Twenty-five years of making local businesses visible

I started doing digital marketing in 1999—building websites, figuring out how search engines worked, and helping businesses understand why any of it mattered.

Back then, Google was a startup competing with AltaVista and Yahoo. "Local search" meant flipping through the Yellow Pages. And most business owners thought their website was a digital brochure that customers would somehow find on their own.

I knew that was wrong. Even then, I could see that the internet would become the primary way people discover local businesses. The question wasn't whether it would happen—it was who would figure out how to make it work first.

Before Google Had Maps

I was optimizing for local search before Google Maps launched in 2005. Before Google Local. Before the "Local Pack" existed. We were doing things like optimizing for city + keyword combinations, building local directory citations, and helping businesses understand why their address mattered to search engines.

When Google finally formalized local search, it validated everything we'd been doing for years. The principles hadn't changed—only the tools and the name.

"The fundamentals of local visibility haven't changed in 25 years: be findable, be credible, be consistent. The tactics evolve. The principles don't."

The Evergreen Philosophy

Early in my career, I watched SEO practitioners chase every algorithm update, every loophole, every shortcut. Most of those tactics stopped working within months. Some got their clients penalized. A few got businesses completely removed from Google.

I chose a different path: focus on what will always work. Build real authority. Create genuine value. Make it easy for search engines to understand what a business does and where it does it.

This "evergreen" approach means my clients don't panic when Google announces an update. They don't wake up to find their rankings disappeared. The work we do compounds over time instead of expiring.

Do No Harm

Beyond just avoiding tactics that might backfire, I believe in a deeper principle: the work should make the business genuinely better, not just game the algorithms.

When we optimize a Google Business Profile, we're making it easier for real customers to find real information. When we generate reviews, we're helping businesses build authentic relationships with their community. When we create local content, we're producing something actually useful.

If Google disappeared tomorrow, the work would still have value. That's the standard.

Substantial Results

Philosophy is nice, but results matter. Over 25 years, I've generated thousands of page-one rankings for competitive local terms. I've helped businesses recover from Google penalties that nearly destroyed them. I've consulted for startups that became billion-dollar companies and for family businesses that just wanted more customers from their neighborhood.

The common thread: sustainable visibility that compounds over time. Not tricks that work for six months. Not rankings that vanish with the next update. Real, lasting presence in the places where local customers are looking.

That's what LocalSEO.org represents—25 years of refined methodology, now available to local businesses who want professional results without enterprise complexity.