We are extremely pleased to announce our two charity partners for the 2025/26 financial year.

The announcement comes as part of a new direction for Corporate Social Responsibility at the agency – we have decided to move away from supporting a variety of charities on an ad-hoc basis, to a more formalised ‘Charity Partnership’ agreement. This will allow for a more dedicated approach to helping the vital causes.

This year, we will be supporting two Sheffield-based charities – The Archer Project and Weston Park Cancer Charity.  This support will come in a variety of forms such as time, resources and fundraising, and will be planned in collaboration with the charities, to maximise its effectiveness.

The Archer Project

For over 30 years, The Archer Project has helped individuals to progress away from homelessness, and move towards living a more meaningful and fulfilled life. They offer individuals programmes across a number of areas including health and wellbeing, routine planning and transition support.

They also offer vital resources to homeless people in the area, including a ‘Breakfast club’ and access to certain healthcare.

Terry Murphy, Managing Director of Archer Project Enterprises, said,

“We’re absolutely delighted that The Archer Project has been selected by The SEO Works as one of their partner charities for the year. Our social enterprise team is especially looking forward to collaborating with their brilliant marketing professionals to grow our skills, build our brand, and ultimately strengthen the impact of Printed by Us.”

Tim, CEO of the Archer Project echoed his sentiment, saying,

“We are deeply grateful to The SEO Works for naming us one of their Charity Partners. We are looking forward to working together to highlight the urgent needs of those experiencing homelessness. Together, we are making a significant impact and bringing hope to many lives. Thank you!”

Weston Park Cancer Charity

Weston Park Cancer Charity, also based in Sheffield, is a leading cancer charity that offers advice, therapies and support to patients and their loved ones, helping everyone to live with and beyond cancer.

The funds they raise also support vital, pioneering research and clinical trials. The agency will focus on support for the wellbeing, support and welfare area of the charity. 

Emma Clarke, CEO of Weston Park Cancer Charity, said,

“I’m thrilled to announce our partnership with The SEO Works. Their support will be instrumental in helping us raise vital funds over the next year, helping us continue to enable research, provide support and enhance cancer treatment. The team at The SEO Works are full of creative ideas, we’re excited to see the impact we can make together.”

What the Partnerships Involve

This twelve-month charity partnership with both organisations hopes to make a difference to the fantastic causes they support.

Firstly, working with the charities directly and building an ongoing relationship will allow us to fully understand the imminent needs of each charity. Being able to dedicate a mixture of time, resources, expertise and fundraising as needs dictate and fluctuate throughout the year, will allow the partnership to be as effective as possible – giving exactly what the charities need, when they need it.

Each staff member here is granted one charity day per year, increasing to two after one year of employment. Our new partnerships with the charities will give staff the opportunity to utilise these days across a number of areas, whether it’s fundraising, a sponsored activity or being on the front line at The Archer Project or Weston Park Cancer Charity. With over 75 staff members at their disposal, this is a huge resource that charities can capitalised on. 

Our large team of expert digital marketers also allows us to provide access to key expertise and skills for the charities – helping them increase awareness of their crucial causes and expand their fundraising with the help of digital marketing approaches.

And finally, fundraising. We already undertake a variety of fundraising activities throughout the year with anything from bake sales to running the Sheffield 10k. Our Sales Director, Alex Hill, has also ran the London Marathon on behalf of Cavendish Cancer Care, the organisation which has now merged with Weston Park Cancer Charity.

With a corporate focus on honing these fundraising activities, the hope for us is that throughout 2025/26 is we can raise a significant amount of money to donate to them both, making a real impact. 

On the announcement, Alex Hill said,

“We have a culture of fundraising and charity support – it’s an important part of our events throughout the year. So, we thought it was about time we as a company levelled-up our charity approach, and to kick this off we’ve chosen two charities close to our hearts.

“The Archer Project and Weston Park Cancer Charity are very important organisations within Sheffield, and the local work they do is extremely important. I’m excited to see how our partnerships will flourish throughout the coming year and how we can assist them in their mission.”

The post Our 2025 Charity Partners appeared first on The SEO Works.

We’re proud to be recognised on the global stage, driving real results with a raft of international clients. Here’s why we are a truly global digital marketing agency.

Awards and Recognition

We are proud to have received numerous global accolades, including Integrated Search Agency of the Year and Best PPC Campaign at the Global Agency Awards 2024. We have won Global Integrated Search Agency of the Year twice, also winning in 2023.

Judges said of the agency: “The SEO Works illustrates the clear correlation between employee satisfaction and client success. The recent work section stands out … showcasing the agency’s innovative solutions and tangible impact. The narrative, prioritising people and highlighting the brilliant ‘strategy on a page’ inclusion, truly resonates, demonstrating a commitment to holistic success.”

These awards confirm The SEO Works’ standing as a top global player in digital marketing. Our focus on achieving client goals, supporting the team, and using cutting-edge techniques ensures we are well-placed to keep driving outstanding outcomes for companies internationally.

“Winning Best Global Integrated Search Agency is a fantastic achievement and demonstrates the talent and results-focused culture of our hardworking team,” said Ben Foster, CEO of The SEO Works.

“We’re delighted to be able to demonstrate our ability to get results for clients with an integrated digital marketing strategy on the global stage.”

We have been recognised as one of the fastest growing companies in the UK Fast Growth Index and the Adweek Fastest Growing Awards. Our working and team culture was also acknowledged at the Company Culture Awards in the Best Agency to work for shortlist.

Customer Satisfaction

The SEO Works is proud to be a Clutch Global winner. Clutch awards are heavily based on independently verified client reviews. Winning a Global Award means that numerous clients have provided outstanding feedback about the company’s quality of work, professionalism, and results. This indicates a strong track record of exceeding client expectations.

The “Global” aspect highlights that The SEO Works stands out amongst a vast pool of service providers across the world, signifying a truly elite level of performance. Clutch Global winners represent the top 1000 companies out of 350,000 on the Clutch platform worldwide!

“These exceptional providers demonstrate what excellence truly means in action,” said Tim Condon, Chief Revenue Officer of Clutch. “A Clutch Global Winner is a top-performing company that has consistently delighted its clients and demonstrated exceptional expertise in its field on an international level, as validated by a reputable third-party platform. Being included in the Clutch 1000 is more than an award—it’s a testament to their role as true drivers of client success.”

Clutch is seen as the “Which” for business-to-business service providers. It’s an independent B2B ratings and reviews platform that looks at a company’s market presence, the services it provides, and most importantly reviews from its clients, to determine its rankings. You can read more about the selection methodology here.

Achieving this success would not be possible without our client’s consistently positive reviews. We always aim to do everything we can to help our clients meet their goals, so there is no better feeling than knowing that they are happy with the results of our work.  We are so grateful to all of our clients who took the time to leave a review with Clutch. Here are a few of our favourites:

• They have a reputable team with some exceptionally talented individuals, and we’ve been fortunate enough to have had most of them working on our project.
• Their team provided exceptional customer service and were responsive via phone and email. Whenever we requested additional features and various changes, they were always prompt and helpful with getting things done quickly. We were extremely happy with their service.
• They understand my business and what I want to achieve. Other companies may give you a lot of statistics on what they can do, but I find that The SEO Works sticks to the work and actually delivers.

You can read more reviews here: https://clutch.co/profile/seo-works

Ben Foster, CEO at The SEO Works said: “We are committed to providing our clients with the highest level of service possible. This means having a team that is not only knowledgeable, competent, and flexible, but skilled in communication and ready to adapt to new situations and obstacles as trends in marketing shift. We’re delighted to be ranked at the top of our game globally, for the services we provide”.

End-to-End Marketing

At The SEO Works, we offer a full suite of digital marketing services, from strategy and planning to implementation and optimisation. These are built around your business and your goals. We start by getting to know you properly. That means looking at your audience, your market, and what success looks like for you.

