Top 3% Premier Google Partner Agency 📈
Direct Online Marketing (DOM) is a top 200 Premier Google Partner digital marketing agency founded in 2006. From our offices in Pittsburgh, PA and Wheeling, WV, we’ve helped clients from every populated continent sell into 150+ countries. By partnering with DOM, you gain a trusted digital advisor with certified expertise and proven results. We offer a disciplined approach, straightforward communications, complete transparency, and a culture of excellence.
We’re an online marketing agency in the business of delivering results, which we’ve been doing since 2006. By partnering with us, you gain an online marketing firm that serves as a trusted digital advisor with certified expertise. We've built a digital marketing company that takes pride in the level of service we provide, and our clients agree. There’s a good reason why 85% of our clients stick with us long-term even though they never have to make a long-term commitment.
Our experience covers virtually every industry, and our experts function seamlessly as a branch of your marketing department. We cater our check-ins and data reports to a schedule that you decide works best. Some folks like weekly updates about their ad campaigns, while we might meet twice a month for SEO. When you work together with us, it's our goal to exceed your needs.
Everything we do is data-driven and aimed squarely at the targets you decide -- with our help, of course.
Based on years of experience and careful attention to what makes us the most successful for our clients, The DOM Difference is a collection of our proprietary best practices to developing digital marketing solutions proven to get the best results. These best practices include a disciplined approach to developing tailored solutions, honest straightforward communications, complete transparency, and a culture centered around excellence.
They don’t stick with us because they have to. There's plenty of other Premier Google Partners. They stick with us because they want to.
2 Languages
- English
- Spanish
4 Timezones
- PST
- MST
- CST
- EST
headquarters
other locations
Digital Marketing for AI Software Company
the project
“Working with Direct Online is like working with colleagues who have our company’s best interest at heart.”
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 director of corporate marketing for an AI software company.
What challenge were you trying to address with Direct Online Marketing?
We use a variety of marketing techniques to promote our company and the products we make; digital marketing is one of the most lucrative methods. We needed a partner who could improve our online visibility, and in turn, help us hit our sales and revenue goals, keep our customers engaged, locate new partners, and contribute to the overall success of our company.
What was the scope of their involvement?
After changing the name of our company, we felt that it would be appropriate to revamp our website and change our domain name as well. Every new website experiences a decline in traffic. They implemented SEO best practices into the new site to help grow our audience.
Google isn’t cooperative when pages are missing, so a significant scope of the work involved reconciling all of the pages on the old site on the new site. They ensured that the descriptions and keyword strategies aided with our overall goal to drive more traffic to our website. Current Google Analytics metrics are compared to the previous week’s measurements and the pre-launch stats. They also examine keywords to confirm that the appropriate audiences are being directed to relevant pages. Some websites still have our old domain listed on their pages, so they’re coming up with link reclamation strategies to reach out to those companies and request changes.
We usually have several Direct Online teams working on multiple projects at a time, which include running our online ad campaigns, managing SEM initiatives, and making sure we're spending the right amount of dollars for the right keywords.
What is the team composition?
We initially had one point of contact during the early stages of our partnership. Now that their team has grown, we have designated contacts for digital marketing projects, SEO and SEM initiatives, and general project management.
How did you come to work with Direct Online Marketing?
Our CMO introduced me to Direct Online eight years ago, and I have been using them for our digital marketing needs ever since. Their status as a trusted Google-partner is comforting, but we’re loyal to them because the quality of their services is unfailingly effective.
What is the status of this engagement?
We started working on the SEO project in March 2017, and they continue to measure the impact of their work via Google Analytics.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
They planned all of the SEO strategies months before launching the new site, which has made it easier to rebuild our audience. There was an initial dip when we debuted the new site, but traffic is increasing by 15%-20% each week.
How did Direct Online Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?
After our weekly meetings, they send a follow-up email to ensure that both of our teams have a clear set of deliverables. For good measure, documents are also shared and managed on Google Docs. Whether by phone, email, or Skype, they’re always available to answer our questions and provide immediate assistance. They’ve even traveled from West Virginia to sit down with us at our California office and get a better understanding of what we’re trying to accomplish. Their willingness to literally go the extra mile is one of many ways they’ve shown their commitment to their work.
What did you find most impressive about them?
Working with Direct Online is like working with colleagues who have our company’s best interest at heart. I recommend their services to any business looking to enhance their online presence.
Are there any areas they could improve?
We wouldn’t change anything about them because they always bring us spectacular results.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Be willing to put in the necessary work on your end to make the engagement worthwhile. Direct Online has specialized in digital marketing for decades, so take advantage of their knowledge.
Focus
Portfolio
Highlights, Savannah College of Art & Design, SEGRA, Starks Age Management, Appen, Kashi, Woodcraft, Community Veterinary Partners, Morehouse College, Infoworks, Equal, Industry West, Chamberlain, Ashford, Corporate Visions, PerimeterX, xMatters, ECA Partners, BEAM, Unified Bank, Omatic Software, WATT Fuel Cell, Tandem Life, Today's Home, Uncle Charley's
Industry West
Industry West, an online retailer of modern furniture designs for individual and commercial clients, struggled to see a return on investment from their search engine marketing efforts, which they primarily handled internally for six months. Being an online e-commerce company in a highly competitive industry, Industry West needed to see a strong return on its marketing dollars.
With search engine marketing vital to growing its business, Industry West turned to DOM.
DOM developed a two-stepped approach to reach Industry West's campaign goals of increasing the return on its ad spend and driving new traffic to its website. We first leveraged historical performance data to completely rebuild its Google AdWords search campaigns, optimizing each tactic to reach both potential commercial and residential clients. We next implemented a multi-pronged strategy to create more touch points along the customer journey, from discovery to purchase.
With PPC search campaigns revamped, DOM created a full suite of offerings to help break through the clutter. Within Google, DOM added shopping ads, display campaigns, retargeting, to the account, while optimizing all efforts daily to drive traffic to the website and increase Industry West's e-commerce sales.
