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Last fall, Chris Seper, the former technology writer for the Plain Dealer wrote an article about the state of search engine optimization firms in Cleveland. The article focused on the fact that while Northeast Ohio has a concentration of search engine marketing professionals, all of the local companies are “tiny operations of one, two, or three fulltime employees.”
Chris went on to ask, “Can a cutting-edge practice like search engine optimization thrive in a conservative city like Cleveland?” The answer from Cleveland-based eMergent Marketing has been a resounding “YES”.
In the ten months since Chris Seper’s article was published, eMergent Marketing has grown its staff by over 300%, moved to a larger office, and added 40+ clients from throughout the US and the UK.
According the Paul Elliott, President and Co-Founder of eMergent Marketing, “We feel it’s important to build our business here in Cleveland. There is nothing as exciting as recruiting leading professionals from throughout the country and moving them here to Northeast Ohio.” In addition to drawing upon industry-leading experts from throughout Northeast Ohio, eMergent Marketing has attracted employees from Washington DC, Utah, and Missouri.
After spending a number of years living and working outside of Northeast Ohio, I realized how good we have it,” noted Paul. So, Paul and his business partner, Suzanne Galvez, decided to build their business here.
The local business community has really been instrumental in the growth of eMergent Marketing. In addition to a strong local customer base, eMergent Marketing has leveraged key business partners and mentors, like Len Pagon of Brulant and Jim Fisher of IdeaStar who provide ongoing guidance to the growing company.
On September 13, 2005, eMergent Marketing celebrated its one year anniversary. With a unique business model and a “blue collar work ethic,” eMergent Marketing has built strong relationships with major national companies like Marriott, JC Whitney, Dirt Devil, Cheryl & Co., and Renaissance Hotels, not to mention a host of local companies, both large and small.
Paul and Suzanne are both very optimistic about the coming years. “We have made some strategic and long term investments that are just beginning to pay off,” noted Suzanne. One investment, a state of the art usability lab, makes eMergent Marketing one of the only search engine marketing firms in the country to offer this service, along with the experts to run it. eMergent Marketing is not only helping clients drive qualified traffic to their sites, but helping them to find better ways to convert visitors into buyers.
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