Twenty Years of Search, Applied to an Industry That Rewards It

I began working in SEO in 2006, back when the job was largely technical cleanup, title tags, and link building. Since then I have worked on more than 500 campaigns across many industries, from small local businesses to sophisticated regional organizations.

Contractors came into the picture early and never left. I’ve worked with dozens over the years, including remodeling companies and multiple design-build firms. That work taught me something most marketing advice ignores: in high-ticket residential remodeling, the marketing problem is rarely just volume. It is qualification, credibility, geography, and timing.

The discipline itself changed too. Ranking was once the whole scoreboard. Now a homeowner may never see a traditional results page before your firm is included or excluded from a shortlist generated by an assistant. Entity clarity, review sentiment, third-party corroboration, and content depth carry weight they did not carry a decade ago.

So my work moved upstream. Today it sits at the intersection of traditional organic search, local search, AI discovery, conversion, and broader marketing strategy. I spend more time on positioning and evidence than on tactics, because that is where the leverage is for a firm doing eight figures a year.