01TENET 01
Decisions From Data, Not Guesswork
We decide from server logs, tracking data, and pipeline numbers. We do not gamble client budgets on opinions that nobody can check.
Who We Are and Why We Exist
Founded in 2019 to Do the Search and Ads Work Directly.
Rank First Digital is a search and paid ads agency in New York. We do SEO, AI search optimization, and paid campaigns, and we report on what the work actually produced.
- 2019
- Founded in New York
- 2
- Founders on your account
- 8 hrs
- Reply time, every request
- 2 wks
- Sprint cadence
check_circleNo junior hand-offsverified_userSenior people on every accountpin_dropNew York headquarters
How We Compare
How We Compare to a Typical Agency
The same two models, side by side. This is the difference the rest of the page is built on.
cancelTypical Offshored AgencyOld Playbook
- closeOffshored junior execution teams learning on your ad spend
- closeSurface vanity metrics (Impressions, clicks, PDF rankings reports)
- closeHidden ad markups and little transparency on where spend goes
- closeNo work on being cited in AI answers (AEO/GEO)
check_circleHow Rank First WorksOur Approach
- checkTalk directly with the senior people doing the work
- checkReporting tied to your CRM deals, not just platform numbers
- checkYou own the accounts, with server-side tracking set up properly
- checkAEO/GEO work for ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini
How the Work FlowsFixed Process
sensors
Logs, crawl reports, and schema
hub
How Google and AI read your site
verified
Fixes and content in priority order
Our Story
Founded by search architects who refused to sell smoke.
In 2019, Rank First Digital was founded with a singular conviction: the standard digital marketing agency model is fundamentally broken. Agencies pitch clients with their seasoned directors, only to quietly reassign account execution to interns or overseas subcontractors reading from generic script playbooks.
We built the alternative: senior search and media people who do the work themselves. We treat this job like engineering, measured from server logs and real conversions instead of opinions.
terminal
How We Work With You
Shared Slack channel, no account coordinators in between, and visibility into what we are doing.
Guiding Philosophy
How We Work
Four rules that shape every sprint, campaign, and engagement we take on.
02TENET 02
Senior People, Start to Finish
Clients work directly with the senior people who do the work, from the first call through every sprint. No handoffs to entry-level coordinators.
03TENET 03
Clear Reporting, No Markups
You own your ad accounts, we do not mark up media spend, and your dashboards match what you see in your own reporting.
04TENET 04
Built for AI Answers Too
Content, schema, and page structure are built to hold up through Google core updates and the shift toward AI answers.
How We Measure
What We Track Instead of Vanity Metrics
We agree the numbers that matter before work starts: qualified leads, revenue in your CRM, and cost per customer.
- Leads
- Tracked Into Your CRM
- Cost
- Per Customer, Not Clicks
- Revenue
- Platform vs Your Pipeline
- Citations
- Where You Appear in AI Answers
- Site Health
- Speed, Crawling, and Indexing
- Sprints
- Shipped Work Every Two Weeks
Practitioners, Not Account Managers
The People You Will Work With
Senior leadership on your site, your tracking, and your ad accounts.
Search Architecture
Steven Franzken
Leads search strategy and technical SEO work.
Web Strategy
Nehal Malvi
Leads web strategy, so design, speed and search work together.
Certifications and Tooling
Platforms and Tools We Work In
Good to Know
Questions About Working With Us
Who you will work with, where we are, and how quickly we respond.
Who runs Rank First Digital?
Steven Franzken, Founder and Head of Search Architecture, and Nehal Malvi, Co-Founder and Head of Web Strategy. Both work directly on client accounts, and the senior people you meet in the first call are the same people doing the work.
Where is Rank First Digital based?
We are based in New York and work with clients across the United States. Conversations run over phone, email, and a shared Slack or Teams channel, so location never slows the work down.
What makes Rank First Digital different from a typical agency?
No junior handoffs and no account coordinators. Every account is run by senior practitioners who write the content, ship the code, and adjust the campaigns themselves, on two-week sprints you can watch as they happen.
How quickly will someone reply?
We reply to every request within 8 hours, and work starts within 2 business days of signing. You can also call (845) 635-5911 and speak to the people who would run the account.
Selected Work
Case Studies From Live Client Sites
Each study is a client site as it runs today: what the business sells, what the site had to solve, and how search, content and social work together on the same pages.
E-Commerce and SEOCase Study
Fox Valley Paint
A specialty marking paint manufacturer with a wide catalog and several very different buyers. How a clear product journey, helpful content and search visibility work together for a specialty e-commerce brand.
Read the case studyarrow_forward
Web Design and SEOCase Study
GEO-US
A geothermal contractor with related services and an unfamiliar technology to explain. How a clear structure and plain-language education lead to one consultation path for a technical home-services brand.
Read the case studyarrow_forward
Web Design and SEOCase Study
HVRub-R-Wall
A Hudson Valley waterproofing franchise with a broad service catalog and a product that is invisible once applied. How one index keeps the catalog clear and plain answers build trust before an estimate.
Read the case studyarrow_forward
Website Design and SEOCase Study
JMR Custom Homes
A photography-first homepage for a family-run Hudson Valley builder. How the services stay easy to find and the published guides answer what buyers search first.
Read the case studyarrow_forwardFrom the Blog
Notes on Search, AI Answers and Paid Media
What we are working through on live accounts, written up as it happens: how answer engines pick citations, how tracking holds up, and what we change first.
AI Search • October 2026
arrow_forwardHow to Rank in ChatGPT: How Answer Engines Pick What to Cite
ChatGPT has no separate ranking system to game. How answer engines pick what to cite, which crawler controls your appearance, and what to change on the page.
10 min read
Company News • October 2026
arrow_forwardRank First Digital: From 25 Years of Mid-Hudson Web to AI Search Visibility
How a senior-led New York agency grew out of 25 years of web work, why it split from Mid-Hudson Web, and how it is built so businesses rank on Google and get named by AI.
9 min readboltNext Step
Ready to Work With the People Doing the Work?
No sales reps. No tiered phone queues. Have an honest diagnostic consultation directly with our search and performance media leadership.
verifiedDirect review with Steven Franzken and Nehal Malvi
verifiedNo pitch decks, just what we found on your site and accounts
verifiedReply within 8 hours