23 Years of SEO.
Built From the Ground Up.
KeyStar Agency is a full-service digital marketing and SEO firm headquartered in Chandler, Arizona. We started in the early days of the internet, survived every algorithm shift since, and have worked with businesses from solo practitioners to publicly traded enterprises. This is the story of how we got here — and who does the work.
Who We Are
KeyStar Agency is the culmination of four marketing agencies brought together under one roof in Chandler, Arizona. We’re a team of senior SEO strategists, technical specialists, content writers, and paid search experts who have spent their careers doing one thing: helping businesses grow through organic and paid search.
We are not a growth-at-any-cost agency. We don’t offshore work, use AI content generators at scale, or put junior account managers on senior client accounts. Every campaign at KeyStar is run by experienced practitioners who understand your industry, your competitive landscape, and the specific algorithmic signals that move your rankings.
We work with businesses ranging from solo law practitioners and independent dentists to regional franchise groups and publicly traded enterprises. What they have in common is that they need search to work — actually work, measured in revenue and cases and patients and leads — not just in impressions and traffic charts.
Our Story
KeyStar’s roots go back to the mid-1990s, when our founder began in e-commerce as an eBay PowerSeller — running over 100,000 live auctions simultaneously from Minnesota. That experience in high-volume B2C sales, customer service, and conversion optimisation became the foundation of everything that followed.
After transitioning from third-party platforms, he built and operated some of the most successful aftermarket auto parts websites of the early internet era — learning search engine optimisation not from a course but from the necessity of competing in a ruthless market with no marketing budget. He moved to Arizona to scale his work in a larger market, and began consulting on SEO for businesses across the Southeast Valley before building what would eventually become KeyStar.
In 2017, KeyStar’s founder was engaged to advise Google directly on its Mobile First indexing initiative — consulting on how the shift to mobile-first crawling would affect website owners and how Google could communicate the change effectively. It’s the kind of credential that speaks for itself.
Key Milestones
The Beginning: 100,000 eBay Auctions
Our founder begins in e-commerce as a high-volume eBay PowerSeller in Minnesota — learning the fundamentals of customer acquisition, conversion, and online competition from first principles.
First SEO Campaigns: Automotive eCommerce
Builds and operates successful aftermarket auto parts websites, developing early SEO strategies out of competitive necessity. Learns technical SEO, link building, and content marketing before they had industry names.
Arizona: Building the Agency Foundation
Relocates to the Phoenix metro and begins formal SEO consulting for businesses across the Southeast Valley. Studies under SEO pioneers Eric Ward and Bruce Clay, developing the strategic framework that still informs KeyStar’s methodology.
Agency Operations Begin
What started as solo consulting grows into a formal agency operation, taking on clients across Arizona and expanding to national accounts in technology, legal, healthcare, real estate, and e-commerce.
Advising Google on Mobile First Indexing
KeyStar’s founder is engaged to consult Google directly on its Mobile First initiative — advising on how the shift would affect site owners and how Google should communicate the transition.
Four Agencies Merge Under KeyStar
Four separate marketing agencies, each with its own specialisation and client base, are unified under the KeyStar brand — bringing together two decades of combined expertise under one roof in Chandler, Arizona.
Today: 500+ Businesses, 200+ Industries
KeyStar operates across all major U.S. markets with a team of senior specialists delivering SEO, PPC, content, and reputation management campaigns for clients from solo practitioners to enterprise organisations.
The Shoulders We Stand On
Our founder’s training in SEO didn’t come from online courses — it came from direct mentorship under two of the most influential figures in the history of search marketing. That foundation shapes how every KeyStar campaign is built.
Eric Ward
Eric Ward was one of the earliest and most respected voices in link building and content promotion — known for earning links through genuine editorial value rather than manipulation. His principles underpin KeyStar’s entire link acquisition philosophy.
Bruce Clay
Bruce Clay is widely credited with formalising the practice of technical SEO and developing the structured site optimisation frameworks that the industry still uses today. His methodical, ethics-first approach to search marketing directly shaped KeyStar’s technical practice.
What Sets Our Team Apart
These aren’t marketing claims — they’re verifiable facts about the people doing the work on your campaign:
Ranked #1 in Link Building
Our lead SEO consultant, Craig McConnel, has been recognised as the #1 link-building expert in the nation for over a decade — cited by industry publications and peers for his editorial outreach methodology and results.
Google Mobile First Consulting
Our founder was engaged directly by Google in 2017 to advise on its Mobile First indexing transition — one of the most significant algorithmic shifts in the history of search. Very few agencies can say they’ve advised Google itself.
23+ Years of Continuous Practice
We have been running SEO campaigns since before Google dominated search. We’ve seen every algorithm update, every platform change, and every industry trend — and we’re still here because we do the right things, not the expedient ones.
