
Cornelia (Kirsten) Hopstaken
Verified Expert in Marketing
Marketing Expert
Redding, CT, United States
Toptal member since July 23, 2024
Simplify Your Marketing. Grow With Confidence. Kirsten cuts through the chaos, bringing clarity to your strategy by aligning marketing efforts with your business goals. She partners with you to implement tactics that move the needle, so you can feel confident in both your marketing and your company’s future. From messaging and SEO to website performance, lead generation, and conversion optimization, her data-driven approach ensures that strategy, execution, and results are seamlessly aligned.
Project Highlights
Expertise
- Brand Marketing
- Content Marketing Strategy
- Google Ads
- Google SEO
- Local SEO
- SEO Content
- Technical SEO
- WordPress SEO
Work Experience
Owner
GYBO Digital Marketing
- Achieved a 500% increase in organic traffic YoY. We were part of a young startup with an internal marketing team, providing expert guidance, research, and data to push this business forward.
- Debugged large websites that had been hit by Google Algorithm updates. Provide technical SEO assistance, fixing crawl and crawl budget issues to revert the trend of losing rankings and traffic.
- Worked at GYBO, a company that successfully restores lost rankings and traffic and improves the situation before the redesign.
Owner of GYBO Marketing
Various Healthcare Providers
- Restored the lost ranking keywords and content and improved the website for a rehabilitation facility that underwent a website redesign and lost all rankings and traffic.
- Achieved a 500% YoY growth in rankings and online visibility for a mental health counseling group. To deliver these results, we worked on content strategy, on-page optimizations, and website structure improvements.
- Used the StoryBrand method to rebuild the homepage of a hernia surgeon in Florida. The Storybrand method helps visitors connect because the website's central message concerns them and resolves their issues. The result was beautiful.
PPC Strategist
The Loan Companies
- Managed four locations for loan companies. The total ad spend was around $50,000 monthly.
- Worked with a pawn shop for high-end watches and jewelry. We returned a great ROAS with our ads.
- Handled account monitoring and data tracking. Set up correct conversion tracking using GTM and GA4. Handled reporting and provided account insights.
COO
Winston Digital Marketing
- Developed a small side hustle into a full-service marketing agency while building an excellent, motivated team and a strong and loyal client base.
- Defined client strategies and oversaw performance and reporting for SEO optimizations, building excellent client relationships and providing our clients with amazing results.
- Leveraged my web developer background to become an expert SEO strategist and doer.
- Audited websites with over one million pages, showcasing an expert level of technical SEO.
Web Developer
Main Street ROI
- Developed website development and coding skills and eventually led a team of five colleagues as a head of web development.
- Taught Google's best practices to the SEO team and became an expert in Google SEO, advanced tracking setups, CRM systems, and email marketing.
- Obtained excellent skills and unique experience to become a top SEO strategist with hands-on knowledge and technical background.
Project History
Recovering Ranking After Website Redesign
https://www.gybomarketing.com/website-redesign-gone-wrong/Recovered website rankings and traffic after a bad website redesign. We stepped in, recovered lost rankings, and improved the client's online visibility to a level they never had before.
As a result of our efforts, our client now ranks on the first page of Google SERPs for over 260 keywords, and organic sessions are up over 1,700% since June 2021.
Improved Marketing Strategies for a Hernia Repair Center
https://www.gybomarketing.com/hernia-repair-center-wanted-to-stay-relevant-and-on-top-of-national-competition/Drove more organic traffic to the client's website and increased leads through solid SEO strategies.
Additionally, our strategists found opportunities to improve location pages for local SEO, technical SEO fixes based on our technical audit, and featured snippets. Once we identified opportunities based on keyword research and client input, we implemented strong content strategies, including content strategy for blog posts, strategizing and improving low (or thin) content pages, improving the homepage for internal linking and adding more trust-building content, adding an author box on blog posts to follow Google's best practices, and navigation restructuring to improve user experience.
After our efforts, organic search sessions have increased by over 546% since August 2021. In addition, the client saw a more than 366% increase in total ranking keywords since August 2021.
Enhanced Lead Generation with Advanced Analytics Funnel Exploration
https://www.gybomarketing.com/blog/optimizing-lead-generation-for-a-client-a-case-study-on-advanced-analytics-tracking-with-gtm/Discovered that 34% of users exited the booking funnel where credit card information was required. We were able to archive these insights with advanced analytic tracking using Google Tag Manager.
With the advanced analytic tracking solution, we managed to provide our client with detailed insights into user behavior throughout the booking process.
Successful Marketing for the Cannabis Industry
https://www.gybomarketing.com/successful-marketing-for-the-cannabis-industry/Developed and executed a comprehensive digital marketing strategy that helped cannabis brands grow brand awareness, drive traffic, and boost sales.
Education
Certified Digital Marketing Master in Marketing Strategy
SimpliLearn - Virtual
Certifications
Google Analytics Certification
Google Analytics Academy
Google Ads Partner Badge
Certified Digital Marketing Master
MarketMotive/Simplilearn
Skills
Core
WordPress SEO, Local SEO, Google SEO, Google Ads, SEO Content, Keyword Research, Brand Marketing, Content Marketing Strategy, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), On-page SEO, Marketing Strategy, Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO), Landing Pages, Go-to-market Strategy, Email Marketing, Brand Strategy, Digital Marketing Strategy, Branding, Content Strategy, Paid Advertising, SEO Keyword Research, Google Tag Manager, Google Paid Ads, SEO Backlinking, Content Marketing, Google Advertising
Platforms & Tools
Yoast SEO, Ahrefs, Mailchimp, Google Analytics 4, Google Analytics
Other
Semrush, Technical SEO, Conversion Rate, Go-to-market Plans, B2B Marketing, storybrand, Google Ads Campaign Optimizations, Websites, Tracking, Team Leadership, Project Scoping, Project Management, Client Relationship Management, Data Analysis, Google, Data Tracking, Campaign Tracking, Data Analytics, Coding, Website Optimization, Consumer Branding, Product Branding, Compliance-Based Campaign Creation, cannabis marketing, Bing advertising, Fractional CMO, Website Audits, Storytelling, Audience Analysis
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