HigherVisibility

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner and operator of Presto Cleaning. We provide residential house cleaning services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with HigherVisibility?

I initially hired HigherVisibility for their SEO services because I wanted to rank better on Google and double my website traffic. I’ve since used their other services, such as PPC, website design, and backlink generation. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

HigherVisibility has done many tasks for me. These include keyword research to help me rank on the first page of Google. Our PPC campaign mainly focuses on Google. 

Moreover, they’ve completely redesigned my WordPress website. I want the site to load as fast as possible because that’s one of Google’s requirements. They’ve also changed our old color scheme and worked on making it more visually appealing.

What is the team composition?

I mainly work with Whitney (Digital PR Specialist), who serves as my brand success manager and the manager of HigherVisibility’s website team. 

How did you come to work with HigherVisibility?

I Googled SEO companies and found HigherVisibility. They were my first choice because they had so many awards. The icing on the cake was their pricing; it was 25% lower than what I expected to pay. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $60,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

The engagement started in August 2020, and it’s ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our website’s speed it at 99 on the web and 95 on mobile devices. The team is always monitoring this score and modifying the website. On top of that, we’re ranking for many keywords on the first page of Google. Our new color scheme is also a lot better than the old one. 

Overall, I’m just in love with the website that HigherVisibility has created for me. I’ve asked them hundreds of questions, and they always come back with a professional answer. Whitney is great in this respect — if she doesn’t know the answer to my questions, she’ll tell me right away and search for someone who knows the answer, coming back to me usually within a couple of days.

How did HigherVisibility perform from a project management standpoint?

Nearly everything has been delivered on time. There have been 3–4 instances where they needed more time, but those are related to website development. Everything else has been spot on. For tools, they have a portal with lots of information about my account. I’ve used it a lot, and it’s a great tool. 

We have regular communications via emails, phone, and video calls. They like having monthly check-ins to review our progress and our SEO and PPC metrics. The team always looks at my current goals and keeps modifying what they do based on my goals. Moreover, they’re always responsive; this is especially true for Whitney. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’ve worked with another SEO company, and there’s zero comparison — HigherVisibility is so professional, and they communicate wonderfully. They get the job done. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

The team is great at driving visitors to my website, but I wish they could find a more focused niche in terms of prospects. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Ask as many questions as you can, and include questions that you might be unable to answer. If you have an idea and want to find out more information about it, ask questions about it. The HigherVisibility team will be happy to answer all your questions. They get the right answer for you. 

UPDATED REVIEW

This review was published on Sat, 06/05/2021 

Tom Rummel

Owner, MrCleanSD

Other Industry

1-10 Employees

San Diego, California

$10,000 to $49,999

Aug 2020 - Ongoing

Project summary

HigherVisibility has provided SEO services for a house cleaning company. The goals are to improve the client's website ranking in Google rank and grow web traffic.

Feedback summary

The engagement has led to a significant improvement in Google rank and website traffic, exceeding the client's business goals. HigherVisibility has executed a smooth workflow through informative dashboards and effective communication. They are driven, professional, and prompt.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Owner of MrCleanSD Maid Services

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We're constantly expanding our client base, and we wanted to expand our reach. I hired HV to provide top quality SEO services to improve our rankings and grow traffic to our existing pages.

SOLUTION

How did you select HigherVisibility and what were the deciding factors?

I Googled & Googled SEO companies to find the best. HV has many "best of" awards. I was so pleased to find out that their rates are not at the top too. After receiving their proposal, I felt sure that HV was the perfect fit.

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

Our engagement began with a discovery phase and I tried to answer many questions about my goals. Honestly at that point I was only clear that I needed much more traffic. They asked me for my top 3 competitors and they analyzed them. From there HV made on-site changes to existing pages, created a new page monthly, and got very focused on the keywords I needed for my industry.

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

They assigned a brand success manager. Over the months I've come to realize that they give their brand success managers all the access to all the tools needed. I say this because I have asked MANY questions about how adding various things would or wouldn't affect my SEO. My success manager always emailed me that she had emailed the exact person who would know the answer and often she would get back to me in the next couple of days.

