Ignite Visibility

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the VP of operations for Inspection Certification Associates, a home inspection training company. We offer online or classroom training courses to become a certified or licensed home inspector.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Ignite Visibility? 

We wanted to improve our organic search rankings for key terms.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement? 

Ignite Visibility started with an exploratory process. We liked what we heard and decided to engage with them. They regularly post blogs and create social media content for us. Their main focus is on making improvements to our existing website content. They also develop new web pages that specifically address key search terms of prospective customers. 

We work closely with them on keyword research in terms of identifying the most relevant and highest converting keywords based on our industry experience. They rely on their SEO expertise to match our list with what they feel are the biggest opportunities. They also take a collaborative approach to updating the website, letting us review changes before they go live. They make some structural changes to the site in terms of the way certain pages link to one another and overall navigation. 

What is the team composition?

Our main contact is Seth (SEO project manager, Ignite Visibility). In total, we’ve worked with five people including a sales representative and a social media manager.

How did you come to work with Ignite Visibility? 

I initially found them on Clutch. I looked at other sites to cross-reference their positive reviews. We narrowed our list down to our top three and wanted to learn more about each agency. I judged them largely by how quickly each responded to our inquiry. Ignite Visibility got back to us right away. We set up a call, and it all fell into place. 

How much have you invested with them?

Our deal is $6,800 per month, so we’ve spent around $60,000 so far. 

What is the status of this engagement? 

The project started in June 2018, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Ignite Visibility does a really good job. I'd be hard pressed to find anything that hasn't significantly improved from an SEO perspective. They’re helping us not only rank higher for terms where we already ranked, but also helping us rank for terms that we were not ranked at all before. As our organic rankings increase, we've seen that translate to significant increases to our revenue and bottom line earnings. It's a huge difference from our experience with other SEO providers in terms of the effectiveness of their efforts.

How did Ignite Visibility perform from a project management standpoint? 

Their team is excellent. Ignite Visibility is as close to perfect from a project management perspective as I can possibly give. We use email and Basecamp. Basecamp in particular works really well. We also have weekly phone calls. They produce a monthly report on how our keywords rank and how it’s changed month-over-month and year-over-year. 

Response time is key for me, and Seth is great. He has an “open phone” policy whenever something comes up. I can pick up the phone and call him anytime I have a question or need anything. He's been kind enough to provide us with his cell phone as well. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Ignite Visibility has a unique ability to dial-in and get results on the key search terms. The previous provider delivered monthly increases in terms that aren’t relevant to us. It wasn’t helpful to improve on search terms that we knew didn't convert well or had a low search volume. Ignite Visibility is improving the high dollar, high volume search terms that matter most for us. We had mixed results in the past with improvements on the number one and number two search terms. Ignite Visibility can effectively drive results. 

Are there any areas they could improve? 

No, I can't think of anything at this point. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers? 

Pay attention to all of the details when evaluating SEO providers. Many of them make promises that they’re unable to deliver on. Look at a lot of reviews. Judge the companies based on the quality and timeliness of your initial interaction. If a company is responsive before you spend any money with them, that's usually a good sign of things to come.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m a senior project analyst at Extraordinary Conceptions. We connect egg donors and surrogate mothers to future parents around the world.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Ignite Visibility?

We hired Ignite Visibility to improve our SEO and PPC both domestically and internationally. Our agency has three main client types, and due to the nature of the fertility industry, standard marketing practices & techniques are not typically successful. In our experience, successful strategies come from innovative ideas, patience, and quick thinking and action.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to improve our lead and conversion rates for all three client types, expand our international market, and dominate the local marketplace for one of our clients in particular.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I was introduced to Ignite Visibility while taking a class at UCSD taught by Alan (Director of Strategy, Ignite Visibility). After completing the course, I continued to research his company and found they excelled in SEO and PPC. It took me over a year to convince our CEO that we needed Ignite Visibility to take us to the next level.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

After signing with Ignite, we met a few times to introduce them to our brand and our unique industry. We discussed short term and long terms goals and strategies and worked up an initial plan of action. This included digital content, paid online ads, social media content, and some internal print media for our clients.

What was the team composition?

