The annual Talk Like a Pirate Day is upon us again – 19th September.
It’s the 16th year of the event and although the official website is showing its age, it is still worth a visit if you haven’t yet lost your sea legs.
So, how is the web’s love of everything Pirate holding up year on year?
Wouldn’t it be great if we could find out…
Funnily enough, we now have a lot more visibility on long-term search trends thanks to Google Trends, and it’s archive now contains seven years of data to give a true picture of the growth (and sadly, the fall) of the popularity in Talk Like a Pirate Day.
Talk Like a Pirate Day - Global Search Trends from Google Trends
As you can see from the above chart, Talk Like a Pirate Day peaked in 2006 (in terms of search volume). That’s back when MySpace was bigger than Facebook, and Tony Blair still had a year left in Number 10.
What is interesting is that although some online trends are real flash-in-the-pan – it has taken six years for the web to really begin to tire of this (admittedly very fun) day of Pirate-i-ness. And that’s possibly one reason why – if something only happens once a year, it takes far longer for people to tire of it – and there will still be some people online who have yet to discover this day dedicated to all things Piratey.
What’s the lesson for marketers? Well, creating “event days” have long been a mainstay of marketers, where they seek to “own” a day each year for their brand. In recent years, many brands have decided to launch their own music festivals and sporting events (e.g. Innocent Fruitstock, Ben & Jerrys Double Scoop Sundae and Red Bull X Fighters) to create an evergreen marketing vehicle that chimes with a particular demographic. They can create fantastic PR, generate oodles of unique content and provide opportunities to develop “money can’t buy” giveaways for consumers.
And what about the benefit in recurring events for online marketers? This chart from MajesticSEO for talklikeapirate.com show that even 16 years after launch the site still manages to gain links in the months surrounding the annual event, which can be very valuable as many of these will come from reputable and authoritative news sites reporting on the event on the day itself.
MajesticSEO - talklikeapirate.com
If you have run a one-off online event that has gone well, consider whether it can be repeated again – don’t assume that you target market has grown tired of it – or even that they all heard about it the first time around!
So, I hope ye enjoyed Talk Like a Pirate Day, ‘n I look fore t’ seein’ ye soon!
BTW – Have a go at Talking Like a Pirate yourself with this handy translation tool!
In August, Google announced a new feature which has been dubbed “mega sitelinks”. Although this seems to be a small change which wasn’t widely reported, we think it is important.
The reason, is that for every site of a well-known brand, the most important searches by volume are brand search terms. Sitelinks give an excellent opportunity to engage both customers and prospects by highlighting the best content.
If you’re not familiar with Sitelinks, they are the listing of extra links below the brand main site description when you search on a brand name. Before this change site links in the natural search results gave just a series of links. But this example showing the new sitelinks for ClickThrough Marketing, shows that they now take up much more of the page with 8 to 12 alternatives and include more detailed descriptions.
ClickThrough Marketing - Mega Sitelinks Example
We suggest you take a look at your sitelinks and those of your competitors and answer these questions:
Most established brands will already have sitelinks, so you can skip this question. If you’re a small business or not in the top position the change won’t help you, in fact it could push you down the search results page.
If your sitelinks are wrong or have glitches like an unsuitable title or error page, then it’s worth changing these – this can be done in Google Webmaster Tools as explained below.
Since Google’s site algorithm is automatic it does a good job of highlighting the most important and shared pages on a site – typically those within the main navigation. But also other popular or shared content.
You can’t tell Google what you DO want as a sitelink, but you can tell it what you DON’T want. This is where you go to in Google Webmaster Tools and the new Google facility.
One of the big changes is that the new site link adds a description – if you want to change this, you can through editing the meta description of the page through the CMS.
The most important description is for the home page – often this doesn’t explain the site value prop well, but this one does.
Adwords now has its own “Ad Sitelinks” above the natural listing – you may want to use these to highlight offers that are popular in your natural sitelinks – or missing! These work well for many ClickThrough clients already.
This is where people search for the brand name plus a product or service. It seems that Google may include more of these now, so you check your analytics to see whether Brand plus phrases are driving traffic for you.
You can use the Landing page report in Google Analytics to see the importance of different brand phrases in driving traffic. This graphic summarises the steps to tackle this.