Additionally, twice I've had calls with 3 or 4 HV staff where we conferenced, I communicated my goals and they brain stormed together. I cannot say enough about their stellar customer service.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Since implementing HV's SEO efforts we are ranking on the first page for around 25 keywords. Onsite traffic is steadily growing too. By the way, my industry in compacted with over 25 cleaning company websites in my service area. On top of that there are probably several hundred freelance house cleaners. So even with my very stiff competition, I am pleased with the results.

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

They've been great at managing my expectations. I love their client dashboard with pages of information and and quite a bit of statistics on my campaign. I almost exclusively use email to communicate because that works best for me, but they seem to always be ready to talk too. And they like to schedule a monthly call to provide updates and find out more about what I need.

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

HigherVisibility's level of professionalism and ease to talk with are great. But their customer service overall is stellar. I really appreciate their follow-through and willingness to deliver.

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

I'd like it if they'd try to upsell me on more ancillary SEO services. I believe my field is impacted with competition and I'd like to at least know the cost for even greater effectiveness. In all fairness though, it's only been 10 months into our relationship. I believe my upsell is around the corner.

RATINGS

Overall rating: 5

Thank you for your SEO results and customer service!!

Quality: 5

I'm hovering at around 25 keywords on the first page. They always provide expert answers to all my questions.

Cost: 5

I expected to pay 25% more.

Schedule: 5

They have always met me within my availability.

Willing to refer: 5

If you're among stiff competition, then HV is the one you want on your team.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We sell personalized and commercial insurance lines.

What is your position?

I am the office manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with HigherVisibility?

We wanted to have a better presence online, especially since this is the direction which the industry was taking. The younger generation tends to shop online more. We wanted a better reach and a more professional website that would grab customers' attention.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

HigherVisibility provided website development. They're not currently working on our online marketing.

How did you come to work with HigherVisibility?

We were referred to them by other businesses that had used their services. We decided to give them a shot.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The development cost for the website was around $1,500.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together 2 years ago. The website was launched within that time. The work is expected to be ongoing, as we will require more services from HigherVisibility, but I haven't been using them currently.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

The current website is much better than what we had before. It's more streamlined and looks more professional. HigherVisibility was fast and did a lot of the work for us, enabling our team to focus on the business. The site was launched online very fast.

We have gotten a lot more exposure than what we were getting. In the past, people weren't visiting our site a lot, and the ones that were, weren't contacting us. Currently, around 20% of our clients are ones who have found us online and contacted us through the website.

How did HigherVisibility perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management is very strong, the results speaks for themselves.

What distinguishes HigherVisibility from other providers?

I felt very comfortable with their team and their thought leadership in the industry. They seemed honest, direct and didn't try to upsell services. HigherVisibility did exactly what we asked for and did it quickly.

Is there anything HigherVisibility could have improved or done differently?

No. They did exactly what I needed them to do. I may have a different answer when we will use more of their services.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

I run a marketing agency in Memphis. Marketing Strategies serves a number of clients in the Mid-South. We mainly focus on public relations, product marketing, and website development. We've been in business for over 20 years.

What is your position?

I am the owner and founder of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with HigherVisibility?

We use HigherVisibility as a web development partner.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

HigherVisibility is our go-to partner when developing digital strategies, websites, and website campaigns for our clients. They've built many websites for us so far.

They handle SEO and other web marketing related items. HigherVisibility is Google-certified and they've always stayed ahead of the curve.

Our clients contract these services through us. We've brought HigherVisibility to the table but, if the client wanted another choice, we provided one. In most cases though, they've taken our recommendations, given that we work directly with the web people. Every client is different in terms of the products they sell and how they sell them.

How did you come to work with HigherVisibility?

We'd had some bad experiences with other developers. HigherVisibility is located close to us, in Memphis. Their company was recommended to us numerous times, so I called them and offered a few projects.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

Most of our clients are small businesses. We haven't worked on many big web development projects. A typical project will run between $10,000-30,000.

We did recommend a large project in Florida to HigherVisibility, featuring many search functionalities, but most of our clients aren't as complex.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working together for at least 8 years. We've grown together as companies.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

I don't typically hold web developers accountable for metrics. Many times, clients don't do what they're supposed to, so it can be a two-way street. In order for a website to truly work, many traditional elements need to be in place in order to attract traffic. There is no magic wand that can do this.

