Ink Digital

Head of Digital Operations

Head of SEO

Storm Creative.

Head Of Digital Marketing

Climb Online

DigitasLBi

•	Help shape the agency offering of blending organic and paid media channels in delivering against targets and KPIs
•	Senior point of contact for clients
•	Crafting, collaborating with other agency disciplines (creative, UX, CRO, Design and Build) and presenting strategies to clients
•	Involved in Pitches for new business, and cross selling other services to existing clients
•	Collaborating with International offices for cross-territory campaigns and clients

SEM Strategy Lead

•	European Search Awards Finalist – Best use of Local SEO 
•	Developing client relationships to learn about their needs and expectations
•	Developing and agreeing the right objectives, goals and KPIs to tie client business objectives into SEO objectives
•	Devise the long term SEO strategy for a portfolio of clients
•	Collaboratively working with the wider SEO team, including Technical, Creative and Outreach and Engagement specialists
•	Build relationships within the agency to increase awareness of SEO and the role it plays across the wider Digital Marketing mix in the form of Knowledge Shares / Lunch and Learns and other internal initiatives

SEO Strategist

•	Managing a team of 6 SEO Account Managers
•	Provide training and development plans
•	Maintain client relationships and act as a point of escalation

SEO Team Leader

•	European Search Awards Winner – Best use of SEO
•	Keeping up with industry developments and sharing with the wider team through internal forums
•	Understanding the wider digital marketing arena and PR principles to develop innovative SEO strategies and tactics
•	Main point of contact for clients for SEO delivery

Senior Digital Search Manager

Digital Account Manager

I Spy Marketing

Handle Multiple clients and their natural search campaigns
Produce technical and content audits
Create link building strategies

SEO Account Manager (Natural Search)

Ladbrokes

To improve and maintain all on page optimisation factors such as Titles, Meta Descriptions, Internal Linking, Content Optimisation, Site Structure and Navigation;

Manage link building campaigns with external agencies by creating a strategy and schedule for link building activities - also conducted link building directly;

Build strong relationships with online marketing team by educating them on how their activities affect SEO;

Host training sessions and workshops with internal teams about the fundamentals of SEO to increase support within the business;

Keep up to date with latest SEO trends and techniques in order to anticipate any algorithm changes that could affect rankings  

Key Achievements
Reporting to SEO Manager and Acquisition Manager from Online Marketing Team I was accountable for proving the ROI of the SEO campaigns by using Traffic, Ranking and Gross Win (Profit)

Worked closely with the web development team to produce a new SEO friendly casino site that was coded cleanly and friendly and structured in a way that was ideal for the search engines

Currently dominate the top 3 results on Google.co.uk for “Roulette” (1st), “Online Roulette” (2nd &amp; 3rd), “Play Roulette” (3rd &amp; 4th), “Roulette Online” (1st &amp; 2nd), and “Play Roulette Online” (1st &amp; 2nd)

Introduced and held Social Media Workshops for the Casino, Games and Bingo Teams to showcase how Social Media can be used in conjunction with our current marketing activities. These workshops included the MD's of each product and the feedback received was excellent.

Worked closely with an external agency to create a custom Facebook Fan Page landing tab, advise and help; Currently at over 600 fans this has proven to be a success on driving extra traffic and game play.

Seen spikes in Fan recruitment after extra promotional steps have taken place, banners, fan boxes, and newsletters have all resulted in an increase in fan base.

SEO and Social Media Executive

E.ON

Managing a team of call centre agents
Making sure key KPIs were met
Training agents on call quality and system processes
Undertaking key projects to help make the call centre run more efficiently
Used Lean principles in order to minimise waste
Dealt with customer complaints once escalated

Team Manager

Responsible for training new recruits on the billing system and customer service.

Trained existing agents on call quality and new techniques

Was point of contact for any trainee issues, such as sickness or disciplinary

Would be responsible for anything up to 20 new recruits at a time

Call Centre Trainer

Call Centre Agent

Head of SEO | Ink Digital

Is your B2B marketing engine misfiring at every stage of the funnel?

