smaller business on a smaller project. Most wouldn’t take on a project in bits and pieces.
How much have you invested with them?
My total budget ended up being between $10,000–$25,000.
What is the status of this engagement?
The project lasted from April–November 2020.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
I’m absolutely satisfied with the quality of their work. The biggest thing was that they actually fulfilled the obligations that they agreed to without burning me for large sums of money. That was a huge success.
How did Cheeky Monkey Media Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?
Cheeky Monkey Media Inc. was, by far, the most professional organization I’d worked with. We primarily used Trello and Basecamp to communicate.
What did you find most impressive about them?
The team’s professionalism was really high, and they had great communication. They were almost always on time and budget.
Are there any areas they could improve?
No, it was a great experience. I dealt with several developers that promised me anything and everything, but, at the end of the day, they were really only worried about their own bottom line. Even though I did a lot of research, I ran into a lot of dishonest service providers.
Cheeky Monkey Media Inc. was the first business that was actually professional. They honored their word and stayed on time and budget.
the project
Custom Front & Backend Web Development for Local College
“They did a fabulous job of connecting the dots for me between the contract, their execution, and how it played out.”
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
We are a college in the Northeastern region of British Columbia. We cover a lot of territory but have a relatively small population. I am the Dean of continuing education, so I oversee all of our nontraditional kinds of programming.
What challenge were you trying to address with Cheeky Monkey Media Inc.?
I was able to secure a grant from the Future Skills Centre to work on a project delivering skills to mid-career workers to make sure they have the support they need to continue moving forward. I needed a digital media partner to help me develop a custom frontend UX to implement my research idea.
What was the scope of their involvement?
They built the entire program from scratch using WordPress, but with custom code for everything we added on to the basic framework. We had a plugin chatbot, but besides that, they handled the design and page layout, as well as the individual features for people coming to our site to walk through. From there, they integrated everything with the edge cloud server that we needed to use for the project.
What was the team composition?
Two members of their team were in contact with me on a daily basis, and their head was involved on the backend with some of the more technical aspects of the work.
How did you come to work with Cheeky Monkey Media Inc.?
Their team was already working with our college marketing department at the time to refresh our website. I assumed they wouldn’t have the capacity to take on both projects, so I looked elsewhere at first but had pretty universally bad experiences and decided to give Cheeky Monkey a shot. They impressed me from the start, and we’ve been working together ever since.
What is the status of this engagement?
The project started around October 2019. We have launched the site and started to get new research participants, but they are continuing to help as we transition from the development phase to maintenance and data extraction.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
It has only been a week and a half since the soft launch of the site, so we haven’t quite seen the adoption numbers that we’re hoping for yet, but everyone who has gone to the site has been amazed by how user friendly it is.
At a time when we were transitioning as a nation to a fully online system, they were able to implement a high impact platform for people that doesn’t present barriers to use for just about anybody.
How did Cheeky Monkey Media Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?
I’ve been in education for a really long time, and they are one of the best communicating teams I have ever worked with. They didn’t just listen to what I needed, but they interpreted those needs into a technical language perfectly and built an incredibly trusting relationship with me along the way. I never ever felt like they were taking advantage of my lack of technical knowledge, which was incredibly reassuring despite the difficulty of the task we were working on.
We primarily communicated through video conference or Basecamp for our major milestones and decisions, as well as Slack for more day to day questions.
What did you find most impressive about them?
As a researcher building a set of assessment tools, I knew what I wanted and how I needed it to look, but I didn’t know how to make it work. Cheeky Monkey wasn’t your average developer just executing requirements because I didn’t have the specific requirements to give them.
We were able to talk about everything and then they produced the logic behind what I was trying to do so that we could tweak it from there together before they implemented it. They completely exceeded my expectations in terms of the implementation of what was really just a vision for me.
Are there any areas they could improve?
No, I really don’t have any specifics that I think they could improve upon. They did a fabulous job of connecting the dots for me between the contract, their execution, and how it played out.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Really be open to both having your idea of what you want as well as they’re able to make it better than you think. They will deliver what you want, but if you leave the window of opportunity open to them adding on, they’re going to do that as well.
My project needed to be very precise so I didn’t necessarily think there was a lot of room for variation, but they were able to take that precise thing and simply elevate it in a way I could not have envisioned.
the project
WordPress Development for Software Solutions Company
"They’re very helpful, and they listen deeply."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I am the manager of corporate marketing at a company that makes computer systems for the mining industry. For example, we make fleet management systems, which we control from a central hub. We control the behavior and movement of a mining fleet, record the data, and then use it for reporting and optimization. We also work with a business intelligence platform.
What challenge were you trying to address with Cheeky Monkey Media Inc.?
When we initially hired Cheeky Monkey Media Inc., we wanted to test out different messaging to see what would be most effective for our target market.
