WebFX

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a highly specialized recruiting organization for the supply chain discipline. We are a nationwide service, but also global when necessary. I am the president of the company and have been working in this field for 32 years.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with WebpageFX?

We needed to improve the deteriorating situation of our SEO and PPC campaigns.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Much of our work with WebpageFX has been based on our website's content, and how it was reacting to SEO. Changes are being made on-site in order to optimize traffic.

How did you come to work with WebpageFX?

I initially selected someone else but didn't care for their process. I talked to our neighbor companies. One of them happened to know about WebpageFX and recommended a specific person within the organization.

How much have you invested with WebpageFX?

There are many moving parts to our work, but I estimate to pay around $25,000 for 2016. We're a small company.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with WebpageFX 30 days ago [September 2016]. The collaboration is ongoing, and I hope that it will last as long as our previous one.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It would be unfair to say that the improvement we've seen so far is attributable to them, but I am tremendously satisfied with WebpageFX's level of service, caring, commitment, and process. I've never been exposed to something so thorough.

How did WebpageFX perform from a project management standpoint?

Our project manager is very responsive and has an understanding of what our company does. It may not be exhaustive because this is not a field that can be learned in 30 days, but he has proved to be a bright, intelligent person. He has picked up on what we do and why and will determine what would work for us, based on this knowledge.

What did you find most impressive about WebpageFX?

WebpageFX's team are good people doing the right job. The work has taken a huge burden off of my shoulders, although I'm not seeing it financially yet. I have certainly seen it through what has been accomplished in a short amount of time.

Are there any areas WebpageFX could improve?

Everything that WebpageFX has done so far has been beyond my expectations. It's all about results, and we know this. We don't have any yet.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with WebpageFX?

Clients should be prepared to be involved and can't turn everything over to the provider. I see it as a partnership – the more information I give, even though some of it may not make much sense, the better off we both are. This is my number one priority on a daily basis. I usually drop what I'm doing in order to respond to emails within minutes and make sure that WebpageFX isn't being slowed down.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We sell pet-related products online and in our stores. Our main product is pet urns. I am the operations manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with WebpageFX?

We were looking for an SEO company that could help us sell our urns and sweepstakes to people outside of our current hospital. After we pick up a pet from a veterinary hospital, the owner is given the opportunity to visit our site after receiving the remains. They have the ability to directly upgrade an urn. However, we wanted to capitalize on outside sales and beef up our local SEO. When searching for pet cremation companies in Maryland or Virginia, we weren't coming up as high as we would have wanted. Since we had some issues with our previous web developers, we started shopping around.  

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

WebpageFX has provided SEO services. They also took up the management of our website. The page was rebuilt a few months before we started our collaboration with WebpageFX. They were a bit hesitant about taking over the website because it wasn't their work, but WebpageFX did jump in. It's a WooCommerce and WordPress site, which isn't an ideal combination. After an update, we started having all kinds of issues with transactions. WebpageFX had to go in and update WooCommerce. We're most likely going to move to a new platform altogether. We're also considering having WebpageFX rebuild the website.

How did you come to work with WebpageFX?

We were referred to WebpageFX by a UPS rep. I checked out some of their previous clients and met with a sales representative from WebpageFX. I was looking at a different company as well, but we chose WebpageFX because they had a bit more to offer. Plus, they weren't a mom-and-pop type of company, even though they still had a local feel. Their main office is an hour away from ours and we've been able to meet the people who would be working on our site. Knowing that WebpageFX had enough resources was important to me, given that we'd just come off of a local hometown web designer and needed someone with more to offer.

How much have you invested with WebpageFX?

The cost of their SEO services has been $1,000 per month. During the first 6 months, we focused more on local SEO and had a cost of only $300 per month.  

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with WebpageFX in July 2015 and have no plans to switch. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We've now reached a full year's worth of SEO work and can compare last September to this one. We've had success in terms of growth, sales, and website hits, so we're moving in the right direction. Compared to September 2015, our traffic increased by 122.5%. Our e-commerce sales are up by 142%. I can't give WebpageFX 100% credit for this because we've actually grown as a company and opened up a third location. I do know that we are now selling 4 urns per week on average which we wouldn't have sold from physical locations. Our organic traffic is up by 145%, compared to 2015. WebpageFX is responsible for 60% of our overall traffic. Our search engine visits have brought in 23 of the 46 total transactions and we've seen a 63% increase in contact form requests. We're a small company in terms of website activity, but we have seen significant growth from what we're doing.

