Victorious

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a digital media strategist and SEO manager for a digital commerce solution provider. We enable digital businesses to sell online, but we only work with digital goods, not physical ones. We handle software, games, e-books, videos, over-the-top media services, and so on.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Victorious?

We have a small in-house marketing team that consists of about nine people. To this point, we’ve done all of our SEO in-house, but we were recently acquired and set loftier goals for ourselves. We needed an SEO partner that could help with our current strategy and expand our research and technical optimizations. We hired Victorious to be an extension of our team.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We relied on Victorious to conduct keyword research by looking into markets and verticals that we had traction in but had been unable to make movements in the way we would have liked. We gave them the keywords we were targeting, but, based on the initial discovery phase, we also asked them to suggest keywords that we hadn’t considered. They also helped migrate our blog from HubSpot to our own domain. Additionally, they worked on our site crawls and site optimizations, changing our meta descriptions and title tags and building out a strategy for particular themes we were going after.

What is the team composition?

Sydney (Customer Success Manager, Victorious) is our project manager and primary point of contact. We also work closely with Kyle (Customer Success Director, Victorious) and a technical analyst and strategist.

How did you come to work with Victorious?

Our VP had worked with them at her previous company, and she loved their work.

How much have you invested with them?

The total cost so far is over $60,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our collaboration with Victorious began in August 2018 and remains ongoing. We plan to extend our contract with them at the end of July 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Since our blog migration, we’ve seen a considerable increase in impressions of our domain. Thanks to their help with our strategy, we’ve experienced an almost threefold increase in non-branded clicks, not just impressions. We had a 6–7% click-through rate when we started with them, but 21% of our organic traffic now comes from non-branded clicks.

Furthermore, we’ve decreased our invalid organic leads by dropping off desensitizing, non-relevant queries and directing them to better transactional pages. We’ve saved our sales team a lot of heartache by producing more relevant leads more frequently and ridding ourselves of false leads.  

How did Victorious perform from a project management standpoint?

 “E-commerce” is a relatively broad term, and people generally think about physical goods, but there’s a much larger spectrum of possibilities. We only deal with downloadable products. We had a few hiccups in communication in the beginning, but our project manager was quick to shift people around who would perform better for us.

We use Asana for project management, and we also communicate via phone, email, Google Hangouts, and Zoom meetings. Because we are in Santa Barbara, California, we can also easily visit them in San Francisco.  

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’ve developed a strong, collaborative partnership, and we’ve been able to learn a lot from each other. We’ve worked with other agencies before, and people can get ahead of themselves. This is what we do. We drink, eat, and sleep this all day, and we understand our business. Victorious has been considerate of that fact. They adjusted their strategy to our niche market.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I would suggest that they understand our business more, but I would say that about anyone. I’ve been with the company for four years, and it took me a long time to learn the business. It would be misleading for me to say that they need more knowledge of our business, given that it’s a very niche market.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

If those future clients already have a working knowledge of SEO, I’d suggesting outlining what has or has not worked so far. They should have their KPIs mapped out so Victorious understands what they’re working with. If those clients don’t have much background with SEO, I’d recommend listening to Victorious’ guidance because they’ve got an outstanding team.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the owner of Oji Vape, a vaping wholesaler and hardware manufacturer.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Victorious?

I hired Victorious to manage our SEO campaigns.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Victorious assigned me a project manager, and we went through the process of keyword research together. He asked me to identify which terms worked and which didn’t. Once we had the keyword strategy in place, Victorious talked up the importance of having more relevant content on our pages. They added that information and placed more links on specific pages. I quickly gathered that Victorious doesn’t have a cookie-cutter process. Everything seemed tailored for us.

What is the team composition?

I work with a project manager and four other people.

How did you come to work with Victorious?

Coincidentally, we once worked across the street from each other, but I didn’t know that until after we relocated our office. I wanted to work with a local SEO firm because we had trouble communicating and getting good results from offshore companies in the past. I read through the goals Victorious has on its site, and I spoke with their customer service manager. I met with a few other companies, as well, but Victorious seemed like the right fit.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $42,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in October 2018, and our project remains ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I went from ranking for very few keywords to more than 100 now. Additionally, our online sales have grown since we started working with Victorious. We used to rely on different types of leads, but the website upgrades and enhanced SEO strategy have created an extra revenue stream.

