Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
SEO — search engine optimization — is what connects your business to people actively looking for what you offer. If you're new to it or not sure how it works anymore, you're in the right place.
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Did you rank on page one, and still see a drop in web traffic?
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Are you paying for SEO that was designed for how search worked five years ago?
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Why are your competitors showing up in snippets and AI results — and you're not?
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Does ranking actually matter anymore?
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Bottom line: Is your SEO strategy built for search as it exists today?
What is SEO?
SEO isn't a trick. It's the long game.
When someone searches "plumber near me" or "Kennewick accountant," SEO is what determines which businesses show up — and where. It's not luck. It's structure, content, and credibility signals working together.
SEO compounds over time.
Unlike ads that stop when you stop spending, every SEO improvement you make keeps working.
SEO builds trust.
People trust organic results more than ads — consistently, across every study on the subject.
SEO takes patience.
There's no shortcut. But the businesses that start early pull ahead and tend to stay there.
Google’s first page has more moving parts now: AI summaries, map packs, snippets, ads, and traditional results. That gives your business more ways to show up — but only if your content is clear, useful, and structured for how people search today.
Why Invest in Search Engine Optimization?
Search has changed. Being findable still matters.
People aren’t only clicking blue links anymore. They’re scanning Google results, reading AI summaries, checking map listings, comparing reviews, and asking tools like ChatGPT for recommendations. Strong SEO helps your business show up across that whole search journey — not just in traditional rankings.
of Google searches end without a click to any website — which is why showing up in the map pack, snippets, and AI summaries matters as much as your ranking
of all clicks on Google go to organic results — not paid ads. SEO is how you earn your share of that traffic without paying for every click
years helping Tri-Cities businesses build lasting search visibility — through every algorithm update and search trend change since 2012
What Makes Good SEO?
Good SEO isn't one thing. It's a combination of signals working together.
Here's what we look at and what each piece actually does for your visibility.
Technical SEO The foundation everything is built on.
Site speed, mobile usability, proper indexing, and clean structure determine whether Google can read your site at all — before ranking ever enters the picture.
Keyword Research Finding the terms that actually bring customers in.
The terms people use when they're ready to hire are different from the ones they use when they're browsing. We build around the former — and for local businesses, that often means phrases larger competitors overlook.
On-Page Content Structured so search and AI engines know what to do with it.
Headings, meta descriptions, image tags, internal links — these signals tell Google what each page is about. Get them right and you're also in the running for featured snippets and People Also Ask placement.
Google Business Profile Often the first thing a customer sees.
Most potential customers see your GBP before they ever reach your website. A fully optimized, actively maintained profile is one of the single highest-impact things a local business can do for search visibility.
Reviews A ranking signal, not just social proof.
Google uses review volume, recency, and rating as local ranking factors. Businesses at the top of local results almost always have a steady, consistent stream of new reviews — not just a lot of old ones.
Citations & Directories Your business info, consistent everywhere.
Your name, address, and phone number need to match everywhere online. Inconsistencies — even small ones — send mixed signals to search engines and can quietly suppress your local rankings.
Local SEO Agency
We've been doing this long enough to know what actually works — and what's just noise.
SEO has a lot of opinions attached to it. We've been at this since 2012 — through every major algorithm shift and technology change — and our approach is built on what consistently delivers for local businesses over the long term.
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Real SEO assessment before recommendations
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Website structure, schema, internal links, and content built with search in mind
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Local SEO strategy based on your market, competitors, and service area
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Clear explanations without jargon, scare tactics, or mystery reports
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SEO work tied to search and AI visibility, leads, and long-term business growth
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A marketing partner who looks at the full picture, not just rankings
Years serving Eastern Washington businesses — through every algorithm update, platform shift, and search trend change
5-star reviews from real local clients who hired us, worked with us, and came back
Websites built with a solid SEO foundation.
SEO Strategy & Consultation
Five minutes on the phone beats months of guessing.
Most business owners we talk to have questions — what they actually need, what's worth prioritizing, what a realistic path looks like. We'll walk through it with you.
125+ 5-Star Reviews
When you do great work, people notice.
Cougar Digital provides excellent follow through on all our projects. We trust them with developing solutions for our email marketing campaigns, graphic design, and collateral creation. Their designs are used by our partners nationally. We count on them for specific website support work and they always come through for us. They are solution oriented and their upbeat, friendly customer service is unparalleled.
Josh did a great job making a couple of highlight videos for me. Easy to work with and prompt service
Cougar Digital has been so incredible to work with! They are always able to turn our words and ideas into a beautiful finished product quickly. The staff is responsive and professional and we love working with Josh. He is a true artist and always delivers a stunning product. Thank you Cougar!
