Meet Carolyn!
Carolyn Cummings, SEO Guru
A snail mail enthusiast turned SERP marketing wizard, Carolyn Cummings manages the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) needs for our clients at Rolling Hills Media. She takes a deep dive into your website’s performance (and your competitors!) to uncover ways to increase not only the quantity, but also the quality of organic traffic to your site. Read: Getting motivated eyeballs on your beautiful content is Carolyn’s bread and butter.
In less than four months, she helped more than double the number of impressions and organic ranking keywords for one of our ecom clients, earning them more relevant traffic and kicking their competition to the curb. What gets her up in the morning? Well, coffee obviously (and her girls!)… but, helping businesses improve their online visibility by tackling the ever-changing, and often very intimidating, SERP landscape is her jam.
Outside of the office, Carolyn is a stained-glass hobbyist, an avid camper, and mother of two beautiful little girls. Originally from upstate NY, she currently resides in the suburbs of Boston and by some act of God, miraculously suffers from neither a New York nor Boston accent.
1. What Did You Study in College/What Did You Want to Be When You Grow Up?
I went to school for a cool double major program that combined business with liberal arts. My major was Business Technology Management / Communications & Media — a wordy degree that boiled down to “I have no idea what I really wanted to do with my life.”
Growing up, my dad was a consultant with IBM. I loved going to “take your child to work day” with him so I decided to start thereafter graduation and joined IBM as a Strategy & Transformation Consultant. My 1st-grade self would have been disappointed after all of the hard work I put in lobbying my entire class to vote for me as the first woman president.
2. What's Your Favorite Thing About Your Role at RHM? Least Favorite Thing?
A work/life balance where I actually really enjoy both work and life. Because of the mutual trust and admiration that we have for each other, we know that we’re going to get the job done, and we’re going to do it well. No matter what that looks like. Sometimes for me, that means working at night after the girls go to bed, or Sunday afternoon if my husband graciously offers a break from the chaos. But I love that I get to decide what my day looks like.
Least favorite? Blog writing ;)
3. Tell Us About Your Most Hilarious Fail.
I had to do a beer sampling event at the Blue Hills Pavilion in Boston at the end of my first week at Harpoon Brewery. My team set up our booth and then staff from the pavilion brought us pitchers of Harpoon IPA to sample attendees. Doors opened, people rushed to our booth, and we started the sampling. We heard a lot of “oh I love Harpoon! This is my favorite beer” from people in line as they approached. After we gave our spiel and handed them the sample, we listened eagerly for positive feedback but only heard muffled whispers like “this doesn’t taste like Harpoon.” It was strange but we didn’t think too much of it. 30-45 minutes into the sampling we finally decided to try the beer. As it turns out, we were sampling Bud Light. (Sorry Harpoon friends!)
4. What's Something You're Really Proud Of?
Seeing the steady increase in traffic trends and keyword trends for our clients. SEO doesn’t happen overnight and it’s very exciting when you start to see the fruits of your labor.
5. What's One Thing You've Picked Up or Learned During Quarantine?
Watercolor painting is a great stress reliever. Especially during potty training...
6. What’s Your Advice for Any Up and Coming, Wannabe Digital Marketers?
Imposter syndrome is real and everyone struggles with it - no matter how long you’ve been in the industry. Surround yourself with a talented team that inspires you and lifts you up every single day.
7. What’s Something I Would Never Guess About You?
I’m a 4-H grand champion showman of market lambs -- and proud of it!