DOM rounded out Industry West's digital advertising efforts by engaging other platforms like Bing Ads and SteelHouse for search, shopping, and retargeting.
As a result of DOM's efforts, Industry West quickly saw positive results with a 316% increase in the number of conversions relative to the prior ad spend amount. The campaign also improved other conversion rate metrics, with a 54% increase in conversions and a 77% decrease in the cost-per-conversion.
Due to continued campaign success, Industry West invested a portion of its increased sales back into digital advertising. To date, the slowest revenue months now drive income 2.5x higher than any previous campaign performance year-over-year.
Corporate Visions
Exceptional content is a foundational building block for any SEO campaign. Corporate Visions was not getting the results it needed from organic search, even with its massive content library. Before 2016, the company attempted to manage SEO in-house, and soon realized the many challenges with increasing traffic from search engines.
When Corporate Visions realized it didn’t possess the capacity to tackle SEO on its own, the business sought to partner with an agency that was able to:
- Drive organic traffic to the site
- Assist with SEO site migration strategies and redesign efforts
- Generate sales-qualified leads from search
- Demonstrate results with full transparency
We started by analyzing Corporate Visions’ current and historical search performance, competitor research, and an examination of industry trends. We then created a custom-tailored strategy to outline the best course of action and what DOM would deliver throughout the campaign.
Our results were made possible by focusing on three key components - SEO Migration Services, Historical SEO, and Conversion Rate Optimization - in addition to the core SEO services all of our clients receive.
Many agencies can generate traffic, but our team drove traffic to Corporate Visions’ website resulting in highly qualified prospects. The total number of leads from SEO increased by 37%. Of those, at least 25% were sales-qualified leads, turning organic search into its top-performing digital channel.
By partnering with DOM, SEO became a critical driver of success; organic search became the single most impactful digital channel for the company. In the first six months of 2018, Corporate Visions had the highest number of leads in the history of the company — a nine-million-dollar increase in their pipeline.
West Virginia Development Office
Exports have been the unsung hero of the U.S. economy – growing three times faster than GDP product since 2005. Digital marketing for export business allows companies with international interests to tap into that opportunity without the time and financial costs associated with global travel.
96% of all customers reside outside the U.S., yet only 1% of U.S. businesses export. Less than 0.5% export to more than one country. This shift in global economics furthers the need for U.S. based businesses to extend their presence in emerging global markets to increase growth.
Acknowledging this landscape, the West Virginia Development Office (WVDO), through Appalachian Regional Council funding, reached out to agencies for help in designing a program to help WV businesses increase their exporting. WVDO selected Direct Online Marketing’s plan to develop a strategy to improve digital marketing for export business to assist more than a dozen companies.
The companies were as diverse in their industries as they were in their targets, representing eleven different industries targeting nine countries and seven languages. Sites ranged from specialty shoe manufacturers with eCommerce capabilities to large scale mining equipment.
In order to help the maximum number of companies, we developed a short-term program to allow them to receive as much data as possible. The learnings were key; we wanted to ensure they could take this information and apply it to their own efforts for future success. We developed a program in two phases.
PHASE 1: SEO. We performed a full SEO analysis of their websites and created a strategy for entering the global market, targeting one market for each company.
PHASE 2: PPC. Based on the keyword research from Phase 1, we then ran short, one-month search engine advertising campaigns. Most campaigns were on Google; one was on Yahoo! Japan.
The main purpose of the project was to help businesses get more data to determine if a country held demand for them.
Cybersecurity Company
Drive more free trial registrations. Specifically, improve the site’s SEO while also enticing users to sign up for a free trial of cybersecurity products that protect data in the cloud, on-premise, in storage, and at endpoints.
DOM revamped the messaging and CTAs on the site for maximum visual impact and making CTAs more direct and enticing.
This award-winning cybersecurity company saw a 2,800% increase in free trial registrations as a result of our efforts.
International University
We were challenged to create a campaign strategy to reach potential students in 21 degree categories and drive more student contacts to admissions. The university outlined cost per conversion and conversion rates as its two most important KPIs.
We completely rebuilt the university's Google Ads account and opened one in Bing Ads to reach the full spectrum of U.S. searchers. Targeting was expanded to international students for the university's various campuses and online programs. Campaigns were grouped by theme to allow the university to best tailor its messaging to student and parent interests. New landing pages were designed to increase conversion rates by enticing a higher percentage of prospects to submit information without increasing ad spend. The university now reaches a wide array of potential students looking for specific degrees or how to enter specific fields from all over the world. Prospects self-select into their desired campus and program interests. Leads are then funneled to the appropriate admissions contact.
Within months, we reduced the university's cost per conversion 97.39% and more than doubled the conversion rate. This resulted in the university receiving twice as many student prospects at no extra cost.
Based on this success, we then expanded efforts into retargeting, video, and social media advertising to complement continued search engine advertising efforts.
30+ Best Month Ever's
With no visibility into the performance of their campaigns, this group of leading recovery clinics realized it lacked the access, bandwidth, and expertise to fix their digital advertising issues. Instead of trying to repair their problems alone, they sought to partner with an agency that was able to:
- Target ads across channels to the right audiences</li>
- Streamline their marketing tech stack</li>
- Generate admissible leads on multiple platforms</li>
- Give straight talk on what's working (and not)</li>
We started by cleaning up the backend of their existing accounts to mitigate issues that were hindering the performance of their treatment center marketing campaigns. We then created a custom-tailored strategy to outline the best course of action and what DOM would deliver throughout the campaign.
Our results were made possible by focusing on three key components in addition to the core digital advertising services all of our clients receive:
- Account Building
- Landing Page Design
- Reporting
Their campaign growth began within two months, continued through the following quarter and through the time of publication of this case study, and shows every indication of growing even more. Once their Google campaigns began producing predictable, scalable results every month, their campaigns expanded to include social media ads on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
That point of expansion - through a combined strategy developed by their marketing leaders and our campaign strategists - is where a true data-driven approach to marketing really began to pay off.