How did WebpageFX perform from a project management standpoint?

We receive monthly reports from WebpageFX telling us where we stand compared to previous months and years. I appreciate the fact that I don't have a problem getting a hold of someone from WebpageFX over the phone. If I don't get anyone on the line, I receive responses to my voicemails in a short amount of time. I can also email them and receive a reply relatively quickly, but phone contact makes the difference for me. Because WebpageFX is based in the US, they speak fluent English, which is also important. We've had a good relationship overall. WebpageFX provided Basecamp access for us and we could watch progress on other systems.

What did you find most impressive about WebpageFX?

It's easy for me to talk to WebpageFX. I've been appreciative of what they've done, compared to what I had to deal with in the past. Given the amount of money I was putting out, it was a bit frustrating in the beginning to not have results, but I didn't understand SEO. I'm glad that I was patient with WebpageFX. We're starting to get some return on our investment.  

Are there any areas WebpageFX could improve?

Not in my opinion. WebpageFX has done everything we've asked for. They're more proactive than our own team when it comes to having meetings and discussing issues.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with WebpageFX?

If the client needs to receive results from SEO work, I'd advise them to engage WebpageFX over a period of 6 to 10 months. WebpageFX is willing to do whatever needs to be done, according to how big the client's pocketbook is. For example, we were given the opportunity to have pay-per-click advertising, but this wasn't something that we wanted to pursue.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a franchise of an international realty company located in Southern New Jersey. We sell luxury vacation homes and investment properties on the coast of New Jersey.

I am the Vice President of the company. I overlook our sales division and marketing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with WebpageFX?

Our website was developed by a vendor recommended by our franchisor company. We were hoping that it would help our organic SEO, but it didn't. We were looking for someone who could fill that void. SEO is not my forte, and I don't want it to be, so I needed to find a partner that could understand our business, and what our website was lacking.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

WebpageFX has been helping us increase the traffic to our website, and gain more leads for selling properties. WebpageFX has helped us with our pay-per-click campaign. We used to manage Google AdWords on our own, but it wasn't our expertise. WebpageFX has also helped us with email campaigns, which have provided a much cheaper cost-per-click.

How did you come to work with WebpageFX?

Our main office is in Ocean City, New Jersey. The city had hired WebpageFX a few years prior, in order to get help with their website and SEO, and had great results. We sit on the tourism committee for the city and met a vendor from WebpageFX. We decided to talk to him about our personal business.

How much have you invested with WebpageFX?

We are spending between $30,000 and $35,000 per year with WebpageFX. It may seem like a lot of money, but in our business, one good lead can quantify that amount.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with WebpageFX 6 months ago, in 2016. We look forward to working with them going further.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

WebpageFX has been an amazing company to work with. Our contacts have taken the time to understand our marketplace, business, and core values. WebpageFX helped us take our SEO to the level that we wanted, and constantly gave us ideas on how to better ourselves in the digital world.

WebpageFX has made an effort to report measurable results to us. Even though we've only been working for a couple of months, our organic traffic has increased by 20%. WebpageFX has helped us take our digital presence and website to another level.

What did you find most impressive about WebpageFX?

WebpageFX has a great company culture, and their team is amazing to deal with. They're energetic, and our calls are a breath of fresh air. Our contact drove from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, all the way to our office in order to meet us. WebpageFX is always coming to me with new ideas for bettering our online image. For the amount of effort put in, I believe that WebpageFX will bring us leads and save our company money in the long haul.

Are there any areas WebpageFX could improve?

We've been pretty happy with WebpageFX. I wish that I had more time on my end for spending time with their team and looking over analytics.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with WebpageFX?

Clients should let WebpageFX learn their business and grasp it. The best thing that we did was to coach WebpageFX on our company culture and what we do.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Superior Play Systems is a brick-and-mortar store selling playgrounds, trampolines, and basketball goals. We also have an e-commerce component to the business. I handle website operations for the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with WebpageFX?