HigherVisibility is tasked with doing the backend work and we've been very happy with the results. I wouldn't expect them to build a website and see a flood of users immediately after.

How did HigherVisibility perform from a project management standpoint?

They're easy to work with and they're business people, which I appreciate. They aren’t your typical technical minds that often don’t understand business.

What distinguishes HigherVisibility from other providers?

HigherVisibility makes an effort in understanding what our objective is. I've liked working with them.

Is there anything HigherVisibility could have improved or done differently?

I don't think so. The only fear I have is that HigherVisibility will become too busy or big for my company.

BACKGROUND

I used to head marketing for a franchise marketing affiliate company in New Jersey. We were focused strongly on lead generation. It was one of the most competitive industries for lead generation.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

I actually don't remember how we found HigherVisibility because it was well more than a decade ago. I do remember that we found them just for SEO [search engine optimization] and moved quickly into website deployments.

SOLUTION

HigherVisibility worked for us for about 11 years. They were generally responsible for deploying, developing, and supporting 12 different websites using 12 different programming languages.

I was able to use HigherVisibility for a huge volume of client projects plus conference websites that came up from time to time. I trusted them completely to deploy websites on time with maximum efficiency. They did a great job overall with quality of work. Of course it wasn't perfect, but they always fixed mistakes.

I also had them market all of the websites, which required a ton of high-level organic SEO and PPC [pay-per-click] work. They managed large accounts, the projects grew in size and scale in time. They can handle dozens of different types of codes and website projects.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

They are extremely responsive. They will answer the phone and provide answers seven days a week. I can always call or email them and get a real answer. They always listen to client concerns. Their communication is strong. They care about the projects and clients. I have no improvements to suggest. I am confident in their abilities.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

The company for which I worked with HigherVisibility offered an innovative approach in talent recruitment for the Memphis area, through our website. We partnered with the local government in order to achieve this.

What is your position?

I was one of the founders of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with HigherVisibility?

They acted in a consultant capacity. We'd hired a marketing firm in order to achieve a more face-to-face approach. The end-result was not to our satisfaction, so we approached HigherVisibility.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

We gave HigherVisibility carte blanche to point us in the right direction. They provided a combination of SEO work and graphic design in order to create the whole infrastructure of our website, making it appealing to consumers in the job-search market.

How did you come to work with HigherVisibility?

Our company's aim was to remain a local service provider. The fact that HigherVisibility was located close to us resonated well. We liked that they had a Silicon Valley feel.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The total cost of their services was around $40,000. HigherVisibility far surpassed their agreed-upon work hours, doing a lot of complimentary work. We often went back-and-forth with new ideas and they were extremely accommodating to us as a startup.

We had a quid pro quo arrangement with their team. In order to offset some of our costs as a startup, we provided HigherVisibility with some internal recruitment services.

What is the status of this engagement?

The work is completed. The project lasted for a little over two years, ending in December of 2013. My company was eventually consumed by a larger client.

I am planning to meet with them tomorrow in order to discuss how we can increase traffic for my current company.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

We were a two-person team trying to climb the proverbial Mount Everest, competing with giants in the career-building market. HigherVisibility positioned us in the best way possible in order to succeed. We ended up being overwhelmed by the number of calls and inquiries we were getting. Our business model, from our perspective, was not the most sound, so we ended up asking their team to scale back some of their efforts.

How did HigherVisibility perform from a project management standpoint?

I always felt that they were willing to stop what they were doing in order to help us. They couldn't have set us up any better through their efforts.

They positioned themselves in order to serve us, offering advice and never pushing us into a decision. HigherVisibility offered very much a consultative approach. I'm very happy with them and I hope that they maintain the overall product distribution that they offered us.

What distinguishes HigherVisibility from other providers?

I don't have a lot of experience with other companies in the SEO space. It always seemed like whatever HigherVisibility was doing worked. The customer service part of their effort and the final product delivered to us were very impressive.

Is there anything HigherVisibility could have improved or done differently?

My company was trying to accomplish something that was not possible without a significant amount of capital. I cannot imagine HigherVisibility doing something differently though. They bent over backwards for us.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

My former company is a credit card marketing website.

What is your position?

I was the chief executive officer of the company. I oversaw all facets of marketing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with HigherVisibility?

