Plaudit Design

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the marketing communications manager of Harmon.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Plaudit Design?

We needed a service provider to oversee the redesign and launch of our new corporate website. We had an existing website that was managed in-house and built on an outdated platform. Our company had a rebranding in the past fall, and we were looking to also update our site's technology and build a scalable solution. 

The main project's goal was for our new website to effectively capture our corporate rebranding and bring our messaging to life to better communicate our company's culture and strategy. We also wanted to better inform our stakeholders about our branding and have a new modern aesthetic that reflected our brand, since our new branding included new colors and a new logo. 

From a backend perspective, we wanted a more intuitive way to manage updates in the long term. We used a lot of resources to manage our previous site, which made the process clumsy. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Plaudit Design has designed and developed our new corporate website. The team has used programming languages and images similar to those used in our previous site, but the new site has been built from scratch on WordPress. Plaudit Design launched our website in January 2024 and provides hosting services. The team will also offer web maintenance in the future since I plan to request more development work. 

Plaudit Design monitors our site and has access and the ability to make updates. We have an active engagement with the team, and I'll rely on their support moving forward. I intend to tackle small and simple web updates, and anything that requires more complex development will be handed off to Plaudit Design. The team monitors the site's plug-ins and performance to ensure it operates properly.

What is the team composition?

I have four contact points with Plaudit Design and work with more teammates. Our primary point of contact acts as our project manager. He monitors we're on schedule and connects us with the development team to ensure our feedback is received. We also work with a web designer who has created our site's mock-ups before moving into development. We also worked with the team's co-founder and leader during the sales process before we hired Plaudit Design. 

Additionally, we work with several backend developers, and I communicated with a different teammate after our site was launched to set up WordPress accounts.

How did you come to work with Plaudit Design?

We found Plaudit Design through a Google search.
How much have you invested with them?

We've spent around $35,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Plaudit Design in July 2023, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Plaudit Design's work meets my expectations and has been responsive to our last-minute edit requests. The team is solutions-oriented and has brought our company's strategy and mission to our site. We're excited about the new site, and I have a high level of confidence moving forward. The team has designed a great product and been supportive after launch, and we expect to have their long-term support. 

Plaudit Design knows our site well and is able to develop any future requests. We feel supported and confident with their level of service and expertise. Plaudit Design has created functionalities and new tools that allow our team to manage our site efficiently and create a more sustainable solution for the future.

How did Plaudit Design perform from a project management standpoint?

Plaudit Design has knocked it out of the park regarding project management. The team delivers work on time and on budget and has exceptional communication via email. We collaborate via Google Docs and Google Sheets, and the team also uses Loom to record video demos for me.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Plaudit Design's project management sets them apart. I've worked with other design firms that don't manage the project but deliver design and development solutions. These companies usually expect the client to manage key inputs and keep the project on schedule. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can't think of anything for Plaudit Design to improve.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

I suggest setting up a regular cadence of meetings with Plaudit Design. Sometimes, the project manager and I didn't talk to each other in real-time for weeks, only through emails. We could've scheduled meetings every couple of weeks to connect and talk through things in real-time. We've succeeded without doing it, but it might have created better alignment. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Communications and Outreach Manager of Rice Creek Watershed District

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Manages, protects, and conserves the water resources of the Rice Creek Watershed in Minnesota.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Plaudit Design to accomplish?

• redesign of website
• update of website
• improvement of website

SOLUTION

How did you find Plaudit Design?

RFP submission

Why did you select Plaudit Design over others?

• High ratings
• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned
• Expertise

How many teammates from Plaudit Design were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Redesign, improve, and increase utilization and organization of the website for communication, education, and operations at the District.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

increased organization and visibility of our important policies and documents, created a more modern updated design, providing a clear organized layout of programs and information offered at the District.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Very organized, delivered items on time and completed task when said. Project was completed on time. Responded to emails quickly and answered questions quickly.

What was your primary form of communication with Plaudit Design?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Very organized process! Made it easy to stay on track and finish the project on time. They gave us options for design/layouts and worked with us to make custom layouts to fit our needs. They handled all our government policies and processes with ease; it was an overall great experience. Visits and utilization of our site and resources on it have increased dramatically. We get numerous compliments on our website from both professional staff and the general public!

