Simon Karanja
Verified Expert in Marketing
Marketing Expert
Nottingham, United Kingdom
Toptal member since May 2, 2023
Simon is a GEO and eCommerce SEO consultant with more than 12 years of experience in helping clients generate millions in revenue through tested and proven SEO strategies. He has worked with clients in various industries, including jewelry stores, furniture shops, home decor, fashion, real estate, attorneys, and startups. With a deep understanding of the SEO landscape, Simon can identify opportunities and implement strategies to improve rankings, organic traffic, and organic revenue.
Project Highlights
Expertise
- Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)
- Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)
- Keyword Research
- SEO Audits
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Shopify SEO
- Technical SEO
- eCommerce SEO
Work Experience
Head of SEO
Edy Labs, Part of AI/R
- Led SEO strategy and execution for various eCommerce clients, with a strong focus on businesses selling automotive spare parts, where SEO performance was driven by high-intent, product-led search demand.
- Designed and implemented collection and category page strategies to target high-intent keywords (e.g., part type, make, and model), improving organic visibility and revenue contribution for spare parts eCommerce clients.
- Owned Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) strategy, ensuring clients’ offerings, categories, and expertise were accurately surfaced and referenced in AI-generated responses.
- Led efforts to grow AI search presence for clients by optimizing brand, product, and category representation within LLM-powered search experiences.
- Collaborated with global automotive brands, including Toyota and Lexus, supporting SEO initiatives aligned with large-scale brand sites and complex content ecosystems.
SEO Manager
Media Contour LLC.
- Created a migration plan to ensure a smooth transition from Mediacontour.com to Conversionflow.com.
- Migrated the website from one domain to another without losing traffic or rankings.
- Created an SEO plan for the new website, including what new pages to create and what keywords to target.
- Managed a team of three, including developers and junior SEO experts.
Head of SEO
CH MEDIA & MARKETING PLANNING LTD
- Oversaw the SEO department as Head of SEO, defining SEO, eCommerce SEO, and social media strategies that led to a 30% revenue growth.
- Led my team in implementing an SEO strategy for a leading law firm in Miami, which led to a 30% increase in organic traffic in one month.
- Put SEO workflow processes in place that can be used for all new clients.
SEO and Keyword Research Specialist
Toptal
- Helped in the creation of hundreds of newly optimized pages.
- Conducted keyword research for all new landing pages.
- Picked the title of all new pages and ensured that the main keyword was incorporated in the heading.
Google Ads Manager
Verity Dental Partners
- Implemented a paid ads strategy that focused on exact matching keywords, which increased targeted paid traffic by 20% monthly.
- Reduced their ad spend by 33% while increasing the traffic they were getting from Google Ads.
- Increased the number of patients booking consultations through their website by 32% MoM.
- Conducted a full audit of their Google Ads. Identified ad groups and keywords that were not performing and removed them. This reduced ad spending by 33%.
SEO Manager
Felicia Lepetri dba Felicia Lepetri Counseling
- Crafted a competitor research report that looked at the top competitors and what we can do to beat them.
- Created an SEO plan to grow the client's organic visibility. This included deciding which new service pages to create and the keywords to target.
- Helped implement SEO changes that helped the client grow organic traffic by 50% in 6 months.
Senior SEO Manager
Autify Digital
- Contributed to establishing an SEO department by developing its structure and processes while mentoring and providing comprehensive training to junior SEO specialists.
- Created an SEO migration roadmap for large eCommerce sites with hundreds of thousands of pages and used the roadmap to migrate more than 30 websites from Shopify to Magento while maintaining the website's traffic and rankings.
- Implemented innovative SEO and local SEO tactics, which led to first-page ranking for the term engagement rings for a client in Ireland.
- Standardized the SEO audit process, explained how it should be done, and presented it to the client. This reduced the time we took to conduct a full audit from more than a month to only two weeks.
- Oversaw the entire SEO department, defining SEO, eCommerce SEO, and local SEO for our clients, which led to a 20% increase in leads and revenue for eCommerce clients.
- Collaborated with the design team in redesigning the category pages of a client in the jewelry niche, increasing traffic to the category and subcategory pages by 50% and 30%, respectively.
- Created real-time reporting dashboards for all clients.
SEO Manager
1o8 Agency
- Put together comprehensive SEO strategies that helped multiple brands launch their online Shopify stores.
- Developed and executed successful SEO strategies for various eCommerce clients.
- Oversaw client onboarding and put together a comprehensive onboarding questionnaire.
- Increased organic search traffic by 22% in only six months, yielding a 54% increase in revenue for a Shopify eCommerce client in the skin care niche.
- Recruited and mentored a dedicated team of four SEOs and three copywriters who helped with day-to-day SEO tasks as well as content creation for our clients.
Senior SEO Specialist
Champions
- Migrated a multinational business from one domain to another without losing rankings and traffic.