Alistair Harris - Online Copywriter at ClickThrough
In this team member profile we meet with Alistair Harris, Online Copywriter, to get his take on online PR and content creation, the rapid change in journalism, and which Sam Mendes film floats his boat.
Who are you? – Alistair Harris, Online Copywriter at ClickThrough.
When did you start at ClickThrough? – Start of June 2011.
What will you be doing at ClickThrough? – I look after our news, content and copy service for clients. We write unique news and content for a range of clients, which is either distributed through online news networks and RSS feeds, or hosted on clients’ own websites. We can also provide social media integration – something we’re hoping to expand on, along with more traditional PR and copywriting services.
What were you doing before you arrived at ClickThrough? Where did you work? – I’m a fully-qualified senior journalist – I started my career at the Lichfield Mercury in 2002, before moving to the Nottingham Evening Post in 2004. I went freelance in 2008, and have spent the last few years in a variety of in-house and freelance public relations and press office roles.
What accounts/clients have you worked on before? – I’ve worked for a wide range of organisations, from the UK’s largest conservation charity to local NHS bodies. I’ve written news stories, features, reviews and blogs on really diverse subjects, from interviewing Slash from Guns ‘n Roses to producing a series of front page features on anorexia, special education, court cases, murders and manhunts. PR clients I’ve written for include TV Hits, the BBC, Environment Agency, NHS, Driving Standards Agency, Aggregate Industries, healthcounter.com, Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts and the Independent on Sunday.
What are you most proud of in your career to date? – Winning the Newspaper Society’s Reporter of the Year 2002 Award, in my first year as a journalist.
What do you love about your job? – I love being creative. I really enjoy writing, and I’m very passionate about effective, meaningful communications. Working for ClickThrough provides the opportunity to think creatively for clients, to provide content that has value for their business and their customers, and, although it can be a challenge, it’s always interesting.
What do you think is the number one thing for online journalists to watch out for in the next year? – Traditional journalists have seen their industry absolutely cut apart by the internet. Some news organisations have kept up – such as the Guardian – but others are still missing a lot of opportunities to grasp the global potential of the internet. The written word will survive – it always has, in the face of radio and TV.
But journalism is evolving – content remains king, but journalists now have to think more creatively about how to present news in an engaging way. The old letters pages – usually a staple of a newspaper – have been replaced by instantaneous comments, which allow journalists to react more quickly to major issues. But they are competing against social media, YouTube, and a worldwide network of industry insiders and bloggers, which all carry relevant and interesting content.
The media is therefore becoming more homogenous. The internet provides the opportunity for news to be presented in a more convergent manner – and the biggest challenge for journalists is to find new and unique ways to provide video, audio and written content that has a purpose and meaning for readers.
What is your favourite book? – I absolutely adore Roald Dahl. I know that might sound immature – and I haven’t read many of his books for the last 20 years! – but his writing style, ability to manipulate words and language, and sheer inventiveness for plot and character has inspired my sense of humour and my own writing since I was very young. More contemporarily, I really like Robert Rankin. If you haven’t read any of his books, I’d recommend ‘The Fandom of the Operator’. It’s absolutely brilliant.
What is your favourite film? – American Beauty. It’s almost perfect. The writing is gobsmackingly good – I truly believe if the script had been written back in Shakespeare’s day, we’d have all been made to study it at school. I love the fact it’s basically a murder mystery, but you almost forget that until the final 20 minutes of the film. Sam Mendes’ direction is absolutely incredible, too. I love the running theme of red, the music and all the actors’ performances are amazing. I must give special mention to Mulholland Drive and most Charlie Kaufman films too, though.
Name your top three songs? – 1. Videotape – Radiohead. Beautiful, haunting, Radiohead at their best. Amazing piano, amazing lyrics. Amazing. 2. When Good Dogs Do Bad Things – Dillinger Escape Plan. When I first heard this song, it turned my head inside out. Dillinger is my favourite band – they’re technical, aggressive and difficult to get into, but it’s some of the most rewarding music I’ve ever heard. 3. Tenderfoot – Lemonheads. I don’t really like Evan Dando, but Tenderfoot, from Car, Button, Cloth, is a heartwarming little ditty and once which I used to cover regularly at open mic nights. The closing lyric: “It’s irrelevant, I’m an elephant, she’s a mouse” is a brilliant metaphor.
