My WebFX Experience

Summary: If you found this post from a search result, you probably have questions and are looking for answers. Having worked at WebFX for 5 years, I have learned a lot about the company during that time. I have also learned about their perks, pitfalls and shortcomings, as the company has changed dramatically since my initial hire back in 2015. I am here to answer some of the most searched questions about WebFX from companies working with them, to candidates thinking about applying for a job with WebFX. There is a lot to go over, so let’s jump right in.

Disclaimer: The views expressed on this website are mine alone from my experience I had with WebFX and do not reflect the views of my previous employer.

My First Experience with WebFX

The first phone interview I had with WebFX was back in October of 2014. During that time I was still living in New York and working for another internet marketing agency. My wife and I were on the verge of moving out of state and I was just looking for a backup just in case my current position at the time fell through since I would be no longer able to come into the office on a daily basis.

After submitting my application on October 14th at 2:00 P.M., I received a response back 4 hours later from a Mary Mattar (she was not married then and has a different last name now (Shirey)) requesting a 30 minute phone interview as she felt I would be a great fit for the internet marketing manager position. After a quick back and forth email with her, we settled on a 30 minute phone interview 2 days later on October 16th. Keep in mind, I was not actively looking for another job, I was just browsing to see what my options were based on the location I was moving to and since WebFX was the biggest internet marketing company in Harrisburg, I decided to apply to them to get a feel of what they were all about.

The phone interview went well and Mary just asked some pretty casual questions about myself and my experience. I did explain to her I was casually seeing what my options were and we ended the call basically her telling me that if I am ever in the market for a position once I moved down to Harrisburg, to not hesitate in reaching out once the opportunity presented itself. I have to say in the beginning during my venture at WebFX, Mary and I got along great and I really liked her personality. But all of that changed years later which I will get into more later on in this article.

After the phone interview was completed, Mary followed up with an email with some written questions that needed to be answered within 24 hours. There was also an official job application that needed to be filled out and sent back as well. She did forget to attach it to the email the first time around and sent a follow-up with the attached PDF a week later October 21st 2014.

I did feel that was a big oversight on her part but did not think much of it since I was not really in the market during that time anyway. However, I did fill it out and reminded her that I completed the written question part of the interview the week prior which she acknowledged.

In my response to Mary with the completed job application, I mentioned to her that I was going to hold off on the rest of the process since I was still in limbo with possibly moving and told her I would reach out to her at a closer date when I have all of my priorities in place first.

My Next Steps in the Interview Process with WebFX

I moved down to Harrisburg, PA with my wife a few days before Christmas 2014. During that time I was still with my current employer Amicus Creative. I did notice a shift start to take place though with my employment there a few months into living in PA. So on August 3rd, I reached back out to Mary to rekindle the lines of communication and to see what types of opportunities were still available at WebFX. Mary responded promptly within an hour or so and mentioned to me to resend the application which I returned back to her in minutes.

I was then asked to come into the office for an in-person interview and another round of written testing the following week which I agreed to of course. During this time, they had just moved in to the Mansion on Front Street and construction was still in progress with most of the areas in the building. Mary greeted me when I came into the building and took my upstairs to a small conference room where she handed me a timed test that needed to be completed within 60 seconds if I recall correctly. The test was to see how many questions I was able to complete during that time and they were more so math questions. I believe there was another written test that was more of a Q&A style as well.

After I completed the tests we went back downstairs to their main conference room where the main interview was to take place. Upon entering the conference room there were a few team members in there already waiting for me. One was the CEO William Craig, Co-Founder Katie Shearer, and (at the time) Internet Marketing Manager Katie Kelly. Everyone introduced themselves and what their specific role was at the company and then the interview started.

