Who is Orbit Media Studios?
Before you commit to any agency, it helps to review what they actually offer, how they price it, and where they focus. Here's what we found when we looked at Orbit Media.
Orbit Media is a Chicago web design and content agency founded in 2001 by Andy Crestodina, who is a recognizable name in the SEO and content marketing world. Orbit's practice tests and analyzes website elements, but the centre of gravity is custom WordPress builds and content strategy, not contractor lead generation.
Recognition: Founded 2001 by Andy Crestodina · Authoritative content brand (Crestodina is a recognized industry voice) · Inc. 5000 · 38+ employees · Chicago HQ
Feature review at a glance
Side-by-side
Where Orbit Media excels
Content authority and craft web development. Andy Crestodina is one of the most cited content marketers in the industry, and Orbit's annual blogging research gets quoted by everyone from HubSpot to Search Engine Journal. So if you're a B2B company where thought leadership is part of how you sell, Orbit is the kind of agency that elevates the content side of your funnel.
Our take
Orbit's analytics work is genuinely thoughtful, and the agency's research output is a credibility moat most competitors can't match. But "tests and analyzes website elements" is doing a lot of work in the marketing copy. Their actual delivery is custom WordPress + content strategy, with CRO showing up as a sub-discipline rather than the entire practice. So for a contractor evaluating Orbit, the question is whether you need an authority-positioned content-first agency or a CRO firm that lives in the conversion math.
Who typically hires Orbit Media
B2B companies, nonprofits, and professional services firms that want a high-craft custom WordPress build and a content strategy from one of the most cited names in content marketing. Project budgets typically start at $30,000+ for a full site.
Where Fervor differs as a Orbit Media alternative
Orbit Media and Fervor cover overlapping ground — SEO, Google Ads, conversion work — but the shape is different. Orbit Media runs that playbook across many industries. Fervor runs it for contractors only, and ties every channel to the same number: booked jobs per visitor. So if you're pulling 2,000 visits a month and the phone only rings 9 times, we don't argue about whether the problem is traffic or conversion. We diagnose which one is actually leaking and fix that side of the funnel.
(Quick way to tell where your gap is: check your Google Analytics. Under 500 monthly sessions usually means you need more visibility — SEO, GBP, paid search. Over 1,000 and the phone still isn't ringing means the conversion path is leaking. Fervor works on both, contractor-side.)
Revenue per visitor
Your traffic has a dollar value. But most agencies won't calculate it because the number isn't always flattering. We measure what each visitor is actually worth in booked revenue, then rank your fixes by which ones move that number fastest.
The Site Inspection
Before we recommend a single change, we score your site across 6 categories against 64 national contractor brands. You get a Fervor Grade™ and a ranked fix list. No sales call required. And no money changes hands.
Conversion-first design
Booked by Design™ doesn't start with a homepage mockup. It starts with conversion benchmarks from 18 trades we've already scored. So layout decisions, CTA placement, form position, the order your services appear on the page, even which photo goes above the fold — all of it is backed by what actually gets contractors booked.
Where Orbit Media may fall short for contractors
Orbit's portfolio is B2B and nonprofit-heavy. No contractor case studies, no booked-jobs framing, no service-area conversion work. And their pricing skews toward $30,000+ project engagements, which is the right scale for a B2B website but a different conversation than a contractor who wants conversion fixes shipped in 30 days.
Choosing the right agency for your business
Choose Orbit Media if:
- You want a generalist agency working across many industries, not contractor-only
- You need traditional media (TV, radio, print) or other services outside SEO, Google Ads, and CRO
- You value content authority via andy crestodina + craft wordpress development since 2001
Choose Fervor if:
- Your site gets traffic but your close rate from web leads sits under 5%
- You want to know exactly which pages are bleeding leads right now
- You need a website rebuilt around revenue per visitor, not just how it looks
- You want a Canada-based agency that works with US and Canadian contractors
One more thing. Orbit Media and Fervor cover overlapping ground. The honest split is shape, not service line: Orbit Media is built for breadth across industries; Fervor is built for depth across contractor trades, with revenue-per-visitor measurement on every account. Some contractors review both options and pick the fit that matches the way their team thinks about marketing.
Questions to review before hiring Orbit Media
Who is Andy Crestodina?
Andy Crestodina co-founded Orbit Media in 2001 and is one of the most quoted voices in SEO and content marketing. His annual blogging research and conference talks shape how a lot of agencies think about content. The brand authority Orbit has is largely his.
How much does Orbit Media cost?
Orbit doesn't publish exact pricing, but their typical project scope is custom WordPress builds starting around $30,000+. So they're in the mid-to-upper tier of agency project pricing, calibrated for B2B and professional services budgets.
Does Orbit Media work with home service contractors?
Not visibly. Their published case studies focus on B2B, nonprofits, professional services, and manufacturing. No contractor or trades work is surfaced. The methodology and pricing are calibrated for a different buyer.
Is Orbit Media a CRO agency or a content agency?
Both, with the content side dominant. Orbit lists CRO as a service, but the firm's reputation and most of its visible work centre on content strategy, custom WordPress development, and SEO. CRO is a sub-discipline, not the focus.
How does Orbit Media compare to Fervor Studio?
Orbit is a Chicago authority brand for B2B web design and content. Fervor runs SEO, Google Ads, and CRO for contractors only, with revenue-per-visitor measurement on every account. If your business model is thought-leadership-driven B2B, Orbit's craft and authority make sense. If you're a contractor who needs the booked-jobs number to move this quarter, Fervor's focus is the closer match.
Find out which problem you actually have
The free Site Inspection scores your site across 6 categories and tells you whether your bottleneck is traffic or conversion. It takes 30 seconds to submit.
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