Enterprise-Level Client Experience
We have worked with publicly traded organisations, national franchise networks, and enterprise-scale e-commerce operations alongside local service businesses. That breadth of experience informs how we approach campaigns of any size.
Mentored by Industry Pioneers
Our methodology was shaped by direct mentorship under Eric Ward and Bruce Clay — two of the most respected figures in the history of search marketing. Their principles of ethical, sustainable SEO run through everything we do.
Transparent, Revenue-Focused Reporting
Every KeyStar report is built around metrics that connect to your business outcomes — leads, cases, patients, revenue. We don’t hide behind traffic dashboards that look good but don’t explain what SEO is worth to your bottom line.
Meet the Team
Every person listed here works actively on client campaigns. We don’t have a revolving door of junior staff — the people you meet during the sales process are the people doing the work.
Craig McConnel is the Lead SEO Director at KeyStar Agency and the strategist behind the firm’s core methodology. Ranked the #1 link-building expert in the nation for over a decade, Craig has built his reputation on earning links through genuine editorial value — the approach that Google has been progressively rewarding through every algorithm update.
Craig’s SEO career spans over two decades and dozens of industries, from technology and cryptocurrency to healthcare, legal, and e-commerce. He trained under SEO pioneer Eric Ward and has applied those editorial link-building principles to campaigns for clients ranging from solo practitioners to publicly traded enterprises.
When he’s not developing client strategies, Craig writes people-focused content on his SEO blog, works out, and produces music at his home studio in Ocotillo, Arizona.
Leanne is the primary client-facing member of the KeyStar team — the person you’ll speak with most, and the one responsible for making sure your campaign stays aligned with your goals as they evolve. Her role sits at the intersection of strategy and execution: she understands the technical SEO work deeply enough to translate it into plain language for business owners, and understands your business well enough to keep the SEO team focused on the outcomes that actually matter.
If you need an answer fast, Leanne gets it. If something isn’t working, she’s the first to say so. Her commitment is to your results — not to telling you what you want to hear.
Haven is the writer and editor who ensures every piece of content KeyStar produces serves two audiences simultaneously: the human reader who needs to find it useful and the search engine that needs to understand what it’s about and who it’s for.
In 2026, content that doesn’t demonstrate genuine expertise doesn’t rank — Google’s quality systems have become sophisticated enough to distinguish between content written by someone who knows a subject and content that’s been assembled from other sources. Haven’s job is to make sure every page we publish clears that bar. Every client’s content is reviewed by Haven before it goes live — without exception.
Rilee manages social media strategy and execution for KeyStar’s clients — bringing a background in graphic design and visual storytelling to a discipline that’s increasingly visual-first. Her approach blends creative content with analytical rigour: every campaign is continuously assessed against performance data so that what gets made is what actually works, not what looks good in isolation.
Rilee builds brand voices that feel authentic rather than corporate — content that reflects how the business actually wants to be seen, resonates with their specific audience, and contributes to real business outcomes rather than vanity metrics.
How We Work
These aren’t core values written for a wall. They’re the operational principles that determine what we do and don’t do for clients:
Honest Over Comfortable
We tell clients when timelines are unrealistic, when their market is harder than they think, and when a strategy isn’t working. An agency that only tells you what you want to hear is an agency that’s prioritising its retainer over your results.
Senior Practitioners on Every Account
Your account is never handed to a junior coordinator after the pitch. Every strategy we build is built by someone who has run campaigns in your type of market before — and can defend every recommendation.
Long-Term Over Short-Term
We won’t recommend tactics that produce quick ranking gains at the cost of a penalty six months from now. Our clients have been with us for years — in many cases a decade or more — because we build things that last.
Human Work, Properly Done
Content is written by human experts. Link building is done through genuine editorial relationships. Strategy is built by people with real experience — not automated and then reviewed. The quality of our work reflects that.
Earn the Business Every Month
We don’t lock clients into long-term contracts because we don’t need to. Our clients stay because the results justify staying. That accountability is what keeps us sharp.
Revenue, Not Metrics
We report on what matters to your business — leads, cases, patients, sales, and revenue — not just rankings and traffic. If the SEO isn’t driving real outcomes, we say so and we change the approach.
200+ Industries. One Standard of Work.
We’ve worked across virtually every major business category over 23 years. These are the industries where we have the deepest active experience:
Where We Operate
KeyStar’s headquarters is in South Chandler, Arizona (Ocotillo). We serve clients nationwide from our Arizona base and through offices and affiliate relationships across the U.S.:
Geography doesn’t determine the quality of our work — most of our client communication happens by phone, video call, and email regardless of location. Our physical offices matter for local clients who want in-person meetings. The strategy, content, and technical work we do is the same whether you’re in Chandler or Chicago.
Ready to Work With a Team That’s Been Doing This Since Before Google Dominated?
23 years. 500+ businesses. One consistent approach: do the right things, tell the truth, and let the results speak. Get a free proposal and see what we’d do for your specific situation.