Once we’ve got that clear, we build a strategy that brings in the right people. That might include SEO services (technical, on-page, off-page and local), PPC services, paid social ads across the platforms that matter, content marketing, and digital PR to help raise your profile. We are also experts in delivering global campaigns targeting multiple regions with international SEO.

We don’t stop at getting traffic. We focus on turning that interest into real results – whether that’s redesigning your website with an SEO-first approach or improving how your website performs through CRO (conversion rate optimisation). Throughout, we track everything closely and share regular reports, so you can see what’s working and what needs adjusting.

You will have a main point of contact for all digital marketing needs, but access to our broad team of experts, ensuring consistency and efficiency. Rather than having to manage different agencies for different services, our end-to-end services will help streamline communication and internal time management.

Global Reach

Our team has lots of experience working with international brands and organisations. We understand how to run campaigns in different countries, in different languages, and across different time zones. Whether a company is expanding into new markets or already operates overseas, The SEO Works can help them grow.

We are headquartered in the UK with offices in Sheffield, Leeds, and London, but work with clients both across the UK and internationally. Our dedicated team specialising in international SEO have successfully delivered campaigns targeting many regions, including Saudi Arabia, the USA, and Japan.

Our client portfolio includes both UK-based companies looking to expand internationally and international businesses seeking to improve their global online presence. This flexibility has helped us support global clients in sectors like healthcare, e-commerce, education, and SAAS.

Focus on Results

We pride ourselves on our ability to deliver real, measurable results for businesses – no vanity metrics, no jargon. This focus on providing a real return on investment is the foundation of our agency, and it’s what motivates us. You can see some of the results we have achieved for our clients in our detailed case studies.

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The post The SEO Works is an award-winning, end-to-end global digital marketing agency appeared first on The SEO Works.

We sit down with our Head of SEO to discuss the history, highlights and challenges of his career so far.

Paul Friend, our Head of SEO, joined The SEO Works back in 2017 as a Senior Account Manager. He worked his way up and in 2020 was promoted to Head of SEO.

We sat down with Paul to deep dive into the most rewarding aspects of his role, and the more challenging parts. Here’s what he had to say…

Please introduce yourself…

Hi, I’m Paul and I’m Head of SEO at The SEO Works. In September, I will have been here for 8 years! 

I’ve actually been in the industry for 20 years. I started as a PR account handler all the way back in 2005, but since 2017 have been working my way up to where I am today at The SEO Works – now managing a team of more than 40 SEOs!

Tell us about a proud moment in your career

Being given the opportunity to lead the SEO team here, and most importantly, being able to contribute to the rapid expansion and development of the department over the last four years is something I am extremely proud of.

If I’ve played a small part in helping an account manager or campaign succeed, then that’s the ultimate validation of what we’re trying to achieve here.

What is the biggest industry challenge in 2025?

The biggest challenge will be responding to the rapidly developing AI landscape. We must be able to see through the sales patter and hype to find those use-cases that actually benefit clients’ SEO campaigns and provide value to their audiences.

I think the fast pace and ever-changing nature of SEO is ultimately what keeps the sector interesting. Because of this, the industry today is fairly unrecognisable from the one I started in around 16-17 years ago.

Techniques, technologies and ranking factors come and go, but if you put the user at the heart of everything you do, you can insulate yourself against any industry volatility.

How does your team set itself apart?

Our shared values and a shared vision sets my team apart from our competition. We’ve always tried to encourage our more experienced colleagues to ‘pay it back’ – make time to give newer members of the team the benefit of your knowledge and experience.

We also really try to listen; to what our team needs, to what our clients’ need, to what’s happening in the wider industry – that way, we can continue to develop and deliver a service that’s best.

Can you tell us what makes your job rewarding?

The most fulfilling aspect of the role is definitely seeing the individual team members develop their knowledge and hone their expertise in SEO.

We’ve had many colleagues join us as Account Executives who then progress all the way to Senior Account Managers or Team Leaders, and I think we’ve done a great job as a company in creating an environment where that kind of progression can happen.

Please tell us an exciting development in SEO

One of the areas I’m really interested in is the connection between your overall digital brand ‘strength’ and your organic search performance. I doubt Google will ever explicitly say there’s a direct link between the two, but there does seem to be mounting anecdotal evidence to suggest that’s the case.

So there we have it, Paul looking back (and forward) into the world of SEO and his life at The SEO Works.

If you wish to work with Paul and his fab team, please get in touch. We assist with a number of clients across the UK and Internationlly with their SEO to bosst organic ranking and encourage site traffic. Click here to enquire today!

The post Introducing our Head of SEO: Paul Friend appeared first on The SEO Works.

In a year marked by rapid advancements in both the capabilities and usage of artificial intelligence, our sector isn’t one for standing still.

Before we were asking if AI would impact our sector – now the question is to what extent.

But the developments weren’t just restricted to this emerging technology – we saw multiple significant Google Search updates, the protagonists of the advertising landscape shift, and more.

Every year we take a look at what we expect to see for the year ahead. And every year it changes enormously.

So what do our senior leaders see for 2025? In this piece, we’ll look at:

• Digital trends
• SEO trends
• PPC trends
• Web trends
• New business trends

So, let’s get started…

Digital Trends

with Ben Foster

Chief Executive Officer

In 2024, you couldn’t move for headlines about AI. Large corporates have scrambled to understand where and how it can add value. Prophesiers have had a field day. Thousands of start-ups have been spawned. We’ve even seen some huge brands start to create TV adverts with it.

It’s fair to say that it isn’t going anywhere and we are still in that explosive early phase where developments are happening at lightning speed and the ability of the technology is improving in leaps and bounds.

In 2025 I predict that AI usage will shift from generating (generally low-quality) content to integrating it into business workflows and making sense of data. AI Video creation will also be adopted at scale. Expect all of your favourite tools and platforms to double down on AI integration, adding AI features wherever they can.

In the world of search, 2025 is going to be the year of the brand. Recent changes to Google have favoured companies that have a real-world footprint that is broader than just an optimised website.

Showing that as a company you are more than just your product or service and being present across multiple channels and touchpoints will favour you in the eyes of Google. For us, that means educating our clients about how we can harness these other touchpoints and joining the dots across marketing channels.

SEO also is evolving into “search everywhere optimisation” – consumers are now finding information and answers through many different channels, from AI search through to TikTok, YouTube and image search. The most successful brands will be omni-channel and discoverable for more than just their product.

When marketers are being asked to do more for less, this can seem overwhelming. With all this noise, it still pays to remember that Google still enjoys circa 90% market share. We’re here to help our clients make sense of it all and focus on what matters – their own digital growth.

SEO Trends

with Paul Friend

Head of SEO

During 2024 you could barely go five seconds without yet another ‘revolutionary’ Artificial Intelligence tool or ‘game-changing’ startup announcement.

But while most were short-lived, half-baked or beta-versions at best, there have been a few select tools and processes we’ve integrated into our workflow to save our SEO team time and add valuable insight into our campaigns (and we’re always on the lookout for more – subject to rigorous testing of course!). 

An important part of the AI adoption process has been to go behind the hype. Phrases like ‘powered by AI’ are so vague and common-place as to become meaningless. Consumers (including us as an agency and our client base) are becoming increasingly savvy to these marketing messages, so companies will have to go to greater lengths to show how AI can make a tangible difference in their products.

That said, studies estimate that over 8 billion devices now have some form of AI-enabled assistant – a figure which has nearly doubled in the past 18 months. It’s a development likely to reshape the marketing landscape over the next 12 months by opening the door to unparalleled levels of personalisation and curation.

In 2025, I think a big question our industry needs to ask is, ‘What is a modern SEO?’ It’s no longer enough just to be an expert on all things links, content and technical.

