Meet Daniel Burns of Boulder SEO Marketing

Today we’d like to introduce you to Daniel Burns.

Hi Daniel, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I’m originally from Brazil. Moved to California and ended up running a web design agency in the LA area for about 25 years. That’s where I cut my teeth on everything digital – website development, client relationships, agency operations, all of it.

Around 2020, I connected with Chris Raulf, who had founded Boulder SEO Marketing back in 2009. He’s been doing SEO for nearly 30 years – literally since before Google was called Google. We hit it off because we brought complementary skill sets to the table. Chris is the visionary. He’s the one out there speaking at global conferences, staying on the bleeding edge of AI and SEO, and understanding where the industry is headed. My job is to turn those visions into processes our team can actually execute.

We follow the EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) framework. Chris is the Visionary, I’m the Integrator. That dynamic works because he can focus on thought leadership and strategy while I make sure the machine runs.
The timing was interesting. We relaunched the agency together, built the team back up from zero clients, and then 2021 hit us hard. Google rolled out a core algorithm update, and we lost 80% of our organic traffic. Scared the hell out of us for about a day. Then we got to work. That crisis actually forced us to develop our Micro SEO Strategies℠ methodology – a hyper-focused approach that’s now our core differentiator. Blessing in disguise.

Now we’re a team of about 20 people, and we’re in the middle of the most exciting time I’ve experienced running an agency. AI is changing everything. We just launched BSM Copilot 2.0 – our proprietary AI SEO methodology. Work that used to take us two to three months now happens in less than a week, usually a couple of days. And the quality is better because we can do way more research and analysis than we ever could manually.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Smooth? No. This is one of the craziest times I’ve had running an agency.

The 2021 traffic loss was a gut punch. But honestly, the bigger ongoing challenge is the pace of change. Ten years ago, my job was to create a process and stick to it. Maybe tweak it once a year. Now? We implement a specific workflow, and two weeks later, there’s a better system. The process evolution is constant.

Most people are using AI incorrectly. Some are underusing it – still doing everything manually when AI could help. Others are overusing it – just blasting out generic AI-generated content that doesn’t rank and doesn’t convert. Finding that sweet spot – what we call “human-driven, AI-assisted” – took a lot of trial and error.

The other challenge is that small agencies like ours compete with much larger players. But here’s the thing: small companies can be very fast, very nimble. We don’t have to deal with bureaucracy. By the time something gets through a big company’s pipeline, it’s already outdated. We can implement changes weekly.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
At Boulder SEO Marketing, we specialize in human-driven, AI-assisted SEO and content marketing for local service businesses and companies looking to grow their organic visibility – both in traditional Google search and in AI platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude.

My role as COO is essentially to take Chris’s vision and implement it into processes we can use. That means I’m responsible for operations, client onboarding, development of our BSM Copilot methodology, AI automation strategy, and ensuring every deliverable that leaves our agency is A-game quality.

2026 is the year of Executional Excellence for us. We’re going to be pretty strict with quality and deliverables. Nothing below A-game will be accepted. If we ever lose a client, it won’t be because they’re unhappy with something we did.
The other big focus is AI agent development. We’re building custom AI agents for clients – essentially digital versions of their leadership that think and communicate like the client. We train these agents on transcripts, interviews, company culture documents, everything. So when content gets created, it’s not generic AI output. It sounds like the client actually wrote it.

What was your favorite childhood memory?
I’ve loved fishing since I was a kid, and one childhood memory that still makes me smile is the three-day trip my dad took me on to the Pantanal — that vast wild wetland in Brazil that’s a mecca for freshwater anglers. Fishing was slow until the last day, when I finally hooked a huge pintado, only to reel up the head: piranhas had eaten the body while I hauled it in. I was frustrated then, but the absurdity of that moment and the rawness of the place have stayed with me ever since.

Pricing:

• Our SEO engagements typically range from $2,000 to $5,000 per month, depending on scope and goals. We work in six-month sprints with clear milestones and deliverables. We also offer project-based work for specific initiatives, such as website migrations, technical audits, or content creation. We’re not the cheapest option out there, and we’re not trying to be. Clients work directly with Chris and me – not junior account managers. That’s part of the boutique agency advantage.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://boulderseomarketing.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/professionalwebsitedesign/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@bsm-a-denver-seo-company