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

No

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a neuropsychologist and owner of a private practice in neuropsychology. We specialize in providing assessments for ADHD and dyslexia.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Plaudit Design?

We were trying to do everything from branding and logo development to website design and online marketing.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We initially hired Plaudit Design to design our logo and build our WordPress website when we started. We provided them with content, copy for the website, information about our target audience, the language around the services offered, and more. They’ve done everything from scratch, including the color, fonts, logo, and business cards. They’ve also helped us with website management, maintenance, and Google Ads campaigns.

The website describes the clinical services we offer; they’re grouped by the types of concerns people might have when they reach out to us. Also, it describes the staff and includes an article section that serves as a place for me to maintain a blog. One of the key features is a contact form powered by Jotform.

Additionally, I started a second business, and they’ve done the same work for it.

What is the team composition?

First, we contacted a salesperson who introduced us to the process and discussed pricing. We’ve primarily worked with Michael (Creative Director & Co-Founder) is in charge of everything. Every question we have goes to him. We’ve also worked with Corey (Frontend Web Developer), who is in charge of the technical side of the website.

How did you come to work with Plaudit Design?

I just searched on Google for the best website designers in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

How much have you invested with them?

Between the two projects, we’ve spent close to $50,000–$100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2019, and our relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Customers report that they’ve chosen us due to our website. People always contact us and mention that they really liked the site’s look. Moreover, we had zero customers or income when we started, and we’ve increased that significantly. We’re probably one of the top three competitors in our region. Both companies have grown at an incredible rate, and it’s a product of the site’s functionality and their Google Ads management. 

How did Plaudit Design perform from a project management standpoint?

We’re very happy with their performance. Our main contact is extremely prompt in his replies, and they have an excellent system for project management. Their turnaround time is very efficient. Overall, it’s worked out great for us.

We usually communicate through email. We’ve had a couple of Zoom meetings, and sometimes they send videos or screenshots of how we can fix something when we have a question.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The quality of the product is outstanding — the website’s design and functionality are great. Also, they’re very professional and responsive. It’s nice to work with someone who knows our projects and vibe. They’re good at making things work, and everything’s consistent and accessible.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, we’re happy with them. I wouldn’t list any areas of improvement.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Work with them; your business will thrive. We’ve referred them to many friends and colleagues because we’ve been so happy with their responsiveness and professionalism.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an art director at Art Licencing. We license imagery for multiple products, such as t-shirts, hats, wall decor, or flags. We have over 800 artists and work with customers all over the world.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Plaudit Design?

We had a very old website that was out of date, and because we had 10,000 images in our system, we needed a new site for our customers to log into and select art. It was vital for us to have a functional, easily-accessible website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Plaudit Design built our new website from the ground up in WordPress. They also worked with FileMaker, which they integrated to interface with the site. The team helped us migrate our database from our old site into the new one. We requested the site’s design to be brighter and cleaner and asked for working enhancements that would allow images to scroll and move. 

We don’t make sales, so the site’s purpose is for display purposes only. Users log in, create a list of images and submit it. Plaudit Design built the site so that the list automatically comes to one of our licensing agents, who then gather information and create a contract.

The team added a feature that allows us to see our customers’ activity and what they’re selecting. This allows us to reach out to customers and offer similar artworks to expand on what they’re interested in. Plaudit Design included this data in our Google Analytics.

On the backend, Plaudit Design added functionalities for us to change images, access accounts, and change the homepage. We’d just posted our phone number and email for contact on the previous site. On the new site, the team added a contact page; users input information, submit it, and it automatically comes to the relevant person here.

Plaudit Design also set up keywords and search criteria within our system so users could find images. Our previous keywords had a lot of inconsistencies, and the team sorted through them, discarded the words that weren’t effective, and found the terms needed to search for whole categories from our catalog. 

Additionally, Plaudit Design has helped us with SEO. They are currently our managing and hosting company, adding enhancements to the website when needed.

What is the team composition?