I was hit from all angles with a barrage of questions from both Katie and Mary one after another which I answered swiftly with no issues. The questions pertained to my experience and certain types of situational questions. For example, “how would I handle a client that is dissatisfied with the work and performance of their SEO campaign”. The CEO asked me a few questions as well that were more personable to see if I would be a good fit for the team. The co-founder Karie Shearer did not ask me anything and just seemed to be gazing out the window like she did not want to be there nor did not want to get to know me or my experience for what I can bring to the table for their company. It was a little disappointing that I did second guess my acceptance for employment with WebFX since everyone else was so nice in the beginning.

I have to say, at the time, this was one of the most difficult interviews I have gone through during my career. I know the process of become a member of the WebFx team has gotten much harder nowadays from what I read online. I always remember the CEO saying that “it was harder to get a job at WebFX compared to getting accepted into Harvard”, since their process is that much harder to become a WebFx’er. I can confidently say, when I joined the WebFX team, there was only around 30 people in the company at that time. The company has grown tremendously since then and I feel they grew too fast. More to come on that later on.

After the interview, I received an email about an hour or so later from the CEO William Craig with the offer letter and benefits information. Another email followed up containing new hire paperwork with my day and start time and another email containing optional career starter resources which counts as a cash bonus if completed within 6 weeks from my hire date. As per his email, he did not require any proof that these tasks were completed, just an email to him was sufficient enough. I am not sure what the process is today, but I can probably assure it is not the same anymore.

The First Two Years of my WebFX Career

Hands down, I would have to say that year 1 and year two were by far the best time I had during my employment with WebFX. What made this so special was because the CEO was heavily involved in all aspects of the company. William (Bill) Craig is genuinely a really nice guy, but as time went on, I feel his niceness was taken advantage of from others in management that were eager to take more control of the day to day operations of the company.

During the first two years, I felt like I had a voice and an opinion that mattered. For example, during my tenure at WebFX, I noticed that there was no uniformed way for all internet marketing account managers to optimize a website, starting with the basics and foundation. What does that mean? Every internet marketing manager would optimize a website based on how they felt it should be optimized. Which can hold true and of course it all depends on the type of website and industry you are working with, but building the foundation for a website from the ground up requires a number of different optimization efforts which should be applied across the board for any type of website which many internet marketers were either missing or not implementing during their SEO campaign setup.

I was able to create a process and checklist for internet marketers to use and reference as they go through the SEO optimization process of a client’s website they are working on. That process became part of their everyday process and I would assume is still in place today.

A big mistake I made during my first two years of being at WebFX was getting to close with team members. I should have kept my personal life separate from my work life. In all honestly, I really did enjoy the company of my team members and took it outside of the office. At the time, I did not see what I was getting myself into, but as the years went on, it became apparent that hate and jealousy started to come into play. I would hold parties at my house for anyone in the company who wanted to show up. I provided everything from food to alcohol and it did not cost any team member a penny except for myself.

I even had the CEO over my house one time at a party to celebrate their second win as “Best Company to Work for in PA”. We had shots and hung out together with the rest of the team and it really was a glorious time I felt. After one of the parties I held, I had a what I would call a reprimand by one of the internet marketing managers, stating if I wanted to have a party it should have nothing to do with WebFX (which it wasn’t in the first place so I was confused by the whole conversation). After that conversation, it was all downhill from there with my employment at WebFX.

Year Three of My WebFX Career with WebFX

By year three, the CEO William Craig started to get disconnected more and more from the day to day operations at WebFX. He handed the reins over to management in each department which seemed from that point moving forward, their way was the only way and any other opinions or recommendations was then deemed being “negative”. This included the social media department, the search engine optimization department, the link building department, the sales department, etc.

Putting this fast growing company in the hands of twenty something year olds was a huge mistake in my opinion. The CEO would still come to the office every day pretty much, but he would not be involved as much as he was when I first started there. He would pretty much stay in his office after coming in late afternoon. Gone were the days of having a voice from employees that can offer something substantial from their own experience. It turned into a company of false and very toxic positivity. If you do not believe me, read some of the 1-star reviews on GlassDoor.com about WebFX which are real reviews from real employees.