Without a coherent awareness strategy, your ideal prospects never even know you exist:

> Scattered content calendars and no clear brand narrative
> Events and webinars that draw a crowd but zero follow-up plan
> ABM initiatives stuck at “nice to have” rather than driving real pipeline

When you do get eyeballs, you need the right capture tactics in place or you’ll watch them slip away:

* SEO that’s optimised for rankings, not for qualified leads
* Paid Media campaigns bleeding budget on broad audiences
* Social outreach without a conversion-focused hook or nurturing sequence

Imagine instead a unified growth engine where:
✔ Every demand-gen effort feeds your CMS and CRM seamlessly
✔ Paid, organic and social channels are laser-targeted and trackable
✔ Automated lifecycle programmes and retention plays unlock repeat revenue

📩 Ready to overhaul your digital marketing and RevOps?

DM me to discover how we’ll architect a fully integrated, data-driven growth machine.

John Hutson

Marketing is free and I'll die on that hill.

There should be none of this 'we don't have the budget', or 'marketing is a cost we can't afford'.

Many businesses treat marketing like an expense.

They think, “How much budget can we allocate without hurting profits?”

But here’s the truth: Marketing 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 be free.

How? It’s simple:

Marketing should be baked into your pricing just like cost of goods sold or overheads.

This way, every sale naturally funds your next campaign.

It’s not just sustainable; it’s scalable.

Imagine this formula:

Price = COGS + Overheads + Marketing + Profit

Let’s say you price a product at £10:

Cost of Goods Sold (COGS): £3
Overheads (e.g., rent, utilities): £2
Marketing (baked-in budget): £1
Profit (net margin): £4

With marketing integrated into every sale, you create a self-sustaining flywheel:

Revenue funds marketing.

Marketing drives new revenue.

The cycle repeats.

Still stuck thinking marketing is a “cost centre”?

You’re stalling growth.

Start thinking of it as the engine that powers everything.

Price your products and services accordingly.

The best lesson in Paid Media: Focus on strategy, not just spend.

Here’s how to ensure your ad campaigns deliver results:

✅ Understand Your Audience
Start by defining who you’re targeting. The more specific you are, the better your campaigns will perform. Use audience insights to refine your messaging and offers.

✅ Test Different Creatives
Don’t settle for just one ad. A/B testing multiple creatives helps you identify what resonates most with your audience. Continuously refine based on performance.
Monitor and Adjust

✅ Paid media is not a “set it and forget it” strategy. Regularly monitor your campaigns, adjust bids, and tweak your targeting to maximise ROI.

✅ Focus on the Right Metrics
Look beyond clicks. Conversion rate, cost per acquisition, and return on ad spend (ROAS) are the metrics that truly matter.

✅ Optimise Landing Pages
A strong ad needs a strong landing page. Ensure your landing page is relevant, loads quickly, and has a clear call-to-action to convert visitors into customers.

Apply these strategies to maximise your ad budget and achieve better results without increasing your spend.

We 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 do SEO, but we 𝗱𝗼 do SEO.

🤯

Search 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲 Optimisation is focusing on improving visibility within search engines.

Search 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 Optimisation is expanding that focus onto other platforms to become more discoverable.

Don't get me wrong - the fundamentals of Search Engine Optimisation plays a huge role in how you can become more visible to your target audience.

The content production process allows you to:

- Research into search trends and demands
- Brief content writers on those considerations
- Optimise for visibility in search
- Guide website visitors to further educational content and the core offerings

But it goes further than that, it acts as a source for:

- Video production (long form)
- Video production (short form)
- Emails that can promote this content
- Social posts for organic
- Social content for paid promotion
- Content that you can share as a podcast guest
- Content that you can create a podcast around
- An audio version of the content
- Graphical representation of the key points / data (infographic)

And this is where you can distribute all those formats across the respective platforms that your prospects are on a day-to-day basis.

Success isn't just about how much traffic you're getting to your website from search engines.

It's about growing your visibility across all the platforms via the mediums that make sense to your business, all the while, putting your business high within the consideration set.

Many SEOs are wondering, what does the future hold for our careers?

