The ability to listen and learn from one another has always been vital in parliament, in business and in most aspects of daily life. But at this particular moment in time, as national and global events continue to reiterate, it is uncommonly crucial that we forge new channels of communication and reinforce existing ones. The following article from Whitehat S E O is an attempt to do just that. We would welcome your thoughts on this or any other Parliamentary Review article.
Whitehat S E O
1WHITEHAT SEO |
BEST PRACTICE REPRESENTATIVE
Founder and CEO ClwydProbert
Whitehat SEO links build
content authority
Whitehat SEO emerged from Founder Clwyd Probert’s
online promotion of his previous business, with
his skill in digital marketing attracting attention
following the recession of 2008. Having previously worked in
the investment banking sector, Clwyd combined his knowledge
of marketing with the needs of large corporate companies.
Focusing on inbound marketing, they aim to educate website
visitors, building the authority and the reputation of their clients
while driving growth through an increase in visitors, leads and
new clients. He tells
The Parliamentary Review
about this change
of methodology and the importance of robust internal systems.
As an inbound digital marketing agency, our role is to help companies to grow,
driving visitors to their websites and helping them to convert these visitors into
leads. Beyond this, we assist our clients in nurturing these leads until they become
customers, working with the sales team to make sure they are effective. Even
after this, we work with our clients to generate new business. Prior to establishing
the company, I worked in investment banking, building CRM systems. I sold
that company and moved to America before returning to the UK and launching
a professional photography business in 2005. At this time, the internet was
beginning to be used as an advertising medium, and I taught myself this skill to
promote the business online. When the recession hit in 2008, I received a lot of
interest for digital marketing contracts. There was a sufficient amount of interest
for this to become our main business, so I shut down our photography service,
although I still work for free for wildlife charities, and established Whitehat in 2011.
FACTS ABOUT
WHITEHAT SEO
»Founder and CEO:
ClwydProbert
»Established in 2011
»Based in West London
»Services: Inbound marketing
»No. of employees: 5 full-time
employees
Whitehat SEO
THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW
Highlighting best practice
2| WHITEHAT SEO
Establishing a solid
foundation
We have changed our process over the
years. Initially, we focused on search
engine optimisation, which involved
content creation and the distribution of
this content through social media. Our
target market was SMEs, so we offered
our services at a relatively cheap cost,
charging a few hundred pounds a
month, allowing these companies
to see success for a small spend. We
grew organically with no external
investors and installed a system based
on a robust methodology, with the
goal of building a global agency. By
operating in a small fixed office, using
contractors and freelancers, we were
able to grow.
While we only have a small permanent
team in London, we have established
a large disparate network around the
world. Our first customers were small
companies who we helped to be found
locally. While this was a successful
customer group, they do not possess
as much capital as larger concerns, so
it was difficult to complete a job to
the extent we would like. Toexpand
beyond this, we began to add
capabilities including paid campaigns,
social media work and website design.
Four years ago, we partnered with an
American technology company called
HubSpot. This gave us a standard
methodology and framework for all of
our campaigns, allowing us to go after
the larger corporate market. Although
these companies may not have worked
with a start-up, our partnership with a
big player raised our profile. This also
helped us to return to our core skillset
of data-driven marketing and sales. We
had shifted from small companies to
those with an average annual turnover
of between £2 million and £50 million.
The transition to inbound
marketing
We have embraced inbound
marketing, replacing the traditional
outbound marketing style. Outbound
marketing is interruptive and focuses
on paid advertisements and spam
emails. In contrast, the purpose of
inbound marketing is to build authority
and is based on a knowledge-based
model. This method focuses on
education and helping potential
clients before selling to them. If this is
achieved online and consistently, the
reputation of the company grows, and
Google recognises their status as an
authority. Natural organic traffic will
visit the site, and methods can then be
designed to capture these visitors.
A primary tactic is to offer high-quality
content to potential customers in
return for their information. Once
you have received this, you can see
their interests and follow this up with
relevant information before handing
qualified leads over to the sales team.
Many agencies work around a delivery-
based model, agreeing to a work
schedule based around the quantity
of content created. We focus on key
performance indicators and work to
drive growth. After analysing business
Say goodbye to the
funnel and hello to the
flywhleel
We have
embraced
inbound
marketing,
replacing the
traditional
outbound
marketing
style
“
“
3WHITEHAT SEO |
BEST PRACTICE REPRESENTATIVE
goals, we work backwards and assess
what each individual business needs.
We work closely with each of our
clients, and my expertise in SEO helps
to drive this traffic in the first instance.
The fact that we are the first company
to appear when “inbound marketing
agency” is searched is testament to
our expertise in this field.
One of the primary challenges we
face, as all marketing agencies do,
is the balance of self-promotion and
the promotion of our clients. It is
essential that we generate business
for ourselves, and every start-up is
always looking for leads. This issue
was more pronounced in our early
days. While we have not grown as fast
as we perhaps could have, we have
focused on building a delivery system
that is both stable and high quality,
allowing us to be ready to assist larger
companies in an efficient way. While
this systemisation demanded a lot of
work, it is essential for any emerging
business. We have supplemented our
burgeoning reputation with events
hosted every three months, inviting
speakers to discuss important trends
in the sector, and I teach at the UCL
business school as a guest lecturer.
This helps our brand positioning and
allows us to get noticed.
A sea change of attitudes
The other issue we face concerns
education in the market. We are trying
to promote a new way of thinking
about marketing and still face a large
amount of resistance, as many are
still entrenched in the old school.
GDPR has strengthened our cause by
decreasing the efficacy of outbound
marketing, and we are tapping into
an upcoming sea change in attitudes
affecting how businesses perceive
marketing. This has been an American-
led change, and marketing is now seen
as an educational methodology, with
marketing agencies moving closer to
publishing companies.
As we move forward, we are looking
to hire more employees to build our
permanent team. We have been
very fortunate to work with the Ugli
Campus in West London, who are
very proactive in supporting start-up
companies. We are looking to build on
this springboard, forging partnerships
with other agencies. We are excited for
the future with the development of AI
and analytics and are looking forward
to providing dynamic websites, the
best content for visitors and an evolved
system of marketing.
We are trying
to promote a
new way of
thinking about
marketing and
still face a
large amount
of resistance
“
“
Embracing inbound
marketing strategies