What do you like doing in your spare time? – I play guitar, but not as often as I used to. I’m really into online games, I play a variety of time-wasting silly games on both PC and Xbox, usually as part of a team. I’ve recently taken up freestyle Frisbee, which, it turns out, is really difficult. You have to keep the disc spinning on the tip of your finger, and build in an array of throws, catches and ‘tricks’. The pros – if you can call them that – can spin it on their teeth. It’s quite impressive. I’ve only just mastered getting the spin right though, so I’m some way off from showing off my skills in public!
In my post last month I talked about the increasing need to focus on social media optimisation (SMO). Part of this activity is finding ways to make your content more shareable.
Research suggests that sharing amongst friends, families and other “tribes” is becoming more important.
ShareThis and Starcom MediaVest recently released a study. The study focuses on ShareThis’ database of sharing activity for it’s widget in March 2011.
Social sharing now produces an estimated 10 percent of all Internet traffic and 31 percent of referral traffic to sites from search and social. Search is around twice as big.
It’s a big sample; 7 billion shares, 300 million users across the top 1,000 publishers. So remember – it’s more typical of new sites than most businesses selling products and services online.
The details of what is clicked when shared shared shows that Facebook accounts for 38 percent email and Twitter are both second with 17 percent each:
So what are the implications for non publishing businesses?
1. If you don’t have blog, customer magazine or similar “content hub”, then you will be missing out on introducing others to your brand via the network of people who know you already.
2. Having a defined content strategy to define the right content to engage and how to promote is needed to underpin your content hub.
3. Since sharing signals are now used by Google and Bing for ranking as I explained in my previous column, so you are also missing out on the potential ranking boost.
4. Email sharing is still important and often more personal, so don’t exclude this!
5. Encouraging sharing of other product and service content is also important.
6. You can encourage sharing after purchase too.
7. There are many free tools like AddThis.com and ShareThis.com which make it easy to integrate sharing on your site. Paid solutions to consider include Gigya and Janrain.
8. Many of these tools provide “social sign-on” which integrate with a users social network account to make it easier to share.
Whilst Google+ is the big story of the day, Matt Cutts has just posted on his wall about a blog post that may have fallen under the radar about content creators being credited on search results.
For anyone who creates and authors content, this is a great new way to be recognised, found, and to promote your work in the search results, including with a photo.
There are a couple of very simple steps to being found by the algorithm which will be powering this addition to the SERPs. Full details can be found on the Google Webmaster help pages, but in essence, all you need do is:
Add the content pages where you post content to your Google public profile, and then paste a Google + button onto those pages. Like this:
Your own content will be automatically +1′d so it should create an archive of all your content over time for people to easily access from your public Google profile page. (This profile page is going to become as important as your LinkedIn profile, your Twitter bio etc, so be warned!)
Obviously, it is algorithm driven so your position in the search results and even whether you are listed will be down to good SEO and making sure you are putting out all the right social signals too.
So, it is always a good idea to tweet all of your fresh content, and make sure that it appears on other social networks as well as social bookmark sites such as Digg, Stumbleupon and Delicious too.
We’ll be playing around with this far more in the future to see how we can improve content rankings on behalf of authors and clients to establish a wider range of listings in the SERPS. Content that is well-written should have longevity on certain subjects, and it will be interesting to see how this plays out as a traffic generator.
Social media optimisation or SMO isn’t a new term or a new approach, far from it.
The term SMO was first coined in 2006 when the search engine marketer Danny Sullivan first used it.
With many companies now having different forms of social media marketing in place, SMO is a logical next step to improve the effectiveness of social media marketing.
So what is SMO and what is it’s purpose?
People have different views on what SMO involves depending on whether their background is more in SEO or social media marketing.
I recently asked readers of the Smart Insights blog about this and there was a split between those who felt it had the narrow aim of “using social media marketing to support SEO goals” (31%) and a broader aim “analysis and improvement of all social media marketing activities to results” (40%).
I think this all this is shows that you have to decide for your organisation the main emphasis of SMO activity. The Wikipedia entry for SMO is quite apt where it describe it as:
“The methodization of social media activity with the intent of attracting unique visitors to website content”.