How did Victorious perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve been very organized. I appreciate their transparency regarding their process and the results because we haven’t always been afforded that kind of honesty from offshore companies. Victorious provides timely updates and roadmaps for the next steps.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Victorious has gone above and beyond to provide exceptional service. They are on top of all of their responsibilities.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, we’ve worked well together. I plan to continue working with them because the results are phenomenal.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It’s essential to have an idea of what your goals are and what pages and products you want to drive. The sooner you have that, the more you’ll get out of the process.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Stitch Labs is a B2B company that provides inventory management software for high-growth brands. As the digital marketing manager, I oversee many aspects of the digital funnel, including SEO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Victorious?

We hired Victorious because we were seeing a decline in organic traffic, while our competitors were growing in comparison. They helped us recover that traffic and grow the channel.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement? 

We signed a twelve-month agreement that was divided into two six-month periods. 

During the initial discussions, we spent a lot of time strategizing. They met with us to understand our goals, specific requirements, and target customers before devising a content-based SEO strategy to get us through the first months. They also ran a technical audit, making recommendations to improve our site speed and scalability. 

Most of the onus was on us to implement their strategy and recommendations. We had to prioritize our efforts in-house to make sure that we allocated the adequate resources to be successful, which involved producing content and executing technical fixes.

At the six-month point, we had a meeting to reevaluate our strategy. They sought to understand how our business had evolved, checking if our goals had shifted and adjusting our content strategy based on that. As we wrote new content, Victorious would deliver high-quality links to our site in addition to conducting periodical technical audits.

What is the team composition? 

I regularly communicated with Alwin Wong (Customer Success Manager, Victorious). There was also an SEO expert assigned to our case, though I didn’t interact with that person much. Victorious tries to keep their resources consistent so that they don’t have to retrain people on particular business profiles.

How did you come to work with Victorious?

Our former VP of Marketing found them.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our contract lasted from May 2018–May 2019. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We had built-in benchmarks throughout the engagement to keep us on track, however, this was largely driven by our internal team’s ability to execute Victorious’ strategies. So, if we couldn’t uphold our part of the plan, they couldn’t meet their key performance indicators (KPIs).

Within the first six months, we were instrumental in driving a 20% increase in organic traffic based on the data from the trailing 12 months prior. We expected that number to go up to 50% by the end of the contract, but we were not able to dedicate the same level of attention and did not see that return.

How did Victorious perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management had some room for growth. When they devised their SEO strategies in the beginning, they were very hands-on and provided a comprehensive plan to move us forward.

From there, we’d have monthly video conference meetings to go over a slide deck, review our performance, and look at the metrics.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We gained a lot of knowledge about SEO strategy by working with Victorious. Working with Victorious was an extremely valuable learning experience; it was a way for us to get our bearings, and we learned a lot about SEO best practices. Eventually, we decided to hire an internal SEO strategist to optimize our efforts.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I would’ve liked a more hands-on relationship that focused more on accountability, especially when I realized that our team’s effort was so incredibly impactful in how successful Victorious’ metrics would be. In the last six months, we were unable to deliver due to internal bandwidth and suffered as a result.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Anyone who’s considering working with Victorious should be prepared to invest the in-house resources needed. If you don’t have the bandwidth to execute on their recommendations, you won’t see the ROI that you’re looking for.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the founder of the company. Our company provides a search engine for social networks. I am responsible for marketing and operations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Victorious?

Our company underwent a huge setback when we lost our domain due to an error, we had to start regaining our traffic from scratch.

What were your goals for this project?

To recuperate the lost traffic.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Found it on Google, shopped around but they seemed to be the most capable.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They were able to regain 60-70% of our traffic within a few weeks, and we are in the process of surpassing traffic and revenue we had before we lost the domain. They went above and beyond to provide solutions for the long term problem as well as the immediate fixes we required to regain our footing. It was truly a whirlwind situation we couldn't have gotten through without them.

