SEOblog Interview: Minneapolis SEO Expert Mike Frahm from Frahm Digital

We’re excited to have interviewed Minneapolis SEO expert Mike Frahm from Frahm Digital for the next installment of our Featured SEO Expert Series!

Frahm Digital is one of SEOblog’s Top SEO companies in Minneapolis.

Frahm Digital is an award-winning website agency based in Minneapolis/St. Paul. Founded by Mike Frahm, we focus on helping business to business (B2B) and business to consumer (B2C) clients create comprehensive website performance strategies, with specialties in SEO, web design/development and content marketing. We serve Fortune 500 companies, small business owners and everyone in between, providing a creative technical approach to every digital project we take on.

What would you say is unique and/or challenging about the Minneapolis SEO industry?

“Even though most big cities have competitive marketing industries, Minneapolis in particular is known for being a hub of many major creative and digital agencies. While there are certainly benefits of working with a bigger, name-brand agency with a digital department, dedicated SEO agencies tend to offer higher-grade services within the digital realm. Smaller, specialized agencies that nab contracts with some of the bigger industry players and prove themselves can set themselves up for long-term success.”

How does your SEO agency stand out in a crowded market like Minneapolis?

“Frahm Digital has cultivated a small group of experts focusing on web design, SEO, content and PR, that provides specific support to both in-house marketing teams as well as other agencies. We can provide outside counsel to in-house marketing teams, but can also help supplement an account team at a larger agency who might just be looking for a very specific skill set. What’s important to us is taking a holistic approach and working together from the time your website is just an idea, through its development, optimization and promotion.”

Can you share a success story from a local SEO campaign centered around the Twin Cities area?

“Through an SEO copywriting strategy that focused heavily on content creation, Inflight, an aviation company in Minneapolis, climbed search engine rankings to rank first for dozens of target keywords. Through a robust content development strategy including long- and short-form web content, the company reached number one in local map packs for several non-branded, competitive terms, including ‘Pilot Training Minneapolis’ and ‘Plane Rental Minneapolis,’ among others. Additionally, our e-book writing paid off, achieving more than 1,000 downloads since its release, providing the company 1,000 new leads.”

What is the best advice you ever received in business?

“The best business advice I’ve received is to never stop creating. From catchy copywriting, eye-grabbing web design and to more abstract outlets like drawing, photography and music, there’s always something to be made.

“For example, I moonlight as an amateur illustrator, selling prints through online platforms and taking on commission-based work as time allows. I also serve on the board of directors for a local Minneapolis-based non-profit, Cheap Laughs for Charity. These added creative outlets allow me to analyze various subject matter on a whole new level. When I come back to my day-to-day job of building websites, I am always surprised at the crossover that occurs between mediums—it’s something that truly gets the mind working at full capacity.”

What do you think is the most important quality that makes an SEO agency truly great?

 “Commitment to results. This industry seems to be flooded with unqualified individuals and listless agencies, more concerned with their bottom line than your success. It’s easy to make promises, especially with a practice like SEO that’s hard for some business owners to fully understand, but actually increasing conversion rates, moving products and making connections with a customer takes time, experience—and most importantly skill.”

Any predictions for the future of SEO?

“The practice of search optimization will continue to be watered down, thanks to marketing efforts by DIY website companies like SquareSpace and Wix. So, when a business owner who has utilized one of those platforms to make their website finally realizes that they aren’t showing up in search results and that SEO isn’t as simple as adding a few meta descriptions here and there, true search professionals will continue to be there offering up their expertise.”

What is your reaction when you hear that “SEO is dying”?

“SEO isn’t dying, but it’s certainly transformed into something that’s completely different than when the practice first started. New website platforms like SquareSpace and Wix are distilling the practice, leading novice webmasters to believe that SEO isn’t a forethought, but an afterthought of a comprehensive web design. While the democratization of website development is great for certain use cases, these platforms don’t provide the complete infrastructure to make a website truly successful in terms of search performance.

“SEO, as it’s practiced by dedicated individuals like myself, is alive and well. And the fact that countless businesses like mine continue to thrive and provide value to clients through online avenues prove that fact.”

What do you think is the most important contributor of keeping clients happy?

“The most important contributor to keeping clients happy is results as they pertain to their business’s end goals. As long as you’re delivering on your promises, the client will be happy.”

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.