This suggests that the core of SMO is having a rigorous approach of test, learn, refine is the main benefit of this approach – not just experimenting, but being systematic. We need to use social media to help people find our content, participate in conversations about it and then share it.
So my definition is:
A systematic approach to improving content effectiveness in attracting visitors and leads and engaging existing audiences through testing techniques to increase the visibility, participation and shareability of content.
SMO activities – The 5 rules of SMO
So what does SMO involve? I think it’s useful here to look at the 5 new rules of SMO developed by Rohit Bhargava of Ogilvy New York. These are:
1. Create shareable content. This is fundamental to social media marketing, so in SMO it’s about determining the content that your audience prefers to share across different social media platforms. In Rohit’s original post, this activity was about encouraging links: the two go together.
2. Make sharing easy. This is the embedding of buttons and other widgets to encourage sharing, recommending or bookmarking within your site and blog. SMO analyses the best placements, formats and messages to do this.
3. Reward engagement. It’s commonplace now to reward “Liking” or “Tweeting” through a promotional or content offer, so this can look at the best offers to do this. Rohit also says this should look at a longer-term of encouraging deeper engagement and conversations.
4. Proactively share content. This covers the process and format for sharing beyond your central hub. This can include syndicating articles to other partners or platforms like Slideshare or Scribd. Some also create their own widgets for embedding or sharing on other sites (atomization).
5. Encourage the “mashup”. Rohit says that this is encouraging folks to take and remix your content, so it becomes user generated content. This activity can effectively be built into campaigns.
What else should you test as part of SMO?
I think these rules are really useful for reviewing your approach to integrating social media marketing into a website, but I think there’s more to it.
So, what’s not included in the 5 rules. Well other options which we’re looking to test and refine through analytics and AB/multivariate testing include:
1. Which sharing activities and types of promotions lead to business results, leads, sales or changes in brand preference?
2. Determining how social media can support SEO activities now we know it’s a ranking signal and through encouraging backlinks.
3. Preferences of different audiences using different social media platforms to share different type of content and offers.
4. Optimum frequency for initiating sharing.
5. Best methods for identifying influencers and seeding content.
6. Approaches to integrate sharing of content through different social platforms, web, mobile and email channels.
Richard Chapman, new SEO Account Executive at ClickThrough
Richard Chapman, our new SEO Account Executive is the latest team member to sit under the uncompromising glare of our Blog’s spotlight, and shares his thoughts on mobile and which veteran footballer is the person he most admires.
Who are you? – Richard Chapman, the new SEO Account Executive @ ClickThrough.
When did you start at ClickThrough? – I joined ClickThrough in May 2011 – so just completed my first month!
What will you be doing at ClickThrough? – I am part of the SEO team working on the Sk:n, Peugeot, Angel Springs and Halfords accounts, managing a range of SEO activities including blogs, articles, videos and press releases.
What were you doing before you arrived at ClickThrough? Where did you work? – My previous job was as Head Of Communications at Business Link West Midlands. However, most of my Digital Marketing experience comes from running club events, managing a record label (Bloc Beatz Records) and and a small internet radio station called HouseNationUK.com.
What are you most proud of in your career to date? – One of my proudest moments was wining a contract for Bloc Beatz to sell on Beatport.com, the industry leading download store for electronic dance music. This really helped give the label credibility and has allowed us to attract bigger artists and producers into 2011.
What do you love about your job? - I love the fact I now get to work within a subject that interests me and that I enjoy learning about. It’s faced paced and always changing which makes everyday a different challenge. ClickThrough also seems like a great place to work so far, everyone has been very friendly and welcoming.
What do you think is the number one thing for online marketers to watch out for in the next year? – I think 2010 was the year of Social Media and that will keep expanding even more so into 2011. The next thing I think to watch out for is companies using QR codes and a swing towards more mobile marketing.
Who do you most admire and why? – Sir Bobby Charlton. To come back to football after almost quitting at a young age (due to losing almost all his team mates and friends in the Munich Air Crash) took a lot of courage. Going on to win the European Cup and World Cup – well, his Knighthood was deserved.
What is your favourite book? – I don’t read books to be honest … my head is normally looking at a screen (even outside of ClickThrough) reading articles and watching videos on the latest music production plugins and hints & tips!