What was the scope of their involvement?
They were responsible for the design and development of our entire customer-facing website, including our landing pages.
We came up with different messaging, performed tests on landing pages, and observed which messaging worked the best. Then, we rebuilt our website based on those findings.
The website needed to be modular and it needed to incorporate Gravity Forms. The site also needed on-page navigation so that customers could easily find our products and features.
Since that time, we’ve been continuing to have incidental website iterations. We engage them on an ad-hoc basis whenever we need help (e.g. recently we had an issue with our spam filters).
Technologies used include WordPress and associated plugins.
What is the team composition?
Dennis (Lead Sales & Business Development, Cheeky Monkey Media Inc.) was the head account manager. At any given time, there’s been four or five team members, including Dennis. The others include a designer, a developer, and a sub-level account manager.
How did you come to work with Cheeky Monkey Media Inc.?
We were looking for a Canadian web development firm that was comfortable with WordPress.
I interviewed 3–4 companies across Canada before deciding on Cheeky Monkey. Out of everyone, they were by far the most helpful during our first call.
I wrote a synopsis of my interactions with all of the companies and sent it to my boss, who agreed with my decision.
How much have you invested with them?
We’ve invested up to $50,000 in their services so far.
What is the status of this engagement?
We started working with them in February of 2017, and the partnership is ongoing.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
For the landing page project, we were able to source what messaging would be useful. We were able to narrow down 3–4 different ideas in terms of which would get the most traffic and attention.
How did Cheeky Monkey Media Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?
I've always been really happy with Cheeky Monkey's project management. They’re quite quick to respond and they're quite good at managing expectations around deliverables and projects. They’re easily accessible and very good at keeping lines of communication open.
They offer extremely helpful suggestions. For example, during my first conversation with Dennis, he said, “Hey, you might want to try this plugin. This might do the trick for what you need.”
I communicate through email, but I use Basecamp for project management. Once in a while, Dennis and I will chat via FaceTime. During the project, we had a monthly catch-up scheduled with Dennis to touch base.
So, we work most directly with one of the account managers, and they end up sourcing whoever is available on their team. On a day-to-day basis, we worked closely with a project manager (we’ve had 2–3 over our engagement with them). If I have a technical question, I’ll talk to whichever developer was working on it with me.
What did you find most impressive about them?
They’re very helpful and they listen deeply. Cheeky Monkey is very consultative, and they’re interested to learn about us. They want to understand what we’re trying to do rather than pushing us down any particular road.
Are there any areas they could improve?
I’m quite happy with our working relationship. If anything, I know they’ve had some issues with turnover, and I know they’re concerned about that. Fortunately, we haven’t been super affected by it, but there have been a couple instances where something takes longer due to the resources they have available.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Future clients should have a clear idea about what they’re looking for. They will help pull it out of you, but it would be helpful to have an idea. (This is advice I would give to anyone who is trying to engage with any vendor.)
the project
WordPress Web Redesign, SEO & SMM for Utility Company
"Almost all of our new business comes from the online services they perform."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the owner of Comfort Tech Heating & Cooling Ltd., a utility company.
What challenge were you trying to address with Cheeky Monkey Media Inc.?
We needed to increase our online presence, so we hired Cheeky Monkey Media, Inc. to build a website.
What was the scope of their involvement?
We engaged with Cheeky Monkey Media Inc. for a variety of services including a WordPress site, SEO, SEM, and SMM. They began by quoting the website, giving me a comprehensive estimate on the build. We were shifting from a non-functional Drupal platform. Our course of action involved rebuilding the site with similar content. Their team also took care of the contact forms and SEO for the website.
Once the WordPress website was finished, their team began taking on marketing. They do Google Ads, create retargeting campaigns, work on social media through Facebook, and design elements for media and printed formats, like brochures. Along with crafting marketing campaigns, they provide updates to webpages and add landing pages when needed.
What is the team composition?
I work closely with four members of their team.
How did you come to work with Cheeky Monkey Media Inc.?
My husband is related to the owner. We did entertain other companies and put them through the paces, but Cheeky Monkey Media Inc. is a well-run business.
How much have you invested with them?
We’ve spent between $50,000–$199,999 so far.
What is the status of this engagement?
Our ongoing engagement began in December 2016.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
The website launched in February 2017. Their team shares Google Ads reports and keeps track of Facebook hits. We also track several metrics internally using our own software. Almost all of our new business comes from the online services they perform. Our platform looks better than our previous one. Everything is exactly how I wanted.
How did Cheeky Monkey Media Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?
While there were a few glitches along the way, their team did well and managed to take care of anything that’s come up. They did an exceptional job managing the project. We have daily communication using Slack and utilizing Basecamp for written correspondence and file sharing.
