Stuart Hames

🎁🎉 Q4 Ecommerce Growth 🎉🎁 We are already ranking position 2 for a transactional 201K peak trading UK search volume term for a gifting brand we started working with 90 days ago. Beating high authority retail giants Marks and Spencer and Fortnum & Mason. **This is not the first time we have done this postion 1 for this term is a brand we worked with two years ago.** Before working with us, the company an established e-commerce gifting brand had been working with an SEO for the past 2 years and was not getting much movement - for this term back in June the brand was Page 2, and July growth into 9 during the first month of engagement and now we are position 2. NB: As you will see from the image accompanying the post we have moved from 43-13 and 13-6 for two terms with a current volume of 50K per month (outside peak). Massive gains are being made. This growth in such a short time frame is a testament to the head of ecommerce putting faith in us, with a small internal resource massive shift from the POLARIS | SEO & Content Agency team to work on not just optimisation, content creation, new wireframes and addressing legacy technical issues holding the site back. We are bold, and we do sometimes suggest hard-to-swallow changes - but everything is data-backed (or based on years of e-commerce experience) we back ourselves, put the hard yards in and this is why we get these results so quickly. SEO campaigns are underpinned by passion, proactivity and clear strategic direction working on impactful areas to maximise exposure. This is how we get these results, time and time again. Big thanks to Sam Marlow working dilligently to deliver the campaign strategy with the client to get this traction. Safe to say, we have only scratched the surface, the peak index can be volatile and fluxes daily. We have briefed the team with a whole new Q4 strategy still to deploy to ensure we "stay sticky" during this peak for these queries - plus move further on a 300K term we are currently position 4. Data reference: SE Ranking - 2024 compare by dates 09 July - 07 October

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The problem with website projects... Let's face it, launching a new website is a pain in the arse. A necessary evil perhaps. I mean, you need to create content, imagery, get sign off, stakeholders involved, manage the supplier, manage the budget. And so on and so on... So when you get the point of actually launching it, it's understandable that you're already sick of it. But that's where the problems start. I know. I've been there on multiple occasions. But, a good website can be a content hub, a candidate conversion tool, and a client lead generator. A ideally, help your employer brand too. It can be the difference between a profitable marketing function and a cost centre. That's why it's so important that you build a plan for iteration and ongoing development when you build your new site. Like everything, it must evolve, it must be relevant, and it must work hard to deliver ROI. Speak to your audiences, build, measure, and repeat. Because websites might be a pain in the arse, but they can also help give your campaigns a kick up the arse just when they need it. And if you need help with any of this, I am happy to help (not to build a website obvs, but I'd happily recommend some good ones)

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Who's after Google Ads? Perplexity, the GenAI search engine, is.... and we've got the lowdown on EP2 of the Retail MediaTherapy podcast from Grace & Co. Perplexity, the GenAI search engine, is getting into the advertising business. They are launching an Search ads model that cuts right to the heart of Google Ads. 👉 Here's the podcast: https://lnkd.in/e27rsuej 👈 And here's what blew my mind and got me a little ranty on the podcast - Perplexity want $50 CPMs!!! KER-CHING 💰💰💰💰💰 So let's say you want to advertise $50 trainers and if the CTR is 0.02, it would cost $25 to get people to your store! Ouch!!! 👟 So whats up with that? Why a CPM model rather than a CPC model? Why because there are no results to click through to on a search results page where all the results are generative AI answers (think ChatGPT) rather than links to indexed web pages. On the podcast we get check and ask Perplexity itself if it's ads business will succeed - check it out to see what it said... we think it missed the PR training session 🤦‍♀️ 👉 Here's the podcast from Colin Lewis and myself: https://lnkd.in/e27rsuej 👈

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It’s that time of year again when almost all retail businesses go into full peak and we prepare PPC campaigns to capitalise on as much as we can around Black Friday! So, with that in mind I’ve pulled together some of my top tips for sorting your eCommerce site out ready for Black Friday. Want access to over 3,000+ keywords which could help you optimize your store around primary Black Friday search terms?  comment “BFSEO” and I'll DM it you. #blackfriday #seo #seoadvice #ecommerce

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This is a great event for B2B marketers to learn from some of the industries best, it's completely free and the perfect opportunity to network with your peers. Get in touch with Dan Middlebrook if you, or a member of your team, would like to come along! #b2b #attribution #marketing

