We’re excited to have interviewed NYC SEO Expert Dillon Ross, from the Dillon Ross Group, for the next installment of our Featured SEO Expert Series!
Dillon Ross Group is one of SEOblog’s top SEO companies in New York City.
Dillon Ross has been in the marketing agency space for about 5+ years but decided to specialize in search engine optimization (SEO) in the past two years exclusively. At the Dillon Ross Group, Dillon’s SEO agency, we focus on helping small businesses win page-one rankings on Google. Our SEO efforts have helped many companies increase their keyword rankings, organic traffic and the amount of leads they receive.
What would you say is unique and/or challenging about the local SEO industry?
“The truth is, you’re up against a lot of competition nowadays in SEO and digital marketing, for that matter. I see a new marketing trend almost every day, and I understand that this makes selling SEO a challenge. Also, with SEO, you’re selling results that will likely come in 6+ months from now, and it can be difficult for some business owners to stomach that. I find that the best client is the one with whom we form a trust relationship, and they trust us to do what’s needed over the next 12+ months to help them win page one rankings on Google.”
How does your agency stand out in a crowded market with so many new agencies offering local SEO packages?
“There are only so many ways to differentiate what you do regarding local SEO. That is if you’re doing things the right way. So, it can be challenging to stand out with so much competition.
I like to think we differentiate ourselves by being honest, setting truthful expectations, and remaining transparent. There are a lot of set-it-and-forget-it agencies that don’t communicate to their clients once they pay. Not us. We’re in touch with our clients month-to-month, letting them know the work we did and where their rankings and traffic are at.
I also try to work with my client’s budgets as best as possible. Not every company has $5,000/month to spend on SEO, so we try to be flexible with our pricing.”
Can you share a success story from a local SEO campaign centered around your area?
“We’ve been working with a cash for gold business for 12+ months on their SEO presence and have a great relationship with them. When we began working with them, their blog was loaded with spam, and they had no idea who was uploading any of the content.
We helped them redesign their website and give it a modern facelift with an easy-to-use CMS. We also made sure that their on-page SEO was all set up correctly.
From there, we began creating monthly blog content and generating a great number of backlinks each month.
At first, we were losing a good amount of traffic and keyword rankings, but it came from spammy keywords and had nothing to do with their business.
A little over 12 months later, the site ranks for 500+ organic keywords that are all relevant to their brand, and they’re also generating about 3000+ organic traffic volume each month.”
What is the best advice you have ever received in business?
“The best advice I’ve ever received in business is definitely from my dad. My dad has always taught me hard work, discipline and customer service. He comes from owning a catering business, so he’s learned firsthand what a good product and quality customer service can do for a business.
You’d think everyone would know this, but you’d be surprised!”
What do you think is the most important quality that makes an agency truly great?
“The obvious answer is results. You need to be able to get your client’s results. For us, it’s winning page-one rankings.
But, I think the most important quality that makes an agency truly great is transparency and the ability to set clear expectations.
There are a lot of agencies that will claim to be an overnight success and sell their clients on getting instant results. And this mentality is just setting up your client relationship for failure.
I always qualify my potential clients and ask them their expectations if we work together. By doing this, you can tell the kind of client you’re working with. If a client is expecting you to save their business on its last breath, I’m sorry to say, but don’t work with them.”
Any predictions for the future of local SEO?
“I think we’ll continue to see Google push more of the map pack and their snippets. In theory, the longer people spend on Google search, the more Google can charge people to advertise with PPC.
So, I think people need to pay attention to their local SEO presence and answer local-based questions.”
What is your reaction when you hear that “SEO is dying”?
“I laugh at that!
SEO is not the new thing on the block anymore, so it’s not the cool thing to talk about like TikTok ads, but trust me, it’s alive and well.
As long as people search on Google, SEO will remain king.”
What do you think is the most important contributor to keeping clients happy?
“Like I said earlier, transparency.
Clients don’t want to micro-manage you, but they also want to make sure that they invest their money with a company that respects them and gives them updates.
As long as you provide updates and results, your clients will remain happy and stick around.”
Interested in being considered as an SEOblog “Featured SEO Expert”? Reach out to our team at [email protected]! We’d love to hear from you and give you a high-traffic platform to share your SEO agency’s story and insights.
