From humble beginnings to the present…
The online landscape was dominated by various search engines, including Inktomi, Excite, Lycos, AltaVista, and the human-edited directory, Yahoo. Amid this digital boom, Stone Reuning conceptualized SEO Advantage, realizing the untapped potential of search engine optimization.
SEO Advantage was officially incorporated under its initial name, Web Position Advantage. With the growing focus on search engine optimization services, the company was soon renamed to SEO Advantage.
Stone took the lead in product development and strategic growth at SEO Advantage, assembling a team of dedicated professionals. The company started with Stone, Parichatra, Lisa, Gaby, and Pete. Kudos to them all!
SEO Advantage navigated the major shift in the search engine landscape as Google, launched in 1998, began to gain prominence. Over the years, this led to the gradual disappearance of earlier search engines like Inktomi, Excite, Lycos, AltaVista, and Ask Jeeves, etc. Despite these changes, we not only survived but thrived, continually adapting our strategies to optimize our clients’ performance.
We have grown steadily, maintaining our identity as a small, family-owned company. Over the years, we have built a loyal customer base, many of whom have stayed with us for over a decade. Our clients range from local businesses to Fortune 100 companies.
Leveraging tools like ChatGPT and other AI-supported systems have tremendously enhanced our work process in all areas – from data collection and copywriting to reporting and customer service.
Meet the SEO Advantage executive team
Everything we do at SEO Advantage® is designed with a focus on delivering ROI to our clients. From formulation of strategy and program tactics right down to unique content creation and handcrafted link building programs, all our mission-critical work is directed in house by our senior team of US-based SEO professionals. Get to know us and see how our multidisciplinary approach integrates to deliver Page 1 dominance even in competitive keyword markets.
Stone Reuning
President, Director of SEO strategy
Stone Reuning is president and founder of SEO Advantage, Inc. An entrepreneur at heart, Stone founded several startup ventures including Tampa Bay Associates (TBA) and the Germ Factory online business incubation prior to SEO Advantage®. He designed and developed advanced decision support and executive information systems for some of the most prestigious medical institutions in the U.S., collaborating with organizations such as Ernst & Young.
Read Stone’s bio
Brice Northup
Vice President of Operations
Brice brings an impressive blend of human resources expertise, operations management, and Texas charm to his role at SEO Advantage. Born and raised in a large, close-knit Texan family, he learned the art of managing people and operations early, forming the foundation of his professional ethos.
Read Brice’s bio
Parichatra Reuning
Director of SEO operations
Pat plays an instrumental role in all SEO Advantage® programs. After earning her MBA at Butler University, Indiana (20+ years ago!), Pat joined Deloitte Consulting in Bangkok, Thailand, as a management consultant. A career with an international corporation wasn’t on her path. After 2 years, Pat left and started SEO Advantage with Stone Reuning in 1999. The couple has been through it all, trying and failing and getting back up again. (Everyone goes through this, so don’t be discouraged.)
She is a formidable asset for our clients, seeing to the details of each component of their custom SEO plan. From site architecture recommendations to content marketing and beyond, Pat runs our day-to-day SEO operations with an unbeatable team of SEO managers, designers and content specialists.
When she’s not optimizing websites for our clients, you can find her whipping up gourmet Thai dishes in the kitchen, running a small homestead and enjoying life with her husband and son—her North Star.
Read Pat’s Bio
Gaby Zapien
Director of creative, User experience
Gaby drives creative direction, design and usability for our website development projects.
She brings together ideas from all those around her in a continual search for the best ways to serve end users, keeping her team at the forefront of emerging technologies and web standards.
When her busy family life, travel and pets allow, you might catch her experimenting with different creative media. A true artist at heart, her portraits have been featured in gallery exhibitions. She is known to maintain her Zen with meditation.
Read Gaby’s Bio
Meet the team that powers your search engine marketing.
Ali Hassan
Business development manager
Ali Hassan, our new Business Development Manager, is a beacon of positivity with a robust 18-year background in sales and marketing. Ali’s uplifting spirit truly sets him apart. As the youngest of four siblings, he’s always been surrounded by family, and his vibrant energy is palpable. You’d be hard-pressed to find him without a smile or making people laugh.
Outside of work, Ali’s interests are varied. He’s penning his own science fiction novel, fueled by his love for reading and inspired by his travels. He still spends time on his PlayStation and enjoys exploring dishes from around the world.
