Straight North

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work as the director of marketing and communications at MacCormac College. We’re a two-year, private, nonprofit college in Chicago. We offer business, criminal justice, and paralegal studies degrees. We’re also the first court reporting school in the nation.  

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Straight North?

We were looking to address SEO work for our website. When I arrived three years ago, I found there was little to no SEO work being done. Most people didn’t know what it was. We started with a different company and started not delivering on things. At that point, I knew we needed a new group, so we brought them on for that purposes. There were some fixes for paid search as well.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’re doing onsite and offsite link building. They also help with content creation, web page optimization, and paid search. They’re constantly monitoring various keywords and optimizing our bids to maximize value.

What is the team composition?

We have one point person—Hillary (Senior Account Manager, Straight North). Our main contributor on the PPC side is David (PPC Manager, Straight North).

How did you come to work with Straight North?

I looked around at a variety of different companies. They were local to where we were, so we brought them in for a meeting. The phone conversations we had were very comfortable. After receiving in-person pitches from companies, we selected them.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested close to $150,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in July 2018 and is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

As of right now, we’ve tripled the number of leads we had last year after increasing spending by 150%. We’ve continued to grow semester after semester and decreased our cost per lead on paid search. Internally, we’re trying to increase our conversation rate because we’ve gotten so many.

On the SEO side, we’ve improved on 25-30 keywords. We went from not being ranked at all to the first three pages. On a few keywords, we’ve advanced from the second page to the first. A lot has gone well on that side, and we’ve been growing about 110-120% each year.

How did Straight North perform from a project management standpoint?

I have a weekly call with Hillary. She’s available at any other time for me to reach out. We have emails that go back and forth. They’re great at delivering on everything they promise. Project management is one of the things they’ve been best at. They are very responsive and actually care about my account, which are things I specifically look for in a vendor.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Outside of their work, they seem like great people. I enjoy when they come to visit. When I helped refer them to another company, they send a big box of homemade cookies. That’s an extra touch I’ve never seen before.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I wish they could always be a little cheaper. The extra project management aspects, such as suggesting different improvements for the home page and optimizing strategy, are separate, billable items, which I wasn’t aware of when we signed on. Every so often you need to buy some extra web development time, which could’ve been expressed upfront.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Stay in contact. The more you stay in contact with them and keep the flow of information going, the less likely things get lost. If you’re respectful and nice about it, the squeaky wheel does get the grease.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of Power Planter Inc. We manufacture and sell earth and landscape augers to homeowners, landscapers, maintenance crews, and pest controllers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Straight North?

I took over the company in 2015. Since then, we’ve started to scale up and build an online presence. I wanted them to help with branding and getting us better visibility online for our e-commerce site. Thus, if someone had inquiries on our business, we can get them where we needed to be.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They do some SEO and content development for us. Their team also performs some website upgrades and updates. There’s also some PPC with Google and Facebook. More specifically, they work on link building as well as on-site and on-page SEO. They’ve worked with the metadata on our site as well. I like to be hands-off—if she has a request, we tell them to do it.

What is the team composition?

I work with Courtney (Account Manager, Straight North). They have a team under them that I don’t interact with.

How did you come to work with Straight North?

I had met with them in 2015 after I initially took over the company, but I didn’t hire them because we couldn’t take the risk. I found them from their website. We worked with smaller firms and were extremely frustrated with the lack of progress. We went through 3–4 different versions of our website, but those smaller companies never had the vision or ability to succeed. After we scaled up, we met up with them again and discussed things again. They were more than happy to work with me. We set some goals and got rolling from there.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $50,000 and $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The work began in December of 2017 and is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Initially, they were very honest and told us not to expect overnight results. After we revamped the website and did the SEO, they told us we would start seeing results in six months. Slowly, we did start to see more impressions and gain more business. I didn’t want to add things like a blog without tangible results, but they were able to achieve them.

In the first year, we tripled our e-commerce output. The next year, we doubled that. We’re really starting to see results. It’s been a long process, but they were upfront and said that at the beginning. My company is very seasonal, so there are slower times. During those times, they change things on the site so it’s ready for when things ramp up. It’s advantageous for me to have someone that understands that.

