Cracking Open the Mystery of Search Engine Optimization with Donald McKenzie Jr

The way he tells it, Greenwich SEO Services came into being after countless friends, and friends of friends, asked for help with search engine optimization. Donald McKenzie Jr obliged, and through word of mouth, many bloggers and webmasters boosted their rankings on search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing.

Donald McKenzie Jr, Founder & President of Greenwich SEO Services, Contributed photo

While growing an audience, nothing replaces a regular stream of original content. However, if people can’t find that content easily, that’s a big problem. Fortunately, there are ways to foster the likelihood that a target audience finds the content: Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

“Keyword phrases are always important,” Donald said. “But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.”

Donald McKenzie Jr was raised in Greenwich, attending Hamilton Ave, Western Middle School and Greenwich High School. A fixture at the Boys & Girls Club of Greenwich as a kid and becoming a counselor at Camp Simmons, where he worked for 10 years, Donald went on to major in Economics at UConn. The longtime Greenwich resident, whose mother worked at Nathaniel Witherell for over 30 years and whose father, Donald McKenzie Sr, was former Athletic Director at the local Boys & Girls Club, counts many residents as his clients.

Donald’s fascination with the different ways websites gain prominence on the internet, transferred smoothly into a business. And, after ten years of steady word-of- mouth, Greenwich SEO Services was born.

“There is a gap in knowledge. People don’t understand search engine optimization,” he said. “I can help to keep them ranked for profitable keyword phrases, which brings targeted traffic directly from the internet.”

McKenzie explained that there is a technical process for optimizing websites and other digital assets like blogs or videos, so that they have a better chance to be found on the internet by the targeted audience.

“The idea is to incorporate keyword phrases that your audience is most likely to input into search engines to find your services,” he said, adding that digital assets include much more than just the website itself.

“It’s not just your website homepage, but also every single individual page as well,” McKenzie explained. “Each page is ranking for different keyword phrases.”

An important part of SEO is earning high quality back links.

“When one of your URLs go live on another website, the search engines see that, and it helps to build your authority, which is major part of the SEO process,” he said. McKenzie said there are two main concepts in SEO: optimization and building authority.

“You first want to technically optimize your digital assets, then build their authority. This involves generating high quality content that is helpful to your visitors, and making it as easy as possible for them to share and link back to you.”

“What I’ve noticed when talking to real estate agents and attorneys, for example, is that they often times back away from SEO because they see it as being shrouded in mystery,” he said. “It’s just an ongoing comprehensive process, though it is very technical and nitty-gritty on the back end.”

McKenzie explained that it takes time for results to be reflected across the search engines. “It’s never overnight,” he said. “When people make updates to their websites, I’ve noticed that the search engine crawlers scan their sites, and it takes anywhere from one to three months to see the changes.”

Once people understand how SEO works, they get excited because they realize how much potential there is for their site – or blog or video channel. McKenzie said he worked with a local photographer to maximize SEO for her YouTube video.

First, he said it was key for her to describe the channel in the description section. For his client, Heather Prescott Liebensohn, aka, “That Photographer Girl,” that meant using specific tags and targeted keyword phrases.

As a result, when someone searches “Fine Art Portrait Photographer in CT” or “Lifestyle Photographer in CT,” what pops up high in the search results is his client’s video.

“I really want business owners to understand that there is massive potential on the internet. Whether they want more customers or sales, they need to understand the nitty-gritty,” he said, adding that he enjoys simplifying the SEO process, and seeing them become more visible.

Greenwich SEO Services offers clients affordable search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click (PPC) campaign management, and search engine marketing (SEM). “Our SEO focuses on improving client rankings for a select number of keyword phrases – we’ll assess what they have, and build on that to improve their exposure on Google.”

Donald said clients can also send over a list of their own keyword phrases for optimization. Greenwich SEO Services will breakdown their website and perform a page by page audit to ensure there are no errors which can adversely affect rankings.

“We are transparent because when you purchase SEO services, you should know exactly what you’ve got, including back links and rankings. Again, search engine optimization (SEO) is an ongoing comprehensive process that provides a great deal of benefits.”

Donald McKenzie Jr can be reached at (203) 559-2373, by email at [email protected] or visit the company website www.GreenwichSEOServices.com.