About Root and Branch
Root & Branch aims to provide thoughtful, transparent, and effective digital marketing planning, training, and implementation work focused on Local SEO, On Page SEO, Google Analytics, and Google Ads.
Root & Branch aims to provide thoughtful, transparent, and effective digital marketing planning, training, and implementation work focused on Local SEO, On Page SEO, Google Analytics, and Google Ads.
My name is Zack Duncan.
I’m the Founder and President of Root and Branch. I enjoy good hiking, fresh beer, great coffee, and real conversations. I haven’t (yet!) found a way to make money by drinking beer, so it’s a good thing I also really like Local SEO, SEO Content Strategy, Paid Search (Google Ads), Google Analytics, and general marketing strategy and planning.
This is me.
Since you’re here, let me tell you a little about myself and about Root and Branch.
We all have things that make up our story in life. Here are some details from mine.
Root and Branch was born in 2016, and it became my full time job a year later. The idea with the name can basically be summed up like this: the things we do (branches) are the results of who we are and what we believe (roots). This applies in business, where the best results (branches) come from thoughtful plans that are consistent with values, mission and what customers want (roots). I think the same paradigm is also relevant in our individual lives.
Here’s a brief history of the company.
I worked alone and primarily did Google Ads work. At that time it was called Google AdWords. My first client was my aunt, who was gracious enough to let me get hands on experience in the platform by running PPC ads for her HVAC business. Gradually, I accumulated more clients and expanded service offerings to include basic SEO support as well as social media content creation. I enjoy learning new things, and it took a lot of learning to feel comfortable offering new services to clients. It was at this time that I became especially interested in Google Analytics, which is a powerful free tool that can help to measure much of the digital ecosystem.
I soon realized I could grow the business only as much as I was willing to work. And it takes a lot of time to do all the work! I hired interns and some contractors to help, but it was still a bit too much for me to handle. That eventually led to a second phase of the business.
I eventually hired a full time person, and then another person after that. That made us three full time folks, including me. That was supplemented with a number of contractors who primarily helped with SEO content creation (blog writing) and some social media support.
This was the high water mark of Root and Branch. It was a small business, but one that was steadily growing. Then Covid came calling, which changed things for us as it did for so many.
Covid changed things both for our clients but also for me personally. With daycare closed, I became the primary childcare provider in our family which didn’t leave nearly enough time – or mental capacity – for work.
My two former employees both found great new opportunities, and I got along as best I could. But without full time employees, I didn’t know a great way to scale, or even sustain, the business. Even after Covid began to settle down and businesses reopened, I found I didn’t have the desire to scale up the business.
Today, Root and Branch has one full time employee. You guessed it! It’s this guy. Root and Branch has a very small number of ongoing clients, and I am generally not looking for others* (more on that below). Instead, I spend some time teaching and also making instructional YouTube videos.
I enjoy learning, but I tend to have to work for it to wrestle it all into my brain. The videos are the result of what I’ve learned after those hard fought wrestling matches. There is content related to the following subjects below, along with links to a couple examples for each.
Root and Branch is in the YouTube Partner Program, which means we get 55% of all ad revenue. This year, all proceeds are being given to organizations and causes that make the world a better place. So thanks for being patient with any ads.
If you’re interested in any of the following, I’d love to hear from you:
If you want to read a little more first, there’s a little more info about Root and Branch below. And here are 4 recommended blogs:
If you’re interested in connecting, the best way to reach me on LinkedIn. Thanks again for coming by, and have a great rest of your day!
At this time, we’re not taking on new clients outside of limited cases. You can read about those above. But we are interested in B2B and B2C organizations that want to get more out of their digital marketing efforts.
I believe we have a track record of generating strong results, but we do not guarantee results in terms of number of leads generated or return on ad spend. I believe that these kinds of incentives can lead to short term thinking that makes it hard to focus on long-term, strategic goals. What I will always guarantee is that any work and business dealings will be ethical and transparent.
I am far from an expert in all areas of digital marketing (despite what some may claim, I’ve yet to meet someone who is skilled in web development and content strategy and graphic design and CRM set-ups and paid search management and etc, etc), but I do have a lot of hands on experience with Local SEO, On Page SEO, Google Ads, Google Analytics, and general planning and strategy.
In other words, I will be up front if I don’t think I can add value and won’t pretend to be good at something I’m not.
Percentage of the top 10,000 websites that are currently running Google Analytics. Is your organization taking advantage of this free and powerful platform?
Today could be a great day to start getting more out of GA.
The median value that consumers assign to Online Search, based on how much they say they’d need to be paid to give it up for one year. R&B focuses on Search for B2B and B2C companies because it’s where audiences are most engaged across all levels of the marketing funnel.
Of all searchers have not made up their mind about which brand to purchase at the time that they begin their online search. Having helpful, relevant, and engaging content to help these people can build brand equity, inspire trust, and drive valuable organic traffic. Good SEO is not possible with good content.
Percentage of people who don’t look past the first page of Google search results. Our SEO approach is designed to target valuable, high-intent keywords and drive them to prime real estate on page 1.