Americaneagle.com has experienced exponential growth in the past decade, expanding from a 10-person shop using homegrown CMS tools to a full-scale web and digital marketing services company with more than 550 employees around the globe.

In 2013, Americaneagle.com was primarily using WordPress as a blogging tool, but as the company began to shift from web development to more creative, digital agency services, they also started doing more with WordPress, extending it to meet the new client demand.

“Initially, we were worried because the internal perception was that open source was not secure, and that WordPress just wasn’t capable of doing more than a blog site,” said Jerry Boduch, Head of Partnerships at Americaneagle.com. “Boy, were we wrong.” 

Boduch spoke about Americaneagle.com, WordPress, and WP Engine at our all-virtual Summit/2020 and explained how his company has continued using WordPress for an increasing number of projects, and how his teams continue to be impressed were with its capabilities and the value it provides to their customers. Five years ago, on average, the company was completing about three WordPress sites a month, bringing in about $10,000 for each one.

Fast forward a few years later: “The WordPress team tripled in size,” Boduch said. “The average project is now $25,000, and…we’re up to about five sites per month.” 

The company also has a dedicated WordPress practice and plans to grow alongside WordPress’s increasing market share. 

How did they do it? By leveraging three key learnings. 

Listen to the Customer  

There were two key thought leaders in the organization that propelled Americaneagle.com forward: Jason Harle, Technical WordPress Project Manager, and Ellis LaMay, Director of WordPress Operations. By listening to the needs of their customers and keeping a pulse on the industry, the two were able to sell WordPress internally and position it as the right option for many of their clients. 

“If it wasn’t for Jason and Ellis being thought leaders and disruptors, and having a passion for WordPress, we may have never gotten into WordPress,” said Boduch. 

Have the right people in place that will take the blinders down and listen to the industry and customer needs first. And don’t be afraid to be agile and try something new. WordPress is known for its efficiency, bringing the most value to customers as soon as possible, but also look at other solutions and see how those can be brought together with WordPress.

Focus on Your Strengths 

“Figure out where your differentiators are, what you’re good at, and develop tools that can help the community as well,” said Boduch. 

Your brand and your sales depend on it. By differentiating your point of view and offerings and giving back to the community, your work and publications will become living proof that you know the industry and where it’s heading — and can be trusted to lead your customers to where their businesses need to be. 

Be a Partner 

A pivotal point in Americaneagle.com’s growth was becoming a WP Engine Partner. By partnering, they were able to leverage WP Engine’s strong community and co-marketing presence, and could go back to focusing on digital marketing and development without worrying about support and hosting.

The efficiencies and customer value achieved by partnering with WP Engine are noted below, bringing the total debugging resolution time from one week to under an hour.

“We could not achieve this without the partnership we have with WP Engine,” said Boduch. 

In sum, focus on customer value and your unique strengths, and choose a partner that will accelerate your growth and the value you offer your customers. 

“We really feel the sky’s the limit when it comes to WordPress,” said Boduch. 

Want to find out more? Check out the full session with Jerry Boduch of Americaneagle.com as well as all of the other on-demand sessions from Summit/2020, available now.

Full list of Summit/2020 sessions, including videos, slides and transcripts:

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