The SEO Works

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the digital marketing manager for BearingPoint//Beyond, which is owned by a larger consultancy company, BearingPoint.

For what projects/services did your company hire The SEO Works?

To replace a former agency to run PPC/display advertising, and improve SEO for our website.

What were your goals for this project?

We sought to improve our SERP ranking for certain keywords, to increase traffic to our website, and to convert traffic into leads.

How did you select this vendor?

I was not involved in the selection process between other vendors, however we were improessed with SEO Works' initial presentation, and initial introductory calls.

Describe the project in detail.

This is an ongoing project to achieve our goals as already mentioned. Analysis of our previous work with our previous agency was undertaken. PPC and display ads were created and ongoing we work together to uncover new keywords and create new ads. Our online content has been reviewed and changes to copy and some design elements have been made in order to achieve our goals.

What was the team composition?

Following the initial introduction to SEO Works we requested to be intorduced to the team who we would be dealing with personally - we now have been dealing with two people ongoing - 1 PPC, 1 SEO.

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

After a lot of initial work it seemed that it was slow on the uptake (but of course this is the nature of SEO) - now we are seeing some great results - keywords moving up on SERPs and additional leads coming in as a direct result. We are working together and constantly trying different things in order to work out the best way to improve our results.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We have fortnightly meetings and the team is in touch regularly in between. They are always responsive and follow up emails in a timely manner. We decided to introduce bigger quarterly calls so we can look at the work from a top level view and this has been very useful in keeping us on track.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They are professional and knowledgeable, and they're also always happy to seek answers from others within the company in order to get to the bottom of a question or find a solution.

Are there any areas for improvement?

In the beginning things were very fast paced and moved well - there seemed to be a bit of slow down in the middle but after some discussions we have picked back up and things are going well. Sometimes it is difficult to understand what is going on in the background but they are always happy and quick to answer when we ask.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am Head of Business Development for the SMH Group and was project lead/liaison in our new website design & build and rebrand.

For what projects/services did your company hire The SEO Works?

SEO Works provided us with SEO/PPC services previously. Following this we appointed them on a new project which was for a full website build and design (as well as ongoing support services)

What were your goals for this project?

We had experienced a fast period of growth, and gone through a company MBO, so we needed a website overhaul that represented the new look of the company and outlined our whole group services. We wanted it to a personable, easy to navigate and modern website which would enable us to capture enquiries to the full capacity.

How did you select this vendor?

The SEO Works had previously provided us with SEO & PPC services. The quality of this previous work and the relationships we built made them an easy choice to appoint as our Website Developers for our new custom site and for our rebranding. We did look at 5 other website agencies across our region and had various meetings just to 'shop around', however our decision was already made. SEO Works also provided the best pitch and professional manner in line with ours.

Describe the project in detail.

The project was very straight forward from start to finish. We had set a completion date and SEO Works consistently worked to those parameters. SEO Works tasked their developers with getting the early visual templates out to us as quickly as possible and the communication was consistently fast. The SEO Web team outlined the project delivery timeframes in number of weeks per part, at the end/ beginning of each week - we would run through new additions/changes/visuals/sitemaps and content. We had a fairly technical challenge in the structures of our homepage, however SEO works managed to come up with a solution that worked perfectly.

What was the team composition?

We had contact with a Sales Director, who would check in weekly. A webteam lead/project manager who was our day to day contact and his supporting developers - who were always reachable.

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

Our website has a been a huge success, with industry competitors even praising its style. We have rebranded other parts of our company in line with the Logos /themes created by SEO Works. Our business continues to grow expansively - and our website is a highly used tool in delivering this.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Very collaborative, patient and managed succinctly.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Collaborative and tailored approach to the relationship and the Website build, they are specialists in SEO - so this enabled them to maximize the effect of our content and images. A Very relationship focused Agency, which is exactly what we were looking for as an accountancy firm.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None big enough to be noteworthy!

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am Senior Digital Marketing Manager at Britain's mapping agency and world leaders in geospatial location data.

For what projects/services did your company hire The SEO Works?

We needed to grow our SEO knowledge and expertise.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to identify and understand SEO best practice and create a strategy to improve our rankings for geospatial data keywords in the SERPs.

How did you select this vendor?

We went out to tender.

Describe the project in detail.

