SEO Brand

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

To be honest, it would be hard for me to put our success in terms of statistics or hard metrics. Our success has been project-based. We work with them, we get the project done, and then they oversee our technical aspects month by month. We’re not working with them for advertising or any type of marketing, so I couldn't give you metrics or KPIs [key performance indicators] based on SEO Brand’s performance.

When they made the website for us, it had to go through a large internal review prior to being launched. It went through all the degrees of our web presence checklist. First, it was processed through our marketing department, which is about five people. It was then reviewed by our sales team, which is about 10 people. Finally, it was reviewed by all of our executive staff, our VPs—everybody, really—to get an assessment across the bar. Our VP of quality, regulatory, finance, innovation, and operations all took a look at it, as well as our CEO and president. I think SEO Brand did a good job. I also think that users who go to the website like the look of the products that they’ve been creating for us.

A little over a year ago, we launched a branded item in the marketplace called ProCharge Liquid Protein. We needed it to have a professional website. SEO Brand built an e-commerce site, and it was absolutely beautiful. Customers could learn about the product and then purchase it online. Ultimately, we used the website as the digital storefront and main face of the product. In doing so, we added that to our marketing initiative and our go-to-market strategy. We truly do believe that the site helped us get that product into GNC and 7-Eleven.

They just finished updating our main website, ionlabs.com. They did a great job of modernizing it and putting together a nice visual component, which we needed on each page. That update is really going to help our brand. The staff who facilitate their SEO are extremely knowledgeable. I worked with them briefly on some of the initial projects. At the end of the day, I like to manage SEO myself, but I know that they have an extremely good handle on SEO. 

How did SEO Brand perform from a project management standpoint?

SEO Brand did a good job from a project management standpoint—I never had issues with them as far as deadlines or delays were concerned. I also didn't have a hard time getting in touch with them. If I asked them to do something, they would respond the same day, which was always good. They also have classy customer service, so I don't have anything negative to say about that. They use Basecamp, which I use as our primary means of communication with their manager. I thought that was much better than using the phone. I spoke with our project manager over the phone maybe five times over the course of a year. While it was easy to talk over the phone, Basecamp provided a simple way to create new projects. It let us add details, send information, and keep track of everything. It was extremely organized. I liked the way that SEO Brand’s team used it. I've worked with a lot of web design firms, and I can honestly say that the way we communicate from project to project is just easy. It’s easy to work with SEO Brand.

What did you find most impressive about SEO Brand?

SEO Brand is easy to work with, which is one of their best features for customers who are looking to create a product from scratch or build on an existing one. Their customer service is very good.

SEO Brand also has a talented team with a good eye for web design. They have a good idea of what needs to be done on a website and how it needs to function. You can tell that the groups of people who make up their team have experience. They answer questions before I ask them, and I think that’s valuable when you hire a company like theirs.

One of the biggest things I want to say is they’re transparent about their operations—what they want to do and how they can help you. I think that’s important as well. When a new business wants to start a project with them, there isn’t anything too much to worry about because they make sure that they tell you all of the details and nothing is misunderstood.

Ultimately, I think SEO Brand did a good job. Obviously, we’re going to continue doing business with them, because I really like the products they keep making for us. I like them as a company.

Are there any areas SEO Brand could improve?

Nobody is perfect. It’s tough to translate certain technical aspects to people on an individual basis, and it’s tough to talk about functions—what they can do and what they will result in— while making sure that communication is clear. SEO Brand has done a good job in doing that, but you can never go wrong with improving communication. It’s hard for me to tell you what they should improve on because they’ve done a good job.

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

We noticed significant increases after working with SEO Brand. We increased the inbound leads by over 200%. The types of leads we’re getting are also improving. We’re happy with their design, and we feel it optimizes lead conversion and traffic.

How did SEO Brand perform from a project management standpoint?

They delivered on time and the results have been great. We communicated through email and phone. I’ve been in communication with multiple people, and they keep us updated and report on the analytics.

What did you find most impressive about SEO Brand?

We’re not a huge company, but SEO Brand treats us like we’re important to them. That’s what attracted me to them and has kept me working with them. That’s in addition to the quality of their work. They’re good guys, and they’re very much on top of their game.

Are there any areas SEO Brand could improve?

I don’t have any complaints.

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

Since we started working with SEO Brand we’ve noticed a lot more people calling. We’ve also seen an increase in traffic and sales. We’ve gotten really good feedback from users.

How did SEO Brand perform from a project management standpoint?

They explained the project management to me and kept me updated on every step they were doing. They gave me weekly results on the SEO rankings and the progress of the work. We always knew where they were and the progress made through the projects. They gave me a timeframe every time for any work and they respect it, which I’m pretty happy with. They were very professional. A lot of people worked on the project. They separated the tasks because they have different departments like quality control, SEO, and project developers. I’m in contact with two or three people. It’s very well-organized.

What did you find most impressive about SEO Brand?

We’ve used other companies before to do the work but they were not as good as SEO Brand with regard to professionalism and customer service. I always had to wait a long period of time to get an answer from past agencies. The fact that SEO Brand is down the street, meant I could just walk over there if there’s a problem. Customer service has made a big difference because there’s plenty of people working. There’s always someone that’s going to answer pretty fast compared to the other companies we’ve used before.

Are there any areas SEO Brand could improve?

I’m happy with the work they provide. Of course, sometimes there are things we'd like different, but they always listen. I don’t have any improvements they can make because they respect deadlines and they provide good customer service. I’m really happy.

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

We were satisfied with both our relationship and the results. Any of the results that we weren’t able to achieve from this contract were based on our limitations in resources and staff. There wasn’t anything that SEO Brand did that jeopardized the success of the contract in any way.

Based on the goals we had for the six-month engagement, the value of SEO Brand was more about them helping us determine where our shortcomings were and where our products were inefficient and ill-conceived. When it comes to the actual optimization of the site, we were only approaching that when the contract expired.

Part of the understanding of our relationship with them was because we were a bit adrift with our web product. It was under-developed, under-resourced, and under-staffed at the time that we asked SEO Brand to help us. The most critical component of what they did was identifying where a lot of the shortcomings were and making long-term recommendations, even though we won’t see results for a while. This particular site was so far in the hole that it would take a lot of digging to get it to a functional product.

How did SEO Brand perform from a project management standpoint?

Internally, we all have a very good opinion of SEO Brand. One thing we liked is that they were available night and day. Their senior leadership was always available and super-responsive. They were adaptable to the situation as well. Not only did they propose certain ideas and concepts, but when they saw our capabilities, they also were able to adapt and adjust their strategies to match them.

What did you find most impressive about SEO Brand?

On top of their availability and adaptability, we had a really solid relationship with them. They’re good people. Mike Salvaggio, their CEO, is a great guy who can level with us and talk in plain language on some pretty heady topics. He never made us feel that we were ever too far adrift from ultimately accomplishing our goals.

Are there any areas SEO Brand could improve?

In the run-up to our initial interaction with them, before the discovery session, there was limited discussion about setting parameters and expectations for this discovery session. Despite the fact that they did a technical audit of our websites, I think it would have been helpful if we had protracted conversations about goals from the outset to give them a better understanding of our physical working environment and some of the political sensitivities surrounding our product and outputs. This could have helped them tailor their SEO strategy a little more closely with our unique product.

We’re not your typical business. We have a product, outputs, an audience, and goals we want to reach, but due to the nature of what we communicate and what we “sell,” I think it requires a little more upfront to make sure you can hit the ground running with a message that’s tailored to our particular outfit.