Author Archive » Kelvin
Kelvin Newman is SiteVisibility's Creative Director and is the editor of the UK's most listened to Marketing Podcast which is second biggest in the iTunes US.
He also spends his time at conferences, tweeting too much and working on top secret research and development projects.
You can contact Kelvin by email at kelvin.newman@sitevisibility.com
I was working the other day sending out some link requests for one of our publishing clients. I’d taken quite bit of time selecting who to contact so I had my fingers crossed that I’d be pretty successful. What I hadn’t anticipated that a lot of the people I was contacting would reply asking how to subscribe to the magazine in question. It reminded me that with a bit of luck the link building process can actually do quite a good job to help you sell.
Twice the benefits – via flickr
It got me thinking about things to do when link building that might encourage the recipient to buy your product as well as link.
Read on
Although I have no clues with time zones and what day of the week it is abroad, it seems New York’s [tag]SMX[/tag] social media is done and dusted. I’ve scoured through the live blogging and post-mortems and tried as glean as much info as I can while being on the wrong side of the Atlantic. It seems like it was a great event and a good time was had by all.
Let me know if you can read it alright – how to avoid Powerpoint-itis – via flickr
But with one conference closed, thoughts are already turning to another. SMX London, is top of my hit list, and as a special treat for all those of you giving presentations at SMX or any of the other search conferences, I asked [tag]Andy Beal[/tag] for his advice on how to deliver a killer presentation to an SEO crowd.
Read on
While many of the more traditional business community is still using LinkedIn; judging by the volume of friend requests I’ve had in the last few months it seems the SEO industry has made itself at home their. It’s even the super fickle Neil Patel’s favourite social media site at the moment.
Sometimes it’s easier when things find you – via flickr
While most people have been dabbling to shill their blog or just check up on what their ex is up to; there is a very real opportunity to find your next SEO Job. We’ve experimented using Facebook when recruiting for our last couple of search marketing jobs and its highlighted some good steps people could be taking to help you bag that next search marketing job.
Read on
We’ve been giving Apple Pie and Custard quite a bit of attention since our move from Blogger to WordPress. Although it’s only been two months we’ve been really impressed with the community and attention we’ve been able to attract. We’d always like a few more subscribers (sign up here, go on you know you want to!) but that’s because we’re an ambitious lot.
There are certain rules that must always be obeyed – via flickr
Since the re-launch I think myself, Eloi and the rest of the team have learnt quite a lot about blogging and developed a unique voice. When we started out, I posted up what could best be described as a manifesto which I think we’ve stuck to pretty well, but I think what we’ve been trying to achieve can be summed up quite well by these blogging mantras. While they have been quite useful to me, a lot of bloggers in any niche would be wise to bear them in mind.
Read on
The last few days’ I’ve spent a little time improving my profile and expanding my network over at [tag]LinkedIn[/tag]. (It’s here if any readers would like to add me) While it’s never going to replace [tag]Facebook[/tag], I felt it reflected on me quite badly having a neglected profile. And I was pleasantly surprised at some of the great feature they have over there which FB would be wise to replicate or steal.
Balaclava’s for the discerning intelectual property thief – via flickr
Auto Suggestion of Friends – I found the ability to see people who have recently joined the site from ex-employers or university brilliant. I can often find old acquaintances on Facebook when they add a mutual friend, but LinkedIn tool works really well. I tend to be quite selective about whom I add on social networking sites, but anything that helps me include my ‘real’ friends is great.
Questions & Answers – I use [tag]Yahoo Answers[/tag] all the time for our clients but I’m not what you would call a recreational user. However seeing how people are using Questions on LinkedIn makes me wish that functionality was available with out installing a spammy application on Facebook. You have the wisdom of crowds combined with the pre-qualification of the answerer having mutual friend connection. I can think of tonnes of times when I’ve been striving for a lost blog post or had a technical SEO question where this kind of ability in Facebook would have really been useful.
Read on
There’s lots of things out there that would make my life as a search engine marketer much easier. So if there was a SEO lamp with a genie inside there are a couple of problems which I’d ask him to sort out for me.
Anything in the world including the secret to the Google Algo and you want a tin of beer and a lolly? – via here & here.
Though if I only had one wish, I’d probably ask if the Google Keyword Tool could be combined with their Adwords Keyword Traffic Estimator.
In the UK the keyword tools are pretty unreliable. We’ve experimented with them all and Google’s various free tools seem the most accurate, but my life would be so much easier if I was able to use the keyword suggestion aspect on the normal tool with the statistical output of the traffic estimator.
The green bars just don’t cut the mustard, the chances are even a laymen could tell you if a keyword has lots, some or no search volume, so numerical figures form the traffic estimator would add killer functionality their keyword tool.
It got me thinking what some of my other SEO types would wish for from the [tag]SEO Genie[/tag], so I’m here by tagging
[tag]Patrick Altoft[/tag] from http://blog.seoptimise.com/
[tag]Matt Jones[/tag] from http://bloggingfingers.com/
[tag]Nick Wilsdon[/tag] from http://www.e3internet.com/greenhouse/nick/
[tag]Julie Joyce[/tag] from http://www.seo-chicks.com
[tag]Maki[/tag] from http://www.doshdosh.com
For their opinion…
As regular readers might have guessed myself and Eloi are addicted to the social networking site for the search industry, Sphinn. It helps content that might be below the radar of the A-list get noticed and it’s helped us get chatting to some friendly SEOs we never would have met otherwise.
We made the home page; the milky bars are on me – via flickr
Now it’s been running for a while I’ve begun to notice a few patterns in the content that goes popular and wins a coveted place in the SearchCap newsletter, that I thought was worth sharing with you all. And in true [tag]Sphinn-bait[/tag] style I’ve squeezed them into a top five list. Read on
The last couple of days the SEO blogosphere has gone a bit Blogrush crazy, while some people seem to be getting real results from the blog widget, which promises you traffic if you share traffic, others have decried it as a obvious Pyramid scheme.
Now that gives me an idea – via flickr
I disagree with both; it’s actually a Ponzi scheme, which while quite similar is actually a bit different.
Read on
Our American readers might not know but, Northern Rock the UK’s fifth largest mortgage lender has found themselves in a bit of bother in the last week. Simplifying the story; [tag]Northern Rock[/tag]‘s business model relied upon cheap credit which dried up after the sub-prime problems stateside and paniced savers started withdrawing all their money from the bank making their problems even worse.
I thought a topical story like this would be a perfect opportunity to see how Google’s [tag]Universal Search[/tag] was working. And fair play to the Big G they featured some good news stories and blog coverage nicely integrated within their results.
What I hadn’t expected to really expected to see was [tag]PPC[/tag] advertisers taking advantage of the situation. The PPC adverts were full of affiliates, as you would expect, but at the bottom of page one an online publisher was advertising their news coverage.
Read on
An opportunity has arisen for a bright and energetic candidate to join a dynamic Internet & search engine marketing agency. SEM is one the fastest growing Internet marketing sectors. Some of our clients include: Haymarket Publishing, CancerBackup, Legal Week, HSA, Help the Aged.
This is a very autonomous and hands-on role so we are seeking a search engine marketer who can think strategically as well as implement some of the tactical elements of search marketing campaigns. You will also be required to manage a small team of junior search marketers.
You will be responsible for managing clients ranging in size and across many different industry sectors. Your role will involve taking responsibility for the implementation and management of mainly Paid Search campaigns but also Natural Search, along with looking after each client on an ongoing basis.
You can Find the full job description at http://www.sitevisibility.co.uk/jobs.html