We began the campaign with a kick-off meeting, working with a Business Development Manager and Account Manager to outline our needs and discuss how to progress with the campaign.

SEO Works then undertook some key audits and analyses before working with us to create a strategy that would be adaptable to suit our business needs. We then met monthly to discuss progress and plan for the upcoming month.

What was the team composition?

We worked with an account manager who communicated well with us and helped us to evolve our campaign.

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

We've continued to see great improvements in our Geospatial keyword rankings, with main keywords ranking around page one on Google A number of our 'mid-table' keywords are starting to rise in the Google ranks We have a content plan in place to provide growth to the remaining chosen keywords that are not currently ranking.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Everything we've asked of them they've done, including extra things we've asked of them on an ad hoc basis.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We have been very impressed by their knowledge, professionalism and flexibility.

Are there any areas for improvement?

They could be more forthcoming with our monthly calls.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am an Account Director at a communications agency specialising in technology.

For what projects/services did your company hire The SEO Works?

Web design and development / SEO

What were your goals for this project?

Our goals were as follows: - The website is our shop window and demonstrates credibility for member engagement, partnership activity etc. Requirement to significantly improve the look and feel of the website - Ensuring that both educational and technical materials are easier to access for all stakeholders - Expand the capability and functionality of the website to expand the available communication channels (ie blog post functionality)

How did you select this vendor?

My team conducted research into various website agencies (locally, nationally and internationally). We chose SEO Works as they demonstrated: - Clear understanding of the project requirements. - A commitment to transparency and an itemised scope of work (which was not provided by competitors). - A can-do attitude and willingness to take on a challenging timeline / project.

Describe the project in detail.

Once SEO Works were selected, we had an initial kick-off meeting to confirm requirements and timelines. As we were working on a very tight schedule, all aspects were accelerated. SEO Works demonstrated a significant level of flexibility to ensure that each stage of the project (design, SEO, build) could be progressed as quickly as possible while maintaining high-quality. SEO Works were also able to liaise with third party contractors to support the go-live process at short notice. This was invaluable and we would not have been in a position to launch without the support shown.

What was the team composition?

The team was headed up by Gabriel, supported by Ash. Alex was the lead on design and Natalie on SEO.

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

Received positive feedback from the Board and membership, and also internally. Have directly referred SEO Works to other client teams internally.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

I was always able to access the team and have questions answered throughout. This is included almost daily calls in the lead-up to go-live.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

This was my first website project and I really valued the support the team provided me with. In particular, I was impressed by the ability to troubleshoot and present me with solutions and not problems.

Are there any areas for improvement?

N/A

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Managing Director for a company in UK selling Cafe & Barista supplies. We have been trading since 2009 and as the market has become more competitive we lost our ranking due to the lack of work done on the site.

For what projects/services did your company hire The SEO Works?

We hired SEO works for SEO giving them a number of keywords which were getting the highest traffic. We were trying to handle the SEO ourselves prior to us working with SEO Works which we thought was in our best interest but after seeing how well we are now ranking I wish we had been using SEO Works since the beginning!

We actually had them review the account in 2012 and we did not pursue as we thought we could have done it ourselves with what I could find online - but in reality we probably lost out on millions of pounds in revenue due to us trying to do the work ourselves instead of allowing the professionals to do it for us.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to improve our rankings for a number of keywords and increase traffic leading to increased revenue which SEO Works did 10 fold in less than a year!

How did you select this vendor?

I had seen SEO works initially as they are in a prominent place in Sheffield so their signage is easy to see form the road, I could see they were expending and their reviews were good hence why we decided to try using them.

Describe the project in detail.


We were invited to see the team to show them the website and explain our product range to them - it was very in depth and helped us to allow them to ask any questions before starting the project. We were very keen on getting the ‘right’ customers on our site and they were able to make sure we could execute this.

What was the team composition?

We go through two team members, both of which are very helpful and always eager to do whatever is best for our business.

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

We are ranking number 1 for the main keyterm for our insustry and in top 3 for the majority of the rest within only 1 year of launching the project!

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Their team are always on hand and responsive and happy to jump on a call if we have any questions. Now we really leave them to it they are doing so well there is no need to interfere

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The caliber of their workforce impressed us. I feel the SEO team are well trained and have a wealth of knowledge in techniques which help us reach our target.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Nothing!