We needed assistance with our SEO [search engine optimization] program.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

WebpageFX has offered SEO services, managed our pay-per-click campaigns, and we're also in the process of negotiating social media management. Most of the SEO done has been on-site, but we do have a component of outside content generation with WebpageFX.

How did you come to work with WebpageFX?

One of my co-workers found WebpageFX. We interviewed them and found that they were a fantastic company, so we decided to give WebpageFX a try.

How much have you invested with WebpageFX?

We spend around $3,000 per month on WebpageFX' services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with WebpageFX at the beginning of 2016. We have an ongoing relationship.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The work has been absolutely successful. Another developer built our website, and left us with a number of issues which caused search engine problems. WebpageFX identified those problems and performed a complete 180 degree turn. We have seen traffic increases as a result.

How did WebpageFX perform from a project management standpoint?

WebpageFX maintained our budget, and are good in terms of meeting deadlines. Issues can come up, but WebpageFX remained professional. I much prefer a vendor that offers good communication, rather than meeting deadlines all the time.

Our project manager from WebpageFX acts as our liaison for all the other departments. We deal almost exclusively with her.

What did you find most impressive about WebpageFX?

We've used quite a few vendors over the last 20 years; WebpageFX's level of service has most definitely been the best. Their lines of communication are always open, and WebpageFX made time for us and looked at our ideas, integrating them into the plan. I enjoy working with WebpageFX.

Are there any areas WebpageFX could improve?

No. For the most part, WebpageFX has surpassed our expectations.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with WebpageFX?

I would have more than one discussion with WebpageFX. There are several different people in the company, so a client should get a good view at all levels.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We sell anything with an engine in it, including truck engines and generators. We also service products. We have a rental division for generators and temperature-control products like air conditioners, heaters, and chillers. They're all commercial and industrial devices.

I am the Marketing Manager of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with WebpageFX?

We wanted to promote our rental services. We were hoping to find rental customers that could drive our revenue forward.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We use WebpageFX primarily for Google AdWords management. We track our leads from the campaign through a dedicated phone number. I receive a call log, and we also record the progress through our CRM [customer relationship management] system. We tweak keywords based on the seasonality of our business. At the moment, it revolves around air conditioners and chillers, but we will focus on heaters in the fall. We handle social media content internally.

WebpageFX is currently optimizing our website for mobile devices, and we will also work with them on SEO improvements for the launch in the fall of 2016. WebpageFX is in charge of design and they're working to improve our website's ranking for 50 keywords.

How did you come to work with WebpageFX?

I’m not sure how we originally found them and decided to engage. I think our leadership team handled that decision.

How much have you invested with WebpageFX?

Our pay-per-click campaign has a budget of $50,000 per year. It's seasonal, so it can vary from $6,000 per month during the summer to $1,500 in the winter.

What is the status of this engagement?

We have been working with WebpageFX for 2 years. We have an ongoing relationship, with no plans to stop.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We're very satisfied with WebpageFX's work. We've monitored our pay-per-click reports closely for new prospects, and we've seen a good return on investment.

Our site redesign is only in the early stages, so I don't have any feedback. We've designed a few landing pages and approved the homepage.

How did WebpageFX perform from a project management standpoint?

We have monthly discussions with our reps from WebpageFX in order to make sure that the campaign is managed well. If the quality of the leads starts looking bad, we will add to the negative keyword list, in order to avoid ads popping up there again.

What did you find most impressive about WebpageFX?

Our rep does a good job and we've seen the volume of leads that has come in.

Are there any areas WebpageFX could improve?

I can't think of anything.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a medical company offering addiction treatment, medical aesthetics, weight loss, and bioidentical hormone replacement services. I am physician and the president of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with WebpageFX?

I needed to increase the Google ranking for my company and get to the top-3 spots within my region for the keywords surrounding my industry, which are quite competitive in the Los Angeles market.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

WebpageFX provided SEO and Ad Words management for my company. They were also involved in our social media marketing on Facebook and Twitter.

How did you come to work with WebpageFX?

I made a Google search, looking at the top results. If a company could reach that spot, then they likely knew what they were doing. I found a few contenders, called them, discussed my needs, and received proposals. WebpageFX wasn't the cheapest option, but they seemed the most able to achieve what I wanted.