We’ve worked with their head of paid media, director of strategy, director of analytics and technology, and several paid social media experts. Other specialists have been brought on as needed.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Since working with Ignite, our key client-base has nearly doubled, and leads and conversion rates have also grown. SEO and PPC have both improved vastly, but PPC has contributed the most to our lead generation growth. Our paid campaigns have become so effective that we’ve doubled our spend and expanded our use of them to all three client types, instead of only one.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Their communication has been excellent from the start. We use Basecamp for most of our interactions and hold a weekly call to ensure everyone is on track and deadlines are met.

For PPC in particular, their director of analytics and technology has consistently gone above and beyond in answering any questions we have. Their dedication to our account has surpassed that of every marketing agency we’ve worked with.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Everyone is dedicated, knowledgeable, and easy to work with. One of the selling points for our CEO was the exclusivity clause in the contract. We'd worked with other agencies who partnered with our local competition and used unethical tactics. Having a team we can trust absolutely is necessary, and we've found that with Ignite Visibility.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Sadly, we’ve had a few people leave our specialized team, typically for promotions. While the transitions have been virtually seamless, we've been disappointed to lose such talented individuals.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our company is an online test preparation provider, offering tests ranging from nursing and teaching certifications to human resources and medical assistance. I’m the owner and president.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Ignite Visibility?

Our initial engagement was to get organic keywords higher on Google and Bing. We’ve since expanded the work into other areas.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They initially worked on our SEO. We recently added a CRO (conversion rate optimization) service from them, as well as a PPC service. They manage our paid Google, Bing, and Facebook advertising.

A lot of people from our company come from a programming background, but we’re less knowledgeable about the presentation layer. Ignite has given us some great ideas on how to optimize conversion rates, including changes for our shopping cart funnels and increases to our overall sales.

What is the team composition?

We work with three teams, each with a project lead. The SEO team is led by Burkan (Director of Digital Strategy, Ignite Visibility) as a technical project manager, who’s one of the best people I’ve ever worked with. He understands our business completely and goes out of his way to make sure that everything is done promptly.

We also have a CRO specialist who comes up with wireframes detailing how they think our site should look on mobile versus desktop, but in blueprint fashion. He does a great job of explaining the psychology and rationale of why we’d want things to flow in a certain way.

Finally, the PPC manager has also produced some good results from them so far. Everything’s trending in the upward direction.

How did you come to work with Ignite Visibility?

We’d never used an SEO provider before, although we have worked with PPC companies. We weren’t satisfied with our provider at the time, then Ignite was the first result we came across on Google—we figured that they must be doing something right.

We interviewed them and 3–4 other companies. What impressed us the most about Ignite was that they kept a smaller number of clients per project manager so that we would get more personalized attention. They did a free audit of our website and gave us a PowerPoint presentation on how they could improve it. It was clearly better than the other options, and we’ve been very happy with the service so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Ignite in September 2018, and the collaboration is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Ignite is the most productive subcontractor we’re working with, and this is why I agreed to review them. They’ve made a significant impact on the SEO side. Each month, more and more of our keywords are in the top 10, and they’ve more than doubled the keywords that are on the first page of Google and Bing. We’re now making more than what we’re paying them. In other words, it’s well worth the money. It’s hard to make a direct correlation between the changes they’ve made and the evolution of our Google keywords, but, given how many of them have moved up, there’s no question that our revenue is higher.

It’s the same with CRO. We’ve seen a bump since the work started, so we’ll be working with Ignite indefinitely. We’re very happy. The PPC is also rending in the right direction. Our click-through rates are up, and the return on ad spend has increased by about 15%.

How did Ignite Visibility perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re excellent. In fact, we’re slower to get back to them than they are to send information to us. They use an application called Basecamp, which keeps everyone in the loop—they assign to-dos to us, and we do the same. All the people who are supposed to get the information, get it.

