Making a Measurable Difference
Digital Third Coast was founded in 2007 in Chicago. We specialize in SEO (search engine optimization) and paid media (including paid search and paid social). We blend data journalism with digital PR to produce award-winning campaigns for our clients.
Our clients rely on us for both our technical and creative expertise to promote their products and services to their target audience across a variety of channels. From data driven, mass appeal content to compelling ad copy, our services are customized based on each client’s unique needs and goals.
Our mission is to make a measurable difference by helping organizations clarify, measure, and achieve their digital marketing goals.
We are committed to achieving excellent results for our clients while enjoying a collaborative and fun team environment. We do this through open communication, and by following our core values: be bold, be curious, be accountable, keep learning, and sweep the floors.
-2017 & 2020 US Search Award Winner
-2021 & 2022 US Search Award Finalist
-2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 & 2021 Chicago's Best & Brightest Companies to Work For
-2020 & 2021 Best & Brightest Companies to Work For in the Nation
-2020 PR Daily Award Content Marketing Awards Winner
-2022 PR Daily Award Content Marketing Awards Finalist
-2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 Communicator Awards Winner
-2017, 2018 & 2019 Clutch Leader and Top Digital Agency
-2018 Google Premier Partner Finalist
-2018 Interactive Marketing Awards Winner
Recommended Providers
Focus
Portfolio
AccuRadio, Kendall College, Chicago Line Cruises, Envista Forensics

Viral Content Closes Competitive Gap for National Brand
Created and promoted consumer study about Americans' relationship with food delivery apps. The study earned the client more than 550 linking placements, which received more than 500,000 social media engagements across Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Reddit.
We’ve continued to see residual media mentions for this study in the months following its initial publication and promotion, as it has become an authoritative source of data surrounding Americans’ experiences with delivery apps. This type of widespread and authoritative coverage, and corresponding visibility lift to their website accomplished our goals of bolstering their status as industry leader.
RECOGNITION:
-Finalist: 2020 US Search Awards
-Winner: PR Daily Content Marketing Awards

4x Increase in Visibility for Financial Services Client
Combined SEO and PPC strategies, scalability across new markets, and continous optimization produced dramatic, record-setting results month-after-month for IPX1031.
- 94% increase in meaningful conversions
- 476% increase in actions taken on Google My Business (GMB) listings, year-over-year
- 300% increase in calls made to offices
- Campaign work for combined SEO & PPC efforts was shortlisted for a 2020 US Search Award.
When IPX1031 came to us, they were in a unique position. They were the overall industry leader with regards to volume, but their digital presence did not reflect their position in the market. They had never focused on SEO or Google Ads. They had competitors bidding on keywords that they weren't bidding on. They had dozens of physical locations, without any local optimization or visibility.
Our SEO and PPC teams worked with IPX1031 to optimize their digital strategies on both fronts.
From restructuring and geo-targeting their paid advertisements, to claiming and optimizing their local listings, we honed and perfected their digital strategy. As a result, IPX1031 experienced a 94% increase individual events, phone calls, and form completions within a six-month period. Their visibility in local search quadrupled during this same time period.

Survey Data Earns >100 Media Placements Including Washington Post, CBS
ImproveNet helps homeowners complete home improvement & repair projects, from start to finish. Their goal was to increase visibility with unique content marketing campaigns.
We surveyed 2,500 Americans to identify the cities in America where neighbors roil each other most, and a laundry list of the most common complaints.

Link Building Campaign Earns 74 Placements and 4 TV Segments
If you keep thinking that everywhere you turn there's a new craft brewery popping up—it’s not just your imagination. A craft beer revolution has swept over America. Whether you enjoy a good IPA or you prefer a dark porter, it’s likely that you can find a craft beer or brewery not too far from your doorstep.
We decided to take a closer look at the craft beer industry to determine where craft beer is most popular. We also measured the growth of craft beer within the last decade and its economic impact per capita. Here’s what we found in our research.

