WebFX

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the marketing director for a Four Diamond hotel and full-service casino.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with WebpageFX?

Most recently, we desperately needed a website redesign but couldn't afford one.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

WebpageFX has done multiple site redesigns for us over the years. We did a website refresh with them this past year. We shared our budget concerns with them, hashed through some ideas, and they suggested doing a reskin of the website to make it look new and fresh.

They worked with our creative team in Vegas to align the new look with our branding and keep our creative material consistent across all platforms.

They have also customized our website and programmed it according to our needs. They worked with a relatively old design because a whole redesign hasn’t been an option. We don't have a full WordPress site, though we’d like to in the future, but they made use of what we have.

They fully integrated a CMS [content management system] that we use to update our entire site. They've been able to tweak and expand it as our company and demand have changed. They also custom-coded an important My Account section for our customers. It's not real-time, but we update it on a daily basis. Users can see details of their play in the casino from the previous day.

They do long-form content and other extensive SEO [search engine optimization] projects for us, as well as PPC [pay-per-click] and online marketing. We use them for every service they offer.

What is the team dynamic?

Bill [President/Co-Founder, WebpageFX] and Karie [COO/Co-Founder, WebpageFX] came down and met with us. We mostly work with them, as well as a couple of other team members. Xander [Senior Internet Marketing Strategist, WebpageFX] is our project manager.

How did you come to work with WebpageFX?

I did an extensive interview and bidding process with 10 companies. WebpageFX stood out from the others because they aren’t characterized by the typical dishonesty in their industry. I get daily sales calls for SEO, pay-per-click advertising, and web design, but they all want to resell me a software package they already created. WebpageFX was able to custom make what no one else could.

They went through with us exactly what we wanted and offered a much more cost-effective approach than their competitors.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in 2007 and continue to work with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Before we started using them, our website visits weren’t even 100,000 per month. Now we're well above that. They make recommendations each year on how we can improve those.

Their reskin was just what we wanted and needed. We've also had a lot of growth in our new accounts section. Our customers are using it, and it's been extremely helpful for us; it's given us an edge over our local competition.

What I like about them is that they're always proposing new ideas, but they're not married to them. They don't get upset or refuse to do something we’ve requested. If we try something and it doesn’t work, they don't waste my time or money. They take pride in their work while remaining flexible, which is refreshing.

How did WebpageFX perform from a project management standpoint?

Our last big website redesign, in 2010, was the easiest project I’ve been involved with in my lifetime. It was so simple. I was expecting to have to manage everything and be in charge of all follow-up, but they handled it all. They made it simple and took responsibility for making sure everybody did what they were assigned. It was wonderful.

They've never had a problem working with our Vegas team, which is nice.

For normal, day-to-day project management, we have weekly meetings with Xander. He does a very good job at keeping me up-to-date on what's going on and where we are at.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their transparency and honesty, especially compared to other vendors I've worked with. I don’t feel like I'm being sold a bill of goods with no results to show.

When they give me the budget for the year, they break down how much I’ll spend in total, what I’ll pay them, and what I’ll be paying a third party. I’ve also asked for a break down at other times, and Xander’s told me clearly and succinctly, without misrepresenting anything. I’ve worked with a lot of agencies, and no one has ever done that.

They’ve never told us they couldn’t do something we asked for, with one exception, and in that case they referred us to someone who could.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’ve had conversations with them about the timeliness of their responses. A few times I’ve needed a response on a project a lot sooner than they provided it. It doesn't happen very often, but when it does, I call them, they address it, and they fix it. It’s usually been because they were inundated with projects all at once.

I appreciate that they’ve always acknowledged the issue and made changes accordingly.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am a marketing specialist for a Caterpillar dealership in Los Angeles. My job is to maintain all of the website edits.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with WebpageFX?

Our site had gone 11 years with no changes. We hadn’t corrected typos or changed contact information as employees left. We were looking for a complete redesign.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They came up with a couple of mockups for our team to look at. Once our management decided which one to go with, it was a pretty seamless process. We’re a unique industry, so I worked with the different departments at Quinn Company, getting pictures and content we needed laid out in Word and we sent it off to WebpageFX.

Their team prettied it up and filled in missing pictures we didn't have or couldn't source. There was a lot of back and forth at this point. They did everything we asked for. A few times they jumped in and said what they would or wouldn’t recommend and why. Those suggestions were very helpful in guiding us without making us feel that they hijacked the project. We were pretty adamant that we go with Wordpress. I had worked previously with Drupal and knew that it had some restrictions. They walked us through WordPress and gave us a cheat sheet with instructions. They showed us different features we could use on Wordpress. 

What is the team dynamic?

We worked mostly with Brianna [Project Manager, WebpageFX] on the web design.  I've heard them throw out some other names, so other people were working on it, but I didn’t work directly with them.

How did you come to work with WebpageFX?

We worked with them previously to become an approved CAT web vendor. We interviewed a couple of other CAT vendors and decided to go with WebpageFX. We’ve done a few projects with them now and their responsiveness was always great. The output from their end was good, and so we stuck with them for the website redesign.

How much have you invested with them?