How much have you invested with WebpageFX?

The average cost for WebpageFX's work is around $6,000 per month.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in November 2015. I have an ongoing relationship with WebpageFX.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I have a monthly call with WebpageFX, discussing site metrics. My business has definitely picked up, especially in the areas where I didn't employ any other advertising, namely medical aesthetics. We've gotten new patients every single week. I usually ask them how they found us, and the answer is always "online". The income for my business is also picking up.

How did WebpageFX perform from a project management standpoint?

I wear many hats for my business, so I'm always busy and tend to lose projects under the table. WebpageFX has provided project managers who have coordinated everything, reminding me of any material that I have to review. This was exactly what I needed and I could not have kept the work going otherwise.

Are there any areas WebpageFX could improve?

No.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are a manufacturer of concrete products, specifically blocks, retaining walls, parking garages, and so on.

What is your position?

I am the Director of Marketing for the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with WebpageFX?

We initially needed a website redesign.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

WebpageFX developed our website and also started an SEO campaign for it. The work has grown from there and we've completed numerous projects on revamping our website for our company, as well as for a sister one.

We have a pay-per-click campaign which is managed by WebpageFX. Social media is not something which we often engage in, other than occasional blog posts and other long-form content. This comes as part of our SEO campaign with WebpageFX. Long-form content is incorporated into it every quarter, and they've been very flexible in adding services which were not part of the original scope.

How did you come to work with WebpageFX?

We talked to a couple of different companies and received quotes. WebpageFX seemed to stand out in terms of previous work examples and through getting back to us fast. We've been very happy with them.

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

The annual cost of their services is around $20,000-30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together 2-3 years ago. The work is ongoing. We meet with WebpageFX every year and make out a plan for the following year's SEO campaign. We don't plan on stopping the work any time soon.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

We've gotten a lot of positive feed-back for the website redesign. I recently worked with WebpageFX on designing a page that would help clients locate a dealer for our product based on their location. We've received a lot of good feed-back for it and our sales numbers went up as a result.

How did WebpageFX perform from a project management standpoint?

I am very happy with the results seen from WebpageFX. They're very good at producing detailed reports and explaining their work in order to keep us informed.

What distinguishes WebpageFX from other providers?

The person with whom I work on a regular basis from WebpageFX is our internet marketer. He is a great person, which is true for the rest of their staff. WebpageFX gets back to us right away and they are a good company all around.

Is there anything WebpageFX could have improved or done differently?

Not at the top of my head. I've been happy with WebpageFX, and if I ever do have any issues, they'll be there to make them right.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We're a residential and commercial painting and contracting company located in Havertown, Pennsylvania.

What is your position?

I am the Marketing Manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with WebpageFX?

We hired them in order to get help with our SEO and SEM [search engine marketing] capabilities.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

WebpageFX manages our pay-per-click campaigns on Google and Bing, as well as handling our on-site SEO and our rankings on Google and Yahoo. WebpageFX has written a few blog posts for us and are working on an infographic. They've done an overhaul of the website in order to make it more SEO-friendly.

WebpageFX hasn't done any web design for us, but we are considering this as well. For the moment, we're still ironing-out some trouble areas on the current website. From there, we will be implementing some new designs, probably within 2017.

How did you come to work with WebpageFX?

We made a list of different SEO firms and lined up interviews for them. Candidates came to our office and presented their capabilities to us. WebpageFX stood out by far. They're located an hour away from our office, so they offered to come to us, which we appreciated.

Prior to WebpageFX, we were working with an SEO firm on the West Coast, which was frustrating to us due to the time zone difference and not being able to meet them in person. The account manager from WebpageFX came along with their principal and made a presentation which impressed us in terms of knowledge and expertise. WebpageFX's pricing structure was very reasonable as well. We felt that we were overspending with our other company, without receiving the deliverables that were promised to us. So far, WebpageFX has met our expectations and we've been happy with their work.

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

With pay-per-click, our monthly expense has been between $3,000 and $3,500. WebpageFX charges us an affordable maintenance fee which comes to $300-500 on a monthly basis.

