Ignite Visibility

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Director of Operations and Creative Director of a small, family owned animated greetings website & business open since 2003. We produce our own animations, built our own system and site, and operate in a highly competitive market with other larger corporations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Initially we hired Ignite Visibility for consultation on both SEO and PPC. While they have managed our PPC ever since, we have shifted the SEO consultation to leverage Ignite's other departments: Email Marketing and CRO. Our goals were to bring our strategies up to date, take our efforts in these areas outside, and to increase both traffic and conversions.

SOLUTION

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

Our CEO simply researched who were among the top firms that were also geographically close to our offices in Los Angeles. Ignite fit well enough to meet with them. Upon meeting, we were impressed by founder John Lincoln's knowledge and frank, open approach. He walked his talk, and seemed to work hard for his clients, so we chose to work with him and Ignite. Also, they had brought onboard a PPC expert we had used before and whom we wished to continue using.

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

They continued our PPC management writing ad copy, placing PPC text based ads and graphic ads, testing social media marketing and reporting weekly and meeting with us biweekly. The SEO work included copy writing and review, keyword management and placement, and they went an extra mile for us by folding conversion optimization and web site design into that work. As a result they handed us a completely new, more contemporary site design.

The email marketing overhauled and upgraded all our email templates and newsletter templates for better CRO and conversions. Here they also went the extra mile and designed a few pop ups to enhance our mailing list and conversions. The CRO has just begun but so far the recommendations are stellar.

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

We have worked with many from the founder and CEO John Lincoln to the daily managers of our PPC, SEO, email marketing and CRO. We have met and worked with managers in between these levels as well.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It's hard to put 8 years of work into a short review, but those 8 years speak volumes themselves. They have increased our ROI in a tough market, navigated us through the labyrinth of Google penalties, worked hand in hand to help us put out fires and recover from sudden situations. They have given our site fresh new looks, and encouraged our in house design efforts. One thing they do very well is listen and customize to fit our needs and aims. We feel less like we've hired consultants to do something to us or for us, and more like we have partnered with a team equally interested in our well-fare and craft. This combined with their staff's broad expertise and up to date knowledge has kept us current and competitive.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Excellent. They have always been responsive and on many occasions gone above and beyond expectations. Their team is always available for questions and advice via email and phone. They have, at times, felt like an extension of our own company.

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

Three things stand out: The detailed knowledge each staff member offers us. They hire people who really do know this business very well. Then, the fluidity in communication and how well they listen and engage in productive discourse with us. Lastly, that many of the staff with whom we have worked have bent over backwards and gone the extra mile to assist us and provide much needed information, recommendations and materials.

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

Perhaps a laundry service?

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

BBQ Outlets is a national online and local retail organization marketing outdoor living areas. We specialize in selling premium BBQ equipment -- grills and accessories. outdoor kitchen islands, patio furniture, fire pits and heaters.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We need high-end digital marketing expertise to help us build a competitive, national online presence. Their experience and track record matched our needs perfectly.

SOLUTION

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

We researched several firms and reached back to Ignite Visibility who had contacted a year ago...plus they served as the digital marketing agency for our biggest competitor.

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

They provide a plethora of digital marketing services -- including SEO, CRM, technical website programming and coding, key words, public relationship, paid media placement, and working with our technical and marketing staffs on a variety of projects on a daily basis.

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

We worked with the lead technical advisor, head publicity consultant, paid media supervisor, and a variety of other Ignite team members who helped on marketing tactics, wordsmithing, presentation, and streamlining our online strategies to increase revenues.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Generally speaking, we are making significant increases in our online business because of their recommendations.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We have had a good, reliable relationship. Ignite is very diligent and punctual and is available if we need them off of their regular scheduled client meetings.

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

They know their stuff.

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

As many, we get tired of Zoom calls and meetings. There is always going to be a disconnect with this communications model. But it's what we have to deal with -- not happy, but....