Client Featured in New York Times and 385 Other Publications
Shorr Packaging is one of the largest independent packaging distribution firms in the nation. Package theft is a common problem in the US, so we created an infographic on protecting packages to visualize the data on who’s been affected by package theft and how online retailers can keep their packages safe.
- COMMUNICATOR AWARD WINNER
- 29% INCREASE IN ORGANIC CONVERSIONS
- 386 MEDIA PLACEMENTS
- 2 LIVE TV NEWS SEGMENTS

Content Campaign Increases Organic Traffic by 86% in Three Months
This piece was created with the goal of growing traffic to Bryan College's Applied Psychology Program. By using visual storytelling, we addressed the topic of impulsivity in an engaging way.
- COMMUNICATOR AWARD WINNER
- $114K AD EQUIVALENCY ESTIMATE
- 34 MEDIA PLACEMENTS

Infographic Campaign Lands 126 Media Placements and 60 Radio Spots
MidAmerica Nazarene is an undergraduate university offering programs in business, nursing and education. They came to us with the need to boost keywords associated with their entrepreneurship program pages.
- US SEARCH AWARD WINNER
- $1.2M AD EQUIVALENCY ESTIMATE
- 50,000 SOCIAL SHARES

Content Campaign Earns 87 High Authority Media Placements
Northshore Fireplace sells luxury and custom fireplace furnishings. We selected a topic that’s related to luxury homes, specifically one we could express in a format that’s highly attractive to journalists.
This campaign surveys 2,000 Americans to see how they envision their dream homes.
Reviews
the project
SEO Optimization for B2B E-Commerce Platform
“Their work has been absolutely phenomenal, and we’re planning on working with them again in the future.”
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 a content manager for a B2B e-commerce platform in the cannabis industry called Leaf Trade. We have built a marketplace and analytics platform to enable cultivators to sell their products to dispensaries in the US.
What challenge were you trying to address with Digital Third Coast?
We were trying to get the website up and running, but we didn't have enough internal technical skills to get it to where it needed to be. Our SEO scores and overall site speed were really low, and we weren’t happy with our performance through Google search and other platforms. We’re in a rapid phase of growth, and we needed to resolve those issues quickly.
We hired Digital Third Coast to optimize our SEO and site performance.
What was the scope of their involvement?
We had a brief phone call with one of their account managers, and we talked about our goals and what we were looking for in an agency partner. We provided them with a brief of what we were looking for and where we wanted to take the site. After that, we set up a kickoff call with the account manager and the team we would be working with, and they walked us through everything they were going to do and how they were going to fix the issues.
They’ve been looking through the plug-ins that we can remove to make the site perform faster, and what pages could be optimized by removing multiple headlines and syntax errors. They’ve been cleaning up content, fixing broken links, removing broken photographs, and are even going into our blogs and fixing things there.
What is the team composition?
Our main point of contact is Jordan (SEO Account Manager), and we work with one other person.
How did you come to work with Digital Third Coast?
We were looking for agencies in Chicago and came across them.
How much have you invested with them?
We’ve invested around $5,000 so far.
What is the status of this engagement?
We started working with them in July 2022, and it is ongoing.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
They’ve greatly impacted our SEO and Google site performance. Our site performance is now an 89 and it started between 40–50.
How did Digital Third Coast perform from a project management standpoint?
Everything has been on time, and any issues that have come up they have immediately flagged and let us know about. We use email to communicate.
What did you find most impressive about them?
They’re highly responsive to everything that we need and answer any questions that come up. They are incredibly friendly and personable, and they have the ability to self-manage. They stay on top of things and are highly proactive. They’re great to work with, experts in their field, and they’ve been doing exactly what we’ve needed them to do.
Their work has been absolutely phenomenal, and we’re planning on working with them again in the future.
Are there any areas they could improve?
We don’t think there is anything that they could improve upon.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Trust what they’re doing and take their advice.
the project
Paid Social Media Ads for BioTech Research Company
"Their market research has been able to help our company succeed in the unique niche our product lives in."
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Please describe your company and your position there.
