SEO Consulting for Minnesota Businesses, Entrepreneurs and Nonprofits
Get SEO off your "to-do" list
and get more people on
your website.
We're a Minneapolis SEO and AI visibility consulting studio with 1:1 support and courses to learn it, tools to implement it, and coaching to keep you growing.
Build authority,
earn more revenue,
have more freedom.
"Mel does such a great job of distilling SEO down to what actually matters."
Lorrie, Florida
THREE WAYS TO SHOW UP IN SEARCH
Minneapolis–St. Paul SEO consulting, available nationwide.
Skip the expensive agency and the YouTube guesswork. Whether you want SEO and AI visibility done with you, done yourself, or somewhere in between, every path runs on the same proven Modern Search Factors™ Framework.
PATH 1
GUIDED HELP
SEO Consulting & Audits
Done-with-you SEO strategy, from a couple hours to a full day.
Sometimes you need more than a course.
Our SEO Consulting is a private, done-with-you SEO strategy intensive designed to quickly improve your visibility in Google and AI search.
We analyze your business and website through the Modern Search Factors™ framework and make optimizations together in real time.
SEO-IN-A-DAY™ : Six hours, side by side. We audit, strategize, and begin to implement together. At the end of the day, you'll have a clear understanding of how search works, your website will be poised to be recommended and you'll have a strategy that you can continue to implement over time.
This focused SEO experience will jumpstart your SEO and give you confidence to continue on your own.
Hourly Consultations: Got specific questions? Need a second opinion on your strategy? Book an hour and walk away with a clear plan.
PATH 2
AT YOUR PACE
On-demand Courses
SEO courses built for real business owners
Every course is built on the Modern Search Factors™ framework so you always know exactly what you're doing and why.
COURSE LIST:
-
SEO Fundamentals — The foundation. The essentials. If you want minimum effort and maximum output, do this.
-
The Own It Method™ — Protect your reputation, your brand, and your intellectual property in search and AI.
-
Get Recommended™ AEO/GEO — Specialized training for showing up in AI-generated answers and recommendations.
-
SEARCH READY™ SEO for AI-Built Websites — For businesses using AI website builders who need real search visibility baked in.
-
The SEO-Powered Website™ —
Comprehensive, on-demand SEO training that walks you through everything you need to know and exactly what to do — and gives you three months of free membership to put it into practice.
PATH 3
MONTHLY SUPPORT
Modern Search Club™
Monthly coaching and proprietary tools — in one place.
The Modern Search Club™ is where strategy meets implementation. You get access to SEO tools built specifically for this framework, plus coaching and community to keep you moving. Best if you have a basic understanding of SEO, or have taken one of our courses.
THREE MEMBERSHIP OPTIONS
Library Pass: Access to the full course library, past workshop recordings, and all proprietary tools. Perfect if you're self-directed and just need the resources.
Member: Everything in Library Pass, plus monthly office hours coaching and community. Bring your questions, your audit, your copy — and get real answers.
VIP: Everything in Member, plus dedicated 1:1 coaching. For business owners who want an expert in their corner consistently.
The tools included: Keyword & Content Strategist · Backlink Planner · Image Optimizer · SEO Audit Tool · Page Architect · AEO Writer · Structured Data Builder
Note: The SEO-Powered Website™ course includes three months of Modern Search Club™ membership free.
WHAT BUSINESS OWNERS ARE SAYING
"This SEO Course has completely changed my business— for the better."
Sarah Berg
Brushstrokes & Timber
Savage, Minnesota
"Having and SEO strategy done has made an incredible difference for our organization. Mel is an incredible thought leader, we can't thank her enough!"
Mark Ostrom,
Joy Collaborative
Minneapolis, MN
"I had no idea SEO was this simple and this powerful."
Kristin Campbell,
Kristin Therese Designs
Waconia, Minnesota
"Loved the SEO training. It was well-organized, easy-to-understand and immediately actionable."
Wendy Amberson, Texas
"I finally understand SEO, and can actually do it."
Roberta Peters
Birch Hill Interiors,
St. Paul, Minnesota
"Working with Mel is a breath of fresh air! Her enthusiasm is contagious, her knowledge is top-notch, and her warm approach makes the whole process enjoyable."
Lisa, Northeast Minneapolis, Minnesota
Hi, I'm Mel.
I’ve lived on both sides of marketing.
For 20 years I worked inside big Minneapolis advertising agencies,
helping national brands launch campaigns across TV, digital, and web. Designing logos, brands, websites, packaging and award-winning national campaigns.
Then I became a small business owner, I started an interior design firm.
And I felt firsthand how different and how much harder marketing gets without a team and a budget behind you. Which is why I knew learning and investing time into making a powerful website was the key to my success. My Minneapolis interior design firm, Happy Place Interiors, has been on Google page one for 10 years and is now highly recommended in AI overviews.
Over the years, I watched smart Minneapolis and nationwide business owners struggle with marketing. Overwhelmed, burned out from constant social media posting, and given website SEO advice that was either too technical, outdated, or too expensive to act on.
So I built something different.
Many small business owners I meet do not want or need an expensive SEO agency, yet watching endless YouTube videos also doesn't work. So I created a guided approach: consulting, courses, tools and coaching.