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Brand Marketing Manager at Hygge Home Rentals. Our mission is to bring high quality home rentals to the masses, through Airbnb rentals. We do this by partnering directly with property owners (investors), who are looking for a way to maximize their returns on their investment properties.

Using our extensive knowledge in both the Real Estate and Travel Industries, our 10+ years renting on Airbnb and other sites, and our proprietary software that we have built in house; we are able to offer a service that is un-matched. Our clients are happy to work with us, because we are able to off-set our management fee with increased revenue, all while saving them time and effort.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We were launching Hygge Home Rentals and had a previous relationship with the company. Our goals were to generate client leads.

SOLUTION

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

We had done previous work with them and loved the work they did on a previous company launch.

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

We worked with a paid media specialist.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We had weekly meetings via zoom and communicated mainly through email and monday.com. All of our questions were answered in a timely manner.

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

We love that they're always able to answer all our questions regarding our marketing needs, even if it was outside of their scope. If our paid media didn't have an answer, she found someone who did.

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

None. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the VP of Marketing for an industrial hemp and cbd company

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired Ignite to expand our reach on search engines, growing our traffic and owning critical "real estate phrases" in our niche market. We also need help navigating the tricky world of PPC in an unregulated market

SOLUTION

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

I interviewed multiple companies, reviewed online reviews, and talked to referral companies about Ignites ability to deliver

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

Ignite did analysis of our market, our current outreach and our tech stack to determine the right rhythm and content to meet the goals we set out for. They rebuilt the SEO of our web site architecture and delivered monthly blogs that highlighted our key initiatives in our market, setting us up and the industry experts

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

The project manager has a content manager, developer team, SEM team, PR outreach and editorial staff working with us to make it happen

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have seen a 200% increase in traffic and close to a 2000% increase in keywords showing up in Google's Search Engines.

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

Fantastic organization, incredible communication, high high attention to detail and a humble approach to meeting the clients needs.

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

Ignite knows the industry. Very impressed with the thoroughness of SEO insight and their ability to break through the red tape we faced with PPC, going above and beyond to build us out as a case study for this emerging industry

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

I cant think of a thing...besides wishing it was free! :)

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the co-founder and Leader of Topic Insights, a digital media startup dedicated to creating stories, conducting research, and publishing articles with the mission of merging storytelling with activism.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Ignite Visibility?

We hired Ignite Visibility to:

• Boost our SEO strategy
• Increase our organic traffic
• Enhance our content marketing strategies
• Boost our startup's DA

SOLUTION

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

We had a list of possible agencies to work with, but we decided for Ignite due to how carefully they crafted their proposal and how committed they were to making our startup grow.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

Ignite first conducted a site audit to look for room for improvement and identify weak points. They then developed a keyword strategy to boost our organic traffic and launched a digital PR campaign to increase the site's domain authority. Month after month, they crated a report with the results.

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

We worked with:

•  An account manager (PM)
• A client success manager
• A digital PR specialist
• Freelance writers

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We did increase our organic traffic and our startup's domain authority a bit.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We had weekly meetings via Zoom. We stayed communicated throughout our project duration via email and Basecamp.

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

Definitely the SEO Manager RENE. HE is the main reason we were impressed by Ignite. He took everything to heart - he was so committed and dedicated to making our startup grow that you could tell through his emotions, work, and excitement. We had to change PM when the project first started, and I think that if it wasn't for him, we wouldn't have continued working with Ignite. We're so lucky to have had the opportunity to work with them.

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

Everything was great. But would've liked to have other senior SEO managers or strategist to be involved during our project.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of TAG, a mental health service that provides a combination of people sharing their experiences and licensed clinicians who analyze and provide our members with advice and coping skills.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Ignite Visibility?

We need to migrate from our Alpha site to a custom website that Ignite created for us.