The modern SEO needs to understand the role that brand plays in the search landscape, be able to talk strategically to clients about where they sit in their industry versus competitors, identify and deliver on opportunities for sustained, long-term growth (not just highlight issues and fixes) and do more to understand their client’s audience behaviour and browsing habits. 

Ultimately, being a successful SEO in 2025 means being consultative and adaptive – having a strategic plan in place to paint a compelling comparative picture, gain buy-in and ensure you’re not working in a vacuum.

Your medium-to-long-term plan also needs to be flexible enough to respond to market changes, your client’s business objectives, seasonality, audience behaviour patterns, and of course, Google algorithm updates.

Simply relying on a rigid list of deliverables to plough through without ever stopping to analyse what’s effective and why will look severely limiting in comparison. 

Over the past few years I think Google has grown wise to us doing SEO for SEO’s sake, so it’s time to regroup, double-down and make sure your organic campaigns are fully integrated into a client’s marketing mix and effectively targeting legitimate audience segments rather than algorithms.

PPC Trends

with Kathryn Pearson

Head of PPC

As predicted, PPC saw a huge surge in AI and automation during 2024 – with smarter campaign optimisation, ad creative generation, and advancement in real-time bidding.  AI models became more advanced this year and more integrated into paid media advertising platforms. 

2025 will see a continued advancement in AI and automation, focusing on driving efficiency, personalisation and performance across all paid media platforms. By delivering deeper insights into data and trends, AI will help ensure ads are delivered to the most relevant audience and are made more personalised for the user.

2024 also saw further growth in video search ad formats and connected TV advertising, with platforms such as Prime, Netflix and Disney+ increasing their advertising efforts. 

With the growth of streaming services, this is expected to continue to grow throughout 2025, with advertisers starting to prioritise these streaming platforms within their marketing strategy. These platforms are also likely to enhance their ad offerings, to include interactive and shoppable ads in the next few years. 

Most surprisingly, 2024 saw Google’s decision to abandon or perhaps delay their third-party cookie removal plans, stating they were not in the best position to manage the removal. Instead, they will roll out a one-time cookie prompt to users, allowing users to set their own cookie preferences. But there is still talk that Google will phase out third-party cookies in Chrome by the end of 2025, so watch this space…

I think voice and visual search ads will see increased growth during 2025, changing how brands connect with their audiences, and enhancing the overall customer experience. Voice search ads will benefit from AI-driven virtual assistants like Alexa and Google and offer more conversational ad formats. These ads will allow customers to discover and purchase products hands-free with only voice commands, more and more.

Visual search Ads will see a similar growth, driven again by advancements in AI. This technology will allow consumers to search for products by simply taking a photo – creating an effortless journey from discovery to purchase. Advertisers utilising this technology in their marketing strategy will be able to better understand their customers’ intent and purchase journey.

Video ads and interactive ad formats will advance during 2025 too, with platforms YouTube and TikTok enhancing their shoppable video ad features – allowing users to purchase directly from the ad experience. These innovative formats will become essential for brands to connect with their customers and drive sales in the future.

Web Trends

with Graham Jones

Head of Web

Overall, the word on the street is that AI has become an indispensable tool for web developers in 2024, enabling them to create more efficient, user-friendly, and secure websites. I can’t wait to see some of the groundbreaking systems that many promise – whether these come to fruition in 2025 remains to be seen.

Last year‘s web review mentioned how we could expect to see advancements in AI and machine learning and I got excited at the potential impact this could have on the web landscape and within the industry in general.

My expectations may have been a little overzealous, but overall the prospect of a revolution in the way we develop and interact with sites remains true, and 2024 feels like we’re now well and truly down the path. Although we might not quite have the tangible increases in efficiency and productivity we were hoping for, there is still a palpable sense that AI can and will start to be used effectively in 2025.

This can only happen once we see more prominent deployment of AI-powered systems embedded in our processes, and the ‘battle for supremacy’ between the various platforms settles a little.

Aside from that, it’s been ‘business as usual’ in web development. We continue to show commitment to learning, adaptation, and perseverance in the evolving tech landscape,  something that’s essential in order to stay relevant and ensure our work is still valued by businesses.

According to Stack Overflow’s recent developer survey, JavaScript, HTML/CSS, and Python continue to be the most popular programming languages in 2024 with Python emerging as the most desired for future use, and this is no doubt due to its simplicity and versatility.

Efficiency and productivity seem to be more critical than ever and we continue to face challenges, particularly with technical debt and market shifts, but I’m optimistic about the future, especially regarding AI’s potential to improve workflows. Developer consensus online is that AI tools will complement, not replace, us developers and many expect to shift from writing code to reviewing AI-generated code in the future.

Despite the recent spat between web heavyweights WordPress and WP Engine, with WordPress throwing its proverbial toys out the pram and taking control of the hugely popular Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) plugin, 2024 has been a significant year for WordPress with several major updates and improvements. This has included further enhancements to WP’s editor user experience with Gutenberg continuing to become ever more intuitive and powerful.

Real-time collaboration, enhanced styling capabilities and improved search and command prompt functionality have all added to its useability. Various performance improvements have also been made to reduce loading times and enhance overall website speed, which as we know, is crucial these days.

Overall, WordPress has continued to evolve in 2024, offering a more powerful, user-friendly, and secure platform for building websites and web applications, which as WordPress specialists ourselves, is something we’re very excited about. However, with the advent of AI-enhanced development, we should all remember what open source means. 

As WordPress CEO and co-founder Matt Mullenweg points out, stop calling things open source when they’re clearly not (he’s calling out Meta’s supposedly free-to-use AI platform here)

So we look to 2025. For fear of repeating the ‘things to expect’ from previous reviews in this article, it is, in effect, more of the same, just with enhancement from AI. There is always going to be a continued focus on user experience and increased efficiency and automation, but I hope AI can help by offering more than just code generation or personalised content.

I’m itching to start seeing how AI can influence design and accessibility, enhanced security and, possibly the golden ticket; improved efficiency. The real uptake will occur when we finally see a faster turnaround with accelerated development, where AI tools streamline development with reduced manual effort, automating those repetitive tasks, and freeing us up to focus on more complex and creative aspects of a project (the bits we really enjoy!). Ultimately this should lead to better quality across the board.

New Business Trends

with Alex Hill

Sales Director

2024 has certainly been a year of numerous learnings and business development oscillations, with the months of late Spring and early Summer providing a real challenge in terms of conversion rate and deals secured.

For the past 4-5 years, we’ve boasted a really strong and consistent pitch-to-deal ratio, but I’d describe these particular months as providing a real boomerang of performance!

We’ve had no shortage of demand, and if anything our inbound lead numbers have far excelled 2023, but the sales cycle has lengthened, and the number pulling the trigger on their new digital search campaigns has certainly decreased, perhaps due to the confusion AI’s prominence and varying products has meant for us all.

But late summer saw that boomerang effect and we’ve returned, thankfully, to nearly the same figures we attained prior, so confidence in the market has obviously been affected by perhaps the election and other macroeconomic factors. But thankfully, and very positively, there remains no shortage in demand for our services and a trusted provider.

We’ve secured a number of exciting new projects and clients this year across many different sectors, and have focussed on the importance of retaining more existing clients. We’ve also continued on from 2023 with many businesses showing a real appetite for new SEO focussed websites (utilising our unique ‘SEO Phase Zero’ approach to design and development) for their company’s offering.

2024 has again allowed us to welcome back a far higher number of in-person pitches and business discussions this year, something that really started to gain momentum again in 2023 after COVID restrictions were lifted and life got back to normal.

We’ve always been a visible and transparent agency and continue to encourage an in-person meeting, and we’ve welcomed so many more prospective clients to our gorgeous headquarters in Sheffield to pitch our solutions and to meet a mixture of our department heads and campaign account managers. 

