Michael Hayes – SEO Professional in NYC

Michael Hayes is an SEO Professional in NYC with over a decade of experience driving organic search growth for leading B2B, SaaS, and content-driven websites. He specializes in technical SEO, semantic SEO, and data-driven content strategy, combining a strong command of web development, analytics, and automation to deliver scalable SEO results.

Michael Hayes SEO Professional in NYC

Experience

Senior Manager, SEO
Xometry (NASDAQ: XMTR)

2021-2025

Grew Xometry.com organic traffic from est. ~52k/m to est. ~600k/m (traffic estimates via Ahrefs), a +1000% increase. Scaled content workstreams, content briefs, semantic SEO, on-page content optimization, and technical SEO improvements.

Award Winner: “Xomer of the Year” (2021)

Platform SEO Lead
Thomas Publishing

2018-2021 (Acquired)

Managed team of up to 2 direct reports, multiple freelancers. Cross collaboration with engineering teams, marketing, and others. Grew organic SEO traffic from ~150k/m to ~700k/m (estimates via Ahrefs).

Award Winner – “Thomas Innovation Competition”

Founder
Darby Hayes Consulting

2016-Present

Founder and SEO strategist at my own digital consultancy, specializing in building and scaling web properties. Develop and execute data-driven SEO strategies for local and national brands, lead comprehensive site audits for businesses of all sizes, and create high-performing content and technical ecosystems that drive organic growth. Multiple millions in revenue generated for ourselves and our partners.

President
[Stealth / NDA]

2021-2023 (Acquired)

Established and drove SEO strategy for content-based web property to be a leader in it’s niche. Scaled traffic from ~0 to ~300k sessions per month. Leveraged multilingual content, semantic SEO, tactical and strategic content marketing to grow property to a $1M+ valuation. This growth led to acquisition in Oct 2023.

My Results

A few examples of results from implementing my SEO strategies:

Recommendations and Testimonials

Below are kind words shared by my colleagues, clients, and partners:

Cathy Ma - VP of Audience and Content at the Association of Manufacturing Technologies

Michael played a key role in transforming Thomas’ digital strategy, helping to formulate and execute critical SEO and data-driven initiatives that fueled growth. His ability to turn data into actionable business strategies was instrumental in scaling our online presence and customer acquisition efforts. His tenacity, problem-solving mindset, and commitment to excellence made a lasting impact on our team. Any organization would be lucky to have him.

Cathy Ma, VP of Content and Audience @ The Association For Manufacturing Technology (AMT)

Brendan O'Connell - Senior Manager, SEO at The New York Post

I highly recommend Michael for any SEO and digital marketing work. … I was consistently impressed by his work ethic, professionalism, and how well he understands digital marketing. He’s clearly an SEO expert and he has a great data-driven approach with a solid technical background.

Beyond his skills, Michael was a always a pleasure to work with. He’s dedicated, focused on results, and always goes the extra mile. If you’re looking for a true SEO pro who can deliver real results, I absolutely recommend Michael.

Brendan O’Connell, Senior Technical Lead, Audience Optimization and AI Solutions @ The New York Post

Koray Tuğberk GÜBÜR

Michael is one of the most successful, well organized, critical-minded and creative SEOs I have ever met with. He is a core member of our journey and community. I am sure he will exceed any algorithm’s quality threshold easily.

If you are looking looking to collaborate with talented and trustworthy people, and I can’t think of anyone better than Michael.

Koray Tuğberk GÜBÜR, Founder @ Holistic SEO

Felecia Stratton - Editor, Inbound Logistics

I strongly recommend Michael Hayes for his exceptional SEO work for and contributions to Inbound Logistics Magazine. His strategic analysis, implementation and training led to a significant, sustained increase in our organic search traffic, fundamentally changing how our editorial content ranked. Michael is a true SEO expert who delivers tangible results.

Felecia Stratton, Editor @ Inbound Logistics

Keith Biondo, Publisher, Inbound Logistics

Michael’s expertise has been invaluable as Inbound Logistics navigates this ‘search with zero clicks’ environment. His guidance on projects ranging from SEO to GEO initiatives has been instrumental in driving our online and network growth curve. Michael worked with our entire staff at all levels, not just to solve challenges and drive change, but to share his vast technical knowledge that helped drive our strategic plans.

Keith Biondo, Publisher @ Inbound Logistics

Megan Conniff - Director of Content at Xometry

I had the pleasure of working with Mike for three years on SEO content, and he quickly became someone I trusted and learned a great deal from. His deep SEO knowledge and collaborative approach made a huge impact on our content workflows, and he was always quick to offer support when our teams needed it. We also partnered on a major CMS migration, where Mike’s steady leadership and calm problem-solving kept everything on track.

Megan Conniff, Director of Content @ Xometry

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