SEOblog Interview: New York City Area SEO Expert Anita Kostadinov from SmartSites

We’re excited to have interviewed New York City SEO Expert Anita Kostadinov from SmartSites for the next installment of our Featured SEO Expert Series!

SmartSites is one of SEOblog’s Top SEO companies in New York City.

As the Chief Client Officer for SmartSites, Anita Kostadinov is the touch point between clients and service teams. Anita earned her master’s degree in International Marketing from the University of Applied Sciences ‘Campus02’ in Austria, where she published her thesis on the Development of an International Complaint Management Process. Her experience leading cross-functional market entry, product launches and brand development of an Austrian startup equipped her with the skills necessary to lead SmartSites’ client affairs. Anita is fluent in three languages (English, German and Bulgarian) and leads many of SmartSites’ international initiatives, such as meetings and events.

What would you say is unique and/or challenging about the SEO industry in 2023?

“Machine Learning and AI are revolutionizing SEO in 2023. Many SEO service providers are testing its effectiveness in terms of content writing, keyword research and link building opportunities. While we are still in the ‘experimental phase’ of automated content, search engines are becoming better at identifying low-quality, auto-generated articles and are taking necessary actions. I believe that the most successful SEO players in 2023 will use machine learning and AI as productivity assistant tools but not give up on the ‘human touch’ by real people.”

How does your agency stand out in a crowded market like the New York City area?

“Over 12 years ago, we started as an NJ-based local digital marketing agency where we built a pretty strong foundation with local clients. Today we are a fully-remote agency which has allowed us to onboard experts in various niches from the West to the East coast. We have skilled and experienced specialists from many different industries who are truly passionate about digital marketing and helping businesses succeed online. Our online reviews can confirm our excellent customer service across the board. Though we started out as a New York City agency, competing with local talent, we truly have a national reach with national resources.”

Can you share a success story from a local SEO campaign centered around a local area? Include any stats and highlights if possible!

“One of my bigger clients is a senior housing provider with 100+ locations nationwide, where we use a geo-targeted approach in every aspect of SEO. We focus on local competitor research and keyword strategy, location-specific web pages and blogs, local link building opportunities as well as ongoing GMB Optimizations. We have seen great success for their communities with organic traffic increases as high as +117 percent YOY and leads increases as high as +53 percent.”

What is the best advice you ever received in business?

“Listen to what clients want and give them what they need! While this motto might sound simple, it requires excellent listening skills, a caring attitude, and at the same time, business expertise to offer a solution that would really solve the client’s problem, which even they themselves might not be aware of.”

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

“I am confident that with increasing AI-provided solutions on the market, clients will be looking for an agency where they can connect with a real human who is not just an expert in their field but also truly cares about their business. A customer-first mindset in every part of an agencies’ operations is the key to success. For agencies like ours, a big competitive advantage can be achieved by putting efforts into ‘how’ a service is being offered, rather than just ‘what.’” 

Any predictions for the future of SEO?

“It will be a very interesting time for SEO players trying to find out how far they can go with AI-generated content. I am curious to see how automated content will perform organically in the short and long term, but I can imagine that there will be lots of ups and downs in rankings and many algorithm changes on Google’s end.”

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

“If anything is dying in the SEO world, it is the ‘old way’ of doing SEO. A new era has begun, which includes so many revolutionary innovations, making SEO more alive than ever.”

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

“Genuine drive and care of employees to provide a high-quality service to clients is what clients need to be and stay happy. That includes actively listening to the ever-changing requests by clients (pro tip: read between the lines!) and providing solutions that make a difference and produce results. “

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.