About Emerald Creative Content

Your award-winning, full service, SEO-first digital marketing agency in Columbus, OH!

We Make Small Businesses Impossible to Overlook

Emerald Creative Content is an SEO-first creative marketing agency in Columbus, Ohio. We help growing businesses become more discoverable, recognizable, and trusted through strategic marketing built for the way people search today.

But our mission goes beyond executing marketing for our clients.

We believe business owners deserve to understand the strategies shaping their growth. That’s why education is built into everything we do, from the way we communicate with clients to the workshops, mentorship, and training we provide throughout our community.

Our Mission

To give growing businesses the strategy, creativity, and knowledge they need to become the obvious choice.

We combine SEO, GEO, content, branding, web design, and creative direction to help businesses earn attention in all the places their audiences are looking.

Along the way, we explain what we’re doing, why it matters, and how each part contributes to the bigger picture. Our clients aren’t kept in the dark or overwhelmed with jargon. They become more confident, informed participants in their own growth.

We’re Educators at Heart

Emerald was founded in 2022 by Amanda Kern, a former educator, and that background continues to shape the agency we are building. We don’t believe expertise should be used to create confusion or dependency. We believe it should create clarity!

That means translating complicated ideas into practical strategies, giving clients visibility into their results, and helping people make smarter decisions about their marketing, even when they aren’t ready to hire an agency.

  • We teach clients how SEO, AI visibility, content, and analytics work together.

  • We offer workshops, webinars, Power Hours, and hands-on training.

  • We mentor emerging professionals and create opportunities to learn through real work.

  • We partner with community organizations to make high-quality marketing education more accessible.

  • We share what we know instead of guarding it.

Our Core Values

When business owners understand their marketing, they are better equipped to grow sustainably.

Education Creates Opportunity

We make complex marketing concepts understandable and give people tools they can continue using long after a meeting, workshop, or project ends.

Creativity Needs Strategy

Beautiful marketing is not enough. Every website, campaign, video, and piece of content should have a purpose. We use audience insights, search data, and business goals to guide the creative process.

Growth Is Collaborative

We listen to our clients, learn from one another, and partner with talented specialists and community organizations to create better outcomes than any of us could produce alone.

Strong Businesses Strengthen Communities

When trustworthy small businesses become more visible, they can create jobs, serve more people, and make a greater impact in their communities.

Meet the SEO Coven

  • Amanda Kern

    FOUNDING PARTNER, CEO

    You’ll see Amanda managing projects, designing high level strategies, and hosting educational workshops about SEO, AI, and digital marketing topics.

    BBB of Central Ohio Board Member, Columbus Chamber of Commerce Small Business Council, NAWBO Woman Business Owner of the Year Top 10 Class (2026), Columbus Chamber Emerging Leader Award (2025), M.A. in Educational Studies - University of Michigan (2013)

    Catch her at open mics doing stand up, reading spooky books by candlelight, or at dance classes after hours.

  • Ashley Hegarty Smith

    PARTNER, CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER

    As a teacher-turned-small-business-marketer, Ashley is passionate about demystifying SEO and equipping business owners with the knowledge they need to get more eyeballs on their products and services.

    Her superpower is creating kick-ass SEO strategies that set up brands to beat out their competitors with highly relevant, keyword-rich content that sounds just like them. You can catch her outside the office at a Crew game or in the fantasy section at the Book Loft in German Village. 

  • Maggie Zelasko

    PARTNER, CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER

    I am Google Ads Search Certified. I’m skilled in Content Marketing, Brand Management, Social Media Strategy, Project Management, Copywriting and Visual Design. Highly organized, efficient, collaborative and enthusiastic with a certificate in Strategic Marketing from Cornell and a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Psychology from The Ohio State University.

  • Grace Casella

    MARKETING SPECIALIST

    I’m a photographer, videographer, and social media professional who creates content that blends creativity with strategy. I focus on building social media that feels authentic, engaging, and intentional. My work centers on turning ideas into content that people actually want to watch and interact with. That means identifying trends early, shaping them to fit a brand’s voice, and creating content that connects with audiences in a meaningful way.

Ready for a Different Kind of Agency Partnership?

We don’t want clients to feel like their marketing is happening somewhere behind a curtain. We invite questions. We share the reasoning behind our recommendations. We report on what is working, acknowledge what isn’t, and adjust the strategy as new information emerges. If this sounds like your type of partnership, let’s have a conversation.

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