One person. Five disciplines. No account manager.
Ken Fortney, Local SEO Consultant for Local Service Businesses
I'm Ken Fortney, founder of That Local Pack — a one-person local SEO practice based in Reno, Nevada, working with owner-operated service businesses across the continental United States. Storytelling, content, SEO, answer-engine optimization, and marketing operations are five departments at an agency. Here they're one person, and that person is on your calls.
Ken Fortney
Ken Fortney is a local SEO consultant and the founder of That Local Pack, a U.S.-based local search agency headquartered in Reno, Nevada. He works with owner-operated local service businesses across every trade, with particular depth in the cleaning sector — home cleaning, window and gutter cleaning, pressure washing, and mobile detailing — on Google Business Profile management, local citations, website builds, and content built to be cited by both search engines and AI answer engines. He holds an MBA, an M.S. in Marketing and Public Relations, and a B.A. in History, and served in the United States Marine Corps.
What does it mean to be a local SEO consultant?
Finding your local business online - whether it be your Google Business Profile on Maps or your website homepage landing at the top of a Google search - doesn't come without knowledge and backend work.
From knowing the words your customers type into their smartphones to find you to crafting blogs and profile descriptions, these all require deep knowledge for how Google ranks you and your competitors' online presences.
Local SEO means you land right at the top of a Google search without putting any paid advertising dollars behind it. Though it may sound impossible, it really isn't. And I show you how for your local service business.
One person, five disciplines
At a $2,000-a-month agency your account touches five people: an account manager who takes your calls, a strategist who writes the plan, a writer who has never seen your city, a junior who executes, and someone downstream filling gaps. The senior person who sold you is not the person doing the work. Here, storytelling, content, SEO, answer-engine optimization, and marketing operations are one person, and that person is on your calls. I don't hand your account off. If I bring in help, they work on my systems and I review everything that ships.
Veteran-Owned & Operated
My disciplined approach and keen attention to detail stem from my service days with the United States Marine Corps. Here, I learned the art of data collection, reporting, and most importantly, commitment.
Professional Journey
Oct 2023 – Present
Founder & CEO
That Local Pack
I founded That Local Pack while still at GoSite, growing directly out of the local service work I was doing there. I run every function myself: site builds, technical SEO, content, Google Business Profile and citations, conversion work, and the monthly reporting that goes to a non-technical owner.
Sep 2022 – Jul 2024
Senior Content Marketing Manager
GoSite
I ran content and SEO strategy at GoSite, a software company serving local service businesses. I inherited an organic traffic collapse of roughly 90% caused by a CMS migration that predated me. I led the technical remediation, then the content overhaul, then conversion work with RevOps. Overall site traffic finished 450% above the company previous best. Blog traffic rose 380%, with over four minutes average time on page. Marketing qualified leads grew 1,200% in six months. Cost per lead dropped 80% after I revived an abandoned Meta channel. After a five-person staff reduction I was running nearly all content and about half of all marketing solo.
2019 – 2021
Content Marketing & SEO Consultant
High-volume freelance content and SEO work for SaaS, service, and agency clients — 5,000 to 10,000 words a week at peak. Years of doing it by hand is why I can now tell at a glance what AI got wrong.
2013 – 2018
Local Business Owner & Local Marketing Consultant
Ken has owned and operated everything from a local lawn care business to a local direct mail agency and everything in between. He also guided new franchisees to secure funding and plan for successful launches in their local service areas.
Prior to 2013
United States Marine Corps
Ken is a proud Marine Corps veteran. He was honorably discharged after serving in Haiti, Djibouti, Afghanistan, and an MEU aboard the USS Nassau.
What I Do
01
Local SEO for Service Businesses
I handle your local service business's Google Business Profile, citations and NAP consistency, on-page work, and monthly reporting across Search Console, GBP, Bing Webmaster Tools, and GA4 — explained to you, not dumped on you. I work with local service businesses across every trade, with particular depth in cleaning — home cleaning, window and gutter cleaning, pressure washing, and mobile detailing. Delivered work also spans septic, pool service, painting, junk hauling, overhead doors, bookkeeping, and photography.
