From a 1986 computer to the top of search.
Top Search SEO is owned by Brian Beaty, a Nashville founder who uses a wheelchair and has been building on the web since before most businesses had a website. This is his story, and how it shapes the way we work.
Owned by Brian Beaty
Top Search SEO is owned and led by Brian Beaty, a man who uses a wheelchair and has never let that set the limits of what he builds. He is the reason the company exists, the reason it hires the way it does and the reason it measures success in customers and phone calls.
Now Brian is sharing a few of the secrets that kept his clients on top for more than two decades, through this website, through free tools and through a team that does the work by hand.
If you would like to become a client, or to join the team, do not hesitate to reach out.
1986It started with a computer
Brian got his first computer in 1986, a boxy machine that loaded programs from a cassette tape. He was not playing games for long. He wanted to know how it worked, how to make it do more and how to make other people’s lives easier with it.
That curiosity never left. Every year since has been another chapter of learning how machines, and later the internet, can help people and businesses.
1998A dot-com cafe
In 1998 Brian opened a dot-com cafe, a place where neighbors could drink coffee, get online for the first time and see what the web could do. Running it taught him how real people use the internet, what confuses them and what makes them pick up the phone.
It also taught him that most businesses had no idea how people were about to find them.
Late 1999He worked out how Google really ranked pages
In late 1999 Brian studied how Google’s page rank actually worked, and he noticed something uncomfortable: much of the advice being published at the time pointed people away from what really mattered. He tested, wrote things down and tested again until he could predict what would move a page up.
Those lessons, about links, relevance and a website that deserves to rank, are still the heart of what we do, now updated for maps, answers and AI.
Along the wayInterns, veterans and people who needed a chance
As the work grew, Brian enlisted interns from local community colleges and taught them the craft by doing real work. He also began hiring people with disabilities and veterans to work from home, because talent is not limited by a commute and good people deserve a real opportunity.
That decision shaped the company. Today most of the team still works from home, and most of its SEO specialists are disabled.
2009A company bought his main domain, and nothing else
By then Brian’s clients were paying thousands of dollars a month to hold the top spots in their markets. In 2009 a Canadian company bought only his main domain name, not the business, not the clients and not the know-how.
For years afterwards the company that helped others rank had no website of its own. Its work came from referrals, and its secrets stayed at the office.
Today, and what we believe
After years without a company website, Top Search SEO is finally telling its own story. And it starts with a critique of the industry. By Brian’s count, about nine in ten marketing companies simply push ads. They sell a monthly report and a promise to try harder next month, and when the ad budget stops, so do the customers.
Brian has never run an ad. He believes the website is the center of the business, and that every profile, listing, review and social post should point back to it. When the website is strong, it keeps working long after a campaign ends.
Results, not reports
Most marketing companies are report-based: they measure activity and send charts. We are results-based. We measure the phone ringing, the forms filled out and the jobs booked, and we keep reports short enough to read over coffee.
How we work
- One client per trade in each market, so we never compete against ourselves
- We never sell leads, so your customers belong to you
- No contracts. We earn the relationship every month
- The work is done by hand by experienced people, not pushed through a tool
- Your website, profiles and accounts stay in your name
What is coming
This year, many companies are down, because homeowners are holding their projects until next year. That pent-up demand is going to be released, and next year looks like a boom. The companies that already own the top spots when it arrives will collect most of it. Brian’s team is ready to help our clients dominate their markets when it does.
Do not hesitate to reach out.
Tell us about your business, or tell us about yourself. We are always glad to hear from people who want to do great work.
Call (615) 891-5435 or send the form.