What was the team composition?

We have direct contact with our account manager and at some points during the process the leadership team, however behind the scenes there is a lot happening that we only see in results.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

This is an easy answer, we went from having a steady revenue of say $100, to practically $0 in the blink of an eye, we had 0 new traffic.. Within a few days we went back to say $40, within a couple months we were back at $60, and in a few months at the same steady growth we will be at around $140.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Project management from Victorious is very straightforward, they tell you what they're gonna do, they do it, then they tell you what they did and what it accomplished. We haven't missed a date or report, it's a basic turnkey situation.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their ability to attend an emergency situation that they didn't cause themselves.

Are there any areas for improvement?

It could be considered pricy by the standard of someone who might not be sure what kind of return they would get. That was our case. They've definitely earned their pay and then some, but committing to adding that cost to your project does take a leap of faith.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the VP of online marketing for a telecommunications company. We provide IP- and cloud-based services for small, medium-sized and enterprise level business (SMEs).

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Victorious?

We hired Victorious to help improve our organic site traffic and conversions for critically-important demand generation. This effort supplements our paid media, search engine marketing (SEM), and social marketing programs. It’s a valuable part of our overall revenue growth for direct sales.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to revisit our targeted keywords to improve rankings, quality of traffic, and on-site conversions into the demand funnel.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

After evaluating 3-4 other agencies, we selected Victorious based on a referral from a reliable peer and their demonstrated past performance.  They had a set process in place and strategic approach to their work. Another factor in our decision was their focus on SEO work over other aspects of marketing.

Describe the project in detail.

Initially, Victorious conducted a keyword analysis. They created back-links and offered recommendations for on-page and off-page SEO content. The team provided technical site audits, recommendations, and development. Lastly, they supported site migration.

What was the team composition?

An account manager handles most of the planning, project management, and action item follow-up. They also assigned us a senior SEO specialist. The team of resources includes specialists for each type of SEO work, including content, links, and analysis.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any statistics or metrics that speak to the quality of their work and impact of the engagement?

Victorious has excellent process and takes a proven approach to SEO. They increased organic traffic multi-fold and tapped into new techniques we had never used before in the past. 

Overall, Victorious has been a valuable part of our team. They work well with our internal resources who are also devoted to SEO and other online efforts to drive growth.

How did Victorious perform from a project management standpoint?

Victorious has an easy-to-use project management method and excels at following up. Action items always get taken care of. They’re flexible about making adjustments depending on new discoveries, needs, and opportunities.

What impresses you about Victorious?

I am most impressed by their performance improvements, efficiency of work, knowledge, and SEO skills. They have the right level of flexibility to adapt and modify as needed.

Are there any areas for improvement?

There are no significant areas to improve.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the marketing strategy manager for a sustainability SaaS company. I lead multiple corporate initiatives such as marketing strategy, demand generation, campaign management, go-to-market activities, and analytics.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Victorious?

We need help to improve our link-building program.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to increase the number of new backlinks and diversify our keyword portfolio. The overall goal was to increase our organic web traffic and leads, especially for our new and existing software products.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We found them during an online search for an SEO firm. What really drew us was their track record in improving results for other tech and SaaS companies.

Describe the project in detail.

They focus on optimizing our keywords and link-building efforts to acquire new leads and customers. We started with a series of meetings to go over the entire campaign lifecycle – from SEO planning and execution to KPI tracking and analytics reporting. The team performed a detailed SEO audit that helped us uncover underperforming areas. They also provided us with an organized list of keywords to target, along with recommendations on what website and landing pages to optimize for search engine marketing.

What was the team composition?

We worked with an account manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any statistics or metrics that speak to the quality of their work and impact of the engagement?

Victorious helped improve and maintain our search rankings for some of our most valuable keywords. Additionally, since partnering with them, our organic search traffic has increased by over 65%. Our backlinks have increased, directly impacting our website and lead generation growth.

How did Victorious perform from a project management standpoint?

Our account manager, who continuously delivered on our campaigns, showed a high level of expertise and professionalism throughout the engagement.

What impresses you about Victorious?