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are Nu-Heat and we specialize in bespoke underfloor heating. My position is a digital marketing executive in the marketing team, and I deal most closely with The SEO Works.

What challenge were you trying to address with The SEO Works?

We have used various SEO companies before, and we haven’t always had the results we wanted or expected. We knew there was a lot of potential that we weren’t really exploring.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The goals obviously change depending on what we are dealing with at the time. In total, it would be to oversee and manage our SEO efforts, and so we work really collaboratively to set KPIs and expectations and we run a campaign at a time. They are always looking at the backend and the technical side to make sure that nothing is slipping which is really useful.

We had a good chat and they were clear on explaining the processes. Looking at the content gap, it was really clearly structured as to what we were going to expect over the next quarter, and that was clearly defined and we were happy with all the outcomes, whereas before, we worked with agencies where deadlines weren’t met and expectations weren’t very clear.

What is the team composition?

We work with a couple of people. We work with Paul (SEO Executive) who is the account manager, as well as Natalie (SEO Account Executive) who is the assistant. We deal with Natalie more day-to-day because she works a lot with the copy. We work closely as a team really.

How did you come to work with The SEO Works?

We looked on Clutch, and The SEO Works had really good reviews. They seemed honest and they willingly gave us references. We needed to clarify some questions, and they were happy with that as well.

We looked for a new SEO company and The SEO Works seemed to be really good. From the start, they were one of our favorites. They were really open, honest, and had a good structure to their processes really from the start.

They’re based in the North which is a fairly competitive environment for SEO and they have won a lot of awards which I think gives them credibility especially since we weren’t sure what to expect, and without actually meeting people, it is the only thing we could go on. It was an indicator that they are good at what they do.

How much have you invested in them?

We have roughly spent around £25,000–£30,000 (approximately $31,000–$38,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in April 2019, and we are still working with them.

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

Our KPIs included the number of sessions, conversion rate, and number of plans submitted. Success varied depending on the campaign. For example, we did a whole campaign around our floor heating page, and we set a KPI to increase the organic traffic by 20%. They achieved over 100%, and we did have a new website at the same time, so there were two contributing factors. It was really impressive, and a lot better than we expected.

How did The SEO Works perform from a project management standpoint?

They were really good and they are really approachable. If we have any questions about timeframes, we can talk about it and then set a deadline that we both agree on, and every time they have actually been met. It is a case of agreeing on it together. We have always been on the same page with The SEO Works and I don’t think they have ever missed a deadline, which compared to our old SEO agency, is really rare and it was impressive.

We use email regularly and have a catch up on the phone once a month to see how the month has gone and what to look forward to the next month. We have a monthly report from them which is sort of bespoke and we spend a lot of time working with them on creating that report so that it works for us internally as well.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are really honest and open; they clearly state what can and cannot be achieved. They stick to their word which is really important when working remotely—especially because we have to trust each other. They have become part of our team because we completely trust and respect what they say, and it has worked for us really well. Before, with certain companies, they would try and hide things and weren’t as transparent.

Are there any areas they could improve?

If I was really picky, I would say they could be slightly more proactive in recommending campaigns and gaps in traffic. I realize at the same time it is quite difficult for them to be that proactive because we come to them before they come to us.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Know your own expectations to start off with. I think that is really important for any business so you know what you are going to achieve over the campaign. Trust them, because they know what they're talking about.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Lawrence David are the 3rd largest manufacturer of semi-trailers and rigid vehicle bodywork in the United Kingdom. I am the Group Marketing Manager.

For what projects/services did your company hire The SEO Works?

We had to rebrand a division of the business that was not part of the sale of the company and we engaged The SEO Works to advise on the design and implement the build of our new website, compliance portal and e-commerce store.

What were your goals for this project?

Launch a website that is representative of the industry leading services offered by the rebranded business. Establish the business as the go-to resource within the market.

How did you select this vendor?

The SEO Works we chosen out of three businesses as the most aligned to our company values and due to their capabilities. A combination of internet research and face to face meetings were used to identify vendors. The deciding factors were the quality of the initial audits conducted, the level of professionalism exhibited by all the staff I've dealt with and their capabilities. I was solely responsible for the decision to engage The SEO Works.

Describe the project in detail.