The redesign was around $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We launched it in November 2016. We started the redesign in September of 2015. We have full control of it. Every once in a while, I have questions about how something works or if I want to try something new, so I go back to WebpageFX. It's fully launched and live, and our management loves the new look. We're currently retaining them for maintenance and SEO services. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It hasn't encouraged our employees to go look at the site more, but we have a long list of subscribers to our site’s newsletter. Our visits are up and our bounce rates are down. We're selling more of the used equipment that we feature, so I think it's doing well.

How did WebpageFX perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management is great. Brianna was our point of contact during the redesign, so when I had questions for different departments at WebpageFX, she filtered them for us, got the information, and came back to us. We didn’t have to contact several different people. We used Basecamp and Google Docs. Google Docs was awesome. Now that they are doing SEO for us, our point of contact has changed.

First and foremost, they are very responsive. They are quick to respond to phone calls or emails and get back to us on any questions. They don’t mind explaining things at our level of understanding when we have questions or need to explain something to our management.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their response time. They don't leave you wondering if they got your message. They're good at responding quickly to any questions we have, even if it's to say they’ll to get back to us. We had a great experience with them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president and CEO for Book Haven Press LLC. We're a diversified publishing company that’s both print and web-based.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with WebpageFX?

We needed help keeping up with all the changes that Google implemented with the Hummingbird updates. The updates have the potential to change your position in the search results and we were noticing a drop in our search results. One of our sites has been online since 1994. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We mostly use them for SEO, but over the scope of work, they’ve become more of a partner in the sense that they do a lot more than just SEO. They optimized the design on our pages that attract more traffic and made the site more appealing for visitors. Anytime we have an issue with our WordPress blogs, they assist us. They do a lot of meta tagging for us on our new articles that our many writers produce. They check every one and make sure the meta tags match up to the content and are compatible with Google and Bing searches and all the others.

They make recommendations on changes that might be relevant and suggestions for other updates. They do the unification of the domains. They go into our various web-based accounts and optimize various them to make it more seamless. They work on the .htaccess files, and the sitemap XML. We now can’t do without them as they maintain our positioning and our results.

They also do a lot with analytics for us. That involves deep studies in Google Analytics and even in Google AdSense. They compare the two and they’ll work out inconsistencies. We had problems previously with erroneous sites coming in on our reports and they resolved that.

What is the team dynamic? 

I started with one person and after he got promoted, I was passed to Joe [WebpageFX] who I’ve worked with for the last two years or more. They were both excellent, exceptional, and very dedicated. They have a great work ethic. If I have a problem, even on his day off, Joe will email me if I have an issue. He keeps track and makes sure things are done timely. If it’s urgent, like we’re losing a feed, they get up and get involved and are very helpful with resolving the problem. 

How did you come to work with WebpageFX?

I contacted them based on a referral from another business associate, Career Pro Global, who is an integral partner with us as well. They were very satisfied with the results they had received. 

How much have you invested with them?

Since our initial contract, maybe $25,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together four or five years ago and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’ve been instrumental in maintaining our placement on the web and on keeping the sites clean, presentable, and mobile compatible. They’ve helped improve the search results with meta tags and their recommendations on how to configure. They determine what content is the most searched in our genre on the internet, primarily Google and Bing and others. Then they come back and tell us what content needs to be brought in or where we need to refocus or consolidate. From that perspective, they keep us focused on the best way to keep our traffic up and going. Without the traffic and site visits, our CPM [cost per thousand] would drop.

How did WebpageFX perform from a project management standpoint?

They were good. We talk about things that they could improve, whether its traffic or performance or site visitor experience and then they set up a tentative plan. We work together on it. We do the design in-house, but we usually format it based on their outline. 

They have a project every month that focuses on a mutually agreed upon performance outcome. That helps us to focus our attention on where we think we’ll get the biggest bang for the buck, the most improvement, and the best experience for our visitors. 

They have an online tool that gives us a spreadsheet of where they’re at with any given project, with past performance and numerous reports. They also send a monthly report summarizing everything. We have at least one major call a month where we talk about what’s been accomplished, new things that come up, and what’s projected for the next one to three-month period. We have longer-term targets too, for example, we’re looking at changing everything to https, which they’ll help us with. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their contact and interaction are impressive. It’s a great service. They provide timely input. They help keep our revenue stream growing even amongst the very different genre websites we have. We’re very satisfied with them.

They are willing to go above and beyond what we originally agreed to do. If something is causing a problem in any of our web properties, they’ll step in to help if it’s affecting overall performance. They look for ways to improve efficiency in our operation. If one of the sites is decreasing in site visits and revenue and another one is increasing, they evaluate why and they talk to us about it. They’re intuitive and they work with us to improve efficiency. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Their cost structure is reasonable. It is expensive, and we’re a small company, but I can’t fault them for their fee structure. The first-year contract was a lot more than what we pay on a monthly non-contract basis now. 

I can’t think of anything else they can improve. They pretty much do everything we want.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the practice administrator of a solo plastic surgery practice. We do both cosmetic and reconstructive plastic surgery.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with WebpageFX?

They helped us design our initial website, about 10 to 12 years ago. Since then, they've maintained our SEO on a monthly basis. They’ve worked on Google AdWords campaigns for us for a while. We meet with Xander Becket [Internet Marketer, WebpageFX] a couple of times a year to discuss optimization and the website’s progress. They've also managed email blasts for us. Around June, we started developing a new website. Since then we've been working closely on getting that up.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our old website was overdone; it was not current. The development was old, even the programming that they used was outdated. We had added things to the website, and it just got unwieldy and ugly. It was hard to navigate and needed an update.