Our ongoing advice to businesses looking to take their first steps into digital marketing, and especially SEO, is to always remain patient and to keep the faith in the process. Don’t forget, SEO is a medium to long-term marketing investment and can take time to provide a return on the investment.

So don’t simply knee-jerk and pull the plug in the first couple of months when results are highly unlikely to come your way, as the medium to long-term benefits of a well-executed SEO campaign will pay incredible dividends, if you give it the fullest opportunity.

So what will 2025 bring us for new business and further opportunities for growth? I feel most agencies will really have to work hard to secure new business, showing how they’re going to have to fully demonstrate ROI and true value, and work even harder to retain their clients, with more competition in the digital agency market often offering dangerously favourable (and unsustainable?!) terms to entice new clients through the door.

We’re all hugely looking forward to seeing what 2025 will bring and we all couldn’t be more up for the challenge.

It’s Time to Get Ahead

As this article shows, there’s a lot to think about in the coming year…

But our experts are here to help make sure you’re not just aware of the developments, but getting ahead of them.

Whether it’s our SEO, PPC or Web team, they’re among the best in the business – receiving international awards and working with household brands. All to help businesses get more customers online, in the ever-changing world of digital marketing.

With the right assistance, these changes can be seen as exciting. But without it, you can get left behind.

Get in touch with our team today, and get ahead of 2025.

The post 2025 in Digital appeared first on The SEO Works.

It’s no secret the amount of work that goes into both SEO and PPC campaigns, and the significant level of expertise that is required.

From SEO tasks like audits, keyword research, content optimisations and technical website fixes, to PPC activities such as bidding strategies, audience creations and landing page optimisations. 

However, what’s less well-known is the preparation and work required for prospective clients.

Here at The SEO Works, before we begin working with any client, we spend some time looking at the industry landscape, as well as either auditing their website or reviewing the Google Ads or social media ads performance.

Areas covered in our initial audits

Our initial audits are collaborative pieces of work, to bring in expertise from across the company and ensure this comprehensive evaluation mirrors the approach we take with any live client project.

Our in-house Digital Solutions Coordinator carries out every audit, and depending on what is found, they can draw in knowledge and resources from the SEO, PPC and Digital PR teams.

The audits at this stage provide a rounded view of the overall account performance, however are concise compared to the audit conducted during a full campaign.

The SEO audits cover:

• Current keyword performance – looking at the number of rankings held in key target locations of the past 6, 12 or 24 months. 
• Sample keyword research – a sample keyword research to identify strengths and weaknesses and explore organic competitors. 
• Top technical issues/opportunities – a review of key technical factors to identify strengths and weaknesses of the website. 
• Top content issues – a review of the current website content to highlight strengths and weaknesses. 
• Sample content creation opportunities – to provide examples of useful content for the website, such as commercial and informational-based blog content. 
• Backlink profile analysis – diving into the number and qualities of referring domains to consider how much resource in this area is required. 
• Competitor analysis – identifying organic competitors and how their performance compares to the prospects.

The PPC audits cover:

• Review of past performance – an audit of the current account performance to highlight where improvements are required.
• Overview of campaign and ad group structures – reviewing and making recommendations to improve the overall account structure.
• Review of keywords & negative keywords – considering current keyword performance, and making recommendations on both keywords and negative keywords. 
• Audience analysis – auditing audience performance and identifying potential new or amended audiences. 
• Review of landing page performance – auditing current landing page performance and making recommendations on improvements. 
• Quality and relevancy score review & recommendations – where quality and relevancy scores are low we review how this can be improved.
• Research into keywords, bidding prices, competitiveness, and budgets.

Why auditing prospective SEO & PPC clients is important

Understanding the current SEO & PPC performance

The primary reason for auditing prospective client websites and accounts is to gain a strong understanding of the client’s current SEO & PPC performance.

By understanding the content, technical and backlink positioning of the site we gain an understanding of the time and resources that will be required for an ongoing SEO campaign, as well as building an initial benchmark of performance.

Similarly, by understanding how a paid campaign is currently performing we can begin to build a strategy for improving performance.

Understanding the competitive landscape

Whilst exploring a prospect’s current performance, we will also audit competitor performance. This will allow us to understand how aggressive our strategy needs to be, allow us to understand priority areas, and also identify new areas for growth.

Through this competitor research, we also explore how direct business competitors perform and if these differ from their organic competitors.

Gain an understanding of the work required

One of the benefits of carrying out audits is to give us an insight into the priority work likely to be needed in the campaign. It can also help us assign the most appropriate account manager and team to the client when they are onboard with us. 

For example, if our SEO audits identify some complex technical issues with multi-language targeting, we would assign an account manager with expertise in this area.

Accurately pitch for the campaign

Ultimately, by gaining the understanding outlined in the points above, these audits allow us to accurately pitch and quote for a campaign.

By taking into account the level of work required, competition in the industry, and the client’s internal resources, we can successfully provide a range of packages for SEO & PPC that we’re confident would provide positive results.

Set client expectations

For prospective clients that are looking to market using SEO or Ads for the first time, it’s likely that they’re looking to us for advice and guidance on everything from the campaign set up and running, to the actual amount they should be spending to hit their goals.

By doing this initial research, we can use the data to provide clients with accurate budgets, so they can make informed decisions as to whether this is the right avenue for them.

Ensure we are a good fit

Finally, one of the most important reasons for our audits to be carried out is to ensure there’s a good match between client requirements and our services.

Occasionally, our initial research identifies that a new website or significant redesign would be required to obtain meaningful results. In these circumstances, we can present the prospective client with the data and advise on their options.

Conclusion

Auditing prospective clients is a vital step in ensuring that we’re equipped to deliver the results they require and can assign an appropriate strategy, allocate the right team, and set clear expectations.

For prospective clients, these audits offer valuable insights into whether SEO or paid ads are suitable for meeting their objectives.

If you want to find out more about an audit and proposal, get in touch with our business development team.

The post Why We Audit Prospective Clients appeared first on The SEO Works.

Last year, global digital advertising spending hit over £325 billion – accounting for nearly 60% of all marketing spend.

The question is no longer ‘will digital dominate marketing?’, but ‘what will future growth for the digital world look like’?

With new technologies, approaches and opportunities constantly emerging, there’s never been a more exciting time to be in digital. But this excitement comes with challenges.

As 2024 begins, we asked our most senior experts to take a look at the main trends of last year and what you can expect from this one. From Google’s Search Generative Experience to first-party data , it is set to be a crucial year in the development of the digital world.

As always with our industry, we expect the only constant to be change.

In 2024 in Digital we’ll look at:

• Digital trends
• SEO trends
• PPC trends
• Web trends
• New business trends

Let’s begin…

Digital trends:

with Ben Foster, Chief Executive Officer

2023 will be remembered as a watershed moment for AI. The release of ChatGPT allowed your average citizen to experiment with AI and see what it was (and wasn’t) capable of. It quickly spurred tech giants into action, with Google releasing their own version called Bard, and Microsoft investing into OpenAI.

Though basic forms of AI have been around for ages, it feels the technology has advanced at lightning speed recently. The idea of an ultra-intelligent algorithm with the potential to take over the world is no longer fiction; it has become a serious topic of discussion among tech and government officials as they seek to create policy that aligns global outlook.

2024 will see the field of generative AI evolve further. GPT-5 could be released in 2024, and OpenAI has already released “GPTs” that can be created by users. GPTs are customisable apps that can use ChatGPT for specific tasks, effectively creating a marketplace for use cases.

At The SEO Works, we’ve found it helpful in some areas, but not so in others. The technology has helped us in many ways such as creating scripts to improve internal linking, brainstorm ideas, and helping form outline structures for articles. 

For those that haven’t yet used it, 2024 should be the year where you start to dip your toe in the water or be left behind. But be mindful: whilst this technology can make things faster or more efficient, it also demands more thoughtfulness and focus on quality. The last thing we want as consumers is for the internet to become a sea of low quality, anodyne, personality-free content. The brands that get it right won’t lose their core voice or creativity amongst the tech.

