The Atlanta SEO Scene

Atlanta: The ATL. The Big Peach. Hotlanta. Home of Coca-Cola, the Braves, and… great SEO?  That’s right.  A-Town is making waves in tech like never before. Everyone from small startups to the Fortune 500 list are taking advantage of the city’s cutting edge SEO talent.

Search and you’ll find hundreds of Atlanta SEO companies clamoring for business in the Atlanta market.  Some offer shallow, quick turnaround “solutions,” while others deliver in-depth SEO campaigns that change the scope of business for their clients. Focus on the latter group. SEO expertise in Atlanta is thriving, you just need to know where to look:

Atlanta SEO Experts

Tom Shivers

Tom Shivers is the first among many local Atlanta SEO experts that have created waves across the entire industry.  With Capture Commerce, his ecommerce SEO company, he has redefined the relationship between SEO and product marketing.  Capture Commerce serves Atlantans from Gwinnett County.  Tom founded it all the way back in 2000. The “SEO and Conversion Driven” company has been around longer than most of its local competitors. And the experience shows. Capture Commerce serves clients ranging from Mori Luggage and Gifts to United Consulting. Tom and the Capture Commerce team have the diversity and range of experience many established businesses need to succeed in Atlanta SEO.

Capture Commerce has distinguished itself in Atlanta with conversion-focused and ROI-driven SEO campaigns that innovate while staying true to SEO fundamentals mastered over the decades. Tom speaks in Atlanta on search marketing topics and has interviewed leading industry pros on Capture Commerce. Tom is known locally for his insights on ecommerce SEO.  Tom Shivers and Capture Commerce have left a unique and indisputable mark on the SEO scene in Atlanta today.

Craig Lawson

ClickReady Marketing is one of the most impressive local search marketing firms around town.  Craig Lawson is a serial entrepreneur who breathes business, marketing, and SEO.  ClickReady Marketing is famous for their “Live SEO Sessions” where they work directly with clients to solve problems and create solutions on live calls with clients.  ClickReady’s hands-on approach gives them a high customer retention rate.

ClickReady began in 2007 and has gone through many iterations to get to where it is today: an innovative search marketing company focused on local business and transparency.  ClickReady’s offices are OTP (“Outside the Perimeter”), and, so, fancy Craig stuck in traffic on GA 400 right about now.

Bobby Kircher

Bobby Kircher is an established Atlanta SEO expert and owner of the ground-breaking small business marketing firm Papaya Search.  His vocation to Search Engine Optimization grew from an adolescent hobby that began in 1992 with a simple AOL account.  Eventually, he was plugging away at affiliate marketing and working with SEO clients.  Bobby Kircher and Papaya Search became a Google Partner in 2006 and have an impressive track record of search campaigns that work.

You’ll find him speaking at WordCamp Atlanta, Atlanta WordPress Users Group Meetup and several other Atlanta SEO groups and conferences.  Bobby has contributed to the Atlanta tech and SEO community in innumerable ways, contributing to national conversations on SEO, Google Ads, and content marketing.  When he’s not doing incredible SEO, you can find him running half-marathons and doing improv in Atlanta!

Jenny Munn

Jenny Munn is an acclaimed Atlanta digital marketer SEO consultant for Atlanta brands.  She is recognized in organizations such as the American Marketing Association and the GA General Assembly for her premier SEO training.  Jenny is a consultant who practices what she preaches, with impressive SEO case studies right here in Atlanta.  Starting out as an Atlanta copywriter, she learned SEO as a means to acquire clients.  From there she grew to a full-time SEO consultant doing the same for others as she has done for herself.

As a copywriter-turned-SEO, Jenny Munn is one of the best partners to work for brand-conscious companies.  She has contributed to the Atlanta SEO scene for many years doing premier SEO training courses as well as local Atlanta WordPress meetups, WordCamp Atlanta and other speaking events.  Jenny Munn has created a name for herself in the Atlanta SEO scene.

Atlanta SEO Pioneers

Search Engine Optimization is an ever-advancing art.  Many of the first Atlanta SEO’s and search marketers have come and gone, as the algorithms changed, and people went their separate ways.  Due credit goes to the initial pioneers of the Atlanta SEO scene.  It wouldn’t be the same without them.

Brian Ussery

Brian Ussery is one of twenty people officially recognized by Google for solving search related issues.  Brian is a New York or Silicon Valley caliber professional who happens to be from Atlanta.  He created his first website in 1999 selling T-shirts online while at the University of Georgia.  He served as SEO Director at Midtown Atlanta’s Search Discovery.

Brian grew to international success, being featured on the New York Times and Search Engine Land, by becoming a recognized Google Webmaster Help expert.  Even today, he is still helping website owners fix problems for free on the platform!

Stacy Sutton

Stacy Sutton is a highly respected Atlanta professional that grew to international success with her agency Big Drum. The “B2B Conversion Agency” operated in Atlanta for over a decade. Big Drum (formerly Prominent Placement) combines conversion rate optimization, analytics and usability with traditional SEM. They were one of the most well-known shops in town leading them to be named a finalist for the 2010 American Marketing Association Awards.

Stacy has developed something of a cult following here in Atlanta, and she’s constantly asked to do national industry presentations and speaking engagements due to her vast knowledge of the ever-changing search industry.  Big Drum was recently sold to another prominent SEO agency in Atlanta, Nebo.

Topher Kohan

And don’t forget about all the renowned SEO professionals who don’t own their own shops but who have put in their hours to quality results for great Atlanta companies. One of the best examples is Topher Kohan, a former “SEO Coordinator” for both CNN and Turner Broadcasting.

He’s got a background in theater, not just IT, making him one of the most right-brained well-rounded Atlanta SEO pros. He has spoken at SEMPO Atlanta way back when it was active and thriving. He’s now Director of SEO for CBS Sports at Paramount.

Atlanta SEO Community Resources

In early days, the Atlanta SEO community came together in local support groups like the Atlanta SEO Meetup group to share knowledge and network. Another such group was SEMPO Atlanta, the local chapter of the now defunct, Search Engine Marketing Professionals Organization.  This open group was led by local search marketing firms and hosted regular events featuring industry experts speaking on SEO, PPC, social media, analytics, etc.  One event in Midtown featured SEO superstar icons, Eric Enge and Bruce Clay. Those were the days!

One of the longest standing marketing groups in Atlanta had been the Atlanta Interactive Marketing Association (AIMA), where online marketers participated in monthly meetings that fostered best practices and innovation in the industry.  AIMA wasn’t just an agency echo chamber but had real involvement from in-house marketers in the corporate world. After 20 years, AIMA has now morphed into Fuse. The new team looks promising despite the old AIMA domain being unredirected (sorry, had to mention it).

The Technology Association of Georgia is another resource for Atlanta search engine marketers to learn and grow with industry speakers, classes and IT professionals.

So many great SEO pros around Atlanta could be included in this post. Who else contributes to the community? Other Atlanta SEO resources?

Heather Dundon and Patrick Rice contributed to this post.