From here on out, my days were numbered at WebFX. I noticed a shift start to take place. Everything I was presented with was coined “a great opportunity!”, even if the client had one foot out the door already. If you try to question their motives or decisions you would then be placed on their watch list to get the boot.

Around year three of my stay at WebFX, they hired another individual who moved down to Harrisburg who was also from New York. Needless to say, he did not last very long. What was the reason why? He had an opinion. Remember, WebFX hates people who have an opinion. They want employees to be “yes” people that keep their mouth shut and just do whatever they tell them to do. Basically they want people to be like robots with no pushback. What happens to those people that do pushback and ask questions, they are categorized as being “negative”.

One thing WebFX needs to understand. When a person has an opinion, recommendation or question, it is not about being negative, sometimes it is about being realistic. Like when a client is about to cancel and you have done all you can do, they still expect you to do more. They hate cancellations and if a client was transferred to you from another internet marketer, that cancellation will count towards you and not the internet marketer it originally came from which I disagreed with completely and voiced my opinion about it which they did not like at all.

During this year, I have gotten to know the majority of the people on the sales team pretty well. I traveled with one of the sales team member a few times to see clients down in New York City where we had the chance to hang out and get him drunk a little so he can open up. I took him out on a night on the town and introduced him to Rao’s. If you are not familiar with Rao’s in NYC, it is considered the most impossible restaurant to eat at in the country. He mentioned to me that WebFX does not and will not hire people from New York or New Jersey anymore. He really did not give a reason why but I already knew. New Yorker’s, like myself, are not afraid to speak up and speak what is on their mind. They do not like that at WebFX at all. To them, you know nothing and they are the great and mighty powerful Oz who knows all.

My Final Year with WebFX

My last year with WebFX was a rollercoaster and full of emotions for me. It overflowed from 2018 and into 2019. This is the year that Covid occurred and when I found out that my wife was pregnant. I remember being not happy going into work for the first part of the year before they mandated everyone to work from home. I also remember getting cold shoulders from everyone I came across for no apparent reason whatsoever. Everyone just seemed different and it felt like people I never met before as everyone had on a different mask with a different personality. I felt like everyone knew something that I didn’t which is how it felt to me and in the end I was right.

Everyone on the marketing department (including the CEO and other executives) knew I was going to be having a baby in the coming months. Usually their “happiness manager” (yes, they have one of those also) would give out a baby jumpsuit with the WebFX logo on it when they knew you were expecting. I did not get one and had to request one myself which I thought was kind of weird.

A few months into the year, after Covid hit, they closed down the office and had everyone work from home. This is when things got really interesting. After a day or two from working from home, their social media manager (I forgot her name and do not see on her their site anymore, but let me tell you she was a real piece of work) sent everyone a message to jump on a video call to let us know some exciting news. The exciting news was that the installed a tracking device on everyone’s computer. Yes, very exciting indeed. The device will allow them to see everything you are doing throughout the day and will take a picture of your screen every couple of seconds. Don’t believe me? Read some of the reviews on GlassDoor.com where people mention this and how they are being tracked every second of the day. Even as of today from what I read from previous employees at WebFX, they even track every second you go to the bathroom.

As the months went on and my wife got closer to her delivery date, I started to feel more and more of a disconnect from the company while working from home. I noticed I wasn’t included on many internal calls or tasks anymore and one day the CEO requested to have a with me which I already had a feeling what it was about. The date was April 14th which was my wife’s birthday and was four months away from giving birth. The call started off good which is WebFX’s usual “shit sandwich” that they are famous for doing. If you are not familiar with a shit sandwich, then basically what goes into it is telling you something good about yourself or what you do first, then going into areas of improvement and what you lack in, then closing it up with a good statement. You encounter a lot of shit sandwiches with WebFX during your annual reviews and check-in’s with your manager. Long story short, the CEO mentioned that it really wasn’t working out too much anymore. It was something that was really devastating to hear. The first thing that went through my head is all of the expenses that were on the horizon from the new baby that was coming soon. My wife since it was her birthday, was also off from work that day and she was standing right in front of my desk listening to the conversation which made it even worse.