In terms of the economy it seems we may be set for further uncertainty, but with potential light at the end of the tunnel. Although 2023 was a tough year for many we’ve still had another record year. We’ve helped our clients reach new heights online and welcomed lots of lovely and talented people into our growing team. Growth will still be a key focus for brands in 2024 and our mission to continue to deliver that remains. Those that are able to invest in darker periods will emerge into the light even stronger.

SEO trends:

with Paul Friend, Head of SEO

Two things have dominated SEO in 2023  – the rollout of Google Analytics 4 (and subsequent sunsetting of UA) and the industry-wide proliferation of ChatGPT/AI tools. 

Like most big changes within the SEO industry, it felt like the trepidation in the lead-up to the GA4 switchover was far worse than the reality. Once the dust had settled and clients’ websites had been transferred across to the new platform, we found that the insights and data we could pull from GA4 helped us to understand user behaviour in a clearer way. And in those early days, by carefully planning in platform migrations in collaboration with our clients, we minimised any data discrepancies and ensured the flow of data was continuous and relevant.   

Similarly, for all the early bluster and warnings of AI making SEOs redundant and invading every facet of our working lives, we’ve actually used the tools sparingly. We’ve successfully augmented our human-led approach with some smaller, but no-less helpful, time-saving activities using AI-tools. This has helped free up our experienced team to do more of what they do best, whilst providing an even better value service to clients. 

Looking to the future, Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) rollout should usher in a sea-change in the industry next year. And like most major changes to the search landscape, there’s no time like the present to start gauging the likely impact of SGE on your clients’ organic traffic and developing tactics accordingly.

If your SEO strategy already focuses on creating Subject Matter Expert (SME) content and displaying E-E-A-T (experience, expertise, authority and trust) with your users, you’re potentially in good shape for the full-scale SGE rollout in 2024.

PPC trends:

with Kathryn Pearson, Head of PPC

As predicted, 2023 saw automation and AI grow. We saw the increased popularity and use of ChatGPT, performance max campaign usage increased and the use of first-party data to target audiences grew.

First-party data will continue to dominate during 2024, as online privacy concerns continue. This will stay at the forefront of both consumer and advertiser minds during 2024, with first-party data collection being a priority. 

AI and automation will continue to evolve during 2024, with the sunsetting of Google Chrome cookies still on track for quarter 4 of 2024. This means advertisers will need to adapt and work together with AI and automation to ensure continued success.

Google began to phase out similar audiences during the spring of 2023, due to the new data privacy regulations and the eventual removal of third-party cookies. Another reason for advertisers to shift their focus towards first-party data during 2024. 

June 2023 saw Google attribution models, first click, linear, time decay and position-based removed from Google Ads. Making data-driven attribution the default model in both Google Ads and Google Analytics 4.

This leads us to the biggest change we have seen in the digital marketing space for years – the switch from Universal Analytics to Google Analytics 4. GA4 was built with privacy at its core, another move by Google to increase privacy online for consumers, as we enter into a cookieless world.

YouTube and connected TV advertising grew during 2023, with Google introducing voiceover characteristics for video Ads, audio advertisements for YouTube and new video view campaigns. This will continue into 2024 with Google continually pushing YouTube and connected TV advertising – introducing new audio, video and voice search features to increase demand across their video network.

We will also see other Ad services such as TikTok and Amazon challenging the Ad giants Google and Meta a lot more during 2024, as their popularity grows and consumer intent increases. Streaming services, such as Disney+, Hulu and Netflix will embrace their share of the advertising marketplace this year, increasing their efforts, improving Ad relevance and reaching more and more consumers each month.

Web trends:

with Graham Jones, Head of Web

This year, there was an emphasis on responsive design, serverless architecture, optimised voice search, motion UI, and continued focus on cybersecurity. Additionally, WordPress development continued to evolve.

This year’s release of WordPress versions 6.2 and 6.4 have reimagined the platform content management experience, introducing more ways to style your site, and offering new ‘distraction-free’ ways to write and publish content. WordPress continues to position itself as a creative tool, professing that its improvements ‘…give you more control and freedom to express your creative vision’ than ever before.’

Other trends that have grown in popularity over the last year include the growth of Progressive Web Apps (PWA), use of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, and a lean towards headless CMS’s for speed and flexibility. All these trends are a result of a push to improve the user experience, performance, and accessibility of web applications, making them more efficient, engaging, and secure.

AI and ML continued to play a significant role in web development. Developers are starting to use these technologies to personalise user experiences, predict user behaviour, and automate various tasks. AI Chatbots have also become more sophisticated, providing users with instant and intelligent interactions.

As we step into 2024, the web development landscape promises to be dynamic and innovative. Things to keep an eye out for include:

1. Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) Integration   

We hopefully will start to see further integration with AR and VR technologies, creating immersive web experiences that go beyond traditional 2D interfaces and providing users with engaging interactive content.

2. Edge Computing Integration

Edge computing, which involves processing data closer to the source of input rather than relying on centralised cloud servers, will become more prevalent.

3. Blockchain in Web Development

Enhanced security, transparency, and decentralisation, all of these are crucial for enterprise-level systems. This is where Blockchain technology comes in. ‘Smart contracts’ and ‘decentralised applications’ will become more common, enabling developers to create trustless and tamper-proof web solutions.

4. Continued resonance AI and ML

The impact of AI and ML on web development and the technology sector as a whole is sure to deepen. We can expect to see increases in efficiency, productivity and accuracy where it matters, in key areas such as Healthcare (for diagnosis and personalisation), Finance (analysis and risk assessment), and Manufacturing (service, quality control). As AI technology advances, it should become easier for developers to deploy AI-powered software, creating platforms that adapt and perform new functions to solve different problems.

Developers who are able to adapt to the emerging trends and technologies will be equipped to create digital experiences that captivate users and drive the industry forward. Keeping a keen eye on the evolving needs of users and the ever-expanding possibilities of technology will be crucial for staying at the forefront of web development in the coming year.

New business trends:

with Alex Hill, Sales Director

2023 has been a year of numerous learnings and evolution in the sales, business development and solution planning areas of the agency. With the COVID-19 restrictions now firmly in the past, it’s the economic outlook that has applied more direct pressure on us, and although we’ve continued to grow and flourish in 2023, it hasn’t been without new challenges for our team. 

We’ve secured a number of exciting new projects and clients this year across many different sectors, and have retained many longer-standing clients due to a successful initial term, and we’ve also seen a real appetite for new SEO focussed website design and development projects.

With the economic turbulence experienced this past 12 months, our business development and solutions team has had to work hard to emphasise credibility in the importance of our client’s need to stay confident in their marketing investment, as many look shorter term to reduce it. 

We have not only sustained but increased our own marketing spend to generate new business opportunities in 2023. The demand for digital marketing services remains high, and is imperative for a high proportion of businesses in today’s economy. 

We’ve welcomed back a far higher number of in-person pitches and business discussions this year, something I’ve always been a huge advocate of and look to encourage further as we head into the new year. I believe there’s no substitute for how to build initial rapport than from an in-person meeting, and to welcome prospective clients to our headquarters in Sheffield to meet a mixture of our department heads and campaign account managers. 

So what will 2024 have in store for us regarding new business and further opportunities for growth? I feel it’ll be much the same as 2023, with prospective new clients really wanting to maximise the full value and ROI they receive for their digital spend, and rightly so.

I feel a lot of businesses will be exploring CRO enhancements to their websites, again aiming to drive a better UX and conversion rate. Combined with SEO-focussed new website builds, we’re really expecting our SEO “phase zero” approach to web design and builds will continue to prosper and we’re all hugely looking forward to seeing what 2024 will bring.

