What Make Me Modern does

Make Me Modern Inc. is a privately held, founder-led digital agency incorporated in Tennessee and headquartered in Knoxville, where it has operated since its founding in 2014. The company designs and develops custom websites primarily on WordPress with secondary use of React, NextJS, and Django, builds e-commerce storefronts on Shopify and WooCommerce, runs technical and local SEO campaigns, manages paid digital advertising on Google and Meta platforms, and delivers managed website hosting on DigitalOcean infrastructure. It serves a dual market: regional SMBs concentrated in East Tennessee (Knoxville, Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, Sevierville, Oak Ridge, Farragut, Maryville) plus a smaller set of remote national enterprise clients including Electronic Arts, Shake Shack, X Games, SOFI TUKKER, and WindRiver.

The company's technology backbone includes a proprietary internal tooling ecosystem — the m3 suite — comprising m3Pixel for real-time page-view analytics, m3Debug for diagnostics, m3Doyle for QA and error monitoring, m3NGINX for server optimization, m3Offload for media delivery, m3Optimize for A/B testing, m3Proxy for proxy management, m3Tracking for behavioral analytics, m3WordPress as a plugin layer, m3Guesty for lodging PMS integration, and MarkupMode as a proprietary in-browser content editing interface. Across 300+ client sites, the company tracks 216M monthly visits, 100,324 monthly conversions, and 3.4B asset loads, claiming a 7.5x average ROAS on managed advertising campaigns. Hosting is delivered via DigitalOcean with Let's Encrypt SSL, Stripe billing, and a 99.9% uptime guarantee.

Revenue is generated through three streams: project-based website and e-commerce builds (one-time), recurring SEO and hosting subscriptions (auto-renewing with 7-day cancellation), and managed-services PPC campaigns where media spend is passed through. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed. Distribution is B2B direct sales with an inside-sales motion for digital advertising and field-style proposals for mid-market clients; a $500 Visa gift-card referral program supports lead generation. The company is bootstrapped with no disclosed external funding, operates as a Google Partner and Meta Business Partner, and has won Cityview's Best of the Best in Website Design for 2023 and 2024.

Name

Make Me Modern

Legal name

Make Me Modern Inc.

Website

https://makememodern.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Make Me Modern is a Knoxville, Tennessee-based digital agency founded in 2014 that designs custom websites, builds e-commerce storefronts, runs SEO and paid advertising campaigns, and provides managed hosting for SMBs in East Tennessee and national enterprise clients.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Colorado Springs

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Website Design & Development: Custom website design and development services sold as project-based engagements. Deliverables include high-fidelity design, custom-coded development, SEO foundation, and analytics setup. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed.
2. E-Commerce Development: Shopify and WooCommerce online store builds, including platform setup, custom theme development, integrations, and launch support. Sold as project-based engagements.
3. SEO Retainers: Monthly SEO retainers providing ongoing technical SEO, local SEO, content optimization, keyword research, and performance monitoring. Auto-renewing at the same rate unless cancelled with 7 calendar days notice.
4. Digital Marketing & PPC Management: Managed Google Ads, Facebook Ads, and Instagram campaigns. Fees include management charges plus ad spend pass-through. Flexible billing allows clients to pay directly with Google/Meta or through company's unified billing. Average ROAS of 7.5x reported.
5. Website Hosting: Managed hosting services with 99.9% uptime guarantee, SSL, security monitoring, malware scanning, and automated backups. Sold as monthly or annual subscriptions. Includes proprietary m3Pixel analytics and real-time page view monitoring.
6. Managed Services / Website Management: Ongoing hosting maintenance, security monitoring, performance optimization, and proactive updates. Includes incident response and regular performance reporting.
7. Google Ads Management: Dedicated campaign management for Google Ads including Search, Display, and Performance Max, with daily optimization, A/B testing, and transparent performance reporting.
8. Facebook & Instagram Ads Management: Social media advertising management across Meta platforms, including creative development, audience targeting, and ongoing optimization.
9. Referral Program: Referral program offering $500 Visa gift cards to both referrer and referred customer for each qualified referral (new customer signing $2,000+ agreement).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Make Me Modern is a full-service digital agency that designs, develops, and hosts custom websites and e-commerce storefronts (primarily WordPress, Shopify, and WooCommerce), and delivers ongoing SEO, paid media management (Google, Facebook, Instagram), and managed website services. Engagements are sold as custom projects, monthly retainers, and managed hosting subscriptions to businesses across East Tennessee and select national enterprise clients.