I needed help in fixing SEO [search engine optimization] issues. I received a penalty two years prior to working with them. I went through a number of firms trying to get the problem resolved. HigherVisibility proved to be the last firm I needed to use.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

HigherVisibility was able to get my penalty removed within a month. They worked fast and knew what they were doing. For the next stage, they focused on organic link-building and site optimizations, which were very successful as well.

How did you come to work with HigherVisibility?

I found them through a referral.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The annual cost of their services was $30,000 to $35,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together for around a year and a half. I would still be working with HigherVisibility if I was still involved in that project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

HigherVisibility was able to remove a two-year penalty from my site. It was the number one reason for hiring them. In terms of post-penalty performance, they were able to restore and enhance a good portion of the listings that had been knocked out by Google Panda.

How did HigherVisibility perform from a project management standpoint?

I've used other firms. HigherVisibility stood out by coming in with a well-prepared plan. They didn't stall for the first couple of months but, instead, went right to work.

What distinguishes HigherVisibility from other providers?

They got results significantly faster than other firms I've worked with.

Is there anything HigherVisibility could have improved or done differently?

I've used a half-dozen SEO firms in the past. HigherVisibility are the only one that was actually good. They are better prepared and more professional than all other SEO agencies I worked with before. They come in ready to work and don't waste time planning on the client's dime.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are a small commodity-trading advisor. We provide tax, accounting, and financial segment services for small to mid-sized businesses. We have nine employees, including myself.

What is your position?

I am the owner of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with HigherVisibility?

My business partner had left the company, taking some of the work with him, so I needed to expand the business in order to sustain it and handle our fixed costs. My previous partner was not interested in making investments for this type of advertising.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

HigherVisibility did an excellent job in helping me modify the existing website for my company in order for it to be relevant for its particular keywords. It was structured in order to attract the clients I was looking for. I needed to reflect my company to prospective customers accurately.

HigherVisibility's services only include SEO [search engine optimization], but their team also offers backlinking. I talked to HigherVisibility about the possibility of making a blog for the site. I haven't seen the necessity of it, given the results I've received. I also considered making a newsletter for our clients, but I've come to see that they wouldn't appreciate it. They prefer only being notified about issues that are pertinent to them because of the amount of material of that kind that they already receive.

How did you come to work with HigherVisibility?

Two of my clients had used their company. I had watched their companies grow as a result.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The annual cost for their services is around $3,500.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've started working together three years ago [2013]. I work with HigherVisibility on a weekly basis.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

They send me rating reports for my business area. HigherVisibility has been exceptional, considering the small size of my company. I rank much higher than some other large companies in town in the areas that I'm aiming for. We have new clients within my target audience who are calling on a weekly basis.

We rank third within "Memphis CTAs." For a firm with nine employees, this is amazing. We rank first for "Memphis certified public accountants," "Memphis public accounts," and "certified public accountant Memphis." We're the second result for "cloud accountants." I could go on and on. It's amazing to me to see the number of terms on which we rank first. I could not pay for this kind of advertising on Google at the same budget. Besides their work, I only engage in limited Yellow Pages advertising. I receive plenty of business this way.

How did HigherVisibility perform from a project management standpoint?

They provide very good customer service. The person who initially set up our account gave us very good service, even though they were not one of the owners with which we had an existing relationship. I felt that it was a normal part of the process.

What distinguishes HigherVisibility from other providers?

We've spent a lot of time making the website work within the analytics provided by HigherVisibility. They educated me on the subject in order for me not to feel stupid about anything. As long as I did what they said, I felt we would be in good shape. They contact me on a monthly basis to make sure that everything is going well, and I'm not having any problems. Our initial account manager was promoted, so we were transferred to someone who is just as good. I have nothing bad to say about them at all.

Is there anything HigherVisibility could have improved or done differently?

Not that I can think of.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We publish websites, our most significant page being a personal finance one.

What is your position?

I am one of three owners of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with HigherVisibility?

We hired HigherVisibility in order to receive help breaking into the paid search market. We'd seen organic traffic in the past, but wanted to try that new approach. We were planning to utilize their SEO [search engine optimization] services, but we haven't done this yet.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

We wanted to try out credit card keywords, which is a competitive and expensive venture. They seem to be knowledgeable of this space and have good ideas about how to get traffic, so we will use them for an SEO audit in the future.