To simply SEO, I developed the Modern Search Factors™ framework because of one simple belief: small business owners deserve to learn how SEO and a powerful website can help their business grow and be sustainable in a simple and doable way.
Modern Search Studio is where that belief lives.
Mel Zaelich, Marketing Educator and small business owner
ONE FRAMEWORK MAKES IT ALL MAKE SENSE
The Modern Search Factors:™
SEEN, TRUSTED, AND RELEVANT.
The Modern Search Factors™ framework organizes SEO and AI search (AEO/GEO) around the three questions search engines and AI use to determines if your website gets recommended:
When you understand what's behind these three factors, SEO stops feeling random and starts feeling strategic, and most importantly, doable.
From muralist to authority — one business owner's search transformation.
REAL RESULTS
See exactly what changed, what was implemented, and what the results looked like — step by step through the Modern Search Factors™ framework.
Is Modern Search Studio right for you?
-
You're a small business owner, an entrepreneur, a local service provider, an online business owner, or a non-profit
-
You know SEO matters… but it feels complicated and technical
-
You worry it will take too much time or too many “tech skills” to actually do it right
-
You want to understand what’s changing in search — especially with AI — but the hype is loud, and you’re not sure what to believe
-
You want to understand SEO before you hire it out, so you can make informed decisions
-
You’re a web designer, copywriter or SEO who wants to be able to explain SEO, GEO, AEO easily to clients with a proven framework
If you checked even one of those — you belong here.
WHAT MARKETING SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE
From invisible to in demand.
This is what life looks like when your website is actually doing it's job — and what you miss out on when it isn't.
You rank high on Google
Your website appears at the top of search results for the terms your customers are already using to find businesses like yours.
Your business gets recommended
in AI search
Your business gets cited in AI Overviews, ChatGPT, and other AI-powered answers — the fastest-growing discovery channel online.
You navigate marketing with confidence
No more guessing or outsourcing blindly. You understand your strategy, own your results, and are able to adapt as the landscape changes.
You stop starting over.
SEO compounds. Every page you optimize, every piece of content you publish, every review you earn — it stacks. Month over month, it gets stronger.
Without a search strategy
X Customers can't find you — even when they're looking
X Missed growth and revenue while competitors gain ground
X Wasted money and time on tactics that don't compound
X Constant overwhelm and confusion
X Feeling like you're starting over everyday
With Modern Search Studio
+ Your ideal clients finding you, not your competitors
+ More clients, more revenue
+ Visibility across Google and AI search
+ Building authority in your niche across the internet
+ A sustainable business without marketing burnout
Mel Zaelich featured on the Business Growth Trailblazers Podcast
Modern Search Studio founder Melanie Zaelich was recently featured on the Digital Trailblazers Podcast, sharing how businesses can improve visibility in Google, AI search, and recommendation tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity.
She discussed the importance of being easy to understand, clearly relevant, and trusted online—so search engines and AI tools can confidently recommend your business.
COMMON QUESTIONS ABOUT MODERN SEARCH STUDIO
What exactly is Modern Search Studio?
Modern Search Studio is a hands-on SEO education and strategy studio for small business owners. We offer courses to learn SEO at your own pace, a membership with proprietary tools and coaching, and private consulting for businesses that want expert guidance. Everything is built around the Modern Search Factors™ framework — SEEN, TRUSTED, RELEVANT.
What's the difference between the courses and the membership?
The courses teach you the strategy — what SEO is, how it works, and what to do first. The membership is where you get guidance to implement it, with access to our proprietary tools (keyword strategist, content planner, AEO writer, and more). Many members do The SEO-Powered Website™ course first and then join the Modern Search Club™ to keep their momentum going.
Do I need to already know SEO to get started?
No. The courses start from the ground up, and the Modern Search Factors™ framework is specifically designed to make SEO understandable even if you're not techy. If you're already familiar with SEO basics, the membership a great entry point.
Is this for local businesses or online businesses?
Both. The framework applies whether you're a local service provider or an online course creator trying to be found nationally. The principles are the same — we help you apply them to your specific business.
What if I don't have time to do a full course?
The mini courses (SEO Fundamentals and Get Recommended™ AEO/GEO) are designed to be completed in a focused afternoon. And if you want expert help without the learning curve, SEO-in-a-Day gets you six hours of hands-on work with Mel — strategy and implementation, together.
What if I don't actually want to do SEO myself? Do I need this?
Understanding SEO doesn't mean you have to do it yourself, it means you can hire smarter, ask better questions, and stop taking someone's word for it that the work is actually getting done.
When you know how search works, you can evaluate proposals, read reports, and spot red flags before you sign a contract. You stop being a passive client and start being an informed one. For a lot of business owners, that's worth more than the implementation itself.
Modern Search Studio gives you that foundation — whether you end up doing it yourself, handing it off, or landing somewhere in between.
How is this different from hiring an SEO agency?
Agencies do the work for you — and then you depend on them. Modern Search Studio teaches you the strategy so you understand what's happening and why, with tools that make implementation faster and coaching to keep you on track. You end up owning your SEO instead of renting it.