Because results from their treatment center marketing campaigns were growing each month, this center had the confidence to double their monthly ad spend during their campaign. Even with spend doubling, DOM increased leads and conversions at a massive scale - 1000% conversion improvement, 713% lead improvement, and triple the amount of admits.
Online Luxury Retailer
An online retailer of luxury products wanted to increase revenue from its primary product line. They decided to use PPC as their main sales channel to promote these products following years of selling in marketplaces like eBay and Amazon.
However, they discovered over time that their campaigns struggled to drive as much revenue as they thought possible while having to navigate frequently changing product availability and varying profit margins by brand and SKU.
They needed to find a way around Google’s Smart Shopping algorithm and its tendency to prioritize their lower-priced, lower-profit items.
Once our team was provided access to the campaign, we overhauled the way products were categorized. We created custom labels for all SKUs, including 3 tiers of profit margin for in-stock products and 2 tiers of availability for out-of-stock items.
Our product categorization and custom labeling strategies helped this online luxury retailer increase their revenue from Google Ads by 95% over the course of just 2 years while only sacrificing 6% in margin.
Luxury E-tailer
This luxury retailer challenged DOM to increase sales in every geographic region with specific focus placed on APAC. The advertiser was able to provide a large amount of historical data, which offered insights, and presented its own challenge in interpreting which internal factors - including brands, SKUs, and pricing - contributed positively to sales in specific territories. In addition, we began working with this advertiser in November as they were gearing up for the heaviest shopping season of the year, representing a huge impact on annual sales.
We first reviewed the data and reworked campaigns within the existing PPC accounts to leverage heightened buyer intent with around-the-clock care over the Black Friday promotional period. Global efforts were coordinated among existing accounts with Google, Bing, Baidu, 360, Shenma, Naver, Daum, and more. We also created a new account with Yahoo! Japan. Once the holiday period ended, We created a new annual strategic plan incorporating regional holiday promotions, special Google beta opportunities, site testing, and new campaign launches. We optimized all campaigns for the best performance based on return on ad spend and specific market entry goals, shifting budgets globally to top markets.
Within one year of partnering with DOM, the retailer saw impressive increases in PPC conversions from around the globe, including important countries in the APAC and Middle East regions. Key results included:
- 142% increase in conversions in Australia
- 144% increase in conversions in Hong Kong
- 331% increase in conversions in Saudi Arabia
- 171% increase in conversions in Vietnam
While a few countries had lower conversions year-over-year due to political instability, currency fluctuations, or other factors, gains from the majority of countries led to a large overall increase in revenue during the major holiday period and throughout the year.
National Repair Firm
A leading hydraulic repair company was an early adopter of digital advertising, self-managing campaigns with Google since 2001. As the business grew, it became limited in its ability to manage its PPC campaigns, stunting the company’s online growth potential. The company turned to DOM.
Shortly after the strategy began to take shape, some of the work focused on testing new bidding strategies and tailoring all retargeting ads with a higher level of user personalization to increase ad relevancy. Additionally, the agency’s status as a Top 200 Premier Google Partner gave DOM the ability to test exclusive betas not available to their competition.
In a year-over-year comparison, DOM increased conversions by 52% and lowered cost-per-conversions by 17.5%.
Big Data SaaS
An innovative big data automation platform saw organic search as a means to spur the growth of its brand in its quest to acquire new leads.
Following an initial SEO audit, DOM discovered that their evergreen blog content performed well on LinkedIn, but failed to attract more traffic from search. DOM put together a plan of action to optimize these high-value blog posts for both search engines and users.
Year over year, this big data SaaS saw an increase of traffic to it's blog from organic search of 367%.
Woodworking Retailer
We were challenged to increase referral traffic from YouTube to a woodworking specialty e-tailer. The company had a YouTube channel with an extensive library of over 1,000 videos published over the course of a decade. In spite of that massive archive, the web's no. 2 search engine was only generating a few hundred visits per year to their site.
The company also needed to generate more backlinks to their product URLs in order to improve search rankings.
We instituted a robust link building strategy. We added referral links to their site from product review videos and how-to videos with suggested products.
Our team also consulted with the company’s digital marketing team to create a list of YouTube SEO best practices to follow for all newly created videos.
Year over year, referral traffic from YouTube to the company’s site increased more than 68-fold. These updates turned YouTube into a top-10 referral traffic source for the company; in the previous year, YouTube wasn’t even in the top 300 of traffic sources for the company.
This link building campaign resulted in a 6887% growth in traffic from YouTube to the woodworking specialty e-tailer’s site.
Workforce Communication SaaS
Following a rebrand of their workforce communication platform in 2015, a SaaS company was struggling to generate a regular flow of traffic; they were also struggling to solicit marketing-qualified demonstration requests for their award-winning communication platform.
They hired DOM in 2017 to implement SEO and produce scalable organic traffic growth. More specifically, the goal was to drive more qualified demo requests from organic search, which was the company's no. 2 traffic channel overall and their no. 1 source of demo requests.
During our engagement, organic search became the no. 1 source of traffic for the site, growing more than 44% in the first year.
With DOM’s efforts, organic search remained the company’s top-performing source of demo requests, and the percentage of total demo requests generated by organic traffic also outpaced that of all other channels.
In addition to organic traffic increasing 44% YoY, the total percentage of demo requests contributed by SEO became the majority driver at 60% of all such requests.
Nonprofit Software
A nonprofit software developer came to us to increase Google rankings and grow their organic search traffic to meet their aggressive lead generation goals.
Our strategy revolved around a full-scale blogging and outreach effort to attract new users from search. By focusing on topics and keywords most relevant to their niche in the nonprofit sector, we turned the blog into the company’s most significant driver of organic traffic.
In less than six months, page one rankings increased by 109% and became the top channel for both traffic and conversions.
Sporting Goods Retailer
A manufacturer and retailer of products for hunting and sporting enthusiasts sought to maximize its ROI from pay-per-click ads. Despite failing to reach new sales goals with several previous agencies, this company came to DOM for help.