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This morning, I had the pleasure of participating in the judging session for the UK Search Awards, once again reviewing an impressive array of high-quality campaigns from across the Search Marketing industry highlighting that our industry continues to overflow with exceptional ideas and results. Now, this year marks a milestone for me, as it’s the 10th consecutive year that I’ve supported Don't Panic Events as a volunteer judge. Over the past decade, I’ve had the honour of judging several Don’t Panic Events awards, including the UK and EU Search Awards, Ecommerce Awards, and Agency Awards, to name a few. Each time, I’ve carefully reviewed countless entries, diving deep into campaign strategies, execution, objectives, and results to ensure that the most deserving work gets recognised. This process has taken quite literally hundreds of hours of my time over the years, unpaid, but I’ve never hesitated to contribute. And that got me thinking. Why do I continue to do it? I’ve heard all sorts of misconceptions over the years about awards, from claims of influence to “pay-to-win” setups, often from those who haven’t experienced the process firsthand. The truth is, as a judge, there’s a HUGE amount of work that goes on behind the scenes. We scrutinise every detail, validate results using industry tools, and benchmark campaigns against one another – all with rigorous attention. Multiply that across numerous judges and no single judge can sway the outcome. It’s a truly robust process and I am proud to help ensure honesty and impartiality continues to exist within these prestigious awards for our industry. I also remain committed to giving my time because I believe that great work deserves recognition. Beyond the marketing benefits for the winners, it’s about seeing the genuine excitement and pride on the faces of winners - knowing their hard work is being celebrated. It’s incredibly rewarding to be a part of that moment. It’s also rewarding to know that the winners will leave the awards ceremony incredibly motivated to keep pushing their work and our industry forward. For me to be able to play even a small part in contributing to the growth and support of our industry, as a judge, motivates me to keep doing my part. Best of luck to all the entrants in this year’s UK Search Awards, the shortlist will be announced this Friday! 🏆 #searchawards #uksearchawards #seo #ppc #sem #digitalmarketing

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Influencer Marketing in bespoke tailoring! A discussion thread 🪡 (see what I did there). Influencer Marketing is regarded as a highly important brand strategy 📈, but I have some concerns (read “feelings”). Whilst I think this does impact positively on Instagram, and some other forms of social media, I can’t help but think that the real winner is the influencer in terms of getting free product for very little output (and a lot of dopamine 👍🏼 when they post the “content”). In the many discussions I have about this with influencers, it seems the agreement is as follows: - Provide me with handmade bespoke clothing for free ⛔️💰(and they don’t want any of your entry-level stuff either). - They’ll write about the studio, the experience, the product and they’ll “big you up” on their own account (tag, mention etc..). - If you also want to use their images/posts on your own social media, they have a package that you can PAY THEM 💰 for that (what??? Sorry???) - If I get any referrals from the content, THEY’d like a percentage as a referral fee 💰💰💰 Listen, this is broad scope from the influencers I have engaged with over the years. Not representative of any one perticular person, but a combination of things. Firstly, as a bespoke tailor. If you are engaging with me for your OWN social media content, pay me for my services, make your content and enjoy the product. Tag me and my business is you like. If you want to engage with me to enhance MY social media, then maybe there’s a conversation to be had. Is it then a biased write-up if I have given you free product? Are you going to be favourable because I’ve spent time and money working with you? How honest are you going to be? What if something didn’t fit you first time and we had to alter it or remake it? What if (like many customers) you changed the goalposts during the service and we worked hard to accommodate your request? Will that be included? Or will it be the usual generic “lifestyle pose with a nice suit, at a cafe outside table, sipping a coffee” saying “suit by Edinburgh Tailoring Company”. I used to really enjoy reading real-people reviews of bespoke tailoring. Simon Crompton being one of my particular favourites and especially in the early days when it seemed like a genuine person making a genuine purchase and offering a genuine review. What I read now seems to be disingenuous and disengaged from what people want to really know. In my experience, what people want to know is this: - Is the product good? - Was the experience good? - Is it good value for money? So my question is this. No matter what industry you are in; - Have you used influencer marketing? - What we’re your thoughts before using IM? - What are your thoughts SINCE using IM? Are you an IM? Can you shed some light on what your aims and objectives are when working with a business? What do you look for and what results are you driving for the business? Interested to know.

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Campaigns worthy of praise in SEO? Longevity, focus on PLP UX/CJM and SERP position consistency. Ranked number 1 for AW retail terms within the women's footwear category for wide range of transactional terms (such as the below query over 110K searches a month, increases to 250K during peak Q4 trading) last year and again this year. One of the many reasons why POLARIS | SEO & Content Agency are one of the most respected ecommerce SEO agencies trusted by global retail O2O brands.