There has been a little turnover on their side; it hasn’t really affected us, but it did worry me. It seems to have settled down, and they’ve told me that it’s something that typically happens in Q1 with companies like theirs. The core team of project managers has been steady, and there was no performance drop-off after they hired new people. Burkan is their strongest member, in my opinion.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I appreciate the weekly calls. With the other companies we’ve used, there was nothing scheduled, and we’d have to proactively call them. Every week, Ignite goes over our metrics and performance, and they’ve given us an online dashboard so that we have to wait for the weekly meeting. They have a lot of great tools and are transparent about what they do. They’ll even tell us what software they use to retrieve this information. Their transparency is definitely top-notch, above our old company’s.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The turnover was the only thing that concerned me. It affected the SEO and the PPC work, but it couldn’t be avoided. In an ideal world, we’d like to work with the same people all the time, but that doesn’t happen. It’s the fact that there are dozens and dozens of SEO companies near each other in the California region.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Listen to what they say as they really know their stuff and do a great job of maintaining communication. Weekly meetings aren’t just optional; we have them on our calendars as a recurring event, with all three teams. Using Basecamp streamlines that whole process. They do a good job of enabling us to see what’s going on, while not being inundated. So far, we’ve achieved results in all three projects we’ve engaged with them on.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of a large real estate development company. I’m in charge of the international fundraising efforts for our company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Ignite Visibility?

We hired Ignite Visibility to help with our marketing needs. We wanted to improve our global reach with digital marketing and SEO.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Ignite Visibility started the engagement with a site audit and keyword research. They helped us create a set of keywords and phrases based on the analysis we did. They manage PPC efforts on primarily Google and Bing. For the website, their team also helped with persona mapping, desktop and mobile reviews, and site updates for optimization. They also set up our Google Analytics account and manage it.

Their team also created content for our blogs. We review and approve each post, and they contribute materials regularly. Additionally, they perform research on our competitors and support reverse engineering efforts. For social media, they created our Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram accounts and manage our posts. Their team is also working to develop sub-accounts that will be translated to support our international efforts.

What is the team composition?

There is a project leader for both the SEO side and paid-search side of the project. They lead the team of 10 or more people through the process and keep in contact with us.

How did you come to work with Ignite Visibility?

We found Ignite Visibility online and interviewed them, along with 10 other companies. Their presentation was the most impressive, in-depth one we received in which they examined our strategy and explained their approach moving forward. They also marketed themselves as a skilled team with international experience, so we decided to give them a chance.

How much have you invested with them?

Overall, we’ve spent between $250,000–$500,000. For the SEO services, we spend $12,000 per month, and they have a fixed management rate of $6,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since November 2018 and the services are ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve seen steady, significant growth since we began working with Ignite Visibility. We began the project with zero traffic on our website, and we now see over 10,000 monthly views and our click-through rate is immensely improved.

How did Ignite Visibility perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re very good at managing the work and staying organized through Basecamp. We primarily communicate through that platform and receive email notifications whenever there is a relevant update. It has been very easy to work with them, and the right person is always available for our needs and questions.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They truly know what they’re doing. Their team is willing to spend time finding the best solution and creating a strong strategy. Even though I have limited expertise in social media, they help us formulate plans to move forward with that I am confident in. For example, they just developed a grassroots strategy for us to utilize in the future.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They’re doing a great job, and an interesting test will be when they need to manage our future international efforts.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Ask plenty of questions and gain as much insight from their team as you can. They have deep knowledge, especially within the international marketing realm. They’re receptive to feedback and value strong communication, so stay involved in the process and collaborate on the strategies.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the digital marketing and e-commerce director for Rio Grande, a supplier for the jewelry industry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Ignite Visibility?

We sought to consolidate our digital ad spend of Facebook, Pinterest, Google Ads, Bing, and other ad platforms.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to optimize and increase the return on our ad spend.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We sent RFPs to various vendors and Ignite Visibility came in with an exceptional offering and presentation.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Ignite Visibility managed our digital ads offering and optimized them to deliver a high return.

What was the team composition?

I worked closely with their account manager and various technical resources.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We saw three times the return on ad spend that we had with our previous vendor. A big piece missing from our ads prior to Ignite Visibility was the visibility and understanding of the potential our ad offering was bringing. They changed this by reporting bi-weekly, then weekly on ad performance. They’ve cleaned up our accounts, worked through Google Ads, and optimized Google Tag Manager.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Their process of weekly updates and feedback has been flawless. Our point of contact has been incredibly detailed in his work and has ensured tremendous results.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Our account manager dedicated his time and effort to our projects and made us feel like his top priority.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, except to continue to increase transparency.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the director of information systems and data compliance at IRISYS, LLC. We’re a pharma contract manufacturing and development company. In my role, I managed the digital marketing project.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Ignite Visibility?

We’d just redone our website but had no online presence, digital marketing knowledge, nor plan. As a result, we reached out to Ignite Visibility to provide a digital marketing strategy.