After reviewing the existing account structure and implementing a rigorous daily management process, DOM looked for other areas to improve results. DOM rebuilt existing campaigns and supplemented them with new goal-optimized shopping and dynamic campaigns.
Regional Bank
After going through a complete rebrand, this financial institution wanted to both create greater awareness in the cities it served, drive more foot traffic to its branches, and increase online conversions. They invested in our customized solutions to manage PPC for banks.
The bank, a publicly-traded company listed on NASDAQ for nearly three decades, partnered with us to build a comprehensive digital advertising strategy. The most crucial piece of the strategy involved launching highly targeted Search and Display ads that tied to specific, carefully designed landing pages.
Within two months, conversions jumped 96% while local awareness was raised for the new name and special offers.
Contract Manufacturer
A custom manufacturer of textiles and polymer products wanted to increase its production opportunities in commercial and healthcare markets after years of successful work in government contracting. The tactics we use to provide SEO for manufacturing companies provided the turnkey solution for this company to expand their opportunities.
They came to DOM to help:
- Decrease their dependence on government contracts sourced from federal databases
- Navigate customer acquisition in niche channels that were foreign to them and hard to target using traditional manufacturing directories like ThomasNet
- Increase their page 1 keyword rankings in Google
- Modernize their entire web presence
To increase the degree of difficulty, all of this needed to be completed without making any sacrifices to strict NIST compliance requirements which were needed to maintain their status as a government contractor.
Our strategy revolved around three core components of successful SEO campaigns:
- SEO Migration Services
- SEO Services
- Weekly Blog Post Creation
Our tactics to support SEO for manufacturing companies - complemented by weekly content creation - helped this custom manufacturer increase their online visibility and grow new opportunities in the commercial and healthcare sector with confidence.
Comparing their performance in the most recent business quarter to the same quarter in the previous year:
- 407% increase in page 1 Google rankings for targeted terms
- 147% increase in organic search traffic
- 101% increase in daily impressions in Google search results
- 40+ new pieces of content with commercial and transactional intent to drive leads monthly
Startup For Software Developers
An industry leader in the development of software to monitor Big Data applications rebranded to improve name recognition, alignment, and adoption of its enterprise product. They sought the help of a digital marketing agency to optimize a website migration and increase trial downloads as part of strategic effort for improving their marketing to software developers. When the time came, they turned to Direct Online Marketing.
DOM was first tasked with strategic guidance on SEO migration services to combine two domains into a new, branded domain. Once the new site was launched, DOM delivered a comprehensive digital marketing strategy to drive more new users and traffic to the site from search, while also increasing the contribution of organic search visits to software trial downloads.
Following the migration of the websites, DOM assisted this developer with full service SEO, including onsite optimization, link building services, and content creation to increase their volume of keyword-rich content. This software was new to market and provided a solution to a problem many developers were not aware they were going to face. In order to grow traffic and increase trials using SEO, DOM employed tactics like:
- Optimizing content for phrases that included compatible technologies
- Writing blog posts comparing the software to “Magic Quadrant” competitors
- Conducting outreach to build links and improve visibility on sites that curate and review Big Data applications
Marketing to software developers is not always an easy proposition. However, this company saw traffic from organic search swell 121% with over 100% growth in the volume of new users over the previous year thanks to DOM’s search strategies. The influx of traffic also caused organic search to become the top source of software trial starts, led to substantial increases in email sign ups, and grew residual revenue from training services.
Legacy Truck Centers
Founded in Wheeling, WV, in 1933, Wheeling Truck Center (now a part of Legacy Truck Centers) has traditionally remained profitable while being limited in their geographic boundaries to the Ohio Valley area. In 2006, they came to DOM to help them expand their marketing reach throughout the US with digital marketing tactics on Google and other major search engines.
What first started as a truck sales campaign quickly grew to encompass truck parts as a way to clear inventory space within their warehouses.
Fast forward to February 2010. Legacy Truck received their first large international inquiry from Lima, Peru. While trying to determine how to proceed with this sale, they discovered the U.S. Commercial Service (USCS). The same day they inquired, Diego Gattesco from USCS came to their dealership with advice on how Legacy Truck could sell internationally and help them assess future opportunities to expand internationally.
Part of their strategy involves a two-pronged approach to increase direct eCommerce sales online and generate leads for larger sales. The partnership between Legacy Truck and DOM has contributed to the successful implementation of this strategy.
This approach led to phenomenal growth turned the once localized Appalachian dealership into a global player.
Not many fourth generation companies located in a small town in rural America can boast about their international business. Why? Because it is virtually unheard of. Legacy Truck Centers is proud to be an outlier that has successfully shifted their business from local to national to international deals.
Since then, Legacy Truck has sold into more than 100 countries around the world. In 2014, Legacy Truck was recognized by the WV Small Business Administration as Exporter of the Year and received the prestigious President's "E" Award for Exports from the US Secretary of Commerce. At that time, they were only the 6th West Virginia company to receive the award since its inception in 1961.
Reviews
the project
SEO Services for Higher Education Institution
"They've helped us accomplish unexpected tasks with our website when we have no one else to help us."
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Please describe your company and your position there.
I am the Marketing Client Account Manager for online programs.
For what projects/services did your company hire Direct Online Marketing, and what were your goals?
We partnered with Direct Online Marketing on an SEO project for our website in hopes of improving our organic search performance.
How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?
At the time the decision was made by the Marketing Director based on interviews with both DOM and former clients. Competency was the deciding factor.
Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and campaigns.
The experience is what you would want from an agency, professional, effective, and results-focused. We were provided a team who managed us as well as themselves. The content was evaluated and rewritten, key performance indicators tracked, and reports created with our questions in mind.
How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?
We predominantly work with our project lead who keeps us informed and on track while our technical lead helps us understand what we are seeing and why. Other members of the team are brought in when needed. We feel we have a full team every step of the way. They have been very customer-focused.
Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?
Our organic traffic continues to improve. We have been able to see the impact of our work weekly but the final results have yet to be evaluated. I'm confident the work we have done will continue to impact our site's organic performance.
Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.
DOM uses a structured approach. We were assigned a team and introduced to them. Our project lead meets with us weekly to ensure we stay on track. Other team members attended our meetings as needed based on the work being done at the time. We maintain a Slack channel where we ask questions of any team member at any time. Custom Google Data Studio reports were created for our project and we receive monthly progress reviews.
What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?
Above all else, the team has been flexible. They've helped us accomplish unexpected tasks with our website when we have no one else to help us. Noting was out of scope, we simply negotiated around the confines of the contract and DOM made it work.
Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?
I am unable to think of anything we would have asked to be done differently.
the project
SEO for Robotics & AI Manufacturing Innovation Institute
"Their understanding and knowledge of search engine behavior and approaches stand 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.
I’m the senior product manager of the advanced robotics manufacturing institute. We’re one of 16 manufacturing institutes set up by the federal government to help US-based manufacturers be more competitive. We do this through the dissemination of technology, which, in our case, is robotics technology, as well as workforce development solutions.
What challenge were you trying to address with Direct Online Marketing?
We’ve created a service that helps individuals connect with education and training opportunities in robotics and in their careers at large. Our institute doesn’t have a large marketing budget, so we needed help raising awareness of our free resources.
What was the scope of their involvement?
We chose to go with SEO and content marketing to build awareness of our services. Direct Online helps us create blog posts and identify keywords to help Google effectively index our website. They’ve helped write articles about what robotics careers look like, how robotics competitions work, and more. They’ve been very helpful in navigating appropriate keywords to select and focus on through data analysis.
What is the team composition?
We work with around five individuals: a project manager, a senior digital marketing specialist, a senior client success manager, and a number of other specialists.
How did you come to work with Direct Online Marketing?
My manager engaged them initially, and we’ve been working with them ever since. It was based on previous relationships that we signed with them.
What is the status of this engagement?
We’ve been working together since August 2020.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
Our website is structured so that we have over 15,000 programs that are searchable to users, and it’s built in such a way that it’s easy to find those that are closest to you. Direct Online had the suggestion that we make them searchable by geography, and that has been very valuable.
The volume of traffic coming to our site has steadily grown, as we can see through google analytics. In terms of visits, the site has grown; we’re now getting coverage in all 50 states. This is vitally important to us as a manufacturing institute, as we serve all parts of the US. We’ve also seen an increase in our rankings as we get more and more first-page placements.
How did Direct Online Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?
They have a very structured weekly format with calls, emails, and more. We’re never in doubt as to what the current tasks are that they’re working on. We take a monthly look at the performance of the website as well. We also communicate over Zoom.
What did you find most impressive about them?
Their project management approach is very systematic and proactive. Their understanding and knowledge of search engine behavior and approaches stand out. They also have a deep understanding of how to create the kind of content that will resonate with readers. They’ve gained this by staying on top of trends. Their expertise is highly specialized.
Are there any areas they could improve?
No, not that I can think of.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
It’s important to regularly share your plan with Direct Online to help them understand who you are. Giving them information on product and marketing initiatives will help make the relationship a success.
the project
SEO Services for Mental Healthcare Company
"They're a very responsive team to our needs."
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Please describe your company and your position there.
Single-facility private mental health care rehab. I lead the in-house website management and SEO plan.
For what projects/services did your company hire Direct Online Marketing, and what were your goals?
While we are confident of our in-house abilities, there simply are not enough hours in the day. We have quite a bit of historical optimization needed and want to be kept informed on the newest strategies and be able to consult with experts for upcoming projects/expansions.
How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?
After speaking with many SEO companies we were becoming frustrated with the number of sales we were being pitched - every one of them seemed only interested in getting a hold of our PPC and didn't offer any innovative ideas or be offering the 'in-the-weeds' SEO work we were looking for.
Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and campaigns.
DirectOM created a plan for weekly metrics, including a number of historical optimizations completed each week, schema mark-up completed, manual backlink outreach, and more. This plan has shifted based on the website's needs and our requests for them to focus on upcoming/emerging topics. Part of the scope has also been that they make themselves available for consultation on general and specific updates to the site.
How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?
We've worked with a handful of people from DirectOM and have gotten to know our dedicated team quite well. I personally meet weekly with Carla and Jordyn. I also worked with Robbie for quite some time and regularly consulted with Jonathan (Bentz) for higher-level SEO strategy. Justin - The president also has been in regular contact.
Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?
We've been working with them for a little over 2 years. Comparing a month this year to last year, our organic traffic has increased by over 150%, and, more importantly, our conversions have increased nearly at the same pace.
I can't think of a time that the weekly deliverables haven't been met, and we've been chugging along on this very large site's historical optimization for quite some time, making vast improvements to the site. We've also certainly met our expectations in trying new strategies/technology - implementing many new features I would have never considered.
Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.
I meet with 2 of the people dedicated to our account each week and feel very comfortable asking for help from any of the experts in their company. I've never felt nickel-and-dimed by them. Their services are easily scalable and very professional.
What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?
One of the most important aspects to us has been that we have a segmented team at our disposal to do some of the heavy liftings without constantly needing to fend off their attempts to 'take over' the whole SEO operation. This is a struggle I've found myself in with just about every SEO company, but from the beginning, our relationship with DirectOM was much different.
We were clear on what we wanted - they immediately understood and came alongside us to get the work done. They've never been pushy about their services and because of that, we are very comfortable coming to them asking for their honest opinion on what will work and expanding our services with them.
Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?
Nothing comes to mind, they're a very responsive team to our needs.
the project
SEO & PPC for Telecommunication Company
"Everyone at Direct Online Marketing has been great at putting in the time to ensure Voiply's goals are met."
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Please describe your company and your position there.
I am the CEO of Voiply. We are a leading telecommunications provider based out of Pittsburgh, PA. We offer Residential and Business VOIP services to customers nationwide.
For what projects/services did your company hire Direct Online Marketing, and what were your goals?
We partnered with Direct Online Marketing to assist with lower our Cost Per Acquisition in Google Ads.