SOLUTION

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

We had a recommendation to use Ignite and found their experience relevant and extensive.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

After a series of discovery meetings Ignite was tasked with creating our entire site from design concept to production to content writing, blog creating, SEO optimization, ecommerce integration, and membership platform.

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

We worked with a variety of Ignite's team from design through development and specialists in SEO, analytics, and copywriting.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project was a success and we've had a great reception from our members. Our bounce rate is 50% less than our industry and our time on site and pages per visit are significantly higher than our industry.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

They were detail-oriented and kept our project moving along, bringing the right resources to the table when needed.

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

I was most impressed by Ignite's ability to immerse themselves in our subject matter and create content that was powerful, despite our niche in mental healthcare.

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

We could have moved faster, which was partly due to our (client-side) changes.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Chief Development Officer at a residential cleaning franchise business operating over 180 locations in the US and Canada.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We work with Ignite for our SEO strategy and related content needs as well as our PR efforts and outreach. Our goal was to increase the volume of keywords we were being found for as well as increase traffic to our website.

SOLUTION

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

The selection of this vendor predated my tenure with The Maids, however, the selection criteria was based around finding a vendor that could accommodate an enterprise level brand with many affiliate locations (franchisees) and build an effective strategy to get both our primary url and our franchisee landing pages found.

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

The scope of work is far to detailed to layout in this comment section, but I was pleased to discover Ignite has thought of literally everything we both requested and may have wanted (or not known we wanted). Ignite uses a very detailed project plan each month to ensure they are executing on their deliverables, and have always over delivered.

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

We have 3 of their team members working with us regularly. We have a Senior Director of Business Development, a Digital Strategist, and an SEO Content Specialist.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

In a year, we have doubled our website traffic and have grown to over 3K keywords on page one.

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

Ignite has effectively used a project management tool called Basecamp to aid in ensuring deliverables were met. The use of the tool has provided excellent transparency on what the company is actually doing for us.

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

Ignite continues to deliver above my expectations. They are proactive in their approach and always leave our reporting calls with recommendations for us to consider. They stand out among all of our vendors as one we can trust to do what they claim in a timely fashion.

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

I've been satisfied with the work Ignite has done.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the director of digital marketing for a franchise with 90 plus centers across the country. We offer in-center and online programs for children and adults who wish to improve their brain’s physical performance. Our customers range from people with ADHD, Dyslexia, or learning challenges or disorders, all the way to folks who simply want to up their game a bit. We work with kids aged 4–18, and we also have adult programs.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Ignite Visibility?

I brought them in initially to help with our SEO by fully migrating our site onto HubSpot, as part of it was still on WordPress.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Originally, we were going to migrate and redesign our site all at once, but we made a business decision to break it apart so that we could better track performance internally. Right now, they are redesigning our entire website.

Our website now is very old and outdated — it doesn’t represent our brand or communicate well to our users. It utilizes a lot of text and doesn’t have a very good UX. We wanted to bring it up to date with the new brand standards we’d been working on, as well as create a better that’s easier to understand, scan, and read, and ultimately convert with. Another company is helping with our brand refresh and messaging, and we communicate their work to Ignite for the latter to implement in the design.

We also have a monthly SEO retainer with them.

What is the team composition?

We have Jason (Senior SEO Strategist) and Oscar (VP of Creative) on the SEO side, as well as two other people on the development team. Ignite Visibility also uses offshore developers. I’ve also worked with the head developer, and she is awesome.

We got to a place where we had done a couple of revisions, but the design wasn’t exactly where we needed it to be. We were working with a junior designer on the team, so we asked Oscar (VP of Creative) to bring on a more senior resource to get us across the finish line. He was absolutely supportive and willing to do that.

How did you come to work with Ignite Visibility?

I worked with Ignite at a previous company for about two years. One of my colleagues there had done some research, and we liked the client base that they had, and John (Co-Founder and CEO) was rated 2017 Search Engine Expert of the Year.