I’m personally in contact with three people from Plaudit Design, including a designer, a developer, and Michael (Creative Director & Co-Founder), who directs the project. They had a group of developers working on the site, so the complete team included as many as 5–6 people. 

How did you come to work with Plaudit Design?

I did a general search looking for companies that could appeal to what we needed. I found that Plaudit Design had worked with another licensing company. Another reason I chose them was that they were familiar with FileMaker and had someone who could work with that platform.

I contacted them and asked them for an estimate, which was extraordinarily detailed and comprehensive. None of the other companies we talked to had anything quite like it. This estimate ultimately sold me on working with Plaudit Design — it was very thorough and accurate.

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we’ve spent approximately $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in August 2021, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Overall, we really like what Plaudit Design does. We’ve had some great feedback from customers who say the site is much more comprehensive and user-friendly. The process of logging in and creating an image list saves a lot of time in our work with the customer, which has been positive and made our workflow more efficient.

Moreover, we’ve received compliments from our artists, who are pleased we have a site that loads faster. Previously, the images were uploaded on our server, making the site slow. Now, the images are in the cloud, which makes the site load 100% faster.

We have a complicated system, and we knew migrating the data to the new site would be complicated and time-consuming. Plaudit Design completed the migration, and they came up with a great-working interface that can run the data daily and is pretty much hands-free.

The Plaudit Design team is very familiar with the experience of being on a website and know how users experience the functions, so they’ve been really good at advising on the best methods, how visuals should look, and how the user should move through the site to make it as simple as possible for our customers. 

Plaudit Design brings a really nice balance to our site’s functionality; the site isn’t too complicated and has a clean design. They make sure I’m familiar with the changes so I can manage the site. Accessing accounts is so much more user-friendly, and I can edit all the images on the homepage much easier. I don’t have to file a ticket to implement changes, which has also helped save time. 

How did Plaudit Design perform from a project management standpoint?

Although the project went through a longer timeframe than expected, we knew our system was problematic. Plaudit Design had to work out many details on the data flow, and as a result, the site’s development took two months longer than anticipated. However, we understand that they wanted to do this right.

Regardless of the delay, they were able to complete the project before our previous server ran out. We gave them a deadline for when the new site had to be up and running because we canceled our old service, and the site went live on time.

As for communication, we talk to each other on the phone, via Zoom, and through email. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Michael is a very personable, patient, and gracious person; he’s always calm and friendly, no matter what. During development, we were always calling Plaudit Design and changing direction, and they were never anything other than attentive — that stuck out to me. That nice, personable quality is particularly impressive when working with a partner remotely.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could improve on keeping an updated estimate of what’s part of the budget. We’ve asked them to do some extra work, and they could provide updates on the budget changes. That’s a pretty minor issue, though.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice would be to tell them exactly what you need and ask questions — they’re very knowledgeable. I’ve learned so much from Plaudit Design about how websites work and enhancements. 

Don’t be intimidated by entering into a project with them if you think you don’t know anything; they will help you understand what they can do for you and how it works. The team really does explain everything they’re working on, which is a bonus.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of Plastic Resource.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Plaudit Design?

We wanted to grow internet sales.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Plaudit Design designed our website as well as launched SEO and SEM campaigns. The first project was to build our website.

Their team first sat down with us to learn about our business and what we were trying to accomplish. Then, they put forth a detailed proposal and timeline. Once we agreed on those plans, their team commenced the work. They completed the work in the timeframe promised and below budget.

Their team’s our full-service digital marketing provider. They work with us on an ongoing basis to do SEO, SEM, and other Internet-related marketing activities. Their team integrated a survey for customers after receiving an order from us. Their team’s also done blog writing for SEO purposes. They manage all of our email campaigns too. Recently, Plaudit Design refreshed our website to accommodate changes in online marketing.

What is the team composition?

At any one time, we’re working with about three people from the Plaudit Design team.

How did you come to work with Plaudit Design?

We interviewed 3–4 agencies. Their price was competitive, and the proposal was easy for us to follow. Both the proposal for building our website and for our ongoing relationship were easy to understand. We also liked the fact that Plaudit Design was a medium-sized agency. They also had done good work with other customers. Those were some of our considerations.