What were your goals for this project?

Our main objective was to increase our online presence to get more customers.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We met with about six different agencies before selecting Ignite Visibility. They presented a more complete proposal than the other companies, and their prices were reasonable.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Ignite Visibility presented a comprehensive digital marketing plan that included SEO, conversion rate optimization (CRO), press releases, blogging, PR outreach, and social media management. Afterward, they divvied the tasks and managed our digital marketing efforts. They now continue to provide ongoing services as needed.

What was the team composition?

The team consists of an account rep, project manager, SEO expert, and social media expert.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We’ve increased our Google search rankings substantially, which has driven 150% more traffic to our site.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Their workflow is very effective. They use Basecamp to organize all of the tasks and manage the whole project.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They’re very organized and meticulous when managing our project. They present all deliverables on time, properly check off tasks in Basecamp, and make themselves available for phone calls when we have questions.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Instead of adhering to the specifics on our original contract, we wish they would be more adaptable and take the initiative to recommend strategy changes that would better fit our industry. We’ve made some changes in the end, but it took a while to figure things out.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the marketing and admissions director of Sheer Recovery LLC, a drug and alcohol abuse treatment center. We offer all levels of care including detox, in-patient, and out-patient services from a residential location.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Ignite Visibility?

We contracted Ignite Visibility primarily for SEO, though they also do PPC and social media management.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to improve our website’s overall functionality, relevance, and keyword rankings.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

A trusted friend and successful business owner recommended them to me. I have extensive experience in SEO, and Sheer operates in one of the most competitive online search industries, so choosing a good vendor was of the utmost importance. Ignite Visibility exceeded all my expectations.

Describe the project in detail.

They’re working with us on an ongoing optimization effort to increase our domain strength and page rank on Google, Yahoo, and Bing. In 12 months, Ignite Visibility has refreshed our website and added multiple pages of content and new conversion techniques. I expected them to have trouble developing content for our industry because so few understand it competently, but they published good research and commentary with our press releases.

What was the team composition?

I have weekly phone reviews to check their progress and add insight into ongoing projects. The conference usually consists of the project manager, social media manager, content writers, and developers when necessary.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

More than anything, they do what they say they’ll do, which more than I can say for many vendors. The Ignite team has increased our overall traffic by 30% and grown our conversions via on-site techniques.

How did the Ignite Visibility perform from a project management standpoint?

Their team is great to work with. Our weekly conference calls and email updates keep everything organized, and they turn requests around quickly, even last-minute ones. We can always rely on Ignite to get the job done.

What impresses you about the Ignite Visibility?

Their task organization and milestone approach were good to see. I was able to track their work. Seeing things completed week to week was a big relief.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I’m very satisfied with Ignite Visibility’s services.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of marketing at Universal Funding Corporation, an invoice factoring company. We help companies resolve cashflow gap issues through lending. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Ignite Visibility?

We were spending a significant amount of funds on digital advertising, but the quality and quantity of our leads were steadily decreasing. We needed to find a more qualified PPC specialist who could deliver profitable results.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Ignite Visibility has a full suite of digital marketing services, but we only needed them to help us to refine our PPC marketing efforts. Before initiating any new campaigns, they reviewed our Google AdWords profile and removed all of the unnecessary keywords and paid features that weren’t yielding results. They started with Google ads and eventually expanded our ad reach to Bing and various social media platforms. Their team also helped us create new landing pages.

What is the team composition?

Two PPC specialists are assigned to our account.

How did you come to work with Ignite Visibility?

We searched online for Premier Google Partners and found Ignite Visibility.

How much have you invested with them?

Including ad spend and management fees, we pay a little more than $70,000 each month.

What is the status of this engagement?

They started managing our PPC accounts in June 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We didn’t realize how poorly our Google AdWords account was performing until Ignite Visibility pointed out all of the inefficiencies. In three months, they miraculously increased our conversion rate by 300%, increased our conversion volume by 12%, and reduced our cost-per-click. With our previous PPC provider, we only saw 50% conversion from our monthly $80,000 ad spend. Ignite Visibility has decreased our waste spend dramatically, so we’re finally getting a positive ROI.

How did Ignite Visibility perform from a project management standpoint?

