2X lands partnership with WordPress hosting provider WP Engine; expands pool of web developers

$9,000.

That’s how much B2B companies stand to lose with each additional second it takes to load their website, according to a study by Boston Consulting Group¹.

This is especially troubling as another study² of over five million web pages found that the average load time is a whopping 10.3 seconds on desktops and 27.3 seconds on mobile devices, well above the industry benchmark of under four seconds. That’s a lot of lost opportunities.

WP Engine, a web hosting provider for the world’s most popular CMS platform WordPress, is committed to helping companies enhance their web speed and performance. It does this by leveraging features like its proprietary caching system and its global content delivery network (CDN)—comprising a sprawling network of servers spread across the world to help cut loading times.

But a robust web host alone isn’t enough to guarantee a frictionless web experience. The reasons for slow-loading websites are complex and multifactorial—from bloated pages with too many plugins and widgets to inefficient coding—all requiring a web developer’s keen eye. There’s also the frontend of a website, which requires help from a team of writers and UI/UX designers to deliver engaging content that’s easy to navigate.

“WP Engine, the #1 WordPress hosting provider, delivers industry-leading speed and website performance. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Organizations need to realize that bringing a website to life requires a full suite of services. It takes a team of experienced creatives churning out content and producing intuitive UI/UX designs on the frontend to complement the work of WP Engine developers who are maintaining and optimizing your infrastructure in the backend—in 2X, we provide both,” said 2X CEO, Domenic Colasante.

To that end, we are proud to announce that 2X is now a WP Engine partner, offering 2X clients access to the platform’s full suite of functionalities, plus a pool of WP Engine-savvy developers, writers, and UI/UX designers equipped with the knowledge and real-world experience needed to build fast-loading, high-converting B2B websites.

Enhance Your Website Experience with 2X’s WP Engine-Savvy Developers

Your website is your most valuable marketing asset. How valuable?

A McKinsey survey³ reported that 35% of corporate decision-makers are willing to spend $500,000 or more in a single transaction on digital channels plus a staggering 15% say they are comfortable making purchases worth more than $1 million online.

While it’s clear that customers are eager to buy digitally, B2B companies aren’t doing themselves any favors, with many B2B websites failing to meet best practices. Forrester⁴ evaluated some 60 B2B websites across 12 industries and found that almost all failed to engage buyers. In fact, only a dismal four websites received a passing score. “Unfortunately, most B2B marketers still struggle to produce empathetic content that compels visitors to read further or take action,” the report found.

2X has long observed that engaging, customer-centric web experiences are few and far between, perhaps because many marketing departments simply do not have the time, budget, and the right talent. At 2X, we’ve spent years building a team of skilled web developers, writers, and UI/UX designers who not only possess a deep understanding of WP Engine’s capabilities and web development best practices but puts your customers at the forefront of everything we do. Our partnership with WP Engine only strengthens our commitment to expanding this talent pool and helping more B2B companies build efficient, effective WordPress websites that ultimately drive revenue.

2X’s Principal of Marketing Technology Zi Yan Tung, who heads our robust team of web developers, believes that when it comes to building a high-converting website, there isn’t a set completion date. Instead, it’s always a work in progress.

“Here’s the secret to an effective website: put yourself in your customer’s shoes. But that’s easier said than done. Should you opt for a feature-rich website packed with images, videos, plugins, and widgets that may elevate your customer’s experience, but the trade-off is longer loading times? Or should you design a menu bar with an exhaustive list of your various lines of business that could leave customers feeling either informed or inundated? The answers aren’t always clear, but they lie in running regular A/B tests and optimization efforts to truly understand what your customers are responding to, as well as knowing how to fully leverage WP Engine’s features to your advantage—which would only be possible with a dedicated team of web enhancement specialists.”

A New Operating Model for MarTech Management

A recent Gartner report noted that on average, B2B companies leverage just 42% of their MarTech stacks today, compared to 58% in 2020, and declared that marketing technology utilization is tumbling into a new valley of unproductivity requiring “urgent attention to maximize impact in the face of potential economic headwinds that bring on greater CFO scrutiny or forced budget cuts.”⁵

Transforming the operating model is key to helping companies increase utilization of existing MarTech capabilities.

Marketing leaders are moving away from assembling their own in-house marketing teams, as hiring and retaining talent has become increasingly difficult and costly. Instead, many are outsourcing their execution functions, particularly MarTech management, to an offshore firm like 2X.

Backed by a highly qualified 2X team, they gain access to a dedicated team of certified marketing technologists who have a deep knowledge of cutting-edge MarTech tools and know how to apply them—at a fraction of the cost of an in-house hire—meaning B2B companies can hit the ground running with their marketing strategies.

About 2X

A pioneer in the B2B marketing as a service (MaaS) category, 2X enables operating model transformation that drives growth in marketing’s contribution to businesses’ revenue and overall enterprise valuation. With global headquarters in Philadelphia, US, and delivery operations in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2X comprises a world-class, diverse team of marketing strategists, developers, analysts, designers, and writers who work together to deliver high-impact account-based marketing and demand-generation programs, data analytics, and marketing technology management. 2X’s unique approach brings scale to B2B marketing for greater revenue impact, execution efficiency, and capacity for innovation. It currently ranks #663 on the Inc. 5000 list and is recognized as a 2021 Diverse and Inclusive Employer by The Startup Weekly. For further information, visit: 2x.marketing / https://2x.marketing/career.

About WP Engine

WP Engine, the WordPress technology company, provides the most relied upon and trusted developer-centric WordPress products for companies and agencies of all sizes, including managed WordPress hosting, enterprise WordPress, headless WordPress, Flywheel, Local, Advanced Custom Fields, and Genesis. WP Engine’s tech innovation and award-winning WordPress experts help to power more than 1 million customers across 150 countries.

^{1 Schwabe, Andreas, et al., ‘The Real Cost of Poor Website Quality, Boston Consulting Group’, April 23, 2020, https://www.bcg.com/publications/2020/real-cost-poor-website-quality}

^{2 Dean, Brian, ‘We Analyzed 5.2 Million Webpages. Here’s What We Learned About Page Speed’, Backlinko, October 8, 2019, https://backlinko.com/page-speed-stats}

^{3 Bangia, Manu, et al., ‘Busting the five biggest B2B e-commerce myths’, McKinsey & Company, January 26, 2022, https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/growth-marketing-and-sales/our-insights/busting-the-five-biggest-b2b-e-commerce-myths}

^{4 Digital Commerce 360, ‘Millennial buyers want better content from B2B marketers’, February 21, 2020, https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2020/02/21/millennial-buyers-want-better-content-from-b2b-marketers/}

^{5 Gartner, ‘Disruptions Derail Progress in Martech Utilization’, 2022, Retrieved from https://emtemp.gcom.cloud/ngw/globalassets/en/marketing/documents/2022_martech_survey_repackage.pdf}