Shortlist

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Founder & President of a digital marketing agency.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Shortlist, and what were your goals?

We've been around for a dozen years, and in that span, finding truly reliable link-building was something that eluded us for years and years. The relationship with Shortlist began with some smaller linkbuilding projects, and grew into them being our go-to linkbuilding solution and even grew into using them for marketing staffing to add key people to our agency.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

The deciding factors for us were mostly through first doing some smaller test runs, and seeing how they operate. Their thoroughness in quality SEO linkbuilding metrics for every link acquired was very impressive, and even the sharpest SEO clients of ours would be impressed with the quality of links that were able to be acquired, and the consistency with what they were able to deliver.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and campaigns.

Our engagement began with a few small linkbuilding projects for clients of ours, but has grown into them tackling ALL linkbuilding for every marketing client we take on for SEO related work. This can range from a few dozen to 100+ links per month of true high quality. We also have 2 people on our team that were staffed through Shortlist that are utterly phenomenal. One of them has become like family to us, and the other is proving unbelievably talented and bright.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We've worked with probably 4-5 people, between SEO specialists, swiss-army knife marketers, the owner, development, etc.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Since working with Shorlist, we have honestly been able to deliver incredible results to our clients with rankings growth, organic traffic growth, and ultimately revenue growth. For the first 8 years running the company we struggled to provide consistency in linkbuilding, and working with them has literally been a game changer for us, and we use them for not just our clients, but ourselves as well, and we've been able to achieve incredible search results, beating out big time agencies with much larger budgets.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

They are masters of Trello and all things agile workflow. The owner of the company is probably the most brilliant systems person I've ever encountered, and the team members we've worked with are incredible on the project management side, communication, timeliness, everything. I literally never have to worry about anything their team is working on, which is a welcome relief.

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

Everything about the team is impressive. From the top down, amazing ownership to truly engaging and excited and brilliant staff, I could not recommend Shortlist any more.

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

Not a single thing I can think of, and we're 4 years into our relationship together.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

LTVplus provides world-class customer service outsourcing for e-commerce brands to help increase Customer Lifetime Value by increasing sales and reducing churn. I am one of the co-founders and CEO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Shortlist?

Linkbuilding and SEO.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to improve our rankings on the SERPs and increase the volume of qualified leads coming to our website.

SOLUTION

How did you select Shortlist?

Shortlist was referred to us by a mutual contact. We like the services they offer and the results they shared from other clients made it an easy decision for us.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

They helped us with linkbuilding to ensure the content we created were getting the traffic it should get and increasing our rankings in the SERPs. They also helped us evaluate and optimize our websites for LTVplus and TaskDrive to improve organic search results.

What was the team composition?

We worked with a digital marketer and project manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our rankings improved and we even got Number 1 for a keyword for one of our core services. Lead flow increased as a result.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

It was very easy to work with Shortlist as the response time was great. We had easy access to their team members as needed and meetings were kept to a minimal to ensure work was done without having to go back and forth too much.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The client experience. They were very easy to work with, and we never felt lost at any time.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None that I can think of right now.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

The Art of Charm is social skills and relationship building training company focused on helping driven introvert succeed at work, love, and life. I am one of the co-founders and CEO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Shortlist, and what were your goals?

We needed help with our website optimization, SEO, and marketing funnel build-outs. Our goal was to increase traffic, conversion and create a new offer for our clients. Our website was performing poorly on speed tests and not optimized for SEO.

SOLUTION

How did you select Shortlist and what were the deciding factors?

Shortlist is a market leader in SEO and digital marketing. Their experience with SEO optimization and focus on conversion helped us pick them to help us grow our revenue.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and campaigns.

Our engagement began with a discovery phase including a deep dive into existing analytics and funnels. We worked together to scope out the project to fit our needs and desired outcomes. Every member of their team went above and beyond to support us well outside the initial scoped project. We built a new funnel to help us schedule more sales calls and generate new leads for our business.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We worked with their developers, writers, and marketing team to complete the project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

They over-delivered on the funnel and SEO work to get us back on track after a setback with a previous marketing agency. We really appreciated that they went above and beyond our expectations to get our site optimized and conversion up across all funnels (even ones they did not build).