How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?
We got referred to Direct Online Marketing by another company. From the first interview call to DOM demonstrated their expertise in Google. Made an easy decision for us to partner with DOM.
Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and campaigns.
During our first call. We laid out our goals, and got DOM up to speed on Voiply’s service offering. We went through new keyword research and ad creatives. From there we launched new campaigns with new bidding strategies. We’ve since optimized, and after a couple months of optimization we’ve hit our CPA goals month over month.
How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?
I’ve worked with 6 different individuals at DOM. My account has a Project Manager, Campaign Manager, and Campaign Strategies. Very professional and experienced individuals.
Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?
Since engaging with DOM we’ve seen a 20% decrease in our cost per acquisitions.
Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.
They do a great job at communicating and being very transparent. We hold a weekly meeting to discuss the previous weeks performance. Allowing us to make decision on what is working and not. Sharing weekly and monthly reports.
What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?
Everyone at Direct Online Marketing has been great at putting in the time to ensure Voiply's goals are met. Each meeting you can tell they care about their clients’ goals, and that impresses me the most.
Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?
We engaged with DOM to lower our CPA, and they did that above and beyond our expectations. I can’t pick anything to improve on.
the project
Ongoing SEO & PPC Services for College
"Their team lives and breathes search marketing."
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Please describe your company and your position there.
Morehouse College is a historically black college dedicated to developing and educating Black men in a liberal arts pedagogy. I am Vice President of Marketing Communications and Admissions.
For what projects/services did your company hire Direct Online Marketing, and what were your goals?
We hired DOM for paid search as well as to provide on-page SEO work on our new website. They also provide off-page SEO consultation to my marketing and admissions teams.
How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?
I've worked with DOM with great success in another university and they've since grown their expertise into other areas such as digital design and organic search so selecting them for Morehouse was a no brainer. Their relationship as a preferred partner of Google's is a major benefit for us.
Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and campaigns.
Started with keyword research, that then lead to analysis of our competitive set (other colleges), development of ads and ad copy, then the development of a landing page. We did branded, non-branded, competitive and regional campaigns. Occasionally we did campaigns specific to a service offering but modulated that.
How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?
About 4 people. An account manager plus paid media specialist, organic search specialist and occasionally one other person.
Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?
Our pilot campaign worked really well to inform us of what worked and didn't work and the general volume of traffic we were addressing. But the PPC campaign garnered over 250 applications that yielded net new admitted students that we would not have received otherwise. They've also helped significantly in improving our SERPS and rankings of key pages of our website.
Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.
DOM is hands-on and consultative. It's ideal for this kind of demand generation work and works well in concert with my organization that doesn't have their skill sets and relationships.
What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?
Their team lives and breathes search marketing. There is almost nothing they don't already know or have deep expertise in. Of all the marketing agencies I have worked with in my 30 years of PR/marketing DOM is more expert at its area of focus than any other firm I've worked with over my career.
Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?
I'd be very open to hearing blue sky ideas beyond my scope of work and budget from the DOM team.
the project
Google Marketing Services for Marketing & Advertising Agency
"Matt's knowledge about the data and trends relevant to us is mind-boggling and so very helpful."
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Please describe your company and your position there.
I'm the Director of Biz Dev for a full-service Amazon Seller-focused Marketing and Advertising agency. We help brands make more money on Amazon...without breaking the rules.
For what projects/services did your company hire Direct Online Marketing?
We provide services in a very niche market, so we needed somebody who understands that to undertake the behemoth task of advertising and marketing our skills on Google.
How did you select this vendor?
We researched and looked at online reviews for 15 advertising agencies, then narrowed it down to 6 for initial strategy/discovery calls. After those 6 calls, we quickly narrowed it down to our top 3, then invited those three to meet with our Leadership team to make their pitch based on the proposals they'd sent prior to.
Describe the scope of their work in detail.
After beginning with a series of discovery meetings, they focused on where we could make the biggest impact, as well as the benchmarks provided for our industry and the expectations set forth by our Executive team. They met with our Leadership team, went through the scope in detail, and then came up with an advertising plan that included everything we were looking for + their own expert recommendations for ranking on Google and maximizing our ad spend on Google Adwords.
What was the team composition?
During the discovery phase, I worked closely with their digital marketing strategist and CEO to scope the project appropriately. I now have 5 subject matter experts assigned to my account, with a designated point person bridging the gap between them and us.
Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?
In 60 days, they have quadrupled our qualified inbound leads, minimized the chaff, maximized our ad spend, and provided expert guidance that helped us identify a leak in our ad spend that was unnecessarily bleeding $700 monthly.
How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?
I have weekly meetings with my account manager, and strategists to go over progress, address any outstanding needs from me, and plan upcoming week(s). We communicate regularly via Slack and email, and I have direct access to phone the CEO.
What did you find most impressive about this company?
They always show up prepared, having sent the agenda and weekly insights beforehand. Jill's note-taking is comprehensive and precise, which allows me to listen, engage, and focus on the meeting itself rather than hoping I didn't forget to write something down that I would need later. Receiving those notes in a timely manner after each meeting helps me manage my time and tasks more efficiently, as well.
Matt's knowledge about the data and trends relevant to us is mind-boggling and so very helpful. He breaks complicated advertising strategies down into layman terms, is patient with my questions, and kind in his responses. When my anxiety is up over things I do not comprehend, they are collectively (and consistently) the calm voice of reason. The team has made recommendations that will save us money across the board and that alone is worthy of applause and praise.
DOM is truly the most transparent advertising team I've worked with in this industry, and I am so grateful. I know we made the right decision.
Is there any area for improvement or anything that could have been done differently?
I realize nobody and no company is perfect, but I am truly happy with the services provided. They have gone above and beyond, respond quickly, and do exactly that for which we've contracted with them. I have no complaints.
the project
SMM & Advertising for Cloud Suite Solution Co
"They keep us focused in the right direction, moving us forward with the marketplace."
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 VP of sales and marketing for a company aligned with a solutions provider. We market a cloud suite industrial solution.