Our goal was to design something more modern and easier to navigate. We chose to add quite a few more pre- and post-op pictures and testimonials. In our business, photographs of pre- and post-op surgical procedures, testimonials, and reviews are the most important things when people are making decisions about which practice to go to.

Our current launch date is two weeks away. The most difficult process has been getting our designer and project manager at WebpageFX to understand how a plastic surgery site should look because they don't do a lot of them. It's pretty specific. No other site has the same amount of pre- and post-op photos we have.

You also have to be delicate with the photos because people are naked. You have to make sure the photos don’t show too much face or identifying tattoos. There's a lot of cropping to be done. They've taken a while to do it, and what they've done so far has been good. However, we did have to sit down with the project manager and go through every single photo, because it was hard for them to wrap their brain around how we expected it to look.

As far as new technology goes, I can't really speak too much about the design process of it. I do know that the design itself is much easier to look at. It's going to be a lot more attractive for our patients when they get there. It just looks more professional and cleaner. I think it's a Wordpress website, but I'm 100% sure. I believe that it is.

How did you come to work with WebpageFX?

I honestly don't remember. I think it was a recommendation because I don't remember specifically looking for someone and meeting with different people. Utilizing a local business was a big part of what we were looking for. There are a lot of developers who would love to make a plastic surgery website, but we wanted to support what was then a new, local business. We stayed with them for that, but we also stayed with them because their service was just so good.

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent a lot with them over the years. The new web design will end up being about $10,000. I'm guessing we've probably spent $25,000 total with them over the years.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started with them in 2008 and we’re still working with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The new site isn’t live yet, so there are no concrete results yet. People still see the old website when they go online. What I do is I track my ROI from the email inquiries we get from their SEO work. We get a lead and then WebpageFX generates an email for me. I track the lead and they charge $500 a month on SEO for that. I'm probably getting between $5,000-8,000 in monthly business out of the SEO. It's a little hard to track in because some people inquire about a procedure and then might wait six months to 15 months to come back.

Although I analyze the ROI every couple of months, it changes every time. I go back about a year so I can see the trends, because even if patients inquired last October, they might only be coming in now. But I do keep track of that. I'm going to say we probably get $5,000-7,000 worth of business. A lot of people find us on Google. We track that as well, but it's harder for us to quantify the people that end up calling.

How did WebpageFX perform from a project management standpoint?

For the most part, their project management has been good. Some of their responsiveness has slowed down recently. I would say in the last month, the responsiveness has slowed down quite a bit and I've had to reach and ask for updates. As far as I know, there's been no change in designer and we have the same project manager.

I have a beta site I'm working on, and there is a Google Doc on which I can put in edits or changes that I want to make. Once that system began, I feel like the communication broke down. They were supposed to answer me on that document, stating the date that they completed my edits, which hasn’t been done.

The only way I've known that it's been completed is to go back and look at the new site to see what progress they've made. I found that it's broken down since the beta site came up, and it's a little sporadic in terms of what kind of feedback I'm getting. There's probably close to 200 edits I've put in. I don't know what’s been done because they haven't been marked on the Google document that we share.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They take the time to understand what we need as a business. They always have. They've always been very interested in understanding not just what a plastic surgery practice is, but what our plastic surgery practice is. That is very valuable to us because we do that with our patients. We get to know them. We want to make sure that they're being treated really well. I've gotten that from WebpageFX. That's why we went back to them for the redesign.

I did get other quotes for the redesign, and WebpageFX was not the cheapest. They were in the middle, but we knew the service that they offer and we knew the level of quality that was going to come out of the new website, so we went with them again.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Just the last month, the responsiveness now that the site is almost done. I don't feel like I should have to email and ask where we are in the project. I do get a weekly email stating what’s being worked on and completion dates, but it's very general. I don't know how far along they are. For example, when I look at the photographs, I don't know which ones they've fixed and which ones they haven't. I would like more specificity at this stage when we're getting so close to launch.

Do you have any advice for potential clients of WebpageFX?

They're responsive, professional, and reasonably priced. They're not the cheapest, but they are certainly competitive price-wise. The value that we get is definitely worth the money. I have recommended them to other people. I recommended someone that they actually turned away because they said they had done a competitor's site and they didn't want to do two sites.

I hadn't delved very deep into it because it was a business contact, but I thought that was odd. That's their prerogative, but I have recommended them to a number of business contacts.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Kampgrounds of America is a collection of more than 500 franchise campgrounds across North America. I am the director of digital marketing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with WebpageFX?

We needed help with an SEO audit and pre-redesign for a website launch.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They completed an SEO audit for us, which involved looking at our site both on-page and off-page, and from a technical SEO standpoint. They found a lot of issues that we could fix as we were redesigning and relaunching the site. After we got our pieces in place and launched some content, they did a post-audit sweep to see what we might have missed on the site and what areas we could fix.

We then hired them to help us redesign our landing pages, aid our overarching strategy, and improve pages that talk about some of our products like our cabin and RV products. They redesigned those pages and helped them to rank higher and be more visible for the keywords that we’re trying to attack. This project is more of a retainer. 

They’ve also done some conversion rate optimization as part of the package. For earned media, they created a lot of shareable infographics, micrographics, and content marketing pieces that we’ve shared out and used for link building. 

