Robert McLean Guilford, CT 06437 armik2@yahoo.com

Organic Search Results Case Histories The SEO projects that follow occurred between 2010 and present. After accomplishing the ranking results shown, the sites were not updated or maintained for various reasons, and have therefore relinquished the top organic results. Content updates are required to maintain top rankings like the those achieved:

1. Search phrase: “world's rare disease company”

A 2015 SEO project involved configuring a proof-of-concept website to rank for this specific phrase deemed important by executive management of my former employer. I was an IT Manager trying to bring SEO knowledge to bear for the company's benefit. The site achieved the #1 organic search result within a couple of months of launch.

2. Search phrase: “Vermont ski house near Okemo”

I configured a site and a Facebook page to advertise and find renters for a house near Okemo Mountain in Vermont.

This was saved at some point in 2010. My site has the first three results out of approximately 47,000 in this image:

It has since been rented to a long-term tenant and has not been updated (required to maintain top results).

The Facebook page I made also ranked on the first page for this search term, and lasted on the first page through September 2014 as can be seen in the next image.

These results provide a lot of insight into the underlying logic of the search engines and their trust in “voice of the people” (a critical concept) sites like Facebook.

The following screenshot was captured Sept 9, 2014:

Robert McLean Guilford, CT 06437 armik2@yahoo.com

3. Search phrase: “Danvers MA senior living” Becoming valuable to the customer's customer.

I demonstrated an organic search marketing strategy to an early stage company (Connected Living) whose potential customers comprised the senior living industry.

Their traditional sales approach involved building relationships with the providers and selling their solution to them. Their proposed value-add would be presented during sales tours of the various communities during which customers (adult children of elderly parents who are no longer able to survive living on their own) would learn of the senior-friendly messaging service available exclusively at that community.

I proposed selling the benefits of their service to their customers' potential customers directly via top rankings in Search. The goal was for their service to be a sought-after feature, prominent in early discussions between senior living providers and the adult children of the elderly, and a prominent feature affecting the customer's decision.

I built the site and wrote content around the search term “danvers ma senior living” because it is a buying term used by theadult children of senior citizens actively looking for a residence in a specific neighborhood for their elderly loved ones. There are several such providers in Danvers, MA. One senior living provider had an established relationship with the startup.

Building awareness in the customer increased the probability of their bypassing the referral agencies and subsequent commissions. That one provider paid $800,000 in such commissions annually nationwide in 2011. I envisioned the campaign, the content, the site, the business benefit, implemented the site, achieved the search results, and then pitched the concept.

Since the business was not contracted, this site has not been updated or maintained and has fallen in search results.

However, in early 2011, the site achieved the #1, 2, 3 and 4 rankings as captured in the following screenshot:

Robert McLean Guilford, CT 06437 armik2@yahoo.com4. Search phrase “bodybuilding over 40”

My path into SEO started with Affiliate Marketing. One of the products I sold was the downloadable bodybuilding course by Vince DelMonte. To this end I put up my-get-in-shape-blog.com and optimized it around terms related to “get in shape” and “bodybuilding over 40” among others.

I missed “buying” keywords in this early effort. The aforementioned terms are used by information seekers, not necessarily those ready to buy a book or course. This was a valuable lesson. The site ranked well for a couple of years forsome long-tail keywords, but has slipped due to lack of content updates, among other factors.

However, through this site, a photo of me has appeared on the first page of Google results for at least 5 years in the Images preview for the term “bodybuilding over 40.” This reinforces the criticality of using pictures in SEO efforts.