What did you find most impressive about them?
We’re a weather-driven business and Cheeky Monkey Media Inc. is responsive when we need them. A lot of times, I suddenly need something. They’re excellent at turning things around in a short period.
Are there any areas they could improve?
Their communication could improve, but they’re working on that. If there are any issues, they work on addressing them.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Trust Cheeky Monkey Media Inc.’s judgment. They have yet to steer me wrong. If I don’t understand a process, they’re incredibly responsive and will even try 14 different ways to explain something. If there are disagreements, they end up being right.
the project
Drupal Dev & Support for Paddle Manufacturer
"Cheeky Monkey has exceeded my expectations from the start."
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Please describe your company and your position there.
I’m the marketing supervisor for Branches LLC, which owns the consumer brands Bending Branches and Aqua-Bound. We manufacturer paddles for kayaking, canoeing, and stand-up paddling.
For what projects/services did your company hire Cheeky Monkey Media Inc.?
Cheeky Monkey took over the management, maintenance, and improvement of our Drupal websites.
What were your goals for this project?
We wanted to increase traffic by 30%, add e-commerce functionality, and relieve some stress for our marketing team.
How did you select this vendor?
We went through an extensive process of selecting our web programming partner. We looked at roughly 30 different Drupal-servicing firms. We chose Cheeky Monkey because of their knowledge, experience, friendliness, and services provided.
Describe the project in detail.
Cheeky Monkey has dedicated their efforts to improving and maintaining our sites. They've dramatically improved our search-engine optimization (SEO), made our sites more secure, added e-commerce solutions, and optimized the user experience (UX). They continue to manage our sites.
What was the team composition?
Two marketing people from our firm—a supervisor and his understudy—had no programming experience. Cheeky Monkey provided an account manager, a website programmer/coder, and a web designer.
What outcomes or results can you share that demonstrate progress and/or success?
We’ve noticed 41% more traffic on our websites and reached five figures in e-commerce sales. The sites continue to improve, which makes our marketing team extremely happy.
How effective was the project management?
They’re fantastic! Cheeky Monkey offered great communication, follow-through, and support from the account manager and the primary programmer. Most programmers don’t communicate in terms that marketing teams can understand, but Cheeky Monkey made sure everything was clear for us.
What did you find most impressive about this company?
First, I appreciated how easy they are to work with. They really take the stress out of website management. I’d have them manage my personal finances if I could.
Second, they wanted us to learn how to make changes or improvements ourselves, which gives us a better sense of control and reduces our costs. They’re unlike any other firm I've encountered.
What tips or recommendations do you have?
Think carefully before hiring a website programming firm. Check their references and make sure your budget matches the provider’s expectations. Cheeky Monkey has exceeded my expectations from the start.
the project
WordPress Dev for TV Company
"I was impressed with what they did for us."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
Visland Media is a television development and distribution company selling television series to broadcasters in North America and around the world. I’m the CEO.
What challenge were you trying to address with Cheeky Monkey Media?
We were launching a new television series and we needed a website for it. We wanted the site to be the hub for the show and be a home for all the video content associated with the show. The viewers of the show can visit the site and guests of the show can direct their colleagues and fans to the site to be able to view their interviews after the show aired.
What was the scope of their involvement?
We used WordPress for the site because our in-house team is familiar with that platform. We wanted to be able to upload new content and videos ourselves so Cheeky Monkey Media did that for us. We came to them with an idea of what we wanted the site to look like but we allowed them to help us decide the best way to proceed. We just recently migrated our corporate website over to them for them to maintain. They also created a new marketing landing page for us and we have a few other projects we plan to use them for this year.
How did you come to work with Cheeky Monkey Media?
I’ve met Gene, their CTO, a couple of times through some mutual friends and business connections. I’ve had a couple of friends work for him over the years and several people recommended I use them. We wanted a change in who we were working with and Cheeky Monkey was the first name that popped into my mind. I always liked what I saw about their company and heard good things from other people.
How much have you invested with Cheeky Monkey Media?
We spent $5,000 on the site.
What is the status of this engagement?
We started working with them in October 2016, and the site was completed in February 2017.
Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?
We were looking for a clean, professional site that would represent the show well. The feedback we’ve received has been overwhelmingly positive.
How did Cheeky Monkey Media perform from a project management standpoint?
They used Basecamp, which I really liked, so I knew exactly where they were all the time. I’ve never had that experience before with other providers. They were able to meet all the deadlines. Any delays were because we didn’t get them what they needed in a timely manner.
What did you find most impressive about Cheeky Monkey Media?
The project management impressed me the most. I’ve never dealt with an agency where I felt like I knew what was going on.
Are there any areas Cheeky Monkey Media could improve?