I am the Vice President of Product Develop responsible for driving awareness and adoption of our product amongst breast cancer patients and their physicians.
For what projects/services did your company hire Digital Third Coast?
We hired Digital Third Coast to help us create, implement and manage our Google and Facebook Ads to drive sales leads, help create product awareness, and drive traffic to our website.
How did you select this firm and what were the deciding factors?
Digital Third Coast was highly recommended by our long-standing marketing agency, Media Directions Creative Group.
Describe the project in detail and walk through their service package.
The key deliverable was a paid media campaign/strategy to drive qualified leads resulting in orders for our product. The Digital Third Coast team initially implemented search ads and we recently added a few display options as well. They helped to identify keywords & negative keywords, helped to write ad copy, conducted A/B testing, and assisted in the data collection & reporting process. We had a few initial meetings to get the ball rolling & now we meet monthly to discuss results of the prior month.
How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?
- We primarily work with John L., a Senior Paid Media Account Manager.
- During the setup process, Nathan P., Director of Paid Media, was involved
- As well as Lyndsey M., Director of Business Development.
- Over the course of our working relationship we have also briefly worked with Cassie D., Paid Media Account Manager.
Can you share any outcomes from the engagement that demonstrate progress or success?
The paid media campaign has been successful. We've seen increased website traffic overall in the last 6 months & our Google/Facebook Ads have led to increased product inquiries.
How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?
We meet once at the beginning of the month to discuss the results of the previous month. However, John is always responsive & available to answer any questions or concerns I have.
What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?
Our experience with Digital Third Coast has been fantastic - John in particular is very helpful as our account manager. He uses excellent analogies to help explain concepts & gives valuable advice with regard to our entire digital strategy - not just our paid media campaign.
Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?
No improvement necessary. Their market research has been able to help our company succeed in the unique niche our product lives in.
the project
SEO, PPC & Digital Marketing for Machinery Brokerage
"We’re a small company that’s fighting a much bigger fish — thanks to DTC, we’re winning."
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 operations director of a small, family-run, and online machinery brokerage. We broker for all types of industrial machinery.
What challenge were you trying to address with Digital Third Coast?
Our company was small, and we didn’t have outside investor money. Everything we did had to be as efficient as possible. With that, I needed help in SEO, PPC, and digital marketing.
What was the scope of their involvement?
We met face to face at the beginning of our partnership, and we explained to DTC our company, goals, target audiences, and available resources. From there, they facilitated an entire overhaul of our online presence.
DTC analyzed our market and integrated changes that needed to be made. They conducted keyword research, and using their insights, they implemented improvements in our site’s layout and presentation.
They’re developing link-building campaigns by marketing public interest surveys and advertisements to boost our SEO performance. We’re also running PPC campaigns on Google and Bing. We meet with DTC monthly to discuss our ongoing efforts.
What is the team composition?
My primary contacts are Ryan (SEO Account Manager) and a PPC manager, but I’ve engaged with up to 10 different teammates.
How did you come to work with Digital Third Coast?
I searched for SEO agencies in the Chicagoland area, and I interviewed three companies. DTC impressed me — unlike the other firms, they had interesting things to say. I could also feel that they were interested in my success while we were talking.
What is the status of this engagement?
We started working together in September 2017, and it’s ongoing.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
We’re a small company that’s fighting a much bigger fish — thanks to DTC, we’re winning. Our main competitor is much more well-funded than us, and they go about their business in a very different way. Despite that, we consistently and significantly outrank them.
We currently have 4,900 page-one keywords and 798 keywords appearing on the top three. We’ve seen a 24% increase in our page-one keywords, and our category rankings have more than doubled since 2019. They’ve also helped us acquire a significant amount of high-value links relevant to our business.
Before engaging with DTC, our revenue has plateaued — now, we see a 10%–30% increase in income every year. They’ve been a boon to our business.
How did Digital Third Coast perform from a project management standpoint?
DTC is always very engaged and willing to find our needed resources. We communicate through emails, phone calls, and Zoom.
I’ve had the same PPC manager since I’ve worked with DTC, and they know my business very well, allowing us to work in a very close partnership.