How did Straight North perform from a project management standpoint?

I have a link to their reporting for monthly reports. We also talk in biweekly phone calls. The communication is simple: I have questions and she responds very quickly.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The overall quality and size of the team is a huge asset. They have a one-stop-shop which makes things much easier for me. Rather than having five different people coordinating, they have the ability to do PPC, web design, and other things in-house.  

Are there any areas they could improve?

I wish I was their only client, sometimes. If I were on top of their queue that would be nice, but that’s also unrealistic.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Look where you are as a company. I started off with small-scale firms that didn’t have the ability to do what I wanted. Once that happened, we had to start all over. If you’re throwing good money after bad service, it’s not worth it. If I had bitten the bullet in the first few years, we’d be two years ahead.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the digital marketing specialist for Pivotal Home Solutions, a home services provider. We sell plans for home protection, air conditioning repair, and electric or sewer line protection. I am responsible for our website, including updates and edits to our blog or metadata, and our social media, including posting, complaints, and questions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Straight North?

Our website was completely redone about three years ago, which caused a noticeable drop in rankings. We were looking to improve our onsite SEO to get back up there.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Straight North provides us with SEO and web design support. Their team provides us with backlinks and onsite SEO recommendations. They also give us copy edits on our product, about us, and home pages. Straight North recommends page titles and keywords.

Their team also works on directory listings for us. They’ll go out on the web and create listings for our company, including our services, phone number, and more. Straight North also makes recommendations for our Google Business listing. Our team has worked on it internally, they just made some suggestions and updates, such as pictures or holiday hours. 

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with two specialists from Straight North. The first moved on to a different position, but our current point of contact is just as great. She always relays content and updates back and forth between us and her team, which included copywriters, web developers, and web specialists.

How did you come to work with Straight North?

My old manager would drive by a billboard for Straight North every day, so we decided to look them up. While we looked at other vendors as well, we were impressed by Straight North’s preparation. 

They had clearly gone on our website and done the necessary research, they even had recommendations ready in our initial meeting. Additionally, they were upfront about their pricing, which was on point. We built that trust right off the bat.

How much have you invested with them?

We have invested between $50,000–$100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing engagement with Straight North began in June 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their suggestions have definitely made out product pages more interesting to the customers. Our products aren’t exciting, but Straight North was able to provide recommendations that made our pages more interesting to read. They make it sound like something a homeowner could potentially benefit from. 

How did Straight North perform from a project management standpoint?

Our main point of contact is also quick to let us know if she needs additional feedback from us. We have a really great relationship with her, she’s always responsive to my questions and concerns. Straight North provides us with a monthly report detailing everything they’ve work on and the results.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The entire team at Straight North is accommodating and friendly. They knew what our budget was when going into the project and was willing to work with us. Straight North provides upfront exactly what they’re going to be doing for us each month. It’s nice to see exactly what we’re going to receive.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they’ve been really awesome to work with.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Don’t be afraid to ask questions, that’s why you’re working with them. If you were already an expert, you wouldn’t need their help. Straight North is more than willing to explain exactly what they’re going to do for you.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner and president of a massage company that sets up portable massage chairs at conventions, trade shows, offices, health bars, and more.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Straight North?

We wanted to increase our ROI and leads by getting our website up to date.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’ve not only remodeled and designed site pages, but they also implemented our current online calculator that provides instant quotes to customers. That allows clients to formulate their own quotes rather than waiting on us to do that. They had the software skills and expertise to tweak the site as we needed it.

Additionally, they chose keywords for our PPC work and added new content for our site to make us rank more highly on Google. All of those things were valuable to us and came at a reasonable cost.

What is the team composition?

I have one account manager, who’s my main point of contact. A team of specialists and technicians are also involved with the account.

How did you come to work with Straight North?