What is the team dynamic? 

I mainly communicate with Cheyenne [Internet Marketing Analyst, WebpageFX], but there’re a few others that I’ve also interacted with.

How did you come to work with WebpageFX?

I did a lot of research online and read different forums, blogs, and reviews. I called a few different companies. Their company structure and how transparent they were with what they were doing is what drew me to them. 

How much have you invested with them?

$200,000 in total. The first standalone project was around $60,000 to $70,000, while the newer one is around $70,000 to $90,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in 2015 and the work is ongoing. The SEO audit project wrapped up around spring 2016 and the redesign began in January 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

When we rewrote the site, they found a lot of technical SEO issues that required attention, such as domain unification, some redirects, and using schema on some of our reviews. We had set some benchmarks and some metrics pre-launch, and then after implementing the updates based on their recommendations, we took measurements again and saw a big increase in website traffic. Their work really helped Google understand our site a lot better. Our domain is old and has a lot of page rank. Their tips helped us to experience the full benefit of that. 

With the new landing pages, the goal was to increase time spent on pages and help users to flow through to reservations a lot quicker. We increased time on spent on pages from about 40 seconds to about 80 to 100 seconds, depending on the page. It was great to see that increased engagement and people interacting with those pages not long after we launched them. 

Our number of sessions increased by 11% this year. Regarding organic, we’re up about 16%. WebpageFX is one of the main reasons that organic traffic is up 16% this year. It now reaches, 11.3 million — an increase from 9.7 million last year. Our revenue and reservation numbers benefit from the fact that website traffic has increased. Those figures are up more than 23%. 

How did WebpageFX perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve all been great; super friendly and knowledgeable. They turn projects around quickly. They operate in a similar way to me and don’t hold a lot of scheduled meetings. We only meet when we need to, and otherwise, use Basecamp to communicate and keep things flowing. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’ve got their business model down well with their pricing, what they do, and their workflow. They seem to have a very happy workforce comprising people that want to work hard for them. They’re knowledgeable and have a very regimented way of getting things out the door. Their workflow is impressive. Their ability to look at our business and recommend new ways on how we can improve it and help us strategize is something that they do really well. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

With some of the regimented, down the line stuff, comes a little bit of a distance between graphic design or copywriters. Maybe they could get to know a brand a little bit better in the beginning, but that’s a two-way street as well. 

Do you have any recommendations for someone who is considering WebpageFX?

I would absolutely hire them and work with them. Be transparent as possible with what your goals are and be very clear on what you’re looking to execute when working with them. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are a national full-service advertising agency. We work with WebpageFX on client projects. They work directly for us on numerous client campaigns.

I am the Senior Vice President here at USAgency.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with WebpageFX?

They handle many of our Google Adwords projects. Instead of creating an in-house department, it makes more sense for us to partner with WebpageFX on most client projects.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

They also do SEO work for some of our clients. Most of their work is around Google Adwords campaigns. Every client is totally different, they are all in very different situations and different financial situations.

We needed a strategic partner that could work with every situation. We can arrange the client details and they put the plan together and execute it for us. We work with our clients to get campaigns and strategies approved. WebpageFX is truly a partner, we don't just tell them what to do. We rely on them for strategy and implementation.

We handle all of the creative work but they do give suggestions. We supply graphic content to them for the PPC campaigns.

We've worked with one account person the past couple of years. We also worked with a couple more people at WebpageFX. We had a consistent contact a few years ago who knew our account quite well. He moved on but our contact is fantastic and it's been a flawless transition.

How did you come to work with WebpageFX?

We were referred to Webpage FX by another strategic partner of ours. It's been over four years, maybe longer. It's probably one of the best phone calls that we ever made.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

Our clients are completely different sized organizations. Some are global clients that have local dealers and distributors working with WebpageFX while others are smaller organizations. The range of budgets fees varies quite a bit.

Our clients are completely different sizes. Some are global clients that have local subsidiaries working with WebpageFX while others are tiny firms. The range of fees varies a ton.

What is the status of this engagement?

I think it was 2013 or 2014. I can't remember the first client project that we worked with WebpageFX on as a partner but it was a great start to our relationship. It's ongoing and we have no plans to stop.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

Our clients continue to be very happy with the results and continue to grow their business with the help of Webpage FX. I don't see this work stopping. It's now become an annual budget item for our clients because it's so consistent and successful.

How did WebpageFX perform from a project management standpoint?

It couldn't be any better! They are a ten out of ten with communication and project management. The major reason that we continue to work with them is that they are quick to understand our business and our clients' businesses.

What distinguishes WebpageFX from other providers?

They are very quick to pick up any industry and any client. They can quickly put together a plan and they understand our clients' business and their role in helping execute the plan. They also go live with a new campaign very quickly. This ability to move quickly is invaluable.

Is there anything WebpageFX could have improved or done differently?

Not really, there was a learning curve. Once we got on the same page about our respective roles, there were no issues. There is nothing currently that I'm unhappy with or could be improved at all.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the e-business manager in marketing for Wheeler Machinery Co., which is a Caterpillar dealer for the state of Utah, as well as parts of Wyoming, Nevada, and Arizona. We are based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Our digital channel falls under my control. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with WebpageFX?