Rebrand LD Asset Management and LD Multi-Parts to Fleet-Serv and Part-Serv respectively. Establish the businesses on a standalone basis with respect to: brand identity, website, marketing campaigns, social media and promotional materials ready for launch. I managed the project from start to finish and was responsible for providing all the copy for the website as well as helping with aspects of the design. The SEO Works was responsible for the complete design, build and implementation of the new website and all the associated parts. They custom-built a document management portal for our customers and made several excellent suggestions regarding the functionality.

What was the team composition?

3 or 4 I believe. They were responsible for SEO and for the web design. I do not believe the size of the team changed. They collaborated with my preferred Creative agency, Strawman Creative, on the implementation of the branding.

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

Everything went according to our initial plan. The only hold-ups or issues stemmed from my company rather than The SEO Works. They met every deadline and allowed me to focus on other aspects of the project without having to worry. All other stakeholders were very impressed with their efforts and the professionalism of their staff.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Communication was also flawless. They were quick to respond to any queries we had and offered a variety of options on ways that we could collaborate more seamlessly - such as using their TeamWorks platform.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their attention to detail, passion and dedication are phenomenal. It's easy to see why they are one of the leading businesses in the UK. They are capable of producing outstanding work at scale, without losing the personal touch.

Are there any areas for improvement?

They met every marker I set and completed each task on time. No issues with communication or any other aspect of our relationship. Honestly, no. Nothing to improve.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the marketing director for Sheffield High School for Girls, an independent school based in Sheffield, England. We cover ages 3–18.

What challenge were you trying to address with The SEO Works?

Our website is one of the main routes that people use to find out more information about the school. We wanted to make sure that our site was achieving high search rankings, so we needed to hire SEO experts.

What was the scope of their involvement?

When we started working with The SEO Works, we had a different website. They highlighted several shortcomings on the site, which ultimately led to us building a new one.

Another company developed the new site, but The SEO Works was very involved in the process, contributing advice and recommendations on structure, metatags, and content.  They helped launch the new site and made sure we didn’t drop in rankings during this transition.

The SEO Works optimized the site around certain keywords. Following the new site launch, we underwent a few business changes. For instance, we added a preschool, and we needed to let the community know about this new offering. The SEO Works helped us improve our ranking with related search terms.

Currently, The SEO Works provides SEO on more of a maintenance basis.

What is the team composition?

My team mainly interacts with the account manager, who specializes in DevOps. We occasionally interact with the business development team. We’re aware of other people on the team, and we drop in to see them now and again.

How did you come to work with The SEO Works?

The SEO Works came highly recommended to us. We spoke to them and believed they could do a good job for us. We contacted a few other companies, but The SEO Works definitely stood out.

The SEO Works did an initial audit, and the report that came back was really impressive. They definitely understood our business and had experience in the education sector.

How much have you invested with them?

My company has spent £30,000 (approximately $37,100 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in September 2016, and the work is ongoing.

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

The SEO Works helps us stand out in a competitive environment. They’ve improved our rankings and the number of visitors to our website. Since launching the new site, we’ve doubled site traffic year-over-year. Following the launch of our new website we went from 12,000 visitors a year to 24,000, which was amazing. They’ve been able to maintain this level of traffic and keep it where we want it to be.

How did The SEO Works perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management is brilliant. They’re diligent about sending very comprehensive monthly reports that give me all of the information that I need to show what they’ve been doing. They’re good at scheduling phone calls when they need to go through specifics with me. We have face-to-face meetings a couple of times a year, which is really useful.

Our account manager has changed a couple of times in the three years we’ve worked with them, but that’s always been very smooth. I’ve been impressed by the handovers; they haven’t had to involve me, and there’s never been any change in service.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The work that they do is an incredibly valuable part of our digital strategy. If we stopped working with them, we’d see a serious decline in our web performance.

When we were working on our new site, the site developer was really impressed with The SEO Works’s performance and contributions. We established a great collaboration and all worked together.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I’m very happy with them. They do a really good job.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I’d definitely do the audit; it was a really useful piece of work that they did for us.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of online at Rab, a UK-based company that specializes in technical outerwear and equipment for extreme conditions.

What challenge were you trying to address with The SEO Works?

We needed to open ourselves up to a broader market. We hoped to reach new customers through digital advertising and SEO.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The SEO Works provides on-site SEO. They do some backlink and seeding tasks, but most of their SEO work is on-site. They also do PPC using the Google Display Network. Our teams collaborate on the creative for Google Ads.