What did you find most impressive about them?
DTC is interested in our business’s success. We take pride in working with integrity and engaging to our customers’ benefit — we feel like DTC has the same work ethic. Whenever we encounter issues, they respond as if it’s also urgent to their business. I’ve worked with other vendors in the past, and no one has ever been like DTC.
The implementation of our campaigns has been in March 2020, right when the pandemic hit. We’ve been terrified that our sales will drop, yet DTC’s efforts have buoyed our business in various categories. Their work has resulted in a record year in sales because we’ve been able to identify new markets.
They provided us with more intuitive strategies — instead of guessing the market, they used tools to find markets. There’s no way that I could’ve handled the amount of PPC work they’ve done. Additionally, they keep me ahead of the curve by constantly trying new things with Google.
Are there any areas they could improve?
I can’t think of anything. DTC takes my feedback on issues and makes improvements. We have a comfortable enough relationship to discuss when something fails, and DTC has always been responsive.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Be honest with what’s going on in your company. Always keep them at arm’s length as you get to know them. In addition, be open to talking about more than just your business’s core line.
the project
Google Ads for Conveyor Belt Fabricator
"They have a great personal touch to their business model, and I've liked everything about this experience."
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Please describe your company and your position there.
I am the Marketing Manager for Beltservice Corporation, which has its headquarters in St. Louis, MO. Beltservice Corporation is a world leader in the design and fabrication of custom conveyor belting. Founded in 1969, we support a global network of distributors and OEMs with hundreds of belting products. Our tagline, “Adding Value to Everything We Touch”, is both our mission and a promise to provide our customers with the quality products and fast, reliable service they deserve.
For what projects/services did your company hire Digital Third Coast, and what were your goals?
To help us grow our Google Ads strategy and drive website traffic. Improved SEO and understand our customer's habits
How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?
Links Technology, based in Chicago and also a partner of ours (website CMS development), knew that I was looking for a company that could specifically help with paid SEO and the referral came from them. After talking to Digital Third Coast, I was impressed with their knowledge and understanding of my specific goals. I felt that they could successfully take on our challenge and help get us to the next level navigating our way around Google.
Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and campaigns.
Deliverables included a Paid Media Campaign, which consisted of Targeted ads, both search and display. Identifying key words and relevant search terms. Developing campaign structure, help with creative messaging and geo-targeting. A/B split testing, and collection and reporting of campaign progress. Assisted with ad copy and web analytics. We had an initial kick-off meeting then several other one-on-one team meetings and then a monthly touch based meeting to go over the prior month's metrics
How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?
Lyndsey, Director of Business Development, and Alissa, Paid Media Account Manager
Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?
Since implementing our paid Google Ads, website traffic has increased significantly, we have received several converted leads and have made our products more visible to Distributors and OEMs.
Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.
DTC has been just fantastic managing our paid media accounts. They have provided a customized dashboard with all reporting. Can answer all questions. Our monthly touch-base meeting provides information that I need to take back to my sales and marketing team. They have a great personal touch to their business model, and I've liked everything about this experience.
What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?
I love how they just dig right it and get the project moving. It never felt like I was not in control of the project, that I just had the best helping me reach my goals as a marketer. I never had to ask them what they were doing. They worked flawlessly with our CMS consulting company to get the website code working that they needed for tracking. Seamless!
Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?
I wouldn't want to do business with them if they did anything differently!
the project
SEO & PPC for Children's Hospital
"They’re keen to provide excellent service."
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 senior digital strategist at Lurie Children's Hospital. Specifically, I work on the hospital’s fundraising efforts.
What challenge were you trying to address with Digital Third Coast?
We needed help with promoting our fundraising campaigns.
What was the scope of their involvement?
Digital Third Coast helps us run campaigns across various channels. Specifically, they set up PPC campaigns on Facebook and Google. The designs and content are provided by us, while the Digital Third Coast team runs our ad campaigns as efficiently as possible. Users who come across our ads can then click through to learn more about our mission and make a donation. Additionally, they help us optimize our website copy.
