I'm Michael McDougald, a Nashville-based SEO expert. Over the years, I've helped both local businesses in the Middle Tennessee area as well as national brands and enterprise clients craft strategies that drive more traffic from search engines. My journey into the world of SEO wasn't a straight path; it was filled with challenges, learning curves, and key experiences that shaped my expertise. Today, I want to share that journey with you, illustrating how persistence, a thirst for knowledge, and a commitment to ethical practices have guided me to where I am today.
My early introduction to SEO came when I was helping a small business with their website. They were keen on getting more traffic and seeing fast results. I quickly got certified in Google Ads, thinking that paid search would be the solution. However, I soon realized that while Google Ads could drive traffic, the real challenge was ranking the new site organically. The boss wanted rapid results, but organic growth takes time—a concept that was difficult to convey.
Feeling the pressure, I searched for a Nashville SEO consultant that could guarantee #1 rankings. I reached out to several reputable companies, only to find that no one could make such promises. They all emphasized that SEO is an ongoing process, with no guaranteed outcomes. As far as I knew, the small business didn't hire any of these firms, and I continued to spend my time learning and researching various techniques, trying to understand the intricacies of SEO.
It became clear to me that Google did not want to be manipulated. The search giant's algorithms were designed to reward content that genuinely served users' needs, and "white hat" SEO—ethical practices that comply with Google's guidelines—was often a slow and steady process. Yet, later that year, the site I was working on suddenly shot up to the #1 spot. It was puzzling, and I soon discovered why: the business had secretly hired a "black hat" SEO agency behind my back. The agency used questionable tactics, gaining thousands of links very quickly from spun "articles" that no human could read.
While the short-term results were impressive, I warned the team that these tactics could lead to severe penalties from Google. Sure enough, just a few months later, the dreaded Penguin update hit, and the website plummeted into the abyss of page 10. The traffic dried up, and the business learned a hard lesson about the dangers of trying to outsmart Google's algorithms.
After leaving that business, I was determined to do things the right way. I started experimenting with my own websites and quickly discovered that just by getting the SEO fundamentals right, my web design clients were outperforming their competition. It really wasn't that hard—if you wanted to rank for "wedding photography in Nashville," your page should use the words "wedding photography Nashville" a few times. Yet, ironically, many photography websites were void of text, with the attitude that "my images speak for themselves." It became evident that understanding search intent and matching it with relevant content was the key to success.
I frequently participated in local SEO meetups, eager to learn from others and share my experiences. However, I quickly found myself teaching more than I was learning. This realization was both empowering and humbling. I did, however, form valuable friendships with other SEO professionals, including Jeremy Rivera, who was working for Raven Tools at the time. Raven Tools was a powerful SEO reporting tool, and Jeremy later founded SEOArcade, a tool designed to estimate the traffic and ROI of SEO campaigns. Having a sounding board of peers to compare results and discuss strategies helped me hone my skills from being a competent professional to becoming an expert.
One of my early clients was a company that sold commercial doors with a regional delivery route. I proposed expanding their reach to nearby cities, and we quickly found success. This strategy of local expansion led to significant growth, and within two short years, I was promoted to Marketing Director for a national e-commerce brand. Through a well-planned site architecture and ethical white hat link-building strategies, we were able to dominate search results nationwide. This experience was a major milestone in my career, proving that patience and adherence to best practices could lead to sustained success.
A few years later, I created a website to sell bathroom stalls online. This project was particularly challenging due to the niche nature of the product. After all, nobody goes online to talk about bathroom stalls unless it's in the context of a bad review. It's not a glamorous topic, and Google's advice to create content that people "like, love, share with their friends, and talk about online" seemed almost like a joke in this context. But I was committed to ethical SEO, and I knew that finding a way to succeed within Google's guidelines was the only path I could take.
To overcome the content challenge, I developed several processes for link building. This included researching sites, crafting relatable content that could earn links, and conducting outreach to authors with compelling pitches to collaborate on content. For example, I created content about "10 Uses for Shipping Containers," which linked back to "public bathrooms" as one of those uses. This creative approach landed me links from high-authority sites like Slate, Forbes, and other seemingly impossible-to-reach platforms. My business grew to national success, ranking in the top three for most keywords related to bathroom stalls nationwide. A few years later, I sold the business to an investment group, marking another significant milestone in my career.
We faced many challenges along the way. For instance, bathroom stalls can't simply be added to a cart; they have to be custom-designed to fit each room. We built custom online configurators and quote tools to address this, but this introduced new challenges related to site speed and user experience. In the process, I learned many enterprise SEO techniques to overcome the obstacles that this architecture created, further expanding my expertise.
One of the things that sets me apart as an SEO expert is my ability to stay calm in the face of algorithm changes. While I've seen some fluctuations over the years, at the end of the day, the search engine still has to give the customer what they want. Websites that stress over algorithm updates are often those that are on the shady side of SEO. They've likely bought links from sites that offer "guest posts" on topics ranging from HVAC contractors to crypto and online gambling. These practices might yield short-term gains, but they aren't sustainable.
In my experience, great SEO isn't rocket science—it's just hard work. It involves understanding what your audience is searching for, creating content that genuinely addresses their needs, and building a site that is easy to navigate and technically sound. It also requires patience and a long-term perspective, recognizing that real results take time and that the pursuit of quick wins often leads to penalties or lost traffic down the road.
As we look to the future, it's clear that AI is making it easier to create content, but it's also making it easier to produce bad content that offers no new information. This is a double-edged sword. On one hand, tools like GPT-4 can help generate ideas, streamline writing processes, and even optimize content for SEO. On the other hand, if not used carefully, AI can lead to a proliferation of mediocre content that clutters search results and dilutes the value of quality information.
To combat this, my team and I are committed to maintaining high standards for content creation. We plan to have human editors write content alongside industry experts to ensure that what we publish is not only optimized for search but also genuinely valuable to readers. We believe that as AI-generated content becomes more prevalent, the value of quality link building will increase. Since everyone can now create decent quality content on a subject, Google will need to rely more heavily on links and other signals to differentiate one site from the next.
In conclusion, my journey to becoming an SEO expert has been one of continuous learning, adaptation, and a commitment to ethical practices. From my early struggles with black hat SEO tactics to building successful businesses through white hat strategies, I've seen firsthand what works and what doesn't. As the industry continues to evolve, I remain dedicated to helping businesses navigate the complexities of SEO, driving sustainable growth through strategies that align with both Google's guidelines and the needs of users.