If you're an SEO and you're thinking, "What on earth does this mean for my career?" – you're not alone.

But here's the good news.

SEO skill sets are incredibly transferable. If Google were to lose its search dominance or search as we know it ceased to exist, it wouldn't matter.

I’d take my knowledge and optimisation capabilities and apply them across any platform or medium.

Whether it’s search, social, or any other digital platform, your understanding of what people want and how to serve them content remains crucial.

The format might change, and there may be unique nuances to each platform, but the core skills stay the same.

So, to any SEOs worrying about the future:

✅ Focus on your skill set: Your knowledge is valuable and adaptable

✅ Continue learning: Stay updated with the latest trends and technologies

✅ Embrace change: Be ready to apply your skills across different platforms

Remember, your SEO expertise is not confined to Google. It’s a versatile skill set that can thrive in any environment.

Want the full video? Link in the comments below 👇

Brands acting like media companies will last the longest.

Why? Because it's all about efficiency and reach.

Here's how to create an effective content strategy that aligns with performance marketing objectives:

1. Think like a media company: Scale your content based on your resources and budget. The goal is to maximise content exposure.

2. SEO and performance marketing: Combine SEO-centric content with performance marketing. This helps target users at every stage of their journey.

3. Repurpose content: Transform a long-form article into videos, podcasts, ad copies, and images. This ensures your content reaches different platforms and formats.

4. Retargeting: Use the traffic from your content to retarget users. Serve them the next logical piece of content to guide them down the funnel.

5. Reduce reliance on paid media: By focusing on high-quality content, you can reduce the need for constant paid ads, freeing up budget for other opportunities.

6. Critical mass: Aim to become a go-to brand where users directly visit your website, reducing the need for brand search ads.

Following these steps to create a cohesive ecosystem that leverages both organic and paid strategies.

Over £550,000 in hidden revenue from SEO.

We almost missed it.

And so did the client.

For months, we saw healthy traffic and conversions coming in from organic search.

But there was a problem.

Those leads closed offline. No tracking. No feedback loop. No way to prove the real value of SEO.

We knew enquiries were up. But what happened after? No idea.

Then we finally got access to the client’s HubSpot portal.

That’s when the real story came out:

→ Organic search leads were closing into customers at a strong rate
→ Those customers came back for more-multiple deals, not just one
→ Retention was high, lifetime value was huge

All of this was sitting in the data.

But nobody was looking.

When we showed the client the numbers, it changed everything.

They saw over £550k in revenue-directly linked to organic search.

The result?

The client increased their SEO investment. (Not a small step. A big leap.)

Here’s the lesson:

If you close deals offline, you could be blind to the real impact of your digital channels.

You might be sitting on a gold mine and not even know it.

Don’t let your SEO wins go untracked. Get your data connected-CRM, web, sales.

You might be surprised what you find.

Want to talk about uncovering hidden revenue in your business?

DM me or check the link in my profile.

What an achievement!

Channelling my inner 'Ashley Cole Roma photo' vibes for all to see.

Director & Founder @ Ink Digital | UK Search Award Winners

Last night a little goal of ours became real.

Ink Digital won a UK Search Award for...

Best Use of Search - Travel & Leisure (SEO) for our work with Girls Guide to the World.

Winning any award is great, but doing it in travel feels special. 

It is an industry we have supported since day one, so to be recognised specifically for travel SEO means a lot.

For me this is not just about one campaign.

It is the result of all the improvements the team have been making over the last couple of years.

- How we plan campaigns.
- How we set objectives.
- How we communicate with businesses.
- How we report on what actually drives bookings, not just traffic.

Girls Guide to the World have been a huge part of this too. They were fully invested from the start and gave the strategy the time it needed, even when the results were not instant. 

That trust let us do our best work.

Big shout to the Ink team who have all had a hand in getting us to this point.

Thank you to the organisers Don't Panic Events and judges at the UK Search Awards and congrats to all the other winners and finalists. 

The industry is clearly thriving and I am already excited to see what 2026 brings.