What is your favourite film? – I like series epics like Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and Harry Potter; anything from Marvel & DC Comics ….. (yes, I am a bit of a geek). However, my favorite film is ‘Signs’, which came out before M. Night Shyamalan went rubbish and wrote ‘The Happening’.
Name your top three songs? -
Being a DJ and muso in general I like all sorts from Metallica to Deadmau5. However, the top three in my record bag have to be; 1. Energy 52 – Café Del Mar (Nalin & Kane Three n One Mix) 2. Red Carpet – Alright (Brad Carter Remix) 3. Deadmau5 – Faxing Berlin (Piano Acoustic Version).
What do you like doing in your spare time? – In my spare time I’m normally sat in my home studio. I like making music, messing with video/audio and anything new media really. I also watch a lot of films and I go to the iMax quite a lot. I will be off to see Thor, Transformers 3 and Pirates of the Caribbean 4 this summer! Plus the usual social nights out on the town … unless I’m stuck in a DJ booth with a pair of headphones on!
Zoe O’Neil - Operations Director at ClickThrough Marketing
In the latest profile we talk to Zoe O’Neil about her new role as Operations Director, process change delivery and why she loves Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.
Who are you? - Zoe O’Neil, ClickThrough’s Operations Director
When did you start at ClickThrough? – I joined the Paid Search team in Nov 2010 and now have responsibility for operations across all our offerings: organic, paid, affiliate, analytics and social.
What will you be doing at ClickThrough? – I am responsible for the management of the Client Services team across PPC and SEO, overseeing the daily operations and day-to-day activities; with a focus on staff, processes systems and procedures required to accomplish the company’s mission and goals in the marketplace.
What were you doing before you arrived at ClickThrough? Where did you work? – In my previous role I was a Client Services Manager at DPM Systems, a software and systems integrators company. This was a varied role, geared up to deliver 100% customer satisfaction. I worked with customers to define their requirements and create software that transformed their business, processes and profitability. Work included writing user cases and testing, as well as implementation and training. I had to work closely with the sales and development teams to ensure that projects were delivered on time and met KPI’s and needs over the lifetime of the software.
Previous to this I spent 2 years as a Product Manager for TD SearchWare at TradeDoubler (previously called BidBuddy and owned by The Technology Works). I was responsible for the management of the product development process. Projects included the launch a Data Centre in Asia. As Client Services Manager for the same company I oversaw the client services team; managing day-to-day activities & workload, ensuring client growth and satisfaction.
What are you most proud of in your career to date? – Whilst working at The Technology Works as Client Services Manager I helped to grow the use of the BidBuddy in the UK by over 700% in the first year through demoing, training and supporting clients and agencies in using the bid management technology. Following the success of this I was responsible for supporting the roll out of the software across Europe and Asia Pacific.
What do you love about your job? – I love helping to drive change, improving process, managing people and delivering results to our staff and clients.
What do you think is the number one thing for online marketers to watch out for in the next year? - Looking at the trends and 2010, 2011 and the years to follow, social media marketing will play a prominent role in every marketers online strategy. Depending on how quickly some companies have already taken up social media, this year it will be about; 1) Those who are already using it 2) Those who are planning to use it and 3) Those who are now integrating it into their strategy.
Who do you most admire and why? - Richard Branson. He is one of the wealthiest persons in the world and not afraid of taking anything on. I spent 5yrs working at Virgin Airship and Balloon Company (VABC) and was part of he attempted round the world hot air balloon trips. Richard has proven that he can win, he can fail, and whatever happens he doesn’t take life too seriously.
He is also a people’s person. Whilst working at Virgin I was invited, along with all Virgin staff, to a summer party at his house in the middle of the World Cup. He greeted every single member of staff off the coaches and then spent the day mingling with everyone at his house, with his family in tow. When the large screen that he had booked failed to turn up he threw open his house so we could watch the World Cup on his own TV – now not many people would do that!
From a business perspective, he is uncomplicated and his people-centered approach to business (and the ability to spot gaps in markets) are extremely admirable … and he certainly knows how to build a brand!
What is your favourite book?
