I’ve Been Ranking Websites Since Orkut Was Still Cool
Hi, I’m Vivek Sharma — founder of DigiMark Solutions. I started doing SEO in 2011, back when “link building” meant submitting your URL to 200 directories and hoping one of them wasn’t spam. Fifteen years, a dozen Google updates, and one global pandemic later, I’m still here — now teaching AI-era search engines who’s boss.
2011 Called. It Wants Its Directory Submission List Back.
The Directory Submission Era
I got into SEO in 2011, when ranking a website mostly meant three things: directory submissions, classified ad postings, and blog comments that said “Nice post!” with a link tucked in your name field. It worked. It genuinely worked. We didn’t have “algorithms” so much as we had spreadsheets — long, glorious spreadsheets of every free directory on the internet.
Yes, I remember Panda and Penguin arriving like uninvited relatives at a wedding. No, I don’t want to talk about it. Actually, I do — scroll down.
“I’ve optimized websites through Panda, Penguin, Hummingbird, mobile-first indexing, BERT, Core Web Vitals, Helpful Content, and now AI Overviews. At this point Google updates are basically my relationship status: it’s complicated, but I keep showing up.”
From Directory Submissions to AI Overviews
A quick, mildly sarcastic tour through every era of SEO I’ve personally survived.
Directory Submissions & Classified Ads
The golden age of “quantity over everything.” A hundred low-quality backlinks and a prayer got you to page one.
Panda & Penguin Wreck the Party
Google decided spammy links and thin content were, in fact, spammy. Half the industry panicked. I learned what “quality content” actually meant — the hard way.
Content Marketing & Mobile-First
Websites finally had to load on a phone, and content had to be written for humans, not just crawlers. Revolutionary, I know.
BERT, Voice Search & the Big Data Detour
Working across IT companies, a Big Data firm, and a maps & location-based company taught me that SEO isn’t one skill — it’s a different puzzle in every industry.
DigiMark Starts as a Side Hustle
Full-time job by day, client rankings by night. Every founder story needs a “started in the spare hours” chapter — this is mine.
COVID Changes the Plan
The world paused. My side hustle didn’t. What started as extra income turned into a full-time agency, because apparently a global pandemic is what it takes for me to bet on myself.
Helpful Content, EEAT & the Rise of AI Search
Search stopped being about tricking an algorithm and started being about actually being useful. Wild concept. DigiMark grew into full-funnel SEO, Ads, Email, and Demand Gen.
Optimizing for AI Overviews & Generative Search
Now I’m optimizing content for AI Overviews and answer engines instead of just “10 blue links.” Same instinct from 2011: understand the platform before everyone else does. Different toolkit entirely.
6–7 Companies, 1000+ Websites, 100+ Industries
Before I started signing my own paychecks, I collected experience the old-fashioned way — one job change, one industry, one very confused client meeting at a time.
Multiple IT & Software Companies
Cut my teeth optimizing service pages, technical documentation, and B2B lead funnels for software and IT solution providers.
Early-Stage Startups
Learned to do SEO with zero budget, zero patience from founders, and zero margin for “let’s wait and see.” Startups don’t wait. Neither did I.
Big Data & Analytics Company
SEO for a product nobody outside the industry understood. Turns out explaining “data pipelines” in search-friendly language is its own skill.
Maps / Location-Based Company
Local SEO, geo-targeting, and location data at scale — long before “local SEO” was a buzzword on every agency’s homepage.
1000+ Websites Across the Board
E-commerce stores, SaaS platforms, healthcare portals, legal firms, real estate listings — if it had a domain name, there’s a decent chance I’ve touched its rankings.
100+ Industries, One Obsession
Different industries, different audiences, different algorithms to appease. The one constant across every job: I never stopped being the SEO guy in the room.
DigiMark Wasn’t Born in a Boardroom. It Was Born After Office Hours.
2021: The “Just a Side Project” Phase
I started DigiMark Solutions in 2021 as a side hustle — the classic “I’ll just take a couple of clients on weekends” plan that every founder swears will stay small. It didn’t. Word travels fast when your clients’ websites actually start ranking instead of just existing.
Then COVID Happened
Then the world shut down, and somehow that’s exactly when everything opened up for DigiMark. Businesses that never cared about “being online” suddenly needed to exist online or not exist at all. My side hustle turned into a full-time agency almost by accident — or maybe it was always going to happen, and the pandemic just moved up the deadline.
Today: A Full-Funnel Marketing Agency
DigiMark Solutions now runs SEO, Google Ads, Email Marketing, Demand Generation, and Lead Generation — not as separate departments handed off between strangers, but as one connected strategy. And yes, before you ask: I still do SEO for myself. If I can’t rank my own agency, why would you trust me with yours? It’s the most honest job interview I could possibly give you.
Which Industries Actually Chase SEO the Hardest?
After 15 years and 1000+ websites, a pattern emerges. Some industries treat SEO as optional. These don’t.
Full-Funnel Marketing, Run by the Founder Who Still Does the Work
No account handoffs, no “senior strategist you’ll never meet.” You get the person who’s been doing this since 2011.
SEO Services
Technical, on-page, content, and off-page SEO — built for how search actually works in 2026, not 2011.
Explore SEO →Ads & Demand Gen
Paid search and demand generation that complement organic growth instead of competing with it.
See All Services →Email & Lead Gen
Nurture sequences and lead generation systems that turn traffic into an actual pipeline.
See All Services →Transparent Pricing
No mystery retainers. Clear plans, clear deliverables — check current SEO pricing anytime.
View Pricing →Fifteen Years Taught Me a Few Non-Negotiables
Results Over Rankings Theatre
Rank #1 for a keyword nobody searches and you’ve won nothing. I chase traffic, leads, and revenue — rankings are just the receipt.
No Recycled Strategy
What worked for a SaaS client won’t work for a real estate client. 100+ industries taught me that “one-size-fits-all SEO” is a myth agencies sell, not a strategy that works.
I Do My Own SEO
This page you’re reading? Built, written, and optimized by me. If I outsource my own visibility, why would you trust me with yours?
Let’s Rank Something That Actually Matters to Your Business.
No junior account manager, no outsourced reporting. You work directly with the founder who’s been doing this since directory submissions were a legitimate strategy.