PageUp Media.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of Total Recall Publications, a company that publishes hardcover, paperback, and e-books in many formats, including Kindle, Nook, ePub, Apple, iBook, and audiobooks. We also have a hub imprint called Mousegate Press, which publishes primarily young adult and juvenile books. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with PageUp Media?

We were building a sub-website related to the publishing industry. I’ve worked with several webmasters over the years, and I currently work with 2 other webmasters. I connected with PageUp online and liked the work they had displayed, so I chose them over the other webmasters with whom I work. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

PageUp built the site from scratch using PHP, WordPress, JavaScript, and other development tools. They did all the design based on my concept.  

The site allows authors to get in touch with other industry professionals such as book editors, fellow authors, book reviewers, publicists, and book website developers. If someone’s looking for an editor, he or she can search through the people that have registered as an editor.

How many resources have been assigned to your project?

I dealt with a single person, but I don’t know how many other people were working on the project.

How did you come to work with PageUp Media?

I found them online. I called their company and talked to someone about development, and he sold me on their ability. I enjoyed talking to him. He seemed to have a desire to make my project work.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in January 2015, and the bulk of the work was completed within 6 or 7 months. We continue to fine-tune the site. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or impact of the engagement?

They did a great job and delivered high-quality work. I’m very satisfied with their accomplishments and the progress of the website. The design perfectly matches my goals.

How did PageUp Media perform from a project management standpoint?

They were quite organized. I talked to a single individual throughout the process. When they performed a task, I accepted it, and they moved onto the next phase of the project. We communicated online. We didn’t have a specific deadline, but they outperformed what I expected.

What did you find most impressive about PageUp Media?

I appreciate the overall design and the unique interactions within the website.

Are there any areas PageUp Media could improve?

No, I think everything is working the way it should. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are an Osaka-based importer and retailer of handmade carpets in Japan since 1995. We registered our site domain in 2000 and were the first Japanese carpet retailer to expand into the online market.

I’m the managing director, and I’m in charge of advertisement and site development. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with PageUp Media?

Until 2012, we were using a simple HTML platform for our site. We selected an expensive Japanese developer to change our site to an e-commerce platform with multi-admin access. But, after finishing, we found out that multi-language administration is not possible. Through my research of admin and frontend solutions, I found an open-source CMS platform called Joomla. After visiting different demo sites, we decided to use Joomla as our e-commerce platform, specifically a component called Joomshopping, which was pretty easy to use. This prompted me to search for a developer with this skill set.

I am not a programmer, but I’m willing to pay for development skill. My primary concern was and still is avoiding downtime. I also wanted to keep the site’s position on the first page of search engine results.  

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of the work and PageUp Media’s involvement in greater detail.

After selecting the CMS [content management system] and e-commerce template, we needed help migrating and importing content to the site was the most important task. PageUp Media performed well by presenting 2–3 different templates, helping us select the best option, and customizing the final template according to our needs. At this point, we can use the test site for our e-commerce.

We needed the template to be installed according to our needs, so we asked them to help us with creating new modules, customizing the chosen template, deploying SEO methods, and configuring a new dedicated server. I didn’t know how difficult that’d be to accomplish, but they always had a solution for our requests.

They joined our team once we decided we needed a CMS e-commerce site and continued supporting us for a year and a half until I had to pass the company management to my younger brother due to health concerns.

How did you come to work with PageUp Media?

I searched for developers on Upwork and selected PageUp Media based on their previous experience with Joomshopping.

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

In total, we paid about $5,000–$6,000 for the engagement.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in the beginning of 2014, and we finished in May of 2015.  

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What are the results of the project, and are there any statistics or metrics you can share?

Unfortunately, I don’t have any exact metrics. They helped us implement the CMS, which we can access from any place in our preferred language with full support. We can restore the site in less than 5 minutes in the unlikely event of an issue. We can do backups on a daily basis and change our template every 2–3 months according to the season. The finished site is mobile-friendly, which boosted our user numbers according to Google Analytics. That was really an achievement.

The updated site met our needs and now includes a product feed that we can use on Amazon, Google shopping, or other Japanese platforms. Users can view our 2,000 products online in a matter of minutes, which has increased our sales.

Now, my staff can reach the admin site from within and outside of Japan, create or edit product content, and publish a blog entry from a mobile device.

Based on customer feedback, our site is user-friendly and makes it easy to find products, which has really outdistanced our competition.

How did PageUp Media perform from a project management standpoint?

They did a great job. In Japan, punctuality to the minute is incredibly important. Our project manager could solve any CMS or PHP issue almost instantly.

They delivered everything on time or even ahead of schedule.

Did you use any specific tools to collaborate with PageUp Media?

We communicated via email and Skype. They were very responsive. They offered great feedback, and I was really impressed with their abilities. 

Is there anything PageUp Media could have improved or done differently?

They did everything we requested.