Two decades in digital marketing is practically a lifetime. When Top Of The List first started 20 years ago in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the web was a bit like the Wild West. SEO meant cramming keywords into title, meta tags, and on-page content, submitting websites to every directory imaginable, and gathering backlinks wherever we could. Tracking keyword search engine rankings on early tools was also a lot more challenging then. We even built our own custom rank tracking software called SearchRank back in the day!
Fast forward to today, and the search landscape has completely transformed. Here’s a quick walk down memory lane and a look at how we’re celebrating this major milestone.
How the Web (and We) Have Grown
Over the last 20 years, we’ve watched browsers and devices evolve, seen search engines come and go, and witnessed algorithms get a whole lot smarter. We’ve adapted right alongside those changes—expanding from core search engine optimization into full-spectrum digital strategy. Today, our team handles everything from Google Ads and social campaigns to web development, schema, and AI.
Through all of the algorithm updates—from PageRank to Mobilegeddon to today’s E-E-A-T guidelines—learning has always been hands-on for the Top of the List team. We’ve hit search conferences across the country, from SMX to Pubcon. We’ve learned directly from industry pioneers like Matt Cutts, Gary Illyes, and Danny Sullivan (and snapping a few photos with them along the way!)
Deep Roots in the Community
From day one, connecting locally has been just as important as keeping up with Google. In the early years, you could find us speaking at events and presenting to leadership groups like the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce. Owner Bev Mapes also served on boards for the Alliance of Women Entrepreneurs (AWE – now part of GROW) and XP Grand Rapids, an extreme programming software group.
We also loved connecting at Ladies Leads (still in existence today) and Local First events, and making two guest appearances on Shelley Irwin’s Business Happens in Heels, produced by WGVU public radio. If you were around in our early days, you might remember our original green-and-black magnifying glass logo shown below. Or may have even played our custom beanbag toss game at the Local First Street Fair, where you had to land your throw in the correct search engine hole to answer a trivia question!
How We’re Celebrating 20 Years
We couldn’t have reached this milestone without our amazing employees, clients, partners, and community supporters. To say thank you, we’re celebrating with:
- Custom 20th Anniversary Logo: You’re only 20 once! We designed a custom anniversary logo to mark two decades in business.
- Giving Back: We’re donating 20 hours of web development and design work to build a fresh website for a local non-profit, Selah Empowers.
- 20th Anniversary Coloring Book and Contest! We’ve put together a custom Top Of The List adult coloring book featuring fun, digital marketing-themed pages. Grab a copy, break out the colored pencils, and enter the contest. The prizes? Gift cards valued at, you guessed it, $20 each. You can view contest details here.
- Custom Designed 20th Anniversary Track Jackets: We surprised key team members with custom 20th anniversary track jacekts to say a big thanks for all their hard work.
I’d like to extend a very sincere thank you to Top Of The List’s employees (both past and present) for helping build this organization. Their passion, flexibility in a constantly shifting industry, willingness to learn new skills, and desire to help our clients succeed are all a big part of our success. Also, a special thank you to SCORE for their business mentoring through our journey. Here’s to 20 years of navigating the ever-changing web together—and to many more ahead!
Founder & President, Top Of The List
Bev founded Top Of The List in 2006 and has over 25 years of experience working with technology. In her free time, she competes in dog agility competitions with her dogs, Finn, and Chloe.