What is the team composition?
Four teammates are working on the PPC campaigns, and two people are helping us with our site’s copy.
How did you come to work with Digital Third Coast?
Another department in our hospital was already working with them.
How much have you invested with them?
We’ve spent about $75,000.
What is the status of this engagement?
The project started in February 2020 and is ongoing.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
Since we started working with Digital Third Coast, we’ve seen an increase in donations. We also have significantly more donors, so we’re satisfied with their work.
How did Digital Third Coast perform from a project management standpoint?
The team oversees the project well. We communicate through email and phone calls, and they’re very responsive. It’s easy to collaborate with them.
What did you find most impressive about them?
Digital Third Coast is knowledgeable on the latest digital marketing trends. Furthermore, they’re keen to provide excellent service.
Are there any areas they could improve?
I don’t have anything critical to say about the team.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Feel free to ask questions and be open to their ideas.
the project
SEO Services for Market Research Company
"We can tell that the people we work with enjoy what they do. They’ve been excited about helping 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.
I’m a digital marketing manager for C+R Research, a market research company.
What challenge were you trying to address with Digital Third Coast?
Three years ago, we realized our website wasn’t doing well and wasn’t good for SEO, so we revamped the site and hired Digital Third Coast (DTC) to improve our search engine results.
What was the scope of their involvement?
DTC helps us with our SEO and consistently looks at our website for ways to improve it, even helping us to implement some of them. They’ve suggested how to best label and organize our content, and they’ve recently updated all of our page tags. Moreover, they’ve helped us improve our visibility and ranking on search engines.
We work together to develop a research topic that looks into what people are looking for. DTC goes ahead and researches whatever we’ll review. They create the content for our website and reach out to journalists who may be interested in the research. Then, those journalists quote our research in trade press articles and link them over to our website. Therefore, the more links we get from high-domain websites, the more credibility our site obtains, and we get recognized better in the search engine results.
What is the team composition?
I work directly with Ryan (SEO Account Manager). He’s brilliant, and he’s one of the best people I’ve worked with. We also work with Collin (Senior Content Strategist), who works on campaigns. Additionally, they have people on their team doing our work.
How did you come to work with Digital Third Coast?
We have a marketing consultant, and he’s helped us with many different initiatives throughout the company, including our website. He’s a part of our anchor advisers in Chicago and works with many vendors. We just go with whoever he recommends, and he suggested DTC.
What is the status of this engagement?
We started working with them in April 2018, and we have an ongoing relationship that we plan on keeping for the foreseeable future.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
We track a few hundred keywords, and DTC has helped us to get the majority of them to the first or second page of the Google search results. We’ve gotten more leads and gained exposure, and our site’s domain authority number keeps rising. Also, our website traffic has gone up significantly in the last couple of years.
Additionally, we get two reports. One of them details the campaigns we’re running and media placement they’ve earned. On an average campaign, we get about 30 placements in a year. In 2019, DTC broke the record with almost 400 media placements, and then they had another campaign with 173. This year, our last seven campaigns have gotten 192 media placements so far.
On the other hand, some campaigns are three years old, and they’re still getting in huge publications, like The New York Times, USA Today, Forbes, Business Insider, Chicago Tribune, and more business journals. Therefore, huge media websites are constantly mentioning and quoting our research.
Finally, we track organic traffic to see what it’d cost if we were to buy it like PPC, and it has grown exponentially — nearly 700% from last year.
How did Digital Third Coast perform from a project management standpoint?
We typically communicate through email. Once a month, we have a call to go over our monthly report on website traffic, keyword performance, and search rankings, amongst other things.
What did you find most impressive about them?
Their customer service is excellent. They’re very responsive, and we can tell that the people we work with enjoy what they do. They’ve been excited about helping us. It’s been amazing to see how they say they’ll do something, and in the next couple of months, we can actually see the results. In this sense, we get the best bang for our buck with DTC.
Are there any areas they could improve?