The excuse that was given did not even make sense as to why we were having this conversation which was me being “to negative”. After asking the CEO to give specific examples of what he was referring to, he couldn’t, which proved to me a few things:

1. He was lying and full of it.
2. He was listening to “management” and believed anything they said since he was out of the loop when it came to the day to day operations.
3. If they want you out they will get you out no matter what which I felt it was coming for time by now and today was that day.

After thinking about it while still on the call, I decided to gracefully bow out of my position so I can focus on my wife and my soon to born baby boy. The CEO did offer to me a severance package which was broken out into two payments over two pay periods. Of course it was less after the taxes were taken out. It was a nice gesture, but felt like it was more of a payoff over anything, or perhaps it was a feeling of guilt on his part.

Life after WebFX

In life, I believe everything happens for a reason. Be me leaving WebFX, it allowed me to be able to spend more time with my wife who was pregnant at the time and be there during her time of need which I do not regret one bit. A few months later I was blessed an even better job at another internet marketing agency who had the best of the best cliental list. It was all enterprise type clients and had the opportunity to work with Fortune 5 clients such as CVS Health and Walmart to name a few. I can say that I did learn a lot by working at WebFX and it really took my internet marketing knowledge to another level. WebFX is a good stepping stone for a person who knows their career will be in internet marketing. They can learn a lot there and then move on to a real company and become their manager or director of that company’s marketing department. It is a real shame because WebFX can be so much more than what it currently is, but unfortunately the company is too close minded to take opinions or recommendations from others with prior experience.

I believe that the founders are Democrats which makes things a bit worse based on their beliefs. For example, one time when Governor Tom Wolf (a Democrat) was the Governor of PA, he came in for a visit. I was not even aware he was coming, only a top few of the company knew. I had a feeling something was going on that day since management and executives were all dressed up for some reason. That morning I decided to go for a walk outside and upon leaving the WebFX Mansion, there was a black SUV who just pulled up in the parking lot. Some of the WebFX executives were standing outside in suits and I was just trying to pass through. It was perfect timing (which was not planned), as I came out of the building the backdoor of the SUV opened up and Governor Tom Wolf comes out and who is the first person he sees in sweatpants wearing a hoodie, me. So Tom Wolf get his first impression of the company by meeting and shaking my hand first, which again was not planned and I know they did not like that one bit that their spotlight was stolen. I honestly did not care, I keep it moving and went for my walk that I originally planned. I was not there to kiss a Democrat ass, especially his. The only thing I said to him was that I liked his name since it was the same as mine and I left.

My life with WebFX has been over for a couple of years now. Are there things I would have changed if I had to do it all over again? Maybe. Did I learn about myself and increase my knowledge and skills as a result from working there? I would say yes. Do I think the people that have authoritative positions have the experience and knowledge to be in those positions? A big fat no!

I have gotten to meet some really great people when I started working there. Some I really got close with in the beginning and even went out to dinner on numerous occasions. Had them over my house, been over to their house, but in the end, they became nothing but backstabbers, and got thrown under the bus from them. I despise them now with all of my heart and soul. I have never bumped into any of them since I left the company. To be honest, I would not know what would happen if I ever did happen to randomly bump into someone I hate so much at this point. I would probably laugh and smile in their face because I know where they are stuck still and what I have become since leaving there.

Is WebFX Legit?