We have nothing but great things to say about Cougar Digital Marketing! Travis took the time to understand our goals, worked around our schedule, and went above and beyond to make our vision come to life. Ashley was a whiz and was always available when we needed her. Our site turned out better than we imagined. Can't recommend them enough.
Josh Kandle and his team did a great job educating us about the importance of up-to-date digital tools, and how quickly out-of-date solutions can hinder our on-line reach. The solutions he offered were more than fairly priced, paid immediate dividends, and I am happy to refer him to any business in need of a productive digital marketing program.
Ordered new business cards and was extremely pleased with the speed and service! Definitely recommend for your next marketing push!
Cougar Digital Marketing & Design assisted us in developing a logo for our apple fruit development project. Their creativity, knowledge, guidance, and patience through the process was remarkable. We are very happy with the resulting concept and image. We highly recommend Josh and Travis at CDMD for your media marketing needs.
Josh created a style guide for us to help with consistency throughout our agency. He did a great job creating the guide with little information. He did a great job explaining everything to us. He went above and beyond troubleshooting a zip file issue. Our services with Josh Kandle were 5-star service! He was kind, patient, thoughtful with his work and helpful with creativity in our style guide as well and assisting with technical difficulties. Thanks again Josh!
Josh produced an outstanding web site for TRI-CITY MUSIC. He ad access to numerous resources that made for an amazing finished product. Josh also provided extensive training on how to update the website myself. I have received numerous positive comments on Josh's creation. For outstanding product and service, I recommend Josh.
Josh did a great job on my headshot. He provided a timely appointment and spent the time to make sure he got the best shot. He was even willing to try several different locations. I would recommend him for anybody looking to update the professional photos.
Cougar Digital took my website to a whole new level! They are very professional and knowledgeable and did excellent work. They also filmed a few videos for me that turned out amazingly well! They were very responsive to what I wanted and envisioned and were extremely patient with me. I would highly recommend them to anyone!
Cougar Digital answered the phone, literally. During a company name change, we reached out to multiple design and marketing groups from the Tri-Cities to Walla Walla to Spokane. Although we'd left messages with each vendor, Cougar was the only one courteous enough to respond. After a couple consultations, Joshua Kandle, Director of Marketing took charge of the design of our new company logo. With patience and professionalism, he listened to our concepts and following a series of modifications, he created a logo that is printed on millions of labels and boxes that're shipped globally. The logo is headlined on our website and our email, along with being printed on our work garments. Digital art might be easy with today's technology, but without Joshua's patient nature and ability to listen to our ideas, the incredible logo wouldn't have been possible. Vehemently I recommend Cougar Digital. They're professional yet personable. They're communicative and driven while remaining patient.
Cougar digital marketing is a fantastic company for your online marketing needs I had couple estimates on building my website cougar digital was one of the highest but their knowledge and responsive put them apart from other marketing companies which is why chose them best dollars I've spent for my business is here
Thank you Josh for your patience and expertise in helping us design our logo! Matt and I are really happy with the end result.
I really love the team approach with Travis and the group, they are very professional, organized, and skilled at what they do. I wish I had employed them for my website and advertising years ago. I regret spending so much money trying to do it on my own or with cheap services that took my money and did nothing. I feel like they are MY team, and I feel I'm not alone trying to achieve my business goals to get my services out to the public.
Working with the Cougar Digital Marketing team was an absolute delight. Truly good people who are VERY skilled at what they do. Running a large regional food company, it's a blessing to work with an experienced digital team here locally, and not have to seek services in the Seattle or Portland market. I highly recommend working with Cougar Digital!
Service is the difference!! Ashley is super sharp and ahead of the curve but the real value is access and responsiveness. Other providers I have had were great until they got paid then very slow to respond to updates and changes I needed. Ashley is lighting in a bottle and handles updates and changes with urgency as well as keeps us informed of new emerging opportunities to consider. Highly reccomend. It would be a Mistake not to give her a meeting before deciding who to partner with.
Cougar Digital did a great job arranging literature and building a website for us. Travis was very easy to work with, and the finished marketing material looks great. Thanks Cougs!
Always a pleasure to work with the Cougar Digital Marketing & Design team! They excel in creativity, effectiveness and efficiency.
Cougar Digital and team is very responsive, knowledgeable, and capable and has done a great job in building and maintaining our business web site, and providing needed graphic design for our needs. Highly recommend them to anyone wanting expert work and assistance in these aspects of their business.
Sonar Insights had the pleasure of partnering with Cougar Digital Marketing & Design, LLC on two separate occasions - a video campaign for the Benton Franklin Census 2020 and a video for a client. It was a big undertaking to take the script sand creatively execute on them. Josh Kandle and his team did a masterful job at realizing the vision for the projects with a fantastic end product. Could not be more pleased!