I don’t have any areas of improvement. DTC is doing a great job, and we’re happy with their service. We’re even trying to figure out if we want to spend more money with them. We’ve liked the work they’ve done with the keywords, so we want to allocate more time with the guy who works on that so he can keep knocking it out of the park. We’ve even asked for their help with some reports.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
SEO and website traffic can be technical and confusing to many people, so make sure you understand what you want and what you’re looking for before you go with a company. Ask them for examples of what they’ve done and how it drives results.
the project
SEO & PPC Services for Senior Living Community
“My experience with Digital Third Coast has been positive, and they work hard to hire qualified and good people.”
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 director of sales and marketing at a senior living community.
What challenge were you trying to address with Digital Third Coast?
We hired Digital Third Coast to help us set up and implement Google Ads, which was something we’d never done before.
What was the scope of their involvement?
First, we identified the key search words that we needed to target. Then, they helped me understand how to create Google Ads. Their team also showed me samples of such ads. On top of that, they spent time looking at our website and brochures to make sure that the phrases were included in the ads. We also ensured that the ad copy and keywords were consistent with the brand messaging that we were already using.
After 1–2 months, we put everything on hold because I wanted to redo our website. I knew that if the website wasn’t a positive experience, I wouldn’t see the results I wanted. Then, we paused the engagement with them again for 5–6 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. At that time, we weren’t accepting admissions, so it made no sense to spend money on getting prospects if we didn’t do anything about them. During that time, Digital Third Coast helped me get a Google Ads Grant. After that, we started working again.
Currently, I’m paying them for Google Ads services, but it doesn’t hurt that they also perform SEO tasks for us.
What is the team composition?
Initially, we worked with Logan (Former Senior Paid Media Analyst & Lead) and Phillip (Former Paid Media Analyst), but they’ve since left Digital Third Coast. At present, I work exclusively with Alissa (Paid Media Account Manager), who has been with us since we started engaging again after putting the work on hold.
How did you come to work with Digital Third Coast?
I was working with a consultant who recommended Digital Third Coast for Google Ads services. Initially, we conducted an interview where I shared what I was looking for, and they spent time explaining the process and what would be involved in setting it up.
How much have you invested with them?
We spend $1,800 per month on their services. For context, I’d been paying $500 a month to them to run ads before we paused. After we restarted the engagement, the rate went up to $1,800 a month.
What is the status of this engagement?
We officially restarted working together in April 2021, and the partnership is ongoing.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
We’ve only had two months’ worth of results, so it’s a little soon for us to assess the impact of the engagement and make any adjustments; we need more data to do that. Our budget also isn’t large, so Alissa and I are both waiting for more data to see what we can learn. Based on that, we’ll know what we need to implement and do differently. If we have data that shows the efforts are working, then it’s possible for us to increase our budget. That being said, we’re happy with what we’re currently seeing.
Anecdotally, my experience is positive because of my working relationship with Alissa. She’s great to work with, and her attention to detail is wonderful. To be fair, I also like our relationship with Logan and Phillip, but the partnership has turned around significantly with our work with Alissa. Overall, my experience with Digital Third Coast has been positive, and they work hard to hire qualified and good people.
How did Digital Third Coast perform from a project management standpoint?
For project management tools, we use Google Analytics. Alissa provides reports every month through a shared dashboard, which also provides me data and an overview of our performance. I can also access previous reports and share them with our CEO, so it’s a great reporting tool.
What did you find most impressive about them?
Alissa has been phenomenal, and she’s the reason behind my positive experience. She’s patient and passionate about what she does. The program is complex, but Alissa can explain it in a way that’s easy to understand. Overall, she’s truly helped me understand the process.
Are there any areas they could improve?
No, there aren’t any. I’m happy with their work.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Make sure your relationship with the account manager is good; ensure that they’re responsive. If they’re not a good fit, check if another person from their team can work with you and be a better fit.
the project
Ongoing SEO Services for Savings Bank
"Charley's understanding of our business, our needs, and SEO makes Digital Third Coast a great partner."
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Please describe your company and your position there.
