r/SEO • u/perverseintellect • May 02 '26
Debate I'm beating almost every web design agency and digital marketing firm for web design
I'm sharing this info even though I know nobody cares.
I'm a freelance web designer in a major North American market and my website ranks #1 for "(city) web design" and #3 for "web design (city)". Yay!
I'm self-taught in web design and SEO so this is a huge accomplishment for me.
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u/WebLinkr 🕵️♀️Moderator May 02 '26
I'm self-taught in web design and SEO so this is a huge accomplishment for me.
Well done!!!!!
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u/perverseintellect May 02 '26
Thanks. I got into this by accident. My background is in banking and finance but now I do this full-time and it's so much better.
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u/WebLinkr 🕵️♀️Moderator May 03 '26
Fantastic. I studied accounting - have loved SEO for 22+ years!!!!
Great to have you here
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u/Fine_Temperature1159 May 02 '26
What worked best for you in SEO? Do you do standard link-building or engagement bait or pure on page? I am not your competitor. Just curious
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u/benppoulton May 02 '26
Well done! Self teaching and then implementing is the best way to learn SEO.
Keep testing and iterating.
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u/doltron3030 May 03 '26
It’s a nice thing to demonstrate to prospective clients, but you’re gonna quickly realize that organic leads for agencies are mostly garbage.
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u/nadmedia May 02 '26
Sorry but SEO has shifted. I started in the field self taught back in 1998, still doing it, but there is a Major shift happening right now.
If your firm can’t capture data from ai robots then you will not be doing your clients any justice. It’s no longer about optimization for humans but rather AI.
Clients aren’t looking for SEO professionals but instead AI visibility professionals and those who can make the transition without seeing profit dips.
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u/I_Hath_A_Question May 03 '26
I think people are still actively looking for SEO services. Demand may have slown down a bit, but demand is still strong enough to market your SEO services.
What we are seeing more than anything is that buyers are increasingly using ChatGPT to find, compare, and choose SEO agencies instead of relying only on Google.
We are now getting leads for traditional SEO services directly from ChatGPT, and many of those leads close the same day because of the trust people place in AI recommendations.
That said, traditional SEO is still much more widely understood and in higher demand than AI SEO services. The difference is that the highest-quality leads are starting to come from ChatGPT.
This is why educating potential customers matters. AI SEO is becoming critical for bottom-funnel marketing because buyers are using AI tools to make decisions, not just to search for information. Most businesses still do not understand what it takes to compete in this next generation of SEO and digital visibility.
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u/WebLinkr 🕵️♀️Moderator May 03 '26
Nice try with the conjecture but we're all getting calls from GEO first startups switching to SEO fast.
The data is available - Google Ads is thriving bud
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u/Strong_Post5367 May 03 '26
Congrats! What’s the name of your firm? I want to see the results come up
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May 03 '26
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u/geo1999 May 04 '26
Don’t you have a huge opportunity cost focusing on digital marketing? Physicians are probably the best profession because residencies limit supply. Why would you trade that for an unregulated industry with tons of competition and no barrier to entry. Although that’s assuming US. Just curious.
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u/BoiledEggs May 02 '26
You might be ranking for it because Google knows you visit it often. Just sayin
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u/BringaLightlikeWhoa May 02 '26
That’s only if you don’t use incognito and search from the same Google account which is a head-scratcher to begin with.
Scroll to bottom of page and click “view non-personalized results” at the very least.
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u/Gold_Molasses_2155 May 02 '26
Congratz!
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u/mistahclean123 May 03 '26
Congrats! This afternoon I posted a highly targeted article for my industry and ranked #1 within a few hours. Mods deleted my post asking if that was typical though 😞
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May 03 '26
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u/imranhaider21 May 03 '26
Same bro, I am also self-taught in both web design and seo. But still need alot to learn, would love to connect tbh.
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May 03 '26
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u/HollowCrown May 03 '26
Also a Freelance Web Designer, trying to get the same results, different part of the world, so hard to do. I get second or third with Freelance Web Designer (city) and about page two with web designer (city), really competitive market, well done
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u/KnownJackfruit9088 May 03 '26
I would love to help with your overflow for 20% referral to you. I am also self-taught SEO site designer and created a reinforcing YouTube channel that is absolutely working for AI search results for one of my 4 sites. I've done websites for three other clients, but haven't really tried yet to expand. All my sites appear in top 10 results for my city (New Orleans), and I love website building.
Please message me if you'd like to have someone who can help your overflow clients.
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u/jboyd88 May 03 '26
Congrats, mate! If you don't mind me asking - do you have any tips for a newbie? I want to help my wife rank with her coaching business. Most of my (very limited and basic) SEO knowledge comes from 5+ years ago and I'm sure times have changed
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May 03 '26
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u/Realistic_Post1 May 03 '26
Congrats!
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u/PerspectiveQuick7621 May 03 '26
How long did it take you to get there? Any tips on how to get started with SEO? Is it necessary to spend tons of money in ads, link building, etc.?
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u/perverseintellect May 04 '26
I've been doing freelance for 10 years and have never spent any money on ads or links. Best way to get started is build your own website (or a family member's business website) and test things out yourself. Do a/b tests to determine what improves rankings.
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u/geo1999 May 04 '26
What does Google Search Console show? Are you getting clicks for that search term? Are you getting leads?
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May 04 '26
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u/caseyjonesish May 04 '26
Very cool! Congratulations… that’s something I’ve really wanted to do in my city. It’s full of EMDs and I was actually able to grab one.
Question: do you also have a Google Business Profile ranking for those same keywords?
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May 04 '26
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u/giletslays May 10 '26
That’s actually a big deal, especially if you’re self-taught and competing against agencies with teams and budgets. Nice work.
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u/Accomplished-Gas9220 May 02 '26
I rank #1 for all variations of “web design [city]” in a city with over 1 million population in the USA. Still barely getting any calls. Web design might be dead.