About Us

Carmen Ruffino Kim
Carmen has ten years of business development experience, most of it in real estate. She has tripled deal volume at multiple companies and built the relationships behind those numbers.
Carmen views all businesses she works with as a diamond at the bottom of the ocean. Her favorite type of clients are those who deliver excellent service but need to be discovered. Her job is to get people to find that diamond.
She is the daughter of Spanish-speaking immigrants and grew up figuring things out as the family went. Carmen is bilingual and works with Spanish-speaking owners and Spanish-speaking audiences as well.
Alex Kim
Workbench SEO co-founder, former professional poker player
- Co-founded Workbench SEO with my wife, Carmen Kim
- Co-founded NookLocal, a Greater Philadelphia home search site with listings, property taxes, school data and area guides
- Host of LIVE SEO and AI SEO Audits on YouTube, breaking down real local businesses
- Professional poker player in my early to mid twenties with over $1M in earnings before 21
- Spent the next ten years as a stock investor and self-taught programmer, writing my own tools to read company filings and market data and trade
- Semrush Academy certified in Semrush for Digital Agencies and Keyword Research
- Studied business and marketing at Temple University

Workbench SEO
Local SEO, AI search and websites for established local service businesses. Run by Alex and Carmen Kim out of New Hope, Pennsylvania.
- 5.0 on Google
- Ranked top 20 SEO & AI Search Optimization Company by Clutch worldwide
- Ranked top 3 SEO company in Philadelphia by Clutch
- Semrush Agency Partner
- Inc. Verified
- Google Partner
- Clutch SEO Certified
- Audited 90 local business websites across five counties for our 2026 Philadelphia Suburbs SEO Benchmark Report
- Clutch Premier Verified
- Meta Partner
Are we hiring? Yes and no.
Reviews
★★★★★ 5.0 on Google
★★★★★
1 week ago“We have seen such a difference with how customers communicate with us and it’s all thanks to the platforms Alex recommended.”
★★★★★
1 week ago“Carmen and her team have a brilliant way of understanding their clients’ needs and building systems around them to create a more effective marketing strategy.”
★★★★★
5 weeks ago“Did an amazing job would definitely use every time!”
★★★★★
2 months ago“Been working with Cam and Alex for the last few months very highly recommend their services. So far they have over delivered on my expectations of the services that they provide and their attention to the little things and making sure that all of your information lines up.”
★★★★★
4 months ago“I’ve worked with the owner of Workbench SEO in a previous professional setting and can confidently speak to their professionalism, communication, and work ethic. They are responsive, detail-oriented, and genuinely committed to delivering high-quality results.”
★★★★★
2 months ago“Carmen and Alex are great. They have a wealth of knowledge and strategies to help your business no matter what it is. If you’re on the fence about it don’t think twice, it will be the best move you can make for your business.”
★★★★★
3 months ago“I had an excellent experience working with Alex and Carmen. Their expertise in online marketing and business page management has made a significant difference for my business. They were professional, responsive, and took the time to understand my goals before creating a strategy tailored to my needs.”
★★★★★
4 months ago“Before they started Workbench SEO, Carmen and Alex helped me see the value in Google and marketing. I was 100% referral business before but I needed more volume. I didn’t realize how building a local brand and having leads come just from being online helped.”
★★★★★
a month ago“Carmen and Alex are great to work with! If you are looking to optimize your business ideas, look no further than workbench!”
★★★★★
a month ago“Carmen is incredibly knowledgable and an absolute pleasure to work with. She came to our meeting prepared with strategies that were not only tailored to my business, but to my communication style and capabilities. I was so impressed and look forward to working with her more.”
★★★★★
a month ago“During our very first meeting, Carmen shared a targeted strategy that changed everything. Within 24 hours of implementing it, I generated 30 new Facebook leads—all subscribed to my newsletter!”
★★★★★
a month ago“Her knowledge about building websites, and different marketing platforms and strategies is so accurate and focused on the specific business. She understood my business so well and applied all her knowledge very accurately and personalized.”
★★★★★
2 months ago“These guys completely reworked my website and networked all of my profiles together cannot praise the work that they've done enough highly recommend them if you're looking for SEO and website management”
★★★★★
2 months ago“Working with this team has been a fantastic experience! Their turnaround and response time are top notch — we had a time sensitive issue on our website and they jumped on it immediately, even fixing it complimentary because they understood how urgent it was for our business.”