I didn’t have the employees or the knowledge that I needed. We were attempting to do everything in-house, and it was overwhelming. I reached out to a company that I knew understood Caterpillar dealers and the heavy construction world but also excelled in the digital realm. We couldn’t complete the work at the price and velocity that we needed.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

WebpageFX started by completely redoing my website, which was about 10% of what I needed to outsource. Now, they’re managing 90% of what I needed to outsource. They’ve taken pretty much all of my business, which has been fantastic.

They modernized the whole look and feel and transformed the site into a responsive design. At the time, I really struggled with the CMS [content management system]. I didn’t like the one we had, and it didn’t work well. You basically had to be a computer programmer to get anything to work. The CMS that WebpageFX offered was robust and easy to use, as it involved click-and-point or drag-and-drop activities.

Caterpillar offers products feeds, but I wasn’t aware of how they worked or how to set them up. WebpageFX already knew how to implement everything. They helped us incorporate the product feeds into our website, which was a huge benefit that I hadn’t anticipated when I started working with them.

Early in our relationship, I realized they have a lot more expertise in my industry than I realized. So, we changed the scope a bit to include various XML feeds and other stuff that Caterpillar provides. Once they finished those tasks for me, I realized they were also excellent at SEO [search engine optimization], SEM [search engine marketing], and Google PPC [pay per click] and Google AdWords to display network advertising. I hired them to do all of that for me as well.

I’ve seen tremendous results based on the work they’ve done for me. I had a fair amount of SEO and SEM experience prior to working with them, and my Google Analytics and AdWords were already set up and working. Since these tasks were incredibly time-consuming, there’s no way I could handle them by myself.

When I first reached out to WebpageFX, we sat down and went over what I expected my website to do. Then, they did the keyword research, which was wonderful, and came with their suggestions. They know what I’m trying to accomplish, so they tweak those keywords each month to reach my goals. I don’t have to worry about a thing.

I work one-on-one with Amanda [Lead Internet Marketing Consultant, WebpageFX], and she knows what I deal with every day. She will approach me with solutions to my problems, which is wonderful. For example, two months ago she knew I was really struggling with our social media, and she showed me a great offering they have. In the last couple of months, I have turned over all of my social media to WebpageFX as well. They really excel in this area.

Prior to WebpageFX, we were active on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Pinterest. We were doing okay with Facebook but weren’t doing anything beyond Facebook Ads or Google Plus pages and some YouTube advertising. Because I’m pretty much doing this by myself. I just don’t have the time or the staff to manage all these accounts. They took over what I had already had in place and made some great improvements. Darrian [Social Media Specialist, WebpageFX] will plan content for a month in advance using Buffer, and our marketing manager and I will review what she’s set up. If we want to move things around or highlight specials, she’ll accommodate all of that. Darrian always watches current events like the recent floods in Houston. Caterpillar had a big presence in helping in Houston, so she reached out to us and said, “Hey, we should do this.” She also monitors our Facebook page for customer reviews and comments. So, I don’t have to worry about that either.

What is the team dynamic?

They have a great setup. Darrian handles social media, and Amanda is my project manager for everything with WebpageFX. It’s great having one person to call and get your problem solved. She gets to know us really well, too. I like working with them. They're efficient and excellent at what they do, and they’re also fun to work with. They’re genuinely nice people, and it’s hard to find vendors like that.

How did you come to work with WebpageFX?

Caterpillar has an annual marketing conference once a year where all the Caterpillar dealers get together and discuss best practices. I was at one of these conferences. While talking to a couple of the marketing managers, I was explaining the nightmare of going through a website redesign. We have nearly 1,400 pages on our website. Two or three people immediately said, “We’re using this vendor that’s really good.” I actually met WebpageFX at the vendor fair and spoke to the owners, who are super nice people. I immediately felt comfortable with them. I knew they were going to do what they promised.

How much have you invested with them?

The initial website cost about $60,000. The price varies monthly because of different projects. We’ve spent about $4,000–$5,000 per month since the initial website.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in October 2014, and our collaboration is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

When we first started with our website, I pointed out that a local competitor was doing a phenomenal job with their SEO and SEM. I went to Amanda and said, “We have got to beat this company.” It’s hard to measure our success in metrics because they’re not as active on that front anymore.

My new users for SEO has increased by 2% year over year. We’ve seen more than 8% increase overall. New sessions on my site have been increasing about 10% per year. So, we’re about 40% up from where we were. Our paid traffic is amazing, and WebpageFX handles click-through. That actually rose by 158% compared to when we first started. My overall ROI with WebpageFX is 578%, and my online leads are up by 82%. I think they’re doing a fantastic job.

How did WebpageFX perform from a project management standpoint?

They probably performed better than any vendor I’ve partnered with in the past. I’ve been in this position for 27 years, and I’ve worked with a lot of vendors over the years. WebpageFX is way above everybody else. When people ask me what they’re like, I say they are the Apple of customer service in the marketing world. If you ever had an Apple experience and know how good they are to work with and what great products they offer, that is how WebpageFX has been to me. They are super responsive. Even when Amanda went on her honeymoon last year, I said, “I better not get an email from you while you’re away.” I was afraid that if I sent a question to them, that she would see it and respond. She promised me that she wouldn’t. Their service is just over the top.

Our monthly call with Amanda is scheduled for an hour, but it always extends to two because we end up asking her lots more questions than we anticipated. She’s always willing to spend as much time as we need. She emails me probably every other week with quick updates. They monitor our accounts daily. She knows there’s no way I could respond to daily questions, so she’s really good about consolidating her questions and sending them to me in a single email.

