Kevin Gibbons

Five things you need to do online in 2010

If sorting out the corporate website is your ambition for 2010, it can be pretty difficult to know where to start and what to prioritise. After all, you’re bound to have a budget to stick to. So where should you start?

by Kevin Gibbons 04 January 2010 12:42pm 15 comments

What would a Tory government mean for SEO?

Although it’s by no means a sealed deal, it’s very possible that in the 2010 election, the government will change and the Conservatives will lead the country. What might that mean for our industry?

by Kevin Gibbons 14 December 2009 10:30am 7 comments

How to build relationships with blogs

Whatever your industry, there’s bound to be a blog out there that specialises in it, and these can be incredibly valuable sources of inbound links to your site.

by Kevin Gibbons 07 December 2009 14:46pm 7 comments

A journalist’s guide to SEO

Last week the BBC announced it was to start optimising its headlines in an attempt to gain greater visibility in the search engine results pages, so I thought I’d take a look at journalism and the web.

by Kevin Gibbons 30 November 2009 11:10am 49 comments

How often should you review your SEO strategy?

It doesn’t matter how well your search engine optimisation (SEO) strategy is working for you, it’s always worth taking the time to revaluate and see if it could be doing better. Your returns might be impressive, your strategy masterful, but in these times of tightened budgets, you need to be confident that every penny you spend is worth it.

by Kevin Gibbons 24 November 2009 09:57am 11 comments

How SEO complements your PR

Search engine optimisation (SEO) is part of your public relations (PR), not just some geeky addition to your website.

When I’m discussing SEO with a new client, understanding their wider PR campaign is essential to my planning. So why do so many firms see SEO as some website add-on, rather than a developing, often creative enhancement of their PR work?

I think it’s because SEO execs tend to be technology fiends, while PR staff tend to be arts graduates with a passion for creativity – there doesn’t seem to be much middle ground.

Yet it’s essential that PR works closely with an SEO team to make sure both budgets are working as hard as they possibly can and complementing each others’ work.

I've previously talked about how social media marketing should be looked at from both an SEO and PR perspective, but here are a few key ways in which PR and SEO working together can enhance a company’s online presence dramatically.

by Kevin Gibbons 19 November 2009 11:02am 23 comments

Five reasons your content is damaging your brand

Although many businesses now recognise the importance of regularly updated content to their search engine optimisation (SEO) efforts, not enough of them understand the importance of quality content.

This is apparent from many of the badly-penned blogs, rubbishy ‘news’ stories and plagiarised or simply stolen articles that the web is gradually filling up with.

Many companies fill their sites with scraped posts, barely literate articles and keyword-stuffed nonsense in the hope of attracting Google’s attention, so I wanted to take a look at just what this sort of behaviour is doing to your brand; how it’s affecting the customer experience.

by Kevin Gibbons 17 November 2009 10:30am 4 comments

Why SEM isn't all that

You have to love a contentious headline. In this article, I won't be declaring search engine marketing (SEM) dead. What I want to explore are the various ways you should support this kind of marketing elsewhere on your website.

by Kevin Gibbons 30 October 2009 11:01am 2 comments

Where should you spend your online budget?

The amount spent advertising online has finally exceeded that amount spent on TV promotions. So, if you're planning to dedicate more marketing money to the web platform, where should you spend that cash?

People are spending more online, both shoppers and advertisers. That means your customers are on the web but it also means your competitors have upped their game.

So you probably plan to increase the amount you spend, but where should you spend that cash? Should you boost your email marketing or ramp up your paid ads?

by Kevin Gibbons 05 October 2009 10:52am 12 comments

How to successfully survey your visitors

Information is power. This is particularly true online, where having information about your customers' preferences allows you to market to them far more successfully.

Sometimes, you will have to go to your consumers and actively request their help answering your questions, meaning you'll need to run a survey. Unfortunately, these can be a real turnoff for consumers.

As a web entrepreneur, I've had to put a great deal of thought into gleaning my customers' opinions. Here are a few hints and tips I have picked up. As always, I'll be delighted if you choose to add to the list through the comments section below.

by Kevin Gibbons 30 September 2009 11:01am 5 comments