Im Speaking at SAScon

April 26, 2012 //
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With the event fast approaching it has been confirming I will be taking part in a panel at this years SAScon event on 17th & 18th May.  I will be participating on the panel “Marketing Across Multiple Platforms – The Challenges and Opportunities”, undoubtedly one of the hottest topics in the world of online at the moment and one which we will be looking to put a search and analytics spin on given the nature of the conference attendees!  If you havent already then be sure to get your tickets sorted as the rest of the programme looks great with some great speakers.  I hope to see you there and make sure you say hello!

Categories Events

7 Steps to Successful Digital Recruitment

April 8, 2012 //
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In the past 8 years I’ve interviewed, and subsequently recruited, quite a few people into digital roles.  Along the way I’m not afraid to say I’ve made a few mistakes.  Thankfully however there have been more successes than failures and as time has gone by my hit rate continues to improve.  Below are a few lessons I have learnt about recruitment in the digital age:

1. Don’t believe everything you read on a CV

I’m sure it happens in every sector but in the digital industry which is less established and structured there is even more scope for people to exaggerate roles, responsibilities and expertise. We also operate in a world of acronyms, buzz words and crazes which makes it easy for somebody to sound like an expert on paper.  Ensuring you interrogate each element of a candidates CV and you will very quickly start to see if any cracks appear.

2. Do your own research

Its common practice now to check out potential candidates social profiles prior to interview.  When viewing their profiles on sites like Linkedin though you need to bear in mind that they are self-edited and as such aren’t always 100% accurate.  Always check the LinkedIn profile against the CV to spot any discrepancies.  I tend to ignore Linkedin recommendations as invariably they are reciprocal and therefore inaccurate.  If you want, however, you can check this out by viewing the profile of the recommendation provider and see if there is a reciprocal recommendation.

Check if they have a twitter profile or blog and what sort of content they are sharing.  This can be a useful insight into their passion for the digital sector.  Those adding thought and insight, regardless of their level, tend to come with more passion and desire which can transcend a level of experience.

3. Use your contacts

We still operate in a relatively small market.  The most useful source of true information on a potential candidate are the contacts you make in your own career.  I always reach out to old contacts or ex-colleagues who may have worked with a candidate to get opinions about them both from an expertise and personal perspective.  This way you can not only understand more about the candidate and how they might fit with a role, but also learn from the mistakes others have made!

4. Test practical knowledge

Much like the point about interrogating a candidates CV, it is also important to interrogate their practical knowledge of digital channels.  Incorporating case studies and practical tests into the recruitment process helps to weed out those who can talk about a subject, but don’t have the technical capabilities to put it into practice.

5. Look beyond expertise

You may happen to come across an intelligent, knowledgeable candidate with great technical capabilities but if they are lacking in more basic skills such as communication, interpersonal skills or tact then you should probably just let them go.  Fitting in with a team structure and communicating with colleagues and clients is often more important.  Knowledge gaps can be filled more easily than personality based traits.

6. Trust your instincts

On a couple of occasions I’ve had a niggling feeling something wasn’t quite right with an appointment but convinced myself everything would work out OK.  Their CV and experience was right, the came across fine, things would work out. Invariably in these instances things didn’t work out and I should have trusted my instincts.  If you have a gut feeling something isn’t right, either work out what it is and address it head on, or don’t make the appointment.

7. Don’t be afraid to admit you made a mistake

Even if you follow all of these steps and cover off all of the bases, you can still make mistakes. The important thing to do in these situations is admit it, and take steps to remedy the situation.  Even the best recruiting managers make mistakes with their appointments; the important thing is understanding where you went wrong and learn for the future.  If the appointment isn’t right either find a role for them within the organisation which is more suitable, or take the necessary steps and find a replacement, it’s better for everybody in the long run.