They use Basecamp to keep track of everything. If I have a question about something, I can go into Basecamp and find it that way. I’m not a big Basecamp fan, but I appreciate that they archive every conversation.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re incredibly professional. The SEO and PPC area is fiercely competitive. WebpageFX comes across as knowledgeable but easy to work with. When I have an issue or a question, they’d jump through hoops of fire to help me out. I appreciate their capabilities and the speed at which they work.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Their invoicing is a little vague. Sometimes, I have to question them about certain items. I don’t have a set fee with them by month. If I ask for special work, then they’ll bill me separately for that. Also, they don’t have any online documentation for the programs that they offer.

They have an entire marketing automation suite, which lets us do some wonderful things, but we have to figure it out on our own or constantly ask them for help because there’s no documentation for the programs that they’ve written. They said that they’re working on that. But, these are minor concerns that I don’t really worry about. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

I'm the president of a manufacturing company and we specifically build hydroseeding equipment and straw blowing equipment that's used by contractors for growing grass for revegetation and erosion control around the country. So it could be used for anything from a lawn to a commercial property to a mine to a pipeline, anywhere that the ground has disturbed grass that needs to be replanted and our machines do that. We've been in business probably 50 years and it's been under several different names and ownership groups.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with WebpageFX?

Back in 2010, we had an ownership change. As part of the ownership change, the company name changed and we rebranded ourselves. We had really internal branding with colors, naming, and our website. We developed a nice package around our brand. Building awareness nationally about us was still a struggle. People didn't know our new name but they knew the previous name.

People may or may not find us on a search because our search engine optimization wasn't as good as it could be. We were looking to dramatically improve our awareness in the industry after having redone the name and branding of our company.

We used a pretty large company before WebpageFX that came highly recommended but it just wasn't a good fit. There was poor communication and a mental block for them to understand our business. Our products are very niche. It's a very small and niche industry with a very technical sales pitch. It was a struggle from day one. 

I had some familiarity with WebpageFX when I was working for Ohio Cat in 2010. WebpageFX had gotten on my radar there because they did work for our neighboring dealer in Pennsylvania. I was looking at their branding and was looking at using WebpageFX for our purposes. This all happened at the same time that I moved back home to run my current firm.

For several reasons, we didn't use WebpageFX here at first. We came back around to them when it didn't work out with the first agency.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

It's critical that you have a good working relationship with your key point of contact. They assigned Katie Brady to our account. She and I clicked and had a good working relationship and communication from the start. That helped tremendously because she understood what I wanted and we started strongly. Her communication was strong and regular, which the other agency didn't offer. We had to track them down to get status updates and their responses were vague and not supported by data.

WebpageFX is very thorough at looking at the data to figure out actions and strategies. They don't apply boilerplate strategies to everyone, which doesn't work for us since we are a niche product. Katie was really good at identifying key phrases instead of just finding keywords. This helped us to get a ton of qualified traffic. It's great to get a ton of traffic but if they aren't qualified, users will bounce and go elsewhere. These traffic numbers can be misleading.

Our last agency did many things to bring traffic to our site. It was all bogus traffic from weird places and it wasn't valuable. I think it was smoke and mirrors. With WebpageFX, they are an open book. Everything is clear, concise, and communicated. I have a confidence level with them because they show me, report what they do and thoroughly explain what we are doing. It doesn't mean that they always get it 100% right.

There is an opportunity to get things right and discuss things. There is a chance to fix things and get it to a level so it's performing. They have helped us set up Gmail marketing, that has done very well with us for a cost-effective number. Our return on investment there is phenomenal. There is an understanding of what we want to do. We are changing, evolving, and thinking outside the box. Our traffic and conversions have grown. All positive metrics have grown exponentially. We are happy with the results and continuing to move forward. We are very committed to the digital marketing side.

We used to do trade shows and print ads but those things don't work anymore. Most people go to the computer when they want to learn about a product. We are putting about 90% of our budget on the digital side. We are down to maybe one trade show and one print publication where we know they have editorial content around hydroseeding. We used to do 25 to 30 trade shows per year and now it's two per year. It's not where our customers are going to find what they want.

How did you come to work with WebpageFX?

We spoke with a salesperson at first who quoted us a package and assigned us a digital marketing representative. They worked as a team to give us Katie as a representative because of her background or knowledge. It was about who was the best fit based on our industry and what we wanted to accomplish.

Once we were assigned to Katie, the majority of work was run through here. She facilitates all the work that requires other members of the time. It's very seamless for me because I just deal with Katie. She finds the most relevant person when we have needs. On a couple occasions, they will do conference calls with their content writers. We update and add to our website content with them to help our organic search results.

We have a very technical, specific message that we try to communicate to stand out. I've done calls with their writers to try to clearly articulate what we need to write. I just don't have time to write the content, I'm good at it but I don't have time to do the writing now. I'm very particular and anal about all of our marketing because it's my vision and my brand. I've created everything like the color scheme, name, website design, and layout. I've done all of that myself so it's my baby.