Basecamp is our central communication hub, but we also have weekly phone conferences to review their progress and discuss updates and action items. They always send a follow-up email to summarize the meeting and address any of our questions. We also have access to the Data Studio account where all of our metrics are aggregated. They’re very action-oriented in regard to deadlines; we’re notified in advance if the timeline needs to be adjusted.

What did you find most impressive about them?

No one understands the intricacies of PPC marketing better than Ignite Visibility. We assumed that it would take six months to see results, but it only took their genius team 90 days to maximize our profits. While our previous vendor simply followed what’s outlined in the scope, Ignite Visibility works diligently to find strategies that work for us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Although there’s always room for improvement, I’ve haven’t noticed any red flags while working with them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

For the best results, view the engagement as a group effort. It’s important to ask them a lot of questions to understand the impact that their work makes. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the CMO for DataPath, Inc., a software company in the benefits administration market. My responsibilities include branding, communications, social media, product marketing, PR, and promotions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Ignite Visibility?

We were looking for someone to manage our social media and provide ongoing SEO guidance.

What were your goals for this project?

We were aiming to maintain our engagement rates’ position in the market and grow our organic traffic significantly.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We conducted a standard RFP process and then met individually with the finalists. We ultimately decided on Ignite Visibility because their proposed action plan proved to be better and more comprehensive than their competitors'. They weren't the most affordable, but their proposed rates were reasonable.

Describe the project in detail.

Our engagement is less an isolated project and more an ongoing effort. That being said, we did establish a statement of work (SOW) and an internal, quarterly project plan. We meet regularly to discuss the progress of items listed in both the SOW and the project plan. After working with Ignite Visibility for a little while, we also started utilizing their PPC services.

What was the team composition?

We generally work with a project manager, a social media analyst, and a PPC analyst.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We lead all our competitors in social media followers and engagement and have seen more than 200% year-over-year growth in organic traffic from unique visitors. Our keywords rankings have also exhibited steady growth. We’re pleased to be hitting the annual goals we've developed for our SOW and project plans.

How did the Ignite Visibility perform from a project management standpoint?

Our Ignite Visibility project manager is fantastic. We meet once a week via phone, and she keeps us updated with weekly status reports. She’s highly responsive to our questions and concerns.

What impresses you about the Ignite Visibility?

Ignite has an extremely talented team that listens to our needs and then works hard to meet them. They have a deep understanding of digital marketing that has proved invaluable as we create strategies to move our company forward.

Are there any areas for improvement?

There’ve been a few areas we've identified in the past but they addressed those items quickly and sufficiently. They’re a rapidly growing company, so my only suggestion to them would be to focus on maintaining the great level of customer service they currently offer.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of an online marketplace that specializes in hemp-based wellness products.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Ignite Visibility?

Our site traffic had decreased significantly over the past two years, so we were in desperate need of an SEO provider.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Their original scope only included their SEO services. In an attempt to improve our search engine ranking, they produced an SEO campaign and fixed all of the 404 errors, broken links, and other technical issues that decreased our rank. They also provide consulting services for our content staff. We eventually added email marketing and PPC services to their scope of work.

What is the team composition?

Three leads were assigned to our account for SEO, email marketing, and PPC respectively.

How did you come to work with Ignite Visibility?

We reached out to them after reading their impressive reviews on Clutch. They had previous success with other online stores, so we decided to work with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $100,000 with them so far. After adding PPC and email services, our monthly fees increased from $6,000 to $12,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our partnership began in October 2017 and is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our email-based revenue has increased from $30,000 to $60,000 since bringing Ignite Visibility on board. Unfortunately, we haven’t experienced any success with their SEO and PPC services; rather, organic growth has dropped by 40%. Although our results to date have been disappointing, we understand that a lot of external factors contribute to our traffic decline.

How did Ignite Visibility perform from a project management standpoint?

Expectations were established during the early stages of the project, and they continue to surpass communication goals. We have weekly phone conferences with the SEO and email teams, while the PPC team sends us emails sporadically.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We enjoy working with them because they go above and beyond to accommodate our needs.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We receive regular reports from the email team, but we don’t get any documentation for PPC and SEO. Having access to our metrics could give us more insight on which techniques are working and which strategies aren’t effective.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Any company with a mailing list of more than 100,000 customers should consider hiring Ignite Visibility to maximize profits.