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timelines.

They happily plugged into our team Slack to keep communication timely and collaborative. We documented everything in gDocs and it allowed our teams to work together seamlessly over multiple time zones.

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

Their speed, communication, and over-delivery of value blew us away. We are so thankful they took on the project and worked outside the scope to help us grow during the start of the pandemic.

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

None. We are beyond happy with their work and recommend them to peers in need of marketing and SEO.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and managing director of Sisters of the Valley. We manufacture and ship hemp and CBD products.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Shortlist?

We hired them to redesign our e-commerce website and provide SEO services.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They completely re-engineered our e-commerce store to optimize our website for SEO. We focused on generating more organic traffic. 

What is the team composition? 

I mostly work with three people, but the team is five people in total. This includes Emi (Link Building & Project Manager), a PR person, and a project manager. 

How did you come to work with Shortlist?

They reached out to me and offered to do an assessment of the website. I paid them for the initial assessment, and after getting their feedback, I asked for a second opinion from a few other companies. What they said aligned with the other vendors I talked to, so I decided to move forward with them. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $25,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in March 2020, and they finished the rebuild that June. After that, I hired them to provide maintenance services and continue their SEO efforts. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The quality of their service is excellent. They’re more knowledgeable than the average vendor. I feel like they’ve helped push the rest of the organization to be exceptional. 

How did Shortlist perform from a project management standpoint?

We have weekly virtual meetings. We’ll have more meetings if we need to. They’re great communicators and good at meeting deadlines. They use Trello. We communicate through Slack.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re young and energetic. They have a solid appreciation for the online selling environment. They know what they’re doing, and they ensure there’s value in every dollar they charge you. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

The only thing is that I need to proofread their copy since English isn’t their first language. Sometimes there are a few minor mistakes, but it’s not a big deal, and I don’t fault them for it. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers? 

Take the jump. The market isn’t getting any less competitive. They know how to maximize your presence and get you more exposure. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Senior Demand Generation Manager of Proposify

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Proposify helps sales teams streamline their proposal process and gain control and visibility into the most important stage of the sales cycle: the close.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Shortlist to accomplish?

• Generate backlinks as part of our SEO strategy

SOLUTION

How did you find Shortlist?

Other

Why did you select Shortlist over others?

Referred to me, Other

What was your primary form of communication with Shortlist?

Virtual Meeting, Email or Messaging App

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

Shortlist helped our team generate a pre-determined number of high-quality of backlinks to our website each month.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Quantity and quality of backlinks generated

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

The Shortlist team was organized, expedient, and they communicated quickly and efficiently. The team provided dashboards and spreadsheets to help track results, and they were helpful in answering any questions we had regarding SEO in general.

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

I liked how the Shortlist team was both responsive and clearly very knowledgeable in their area of expertise.

Are there any areas for improvement or something {provider_name} could have done differently?

Our team's experience working with Shortlist was positive. Our only minor issue is that we found their service to be a little bit expensive for our budget.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Owner of a video production company

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Shortlist, and what were your goals?

Website adjustments and amends

SOLUTION

How did you select Shortlist and what were the deciding factors?

Heard about Shortlist through a friend. Their timely responses, impressive resumes, and cost were the deciding factors

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

There were a error codes and adjustments that needed to be made on a few websites. WordPress, PHP, GoDaddy, Adsense

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

2 people worked on my project. the developer and the project manager

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Fixed all errors and completed all tasks in a timely manner. Met and exceeded expectations

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timelines.

We used email for our main communication. Their fast and thorough explanations and responses are impressive.

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

They really know what they are talking about and can explain advanced subject matter in a clear and concise way to somebody who does not know as much about the subject. They also pinpointed other errors (that were not in the scope of our project) and fixed them along the way.

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

No