SEOblog Interview: Philadelphia SEO Expert Dan Kogan from 1Digital Agency

We’re excited to have interviewed Philadelphia SEO Expert Dan Kogan, from 1Digital Agency, for the next installment of our Featured SEO Expert Series!

1Digital Agency is one of SEOblog’s Top SEO companies in Philadelphia.

Dan Kogan is the founder and CEO of 1Digital Agency. He has been involved in the design, development, digital marketing, SEO, and branding of eCommerce websites since 1999.

What is the most challenging thing about running a successful SEO project?

“The most challenging and crucial aspect of an SEO campaign is uncovering the competitive advantages your client has compared to other businesses in their industry. At the end of the day you can’t rank higher than page one, and at least nine of your competitors will be there too. You have to find where you stand out. It could be a new product that isn’t popular yet that you can build authority on before it gains traction or it could be a product your client can sell at a faster shipping time and higher margin. Ultimately, it’s about anticipating changes and finding competitive advantages and capitalizing on them.”

How does your agency stand out compared to other agencies in the Philadelphia area?

“The two main differentiating factors for 1Digital are our eCommerce-centric focus and the close client relationships we commit to building. One thing that makes us stand out is that eCommerce is our sole focus. Several other agencies in the area offer SEO services for local businesses such as doctors offices, plumbers and lawyers, but our process is laser-focused on achieving results specifically for eCommerce businesses.

“Additionally, we prioritize forming strategic partnerships with our clients to ensure that we thoroughly understand their businesses and online goals so that we can deliver optimal results. Nobody knows more about their products, target market or goals than our clients, and our relationships allow us to better understand them as well. Consistent and open communication is not just a nicety; it’s integral to the success of an SEO campaign.”

Can you share a success story from a local SEO campaign?

“Borst Automotive is an automotive repair shop with several locations throughout Arizona. Their partnership with 1Digital Agency began in October of 2020, and since then we have substantially improved their online performance. Analyzing their organic traffic metrics since our services began, we have generated an increase of roughly 15 percent in organic traffic users. Additionally, behavior metrics related to time spent on page, pages viewed per session and bounce rate have all improved drastically. These increases in organic traffic users and behavior metrics have in turn led to a 52 percent increase in the use of their online booking tool.”

How do you set fair expectations for new clients?

“We don’t ever guarantee specific page ranking results or set percentage increases in organic traffic. In fact, we consider that to be unprofessional and deceptive. Any SEO agency that provides information on exactly what Google is going to determine as explicit ranking factors is being dishonest. Instead, we try to educate our clients about our process and how the methodologies we use have been tested and proven to work over time. We find that when a client is properly informed about how their SEO campaign is operating, realistic expectations fall into place.”

How long do you usually tell clients it will take to see results?

“SEO is a long-term strategy, so it is unrealistic to expect significant ranking increases overnight. It is also highly dependent on the level of competition that already exists within a client’s industry. While results may be visible within the first couple of months of starting SEO services, generally the most significant results cannot be seen for roughly 6-12 months. We set this expectation very early on with clients and give consistent reassurance that ranking fluctuations early on in a campaign are completely normal and to be expected.”

Any predictions about the future of SEO?

“Google gets more intuitive with every core update. Agencies that rely on black-hat tactics for fast results become less and less effective with every advancement the algorithm makes. We build our strategies around best practices and standards that strengthen our clients’ sites in ways that Google values. This kind of SEO strategy can never be phased out because it’s about monitoring and adapting to the ever-changing digital landscape. Through testing and extensive research we are able to implement new and effective SEO strategies for our clients that earn Google’s trust and deliver consistent results.”

What do you think is the most important contributor to a successful digital marketing campaign?

“A comprehensive, holistic strategy is the most important contributor to a successful digital marketing campaign. Given the significant shift to online shopping and the corresponding rise in competition, it is no longer realistic or sustainable to rely on the efforts of only one online marketing effort. While pay-per-click (PPC), SEO and social media marketing are powerful in their own rights, utilizing all three together in a cohesive and fluid strategy is more certain to generate the best results. We also stress that digital marketing is a partnership, and one in which we want our clients to be involved. We encourage our clients to ask us questions about their performance, read the content we write and take an interest in how digital marketing strengthens their site and their business overall.”

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.