Julia Bocchese didn’t originally set out to build a business in SEO, Pinterest, and AI strategy. At the time, she was planning for graduate school, studying history with a focus on the Viking Age, and freelancing simply because she wanted the flexibility to balance work with academia.
Along the way, she started writing content for small businesses and applying SEO techniques she’d learned to help their blogs rank higher on Google. The results were working — businesses were seeing more traffic — but Julia noticed something else happening too. “They didn’t really understand what I was doing or why they were getting more traffic from Google,” she said.
That realization slowly shifted the direction of her work. “What started as freelance content writing evolved into a deeper focus on helping businesses understand how search actually works — and how they could use it intentionally to reach the right people.
Today, through Julia Renee Consulting, Julia helps creative and holistic small businesses navigate SEO, Pinterest, and emerging AI search strategies with a clear, sustainable approach that prioritizes long-term visibility over quick hacks or impossible content schedules. “I would never tell a client to blog every day or pin 50 times a day because that isn’t feasible for a small business owner who’s wearing all the hats,” she explained.
That practicality sits at the center of her philosophy. Julia’s work is grounded in transparency and education just as much as strategy. She wants clients to understand not only what she’s doing, but why it matters — especially as search behavior continues to evolve with more people turning to platforms like ChatGPT and AI tools to find information online.
At one point, Julia found herself at a crossroads between pursuing a PhD and continuing to grow what she calls her “accidental business.” She chose the business path “with no regrets,” and that decision ultimately shaped the work she does today: helping business owners feel less intimidated by search marketing and more confident about how they show up online.
Julia shared more with us about her journey into SEO strategy and how she’s helping businesses adapt to the future of search.
How are you helping businesses and what are you most proud of?
JB: With helping my clients rank higher and reach more clients on search engines and Pinterest, they’re able to grow their businesses and get back time to focus on what they love to do. By getting the grant, I would be able to spend more time learning about all these new AI strategies so I can implement them for my clients and help them increase their visibility even more to get in front of more potential clients.
My favorite accomplishments with my clients is whenever they email me that they got their first client from Google or Pinterest because of the work I did. I was the first SEO professor at Drexel University, and I regularly get invited to be a guest lecturer for college classes.
What do you see as the future of SEO and visibility for business owners?
JB: AI is really changing the search engine world. Right now, I’m starting to add on AI search strategies because more and more people are using AI platforms like ChatGPT as search engines, and I want to help my clients get found there, too. Over the next few years, I want to be an AI search expert for small businesses to make sure they’re staying on top of search trends and getting found where their clients are searching. I’m now offering AI Audits and AI search add-ons to my SEO services, and I want to expand that to more AI search services to help my clients with everything they need.
What advice would you give other business owners?
JB: It’s ok to stay small. I hear a lot of people pushing building agencies and having lots of employees and scaling to an 8 figure business, but you don’t have to do all that if it’s not right for you. I’ve had my business for over 8 years and have only had part-time team members in the last couple of years. I’m happy to scale steadily without a large team to manage, and my flexible schedule means I can take off time to travel and spend time with my kids.
- Book you’d recommend: Company of One by Paul Jarvis
- Favorite podcasts: Simple Pin Podcast, Well-Oiled Operations, Behind the Design, Mindset to Market, The Get Paid Podcast, Gardening Simplified (for something not business related 🙂
- What’s the most unhinged thing you’ve ever done in your business? I never want to let being a mom hold me back in business, so I brought my oldest daughter with me to a business retreat in Spain when she was 9 months old, and my second daughter attended two SEO conferences with me before she turned 3 months old.
- Fun fact: I met my husband while we were studying abroad in Denmark
Julia Bocchese is an SEO, Pinterest, and AI search strategist who helps businesses get found online and attract the right clients through search. She’s the founder of Julia Renee Consulting, where she builds clear, sustainable strategies focused on real growth, conversions, and long-term visibility, without the confusing jargon.