OUT (the first novel from Natsuo Kirino to be translated from Japanese into English) is a story of four women who work the night shift at a factory making boxed lunches. When the youngest and prettiest of them strangles her husband to death in a fit of rage, the women all rally around their friend. They decide to cut up the pieces of the dead body and dispose it off in bags around Tokyo. This sets up the scenes for a grisly and deeply disturbing tale that reveals the underbelly of Tokyo.
This is a great book and I still haven’t managed to find anything else to match it. I chose this book in Birmingham Airport whilst waiting to catch our flight to the Maldives for our honeymoon. Once I started reading it I just could not put it down, each page kept me engaged. I was actually quite sad when it ended. Natsuo Kirino’s imagery pulls you into becoming a part of every character and setting. OUT certainly walked me through areas that I never thought I could or would go, and for that I love it!
What is your favourite film? – “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” is a very funny movie with some of the funniest scenes of all time – unfortunately inbetween there is a lot of “filler” that is either too long or downright predictable. That said, certain comic segments are inspired. One of my favourite scenes sees Caine (posing as a doctor), whipping a “paralyzed romantic veteran” (a perfectly able-bodied Martin) on his legs. The line, “Oh look, he’s so happy he’s crying” is one of the best one-liners of all time, and Martin’s face is a great example of classic slapstick. My second favourite scene is the whole thing with Martin’s wacky character “Ruprecht” – ”Can I go to the bathroom?” “Of course.” “Thanks.” Martin’s face cracks me up every time. If you haven’t watch it – please watch it, it’s hilarious.
Name your top three songs? – 1) Al Green – “Let’s Stay Together” (first dance at wedding) 2) Lionel Richie – “Once, Twice Three Time a Lady” – (memory from childhood) 3) Massive Attack – “Unfinished Sympathy” (Younger Years fondest memories).
What do you like doing in your spare time? – More than anything in my spare time I enjoy spending time with my friends and family, they are the most important thing in my life. I also love to canvas paint and I am not that bad. I have done several for my house and also one for my neighbour! One of my biggest passions recently though is watching films; Romance, Action, Thrillers and Horror. Whether at home or in the cinema, I enjoy losing myself in the storyline and the characters.
Ava Kelly - Online Copywriter at ClickThrough Marketing
In this team member profile we caught up with Ava Kelly, our new Online Copywriter at ClickThrough Marketing to discuss the latest challenges for online PR, her role at ClickThrough and why The Time Travellers Wife is her favourite film.
Who are you? – Ava Kelly, the new Online Copywriter at ClickThrough Marketing.
When did you start at ClickThrough? – The beginning of April
What will you be doing at ClickThrough? – I’m responsible for the articles and PR at ClickThrough, making sure they are delivered on time and to the client’s satisfaction. I will also be heading a team of interns which join us at different times throughout the year, and helping to develop their writing skills.
What were you doing before you arrived at ClickThrough? Where did you work? – Before joining the team at ClickThrough I worked as a journalist at a number of media outlets, including radio station BRMB and local newspaper the Walsall Advertiser. I’ve also been a freelancer selling stories to a range of publications from women’s lifestyle magazines to travel magazines. Most recently before joining ClickThrough I moved into the area of Public Relations and worked for two years as a PR Executive at a fertility company in London.
What accounts/clients have you worked on before? – In the area of PR my full time client was the fertility company PureAdam.
What are you most proud of in your career to date? – I am most proud that after my journalism degree I was able to move to Thailand and live there for over a year, funding the experience by selling articles to travel magazines, as well as doing some pieces for an English newspaper there, the Phuket Gazette, and monetizing my travel blog. The experience is one I will never forget and I fell in love with the Island of Phuket and the people I met there. To be working in journalism, a job I love, while having a once in a lifetime opportunity is something I was very fortunate to be able to experience.
What do you love about your job? – The great thing about my job is being creative in my writing. I have varied topics to write about, and I love being able to entertain, inform or interest people in my writing. Meanwhile, my time spent working in PR has allowed me to meet some fascinating people, particularly when I worked with case studies. Building a rapport with people and telling their story in the most effective and interesting way has been a very rewarding aspect of my job.
What do you think is the number one thing for online journalists to watch out for in the next year? – The increase in the number of news blogs is now challenging online journalism and questioning what journalism is and who can be a journalist. Do you need a qualification or simply access to a platform for people to hear your opinions? With digital media slowly infiltrating (and some would say overtaking) the traditional press the rules are changing.