Product overview

Make Me Modern is a full-service digital agency offering a unified portfolio of web design, e-commerce, SEO, digital marketing, and hosting services. The core offering consists of custom website design and development using WordPress, React, NextJS, and Django; e-commerce solutions built on Shopify and WooCommerce; search engine optimization with technical, on-page, and local components; and digital marketing campaigns across Google Ads, Facebook Ads, and Instagram Ads. These are complemented by hosting services with 99.9% uptime guarantees, SSL certificate management via Let's Encrypt, managed services for ongoing maintenance, and WordPress migration services. The company also deploys proprietary tools including m3Pixel for analytics, MarkupMode for content editing, and various m3-prefixed utilities for debugging, optimization, and security.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Website Design & Development Custom-crafted, high-performance websites designed to captivate, convert, and scale with businesses. Services include discovery, design, development, and revisions phases using WordPress, React, NextJS, Django, and other frameworks.
• E-Commerce Development Seamless, scalable online stores built on Shopify and WooCommerce, optimized for sales, speed, and user experience. Includes platform setup, custom theme development, conversion optimization, and inventory management.
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Quantifiable outcome

• 216M monthly visits tracked across client websites
• +9 more outcomes

Named customers22 records

Segments11 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration41 records

Feature10 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Google (Google Partner)coreGTM or Marketing PartnerCertified Google Partner delivering managed Google Ads campaigns (Search, Display, Performance Max) to East Tennessee businesses. Partner status requires meeting Google's spending and performance certification standards.
• Meta (Meta Business Partner)coreGTM or Marketing PartnerCertified Meta Business Partner managing Facebook Ads and Instagram campaigns for clients. Partner status indicates verified proficiency in Meta advertising platform management.
• DigitalOceancoreTechnology or IntegrationPrimary cloud hosting provider for all client websites and backend infrastructure. DigitalOcean provides the underlying compute and storage infrastructure for Make Me Modern's managed hosting services.
• Let's EncryptcoreTechnology or IntegrationFree, automated certificate authority providing SSL/TLS certificates for all hosted client websites. Make Me Modern charges an annual fee for provisioning, configuration, monitoring, and automated renewal management.
• StripecoreTechnology or IntegrationPrimary payment processing and client subscription billing platform. Used for recurring hosting billing and service payments.
• ShopifycoreTechnology or IntegrationPrimary e-commerce platform for client online store builds, alongside WooCommerce. Make Me Modern develops custom themes and storefronts on the Shopify platform.
• WooCommercecoreTechnology or IntegrationSecondary e-commerce platform for WordPress-based online store builds, alongside Shopify.
• WordPresscoreTechnology or IntegrationPrimary CMS and development platform for most custom website builds. Make Me Modern develops custom themes, plugins (m3WordPress), and hosting environments for WordPress sites.
• FigmacoreTechnology or IntegrationInterface design and prototyping tool used throughout the design process. Clients review high-fidelity mockups in Figma as part of the design approval workflow.
• SEMrushcoreTechnology or IntegrationPrimary SEO and keyword analytics platform used daily for competitor analysis, keyword research, and search performance monitoring for client SEO campaigns.
• Google AnalyticscoreTechnology or IntegrationWebsite usage tracking and analytics implementation for client websites, used alongside proprietary m3Pixel tracking.

Scale indicators14 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Big Leap: Digital marketing agency offering SEO, content, web design, and managed marketing services to SMB and mid-market clients—overlapping service mix and customer orientation.
• Straight North: Internet marketing agency combining web design, SEO, and paid media with vertical specialization; directly comparable offering for performance-driven clients.
• Lounge Lizard: Web design and digital marketing agency combining branding, web development, SEO, and paid media for SMB through enterprise clients—closely aligned offering and target customer profile.
• Digital Silk: Digital agency focused on custom website design, branding, and digital marketing for SMB and mid-market clients—a closely matched peer in service scope and target customer.
• OuterBox: Digital agency specialized in e-commerce website design and development on Shopify and other platforms, with SEO and digital marketing overlays—a strong peer for Make Me Modern's e-commerce practice.
• Coalition Technologies: Web design and SEO-driven digital marketing agency with strong e-commerce credentials and a similar mix of custom development plus managed marketing services.
• Huemor: Boutique B2B web design and development agency specializing in custom websites, e-commerce, and conversion optimization for mid-market and enterprise clients—directly comparable service mix and customer profile.
• SmartSites: Full-service digital agency offering web design, SEO, PPC, and hosting with strong SMB and mid-market focus; one of the more direct comparables in terms of integrated service portfolio.
• Thrive Internet Marketing Agency: Full-service digital agency providing web design, SEO, social media, and PPC management to SMB and mid-market clients—directly comparable GTM and service portfolio.

Broad incumbents

• WebFX: Large, established full-service digital marketing agency with proprietary technology (MarketingCloudFX) and a strong SEO/PPC offering; broader scale but overlapping core services and customer base.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Make Me Modern