Welcome to my portfolio. A confidential insight into my daily practices, methodologies and results. I look forward to hearing your feedback.
For reading convenience the portfolio is broken down into linked headings:
REPORTING CLIENT SETUP PROJECT MANAGEMENT SERVICES RESULTS CREATIVE & IDEAS I will share any supporting evidence via Google Drive or email, which you should receive shortly.
I OFFER AN ATTRACTIVE BLEND OF SKILLS AND QUALITIES READY FOR INTEGRATION INTO ANY TEAM
COMMUNICATION Communicate. I express myself powerfully verbally or by e-mail, phone and Skype. Ideas. Outspoken and encouraging in team meetings. Creative. I believe in creative collaboration across vertical and horizontal teams.
TECHNICAL Tech savvy. I manipulate a wide range of suites, tools and platforms with ease. Accountability. Worked successfully on 200+ sites, accounts and conversion projects. Straight shooting. I talk to web developers and team members in a language they understand.
COMMERCIAL Profit driven. I’m an expert in creating bottom-line solutions for clients. Interpretation. I excel by interpreting briefs into quantifiable targets and KPIs. Strategy. I build high ROI strategies and take responsibility for their outcome.
TEAM BUILDING Experienced. In recruiting, training and team building. Friendly. I love to encourage and mentor team mates and build team morale. Support. All stakeholders to achieve their goals and ambitions.
COMMITMENT Organised. I’m an organised and disciplined professional. Delivery. I take immense pride in my ability to understand and deliver on Business objectives. Flexible. Last minute project delivery presents no issue.
REPORTING Thumbnail attached is an Analytics reporting and summary created for www.alzheimers.org.uk a 700'000 visitor per month charity website and store. The ďŹ rst challenge was how to integrate the ecommerce store without impacting on the websites core values. The second objective was how to increase engagement and conversion rates. Sensitivity to the audience being a key factor.
With this report, I broke the client process down into the following: 1) Initial discussion and recommendations 2) Research and reporting phase 3) Communications informing client of next stage 4) Discussion on summary and reports 5) Action plan and moving forward
All retainer clients/ client side would receive monthly reports as standard ( weekly if part of SLA ). This may include automatically generated reports, Excel produced spreadsheets (such as pivot tables) and manually created reports, summaries or presentations addressing KPI's and targets.
CLIENT SETUP Following initial client meeting, here are typical questions I would ask a new client. The list is modified depending on whether the client represents a marketing department, a director of a company or site owner. Question type would also depend on the size and scope of the project. 1) What is your vision for ------- in the next 12 months ? 2) What do you think are ------------- greatest strengths ? 3) And what are the companies’ weaknesses ? 4) Who are your nearest top 5 online competitors ?
The Search Campaign 5) What goals do you have for this link building campaign ? example - more traffic, more leads, data capture, repeat sales ? 6) What are your expectations of our agency over the duration of this search campaign ? What would constitute a successful relationship in your eyes ? 7) Have you asked customers what search phrases they would type into Google Search to find your products ? Any ideas please note them down here: 8) Previous performance - based on previous agency experience what would you like to see happen in this upcoming campaign. For example this could be greater output, more hours spent on campaign, better communications ? 9) Traffic, Sales and conversions - can you quantify what improvement you are looking for from this campaign ? This could be %, £ or ROI ?
Access: 10) Please provide logins to: Google analytics: PPC account (AdWords): FTP login (hosting): Site admin (opencart or other cms):
Client feedback: Additionally I welcome written and quantifiable feedback to improve future campaigns. Much of this would be communicated in client meetings, by email, on the phone and during reporting.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT To PM the SEO team and to share tasks and milestones I use Basecamp combined with Google Business Apps ( Calendar, Drive etc. ). In Welford media however, after further research as a company we transitioned into Teamwork PM. Both platforms have advantages / disadvantages. Additionally I've tested Trello and Zoho. I use notepad, post-it notes, whiteboards and good old fashioned pen and paper a lot!
I’m adaptable and use any platform with a function to share documentation or communicate ideas.