02
Google Business Profile Recovery
A suspended profile takes you off Maps overnight, usually with no useful explanation. I have recovered suspended and unverified profiles for septic, exterior cleaning, painting, hauling, bookkeeping, and photography businesses, including one reinstated after Google had already denied the appeal. Many were back inside 48 hours, some within 1 week, and my most difficult reinstatement cases within 6 weeks. I don't route this to a queue. If your profile is down, you are talking directly to the person doing the work — and I have done it enough times to know what Google is actually looking for.
03
Content Built to Be Cited
Pages and articles built to rank in Google and to be cited by AI answer engines. I do not sell page volume. A client of mine lost roughly 40% of their organic traffic to a 2026 core update that caught a thin one-page-per-city tactic I inherited and carried too long. Remediation is in progress and I will not quote a recovery number until Search Console shows me one. That is the reason I price content the way I do. What you are buying isn't cheap SEO that is expensive on a delay.
03
AI Search Visibility (AEO)
Customers are increasingly asking ChatGPT, Perplexity, Copilot, and Gemini for a recommendation instead of scrolling Maps. I build for that and I measure it — Bing AI citation tracking, a GA4 channel for AI referral traffic, and weekly spot-checks across four engines. I will also tell you honestly that roughly 80% of AI-driven visits are unattributable today. Anyone promising you clean AI-search ROI is guessing.
Ken Fortney
Organic Marketing & SEO Expert
Phone: (775) 525-4280
Email: ken@thatlocalpack.com
Location: Reno, Nevada — working across the continental U.S.
About Me
With over a decade of experience in organic marketing and local SEO, I have helped numerous businesses enhance their online presence and achieve their marketing goals.
Skills & Expertise
Local SEO
Organic Marketing
SaaS SEO
Influencer Marketing
Content Marketing
Marketing Strategy
Work Experience
Oct 2023 - Present
Founder, Freelancer, Consultant
That Local Pack
- Optimizing website exposure through effective SEO strategies.
- Developing engaging content for articles, blogs, and company websites for SaaS and e-commerce brands.
- Providing agency-level SEO to local service businesses in the United States.
- Analyzing high-level marketing data to review performance and set reasonable quarterly sales and marketing goals and KPIs.
Sep 2022 - Jul 2024
Senior Content Marketing Manager
GoSite
- Overseeing all content efforts supporting sales, customer success, lead generation and marketing.
- Grew overall site traffic 450% above its previous company best, and blog traffic 380%, through technical SEO remediation, a full content overhaul, and keyword strategy.
- Achieved a 1200% increase in MQL growth in under 6 months through on-page conversion techniques, trials and testing.
- Cut cost per lead by 80% by reviving an abandoned Meta advertising channel.
- Leveraging generative AI to streamline content creation for a lean marketing team.
2022
Marketing Director
Cipio.ai
- Worked with executive leadership to set go-to-market (GTM) and branding strategies.
- Set demand lead generation and marketing goals, tracking performance through various analytics tools.
- Launched and managed a purely organic marketing strategy that included content marketing, social media marketing, SEO and influencer marketing campaigns.
2019 - 2022
Content Marketing Writer
GRIN
- Wrote two to five SEO-oriented articles per week, plus playbooks, whitepapers, and landing pages supporting demand generation.
- Researched industry trends and crafted content to support broader marketing strategies.
- Partnered with clients to co-write white papers and "how-to" courses on scaling influencer marketing programs for e-commerce brands.
2015 - 2018
Business Development Manager
Premier Access Consulting
- Collaborated with founders on sales efforts and processes, including lead generation and manual routing systems.
- Generated and managed referral partners through networking, prospecting and trade show events.
- Led website content and SEO strategies to increase organic lead generation and online brand recognition.
education
Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from Webster University, graduated 2014
Masters in Marketing & Public Relations (MS) from Liberty University, graduated 2017
Graduate Certificate in Project Management 360 from eCornell, graduated 2019
Graduate Certificate in Digital Marketing from eCornell, graduated 2019