If you are a travel brand or marketing manager looking to grow organic bookings and enquiries, I am always happy to have a chat about how we might be able to support you.





#searchawards #seo #travelmarketing #travelseo #traveldigitalmarketing

Managing projects via email or Slack?

Here are 3 reasons why this might be killing your productivity:

1️⃣ Endless Email and Chat Threads
Tracking tasks through long chains leads to confusion and missed deadlines.

2️⃣ No Clear Action Items
It's easy for tasks to get lost in the back-and-forth, with no clear ownership or next steps.

3️⃣ Disjointed Communication
Important updates are buried in your inbox, scattered across multiple chat threads, making it hard to see the bigger picture.

Try this instead:

✅ Centralised Task Management
Tools like Asana, Trello, or Monday keep everything in one place—tasks, deadlines, and communications. We use ActiveCollab.

✅ Clear Assignments and Deadlines
Everyone knows who is responsible for what and by when.

✅ Streamlined Collaboration
All updates, files, and discussions are linked to the relevant tasks, ensuring nothing falls through the cracks.

Remember:
Your inbox is for communication, not project management.

SEO isn’t just about Google anymore.

It’s about building pipelines that convert.

Relying on Google alone?

That’s a risk I’m not willing to take.

User journeys are scattered across Google, LinkedIn, YouTube, forums, even Slack groups and a hell of a lot more.

If your brand only shows up on search, you’re invisible everywhere else that matters.

That’s why we shifted to a ‘search-everywhere’ approach.

Here’s what changed:
1️⃣ We stopped seeing SEO as a Google-only game.
→ Now, every asset we create: long-form, short-form, video, Q&A lives on multiple platforms.

2️⃣ We roll out new channels step by step.
→ First, we nail the process on one platform.
→ Then, we repurpose content for the next one.
→ No burnout. No wasted effort. Just momentum.

3️⃣ We build resilience and reach.
→ If Google’s algorithm tanks, we’re still visible on LinkedIn.
→ If social traffic drops, our forums and newsletters keep the pipeline full.

It’s not about doing everything at once.

It’s about a phased rollout:
→ Start with your best-performing channel.
→ Repurpose original content for a second platform.
→ Layer on the next, only when you’re ready.

That’s how you avoid team burnout and build a growth engine that lasts.

SEO now means being present wherever your buyers are searching, asking, or lurking.

How to dominate your market over the long term.

It's easy to get caught up in the quick wins.

But if you really want to dominate your market, you need to take a long-term approach.

Here's why:

▶️ Start simple. You might feel impatient at first—where’s the traffic? Where are the results? But trust me, you have to start somewhere and gradually chip away at what you can do within your timeframe.

▶️ Answer every question your audience has. At every step of their journey, be there with the right information. Cover every consideration they might have. This is how you build trust and authority.

▶️ Create evergreen content. Once you've done the work, your content becomes an asset—a massive asset. It's out there working for you long after you've created it.

Recently, Sean went through this exact process when he ended up buying a Nissan Juke. He realised just how valuable it is when a brand answers every single question you have, no matter how small.

The takeaway?

If you're willing to be patient and focus on the long term, you'll become the brand that dominates your market.

Yes, it’s a longer journey, but boy, is it worth it.

Link to the full episode in the comments below 👇

It doesn’t matter if it’s Google today.

It doesn’t matter if it’s TikTok tomorrow.

It doesn’t matter if it’s some new platform the next day.

What matters is this:

✅ You’ve got the fundamentals.

✅ You’ve got the mindset.

✅ You know your audience.

✅ You know what they need.

✅ You know where they are.

These skills are timeless.

They’re transferable.

And if you’re only thinking SEO and search engines…

It’s time to broaden your horizons.

Because the platforms may change, but the fundamentals of reaching your audience remain the same.

Link to the full episode in the comments below 👇

Brand Awareness ≠ Demand Creation

Let’s clear up the difference:

Brand awareness is about familiarity and recall. It’s the level of recognition your brand has in the minds of its audience. It’s how often your brand comes to mind when people think of a specific product or service.

Brand awareness can be built through activities like advertising, PR, sponsorships, and word-of-mouth referrals. It’s all about making your brand memorable.