Tom Plahutnik
Account manager
Tom works closely with clients to help coordinate their needs with SEO Advantage’s skilled technical team members to guide, advise, and improve client SEO. Before joining our team, Tom worked in local news for ten years as a radio announcer and web producer. Following that, he was a web analytics and SEO specialist for several years before joining two PPC-oriented digital companies.
In his spare time, Tom enjoys the company of his wife and two sons. The family spends time camping in the summer in their ‘63 Avion, and skiing and snowboarding in the winter. Tom is an avid homebrewer who also likes to play and record music in his limited spare time.
Heather Druhot
Finance and HR manager
Heather returned to work after taking over 13 years off to raise her three boys. Before having children, Heather worked in the accounting field and in retail, managing various stores for Restoration Hardware.
Most weekends, you will find Heather at a lacrosse event watching her boys play. They are 16, 14 and 12 years old. Heather enjoys spending family time outdoors, reading and traveling.
Liliana Zapien
Senior SEO associate
Lili starts her days with her sunrise yoga practice and likes changing perspectives by doing headstands. Since joining the SEO Advantage team in 2010, she spends her workdays handling all things SEO, from link building to publishing content and translation services. She enjoys listening to soft music while striving to deliver the best possible quality in all she does.
Lili enjoys spending quality time outdoors with her husband, teenage son and dog. On the weekends, you’ll find her riding her bike or enjoying the latest novel by Isabel Allende while sipping a good cup of tea.
Lexi Wagoner
Web production specialist
Lexi originally grew up in New York City (the Bronx borough) and then moved down with her family to Florida in 2001, where she has resided since. She has been part of the web design field ever since she first started her education in 2008 at Cape Coral Institute of Technology. Her first job was for an Internet and data solutions company as a web designer, which she was able to gain during her schooling. She’s been intrigued by many aspects of the industry since. Today, she is a web production specialist with over 7 years of experience working alongside the team of SEO Advantage.
She is an accomplished coder and designer and enjoys work that challenges her to learn something new and stretch in a different direction. Lexi specializes in meticulous front-end web development and graphic and responsive design, and she is responsible for maintaining several different aspects of the company’s various websites.
Aside from web development, Lexi spends her free time with her husband, family and multiple fur babies. She also enjoys exploring different botanical gardens/nature preserves, attempts at baking, playing video games (mostly the “cute” ones) and drawing digital anime/Disney art.
Dakota Waters
Editor
Before returning to school to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree in English with a minor in creative writing, Dakota worked as a registered nurse in a cardiac unit. She also ran a small cake business, where her work was featured in several cake decorating magazines. Her true passion, however, has always been writing and editing, and she loves being able to use that passion to help other writers perfect their work.
Dakota continually seeks new ways to challenge herself and tries to live by the motto, “Sometimes the fear won’t go away, so you’ll have to do it afraid.” In her spare time, she enjoys reading, cooking, gardening and going to the theater with her two teenage kids.
Attorney writers and editors
Ian Pisarcik
Senior copywriter
Ian first became passionate about legal writing in law school, where he served as managing editor of the Pittsburgh Journal of Environmental and Public Health Law. After graduating, he represented children in the foster care system and then served as an attorney editor for the Oregon State Bar. Before joining Enjuris, Ian practiced law at Paine Hamblen LLP, where he represented diverse clients in all aspects of civil litigation.
When Ian’s not writing about the law, he’s making up stories. His short stories and poems have appeared in the Roanoke Review, Lullwater Review, Maine Review, Flyway Journal of Writing and Environment, and Spokesman Review. His debut novel, Before Familiar Woods, was named a top 10 debut of 2020 by Apple Books.
Ian also finds time to practice yoga and brew beer—although never at the same time. He lives in Washington State with his wife, Labrador retriever and spirited two-year-old daughter.
Melissa Gold
Senior copywriter
When she’s not working, Melissa spends her time reading fiction, hiking or cycling with her family, or writing her novel (which has been in progress for many, many years). Her background includes a degree in Literature & Rhetoric and a Juris Doctor, and her career path led her through experiences in journalism and digital marketing before she landed on legal writing for SEO with Enjuris. She believes strongly in writing and sharing information that is thorough, accurate and clear. She commits herself to creating content that is easily understandable in order to provide the greatest possible value to the reader.
Melissa loves spending time outdoors and works from her “backyard office” whenever the weather permits. When the workday is over, she’s holding down the fort for her two busy children, husband and their wild (but super-cute) puppy.