Who do you most admire and why? – A person I admire is Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, who utilised the media to draw attention to her plight around the World. She is the Iranian woman accused of infidelity who was sentenced to death by stoning. After she, with the help of her son appealed to the media to spread the word, her story caused outrage amongst the West, and the Iranian Government bowed under pressure and spared her life. This just proves the power of the Media can be used for good and can be used to hold not only our Government but those around the World accountable. It is comforting to know that our own Media could be used to empower someone whose outlook seemed bleak and otherwise helpless.
What is your favourite book? – ‘A Brief History of the Dead’ by Kevin Brockmeier. The title makes it sound very morbid but it’s a beautifully written moving fictional tale which evokes your imagination of heaven and life after death.
What is your favourite film? - ‘The Time Travelers Wife’. It’s a lovely film portraying true love.
Name your top three songs? – 1. ‘Someone Like You’ by Adele – it makes me think of someone from my past, this song probably brings someone to mind for all of us! 2. ‘Heart of Glass by Blondie – for dancing to on great nights out. 3. ‘I Bet That You Look Good on the Dance Floor’ by the Arctic Monkeys – another feel good classic, and it reminds me of my uni days!
What do you like doing in your spare time? – I spend most of my spare time with friends, doing spinning classes at the gym, going to the cinema and shopping. I went to University in Bournemouth so I often go back there for the weekend especially in the summer as it’s a home from home for me now.
Owen Wassell, Search Marketing Assistant at ClickThrough Marketing
In the latest in our series of team member profiles we met with Owen Wassell, Search Marketing Assistant, to get his take on social media, his new role at ClickThrough and which Alfred Hitchcock film is his number one.
Who are you? – Owen Wassell, Search Marketing Assistant here at ClickThrough.
When did you start at ClickThrough? – I joined ClickThrough in March 2011.
What will you be doing at ClickThrough? – I will be providing SEO support, making sure all of the SEO activities on my clients accounts are delivered on time.
What were you doing before you arrived at ClickThrough? Where did you work? – I was working for an events company based in Liverpool. My role was as a photographer and web designer. I would take photographs of various events including the Grand National race at Aintree and then upload the photographs onto a website I had designed. I would then employ some SEO techniques to get these pages ranking. I was also working as a freelance photographer, taking actor headshots and doing some work with modeling agencies and various Liverpool based magazines.
What accounts/clients have you worked on before? – I have worked for Aintree Racecourse, Haydock Racecourse, Matalan and had photographs published in the Liverpool Echo, Liverpool Life, Object of Dreams and other Liverpool based publications.
What are you most proud of in your career to date? – I was very proud the first time I saw one of my photographs published. Also doing a job that I really enjoy.
What do you love about your job? – I love the wide range of clients I work with and working in a fast paced industry that is constantly evolving. No two days are the same and you are constantly kept on your toes with updates to search engine algorithms. It’s great to work with people who know so much about online marketing and are always more than happy to share their knowledge and experience.
What do you think is the number one thing for online marketers to watch out for in the next year? – I think Social media is probably the number one thing to watch. Facebook and Twitter are already having massive impacts on how online marketers work especially in the SEO world. Also search engine algorithm updates are always keeping us on our toes.
Who do you most admire and why? – One of the people that I most admire is Robert King. He is a brilliant photojournalist and despite having little experience had the bravery to get on a plane and fly to Bosnia to report on the conflict there. His photographs were better than many of the professionals, proving you don’t need fancy equipment to take great photographs.
What is your favourite book? – I am a big fan of Phillip K Dick, Franz Kafka, JD Salinger and Dostoevsky. I would say ‘Crime and Punishment’ is my favourite book.
What is your favourite film? – I really like Alfred Hitchcock films and old film noir. I would probably say ‘Vertigo’ is a big favourite.
Name your top three songs? – 1. ‘Psycho Killer’ by Talking Heads. 2. Anything by The Specials. 3. Something by Bob Dylan but it’s too difficult to pick one.
What do you like doing in your spare time? – I enjoy photography and music. I play guitar, drums and piano. I spend a lot of time restoring old pianos too. I also like spending time with friends.
