Chris Nichols

• Work closely with business leaders, building comprehensive organic strategies across Kelley Blue Book, Autotrader, and Dealer.com platforms.
• Developed automated tooling, saving $300k annually.
• Collaborate with engineering stakeholders, ensuring SEO best practices are followed in development cycle.
• Assist SEM teams aligning paid and organic strategies to achieve business objectives.
• Translate business objectives to department and individual performance goals.
• Evaluated process saving over 600 man-hours annually.
• Developed high-performing teams by providing mentorship, guidance, and opportunities for professional growth.

• Manage a multi-layered team of SEO and Product Copy strategists focused on increasing organic traffic, rankings, and value
• Successfully negotiated with vendors for tooling, saving company over $200k annually while reducing need for engineering resources
• Deployed tactics to increase year-over-year organic visits to Kelley Blue Book listings business by 48%
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to research and deploy best practices around emerging technologies (Artificial Intelligence).

• Direct and execute organic audience acquisition efforts for KBB.com.

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams in an agile environment negotiating and prioritizing work.

• Participated in discovery meetings for new products and revenue growth opportunities.

• Successfully built framework and strategy for a new site section driving an additional ~800k monthly organic visits.

• Prepare and present competitive analysis documentation for executive leadership.

• Build out yearly SEO roadmaps/initiatives that align with departmental and company goals.

• Lead, coach, and develop a team of 15-17 SEO Analysts and Strategists assisting in their individual professional growth
• Collaborated with department stakeholders to build an SOW that resulted in a $10M yearly spend for a major account
• Develop an internal SEO Certifications exam to identify departmental knowledge gaps
• Assist in sales pitches, as needed, showing the value of service and generating over $25k additional monthly recurring revenue (MRR) for the department
• Act as a primary stakeholder with various internal teams
• Helping define SEO reporting, web tools, and platform architecture
• Predict industry trends to create long-term department vision and service evolution aligned with the company’s overall goals.

• Create, implement, and maintain SEO strategies for strategic partners, major account groups, and premium clients that align with specific business goals - maximizing KPI results
• Present quarterly business reviews with strategic partners, speaking to wins, pain points, and current opportunities within their market
• Perform site audits and opportunity analysis for sales teams – bringing additional revenue to the company
• Lead weekly troubleshooting meetings helping others grow the knowledge base around SEO techniques and tactics
• Communicate, written and verbally, with clients as well as internal personnel regarding industry changes/news
• Actively contribute to the company blog and client-facing newsletter
• Continually review Dealer.com’s platform and the impact on SEO at all levels of the organization
• Assist newer SEO Analysts with difficult client calls and in-person meetings
• Develop new processes helping other teams with client issues as they relate to SEO.

• Co-managed a department that oversaw the day-to-day activities for the following official eCommerce stores: General Mills, Pepsi, Izze, Star Trek, The Nature Conservancy, The ASPCA, Dilbert, WNET, and WXPN
• Saved a new product release project from losing $65,000 to gaining $40,000 in profits using quantitative analysis and negotiation tactics with suppliers
• Created marketing calendars, sales campaigns, banner ads, and email blasts to drive site traffic, increasing sales
• Led multiple web-based projects from concept to completion in coordination with clients and in-house web developers
• Created and monitored social media campaigns
• Utilized KPIs to determine site performance and user data to increase site conversion rates
• Analyzed store inventory levels, performance, GM%, GMROI, and sell-through rates
• Collaborated with clients and internal teams on new products while maintaining strict licensing guidelines and business goals to protect the client’s brand image
• Implemented SEO strategies maximizing organic product visibility.

• Consistently communicated with clients such as Discovery Education, California Newsreel, and Cares Kids Fly Safe
• Handled inbound calls and explained different product solutions to customers
• Monitored multiple Email accounts on behalf of educational and wholesale clients and responded with sales quotes and product information
• Maintained wholesale customer relationships while operating within contractual agreements.

• Responsible for managing the dealership's parts inventory and ensuring that the right parts are in stock at all times to meet the needs of the service department and customers
• Develop and implement sales strategies to increase parts sales to the dealership's service department and retail customers
• Ensuring that the parts department provides excellent customer service, including answering customer inquiries, resolving customer complaints, and providing support to the service and sales departments as needed
• Ensure that the parts department is operating efficiently and effectively to meet the dealership's and its customers' needs.