What challenge were you trying to address with C-Leveled?
We needed to update our social media strategy and marketing technologies to ultimately increase leads. We needed assistance with our website management too.
What was the scope of their involvement?
In general, we contract them for social media management, campaign research, and campaign facilitation. A lot of their work involves LinkedIn. Their team manages our marketing and advertising campaigns, which includes direct mail and digital initiatives. Based on our prospective buyers, they create and market content too.
C-Leveled also recreated our website, modernizing the platform. Their team still manages it. They’ll also do periodic design work, such as creating new business cards or adding to the website.
What is the team composition?
We have a project manager, Abby (Social Media & Digital Engagement Manager), and periodically deal with Denise (Chairman).
How did you come to work with C-Leveled?
We found them through our local network. We reached out to folks who we respect, and they recommended Denise’s company. She visited our office and explained what her team had to offer. We were impressed with the presentation.
How much have you invested with them?
On an annual basis, we budget around $40,000 for their services.
What is the status of this engagement?
We started our relationship around 4–5 years ago, and it’s ongoing. We recently had our yearly planning session.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
We periodically receive updates concerning our LinkedIn activities. Their team tracks social media and website engagement. Since hiring C-Leveled, our social media engagement has significantly increased. We also receive statistics on website hits, which have also increased.
How did C-Leveled perform from a project management standpoint?
We establish a plan for the year and then, we have quarterly reviews and update campaigns. My marketing director has routine calls with Abby. If we have any questions, we get great responses from her. The communication between our companies has been good.
What did you find most impressive about them?
C-Leveled wanted to understand us and our goals to address in their marketing campaigns. They research new technologies for social media and bring them to us as opportunities. They keep us focused in the right direction, moving us forward with the marketplace.
Are there any areas they could improve?
An important part of our relationship is reaching prospective buyers. Last year was difficult because of the COVID-19 pandemic. We have to work even more on attracting more prospective buyers to our platform and move them to the point where they’re looking for our solution.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Ensure that you communicate exactly what you want to C-Leveled. Tell them your challenges and goals for the relationship. If they fully understand those factors, they’ll be able to support you.
the project
Branding, Web Design & SMM for Tool & Die Shop
“Not only are they an incredibly pleasurable team to work with, but they also produce an outstanding quality of work.”
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 executive director and part-owner of JV Manufacturing. We’re a tool and die shop. We make high-quality cookie cutters for the industries of consumer goods, fuels, energy products, and just about anything that can be stamped out of metal and plastic at a high-volume rate. We make different tooling and components for companies such as 3D printing shops and things of that nature.
What challenge were you trying to address with C-Leveled?
Primarily, all of our business has come through word of mouth. A lot of people — both locally and nationally — only knew of us if they had some sort of direct connection. We decided to take the opportunity to grow the company and wanted to start marketing ourselves.
We wanted to have a sales department because we had never had one before. We recognized the fact that we should brand ourselves, work on our website, and establish our digital presence. That’s why we engaged with C-Leveled to get that ball rolling.
What was the scope of their involvement?
First, C-Leveled collected data and information of where we were at in terms of our social media and website. They looked into how many viewers we had and other things of that nature so we had a baseline to start with. Their team sat down with us and described where we were at in the digital realm and against our competitors.
At that particular part, C-Leveled developed a year plan to see the different marketing goals we needed to meet. The first objective was to establish a new brand. We didn’t really need a logo and everything was mismatched otherwise. Our teams worked on that and got a brand that we agreed upon. Next, we did a soft launch with the brand so specific VIP customers and employees could get a firsthand introduction.
As they were doing that, C-Leveled was doing behind-the-scenes work with our website and social media. Our social media accounts were a bit of a mess so they cleaned those up for us. They worked with us to get one site taken down and initiate a new one. Their team also brought photographers to take pictures of equipment, employees, and anything they could utilize in both social media and the website.
Once they compiled all that together, there were several meetings where we got to view the demo of the website. We critiqued and tweaked it as needed, providing background and content. The website grew from there and we were able to fully launch it.
C-Leveled also helped us with our sales department. They suggested Hubspot and worked with us to initiate it. Their team provided training to our staff to show how to utilize the Hubspot technology along with the new website.
By October 2020, we fully launched the new brand, sent out welcome emails, conducted introductions through Hubspot to our customer base, introduced our new website, and built our content on social media.
What is the team composition?
I work with Denise (President & CEO) and Janice (Client Services Director).
How did you come to work with C-Leveled?
I had heard great things about their organization. I’ve met Denise on more than one occasion from conferences to personal settings. After diving into what they do and hearing from other companies they’ve worked with, it was a no-brainer. I reached out to see if they’d be interested and available. We held a little meeting and things moved forward from there.
How much have you invested with them?
We’ve invested between $50,000–$80,000.
What is the status of this engagement?
Our ongoing engagement started around July 2019.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
C-Leveled has performed beautifully. They’re incredibly impressive. I’m not tech-savvy, and they were able to work with us. We didn’t have the marketing background or finesse to provide them with the content. Their team was able to take all of our rough data and information and really present it in a professional and organized way. I absolutely love it. They understood us as a company and showed that on our website and social media. Their team is amazing at taking an idea and turning it into something living.
The website traffic has increased. Our social media has been the biggest impact. We’re trending slightly under our competitors but 2020 was more about getting it out there; 2021 is about ramping it up. We have campaigns in place that we’re working on with C-Leveled to ramp up. Those will help us get more followers and traffic.
It’s easy to track the customer base information we pull from the website. That’s extremely helpful for our sales department to reach out and learn about new customers, partnerships, and suppliers. Overall, there’s great community awareness. Recruiting has been easier too. We were previously kept a secret in our area, and now we’re starting to get more of a presence in our own community.
How did C-Leveled perform from a project management standpoint?
Their communication is excellent. C-Leveled keeps the client informed as to where they are in the process. Every step of the way, I’ve known where they’re at. I know if they have setbacks or are moving slightly ahead than expected. If anything, we’ve caused them to miss deadlines because we haven’t been able to get the information to them. They’ve been more than helpful in trying to find ways to support us in gathering that information.