Categories Digital Marketing

5 positive contributions social media made to the UK riots

August 12, 2011 //
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Despite exaggerated reports by some areas of the press, social media didn’t realistically play any part in starting, or stopping the rioting and looting that has taken place in the past few days. But that’s not to say it didn’t have a role to play in how the events were received, consumed, and experienced by the general public. Here are 5 positive contributions I feel social media made to the situation in the UK over the past few days.

1. Kept people informed, and ultimately safe
An easy one as social media, after all, is a communication channel. But in times or breaking news and events, it really comes into its own. It’s no surprise therefore that twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and numerous blogs became the main source of breaking news as rioting and looting spread throughout the country. But more importantly than just spreading news about the riots social media kept people safe. Updates on where rioting was taking place were made available and spread via social channels such as this Google Maps Mash Up. Granada Reports were the source on the street for real time updates in Manchester via their twitter account and Greater Manchester Police gave advice to the public via their account. All of this helped to keep people safe, knowing where they should, and shouldn’t go.

2. Controlled the rumour mill
As with the majority of breaking news stories, over the days the rioting took place, the rumour mill was out in force. News spread quickly of riots in areas where there were none and the extent of the rioting and looting was vastly exaggerated in some instances. But through a combination of passionate tweeter rubbishing false statements of rioting, and people publishing pictures and videos of the real events, on the whole, the rumours were controlled.

3. Boosted the clean-up effort
It wasn’t social media that made people don rubber gloves, pick up their brooms and join in the clean-up effort, but it helped spread the word. The community spirit and refusal to let the looters get the better that was shown by the clean-up volunteers was great to see, and I have no doubt they would have been willing to do the same with or without social media. But you can’t argue with the role social media played in spreading the word about the clean-up efforts and how it will have contributed to the numbers of people involved.

4. Gave people a voice
Social media is all about having a voice and in the case of the riots this was very evident. Regardless of your views on the cause of the rioting and looting, it gave people an outlet aside from conversations with friends and colleagues. Whether that was venting on Facebook through updates or groups or taking the time to blog their thoughts social media was, as it often is, an outlet for people to express their thoughts on the cause of the unrest, and the people involved.

5. Brought people to justice
And now the worst of the rioting and looting is hopefully over, social media could play its most important role of all. Bringing to justice those involved in mindless violence, destruction and robbery in the past few days. Catchalooter.tumblr.com aims to publish photos of those involved in the looting in an attempt to bring them to justice. Numerous YouTube videos are available aimed at catching looters and the Greater Manchester police are publishing CCTV stills of those wanted in connection with looting on flickr.

Categories Social Media

White Hat vs Black Hat? Does it matter which hat we wear?

June 23, 2011 //
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The white hat vs black hat debate has been rumbling along for a long time, and will likely do so for the foreseeable future.  Many a respected SEO has weighed in on the debate, most recently Rand Fishkin of SEOmoz and many present conflicting views. Most well-known SEO professionals position themselves as ‘white hat’, primarily because they have to.  The negative press around black hat (or grey hat if there is such a thing) means that those positioning themselves on the black side of the fence run the risk of damaging their own, and their companies reputations and unless, as the legendary fantomaster, you want to go all the way to ‘the dark side’ it is not something that would be recommended.

But do the colour of your hat, and the methods you undertake really matter?  Surely what is more important are the results you achieve.  Obviously both sides of the fence have their advantages and disadvantages but so long as you understand these and accept them in the methods you undertake, surely it then becomes irrelevant?

Yes, true white hat SEO techniques are the less risky (notice I didn’t say risk free) option, and more likely to produce the longer term, more sustainable results. But they are also more difficult, more labour intensive and potentially more costly from a man hour perspective.  For large brands with reputations to protect, and businesses potentially reliant on the search engines, this is the best path forward.  There is not point risking it all for a few quick wins and, as frustrating as it may be, patience and persistence are key.