No. I was impressed with what they did for us.
the project
Drupal Development for Education Non-profit
"They are incredibly helpful, flexible, quick to respond, and really committed to getting things done on time."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
Jobs for the Future is a national non-profit organization that focuses on education and workforce development. I am the associate director for an initiative called the Pathways to Prosperity Network.
What challenge were you trying to address with Cheeky Monkey Media?
We were creating a new website for members of the Pathways to Prosperity Network. Members pay a fee to join the network. They then get access to technical assistance and resources for building career pathways in states and regions across the country. We wanted to create a place where members could connect with each other, share ideas, and learn from other people in the network. This would be a member-only benefit. We were looking for someone who could design the site to make it more valuable for members. At the same time, we wanted an attractive yet functional website.
What was the scope of their involvement?
Cheeky Monkey developed the site in Drupal because our organization uses Drupal for other websites. We were able to take the new system they created and integrate it with other websites at the organization. They were very creative in thinking about what steps were needed to be able to integrate all the websites together.
How did you come to work with Cheeky Monkey Media?
We put out an RFP and Cheeky Monkey responded. They put a proposal that gave us a lot of confidence in their graphic designer because the proposal itself was beautiful. They had carefully read what we wanted in the RFP and had made suggestions to improve on our ideas.
How much have you invested with Cheeky Monkey Media?
We spent about $50,000 for the project. We are a non-profit, so budgets are always a concern. Cheeky Monkey was sensitive to that and found ways to save us money.
What is the status of this engagement?
The work is ongoing.
Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?
People within our organization are impressed with the site and other teams are interested in having similar websites. We’ve also gotten really good feedback from users that the site is exactly what they needed, letting them learn from other members.
What did you find most impressive about Cheeky Monkey Media?
I can’t say enough good things about their team. They are incredibly helpful, flexible, quick to respond, and really committed to getting things done on time. We were previewing the website at a national conference and their developers were up for 48 hours to make sure everything was ready for the site demo.
Are there any areas Cheeky Monkey Media could improve?
I can’t think of anything. They were great.
the project
Drupal Development for Drupal Development Company
"They’ve [Cheeky Monkey Media] done a great job with making the system very user-friendly."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
Our company is a high-level Drupal web development agency. Our versatile team includes designers developers, and digital marketers. We also are associated with a technology college here in Victoria, British Columbia [BC]. I’m one of the senior project managers.
What challenge were you trying to address with Cheeky Monkey Media?
Our partnership arose from a lack of resources because our in-house team was allocated to another large project. We reached out to them to take on a build from start to finish. The designs were already prepared, so they only needed to make those designs come alive.
What was the scope of their involvement?
We delivered the design files that were done by another agency to Cheeky Monkey Media. That was a challenge on its own because the other agency is neither a user experience specialist nor a Drupal expert. This led to a large amount of collaboration to help refine the designs.
For this Drupal 8 build, Cheeky Monkey set up the site from start to finish. They did a great job in producing a high-quality website, both on the front end and backend. In addition, we met once a week to prep for our weekly status call with the client so they not only completed development, but also were comfortable with client-facing relations.
How did you come to work with Cheeky Monkey Media?
We had worked with them in the past after finding them through the Drupal community. It’s a tightknit community, especially in Canada and even more so in British Columbia. We’re one of the bigger Drupal companies in BC. Our hourly rates matched up, so that made a great partnership.
How much have you invested with Cheeky Monkey Media?
We spent more than $50,000.
What is the status of this engagement?
It is ongoing. We started working with them two or three years ago. We started utilizing them for project tasks about a year ago.
Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?
We haven’t launched, so I can’t give metrics. We’ve demoed the site and our team has been quite impressed. Typically, we conduct training for the client, but they made the backend so intuitive that the clients haven't required any training. They've done a great job making the system very user-friendly.
Overall, they've done an outstanding job in being involved and immersed in the project - communicating with the client and myself, understanding what the requirements are, and understand what we're trying to achieve. They always made suggestions and implementations that satisfied the original scope.
How did Cheeky Monkey Media perform from a project management standpoint?
They did a great job. I’m working with a project manager and a developer on their end, and use Slack to communicate. They’ve been very responsive - nine times out of ten they’re available. Especially for technical developers, they were great with communicating.
What did you find most impressive about Cheeky Monkey Media?
It would be their willingness to find solutions. They’re happy to do the work; they’re happy to get creative and find a way to satisfy my needs as a project manager, their client, and our end client as well. I found that they are inspired about what they do, which in turn makes it easier for me to work with them to find solutions and talk timelines, etc.
Are there any areas Cheeky Monkey Media could improve?
Not at this time. We’re not launched yet.
Cheeky Monkey Media Inc.’s work received positive feedback from the client. Their responsive approach and professionalism ensured customer satisfaction. They offered outstanding project management on top of their technical expertise.