Excellent service. Creative work. They understand what you are trying to do and deliver! So enjoyable to work with them!
Cougar Digital worked closely with us to create a website for our business that truly reflects our vision. They dedicated time and effort to ensure every detail aligned with our goals, and the end result exceeded our expectations. We’re extremely happy with the final product and appreciate their commitment to quality.
We’ve had the pleasure of working with Cougar Digital Marketing on both of our company websites—Ellison Earthworks and EE Traffic Management—and we couldn’t be happier with the results. From the very first meeting, their team was attentive, creative, and incredibly easy to work with. They took the time to understand not just our services, but our brand values and voice, and they translated that into two beautiful, functional, and user-friendly websites. Their communication was consistent and clear throughout the process, and every step felt collaborative. They made what could’ve been a stressful experience feel seamless and even fun. The final products truly reflect the heart of our companies and the industries we serve. We highly recommend Cougar Digital to any business looking to elevate their online presence. Thank you for bringing our vision to life so perfectly!
Cougar Digital is a top notch company. As a business owner you have to be sure that the dollars you are spending are worth the result. All too often we are promised things that never materialize. These guys deliver and they make it easy. I am not computer savvy and I'm sure asked dumb questions. They took all the time necessary to help make sure I understood and was comfortable. Great people too. Highly recommend.
Ashley redid our website. She was professional, quick, and listened to all of our requests. Thank you!
Travis, Josh and everyone at Cougar Digital have been super to work with. They have become a partner in our business. Our web design and online media presence has greatly improved by implementing their recommendations. They go the extra mile.
Greatly appreciate the work that Josh and the Cougar Digital Marketing team did for our organization. We had a vague vision and they were able to make it better than we could have imagined. Appreciate their flexibility to work with us on a short turnaround and their suggestions for making the best video possible.
Fantastic service! Cougar Digital gave me very professional one-to-one couching! This is making a significant impact on my projects!
Working with Cougar Digital to launch a campaign for kids to support the Prosser Boys & Girls Club. I was impressed with their creativity, professionalism, and attention to detail. They helped us to achieve incredible results and bring our ideas to life!
We had a short timetable and a limited budget. The end result was great. Working with the Cougar Digital team made the project very enjoyable.
Awesome experience working with Josh on a 25th anniversary video of my wedding photos set to music. Couldn’t be happier with the finished product. Thank you Cougar Digital and Josh!
Travis and his team are amazing. They were quick to communicate, completely understood what we were looking for, and delivered an amazing product by the deadline requested. We can’t recommend them enough!
The Review Manager service from Cougar Digital Marketing & Design is terrific! I have wanted to get reviews for years but felt awkward about asking. This service makes it easy, and the response has been phenomenal! 5 Stars and more!!
We hired these guys to handle some commercial photos for both exterior and aerial shots. Josh and team were excellent to work with and made things easy while adapting to changing schedules and weather. The photos turned out amazing in the end. Highly recommend.
Cougar Digital went above and beyond to ensure our complete and total satisfaction with creating and launching our new website which can be a challenging process when multiple opinions are involved. Josh in particular was very attentive, patient and helpful throughout the creative process and also with recommendations for SEO and innovative solutions for soliciting reviews and feedback from customers to boost online reviews. He also facilitated communication with our existing IT support to smoothly transition our domain and emails. I highly recommend the expertise of Cougar Digital for help with all things digital. If they don't offer a solution themselves, they will help you find one!
We highly recommend Cougar Digital Marketing for their exceptional marketing services. We used them initially to build our new website for our commercial and residential General Contracting company, and we signed on with them for future partnership hours. We have been pleased with the seamless results Travis's company has provided us. The team's collaboration and communication with the website designer, Ashlie, the marketing guru, Josh, and the photographer, Mykayla, were ALL GREAT. Having these marketing resources under one roof has made our transition from our last website company, much easier than expected. Their prompt availability and amazing support made the entire experience enjoyable. We are extremely satisfied with the results and grateful for their partnership and guidance!
I would highly recommend Cougar Digital Media! They worked with us on creating the exact vision we had for our website, they worked around our schedule to make sure the website matched our vision. Working with Nick went as smoothly as it could go, he went above and beyond with his creativity!
Travis Hartliep and his crew are amazing! I worked with Josh on designing a book cover and he was great... was willing to work through numerous changes and updates, suggested helpful things to push the project along, and was very patient and courteous. We came in on budget and on time for the project and the end result was fantastic. I highly recommend Cougar Digital for any and all of your design and marketing needs.