Management-wise, I couldn’t find a single complaint. C-Leveled has been incredibly professional and wonderful to work with. When I have my update meetings with Janice, I always tell her I want to come work for them. They’re just awesome to work with.
What did you find most impressive about them?
The quality of their work. Not only are they an incredibly pleasurable team to work with, but they also produce an outstanding quality of work. C-Leveled takes an idea or thought and gets to know the heart of the company as well as their vision and values. They were able to see that and display it in a way to our customers and candidates. Our website really shows who we are and what we’re about.
Are there any areas they could improve?
Providing additional examples of their past work with clients would be beneficial. I understand that sometimes clients aren’t willing to share that information. I was very green and didn’t fully understand some of the steps we went through along the process. Having examples of a past campaign or project might have been helpful early on so I'd have my head wrapped around what their expectations and needs are.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Prioritize and schedule things ahead for yourself so you have that available time to work with the company and ensure you’re providing what they need. Looking back, I wish had set chunks of time throughout the year to dedicate to working on the project with them and not get caught up on the day-to-day things.
the project
Organizational Brand Development and Strategy
"They listen!"
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Please describe your company and your position there.
I am the Managing Director of a not-for-profit organization that provides consulting services to manufacturers in the 12 county region of Southwestern PA.
For what projects/services did your company hire C-Leveled?
We needed assistance in developing an overall branding strategy that was coordinated with our relocation to a facility and training space.
We needed a partner that could handle the ongoing development of content and creative messaging that could be used to educate and inspire our regional manufacturing client list.
When the pandemic hit, C-Leveled became an even more important asset as they helped craft messaging and reposition services that highlighted our organization as a supporting partner for the region
What were your goals for this project?
To increase awareness as to the depth and breadth of services that we provide. We serve more than 200 manufacturing clients a year and making sure that our regional companies understood that we are here to support their needs around Product, Process, People and Technology.
How did you select C-Leveled?
We reviewed proposals from several regional advertising agencies. C-Leveled experience in working with both for profit companies and not-for-profit economic development organizations gave them a unique perspective that was missing in some of the other proposals
Describe the scope of their work in detail.
We started with a general discover session that focused on setting target objectives. From there, C-Leveled conducted research to identify our gaps between our current-state and future state.
This informed a marketing strategy along with KPIs that would measure the overall effectiveness of the project. That work included: Updates to the Website, Creation of Ebooks to fuel an effective inbound marketing strategy, Useful Web-Based calculators and tools that engaged our target audience.
What was the team composition?
We worked with C-Leveled's president and CEO and one of her project coordinators. Other C-Leveled Team members were brought in at different points to lend their expertise within their practice areas including: Copywriting, E-Strategy, Web Development, IT, Pardot etc...
Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?
As part of a national network of over 50 centers, our center has been identified as one of the most forward thinking marketing departments based on the work that was ideated and executed with C-Leveled.
Centers from across the country are often utilizing the creative materials we developed or have even contacted C-Leveled directly to leverage their expertise in the development of customer engaging content and tools.
How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?
Weekly meetings on the Microsoft Teams platform has allowed us to easily manage a rather complex marketing calendar and content schedule.
C-Leveled's ability to leverage technology to keep us in the loop and up-to-date is a testament to their flexibility and focus on customer service
What did you find most impressive about this company?
They listen!!!
Are there any areas for improvement?
none
the project
Web Dev & Marketing Services for University Institute
“Direct Online Marketing (formerly C-Leveled) has a great team. They think outside of the box, and they’re very client-focused.”
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 executive director and associate vice chancellor of innovation entrepreneurship at the Institute for Entrepreneurial Excellence, part of the University of Pittsburgh.
What challenge were you trying to address with C-Leveled?
We had marketing issues reaching the correct audiences. The programs that we offer are very different depending on the type of business we’re serving, so our marketing efforts are multi-channel. Also, our website was outdated, and it wasn’t very user-friendly.
What was the scope of their involvement?
C-Leveled redid our website and ultimately delivered an entirely new site. We had a kickoff meeting to discuss our needs and audiences, and our team provided them with all of our collateral. They developed wireframes and provided example mock-ups and a rough draft of the website. Then, they plugged in the content.
They refined our marketing materials to better reach our audiences. This included redoing our newsletter and printed materials. We used HubSpot for inbound marketing. Our work together is ongoing.
What is the team composition?
Our project manager is Janice (Client Services Director), and she is excellent.
How did you come to work with C-Leveled?
A couple of our clients used C-Leveled, and they referred us to Denise (President & CEO). We liked that there was no commitment — we can opt out at any time.
How much have you invested with them?
We’ve spent tens of thousands of dollars with them.
What is the status of this engagement?
Our work together began more than ten years ago.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
The site has a clean, fresh look with updated graphics. It's much more user- and mobile-friendly.
One of the key metrics for the site and marketing materials is lead generation, and we’ve definitely seen an increase in leads and new business coming in. Other metrics that indicate new business coming in, such as click-through rates and read rates, went up as well.
How did C-Leveled perform from a project management standpoint?
They’re very good at meeting deadlines. If we ask them to modify the scope in such a way that would change the deadline, they let us know in advance.
Communication is ongoing, and we have meetings as-needed. In the past year, they’ve pivoted to a virtual environment very well. They’re very fluent with Zoom.
What did you find most impressive about them?
C-Leveled has a great team. They think outside of the box, and they’re very client-focused. Their services are also reasonably priced.
Are there any areas they could improve?
No, I really don’t — we’ve been working together for a long time, and I don’t see any areas of improvement.
Any advice for potential customers?
Remain open to suggestions and try to see ideas outside of the box.
Traffic to the new website increases by up to 20% each week due to Direct Online’s SEO services. They take extra steps to keep communication frequent, transparent, and worthwhile. Their eagerness to succeed proves why they’ve been a trusted online marketing source for decades.