But what if you are working with a site which needs quick results or which has a finite window of opportunity for a particular product or service.  Surely in this situation taking the white hat moral high ground is counterproductive and not in the best interest of the achieving your objectives?  And lets not forget, you can still end up on the wrong side of a penalty or algorithm change even if you didn’t consider your methods black hat. And, as a fellow ranter Paul Madden points out , what’s more ethical?  A transparent programme where everyone is aware of the risks, or a completely white hat programme where the client pays large fees for little reward?

The tactics employed on an SEO programme should, in my opinion, be based on the individual circumstances and the agreed success criteria.  It is pointless stubbornly sitting in either camp if that isn’t in the best interest of the business looking for results.  If you are working with large businesses you are more often than not going to have to consider the long term impact of tactics employed on behalf of their clients and so are going to end up promoting white hat tactics. But that does not mean you should be completely dismissive of the other tactics available that we may need to call upon when the time arrives.

Categories SEO

Does Google Boost Fit the SME Need?

January 13, 2011 //
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At the end of October, Google launched their latest attempt to crack the SME market, Google Boost. In recent times Google has dedicated a lot of resource to gaining more of a foothold as a small business marketing channel. The Google Reseller scheme, Jumpstart, GBBO and Google Adwords Vouchers have all been aimed at getting more small businesses using Adwords and their efforts have often seemed confused and convoluted as I have documented in the past. So is Google Boost going to be the answer they are looking for?

The Lowdown

So what is Google Boost all about? Is it the answer to the SME prayers?
Google Boost ads are basically paid search listings linked to a Google Places with management automated and simplified. These ads appear, as normal paid search listings, on Google.com (and variations) and Google maps in the sponsored links sections.

Google Boost Example

Google Boost Example

The SME provides a description of their business, which is used as the ad copy, selects the category and sub category their business falls in to, picks a budget, and away they go! The business location is pulled from the Google Places information and Google takes care of the rest. Google selects the most appropriate keywords for your advert to appear on, manage your bid prices, your daily settings and the SME sits back and waits for the business to roll in.

What problem is this solving?

Google is making serious in roads into local search at present and Google Boost forms part of this attack. It appears from the outside that there is a clear focus on local search internally at Google, so to them, this provides the ideal solution for further monetising both local search, and Google Maps.

But what about the SME?

Google Boost is a stripped back, simplified version of Adwords with a local twist, so Google is obviously hoping its simplicity and local targeting will make it appeal to the SME.

Does this fit the SME need?

In my opinion, no. I’ve worked extensively in the SME search market in the UK and simplicity and leaving it all to somebody else, are on the whole, way down the list when it comes to priorities around paid search. Most SMEs want to know where and when their ads are going to be appearing, and are less than pleased if they can’t see them. With Google Boost they are reliant on software to choose their keywords and on Google for their ad-scheduling, a significant lack of control from the SME perspective.

They are also not going to get the support they need should something go wrong with Google Boost or if they just have a question. It is a core SME need to know they can pick up the phone, or send in an email, and they will receive response and support for the service they have purchased and with Google Boost they won’t get this.

So what is it good for?

I’ve no doubt that in the US, where local search is more prevalent, and Boost is currently in beta, they will get some level of take up. High ticket value services with local appeal such as solicitors, dentists and vets ill probably see quite high take up (solicitors is one of the key markets in US SME search) but it isn’t going to be any sort of magic bullet and will probably just take up some slack from their cancelled reseller programme. Many, more developed markets will see Boost as unnecessary and too basic for their needs. And in the UK (despite recent attempts to force maps into the results) local results are not as relevant and generally accurate enough to be useful. Where they are, the advertisers available will be limited to the point it won’t reach the penetration Google will need to keep it running.

So what next?

I predict Google Boost will make it out of beta n the US, with reasonable success, but fail to reach penetration in the UK and Europe without a major SERP shake up. Then Google will be back to the drawing board trying to find their next product to take over the SME world.

Categories Google
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