Kelvin Newman

What did I learn swapping a book for a retweet?

A few weeks ago I released a mini eBook about link building for SEO titled “Becoming a Clockwork Pirate.” Although I put my heart, soul and everything I know about link building into the 30,000 word digital mini-book, that’s not what made the book most interesting.

What made it unusual was the approach I took in ‘monetising’ it.

by Kelvin Newman 03 March 2011 10:13am 4 comments

51 essential link building tips

I’ve been fortunate enough to write over 275 blog posts across a variety of different SEO blogs, some have been successful, others have had more a lead balloon vibe. Often you have no idea beforehand which ones are going to work.

But one pattern I’ve been able to discern is people love in-depth blog posts. So inspired by great posts, like Aaron Wall and Glen at Viperchill’s long-form posts, I wanted to produce my link building opus of as many ways I could think to build links for here on Econsultancy.

So below are some of my top tips that cover off pretty much every way you can go about building links...

by Kelvin Newman 15 February 2011 11:25am 45 comments

Seven signs your SEO agency is living in the past

The whole world of digital marketing is maturing but it’s still hugely dynamic, particularly in the world of search marketing.

This makes it an exciting time to be involved in the sector but does mean more and more agencies and practitioners are being left behind, clinging to what used to work and sticking with habits even if they aren’t doing anyone any favours.

But how can you spot one of these search marketing laggards, who have fallen so far behind?

by Kelvin Newman 23 September 2010 12:26pm 15 comments

Why PRs can be better link builders than SEOs

I talked in my last post here at Econsultancy about whether the PR industry had missed the boat on SEO. Although there were some differing opinions in the comments, I think the consensus was that the public relations firms could have done more to get into search engine optimisation.

Despite this reticence to get going I think there’s a scary truth that the search firms need to wake up to: If and when the PR industry gets its act together a lot of the link development tactics search companies are delivering could be delivered by someone with a public relations background.

by Kelvin Newman 03 September 2010 10:41am 35 comments

Is it too late for PRs to get in on SEO?

A couple of weeks ago I was invited along to an event organised by the Charted Institute of Public Relations, discussing whether the PR industry had missed a huge opportunity to get into the lucrative SEO industry.

As is often the way, the offline event was triggered by sequence of blog posts and tweets, on the subject. Those I particularly recommend reading are from Andrew Bruce Smith, where he compared SEO company performance to PR agencies and an interesting slideshare from Stephen Waddington. John Straw also talked about how SEO is morphing into PR in a recent Econsultancy interview.

Being a search marketer who had seen myself going into PR while I was in university, I was interested to hear what the industry thought. It was a very interesting debate with a number of opinions, but the short answer is yes, they missed a huge opportunity.

by Kelvin Newman 05 August 2010 11:45am 27 comments

Google May-Day update: five tips for e-commerce sites

Get twenty different search marketers in a room and you’ll often get twenty different opinions on a subject; but there is a growing consensus that some tweaks were made to the Google Algorithim in the last few days of April to first few days of May.

This has become known as the Google May-Day Update.

by Kelvin Newman 17 June 2010 10:35am 6 comments

Sneaky ways to top Google's local listings

You don’t have to be an SEO geek to have noticed that over the last six months or so, whenever you search for a phrase with a location in it, Google shows maps with local listings.

What you might not have realised is that these results are sorted and sequenced by a different and far more basic algorithm than the main search index. Not surprisingly given the simplicity of these system and prevalence of the listings, some cheeky beggars have been using some ingenious ways of boosting their rankings on Google Maps.

by Kelvin Newman 30 April 2010 10:22am 43 comments

The #debill ‘could’ threaten 3G internet for iPhones

It’s been a few days since the controversial Digital Economy Bill got the final approval from Parliament, now it only needs Royal Assent to become law.

Despite a concerted and impressive online lobbying campaign, it seems that party politics was more important than Twitter outcry.

But now the dust has settled the time has come to give the bill and all its last minute amendments some scrutiny. One thing that immediately sprung out to me on reading the bill was its assumption that IP address equates to an individual.

by Kelvin Newman 15 April 2010 08:56am 8 comments

Six questions to expose fly by night SEO suppliers

Look on any marketing or web design company’s website and the chances are they’ll claim they do SEO. While some may do great work, some are just chancers.

Even amongst the specialist agencies, some businesses are much more effective at what they do than others. But how can you tell the difference between the well-qualified and snake oil merchants?

A few well placed questions should do the trick:

by Kelvin Newman 06 April 2010 10:47am 21 comments

Adapting content management to real time search

There’s been a lot of change in deciding what ranks on a Google search result page over the last few months. According to Andrew Girdwood, 'Too many SEOs are in denial about the radical changes that have overhauled Google in recent months.'

One of the biggest changes Andrew’s talking about is the importance of ‘real time search’, which requires a fundamental shift in how you go about producing content.

So how can make your content production process more suited to the demands of real time search?

by Kelvin Newman 26 March 2010 09:10am 1 comment