Hi there! My name is Kevin B. Whelan, the owner of You Rank Well.
Most “About” pages are about the company and its services. Mine is about why working with me is good for you.
In this industry, trust matters more than just about anything else and you deserve to know who I am and why I’m a solid choice to design your website, take care of your SEO and run your PPC campaigns.
Please take a few minutes and get to know me a little better.
I started building and optimizing websites in the late 1990s, back when search engines had names like AltaVista, Lycos and Excite, and “SEO” wasn’t even really a term yet.
I taught myself how those original engines worked, figured out how to get sites in front of the right eyes and then carried all of that forward when a little company called Google showed up and quietly changed everything.
Learning effective SEO back then, along with designing websites, PPC management and everything else, was a lot different than watching supposed ‘gurus’ on YouTube: I learned it all by doing it, breaking things, fixing them and pushing myself to stay current.
In other words, I know what I’m doing because I’ve been doing it successfully for decades now.
And while the tools, algorithms and tactics have changed dramatically over the years, the fundamentals of helping a business get found online haven’t.
It’s knowing where search is going that’s kept me effective for this long.
Shortly after those early days online, I joined a small company in Toronto where I spent a little more than 15 years building websites, developing e-commerce stores and handling SEO for a wide range of clients.
And that was when things really began to take shape, working day in and day out with real clients with real budgets and real results on the line.
Along the way, SEO became the part of the job I genuinely enjoyed because there’s something about it that feels meaningful: You’re working with real people, helping them grow real businesses that pay real mortgages and feed real families.
That part never got old, and it still hasn’t.
And as much as I enjoyed that period, including my employer and the people I worked with, the time eventually came where I knew a change was needed.
One of the benefits of going out on your own is that you get to choose who you work with.
And, over time, I naturally gravitated toward small business owners. With them, it’s less about bells & whistles and more about the bottom line.
And by ‘bottom line’, I mean making them money.
I understand what small businesses actually need. I understand the pressure of having to make every marketing dollar count, how to attract the right viewers, convert them into qualified leads and tie all of it together with modern, topical-authority-based SEO that actually works.
Along the way, I’ve had the privilege of meeting some genuinely great business owners and building real, personal relationships that have lasted for years.
And that’s the part of the job I appreciate the most.
Watching a client’s business grow, while knowing I had a hand in it, has been extremely satisfying
It’s what makes this work feel like more than just work.
My ideal clients are business owners who take their businesses seriously.
They’re people who understand that a strong online presence isn’t a “nice-to-have” thing, but rather the engine that drives qualified leads, fills their calendars and lets them spend less time chasing work and more time doing it.
These are the clients who get the best results, because they understand that SEO, website design and PPC aren’t just expenses, they’re investments in their own success.
They trust the process, they trust the strategy and they let me do the job they hired me to do.
In return, they get a partner who’s invested in their growth just as much as they are.
If that sounds like you, we’re probably going to get along just fine.
Everything I do is built around one goal: helping you attract more of the right people and turn them into paying customers.
And that happens through three core services:
When you hire me, you’re not buying generic SEO packages: You’re getting a strategy built around your business, your service area, your ideal customer and your goals, all backed by close to three decades of experience and knowing what actually works.
You can also see real examples of my work in my SEO & PPC projects sections and what my clients have to say on my reviews page.
I’m a Toronto native, born and bred, and these days I’m based in Durham Region with my wife, my daughter, our Golden Retriever and our rather rude and bossy cat.
When I’m not busy working, I’m usually engaged in seemingly-never-ending house projects or just doing as I’m told and staying out of the way. I’d complain, but who would listen?
All kidding aside, between work and family keeping me busy, every once in a while I get to sit in my backyard with a coffee and my guitar.
It’s a good, productive life, and one I’m always grateful for.
If you’re a small to medium-sized, service-based business owner, who’s ready to seriously invest in your online presence and looking for someone who’s been doing this since dial-up, let’s talk.
Start our conversation by scheduling your free, 30-minute consultation.
I am located just on the north side of Dupont Street, at Campbell Avenue, just east of Symington and west of Lansdowne Avenue.
The Boo Radley’s and Piri Piri Grillhouse restaurants are located on the northwest and northeast corners of Campbell & Dupont.
Turn north onto Campbell Avenue and take the first right (into the driveway) and follow the business units (past Piri Piri) to the end.
I am in Unit 6A (upstairs).
Parking is free.
My Courtice location is located just east of Oshawa, near the intersection of Highway 2 and Townline Road North.
Local landmarks include a Tim Horton’s, McDonald’s and Walmart.
Take Townline Road south of Highway 2 to your first left, which will be Kingsway Gate. Take Kingsway Gate to Empire Crescent (at the stop sign).
I am at the south-east corner of that intersection.
Street parking is free.