Year in Search 2023

And finally, here’s Google’s yearly roundup – this year, looking back at 25 years of search!

Be part of the growth

With so many exciting developments on the horizon, there’s never been a more important time to partner with an agency that can help you take advantage of them.

Our team of digital growth experts are among the leading practitioners in the UK – winning multiple awards for their cutting-edge creativity and technical know-how…

Whether that’s in SEO, PPC or Web!

Get in touch with our team today, and set your business up to have the best year yet in 2024.

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At The SEO Works, we’re committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace. To us, diversity offers different perspectives and ideas, helping us to unlock new opportunities. We also want all our staff members to feel included, no matter their race, gender, sexuality or background. 

According to a 2020 report by the Data & Marketing Association (DMA), 88% of marketers are white, 77% are heterosexual and 83% reported not having a disability. Clearly, more needs to be done to create change. 

Rachel Aldighieri, Managing Director at the DMA, said: “We believe that actions are more impactful than words – particularly with regards to diversity and inclusion.” With this in mind, we’re making a conscious effort at The SEO Works to promote diversity and inclusion in the workplace. 

Below you can learn more about what we’re doing, from working groups to fundraising and reviewing our internal processes. Plus, we’ve interviewed some of our team members to hear about their experiences working for us.

What We’re Doing

D&I working group

D&I initiatives are more effective when multiple perspectives are involved. That’s why we’ve set up a diversity and inclusion working group, consisting of four individuals from a range of backgrounds. We have quarterly meetings, where we discuss initiatives, create action plans and review feedback from the wider team.

Reviewing recruitment processes

Diversity starts with building a team that doesn’t all look and think the same. Since starting our D&I working group, we’ve added diversity and inclusion clauses to all our job adverts, encouraging applications from a wider talent pool.

Supporting charities

D&I isn’t just about reviewing internal business processes – it’s about giving back, too. At The SEO Works, we host fundraising events all year-round to support local charities. Recently, we had a bake sale for SAYiT – a Sheffield charity supporting LGBTQ+ youth. We’ve also raised money for Movember, Stonewall and the Albert Kennedy Trust.

Celebrating awareness days

Awareness days are a great way to challenge stereotypes, educate and inspire. 

Every year, we celebrate awareness days, both internally and externally in our marketing. This year, we celebrated Pride month with a talk from SAYiT’s Heather Paterson about the history of Pride, helping to educate our team about LGBTQ+ rights. We also celebrate International Women’s Day amongst other events.

Responding to feedback from the wider team

It’s crucial that we don’t just act, but listen to our team too. We’re currently in the process of collecting feedback from our employees about what they’d like to see in terms of diversity and inclusion in the business. Then, we’ll use these insights to inform future initiatives.

Championing D&I in our marketing

Our free resources are designed to educate our audience about marketing, so they can get more customers online. As part of this, we’re making a conscious effort to be inclusive. For example, we recently published a guide to making your marketing and web design more LGBTQ+ friendly. In the past, we’ve also published a guide to accessibility in SEO. By actioning this advice, businesses can connect with a larger, more diverse audience base.

HR process

It’s important that our HR processes fall in line with industry best practices. Our HR Officer is continually reviewing these documents to ensure they’re compliant with the law, including the Equality Act of 2010. We’ve also made improvements to our maternity and paternity policies to be more inclusive of same-sex couples.

What Our Employees Say

“Something that doesn’t often get mentioned is how our work from home policy (up to 3 days per week) helps people dealing with various disabilities. In my own experience, particularly working in jobs with zero hours contracts where working from home wasn’t an option, being ill meant completely missing out on work and pay. This is the first job I’ve had where I truly feel that I’m ‘allowed to be ill’, without having to miss out on work.“

Zak Smith-Mountain (He/Him), Senior SEO Account Executive

“Since joining The SEO Works, I’ve felt both welcomed and empowered to be myself, all while receiving the utmost respect from my colleagues and management. I have always been encouraged to bring my unique perspective to the table and the company’s commitment to fostering a supportive environment is reflected in its policies, communication and opportunities.”

Sarah Storey (She/Her), SEO Team Leader

“The SEO Works created an environment where I felt comfortable to come out as nonbinary in the workplace. I was able to very easily change my pronouns in our HR software, and this has now been reflected in any communications I receive. I appreciate that our HR team are very open to honest feedback, and are making a conscious effort to create real change in the business.”

Liam Taft (They/Them), SEO Team Leader

“The SEO Works has curated an inviting atmosphere and culture from the top level management down. It’s a relaxed environment that always encourages people to be their authentic selves. From day one, I knew I could be myself, which has been so valuable in both my personal and professional life.”

Keiran Malcolm (He/Him), Senior SEO Account Manager

“The SEO Works has always felt like a safe, comfortable place to work. From celebrating Pride month to having talks on diversity and inclusion in the workplace, The SEO Works makes a concerted effort to make all employees feel like we can be ourselves.”

Kayleigh Goode (She/Her), PPC Team Leader

Final Thoughts

We’re proud to be a business that values and champions diversity and inclusion. If you’re looking for a digital marketing role, and you’re from a diverse background, we encourage you to apply for one of our roles.

View Open Vacancies

The post Diversity & Inclusion: What We’re Doing at The SEO Works appeared first on The SEO Works.

LGBTQ+ people aren’t going anywhere. In fact, 3.1% of the UK population identified as LGBTQ+ in 2020, which is almost double the percentage in 2014. 

Yet still, many marketers aren’t inclusive of LGBTQ+ people. Websites and marketing campaigns rarely include people with diverse characteristics. And, when they do, they’re full of stereotypes and clichés. 

The story usually goes like this: brands bring out the rainbows during Pride month, only to put them away for the rest of the year. 

Whilst we appreciate the support, this doesn’t ensure LGBTQ+ people feel included on your website every day. In fact, it’s often small, subtle changes – not grand gestures – that create the most impact. 

In this guide, we’ll explore some practical ways you can be more inclusive of LGBTQ+ people in your marketing and web design. We’ve also interviewed LGBTQ+ marketing professionals, as to include a range of perspectives. If you have any additional ideas, get in touch and we can include your suggestions!

10 Considerations for Your Marketing and Web Design

1. Security Practices

When creating passwords, users often have to provide answers to security questions. But are your questions LGBTQ+ inclusive?

For example, the most common question that gets asked is: ‘What’s your mother’s maiden name?’. This assumes that the user has a mother, and not parents of other genders, for example two fathers. 

For many, these questions can feel alienating – and sometimes impossible to answer. Keep this in the back of your mind when creating these questions, and try to think of something more inclusive.

2. Google My Business

When setting up your Google My Business profile, you can mark your business as ‘LGBTQ+ friendly’. In fact, Google revealed that searches for ‘LGBTQ+ friendly’ locations increased by 1,200% between 2017 and 2022.

Sarah McDowell, an SEO Manager at Captivate Audio, told me:

“I’m a lesbian and visit new cities with my girlfriend. Say we want to go to a café for some coffee and cake, I’d search for ‘gay friendly cafés near me’. Google can then find cafés that have the ‘LGBTQ+ friendly’ attribute and show these options to us.”

By including this, you show LGBTQ+ people that they’re welcome in your business, making them feel at ease.

3. External Links

If you’re using LGBTQ+ terminology or quoting statistics, make sure you do thorough research. And, even better, link out to your sources. This will help users to trust that you’re providing accurate, up-to-date information. 

If you’re not sure where to find reliable information, here are some reputable organisations:

• Stonewall 
• LGBT Foundation
• Equality and Human Rights Commission 

(Here is a more comprehensive list from The Diversity Trust). 

There’s lots of disinformation online, particularly from anti-LGBTQ+ organisations, so fact check everything before you press publish.

4. Audience Targeting

It’s easy to assume the audience of some products. For example, most marketers assume the target audience of makeup is women. However, nonbinary people and men may also be part of this audience.