We had a similar site partner previously, but they raised their prices dramatically. Our team needed to find another vendor to take on what they left behind. Straight North was both within our budget and had an office in my hometown, so we chose them. They had positive energy in our early discussions. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $10,000–$20,000 with them so far. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in June 2019, and our collaborations are ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They provided monthly reports. It does take time for Google to read the changes and react to them. At this point, we’re in the incubation process. Our click-through-rate and leads have increased since using their services. We’ll have more information about their performance as time goes on, though.

How did Straight North perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve done everything I need, and I haven’t needed to wait for responses. I don’t need to follow up to get them to respond to calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

This is a lengthy process. Sometimes, it’s hard to get responses from partner companies. Our main point of contact always gets back to me when I need her. I can count on a response within 24 hours at least. Their customer service allows us to accomplish tasks quickly. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything they could improve on as of yet. We’re happy with their work and ability to get us through challenges in a reasonable timeframe.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have a good idea of what you want from them going into the engagement. Before I worked with them, I asked for some references. They praised Straight North heavily, saying that they could do the job.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the marketing systems manager for a manufacturing company. We have two different divisions. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Straight North?

Straight North provided SEO support for the industrial side of the business. Although we were already doing our own Google Ads campaigns, we wanted to rank higher in search engines since we have quite a few competitors.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Straight North provides SEO support, working on getting our pages ranking higher. They improve and add content and change features on our site. Since starting the work, they’ve also taken on developing on-page content and maintaining those aspects of the site. 

What is the team composition?

Our account manager served as our main point of contact, but at least 3–4 others are on the team.

How did you come to work with Straight North?

We found a few companies through online searches and interviewed them. Straight North kept appearing as a highly ranked company and all of their references were very positive about them. We were hesitant since we’d had bad experiences with others in the past, but Straight North was informative, accommodating, helpful, and put us at ease during the interview process.  

How much have you invested with them?

When we first began, we spent $2,500 monthly. After a year, we now pay $1,500 per month.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in December 2017 and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve seen an increase in leads through the website. For example, between 2017 and 2018, we saw a 20% increase in leads. We’re performing significantly better than we were without them and we’re happy with the results. 

How did Straight North perform from a project management standpoint?

At the start, we had bi-weekly meetings to get the campaign going. We now have regular monthly meetings over the phone to discuss the status of the project. The bi-weekly meetings show us everything that’s going on with the project’s progress and their plans, and we always know where their focus is going to be. There are some occasional visits, too. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re easy to work with and have a straightforward approach that provides transparency throughout. At every point during the project, we’ve known what we’re paying for and how much money is being spent where. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

At the beginning, I was under the impression their web designers would be a part of the SEO efforts, but it’s actually a separate service. However, this isn’t something they need to improve since they’re still focused on providing SEO support. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be an active partner instead of letting them do everything. Being involved and providing feedback will help you monitor their work and make better suggestions. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a manufacturer and distributor of conveyors and material handling equipment. I’m the general manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Straight North?

We were looking for an SEO agency that could help accelerate our organic search performance

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

For a brief period, they worked on paid accounts, but we quickly decided that we really wanted them to focus on organic search. The work they did for us was both on-page SEO optimization, content creation, and the link building.

What is the team composition?

We probably had direct contact with 3–4 different people, including the account manager.

How did you come to work with Straight North?

We searched online and through Clutch, before screening companies based a few different criteria. We contacted 4–5 potential candidates and then engaged with each of them. Then we asked them to prepare a high-level diagnostic analysis of our situation, rough strategy, and proposal in terms of what they would do for us.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $50,000–$100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted from November 2018–January 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

In conjunction with our inhouse team’s efforts’, we’ve seen a significant improvement in our overall keyword ranking on Google. On average, our site’s rankings have improved by between 5–8 positions. For some keywords, we originally were listed on page two and now we’re on the first result page. For others, we’ve cracked the top three.

How did Straight North perform from a project management standpoint?