- Helped a jewelry store dominate local rankings in their city.
- Improved my clients' rankings for the targeted keywords.
Senior SEO Strategist
Loganix
- Doubled the number of organic traffic and leads for a Toronto-based immigration lawyer.
- Helped standardize the SEO audit process and saved the company time spent on various tasks.
- Developed a local SEO audit checklist for internal use.
PPC Specialist
Loganix
- Helped our clients improve conversion rates by 10-20% on average.
- Saved on costs by optimizing pay-per-click (PPC) ads to target converting terms.
- Audited their Google Ads accounts to identify wasted ad spend.
SEO Specialist
Loganix
- Increased leads from Google My Business for clients.
- Assisted local businesses in launching their websites and optimizing their pages.
- Helped multiple clients get page-one rankings for their target keywords.
Junior SEO
Powered by Search
- Improved rankings through on-page optimization and link building.
- Helped audit our client's Google My Business pages and recommended fixes to help improve local rankings.
- Increased YouTube views for our clients through YouTube SEO.
- Helped the SEO manager put together sales pitches for prospective clients.
Content Writer
Small Bussiness Online Coach
- Assisted in writing web copy and blog content for our clients.
- Led a team of five freelance writers and ensured everyone wrote optimized content.
- Helped put together content plans aimed at helping our clients dominate the search engine results pages (SERPs).
Project History
SEO Strategy for a Leading Jeweler
Developed and implemented a custom SEO strategy for a jeweler that resulted in a 71% increase in revenue.
I developed and implemented a highly successful SEO strategy for a jeweler, resulting in a 71% increase in revenue, a 31% increase in organic traffic, page one rankings for engagement rings keywords, and a 20% increase in organic visibility, all within the first quarter of working together.
Domain Migration for a Multinational Office Listing Website
Migrated the website from one domain to another without losing traffic and rankings.
The client approached us because they wanted to rebrand and move from one domain to another. I led the SEO team in putting together proper processes, ensuring a successful domain migration. We collaborated with the developers to ensure SEO best practices were followed for the new website, helping it retain its traffic and rankings after the migration.
Site Architecture Improvements for an eCommerce Client
Helped a large eCommerce client improve their site architecture, which led to a 30% increase in organic traffic.
Site architecture is key for any website. A properly optimized site architecture makes it easier for users and search engines to find pages on a website. We started by mapping out all the category pages on the website and how they were related. We quickly discovered that most of the pages were not linked and, hence, were not discoverable.
I led a team of SEOs mapping out all the pages, identified which pages should link to which pages, and created a flat site architecture that ensured all pages were linked. Once the new site architecture went live, there was an improvement in rankings and, consequently, organic traffic.
SEO Expert
Helped migrate the website from one domain to another.
I helped the business migrate its website from one domain to another without losing traffic. I led a team of developers to ensure that the website migration was smooth and with minimal downtime. I also helped put together an SEO strategy for the new website aimed at improving its rankings and growing its leads.
Education
Bachelor's Degree in Finance
Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology - Nairobi, Kenya
Certifications
Google Ads Certification
Skills
Core
Keyword Research, On-page SEO, Local SEO, SEO Audits, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Link Building, SEO Content, Writing & Editing, Digital Marketing, Digital Campaigns, Digital Advertising, SEO Marketing, SEO Keyword Research, Google SEO, Organic SEO, SEO Backlinking, Off-page SEO, WordPress SEO, Google Ads, Content Strategy, Digital Marketing Strategy, Digital Marketing Best Practices, Content Creation, Search Engine Marketing (SEM), Content Marketing, Google Tag Manager, Lead Generation, Content Marketing Strategy, SEO Tools, Marketing, Marketing Analytics, Marketing Leadership, Inbound Marketing, Backlinks, B2C Marketing, Display Advertising, Pay-per-Click (PPC), Paid Advertising, Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)
Platforms & Tools
Ahrefs, Moz, Screaming Frog, Google Analytics 4 (GA4), Google Analytics, Magento, Google Data Studio, Google My Business, Content Management Systems (CMS), Magento SEO, Looker Studio
Technical
Google Search Console
Other
Semrush, Website Audits, Project Management, Web Content, Web Architecture, Website Migration, eCommerce, Digital Strategy, Digital Project Management, Content Management, Keyword Analysis, Data Reporting, Audits, Account Management, Client Relationship Management, Competitor Analysis & Profiling, Google, Shopify SEO, Technical SEO, eCommerce SEO, eCommerce Marketing, Landing Page Optimization, International SEO, Jewelry, Luxury Industry, Dashboards, Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), WordPress, WordPress Themes, Shopify, SEO with AI, AI-based Content SEO, Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), Paid Search, B2B Lead Generation, Adobe Workfront, Reputation Management, Yahoo Ads, SEO Consultant, New Product Development, Customer Journey, Online Reputation Management
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