Their data-driven approach to SEO has given us detailed insight on our program. They have helped us make better content marketing decisions using their data.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, we’re very satisfied.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Our company provides language access to people with limited English proficiency. I’m involved in the planning, execution, and communication of all marketing activities.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Victorious?

We hired Victorious to improve our SEO presence and lead generation efforts.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We wanted a vendor that had a strong aptitude for the work and could provide real resources backed with tangible results.

Describe the project in detail.

Victorious was responsible for onboarding and analytics optimization. They did thematic research, volume, and competitive keyword research, followed by an SEO audit and report presentation. They also implemented critical SEO items.

What was the team composition?

We worked with one account manager during the entire project. Other team members from Victorious also provided input or analysis.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any statistics or metrics that speak to the quality of their work and impact of the engagement?

We’ve just started to see the impact of Victorious' efforts, and the preliminary results have surpassed our expectations. We have had an aggregate increase of 342 targeted keyword positions. Also, one of our core keywords is now ranked second in a monthly search volume of 4,000. As a result, we can provide relevant content to prospective users and link them to the right solutions.

How did the Victorious perform from a project management standpoint?

Our dedicated account manager was phenomenal. The project was delivered on time and within budget.

What impresses you about the Victorious?

It was our first time working with an SEO provider, and we found Victorious quite easy to deal with. We were impressed with their ability to ask a lot of questions upfront. There was no need to handhold at any stage. They also could adequately explain optimizations to internal stakeholders.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I would recommend nothing different in their process, communication, or execution.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the operations manager for CustomFresh. We’re a fresh market vending company located in the San Francisco Bay Area with about 10 employees. I’m responsible for overseeing the company’s ordering process and operations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Victorious?

We had just launched a brand-new website, and we needed help building a strong digital presence. We were looking for a partner that could increase our exposure in the markets that we were targeting with our products and services, generating new prospective leads.

What were your goals for this project?

As a new company, we wanted to quickly improve our performance in terms of search rankings and increase sales leads through the various channels on our website.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We found them through a basic Google search. After considering several other vendors, we were most impressed with Victorious’ reviews. Ultimately, our marketing team chose to partner with them.

Describe the project in detail.

Victorious started by researching thematic keywords, analyzing the intent behind the various searches that drive visitors to our site. Then, they developed several strategies that incorporated their findings into our website. Before moving forward with the implementation, they listened to our feedback and expert opinions and made any necessary changes.

The team also led our SEO efforts, recommending and building out content that reflected our business and marketing objectives. They conducted comprehensive audits in the first month and the fourth month of the project to track our progress and the stability of our platform. Based on the results, they made additional changes to boost growth.

The project was slightly difficult to navigate, but we understood that it would take time to optimize our website for Google recognition. Victorious expedited that process. They have a process that they call “keyword jacking,” where they develop defined content strategies based on their SEO direction. Collaborating with our internal content team, they used this system in conjunction with ongoing link-building efforts and off-page signals to drive our website.

What was the team composition?

Our primary contact was a dedicated account manager, who communicated with both myself and our internal content team. He took the time to truly understand our business, managing the relationship with a high level of transparency. Also, we worked closely with an SEO strategist who handled the deliverables and documentation associated with those campaigns.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any statistics or metrics that speak to the quality of their work and impact of the engagement?

Within three months, we overcame the alleged sandbox effect associated with Google’s search algorithms—links to newer websites being filtered out of the high-ranking indexes—and started to see exponential growth. We went from being unranked to listed on Google’s first results page for a number of keywords.

Since the start of our partnership, we’ve recorded month-over-month metrics that illustrate our success. For example, our organic impressions jumped by 366% in August 2018 and another 48% in September 2018. Additionally, our most recent data shows a 79% increase in ranked keywords. We’re just getting started, but we’re experiencing promising growth rates that have already led to several prospective leads.

How did the Victorious perform from a project management standpoint?

The team was outstanding. My account manager was highly accessible, providing weekly email updates, willingly reviewing our progress via phone calls, and promptly responding to my inquiries. It was an efficient collaboration. All parties involved coordinated their work effectively, which saved us a lot of time. Their work was succinct and concise.