Cougar digital has been an awesome! Basin Pacific Insurance could not be more happy about the work that they have done, the personal experience, and the creative ideas! Keep up the good work! Josh Toner/ Basin Pacific Insurance
These guys are great! It's always an interesting scenario when you begin a relationship with a new company. I will say that from experience Cougar Digital is one of the easiest and highly educated companies to work with. If you have a question a quick email or call gets an answer. If you have an idea these guys will without a doubt help to the best of their ability. I'm no expert in the marketing world but Cougar Digital makes me feel like I have everything I would ever need at my fingertips. Thanks a ton guys, we look forward to our continued partnership!
Cougar Digital took the time to get to know our firm and our marketing goals before shooting any video. This made the video production process smooth and efficient. A short time after the shoot, their rough draft clips turned out to be nearly perfect final drafts, requiring very little input from us. They have an impressive creative and production team who strikes the right balance between respecting the time of their customers and getting the customer exactly what they want.
Working with Josh at Cougar Digital Marketing & Design was an excellent experience! The process was incredibly collaborative, allowing us to bring our vision for the Pasco School District Career Guide to life. Josh listened to our ideas, provided valuable insights, and worked tirelessly to ensure the final product exceeded our expectations. We are thrilled with the outcome and can't wait to share our new Career Guide with our students and families. Highly recommend Cougar Digital for any design and marketing needs!
Thank you Cougar Digital. Over the past couple of years we have worked with Cougar Digital for rebranding, website updates, new logo, updating our business card and promotional material. They also produced an amazing testimonial video - so much fun working with Josh and his team to create this. I can’t begin to express how happy we are with the work Cougar Digitial has completed for us over the years. They are professional, punctual, very creative and so easy to work with. Looking forward to our partnership for years to come. I would highly recommend Cougar Digitial. Our team at New Leaf Creations is thankful for all of your amazing work and looking forward to working with Cougar Digital in the future.
We had such a good experience working with Cougar Digital Marketing for building our website. They did an awesome job and worked around our crazy schedule so well for meetings/photo shoots/etc. Would highly recommend for any website/marketing needs.
Very grateful for Cougar Digital's marketing work for my medical practice. They really helped increase my online presence and improve my ratings online. I have referred my colleagues to Cougar.
Every business, large or especially small, should have professional help on marketing. As a small business owner, I only have so much time. I need to keep my focus on the daily tasks and still be able to be a family man. Cougar Digital takes this immense pressure off my shoulders. Not only does my business grow, it's easier. Highly recommend.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) FAQS
Questions we hear a lot about search visibility.
If you’re thinking it, there’s a good chance someone else asked it too.
What is SEO and how does it work?
SEO — search engine optimization — is the process of making your website easier for search engines to find, understand, and recommend. When someone searches for a product or service you offer, SEO is what determines whether your business shows up in the results. It involves a combination of technical factors (how your site is built), content factors (what your pages say and how they're structured), and authority signals (reviews, links, and how your business appears across the web). Done well, it brings a steady stream of people to your website who are actively looking for what you do — without you paying for every click.
How long does SEO take to work?
Most businesses start seeing meaningful movement in three to six months, with more significant results building from there. SEO compounds over time — the work you do in month one keeps paying off in month twelve. The timeline depends on your starting point, how competitive your market is, and how consistently the work gets done. It's not instant, but it's also not a gamble. Businesses that invest in it consistently tend to pull ahead of competitors who don't — and stay there.
What's the difference between SEO and paid advertising?
Paid ads put you at the top of search results immediately — but only as long as you're paying. The moment the budget stops, the visibility stops. SEO builds organic visibility that doesn't disappear when you stop spending. The tradeoff is time: ads work right away, SEO takes months to gain traction. For most local businesses, the strongest approach uses both — ads for immediate visibility while SEO builds in the background.
Do I need SEO if I'm already running Google Ads?
Yes — and here's why. About 94% of clicks on Google go to organic results, not paid ads. A lot of people skip ads entirely, especially for local service searches where they're looking for someone they can trust. SEO also tends to generate higher-quality leads over time, because people clicking organic results are often further along in their decision-making. Ads and SEO aren't either/or — they cover different parts of how people search and decide.
How do AI Overviews affect my SEO?
Google's AI Overviews — the AI-generated summaries that appear at the top of many search results — are changing how people interact with search. When an AI Overview is present, users often get their answer without clicking any result at all. That doesn't make SEO irrelevant. It makes the kind of SEO you do more important. Websites that are well-structured, clearly written, and recognized as authoritative sources are the ones Google pulls from when generating those summaries. In other words, the businesses showing up in AI Overviews are there because their SEO foundation is strong — not in spite of it.
If you want to go deeper on how we optimize specifically for AI-powered search, we cover that on our AI SEO page.
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