Their SEO services have a cost of $2,000 per month, which we found to be very reasonable.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with WebpageFX in February of 2016. The work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

We've been incredibly happy with WebpageFX. Their communication and customer service are superb. Our industry is specialized, so we were worried about what kind of posts WebpageFX would be writing for us. The previous firm we were using did not do a good job, so we wanted to make sure that the people responsible for the material would be subject matter experts. WebpageFX told us that, even though we could move in that direction, we should first let them make an attempt at writing some material and decide afterwards. The material produced by WebpageFX didn't need any corrections; it was reflective of our voice. They have a good team of industry experts.

I was given a questionnaire featuring interests that should be addressed in the material. I thought that filling it out was tedious, but it proved to be helpful, given that it was very detail-oriented. WebpageFX wanted to know our voice and what outcome we hoped to get through our blog. They did their research and ended up doing a good job.

How did WebpageFX perform from a project management standpoint?

The infographic was something that our previous SEO firm never finished. I brought it up with WebpageFX last week and they're already working on it. They're great in terms of timelines and I've never had to remind our account manager of anything major.

What distinguishes WebpageFX from other providers?

We've made reference checks for their company and had a very good feeling about WebpageFX from the start. We actually came across a video testimonial about their company from someone who was also working in the painting field.

Is there anything WebpageFX could have improved or done differently?

We've only been working with WebpageFX for a few months, but everything has gone smoothly. I'm very happy so far.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

Ten Thousand Villages Canada is a fair trade retailer selling handcrafts and food products.

What is your position?

I am the E-Commerce Sales Manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with WebpageFX?

We needed help in managing our PPC ads.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

WebpageFX managed our PPC campaign and also ran an SEO audit for the page.

How did you come to work with WebpageFX?

We have a sister company in the US who is using them as well. We picked WebpageFX at their recommendation.

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

We spent around $10,000 for our ad campaign from November until December of 2015. The SEO audit had a cost of $7,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project was completed in December of 2015. We ran ads during the holiday season, but we're not working on anything at the moment. We might work together again in the future.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

WebpageFX did a great job. Our account representative was very friendly and responsive. Being a non-profit organization, we didn't have much wiggle-room for our budget, so we needed to run a tight project, but they did a great job of working with what we had. We saw a great return on our ad spend, around 1,000% on average.

How did WebpageFX perform from a project management standpoint?

They used very effective project management tools during our collaboration.

What distinguishes WebpageFX from other providers?

Not in particular. We've had an overall positive experience working with WebpageFX.

Is there anything WebpageFX could have improved or done differently?

No. We're satisfied and everything was great.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are a web-based company with a team of two dozen editors, each specializing in different types of text editing, including novels, memoirs, academic and business work, and so on. Our company has been in business since 2008.

What is your position?

I am the president of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with WebpageFX?

We built a new company website and were looking to drive traffic to it.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

We wanted to assess what the requirements for driving traffic to the site would be and do whatever needed to be done for this purpose. I initially contacted WebpageFX for SEO [search engine optimization] management. One of the first things that impressed me about their company was the degree of effort put into analyzing our website as well as those of our competitors, and figuring out what our needs would be. While SEO management would be something to take into account in the end, they thought that, if I invested in it right now, I would be disappointed. Given the nature of my business, they thought that I would not see a serious return on investment for at least 18 months. I was impressed by their willingness to steer me away from what would have been a ticket item.

They offered us numerous other options. Being a small company, out budget is limited, a fact of which WebpageFX was fully aware. I could have hired them to make changes for us to the website but, not only was that not the best direction for us financially but, given the nature of our business – namely writing people's web copy – we tend to be fastidious about our language. It was preferable for WebpageFX to let us know what we needed and let us write the material. They did write our ads for us. We started out with a Google AdWords campaign, and their handling of it was phenomenal. We did run into a problem in the sense that Google AdWords was blocking us. WebpageFX pursued it and found that Google was concerned about us being a paper mill. Once the site was reviewed by a human being, they discovered that we placed disclaimers, explicitly stating that we didn't engage in such activities. When it comes to academic work, we offer editing and coaching, but nothing that would be considered academically unethical. WebpageFX rolled with the punches when Google threw us for a loop.

