Meet Austin Michael Zsedely

Austin Zsedely grew up in Webster, New York, just east of Rochester on the shore of Lake Ontario. It was a place of snowy winters, close community, and fall Sundays built around the Buffalo Bills.

I attended Webster Schroeder High School, where I played varsity baseball. Baseball was my sport my whole life—I played from the time I was a kid all the way up until my senior year of high school.

Nearly all of my family members live in and around Rochester, so I grew up surrounded by the people I love. That built-in closeness made me deeply family oriented, and it still shapes how I show up for the people in my life.

Rochester’s history of makers and innovators fed my curiosity. I wanted to understand how things worked—especially websites, search engines, and why certain businesses could be found while others stayed invisible.

I earned my bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from SUNY Oswego, studying marketing research, sales management, operations, and strategic communication.

College also gave me one of my proudest leadership experiences: I started the Kappa Sigma fraternity at SUNY Oswego with my 8 best friends, becoming a founding father. We recruited the first members and built a brotherhood and culture from the ground up.

Our friend group had always called ourselves the “sailors,” and that nickname is where the idea for Sailor SEO came about. When I founded my own company years later, I honestly didn’t know what else to name the business—so the sailors got their name on the door.

Oswego, New YorkSUNY Oswego

Founding FatherKappa Sigma

My path into SEO started in 2021, doing marketing for law firms. That work pulled me deep into search engine optimization, and I never looked back.

In March 2023, I started my own SEO business because I wasn’t getting paid enough at my SEO law firm job and wanted to make more income. So I bet on myself and founded Sailor SEO.

Today, I build SEO strategies and AI-powered tools that help businesses compete in search, and Sailor SEO has grown into one of the top SEO agencies in Rochester, NY—holding a leading position in Google Local Maps results through useful work, honest communication, and measurable progress.

I also code my own SEO bots and free resources—the same tools I use in client work every day. I believe good SEO shouldn't be locked behind an agency wall, so I publish the guides, checkers, and calculators I build for anyone to use at sailorseo.com/resources.

Rochester, New YorkSailor SEO

“The algorithms keep changing. The need for clear strategy doesn’t.”

I wasn’t religious growing up, but as an adult I took the initiative to learn about all religions—their histories, traditions, and the questions people have carried through generations. I keep my own Tanakh, Quran, and Holy Vedas, and studying every faith deepens my respect for others and challenges me to keep growing.

I’m proud to say that I’m a Christian and walk with Jesus. My faith isn’t something I keep in one corner of my life—it’s the foundation underneath everything else: how I work, how I treat people, and how I make decisions when things get hard.

It shapes how I try to live: with humility, knowing I don’t have all the answers; with purpose, doing work that actually helps people instead of chasing what’s loudest; and with compassion, treating every person the way I’d want to be treated. Whether I’m serving a client, spending time with family, or just going about an ordinary day, I want my faith to show in how I show up for people.

I’m a dedicated Buffalo Bills fan for life—I used to go to Bills training camp as a kid. Playing basketball and working out clear my head, reading keeps me learning, and building websites remains one of my favorite ways to turn an idea into something real—lately through vibe coding. I got into crypto in 2020, and I'm a big Solana investor. Away from the screen, I’m usually collecting sports cards, digging into AI, or sharpening the SEO strategies behind Sailor SEO. Entrepreneurship is what pulls all of it together—building something of my own is the best part of every day.

Buffalo, New YorkDedicated Bills Fan for LifeUsed to go to Bills training camp as a kid.

“Letting Go: The Pathway of Surrender” by Dr. David Hawkins is my favorite book of all time.

Diana Nguyen is my partner, my best friend, and the love of my life. We met at Sakura Home for a dinner date, and by our second date I knew I wanted to be with her. I spent that time praying she would become my girlfriend—and God answered my prayers. On October 11th she became my girlfriend. These days you will find us at the gym, out on a hike, or making a night of it at the casino or Dave & Buster's—and at home, over a game of Monopoly, a movie, or time with our two cats Winston & Milo (the real owners of the couch). She is my world, the best mother to our cats, and she makes every one of my days brighter.