This doesn’t mean you have to use only gender neutral language – you can still include women, as they’re a key part of the audience. However, consider who else may be the audience of this product, and expand your copy to include a more diverse range of genders and pronouns. 

This is also important when thinking about PPC and paid social ads. Kayleigh Goode, PPC Account Manager at The SEO Works, says:

“For PPC, it’s easy to fall into a trap of using gender stereotypes in demographic targeting, especially in fashion and beauty industries.  Instead of choosing to show specific products to men or women, we can choose to target all users. This ensures we’re targeting all people, regardless of what box Google’s algorithm has put them into.”

5. Keyword Research

In some industries, you may find keywords where people use outdated, offensive or inaccurate terminology. 

Even if they have a high search volume, we’d avoid targeting these terms. Otherwise, you might offend users. Not only could this be quite upsetting for them, it may lead them to bounce from your site. 

The truth is that, whilst we encourage the use of gender neutral terms, many users still search using gendered language. For example, many people search for ‘gifts for him’ and ‘gifts for her’. This is still valid, and you don’t need to ignore these keywords. They reflect what people search for, and so they’re still valuable to target. 

However, can you expand your research beyond this and include other, more inclusive terms as well?

6. Web Forms

If you ask users to declare their gender on sign up forms, do you only include male and female categories? If so, consider adding more options, or a box for people to input their own suggestions. Equally, don’t just add ‘Other’ as an option, as this is very limiting. 

As a nonbinary person, it can be very frustrating when I’m presented with only two choices. Not only will having more options make gender diverse people like me feel more comfortable, it’ll give you a better idea of who is actually using your website. 

It’s also worth bearing in mind that some people may not want to disclose their gender. They may not be ‘out’, or want this to be known publicly. Give people the option to opt out, explicitly state why you’re collecting the data, and clarify what you’re going to do with it. That way, you’ll make nonbinary and gender diverse people feel at ease.

7. Imagery

Stock imagery rarely includes LGBTQ+ people. As a result, LGBTQ+ folk don’t always see ourselves represented online. 

Of course, there’s no obvious way to visually represent an LGBTQ+ person, as we don’t all look alike. And, in many cases, inclusive imagery features clichés like rainbows and Pride flags.

However, there are many opportunities to make your imagery more diverse. For example, if you’re a wedding photographer, are you including images of same-sex couples in your marketing?

Small changes like this can have a big impact. If you’re looking for copyright free imagery, this bank of gender diverse images from VICE is a great place to start. Photographer Alex Bayley has also created a great list of diverse and inclusive stock photography.

8. Pronouns

When addressing an individual on your website, check you’re using the correct pronouns. If you get this wrong, you could be misgendering them. This is where you refer to them as the wrong gender, which can be very distressing for some gender diverse people. 

It’s easy to guess someone’s gender based on their name or headshot, but you should never assume! Ask if you’re unsure, and use ‘they/them’ pronouns until you’re certain. 

You could also encourage anyone featured on your website to display their pronouns. A great place to do this is on an author bio or ‘Meet the Team’ page. By doing so, you demonstrate allyship to the LGBTQ+ community, and normalise the conversation around pronouns. Equally, don’t force people to do this if they don’t feel comfortable doing so.

9. Diverse Language

You may be accidentally using outdated terminology to refer to LGBTQ+ people. Language evolves over time, so terms which were widely used in the past may not be appropriate today. 

If you’re unsure, this list of LGBTQ+ terms from Stonewall is useful. Here, you can find definitions for key terms, so you know you’re using terminology accurately. 

Grammarly Premium includes suggestions to make your writing more inclusive. For example, it flags offensive language, outdated terminology and reclaimed terms like ‘queer’. 

There are also many words and turns of phrase which are unnecessarily gendered. Many of us use them every day without even realising! By using gender neutral terms instead, you can make your website and marketing more inclusive of a wider range of people.

Here are some suggestions:

10. Sense Checking

If you don’t identify as LGBTQ+, then it’s always advisable to consult a member of this community when creating inclusive campaigns and websites. You don’t need them to check every word of your content, but it’s useful to get some feedback. This way, you can make sure the language is appropriate and resonates with actual LGBTQ+ people. 

You could politely ask employees in your organisation to help with this, but it’s okay if they decline. It’s not the job of LGBTQ+ people to educate allies about these topics, and they may not feel comfortable doing so. An alternative is to ask for feedback from your customers, or to speak to other members of the community in your industry. 

Despite this, it’s important to recognise that the LGBTQ+ community don’t always agree on everything. Jess Peace, Content Team Lead at Neomam Studios, agrees that…

“it really helps to have someone from the community involved when writing or chatting about LGBTQ+ matters.”

But she also recommends that…

“it’s good to ask around too, as there’s no real one size fits all when it comes to queer representation because everyone has different views.”

There’s no way you can please everyone all the time – we’re a big, diverse community with lots of differing opinions and perspectives. However, with the considerations we’ve discussed in this blog post, you now have a starting point to work from. 

As well as thinking about positive changes you can make to your marketing and website, it’s also worth knowing some common pitfalls to avoid.

Common Mistakes

Rainbow Washing

Rainbow washing refers to superficial gestures that brands use to show support to LGBTQ+ people. At the same time, these brands don’t take meaningful actions that actually make us feel included or equal. 

This is very common during Pride season. Ian Helms is Director of Growth Marketing at Q.Digital, an LGBTQ+ media network. He says:

“Brands can be huge allies to the LGBTQ+ community, but when they merely slap a rainbow onto their logo or products during Pride month without taking any real action or showing support for our community, it feels as if they’re using us for their own gain.”

In fact, in a Reboot survey of LGBTQ+ individuals, 96% agreed that brands should be more supportive of LGBTQ+ people all year round, not just during Pride season. 

It’s great to show your support during Pride season. But, as we’ve discussed, think about how you can create long lasting change beyond this.

Stereotypes

Representation in your marketing is great, but it can also reinforce harmful and outdated stereotypes. For example, are you only presenting gay men as feminine, and lesbian women as masculine?

It’s also worth bearing in mind that LGBTQ+ people come in all shapes and sizes. The default in ‘inclusive’ language and imagery is white, cisgender gay men – but the community is much more diverse than his. Are you including LGBTQ+ people of colour, gender diverse people and disabled LGBTQ+ people, for example?

Giving Back

If you’re selling branded Pride products, like t-shirts with rainbows, are the profits going back into your company? If so, LGBTQ+ may feel like you’re exploiting them, rather than helping them. 

Consider donating a percentage of these profits to an LGBTQ+ charity or organisation, so you’re giving back to the community. As a business, this is one of the best ways you can support us. Alternatively, you could run a fundraiser or charity day, which is a great way to show your allyship.

Final Thoughts

Showing support for LGBTQ+ people in your marketing isn’t a one time task. The hope is that, over time, it becomes an consideration in your everyday processes. 

LGBTQ+ inclusivity doesn’t have to be loud and proud. Often, it’s the more subtle changes – like updating your security practices and sign up forms – that have the biggest impact. 

It’s time to move beyond rainbow washing and empty gestures, and towards meaningful, lasting actions that positively impact our community.

Sources:

Sexual orientation, UK (2020) – Office for National Statistics

Finding Pride: What Search reveals about how brands in APAC can be allies of the LGBTQ+ community – Google

Stonewall 

LGBT Foundation

Equality and Human Rights Commission 

The Diversity Trust Links

The Gender Spectrum Collection – VICE

Diverse and Inclusive Stock Photography – Alex Bayley

List of LGBTQ+ Terms – Stonewall

How Grammarly Supports Inclusive Language for the LGBTQIA+ Community

Q.Digital

Should Brands Use Pride as a Marketing Campaign? – Reboot

The post Over the Rainbow: How to (Actually) Make Your Marketing LGBTQ+ Friendly appeared first on The SEO Works.