Sometimes we have found that I need to do some editing of their writing content. It's impossible for any agency writer to get it exactly right. I don't have the expectation that they know what I know. It helps me get past writer's block and get articles published.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

Our annual spend is around $60,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

It was around June 2016. It's ongoing and we will have a full website redesign to streamline things and make it better. I think it's the best in the industry but I always want to be better. Sometime in the next three to six months, we will start on the next project. We are always looking with them at the next area to attack to grow our online presence.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

Our pay-per-click leads had a 86% increase and our organic traffic is up about 43%. Organic traffic went up 27% and resulted in 59% of conversions. We had 77% more organic visitors year over year. They increased pay-per-click leads by 69% and pay-per-click calls by 137%. Cost per pay-per-click lead decreased by 22%. Cost per pay-per-click action decreased by 50%. This year over year data came from December 2016.

How did WebpageFX perform from a project management standpoint?

I think they are phenomenal. We used to communicate on a weekly call. As we got our initial projects under control, that turned into biweekly. It's now monthly or as needed. Katie visited here to tour the plant and look at the equipment. She got a first-hand education of what we do.

We've done it long enough so that we don't need regular calls like the beginning. 

What distinguishes WebpageFX from other providers?

It was their focus on measurable outcomes. The first company that we used and spent a lot of money with was all smoke and mirrors. It wasn't grounded in statistics and numbers. This team has given me countless reports to support their strategies. That works for me as a particular person who needs a comfort level with WebpageFX. They are using legitimate information and are experts. They always use the right data, know how to organize it, and make it understandable to me.

Other firms have great people on the top but they don't have strong people working under them. Other agencies didn't have impressive portfolios online. They wanted me to redo our website so they could manage everything. Others didn't take the time to make their own website as cutting edge. I didn't get that level of confidence from other agencies.

WebpageFX uses numbers and stats on their own website. It's impressive and comforting. It makes me more confident in their abilities. It's not just a sales pitch on the phone, their site backs up what they say. 

Is there anything WebpageFX could have improved or done differently?

The only issue that I have involves the content writing about our product. I've come to realize that it's not realistic for me to not be involved in the writing process. No one can ever communicate the message better than me because I've been around the content for nearly thirty years. It's not a knock on them but it's frustrating for me. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

I am Vice-President of Business Development for American Heritage Property Management. We provide property management services for investors including rent collection, tenant placement, maintenance, and other items associated with the day to day operations of property management.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with WebpageFX?

Our primary goal was to enhance our digital marketing campaign. Specifically, we were hoping to drive more owner/investor leads to our website and really become the authority when it came to property management services and available rentals in the Central Pennsylvania and Baltimore Metro marketplaces.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

WebpageFX handles the full scope of our digital marketing campaign with the exception of our social media advertising. They’ve worked to enhance our SEO and SEM campaigns, and have done an excellent job thus far.

In addition, WebPageFX has drafted and optimized a majority of the content on our website, cleaned up our paid ads and is overseeing the creation of long form blog content.

How did you come to work with WebpageFX?

I thought felt that the best way to pre-interview a digital marketing company was would be to Google digital marketing companies in North America.

I was able to identify an SEO authority that provided a ranking of the top SEO and digital marketing firms in the U.S.  I then completed an online contact form on each of their websites, and waited to see which 5 of the top 10 responded the quickest.  WebPageFX was the first company to reply to my inquiry, replying within 5 minutes of my submission.

I then held conference calls with representatives from the firms that responded in the shortest amount of time. Although WebPageFX was not the cheapest option I was presented with, I was confident that their professionalism, expertise and overall plan was worth the additional costs.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

As of July 1st, we have spent $16,375.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working WebPageFX in March of 2017 and have been working together since.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

Since we began our work with WebPageFX in March of 2017 I have seen a dramatic increase in the number of leads that have been generated through our website, and the number of calls that have come in as a result of marketing we’re doing online. I’ve also seen a dramatic increase in our online rankings.

Prior to WebpageFX, in some of our major markets such as Lancaster, Harrisburg and York, we were trending pretty well from an SEO perspective.

However, since partnering with WebPageFX we have moved into the number one or two spots through paid or organic searches in most of our market areas.

This area includes 10 different regions in Pennsylvania and Maryland. There’s been a 3,480% increase in our SEO lead generation and call volume over the last year, June 2016-June 2017. We’ve also had a 75% increase in our PPC lead generation during the same time period. We had an 8.01 increase in SEO traffic during that same time period.

How did WebpageFX perform from a project management standpoint?

We’ve been incredibly pleased with them. Their team is very responsive, very diligent. Whatever we ask of them, they’re able to provide us with the answer right away. If they don’t have the answer, they can get it for us immediately and are generally spot on the first time. We don’t have to do many revisions with them.

I worked almost exclusively with Heather [Digital Marketing Expert, WebpageFX]. She’s done a phenomenal job with project management and her communication is off the charts. Generally, WebpageFX is ahead of us and they’re providing us with ideas, concepts, and takeaways before we’ve even gotten to that point. Anytime I ask Heather for any adjustments or any questions, she’s very responsive.

One of the things I really appreciate about them is you don’t have to ask them more than once. If you ask them to do something, they do it right the first time. There’s really no corrections that need to be made, which saves us a lot of time on the backend.

What distinguishes WebpageFX from other providers?