SERVICES SELECTED SERVICES ideas include: TRAINING I’ve trained staff and clients over 100 times in 1-3 hour sessions. Training can be delivered in person (inbound visit), outbound such as a Business place, Skype or classroom. Training could be delivered in partnership by multi-disciplinarians e.g. social media and seo managers, adding extra value to the client. Successful training sessions often lead onto further project and campaign work.
HEAT MAPPING High margin service. Very useful and insightful for medium to high volume websites, offered as part of an overall CRO package leading to design / change and further CRO work.
INCLUDES: A/B testing e.g. buttons, contact forms, opt in fields / forms Multivariate testing Above the fold content Colours Badges Social network widgets Banners and advertising Click depth Site structure e.g. Navigation Topical navigation
Attached is heat mapping analysis I produced for my client Opencart, homepage derived from 250'000 visitors.
ANALYTICS Attribution modelling and mapping customer journey will be of interest to any ecommerce site looking to improve site drop offs, and build a long term understanding / picture of their visitor. This will be delivered by a combination of GA reporting and Analytics platforms. We can use services such as clicktale to assist in mapping customer touch points. Goals and funnels, code installation and Analytics dashboard setup would be other common services.
PENALTY RECOVERY : Every few months or so Google change search engine algorithm leading to damaging manual penalties for up to 2% of websites. Another high margin service. This includes backlink analysis, summary and manual removal of links program leading to a long term natural links program. I conduct backlink analysis, reporting and execution of backlink removal if required.
PAID SEARCH : AdWords methodology includes: Keyword research Negative keyword research and insertion on campaign Ad group level Ad group structuring (or restructuring) Continuity naming program (if other contractors have been involved) Text Ad creation Creative (if GDN)
Monthly management might include: Location bid adjustments CPA or conversion bid management strategies (or a combination of manual and auto) Ad group and keyword maintenance Remarketing campaign A/B testing and text Ad experimentation Analysis of key metrics like CPC, CTR and conversions.
TOOLS Using Keyword Planner, Wordstream and DoubleClick. Billings for AdWords could include a % of spend or a flat fee for setup and monthly management. E.g. £2000 setup + £1500 management +10% ( if spend is £3000 = £300 )
I offer other PPC services such as Twitter promotion, Facebook Ads, LinkedIn Ads campaigns and offer high converting Retargeting using platforms Adroll and Struq (for the larger clients over 250000 visitors/month).
RESULTS http://www.linxbeds.co.uk/ Client brief included site development, ‘create your bed’ feature and increased volume from AdWords. Increased overall revenue from £6801 in July 2013 to £95000 per month in May 2014 AdWords revenue increased from £6000 in July 2013 to £25000 per month in March 2014 from a £2000 spend. On page work includes descriptions and landing page optimisation. AdWords include optimisation of current campaigns & google product feed creation.
http://www.homelet.co.uk £40000 p/month budget across AdWords, display media and retargeting. Increased paid traffic by 250%. Increased site wide sales between 180% and 300%. Increase sign-ups by 350% (increased conversion rates).
Above: Shinybikes checkout goal funnel
http://www.shinybikes.com/ Site development and migration, email marketing campaign and conversion rate optimisation. Increased revenue from £90k to £150k per month Increased Google shopping revenue in targeted global markets Product page development and descriptions Google shopping and global product feed Social media presence development including Twitter Funnel work identified checkout drop-offs
http://www.arrowfile.com/ Development of product pages and category navigation and increased traffic and revenue through paid and search. Over 40 hours studio time on existing site including custom module design, banner work, category and product page design Seo work included link building such as directory submission & on page optimisation Doubled search revenue to £30k per month Tripled paid search revenue to £7k per month
http://silverheartprints.co.uk/ Better Analytics reporting and improve site user experience including fewer clicks to reach product. Category development Analytics work includes code insertion Banner, graphics and email campaign work
http://www.moda2ride.co.uk/ Develop website features, increase signups and Improve search visibility. Increased revenue from £2000 to £20000 per month over duration of contract. Over 50 hours studio time Increased signups from 0 to 5 per day.