But here’s where many get it wrong:

Demand creation is not the same as brand awareness. It goes beyond just being known; it’s about generating interest in your specific products or services.

Demand creation involves educating prospects, nurturing leads, and engaging with them until they’re ready to take action.

Tactics include content marketing, digital advertising, and community engagement on social media.

The reality:

Both brand awareness and demand creation are crucial for a comprehensive marketing strategy.

Brand awareness builds recognition, while demand creation drives interest and action for your offerings.

TL;DR: Brand awareness = recognition. Demand creation = interest in specific offerings. Both are essential for scaling your business.

Why staying informed is your best defence against disruption

Imagine sticking to horse and cart deliveries when vans started rolling out.

Those who ignored the change were quickly left behind.

The same applies today with the rise of AI and other emerging technologies.

Here’s what you need to do:

🔷 Keep abreast of new developments
You don’t need to dive deep, but staying updated on what’s coming is crucial. Just keep an eye on trends and innovations—don’t let them catch you off guard.

🔷 Don’t dismiss new technologies
It’s easy to dismiss early versions of AI because of their flaws—like image generation with weird hands. But remember, that’s the worst it’s going to be. From here, it will only get better. Dismissing it now could be a costly mistake.

🔷 Cultivate a curious mindset
You don’t have to be obsessed, but maintaining a bubbling interest and keeping tabs on developments through podcasts, articles, and discussions will ensure you’re prepared for whatever comes next.

🔷 Take action now:
Stay curious. Stay informed. Because those who ignore these shifts risk being left behind by those who embrace them.

Link to the full episode in the comments below 👇

Marketing should be free

By that, I mean it should be factored into your margins as a core business expense and if your profitability is above a suitable threshold, it's a clear signal to reinvest in marketing.

The most important investment a profitable company can make is in its marketing.

Here's why you should reinvest:

📈 Scaling Existing Tactics: Reinvesting allows you to continue scaling successful strategies like SEO and PPC, driving even more growth.

📈 Exploring New Opportunities: It opens up the possibility of experimenting with new content formats, such as video or podcasts, reaching new audiences in innovative ways.

📈 Expanding Reach: It provides the chance to advertise on unconventional platforms like Spotify or Reddit, tapping into fresh demographics.

Yet, too many companies scrimp on marketing budgets, even when experiencing clear growth and profits.

These budgets are often scrutinised and seen merely as expenses rather than essential investments.

The reality:

Marketing is not just a cost—it's a growth engine.

The more you invest in it, the more potential you have to expand and dominate your market.

If your business is profitable, don't just sit on those profits. Reinvest them into marketing.

You can attract more customers with a strategically designed digital storefront.

You can increase sales with a user-friendly online experience.

You can gain trust with a secure and regularly updated site.

You can enhance brand loyalty with engaging and fresh content.

Your website is a business asset, not a marketing asset.

All you really need to do is:

🔷 Treat it like a prime piece of real estate.

🔷 Invest in its continuous care and improvement.

🔷 Rinse and repeat (many times).

Everything else is just a distraction.

P.S. Is your website performing at its best?

Let's chat about transforming it into a high-performing business asset.

Comment below or send me a message, and make sure your website is working for you!

SEO isn’t just about rankings anymore. It’s about building a brand that prospects can’t ignore.

For decades, our focus was on chasing keywords.

We wrote content for search engines, then, eventually we wrote for real people (but let's face it - still for search engines).

The traffic numbers looked fine.

But the leads? Not so much.

We saw the problem. Keyword-chasing was giving us less and less in return.

We made a shift.

Brand messaging and reputation became our new SEO foundation.

Every team got involved.

No more scattergun content.

No more mixed messages.

Here’s what changed:
1️⃣ We built consistency across every channel: website, social, even email. Prospects saw the same story everywhere.
2️⃣ Our domain authority climbed. Not overnight. But with every piece of brand-led content, we earned trust.
3️⃣ Inbound leads grew. Clients came to us already knowing who we are and what we stand for.

The lesson?