My name is Shannon and I’m the Sales Coordinator at The SEO Works! I started my journey here as an apprentice and having been at The SEO Works for 4 years now, I wanted to share my experience coming up through the program. Going into an apprenticeship can be daunting, but I hope that sharing my account can inspire others to take a similar path.

Here I’ll talk through my own experience, as well as sharing information surrounding apprenticeships, both in general and in relation to The SEO Works.

How I Got Started

Before starting my qualification, I was enrolled on a graphic design and illustration course at university, however after a year of study I fell out of love with the subject. I wanted to be part of a bigger picture and to feel like I was contributing to something, rather than pouring time into a degree that I had originally only enrolled onto because that was the normal thing to do.

It was during this time that I found the listing for a Level 3 Business Administration apprenticeship within the Business Development team at The SEO Works.

Why I Chose The Apprenticeship

The main reason I wanted to do the apprenticeship, was to be able to learn essential skills whilst working in a fast-paced, agency based environment. I wanted to try things that I wouldn’t have been open to trying otherwise – like answering client facing calls.

It has pushed me to be able to do things I didn’t think I would be able to do in a personal sense, as well as professionally, and allowed me to contribute towards a larger scheme of work.

My Apprenticeship

My role as part of the Business Development Team really pushed me out of my comfort zone at first, since I was quite an introverted and reserved person going into a very outgoing team. It was daunting trying to find my place in an already established team, but I soon found that I had nothing to worry about.

It was also extremely useful to have someone in the team who had also completed an apprenticeship, as they were able to relate their experience to mine and act as a mentor.

During my time as an apprentice, I faced many challenges in that a lot of the processes I used to fulfil my role were being changed and improved, meaning adaptability and being a fast learner was crucial. An example of this is when we changed the software we use to audit prospective client sites. Although it was challenging to have to learn the processes again from scratch, I found that the support from colleagues was extremely helpful and helped me to achieve this goal much quicker.

On completion of my qualification, I was offered a place as a permanent member of the team, and have since been given the opportunity to improve the skills I learnt on my apprenticeship further with additional training provided by the company.

My role has allowed me to work on a diverse range of client sites, which in turn means I’ve picked up a vast amount of information relating to various different industries and sectors; I’ve been told I’d be great on a pub quiz team!

Benefits of Apprenticeships

There are many benefits to undertaking an apprenticeship, here are just a few:

• The vast choice of subject areas – no matter your interests or experience, you’re bound to find an area of study that suits you.
• Varying levels of study – level 2 intermediate all the way to a level 7 degree
• Increased employability – furthering your education and qualifications while learning employability skills makes you a stand out candidate.
• Earn while you learn – you won’t have to choose between working and studying.
• Industry knowledge – you’re able to learn directly from professionals and observe a working environment

You’re also not limited in your choices depending on your background, level of education or age. Apprenticeships are for everyone!

Apprenticeships at The SEO Works

Going into an apprenticeship when you’re new to the industry can be daunting, however at The SEO Works this wasn’t the case.

The company has a long history of helping apprentices get to where they want to be in their career and as such, it’s not hard to find your place amongst the team. In fact, they aim to have an apprentice on every team, so you’re in good company!

Past apprentices are more than happy to help and share their experience, and the company has a proven track record of not only onboarding apprentices, but also offering career progression after the qualification is completed. They even run monthly apprentice drop-in sessions, run by past apprentices, that are a great space to ask questions or get any support you need.

Is A Digital Apprenticeship Right For Me?

The digital industry is a rapidly growing and changing industry and as such, there are always new opportunities available. Whether you’re looking to become a marketing manager, a content writer or a technical analyst, there’s something for every niche and skill level.

A digital apprenticeship doesn’t always have to relate to the subject area either, you can also study a more generalised qualification (such as business administration) in a digital environment and still get the relevant industry knowledge.

In Conclusion

In short, an apprenticeship is the best way to gain on the job experience whilst not having to sacrifice your time in education. Apprenticeships also are typically much shorter than traditional educational routes with the minimum length of course being just 12 months and the maximum being 6 years, depending on level, subject and industry.
If you think an apprenticeship could be the right route for you, take a look at our Careers Page and apply now!

The post Life As An Apprentice appeared first on The SEO Works.

The SEO Works has been named the top Digital Marketing Agency in Sheffield by Prolific North for five years running.

Prolific North conduct an annual review of the 50 best agencies in the north, and in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 we have been the only Marketing Agency exclusively Sheffield-based to make the grade.

“Sheffield’s The SEO Works has performed impressively – it secured the highest ever rank for a Sheffield agency at number 38, and now has broken that record again by taking 18th.” Charlie Spargo – Prolific North.

A definitive list of the North’s best agencies

The Prolific North list is the definitive listing of the north’s leading digital agencies spanning SEO, PPC, web, content, mobile and e-commerce.

Agencies are selected based on a number of factors, including client base, headcount and a range of business-related financial statistics. An independent research agency Mustard is asked to compile research on all agencies considered, and that all data is validated, to ensure the rigorous selection process remains entirely independent.

Standing out in Sheffield

Of the agencies listed from across the whole of the north, only 20 are based in Yorkshire. The SEO Works is rated the best marketing agency in Sheffield in this list, and the only Steel City company to make the cut.

It is also the highest-ever ranking for a Marketing Agency in Sheffield since Prolific North started the process.

• In 2018 we narrowly missed out on recognition as a top digital agency finishing 53rd out of all the agencies in the north.
• In 2019 we ranked 38th, in 2020 42nd, in 2021 23rd.
• In 2022 we jumped to 18th and in 2023 maintained our position at 19th.
• The ranking improvement was the highest rise of any SEO/PPC agency listed in the top 50.

“It is fantastic to once again be recognised as a leading marketing agency in Sheffield and the north of England. There are a wealth of  agencies across the north competing for these places, and to be consistently listed among the Top 50 shows our strength in depth as an agency.  We are constantly investing in our team and processes; to be recognised in this way shows the talent we have in digital marketing.”  Ben Foster – CEO at The SEO Works.

Work with an award-winning marketing agency in Sheffield

We’re a safe pair of hands with over a decade of service to clients, extensive case studies, awards and accreditations. We’ve won dozens of awards, including the Drum Search Awards many times. Our work for national pharmacy brand Weldricks, and leading sports brand All Rounder Cricket picked up awards at what is considered the “Oscars” of the marketing world. Find out more about our awards and accreditations.

Sheffield Marketing Agency Case Studies

We are super proud of the results we achieve for clients, many of whom are based in Sheffield. Using a Sheffield marketing agency for your marketing needs is very handy and it means meetings can take place in person, at our beautiful Sheffield City Centre offices. 

Corporate Team Building SEO

A content optimisation strategy focused on returning website traffic and visibility to pre-pandemic levels.

Read More

Informational Content SEO

A blog optimisation approach to drive high-intent traffic to the website and highlight the exciting work experience opportunities they offer.

Read More

Teaching Abroad SEO

A four part strategy to assist an education provider highlight USPs to increase rankings and conversions.

Read More

Our Sheffield Offices

Our Sheffield marketing agency is based at the wonderful Fountain Precinct offices, in the heart of Sheffield city centre. Transport links are convenient and there is on-site car parking for clients. Here are some pictures of our Sheffield office.

Our mission and vision

Put simply, our mission is to help you grow online. Our vision is to be the UK’s leading search marketing provider and a thought leader for SME’s.

Ben Foster, our CEO has been interviewed by leading publisher Website Planet about the success of the agency and what its mission is. You can read the piece in full here.

Looking for a Marketing Agency in Sheffield?

Get in touch with our team to discuss your marketing needs.

The post Marketing Agency Sheffield: The SEO Works Named Prolific North’s Top Marketing Agency appeared first on The SEO Works.