I think one of the things that WebpageFX does that is unique is a lot of the decisions they’ve made and a lot of the strategies they implement are solely based on return on investment. They’re very good at being transparent as to how this is impacting our bottom line. I don’t think we felt that way with our other company. I think transparency is a big word for WebpageFX. They seem to be very transparent and we know exactly what’s going on. They provide us access to a program called Bootcamp, which allows us to see what they’re doing at any given time with our account. I would say that they’re very forward thinking. They’re always thinking ahead about what they can do next and how they can improve. I think their responsiveness, their transparency, and their return on investment focus are probably their three best attributes I’ve seen thus far.

Is there anything WebpageFX could have improved or done differently?

Not at this point. I’m pretty much 100% satisfied as of now.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Lane Enterprises Technical Coatings Division is a large powder coating applicator on the south central part of Pennsylvania. My title is national sales manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with WebPageFX?

We wanted to expand and update our web presence. Our business is about color and making things look good, but we didn’t even look good online.

When I first came on, I was looking at our web page, which was set up probably 12 to 15 years before I came onboard and nobody had touched it since then. I wanted to update it, but I’m not very technically-literate. I contacted our marketing director at Lane Enterprises, and he told me to look into hiring WebPageFX. I told them what we wanted to do. I explained that we’re painters, basically, and don’t have a lot of computer literacy. We needed to rely on them to show us the way and do what’s best for us.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We pretty much tore apart what was there and rebuilt it from scratch. If you saw it back then and compared it to the new site, it’s like two different companies. The first couple of folks that we worked with at WebPage took our ideas and ran with them. They’d come back to us every week or every two weeks with new ideas of what we could put on the site.

We also had their developers come to our facility so they could see what we did. We could explain to them what our customers are looking for, and what we were looking to put out there in the marketplace. After we upgraded the site itself, we got into the SEO and we sat with two new developers and went over keywords. That’s been our focus in the last four to five years.

The original site was dull, and now it’s colorful. It’s got pictures, stories and informational sheets. They helped us with cut sheets that, as a sales manager, I can put in my briefcase and hand out to customers. We now get weekly and monthly reports of website hits, as well as a quarterly report on how we stacked up versus the last quarter. I’m the only sales rep, so I have to use my time wisely. The reports that they give me help determine where I’m going to spend my time in the next quarter.

WebPage took what we asked them to do, and their creative folks put stuff together. They always came back with two or three or four iterations that we could choose from. Our internal team consisted of three people and everything that we did was agreed on by all of us.

We now have calls to action on the site. WebPage came up with all of that. All of the requests for quotes are sent to my boss, my inside guy, and myself, that way we’re all aware of it. They helped us with the content on the site. In the project gallery, there’s seven different breakout areas. They came up with the idea to categorize them, making for a simpler user experience.

How did you come to work with WebPageFX?

We didn’t look at any other firms. I called the marketing guy at our parent company because I knew he was upgrading their website. I don’t think he was working with WebPage, but he heard about them. WebPage must have been pretty new, because they were still in the incubator in Carlisle, and were only 10 minutes away from our office. If I had a question, I could run over and see them, or they could send somebody over to explain things to us.

It was a good relationship because we were both small and growing, and they’ve always given us the personal touch. The rep that we have now, I don’t even have to tell her who it is when I’m calling. She recognizes my voice. I love that. I like when people know who I am and I don’t have to go through the whole thing.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started with them eight or nine years ago. We sign an agreement with them every year for SEO, and they also give us other services. Right now, we’re working with them on a visitor blog in a fabricator’s magazine. They author the whole thing. They come to me with any suggestions they have to make things better. They use us to train their new people because we’re small. We get a new person every eight to 12 months.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re not sure how to track it, and we’ve discussed this with WebPageFX a couple of times. I’ve tried to get our insight guy to ask customers how they found us. In the last two years, we’ve gotten about 15 leads off of the website, where people have requested information or requested a quote. I’m a one-man show, and I cover 50 states. We don’t do business everywhere, but I’m pretty much everywhere.

Once WebPageFX started on SEO, we’ve always been at the top. When we do fall below, they take measures to get us back up to the top. If I have questions, I can call our rep. WebPageFX’s office is in Harrisburg, my coating plant is in Carlisle, and I live in the Reading area. To get to Carlisle, I have to go past their office, so there are times when I’ll call our contact person and tell them I’m going to stop by. They’ve never turned me down, and if she wants to get out of the office, sometimes she’ll come over to Carlisle. We talk a lot about our SEO and how we can increase our rankings. We’re usually in the top three with the keywords that we picked. We also review the keywords once a year to see if there’s something that we should take out.

How did WebPageFX perform from a project management standpoint?

Whenever they do something, they give me a timeline and they give us assignments. It’s usually pretty well-organized, and they communicate what they’re going to do. It always goes well. We usually finish ahead of schedule.

What did you find most impressive about WebPageFX?

I haven’t worked with any other web developers. The two Fortune 500 companies I worked for had their own developers, and I wasn’t really involved with any web design. I like WebPageFX's personal touch and their responsiveness. If I ask our rep a question and she doesn’t have an answer, she’s going to get me an answer by the end of the day or the next day. The three of us on our side are very untechnical, so they are our go-to people and we rely on them 100% to make our website successful.

Are there any areas WebPageFX could improve?

Again, I don’t have experience with anyone else. Everything that we’ve done with them as far as we know is being done correctly. We’re very happy with what they’ve done for us and what they do with us. I can’t say anything could be improved.