What impresses you about the Victorious?

I’m astonished by the results that they delivered. It was refreshing to work with a company as professional and skilled as Victorious. They took the time to understand our industry, staying informed throughout the engagement.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I can’t think of anything.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We specialize in print promotions that allow people and companies to distinguish themselves. I'm the business operations specialist.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Victorious?

Our website wasn't search engine optimized, so we needed help with keywords and SEO.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Victorious gave us recommendations on what we needed to do and then implemented them. We started with thematic keywords, in-depth technical audit of the site links, and on-page optimization. They gave us monthly reports and we had regular calls with our account manager. They did an excellent job, so we decided to increase keyword research and include more pages. It was a collaborative process and we felt that our voice was heard.

What is the team composition?

We mostly worked through an account manager.

How did you come to work with them?

They reached out to us. They identified some issues with our website and suggested that we schedule an appointment. We liked their pitch and decided to try them out.

How much have you invested with them?

We paid them about $30,000 a year.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in January 2017 and the relationship ended in July 2018 (when we hired someone in-house to do this job).

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

After a year of working with them, we saw some significant increases. For example, we saw a 55% increase in keywords rankings on the first page of Google and a double increase in item revenue via organic traffic. I didn't see the content they were producing (such as blog articles), so I only saw the results. And I was happy with the results.

How did they perform from a project management standpoint?

It was a collaborative process. Our account manager answered all of our questions and provided us with a monthly report. She also worked closely with the strategist who frequently checked our website and oversaw the implementation strategy. We talked once a week and the communication was always clear.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were honest and sincere about helping us achieve our goals.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Their monthly report highlighted everything that was positive, but I'd want to see a section on what needed to be improved and what they were doing to improve those things.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the marketing director for TIcketNetwork, which runs Ticket Club. We offer secondary market tickets to consumers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Victorious?

We hired Victorious to help us improve organic SEO in line with our affiliate and SEM campaign strategies.

What were your goals for this project?

Primarily, we wanted to move ourselves up into the top tier search results for the best value tickets to sold out events; our value proposition is strong, but we have to compete against well-funded competitors in the SEM world. Since organic traffic tended to convert far better than paid traffic, we needed help identifying the best systematic improvements to boost performance and the bottom line.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We searched out competitors in the space, and Victorious was one of the agencies we found. After discussions with several leaders in the market, we opted to use Victorious due to their familiarity with our segment. They also had a well-outlined backlink strategy in place, which was an important KPI for our CEO. Our internal team of two managers—with input from two marketing assistants and the CEO of our parent company—made the hiring decision.

Describe the project in detail.

After introductory discussions related to our overall goals and current strategies, Victorious laid out a multi-faceted game plan for overall improvement. We selected numerous keywords that we wanted to move up the charts on, and Victorious suggested additional keywords with strong search volume to target as well. To begin, they performed a deep audit of our existing pages and system, and laid out a detailed technical improvement map for us to work on. Once that was in progress, we moved in the direction of developing new content strategies to focus on improving our performance on existing keywords. Victorious made what changes via our CMS, but also gave us detailed instructions for areas to improve performance. For areas we couldn’t grant Victorious access, we shared that information with our internal development team.

What was the team composition?

The project manager is our main point of contact.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any statistics or metrics that speak to the quality of their work and impact of the engagement?

In total, we have moved up over 1,000 places for targeted keywords; some terms now appear at the top of Google’s results. Organic traffic has grown substantially, even without us implementing a number of planned improvements. Our organic sales numbers are very strong relative to summer’s slow months in our industry. We're looking for a big bump once the fall season kicks off.

How did the Victorious perform from a project management standpoint?

The project manager laid out a clear path for improvements that we can make internally and has engaged his team on aspects they can manage. He has also checked in regularly to offer advice or assistance. We communicate priorities via email and regularly-scheduled calls. Streamlined communication has kept the project simple. The project manager answers all of our questions in a timely fashion.

What impresses you about the Victorious?

They over-delivered on their improvement promises.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, because Victorious has exceeded expectations on all fronts. We hope that strong and positive trend continues throughout the life of our partnership.