We also liked how straightforward and clearly they communicated, and their strategies sounded logical. We were doing a CMS migration similar to one they’d done for another of their customers, and they accomplished that without causing a dip in traffic. We were really interested in that piece.

Here at my current job, my boss brought on Ignite Visibility before I joined the team. She’d worked with them at her previous post, which, coincidentally, was also at my old company. I came to my current post during the RFP process and viewed everyone’s materials. I chose Ignite after a series of final interviews.

How much have you invested in them?

We have invested around $25,000–$50,000 with them so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We signed the statement of work in October 2020. The project is ongoing; once they finalize the design with signoff from all our stakeholders, they’ll launch the site. We don’t have a hard date yet, as we’re waiting for the design to get where it needs to be.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I don’t know what the design output is going to be, but I have seen the senior designer’s previous work, and I am very excited about it. 

From February–March, we saw pretty great gains in our SEO performance, including a lift in the number of keywords that our blog had on page one. In March only, we gained 132 keywords. Our franchise ventures each have their own page, and, collectively, those pages saw a lift month over month. They grew by 20% in sessions and 21% in users. Organic traffic to the homepage was up 10%.

Ignite Visibility had an insight that 21 of our top 22 top-visited pages were blog posts, and they recommended that we add an inquiry form to our blog post. We did that, and we are seeing inquiries come through from it.

There have been a couple of bumps along the road, but there have only been a few migrations in my career that have gone perfectly. When a couple of things happened, Ignite Visibility’s team handled them very well, working hard without complaining. They treated the migration just like I would have, and I am responsible for owning it. I felt like we were all a part of the exact same team.

How did Ignite Visibility perform from a project management standpoint?

It started off a little rocky. I came to meetings with questions that I expected the team to answer, and I communicated my expectations when that didn’t happen. Ignite Visibility listened to us and was able to change, pick up the pace, and come more prepared. I have been very happy with that ever since that communication.

We started out with two separate weekly Zoom calls: one for the SEO team and one with the web development team to discuss feedback. Ignite recommended that we form a single call so that everyone can hear each other. We talk about SEO first and design and develop second, and it’s been very beneficial for both our team and Ignite. I also send them emails if I think of other questions between our meetings.

We set the agenda for the meetings the day ahead of time. Ignite sends me a notice of what the agenda is, and then I add my questions and topics that I want to cover so that they can prepare.

What did you find most impressive about them?

It’s been clear that Ignite Visibility cares about its customers since I first interviewed them at my previous job. Additionally, their strategy revolves around performance, and not just for organic traffic, but sales. I don’t care if I see a 20% lift in organic traffic if it’s not bringing me qualified traffic and increasing leads. They are very accommodating in our standing in that aspect.

I also like how transparent they are about sharing case studies, as well as the templates that they use to track projects. This shows us how detailed they are and what their process is like. By answering our basic questions, we learned how much pride they take in educating their clients. Other vendors that we’ve worked with respond to our questions with vague, unimpressive answers. Ignite answers a question, tells us why it is important, and makes sure that we understand their response.

Ignite supported us the entire way, diving in without question and successfully completing the migration. I am a part of a very small but mighty team, and I was prepared to do a lot of the heavy lifting myself or bring in interns to get it done. Every time I pose a question to Ignite, like how to perform QA, record all the URLs we’re bringing over, or ensuring our redirects are set up correctly, they explained how they would do it themselves. They alleviated a lot from my plate so that I could work on other tasks.

Finally, we asked them to have a couple of development resources certified in HubSpot, and they were happy to get their people certified.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There are two items I could say. The first is the previously mentioned communication issues, where their team didn’t have answers for questions related to our timeline and tasks that they were owners of. After I communicated that to them, the situation was fixed immediately.