I am the Digital Media Specialist for a community bank in the Chicagoland area. I manage our website, email program, photo and video creation, and the larger scale marketing efforts throughout the year.
For what projects/services did your company hire Digital Third Coast, and what were your goals?
We partnered with Digital Third Coast to assist us in our SEO efforts. Our primary goal was to drive more Organic traffic to our website and subsequently more conversions.
How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?
Admittedly, Digital Third Coast was already a vendor when I moved into my current position. However, after working directly with Charley I was quickly made aware of the importance of this partnership and the quality of work that Digital Third Coast provides.
Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and campaigns.
Primarily, Digital Third Coast assists with our SEO efforts. This includes monthly progress reporting, keyword mapping, and occasional audits of the website to make sure we're always staying on top of best practices. In the past, we have also used Digital Third Coast for backlinking and will continue to utilize that service where appropriate. We also recently went through a redesign of our website in which Digital Third Coast provided SEO Technical Audit for. This proved to be highly valuable to ensure that our website was up to par and following best practices across the board.
How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?
I work directly with Charley who is our SEO Account Manager. I know that he occasionally brings on Specialists to help on projects but communications are always through Charley.
Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?
I've recently been observing website traffic and, in particular, the channels in which that traffic is attributed. Our two largest channels are Direct and Organic which makes up 92% of our overall traffic. Organic traffic results in over 50% of our website conversions. This alone proves how important our partnership with Digital Third Coast is and the importance of ranking high in Google's SERP.
Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.
We have a monthly meeting to go over our SEO Report where we discuss items such as rankings, Search Console, opportunities, and to-do items going forward. It also gives us a chance to go over any new initiatives that we may like to focus on so that they may adjust accordingly. Other communication is generally done via email with generally quick responses to any questions, comments, or asks we may have.
What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?
One of my favorite things of late has been the new reporting dashboard that Charley created using Google's Data Studio. It's a one-stop shop for everything SEO related that we could want. The fact that we have access to it at any time is highly beneficial, as well. Charley's understanding of our business, our needs, and SEO makes Digital Third Coast a great partner.
Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?
I think they could do a better job at finding slightly higher volume keywords to target. It seems as though some keywords have no or very little search volume. I understand that our space is highly contested and we're trying to find that lowering hanging fruit but targeting some of the larger volume keywords might make sense.
the project
SEO & Digital Marketing for Environmental Services Company
"Digital Third Coast continues to exceed our expectations for this partnership."
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 part of the marketing team at Clarke, and we’re a mosquito control and aquatic services company.
What challenge were you trying to address with Digital Third Coast?
We hired Digital Third Coast to help us with the SEO efforts for our website and blog. We also needed assistance with our Google My Business listings and optimization.
What was the scope of their involvement?
We lean on Digital Third Coast for keyword research and content review from an SEO perspective. For instance, they verify every blog post prior to publishing it on our website as part of a content marketing strategy.
In the rearview mirror, they’re helping us understand our performance for previous months and showing us how we could improve. On a forward-looking basis, they’re helping us make sure that our content is going to deliver the right amount of traffic.
We’ve also discussed PPC strategies in the past; however, we’ve not actually utilized those services.
What is the team composition?
Our main point of contact is Ryan (SEO Account Manager). He’s brought in other colleagues for particular projects in the past, but we have not actually worked with them directly.
How did you come to work with Digital Third Coast?
We were referred to Digital Third Coast by our website company — they have a close referral relationship with that company.
How much have you invested with them?
We are on a monthly retainer structure, and we’ve spent around $75,000.
What is the status of this engagement?
I started working with them prior to my time at Clarke. The partnership started around February 2017 and is ongoing.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
Ever since Digital Third Coast has taken over our account, we’ve gotten a lot more value out of this relationship. We’ve gotten more tangible consultation on how to improve our page rankings and the performance of our monthly blog. We’ve been looking at the site’s total traffic and time-on-page, along with page location and where our pages have been ranking in Google.
We work in a very small industry so we have an established list of keywords that are driving our business. We have the visibility on how those keywords are tracking, whether they go up or down. We get feedback on how to either hold that position or restore some rank to that page.