How much have you invested with them?

Over a six-year period, we’ve invested more than $300,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in 2014 and our partnership’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

On our spend with them, we’ve earned multiples of that in terms of profitability. As Google algorithms and digital marketing change, they adjust accordingly. When we started with their team, our measure of success was immediate. Those measures involved organic leads and search rankings predominately.

As the Google algorithms evolved, we started to invest in PPC and Plaudit Design structured our efforts in such a way that we achieved a positive ROI on any PPC spend. That was true from the moment that we started the campaigns until now. 

How did Plaudit Design perform from a project management standpoint?

We have a monthly review with their lead project manager and have intermittent communication as needed. Their team did the work that they said they were going to do and completed when they said they were going to complete it.

More importantly, their team was able to work with autonomy. They learned our business and figured out a path of how to present our company without much direction from us.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The quality of their people is most impressive. Their team operates in a similarly customer-centric manner. They do tasks on time and communicate well. But also, their team has an innate understanding of digital marketing. They got to know our business not just from a digital marketing standpoint but also the deeper concepts that drive our business.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t know if this is possible, but they could be on the frontend of any algorithm changes. Not that their team isn’t, but it’s important to be ultra-proactive with those changes. One of the biggest challenges to any company is how to respond to changes in digital marketing quickly.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Listen to them and their experiences with presenting a business online. They bring an unbiased, third-party perspective. Sometimes, people who are too close to the business see the digital presence through their own lens rather than that of their customers. Plaudit Design’s trustworthy in that regard.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Marketing Manager of Summit Orthopedics

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are a physician-owned o practice in the Twin Cities metro area specializing in diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation with a personalized approach to e the highest standard of care for each patient.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Plaudit Design to accomplish?

• Website redesign
• Better end user experience

SOLUTION

How did you find Plaudit Design?

• Online Search
• Referral

Why did you select Plaudit Design over others?

High ratings

How many teammates from Plaudit Design were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

• Discovery and Analysis: Plaudit took the time to understand our goals and our existing website performance. 
• Planning and Strategy: Based on the insights gained from meeting with our internal team, a sitemap, and wireframes was developed. 
• Design 
• Development and Implementation 
• Testing and Quality Assurance 
• Training and Handover 
• Launch and Post-launch Support

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Our internal teams meticulously reviewed each phase of the project, guided by benchmarks established by our leadership teams. Progress was gauged based on the completion status of key milestones such as design, content, wireframes, page builds, pre-launch preparations, and ultimately, the launch itself. The ultimate measure of success was achieving a seamless and exceptional end-user experience upon launch.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Working with the project management team was a pleasure. They consistently kept us informed, promptly communicating any schedule adjustments, whether ahead of schedule or due to delays. While some delays were encountered, mainly stemming from external integration factors beyond Plaudit's control, the team remained highly responsive and proactive throughout the project.

What was your primary form of communication with Plaudit Design?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Before embarking on the redesign, we recognized the complexity of our website, knowing it would be a significant undertaking for any team. Plaudit rose to the challenge and delivered a design that not only boasts aesthetic appeal but also enhances functionality for our patients. 

Following testing and launch, we identified areas for improvement, and Plaudit proved exceptionally responsive to our requests. Throughout the project, we encountered unique challenges, yet their team demonstrated creativity and adept problem-solving skills to address them effectively.

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

N/A

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am a Manager at JP Trading

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Food distribution wholesale

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Plaudit Design to accomplish?

• Create a new website
• Have a product catalog

SOLUTION

How did you find Plaudit Design?

Online Search

Why did you select Plaudit Design over others?

• High ratings
• Close to my geographic location

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Completely redesign of our website and included individual product pages with item codes and also added ecommerce.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Had webpages designed in Adobe and were able to show me before importing to WordPress

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

We had over 3000 different product items they had to create webpages for so it took some preparation time on both of our ends. At times they waited on me, and other times I waited on them. Because of this, we were very open with our expectations because we had been communicating the whole time.

What was your primary form of communication with Plaudit Design?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

I was impressed by the team's kindness and prompt communication.

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

No