The other issue was the junior designer working on the website. I know that Oscar was working with him to ensure that the deliverable would work for us, but early on we noticed that we weren’t going to get across the finish line with that designer. His deliverables along the way weren’t meeting our expectations, and we gave feedback. They’ve been flexible, thankful, and able to accommodate us. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Ignite can give you advice and insights all day long, but if your company doesn’t take those insights and publish those changes on the website, then nothing will happen. I know this, but putting it into practice is the hardest thing to do. You have to make the recommended changes continuously because it is a 50/50 partnership.

Right now, we’re 2–3 months into the SEO monthly retainer. I have 500 pages of content that I can start updating, but I need approval internally, and that takes time. If you’re in this situation, ask Ignite Visibility what else you can do in the downtime.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

 I’m the president and CEO of an online OSHA safety training and education company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Ignite Visibility?

I initially engaged them in 2012 to help with Google-related SEO for several of my sites. We’ve continued to add services with them since then.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve worked together on SEO, PPC, link building, PR, content creation, email marketing, branding, and graphic design. We continue to offload digital marketing processes to them after starting them on our own.

What is the team composition?

I work with nine members of their team.

How did you come to work with Ignite Visibility?

I found them through a friend of a friend. With how critical solving the problems I was having with Google were, I was happy to start working with them. The relationship’s grown organically since then due to their client engagement, accountability, and automated reporting.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent several hundred thousand dollars with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve worked together since March 2012.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

In our email marketing campaigns, we’ve seen a 25% return on investment. Our PPC ROI is 250%. They’ve found a way to attract an audience to our site despite safety training not being an objectively exciting subject.

How did Ignite Visibility perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management skills are fantastic. They report progress to us multiple times a day, which keeps me happy. We’ve just switched from using Basecamp to Monday, which has helped us manage data better.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re always in touch with us to make sure we know how everything’s going. We never have to chase them down about anything.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’ve had a great time working with them, but they’ve grown a lot recently. I hope this growth doesn’t change their customer service capabilities in the future.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Start with a small project and work your way up from there. That’ll give you time to get used to each other. After that, you can continue to grow your engagement with them like we have.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of digital for a biotechnology startup focused on developing and delivering COVID-19 vaccinations. I oversee all digital efforts.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Ignite Visibility?

As a quickly-growing organization, we needed to build brand ethos over a short period of time. We brought them in to help us develop a new website and provide us with digital marketing services.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

In the first phase of the project, they built the website in WordPress. We previously had a hastily-built Squarespace site for our organization. They quickly replaced this site with a temporary solution while they took the time to properly build us a new site. For the digital marketing portion of the engagement, they handled media outreach, social media content creation, and SEO services.

What is the team composition?

I worked with Oscar (VP of Creative and Web Dev.) as well as their interactive project manager, their social media content manager, their SEO project manager, and a couple of content writers.

How did you come to work with Ignite Visibility?

The decision to work with them was made prior to me joining the project, so I can’t speak directly to the decision-making process. However, my team has told me that we picked them due to their track record and the glowing recommendations we received from our investor group.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $25,000 for the site portion of the project and $32,000 for the digital marketing portion of the project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from August 2020–January 2021. We paused and then restarted the effort part way through the engagement.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

For the digital marketing portion of the project, we tracked growth and engagement on our social media platforms. It was clear that their work directly drove growth in our online presence. On the web development side, our investors and internal executive stakeholders were impressed with their work. It’s too early to truly gauge the value of the site, but in the immediate term, those who didn’t like the old site have really liked the new one.

How did Ignite Visibility perform from a project management standpoint?

They were great with structuring regular Zoom calls to keep everything on track. Outside of these calls, we communicated via email and Basecamp.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their team was flexible and proactively contributed ideas that drove the success of the project. Other firms I’ve worked with have been content to simply follow project requirements.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I would have appreciated them pushing me a little more in providing my approvals. That way, they could have kept moving forward rather than waiting for me. However, I know this can be hard for a vendor.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be open creatively and consider their ideas for your project.