Account management has been great with regular check-ins. The work behind the scenes has clearly been effective. They provide regular monthly reports that summarize the project’s progress well.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were the perfect partner for our company. They weren’t too big or too small, so our project didn’t get lost.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There isn’t anything worth mentioning.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would tell anyone this about working with an SEO agency—you need to be willing to put in the work too. You can’t outsource everything. For every hour that they put in, you need to be able to match it to provide feedback, write additional content, or other things to complement their work.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the VP of marketing for Litetronics International, a lighting manufacturer.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Straight North?

We don’t have any technical support in-house and wanted help creating a website. We had tried to run a paid search campaign but didn’t have a website to support it. Additionally, we needed help building out our marketing program and driving leads.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Straight North refreshed and relaunched our WordPress website. They added fresh content and created a new layout and design for the site. Straight North continues to help us on an ongoing basis to help us make updates and changes to our website. Their team also added a call to action and optimized the site for SEO and is starting to help us with paid media.

What is the team composition?

I work with multiple members of the Straight North team, including a salesperson, an SEO expert, PPC specialists, a project manager, and a main point of contact.

How did you come to work with Straight North?

Straight North was referred to us via the owner of our company. We were really drawn to their focus on digital, the small size of their company, and the great interactions we had with the people that work there.

How much have you invested with them?

We have invested between $50,000–$100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing engagement with Straight North began in August 2018.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a content manager at Liventia. We’re a biotechnology company based in Mexico City and San Antonio, Texas. Industries that we cover include agriculture, oil and gas, and cleaning solutions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Straight North?

We needed assistance understanding how to best cover the US market with our digital marketing efforts.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We were able to rely on Straight North’s expertise to optimize our website and deliver superior PPC and SEO campaigns.

What is the team composition?

We have a single main point of contact who does weekly status calls with us. There are other individuals who help, but she is our main resource.

How did you come to work with Straight North?

My boss chose them, having already worked with other agencies before that recommended them. We selected Straight North after some research and a presentation that set them apart.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $10,000–$25,000 USD.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in August 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve seen an increase in web traffic via PPC and SEO.

How did Straight North perform from a project management standpoint?

There haven’t been many issues, but I would have preferred greater depth and personalization at the outset to understand our industry. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re experts, and even during problematic moments, they’ve been open to communication and feedback. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Their briefing process should be more tailored to keep on customers at the beginning of an engagement.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Set clear goals and share expectations early on.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of customer care at an asset control solutions company. We manufacture and sell key management products to car dealerships, apartment complexes, hotels, jails, and other institutions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Straight North?

We’re a small company of about 25 people, so digital marketing is an area in which we don’t have any expertise. We outsource this work to keep our web presence up-to-date and running smoothly. We’d been working with another company for several years, but they weren’t performing.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Straight North maintains our organic SEO. They make sure our web pages have relevant content for our desired search terms on Google so that clients can seek us out. The team monitors all of our web forms; if someone fills out a contact form on our site, Straight North validates it and provides reporting. They also help us with some basic web editing.  

Straight North created and continues to maintain our PPC ad campaigns. Right now, they’re running a specific search campaign for a tradeshow that we’re doing soon. 

What is the team composition?

We’ve probably worked with 5–6 people over three years. When the partnership began, we had an onboarding specialist. Since then, we’ve worked with account managers, who serve as our main point of contact when we need something.

How did you come to work with Straight North?

I’ve met with Straight North since they began working with my company, but I wasn’t involved in seeking them out. A former employee at my company who maintained our e-commerce store took on the task of finding a partner. Straight North came highly recommended. My company vetted 3–4 other companies and, after initial meetings, felt that Straight North was the best option to help us with our SEO and PPC needs. 

How much have you invested with them?

My company has spent somewhere in the range of $50,000–$100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with Straight North in 2018, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Compared to our previous provider, Straight North has been a big help in increasing our SEO and PPC presence. 

There are two things that we feel puts them above the rest. First, they have a dedicated portal that we can log into at any time. We can see our results in real time; we don’t have to rely on getting an email with results once a month. That was something we weren’t expecting, but it’s been great to have. Second, for someone such as myself who’s not familiar with the SEO and PPC industry in general, it’s hard to verify what’s actually being done. Straight North does a good job of providing monthly updates and relaying what tasks they accomplished on our website or blog sites. They give us quantifiable information that we can look at and see that they’re actively doing stuff to keep us high up in search engine results.

