Google has an annual founders letter dating back to 2004. I figured that we’d make it a practice at Markitors as well to give our stakeholders an inside look at what our company is thinking about. Here goes…
2020 was a year unlike any other.
We are proud that small businesses continued to look to Markitors to help them connect with customers during uncertain times. Being helpful to small businesses in big moments is at the core of why we do what we do.
The past year saw an unprecedented shift online. This shift has profound implications for small businesses and their customers. We are pleased that so many small businesses trust us to help make this transition.
In this post, I’d like to highlight some of the important work that we’ve done at Markitors, with a particular focus on the growth opportunities ahead.
First, let’s dive into some highlights at Markitors.
Since the pandemic began, our teams have built a knowledge network to help small businesses build visibility online. Before the pandemic, we turned away 9 out of 10 leads. Now, we are able to be more helpful to small businesses looking to grow.
As consumers increased their online activity, our team stepped up with relentless day in, day out execution of SEO strategies. The results can be seen in our case studies with a growing wall of first page wins and an across the board increase in SEO metrics like domain rating.
Just a few of our client wins included:
- 15x growth in organic traffic, going from 2,000 visits to 33,000 visits per month (with lead volume experiencing similar growth)
- Opening of a new location in 2021 to help patients suffering from addiction
- Generation of 647 new leads – (When our client first started out, their goal was to get 20 leads a month)
- Despite salons closing down, and trade shows being canceled, we were able to increase online revenue by 11.05%
- Inspiring a client to be powered by 100% renewable energy through a #1 ranked blog post
- Boosting revenue by 57% for one ecommerce client
Our “why” became more clear as a company in 2020. We do more than SEO. We inspire important change.
Now, let’s explore what’s in store for small businesses in organic search.
There are two important trends taking place as a result of the pandemic: increased online activity from consumers, and increased competition from advertisers moving online.
As a result, there will be larger volumes of search opportunities to connect with customers, and it will be more expensive to connect with those customers through paid advertising.
We see the past year and the future ahead as a tremendous opportunity to help small businesses adapt to a new digital world and grow their business through organic search.
Elsewhere, advancements and announcements from Google will also shift the SEO landscape for small businesses. There are three events of interest to us:
- Google’s algorithm update in May around Core Web Vitals
- Google’s $1B investment in local and regional news partnerships
- More than 1,000 Google My Business improvements have been made to profiles in the last 5 years
In technical SEO we are preparing for the Core Web Vitals update. In content, we are helping our clients capitalize on how to build better visibility on the local level. As for Google, we see their investment in over 450 local and regional publishers in 12 countries as justification for our digital PR efforts.
SEO isn’t disappearing. It’s shifting.
With that said, our big theme for 2021 is to go “All In.”
Markitors is going all in on being Helpful, driving Sustainable Value, and Execution.
These themes will continue to guide Markitors in 2021 and beyond. As we continue to advance our mission of connecting small businesses with customers, we’ll look to drive substantial advancements in SEO.
To help us execute, we are investing in talent at Markitors. Recently, we welcomed Jenn Christie to Markitors as our VP of Operations to help our company strengthen our process and build for the future. Jenn and I have known each other for more than a decade, and I’m profoundly optimistic about the impact she will make at Markitors.
We are investing in our knowledge network by welcoming Deepak Udupa, Sri Sagar Kalisetty, and Prathamesh Ranade to further develop our technology in order to drive sustainable value for our clients.
In terms of being helpful, the most helpful we can be to our clients is to connect them with customers. We have engaged with a team of university professors and PhD students on a data-driven research study to better understand how small businesses can compete through organic search. The study is about four months in and will drive innovation in SEO in both academia and industry upon completion.
With that said, I’d like to thank our team at Markitors for all of their work during this pandemic. The year ahead gives us another opportunity to be helpful to the small businesses and communities we serve.
While there is hard work ahead, I’m looking forward to seeing what we will accomplish together with our clients.
All my best,
Brett
