HopInTop

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the owner of a B2B prospecting group. We focus on lead generation for our clients, exclusively using LinkedIn. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire HopInTop?

We wanted to rank organically our keywords.

What were your goals for this project?

We were looking to get organic traffic from Google.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We interviewed them several times. 

Describe the project in detail.

They worked on improving the organic ranking of first five, then 10, then 20 different keywords. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any statistics or metrics that speak to the quality of their work and impact of the engagement?

Our traffic from Google went from zero to 60. I’m very happy with the results—each milestone was met.

How did the HopInTop perform from a project management standpoint?

They performed perfectly. They delivered 100% on this project. They said they would be able to do it and then they did. I’m satisfied with that.

What impresses you about the HopInTop?

They’re transparent and accessible.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Not that I am aware of.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the Director of Operations and Vice President of Gaia Enterprises, Inc. We manufacture the products Safe Paw and Traction Magic.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with HopInTop.

We wanted to increase our SEO rankings. We also were doing a new product launch and wanted to have rapid growth on that level.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They enhance our rankings for SEO. For the past several years, they’ve worked on developing, utilizing, and targeting the proper keywords. It’s a major focus. They’ve also worked directly with our marketing and website development team to enhance certain features, and build a friendlier site.

Our company has two major brands. One of which has been around for a long time, which is Safe Paw, and is a 100% safe ice melter. It’s safe if ingested and for all surfaces. They worked very hard on getting those rankings up. The other brand and website is for Traction Magic, which is another safe product. They are instrumental in helping us develop that page.

They also manage all of our social media platforms, including Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram. We have the ability to post whatever we want, but they also have that ability on their end. They create their own smaller funnel pages which they promote and get pretty good traffic on with their ads. We also do ads together sometimes to hit a specific target that we think is important.

What is the team dynamic?

Chad [CEO, HopInTop] is our main point of contact and is in touch with me, and other two people from my company on a regular basis.

How did you come to work with HopInTop?

I sent out a message to a network of business professionals asking for recommendations. We got a bunch of suggestions and check them all out, at all different price ranges. Out of the 20 companies we were talking to, Chad, was one of the few that came to meet in the office face to face. He heard us out and made sure everything we wanted was aligned with what they could do. He spoke well and would develop a plan, and had a great level of confidence in his professionalism. We decided to give him a shot and then found out we had mutual friends who would also agree that he was doing a fantastic job. We ended up sticking with him and have been happy.

How much have you invested with them?

We spend between $35,000–50,000 per year.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together 4 years ago. After 2 years, we ended up hiring another company that was significantly more expensive and didn’t even close to the greatness that HopInTop did. We skipped that year, but the engagement is now ongoing again.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re usually one of the top 3 searches on most platforms, and definitely on the first page. There are some words that are more competitive than others, and some that we align with more than others. Everything is always going up.

How did HopInTop perform from a project management standpoint?

Their communication is fantastic. I’ve always been able to get in touch with them even after hours, so it’s something they’ve always been very good with. We tend to communicate primarily by phone or email.

We’re a seasonal company, so money only comes around once a year. We’re very careful about our spending and they did an incredible of not only sticking to the budget, but making the most of it. They go above and beyond, and more than is necessary. It feels like they’re invested in our success, so even if something is outside of their scope, they’ll sometimes take it upon themselves to go that extra mile. That’s a common thing here. They’re really great to work with.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The fact that they are willing to actually go the extra mile on other tasks for you. That’s what I really appreciate. They’ll typically do it themselves because they want us to succeed. They’re really good team players.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Graphic capabilities and design. They’re ok with it, but I don’t think it’s necessarily their specialty.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the owner and operator of Mora Salon.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire HopInTop?

We needed assistance with our website.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted an updated website to represent our salon.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I looked through various social media platforms for a web designer. A representative from HopInTop reached out to me during my search.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

We asked the HopInTop team to update our website with a new design.

What was the team composition?

I interacted with Chad (CEO, HopInTop) and several other resources.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

Initially, their work was great—I even recommended them to friends in the industry. Once we moved into the maintenance phase, the dynamic of our partnership changed. Chad and his team failed to meet our expectations. After spending a significant amount of time discussing my needs, there were still missing elements in their work. They didn’t add the salon’s holiday hours on the website, and they didn’t update the team page as requested. Following this negative experience, I will be retracting my previous recommendations.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Their project management approach was great at first, but as we moved through the project, Chad became very difficult. His sarcastic attitude was frustrating. He failed to answer emails in a timely manner, and there was a lot of unnecessary and unproductive back-and-forth discussions.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their design skills are pretty good.

Are there any areas for improvement?

They need to be more communicative and detail-oriented. Overall, HopInTop wasn’t committed to our project.

Company Responses

HopInTop responded on January 9, 2019. 

It is our intent to provide every client with a unique and pleasant experience. While we strive to remain professional and prompt in all correspondence with clients, we also expect similar decorum in return. We experienced challenges caused by your team that prevented us from fulfilling the requirements of the project. I believe that your review is unfair and unrepresentative of our company and our staff. We performed several tasks outside the parameters of our agreement in an attempt to meet requirements and provide committed service. For instance, we provided the hosting plan at a discount that matched the client’s former developer (who abandoned them). This plan included one hour of web development per a 30 day pay period. We did not charge extra for requests that amounted to 2.5 hours in one pay period. Every time a request was made, we provided instant customer service and solutions. As such, I do not find it fair to characterize us as inattentive or unmindful of project details.