How did you come to work with HigherVisibility?

We looked around in order to see who the top firms were. An affiliate manager for credit cards referred HigherVisibility to us. One of Higher Visibility's principals has a lot of experience working in the credit card industry and having that niche experience was important to us. After talking to them about their past activity and their knowledge of the space, we decided to choose them. We had a discussion that lasted for several hours and were impressed with the amount of time HigherVisibility were willing to give us free and without having an ostentatious sales approach.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The budget managed by HigherVisibility per month is $30,000. They've managed the budget well, and we hope to bring that amount up to $100,000 within the next six months.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working with HigherVisibility since November 2015. The work has been exclusively to do with ad words, but we are starting to expand into other paid categories, like native advertising. We have not done any organic work.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

They've also helped with our landing pages, improving our conversion rates in terms of how long users spend on the site. This wasn't part of the original project, but we appreciated that HigherVisibility took the initiative to look outside of simply reducing the cost per click.

They've started additional AdWords campaigns, including Google display networks, and they've done some remarketing. These were also not part of our original campaign, but rather came as a suggestion later on. They turned out very well.

How did HigherVisibility perform from a project management standpoint?

Our direct contact is one of their principals, Scott Langdon. I've been very happy with the amount of time he's given us. We have two weekly calls in which he explains to us what's happening and what he wants to try next. He was very patient in answering questions and listening to our ideas for goal changes, giving us feedback in terms of what would or wouldn't work.

What distinguishes HigherVisibility from other providers?

I have no complaints. HigherVisibility have kept us in the loop in terms of changes with the work. I feel that we have a partnership and don't simply contract a service from their company. They've come to know more about our business model, beyond just the AdWords part. The landing page improvements made are one example of this.

Is there anything HigherVisibility could have improved or done differently?

More formal weekly reports would be a good addition. I'm happy that HigherVisibility are willing to talk to me on the phone twice a week though, which makes reports not completely necessary.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are a full-service accounting firm employing 48 attorneys. We're located in Memphis, Tennessee.

What is your position?

I am a partner and shareholder in the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with HigherVisibility?

We were looking to increase our presence within search engine results for multiple law-based searches.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

HigherVisibility offer us natural search engine optimization. We don't use any pay-per-click or other marketing services.

How did you come to work with HigherVisibility?

We found them through a referral.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The annual cost of HigherVisibility's services is $10,000 or more.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working together for three to four years. Our relationship has been ongoing. We use another marketing group that has redesigned our website. This has led to a short pause in the SEO [search engine optimization] work, but we intend to pick it back up.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

The work has definitely been successful so far. They're great. I have no specific metrics available, but HigherVisibility has increased our positioning within web searches.

How did HigherVisibility perform from a project management standpoint?

Conversion rates are a hard thing for us to measure. We can never know where clients come from, so I cannot make this correlation.

What distinguishes HigherVisibility from other providers?

They're easy to work with, accessible, and flexible in working with us in order to make modifications.

Is there anything HigherVisibility could have improved or done differently?

I can't think of anything.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

Our company owns a number of different short-term lending institutions with alternative lending solutions.

What is your position?

I am the Director Of Digital Marketing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with HigherVisibility?

The main business goal was attaining better search engine marketing through organic SEO for our different web properties.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

HigherVisibility provides organic SEO for us.

How did you come to work with HigherVisibility?

We interviewed a number of different companies during an extensive process. HigherVisibility seemed to know what they were talking about and seemed to be the easiest to work with. We liked their plans and values, and chose them as a result.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The annual cost of their services is between $50-200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The work is ongoing. We've been working with HigherVisibility for a few years.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

We are satisfied with them and the relationship has been successful. We have seen a rise in rankings for the web properties on which HigherVisibility worked. We are consistently ranked within the first page of search results.

How did HigherVisibility perform from a project management standpoint?

Their team is very responsive. We can call or email them at any time and expect to find help.

What distinguishes HigherVisibility from other providers?

Our account representatives are awesome. We've come to grow close to them. They're more of a friend or partner than someone which we're paying.

Is there anything HigherVisibility could have improved or done differently?

Not necessarily. SEO is an ever-changing beast, but HigherVisibility has stayed on the forefront of those changes.