Just Me and My: freelance SEO & search marketing consultant. Manchester & Cheshire, UK
Posted: January 11th, 2010 | Author: Ben McKay | Filed under: Link-building, Networking / Social Media, Online Marketing, SEO Help, SEO Project Management Talk: 1 Comment »
We've been working hard on a project that we've been keeping under-wraps for quite some time, so it's a huge relief to finally get it out there! I am so pleased to announce the launch of a new
Search, Analytics and Social Media conference to the UK online marketing scene:
SAScon.
**Read more: SAScon 2010 now launched! Search, Analytics & Social Media 28th April
Posted: January 7th, 2010 | Author: Ben McKay | Filed under: Networking / Social Media Talk: 6 Comments »
After writing a little more serious post on
SEO strategy last month, I thought I would go to the other, more light-hearted end of the search and social spectrum, and nothing beats Twitter for that! Â In fact, follow me, Â
Ben McKay, on Twitter.
Inspired by a number of Twitterererers that I have started to follow of late, I have compiled a list of lists promoting those SEO / search marketing / social media lists that are getting the most followers.
Lists can take some time to develop – so great work to those that have compiled and promoted their own!!
So here they are, the most followed SEO lists on Twitter:
**Read more: Top 15 Most-Followed SEO Lists on Twitter
Posted: December 28th, 2009 | Author: Ben McKay | Filed under: SEO Help, SEO Project Management Talk: 12 Comments »
Over at Mediaedge:cia we’ve been developing a SEO training programme entitled the
MEC SEO Academy. Something that I think is very cool and hopefully adds to what will be a framework where true excellence in SEO is encouraged.
We’ve got a load of print-outs from our favourite SEO websites and a number of SEO books laying around but there doesn’t seem to be much in the way of a summarised version of the items to consider when building-out a SEO strategy. So, I've quickly whipped-up a number of items that I thought could help to provide a framework for approaching SEO strategically. As such it's a work-in-progress, but would be interested to hear your thoughts.
I’m hoping this sort of SEO strategy / thinking could prompt a fairly versatile and integrated…
**Read more: What does an SEO Strategy look like?
Posted: November 3rd, 2009 | Author: Ben McKay | Filed under: SEO Help Talk: 12 Comments »
Please note the following SEM Rush review to follow is geared-up for SEO’s using SEM Rush for understanding keyword volumes and competitiveness and value, but doesn't really cover the PPC value in too much detail. Paid Search guys can also take advantage of the PPC facets that look pretty handy. Although I work with PPC guys a fair bit now, I can apply the SEO applications of this tool much more easily to how SEO’s like to work and so I’ve made that the focus of this review.
So what is SEM Rush?
SEM Rush has a database which tracks the visibility of websites via a huge set of keywords. As a keyword suggestion tool, SEM…
**Read more: SEM Rush Review - Keyword Research & Competitive Analysis
Posted: October 28th, 2009 | Author: Ben McKay | Filed under: Link-building, Networking / Social Media, Online Marketing, SEO Help Talk: No Comments »
Following the success of
last month's Manchester SEO meet-up, the next event is all lined-up now for the infamous Manchester SEO group-ies! Â Have you dropped a note on the Manchester SEO group's thread to say you're attending? Â
Do so here. If you're not part of the group, drop a comment on this blog post and make sure you say hello on the night! Â :)
Don't forget this, like all 'Manchester' SEO events are not just for SEO folk from Manchester but from all over the North West, and I even hear we might be having some attendees from as far away as Leeds coming! It could also be a good chance to learn more about
freelance SEO
Posted: October 4th, 2009 | Author: Ben McKay | Filed under: Link-building, Networking / Social Media, Online Marketing, SEO Help Talk: 2 Comments »
Right, quick post....
So surely you've heard about the Manchester SEO group by now? Well if not, sign-up here. Technically speaking, it's not just for Manchester SEO's and we see people visiting from all over the North West, so do make sure you do too.
SEO Manchester Meet-up
Secondly, you've heard about the Manchester SEO meet-ups that are being organised, haven't you? Well, if not, make sure you attend the next.
If you're not part of LinkedIn the idea of signing up to the Manchester SEO group seems like a huge pain for the sake of meeting for a few beers, so here are the details anyway:
**Read more: Manchester SEO Meet-up > 8th October
Posted: October 1st, 2009 | Author: Ben McKay | Filed under: Link-building, Networking / Social Media, SEO Help Talk: 1 Comment »
As major news sites try to retain some of their link-equity, many have turned to not linking-out at all, rarely or building landing pages for those companies as opposed to linking to them directly. This has created a sort of
SEO blackhole, but what are the implications for people who work in SEO?
What is the 2nd tier link advantage?
2nd tier links are links from authoritative sites or pages that filter through to your site via a middle-man/page. However there is a second version, whereby companies develop internal landing pages that are linked to rather than linking directly to the website in question.
Reporting in your link-profile might therefore only find one link from a site when in actual fact that link has (on a basic level) amalgamated the value…
**Read more: The 2nd Tier Advantage of Modern Day SEO: Online PR example
Posted: July 27th, 2009 | Author: Ben McKay | Filed under: Online Marketing Talk: 8 Comments »
We all know that SEO's have usually fallen in to the industry by accident, but what if the same happened to actors and they took a slightly different career route...which actors do you think would be spammers?!!
- Frankly, my dear, I don’t give any PageRank since my latest penalty – Clark Gable, Gone with the Wind
- Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in White Hat territory any more – Judy Garland, The Wizard of Oz
- Here’s looking at you, kid, your site sucks ass – Humphrey Bogart, Casablanca
- Go ahead make my day...give me a .gov link – Clint Eastwood, Sudden Impact
- @yetanotherben u talkin 2 me? – Robert de Niro, Taxi
- I love the smell of Analytics in the morning – Robert Duvall, Apocalypse Now
- Made it
Posted: May 16th, 2009 | Author: Ben McKay | Filed under: SEO Help, SEO Project Management Talk: 88 Comments »
I’ve written a few questions that might help structure a SEO interview or
get a SEO job. I think though, there are a great deal of ways to answer many of these questions. I’ve toyed with the idea of writing example answers but I think as long as you have a clear idea of the kind of answer you expect to hear back then this should do the trick.
A SEO interview needn’t be a long list of technical questions (as I expect many people might have differing perspectives anyway) but rather a chance for you, as the interviewer, to
understand their technical SEO skills, depth of...
**Read more: 80+ SEO Job Interview Questions
Posted: May 2nd, 2009 | Author: Ben McKay | Filed under: SEO Help, SEO Project Management Talk: 10 Comments »
One of the things that I did a couple of years ago, was look to see what other skills were being required from SEOs. I saw some jobs promoted as web development orientated jobs with SEO tagged on, and others that were promoted as specialist SEO consultants. The reference to SEO is crossing-up in more role descriptions (PR, marketing, copywriting and website management) so it’s all the more important to get a good understanding of how the SEO labour market is getting on and what is required of us (also see
the 80+ SEO interview questions article).
The SEO Career Path?
There are no predetermined career paths in to SEO, like there are for a doctor for instance, but what is clear is that this variety of backgrounds makes it a vibrant and creative place to work in...
**Read more: The Skills needed to get a SEO Consultant Job