The SEO Works also does social advertising on Facebook. My in-house team creates the display ads, which The SEO Works uses to set up our social campaigns.

Until recently, their efforts were UK-focused, but we just started working with them on US-specific SEO because we have a subsidiary in Colorado.

What is the team composition?

As the head of the online department, I work primarily with Alex (Sales Director, The SEO Works). My company’s content person and developers work with a team of 4–5 people from The SEO Works. Each team member has a specialty, like SEO or PPC.

How did you come to work with The SEO Works?

The primary reason we chose them was because they were a good agency and checked all of our boxes. We looked at the work they’d done and the clients they had, and we compared them to similarly sized agencies around the country. The SEO Works is also from the UK town where our brand originated, so that was a good commonality.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about £200,000 (approximately $248,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

Our partnership began in May 2017, and the work is ongoing.

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

It’s fair to say that our organic search traffic has doubled since we started working with them. Over the past year, our paid search traffic has seen a 35% increase. We set forecasts, and they tend to hit those numbers.

How did The SEO Works perform from a project management standpoint?

We work with The SEO Works on a daily basis. The team is very proactive; they always come to us when things aren’t working well or if they have suggestions. They’re fastidious and great at communicating.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re most impressed by their results, as well as their straightforward and friendly approach. They’re conscientious and efficient. I’ve worked with 2–3 agencies, and The SEO Works is the easiest to work with. They have great expertise and insight.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing stands out. Our working relationship and the way we manage projects is constantly evolving. The SEO Works is continuously improving, whether that’s by using new communication channels or different kinds of project management systems. They take suggestions well, and if there are issues, we generally resolve them quickly.

Any advice for potential customers?

Working with The SEO Works has little to no negatives. I wholeheartedly endorse them. If you want someone who’s straightforward, friendly, and gets results, then they’re the company to hire.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Our company offers a platform with which people can take more control of their health and wellbeing, all from the palm of their hands. The personal health record app is used by over half a million people in the UK - and it's also connected to all three major GP systems in England, providing online patient-facing services across the country. The app also allows people to monitor their health and fitness, record allergies, medications, and store medical documents and letters.

For what projects/services did your company hire The SEO Works?

We wanted to hire an SEO company in order to attract more customers to our website, ensuring that we are visible and ranking for the main keywords for our industry.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to improve the ranking of our keywords, so that we appear higher in search results and obtain higher traffic to our website. We also wanted to achieve sales through our PPC ad campaigns.

How did you select this vendor?

Through previous working relationship with the CEO Ben Foster, who we trust as a reliable and knowledgeable source to help achieve our goals.

Describe the project in detail.

The SEO Works conducted a keyword report for us, helping us to target the most important terms for our industry in health and wellbeing. They regularly update the keyword research with new recommendations as trends change.

We meet every month to discuss our objectives and requirements from them and analyse numbers from the monthly report. The SEO Works team provides helpful guidance to help us achieve our goals, including content and structural changes to the website.

We have restructured several areas of our website, which The SEO Works have helped to optimise as well as offer advice on how best to restructure. They presented us with ideas and options based on an in-depth competitor analysis.

The SEO Works have also provided us with regular content in the form of articles to publish on our website blog. These focused on topical subjects that could attract more traffic to our website. They have also assisted with finding opportunities for outreach work and collaboration with bloggers/influencers in our industry.

What was the team composition?

We have regular communication with the managing director and our account manager.

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

We are ranking number 1 for four of our main keywords and 2-5 on 10 of the other keyterms. This has helped us to gain significant traffic to our website for these terms and improved visibility on search results with Google.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The team is very pleasant to work with. We enjoy our meetings and they are always quick to respond to our queries. We meet every month by Google Hangout using a video call. We occasionally (once or twice a year) visit each other in person at our office or their office to discuss more significant projects, such as website redesigning.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The professionalism and knowledge of the team are where The SEO Works really stand out. When the team are presented with any project or problem from us, they are efficient at presenting back coherent solutions. They are a reliable and flexible team.

Their help with analytics has been very useful, where they even set up a workshop and Q&A to iron out all our issues with using Google Analytics. This helped us to improve our confidence with using the platform.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Sometimes it is difficult to communicate remotely, but this can be solved through in person meetings.