Reorganised navigation and categories. URL work leading to better site visibility Banner work SEO (link building, on page) Keyword rankings improved following work
http://www.endtime.com/ Analytics custom tracking code (JavaScript) creation and insertion: 800,000 unique visitors per month. Helped to track visitors and improve Google Analytics reporting including creating a customised dashboard.
http://www.steelandjelly.co.uk/ Customise theme and improve site look and design. AdWords work. Helped create their ďŹ rst online sales. Clothing retailer. Brand can be seen in TK Maxx etc. CRO work such as button design following heat mapping and scroll mapping. Google Analytics / AdWords custom code Installation work.
http://www.made2measuremirrors.co.uk/ Google Analytics manual penalty. Identify and remove bad links. Keyword rankings improved following work Created analysis and summary Links removed manually or disavowed through Google.
http://www.kidsplaykit.com/ Improve social media presence and sales volume. CRO Includes content, button colours, editing payment pages, payment funnel work. Developed Twitter and Facebook accounts. Increased sales volume by 150% in month 3 and 250% in month 6.
CREATIVE OUTREACH WORK : http://www.mrshericksshakes.co.uk/ https://twitter.com/mrshericks Brand of luxury milkshakes now in M&S, Waitrose and Selfridges. Developed Twitter engagement campaign, seo, creative Meta description work and copy for site.
http://www.kidsplaykit.com/ https://twitter.com/kidsplaykit We created the Twitter feed. Outreach program including incentivising bloggers / inuencers to review the product.
I worked on the following sites in a creative capacity either producing content or search solutions: http://www.hollandandbarrett.com/ http://www.edinburghzoo.org.uk/ http://www.speakersfromtheedge.com/Â Plymgo - an innovative transport initiative website for Plymouth council.
I was responsible for organising fashion shoots for two magazines with large high street clients: http://www.primark.com Organised and ran fashion shoots including creative direction. http://www.topshop.com worked closely with models, photographers, location selection, picking clothes and look with stylist. http://www.revolution-bars.co.uk Vintage fashion shoot on location. Wrote punchy editorials and managed advertising.
IDEAS With the team and budgets in place and a remit to develop inbound marketing projects I'd like to push the boundaries with search marketing. Here are 10 creative ideas to enhance large scale campaigns:
Repurposing material e.g. changing a video into a blog article for a new audience, republish using different channels, a press release from old blog content Creative and shareable Infographics Fashion or retail themed Animated infographics with embedded links Guest posting and running holistic outreach programs Innovative and interactive competitions and promotions Linked up campaigns across social media / developing a social signal campaign aiming for higher organic rankings Integrating (or even developing own) link, sharing or conversion tools like Sniply Interview and Q&A pieces / PR link bait / article syndication across influential blogs like LinkedIn and Lifehack Innovative on page features and elements for retail sites such as ‘build an outfit’, stylebooks or ‘build a custom bed’
And 6 ideas to expand and monetize paid campaigns:
Do you sell product globally ? Consider AdWords location bid adjustment by city, region and country to get the best CPA and sales volumes. A method used with great effect on shinybikes.com that saw massive Google shopping sales increases in targeted countries. Set Google partners agents to work for you. They are often willing to share the latest ROI increasing techniques and tweaks.
Are you using Ad extensions in the right way ? Consider click to call and address against local and global Business objectives and analyse how it impacts customer touch points. Restructure poor performing Ad groups. Better still create a whole taxonomy of names and keywords for easy monthly maintenance. Have you measured an optimal marketing mix ? With brand testing, A/B testing and key metrics such as CPA and CPC in mind maybe that Facebook Ad budget should be downgraded? Experiment. Save money and win more customers. All too often advertisers stick with tried and tested Text or image Ads. With a simple monthly testing program you can rotate, reďŹ ne and improve on even your highest converting Ads.
THOMAS COLTON
E-MAIL : tom@onlinealchemy.co PHONE: 42442553656 TWITTER : https://twitter.com/loremipsum