Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.
Fyresite is a one-stop-shop for us in terms of SEO [search engine optimization], website design and development, and social media. We wanted to test them initially, so we allocated the Modern Flames marketing budget to Fyresite. The goal was to build brand recognition and have the company become a household name within the electric fireplace market. Their team has done a phenomenal job in the sense of building an entirely customized website for us and working out-of-scope in order to build it as well as possible. Fyresite also did a tremendous job with respect to our Google rankings.
Modern Flames is now ranked in the first page for "electric fireplaces," a term which encompasses the entire industry. We are ranked in the third position, and the two companies above us are Lowe's and Walmart.
The biggest project we've undertaken with Fyresite has been the custom website built for Modern Flames. The previous page had been around for four years. It was a bit old and outdated, so it needed to have something that would make it pop. Fyresite created video backgrounds within the website in order for users to see electric fireplaces burning in a room setting. They also made it a lot easier to navigate the website. Even without having the exact knowledge of what they were looking for, a customer could determine what fireplace was best for them, what its installation entailed, have access to manuals, and so on.
Quote requests, finding dealers, and a display section were some key elements needed for the site. Fyresite created user-friendly implementations of these.
How did you come to work with Fyresite?
We started working with them a year and a half ago, working on fliers and other material. The original collaboration didn't work out because we had a small budget and were unable to direct them as we required. They were very much willing to work within our constraints, but we didn't have the man-power or the time in order to guide them. We know our business better than anyone, so Fyresite needed our help.
We went to another company with which we were fairly happy, but we couldn't get everything that we needed out of the relationship. They were poor on communication and weren't what we were looking for. We decided to make a change and considered four other companies before settling on Fyresite once more. They key determinant for going to them was the fact that they are local and have a very diverse team which can do graphic design, web development, and SEO. They are also very technical in an app development sense. We wanted to create a user-interface app for the Modern Flames website down the road.
Their communication was fantastic. They constantly email us, and we have weekly conversations. This, and the type of staff that they employ, were the two main reasons for selecting Fyresite.
Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?
The annual cost of their services is between $50,000-200,000.
What is the status of this engagement?
We started working together for our second collaboration in July of 2015. The Modern Flames site was launched in September. We're constantly adding more tasks for Fyresite, and we're increasing our budget. They are creating more material for us on Facebook and YouTube for the Modern Flames company. We've also turned over website updates and edits to their team.
The app got rave reviews and the number of subscribers is on the rise. Fyresite went above and beyond to meet all needs, while their excellent communication skills and ability to explain the process in non-technical terms earned them trust.