How One Local Marketer Gave Up on DIY SEO

Don Willis, director of marketing for Storage West Self Storage, was a self-described search engine newbie when he launched a Web site for the company in 1999. He could have hired somebody to help him promote the site, but Willis had been involved with DOS programmers on other projects and always resented the feeling of being "held hostage" by them. "They held the key and I didn't," said Willis. So, in 2000, he dove into the world of do-it-yourself search engine optimization. The company now operates 43 self-storage facilities in three states and, until recently, all search optimization efforts were undertaken by Willis. "It was all kind of self-taught," he said. "Back in the beginning, in the self- storage industry hardly anybody was doing anything on the Internet. As far as SEO, at least in my markets, it was pretty much... [read full story]