So, you are thinking about hiring WebFX to help you with your online marketing efforts such as website design, SEO, PPC or any of the other services that the company offers? Yes they are to an extent. I would make every effort to do your due diligence once you find out who your internet marketing account manager will be. This will be the person that decides your strategy and will be your go to point of contact for everything on your account. Since WebFX is primarily known for hiring students right out of college (hence their extremely low salaries), there is a good chance your account manager will be someone who is brand new in the internet marketing realm with zero experience. Once you know who will be handling your account, this is your chance to do some research and look them up. Usually LinkedIn.com is the best place to start. Anyone in this field will have an extensive background with experience and skills that people like to show-off on their LinkedIn profile. If you go to their profile and it is pretty bare-boned with not much on it that is a good indication that they do not have much experience. You can also look at their profile history and see what other companies they have worked at or when they just got out of college.

If you see someone with previous experience working at McDonald’s and WebFX is their first internet marketing job, I do not think you would want that person giving you information and recommendations on your million dollar business. I have heard so many horror stories from reading reviews online about WebFX, that some are just really sad. More so because they charge so much money for their services only to have someone just out of college gaining experience at your expense. Do not let the sales person try and sweet talk you, because according to their “positive” environment, they will hype up every single person who works there by making you think they are an absolute genius. They have a position called SEO Evangelist if you can believe that and I guess they feel that person is a God in this industry because he worked there for a few years. Most people who work there never had another job so there is no way for them to gain experience elsewhere in the real world since WebFX is like fantasyland with their fake and toxic culture.

Career at WebFX

The other side of the spectrum could be, you are thinking about applying for one of the many positions WebFX has available but are thinking, “is WebFX a legit company?”, “why is WebFX always hiring?”, “what does WebFX do?”, “who owns WebFX”, and probably many more questions that have you skeptical about the WebFX culture. Well I am here to tell you to go with your gut feeling. If it sounds to good to be true, it probably is which is the case with WebFX.

As I mentioned earlier in this article, you will be watched every second of the day on what you are doing with video and screenshot surveillance. It is basically like you are in jail and being treated like a baby at the same time. You have twenty-something year olds who are in charge of everything. These so-called leaders have never had another job at a different company in their life. Most of them are born and raised from PA which means they are very closed-minded and only know Harrisburg and the surrounding areas.

There was one girl who I got along with that used to sit next me. One time we were talking since she was about to get married and she mentioned to me she was going to get her fingernails and toenails done which she had never done before. I didn’t say anything but just couldn’t believe what I was hearing. How can a twenty-something year old girl/woman, never have had her nails done before? I just blew my mind. That was a moment for me when I realized that most of these people are farmers turned internet marketers. It was just eye opening for me to realize where I was and by me living where I am now, the city life was over.

Another thing you should know is that they push you to become 1% better every day. What does this mean? You have to start reading books basically. They have a whole learning platform which is a good thing to make yourself better, but what I did not like is that they push it on you so much that if you decided you did not want to be involved in it, you were looked down upon as being a negative person. There are so many things I can go on and on about the company, some good, mostly bad that I can keep writing for quite a while.

Some important people you want to look out for around the office and you will know who they are quick once you are there for a day or two. If you happen to see them around the office make sure you are acting like you are skipping on cloud nine with rainbows and butterflies all around you with the biggest smile on your face, if you do not, you will be seen as “negative”.

One more thing you need to consider. Signing a non-compete is not fun for anyone. During the moment when you get your job offer for employment for whichever job you are applying to, but you should always read the fine print that comes along with it. When I signed my non-compete with WebFX, I was pretty much signing away my ability to work anywhere else near me which is near their office. My non-compete gave a mileage radius that would literally put me in the ocean on the east coast if I wanted another marketing job where I live. If you are like me and do not want to do marketing for the fish in the ocean, I would highly recommend reviewing any contracts you sign. Luckily for me, my next job I obtained after WebFX, was just outside of their radius from the office in Boston, MA and I was able to continue with my life. I have known other people who have not been that lucky and have sent cease and desist letters to their next employer which had to let them go because of it. The message here is to make sure you do your due diligence.

If you had a similar experience with WebFX, please drop a comment below as I would love to hear your experience with them.