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In an era where online presence is crucial for business success, understanding the significance of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) cannot be overstated. Looking for ways to enhance your visibility and branding, build trust and credibility or for a higher return on investment? Reach out to us LOCALiQ_UK winners of SEO Agency of the Year in the UK Agency Awards 2024. #SEO #bevisible #onlinepresence

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#ebay Yesterday all the "faces" from linkedin eBay (myself included) posted the same thing about eBay UK going free for private sellers . Now I've taken a breath, here's an extra important bit EBAY-BALANCE, and a suggestion. https://lnkd.in/e48rWGje Let's start with a history lesson When eBay owned PayPal, and all payments were processed there, there was a lovely circle - "I sold on eBay, I have funds in Paypal, that means I can buy something on eBay for free!" - You sell little Jonny's crib because he's too big and then you have some money sitting there to buy something for you. When eBay Managed Payments came in, that pool of funds was lost - You sell Jonny's crib, the money goes straight to the joint account and you know what you buy with it? Electricity, potatoes, council tax. People, both internal and external, warned it might make eBay less "sticky" and could lead to gradual lost opportunity, but honestly, just getting managed payments to work in the timescale they had was amonumental task, so kudos to the team that launched it! Fast forward to now, the Balance is back from Oct 16th. when you sell - the money sits there waiting for you to spend it. I am loving this and the "UK Free" for business sellers and here are my reasons 1) good bless sellers and please, eBay, look after them, but Buyers is where the game is if you're a marketplace - nobody can deny that buyers have been drifting from eBay so this free selling is creating a buzz and will drive punters onto the platform 2) Private seller/buyers always used to spend 4x or more than private buyers who didn't sell - so more private sellers rises all boats 3) Locking the balances in so it doesn't feel like money is great - it will mean more spending on eBay generally I know this has been partially forced on eBay but I think it's finally a bold move which the community has been waiting for - "just do SOMETHING!!!" Final suggestion - eBay needs to lower customer dependency on sitewide coupons - buyers have learned to wait for them. Start swapping them out for a blanket 5% discount on purchases made with eBay Balance.

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"People Buy from People” Yeah, but 93% of UK shoppers have bought something from Amazon in the past twelve months. It doesn’t matter how great your brand story is – your products and services need to be: ✔️easily accessible to your target audience ✔️ priced to match expectations of your target market ✔️backed by decent customer service In the end, while a compelling brand story can create a strong identity, it’s the practical aspects of your offering that will help you build a viable business.

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CPMs down 4% today 🤔 Now that the Election is over, the cost of delivering your ads to your potential customers might have just got 4% cheaper… This is data from tens of thousands of Triple Whale integrated Shopify stores, your CPMs might look a little different What does this mean for our brands? … Not a whole lot! It’s just interesting Day to day changes in CPM of 4% are actually totally normal, and a lot of the time we actually prefer to pay more for delivery, clicks from Facebook & Instagram users that are more likely to buy. You could get really cheap ad delivery (and clicks) if you only served your ads in India, but unfortunately your sales would take a hit. This is a little reminder that while efficiency is important, the goal is growth (Not CPM, CPC, CPA or ROAS)

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🐈‍⬛ Day2 at #DMIP2024 by Girls in Marketing🐈‍⬛ Lucy Street delivered a session on Thumb Stopping Social Content, showing us how to use Adobe Express tools, specifically generative AI which made me want to try it out myself 🖼️ 🎨 I was tinkering with it for a good few hours and managed to come up with the attached design 😂 Watching her create content through generative AI made me want to make a big calico cat alongside a tiny human near a cliff or mountain. Although calico cat didn't go well with the colour theme, I chose a black cat 🐈‍⬛ It took over 25 tries of generating and re-generating prompts and designs to come up with the perfect black cat. 😞 Why did i mention 25? Because the free version only offers 25 tries per month - which is a big bummer. I used up my free 30-day trial to unlock the premium feature because of how committed I was to finish this mini project and share it with all the girlies 🤭 I also found out what factors effected the generation; some of them being - 🖌 the size of the area you're marking 🖌the prompts 🖌the overlays in the pictures I was surprised to see you could use generative AI on texts too (i'm sure she mentioned it but i was too busy thinking about a calico cat). 🐈 Bubble theme felt like the perfect way to go 🫧 But something still felt missing. I tried adding hot air balloons but they didn't work well. So I added a big moon because that went well with my fictional theme. I feel like I could've added more but as of now, their elements tab, in my opinion, wasn't the best. I'm sure there will be more developments and more collections coming in. Overall it was fun! I will definitely be trying generative AI a lot more often 👩‍🎨 #Adobe #ContentCreation #GraphicsDesign #DigitalMarketing #GirlsinMarketing

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What is a ‘Creative Strategist’ ?? 🤔🤔🤔 This is a VERY common hire right now, in particular for D2C brands. But, what does it mean and what do these people do? Take a look at this article as it explains it very well 🙌 Link in the comments 👇

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What's wrong with this picture ❓ Well, if you sell diamond engagement rings 💍 in the UK and you can't see yourself, there's a lot wrong with it. Want to fix it? 🛠 DM me or email [email protected] to find out how. #businessowner #jewellers #jewllery #diamondrings #ecommerce #seo #growth #digitalmarketing #UK #summerjewellery #gems #gemstones

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