How did Digital Third Coast perform from a project management standpoint?
Our overall communication with Ryan has been good, and he’s been meeting deadlines. We have monthly monitoring calls where they walk us through a dashboard of key indicators related to our website performance.
What did you find most impressive about them?
We had a previous account manager before Digital Third Coast who was not as proactive as they are. They’ve really offered consultations and suggestions for improvement that we hadn’t experienced before. Digital Third Coast continues to exceed our expectations for this partnership.
Are there any areas they could improve?
I don’t think there’s anything they could improve.
Any advice for potential customers?
Establish clear goals in terms of what you need from a partner for SEO and PPC efforts. When there’s a clear goal set you can measure towards it and understand what both parties need to do to achieve it.
the project
YouTube, Google, & Bing Ad Campaigns for TRAM Safety Company
"I respect that they’re a small business and understand what it’s like to be in our shoes."
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 StandFast TRAM. We make a fall protection system that goes on top of heavy machinery — mostly on tank trucks; that’s our core market. Our system protects the worker while they transition from the ladder to the top of the tank, as well as protects them from falling off the side while they’re on top.
What challenge were you trying to address with Digital Third Coast?
We’d been doing a lot in-house regarding digital marketing, especially with Google Ads. We weren’t getting a lot of quality leads coming in, and we decided to go a more professional route. There was one internal marketing resource but we wanted to bring in more robust experience to help with our digital marketing plan, focusing on Google Ads.
What was the scope of their involvement?
We started with only Google Ads and have since snowballed into other channels. We don’t do anything with Facebook, though we are engaged in Bing, and it’s been fantastic. I never would have thought of that platform; it’s been a real winner for us. We also do YouTube ads.
The person we work with there, Kevin (Paid Media Analyst), specializes in paid media, but we’re always asking him about what we can do to be top-of-page. Even though we’re not paying them for SEO, Kevin looks over our website for keywords. We’ve also recently started remarketing efforts with them.
What is the team composition?
Kevin is our main point of contact, and we also work with Lindsay (Director of Business Development), who got us set up and kicked-off with them.
How did you come to work with Digital Third Coast?
We looked at a couple of other companies as well, but I liked that Digital Third Coast was in the B2B niche. There was also a good vibe during the kick-off meeting.
How much have you invested with them?
We’ve spent anywhere from $20,000–$30,000. There have been side projects along the way that have added to the cost.
What is the status of this engagement?
We’ve been working with them since January 2020.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
The biggest KPI we use with them is that we want people to fill out the “Contact Us” page on our website. This is the main lead generator — people turn into potential customers or quotes. Before working with Digital Third Coast, our number of leads was a bit higher but they were of lower quality. The value of Digital Third Coast’s lead is astronomically better; we’re converting at a much higher clip than we were before. The numbers are consistent month over month, as well.
Considering all the effects of the pandemic, we’d be in a much worse spot than we are now if we hadn’t put this digital effort in place. A lot of our consistent business has fallen off, but we’re still receiving new leads and contacts to go after. They’ve provided a secondary, new business even though our core business is down.
How did Digital Third Coast perform from a project management standpoint?
They gave us access to a dashboard with all our analytics that we work off of every month. If we see something we don’t like, we can make changes; the same is true for them. If one channel is working, we keep putting our spend there until the effectiveness changes. We also have a monthly meeting to go over the most recent data and coordinate what information both sides need to move forward. Right now, all our meetings are via Zoom.
What did you find most impressive about them?
I’m very impressed with their knowledge of effective business tools. Additionally, as an entrepreneur myself, I respect that they’re a small business and understand what it’s like to be in our shoes. That reliability is big for me.
Are there any areas they could improve?
I don’t have anything to say — that’s how satisfied we are with them. If anything, we need to send information to them faster.
The client's Google performance score has gone from between 40–50 to 89 with Digital Third Coast’s website optimization. They have been highly responsive to the client's needs, and are both friendly and personable. Their team is proactive and has the ability to self-manage.