If you want to future-proof your business, make brand the core of your SEO.

Rankings matter, but reputation lasts.

We now treat brand as non-negotiable in every campaign. It’s not a “nice to have.” It’s the engine.

Survive the next decade in digital marketing: act like a media company now.

Brands that act like media companies will win. 

Here’s why:

If search dies as we know it, people still need to find and consume content. Acting like a media company means optimising content for every platform and format.

Think about your customer journey. What do they need to know at each stage, from awareness to purchase? Create content that addresses these pain points.

Then, reformat and redistribute this content across all platforms. Your audience might be on TikTok, LinkedIn, or even a new platform we haven't seen yet. 

The key is to be everywhere.

Set up a media division if needed. Optimise every piece of content for every platform.

When the next big platform arrives, you’ll be ready to jump on it.

The brands that do this will be almost invincible.

So, there you have it: act like a media company and optimise for all platforms that your audience is on.

Longevity in digital marketing will follow.

Branding is the new SEO. Here's why it matters more now than ever.

In the past, SEO was all about keywords and backlinks. But things have changed.

Now, it's about creating a brand that people trust and recognise.

Why?

Because search engines are smarter. They focus on user experience and relevance.

Here are 3 reasons why branding is crucial:

- User Trust: People click on brands they know. Trust leads to higher click-through rates.
- Content Quality: Quality content is key. It keeps users engaged and coming back.
- Search Engine Algorithms: Google values brands. Strong brands rank higher.

Fast forward to today, and the game has evolved. SEO isn't just about technical tweaks. It's about being a true marketer.

So, how do you build a strong brand?

1. Consistency: Keep your messaging consistent across all platforms.
2. Engagement: Interact with your audience. Build relationships.
3. Value: Provide real value. Solve problems for your audience.

The result?

A brand that stands out and ranks higher.

SEO isn’t just about “engines”—it’s about platforms of all kinds.

It’s about distributing content where your audience spends time—whether it’s video, audio, or long-form writing.

It’s about slicing and dicing your content to create micro-moments that meet your audience at every stage of their journey.

We often think of SEO as technical optimisation, but the reality is: search experience optimisation is about building awareness and engagement across diverse mediums.

So, are you just optimising for algorithms, or are you creating multi-platform brand experiences that truly pay dividends?

Check out the full video in the comments below 👇

I used HubSpot's Snippets and saved hours every week.

Are you still typing out every email from scratch?
  
Here’s how Snippets transformed my workflow: 
 
Every time I wrapped up calls, I’d send follow-up emails with links.

Typically, I’d type out: “Thanks for joining me. Here’s [link to resource].” Over and over again.
  
(If you’re doing this too, you know how repetitive—and time-consuming—it gets.)
  
Now, I use Snippets.
  
With just one shortcut, I can instantly pull up pre-written text for common responses:
  
→ FAQs? Covered.  
→ Pricing details? Done.  
→ Meeting follow-ups? Effortless.
  
Here’s how you can start:
  
1️⃣ Go inside HubSpot’s Library and create your most-used replies.  
2️⃣ Add shortcuts for easy access (think #ResourceLink or #Pricing).  
3️⃣ Use them whenever you need—no more typing from scratch.
  
It’s not just about speed; it's about consistency.

Every message feels polished and professional.
  
And here’s another game-charger:
  
Combine Snippets with other tools like meeting schedulers or dashboards. Suddenly, your communication isn’t just faster—it’s smarter.

A strategic and human-centred leader driving performance media, data innovation, and analytics across regulated and mission-led sectors including finance, healthcare, education, and recruitment. Proven track record in leading resilient, cross-functional teams and delivering commercial growth through integrated campaigns, data product development, and digital innovation. Skilled in embedding AI-powered solutions, building high-trust team cultures, and fostering collaboration across departments to future-proof operations and drive measurable outcomes.

taplio

The Battle

John Hutson

Nabil Verdickt

Followers

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taplio

The Battle

John Hutson

Nabil Verdickt

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}John Hutson's LinkedIn Performance

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Performance ScoreJohn Hutson's LinkedIn Performance