We thought that we were moving forward, but still found ourselves up against the wall. Google stated that they were not advertising any sites offering academic editing. I was crestfallen, not knowing what we were going to do. While WebpageFX continue to pursue the problem until this day, they led us in a couple of different directions. They started a Bing pay-per-click campaign that didn't produce the kind of results I was hoping for, but they also created a targeted Facebook campaign that now seems to be the best direction.

In the middle of this, we also talked about the fact that, because we have a young website, we have a concern about its domain credibility. In order to boost that score, we're now in the process of creating a link-building campaign. WebpageFX has a couple of different ways of approaching this in their plan, but they were also willing to create a custom-designed link building campaign just for us. We haven't engaged in this, but it's something that enters into our discussions, and I envision it happening within the next couple of months [summer of 2016].

How did you come to work with WebpageFX?

The people on our team write for a couple of companies that offer SEO management. I originally thought that we'd be using one of those, but we also asked for some recommendations and made online searches, looking at reviews. WebpageFX kept coming up at the top of different lists, so much so that I became concerned that they wouldn't take us on, given our size. Fortunately, that wasn't the case.

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

We paid an initial $1,000 setup fee, which they more than earned. The amount of background work and competitive analysis were impressive.

Initially, they wanted us to sign a 12-month contract by which we would pay them a retainer for our pay-per-click campaign of $325 per month, on top of our ad spend. This was a new step for us, and I was uncomfortable with making a 12-month commitment, but they had no problem in turning it into a six-month contract. Our ad spend is $1,000 per month on pay-per-click campaigns.

What is the status of this engagement?

We haven't been working with WebpageFX for a long time. I reached out to their company in late January 2016. They did an analysis of our site, and we began building our campaign at the middle of February. The initial plan was to launch the campaign at the beginning of March. We were held back by a couple of issues that we were trying to tweak. The campaign has only been live for less than a month so far.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

I couldn't say that we've been swamped with new clients, but I've seen steps in the right direction being made. We're getting great traffic from our Facebook campaign.

We're currently analyzing which aspects of our website are causing bounces. Our account representative has recommended some tweaks to the page, and I'm in the process of implementing them on our end. It remains to be seen if this addresses the problem. We are seeing an enormous amount of traffic, compared to what we were seeing previously. Not all of it results in new clients, but we are working with WebpageFX for improving this. 

How did WebpageFX perform from a project management standpoint?

I come from an academic background, so this is the kind of content on which I typically work. We offer web writing in the company, but we don't really have an expertise in the type of content for which we employ WebpageFX. I was impressed with the level of education they've provided along the way. The amount of time that our account manager has spent with me explaining various approaches and the pros and cons for each one, including cost, has made me a far better informed customer.

I was taken with their use of Basecamp as a project management and tracking system. When working with companies via the web, a client won't know what they doing for most of the time. WebpageFX has the system set up in such a way as to allow us to log in to the system at any time and see what various members of their team are working on, what milestones they've set up, which ones were met, what had been done during a particular day, and what they would be doing the next day.

I liked the system so much that I adopted it for my own company. We have the same kind of issue, in the sense that clients send us projects that may take many months, so they can get very nervous about it. At no charge, WebpageFX gave me advice on setting up the system for my own company, which was beyond the call of duty for them. 

What distinguishes WebpageFX from other providers?

One of the things that attracted me to WebpageFX was the fact that they were willing to analyze my needs before actually talking about a campaign. They also steered me away from higher-priced products, when they thought that a lower-priced one would please me more in the short term and educated me greatly about the industry without charging me.

Is there anything WebpageFX could have improved or done differently?

The proof is in the pudding, so we're still waiting for clients. We have gotten a few new ones and WebpageFX have increased our traffic, but this is only valuable to me if we receive paying customers as a result. I can't really complain, given that I'm seeing the kinds of results that are expected for our current progress. In six months, I may be able to give a better answer. For now, I cannot complain. WebpageFX is quick to respond, and their pricing is reasonable.

A number of people advised me that a $1,000 setup fee for a pay-per-click campaign was on the higher end. I wondered about this but, looking at the amount of work and tweaking that came with that cost, I think they've more than earned their money.