US Storage Search Inc., owner of USstoragesearch.com and various other self-storage websites, has reached a licensing and marketing agreement that will transfer company operation to the management and control of B2 Interactive, a firm specializing in Internet marketing, website design and software development for the self-storage industry. The company will also end its self-storage call-center services, and many of its staff will be inherited by B2, according to the source.
Founded in 2003, USstoragesearch.com is a search-and-compare directory website for the self-storage industry. Consumers can search for storage by city, ZIP code, facility name, or specific unit sizes and amenities. The website counts more than 14,000 U.S. storage locations as members and has helped millions of consumers find, compare, and reserve storage units over the years, according to a company press release.
B2 Interactive was formed in 2012 by Bill Hipsher and Brandon Taylor, two former US Storage Search executives. The company has retained USstoragesearch.com, Storage.com, StorageUnit.com, and hundreds of other websites as clients since its founding. It employs a staff of more than 20.
The B2 Interactive team has so many innovative ideas, efficiencies and long-term plans for the site that just made perfect sense for the ownership group and the USstoragesearch.com members alike, said Mike Kucera, president and CEO of US Storage Search Inc. What the B2 Interactive team presented will bring our storage facility clients more new tenants and even better online visibility from their USstoragesearch.com membership.
One of the first operational changes made by B2 Interactive was to end the US Storage Search call-center service. For the past several years, USstoragesearch.com has operated a full-service call center that answered calls on behalf of its members around the clock.
B2 Interactive and USstoragesearch.coms ownership team agreed during negotiations that, to reach the goals for the site, we would have to get back to the basics and focus on our core services, Hipsher said. Our focus will be on lead generation and re-energizing the sites performance as a truly great shop-and-compare website for consumers. We jointly decided that being in the call-center business wasnt necessarily the best move for the loyal USstoragesearch.com members.
The call services will end on Jan. 31, and the companies are helping clients transition to alternative call centers. B2 Interactive will continue to operate a sales center at its Omaha, Neb., offices, booking storage-unit reservations by phone and online for all the industry websites it operates.
We are excited about the new direction we will be able to take USstoragesearch.com and the other storage websites we assumed operation of as a part of this agreement, Hipsher said. Members should look for big improvements and innovative ideas to start being implemented in the next 45 days, which will really benefit them right before the busiest time of the year for the storage industry.
B2s services include website design and development, search engine optimization (SEO) and marketing, social media marketing and campaign management, content marketing and management, paid-search advertising management, website, SEO, and social media analytics and optimization.