How did Straight North perform from a project management standpoint?

They seem to do very well. They’re easy to get ahold of. For the specialty things we’ve done outside of scope, such as the work for the tradeshow, they’ve been very responsive. They meet deadlines and do what they say they’re going to do, so we’ve been very pleased.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Even though they’re a national company, they’re very personable and make us feel valued; we’re not just another client in their portfolio. They’ve always been willing to have us come to their office, and they come to us when we need them to. Getting that personal touch goes a long way for us as a small company.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I wouldn’t say so at this time. Before, we went through a few different account managers, but our most recent contact made the effort to come out to our facility, look at our equipment, and learn our business. That was something that we felt was lacking for a bit, but they made up for it, and we’re really appreciative of that.

Any advice for potential customers?

It’s easy to lose track of their work and just assume that they’re doing everything, but it’s important to stay engaged. They make it easy to do so through the portal, which provides tons of great metrics and reports. You need to look at the portal on a regular basis so that you can learn how it works; this is how you’ll get the most out of their service. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We have 2 companies. One manufactures teeth whitening products and the other offers invisible aligners direct to consumer. I'm the CEO of both.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Straight North?

SEO for one of the companies and PPC management for both companies.

What were your goals for this project?

We were spending too much money and not converting enough on PPC for both companies. We also wanted to rank higher in the organic results for the aligner company.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

They sounded like they really knew what they were doing. They said all the right things.

Describe the project in detail.

We had a kick-off call. Then they proceeded to do basically nothing for the next month on SEO. They couldn't even get tracking code set up till around 30 days later when this should have been the first thing. On the Adwords front, they were doing a bunch of non-sensical things. They had told me they do single keyword adgroups, but they basically kept the same limited number of adgroups we already had.

What was the team composition?

I talked mostly to the project manager, who I don't think had a clue of what was going on most of the time.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It seemed like they did almost no work, at least nothing of value. They did make a lot of changes to our Adwords accounts, but they didn't seem to make any sense nor did they seem to provide any improvements. It seems like they were making random changes that they couldn't explain or rationalize.

In one month of SEO all they did was put up 6 links in directories, which are worthless as far as SEO goes. Anyone can do that. That's ALL it seems they did as far as SEO. Not a single link anywhere that would provide real link juice. Not a single link in a good blog or anywhere other than those 6 useless, lowly ranked directories.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

It was really difficult to have effective communication with them. I don't think the project manager had a clue. After I started complaining and showing them that they didn't have a clue, I finally talked to one of the senior managers, but I think he left the company soon after I proved to him that they were doing either no work or useless work. I assume he was fired for the lack of performance they were providing.

After that, they put me in touch with one of the Partners, who said that he was very disappointed with my email explaining all their shortcomings, and he even offered to keep working for free till the middle of September (2 additional months of work for free), but I told him that the people they had working for them didn't have a clue and that I thought it would be a complete waste of time. They never refunded me anything.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Nothing, except maybe their sales skills in suckering me into hiring them. In my opinion, they are a bunch of con-artists that charge you and then probably do a minimal amount of work each month. Beware!!!!! I believe all the good reviews they have are from people that don't know anything about SEO or PPC.

They will show you reports and give you info that make it look like they are really helping, but from my experience, and I have a lot of experience dealing with SEO and PPC firms, this company cannot provide services that are worth anywhere near what they charge. Also, it is my understanding that they appear so high in the results on Clutch because they pay to have that sponsorship position in their listings.

Are there any areas for improvement?

They could try doing what they put in their SOW and what you pay them for.

Company Responses

The vendor responded on January 17, 2020.

Thanks for your review of the services that we delivered nearly one and a half years ago. While we appreciate your candid feedback, we disagree with a number of your accusations. We are sorry that we were not a good fit for your company.