Spicy Web Designer Interview with Kyle Hosick of Addrenaline Media

Kyle Hosick is the President of Addrenaline Media a company based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Addrenaline Media was started in 2001 because Kyle saw a huge niche that he was working in at the time, online media. His firm boasts some big clients including Nintendo, Siemens, Yahoo! Canada and many others.

1. How did Addrenaline Media first start? And how long have you been in business?

We started in 2001. I started the company because I saw a big niche within the industry I was working at the time. The niche had a huge void in area of online media and I thought to jump in there at that time and fill that niche.

2. What is your company’s approach towards web design and how do you involve the client in the process?

We work with the client at every step of the process. We often communicate with our clients once a day as we work toward completion. The client gets to approve everything from the initial mock-up to the choice of color, fonts, layout and photographs. We send links to projects so the clients can view the drafts in a real world scenario and offer comment throughout.

3. I see that your company offers Search Engine Optimization for website owners looking to improve their presence. How do you quantify the efforts your company puts into search engine optimization in terms of ROI to the customer (aka client)?

In terms of SEO, our clients start seeing results and then offer us testimonials. There is no real way to make “promises” in that realm about where people will rank or how much business they will pick up. We simply walk new clients through other SEO campaigns we have worked on and show them rankings, results, placements and break down the process, in terms of the steps we took to improve the Search ranks for previous clients.

3. Do you ever hire freelance web designers for things that cannot be done “in-house”?

We have in some cases. But we don’t make it a practice. We have the whole team in-house, and our years of experience have allowed us to determine exactly who we need full-time and we have been able to maintain that team.

4. What e-commerce platforms does your company support and customize in terms of website design for your clients?

We use several; it depends on the client’s needs and the type of products being offered.

5. Do you use Web Analytics to help your customers make decisions about their online businesses or online business channels?

In some cases yes, but not always. Many of our clients come to us because they want a great looking, unique design. They know the need a site for their business but aren’t necessarily hooked on results. We walk them through the type of reporting we can do and then offer those results to them with our feedback. Conscientious clients take our advice, others do not.

6. At the end of the day, what do you want people to know about your company?

We provide great service, plain and simple. If you call or email us we get back to you within an hour, not days, or weeks. That has been the cornerstone of our business. We hear from some new clients that they put out requests for quotes to 4 or 5 companies and some aren’t getting back to them for days. That initial call (and the response time) sets the tone for the business relationship – you have to provide great service, promptly.