๐ฆ๐ท in ๐ฌ๐ง Bass player, space lover, proud mum, air quality nerd and content creator ๐ค Managing Editor of
@ThisHouseFresh
+ CEO of
@neomammalian
What do BuzzFeed, Rolling Stone, Forbes, PopSci and Real Simple have in common?
They all know the best air purifiers, cooling sheets, gifts for mom, home saunas and cocktail kits.
Meanwhile, independent sites actually testing those products are dying:
Two months ago,
@ThisHouseFresh
sounded the alarm about Google killing independent sites.
I wrote an update on things Iโve learned and things that happened after publishing that article:
SPOILER: We have lost 91% of traffic from Google since then.
If Twitter is anything like real life, itโs clear that weโre working too much.
And our public shout-outs to those who overwork on their wins are conditioning newcomers to be always on.
This
#MentalHealthAwarenessWeek
we need to talk about burnout:
Link building should happen on the basis of human interaction, and the prospecting stage is no exception.
Here's my process for identifying sites and contacts that will want to share your content - no automation, link metrics or paid tools allowed:
At NeoMam, we spend our days trying to produce the best link-worthy content we can. But we also follow the work of others, and every so often we feel a slight pang of jealousy.
We curated those pangs into a list of the best work of 2020 by our peers:
What happened in our industryโโโwhether it was in 2008 or 2018โโโis most definitely wrong and should never happen again. Iโm coming out to say it because it seems that everyone else is too scared to do it.
We need to bring this conversation forward:
The enshittification process:
1๏ธโฃ platforms are good to users
2๏ธโฃ platforms abuse users to make things better for business customers
3๏ธโฃ platforms abuse business customers to take all the value for themselves
4๏ธโฃ platforms die because we leave them
โThe difference between โI
A week ago, I had a long conversation with
@thomasgermain
about how Google Search dictates the shape of the web.
At one point, I said that Google wields its power irresponsibly. Thomas wrote a must-read article examining whether that might be the case.
The response to
@neomammalian
's 2020 Jealousy List was overwhelmingly positive, so we decided to make a yearly tradition out of it.
Today we take a trip down we-wish-weโd-made-that lane:
Just remembered about the time I asked the Daily Mail to take down every NeoMam infographic because they wouldn't credit with a link back to the original source. Kamikaze move.
NeoMam turned ๐ a few months ago.
If you were to have told us back in 2015 that our business would make it to its 10th anniversary, we wouldnโt have believed you.
As 2021 comes to an end, I reflected on where weโve been:
Hero campaigns could become an endangered content species.
Critics say hero content focuses on irrelevant topics, doesn't earn links over time and doesn't rank for valuable keywords. Plus, the news cycle doesn't favour it anymore.
Well, I disagree:
I wasn't expecting this wave of emotion and tears when reading an email confirming that my British citizenship had been approved.
It has been a long road to get to this point.
Last week somebody asked me if I regret writing "the Medium post".
It got me thinking about what prompted me to write it, how it felt to publish it (and the fears I had), what the response was, and what happened since then.
Here's my thoughts ๐งต๐
Weโve launched a new โWebโ filter that shows only text-based links, just like you might filter to show other types of results, such as images or videos. The filter appears on the top of the results page alongside other filters or as part of the โMoreโ option, rolling out today
I wrote a blog post to mark the end of one of the toughest years of our lives. But I didn't want to make it about business lessons or link building mistakes.
Here are 25
@neomammalian
campaigns I'm proud of:
A piece like this could trigger terrible habits on someone like me, who suffers from body dysmorphia. Using this content to drive people to a "medicated weight loss service" page is a dangerous gateway.
Please, be mindful. We're responsible for the readers of our PR campaigns.
This is the type of content that drowned the real reviews and human product recommendations we publish at
@ThisHouseFresh
.
Many independent sites like ours have been pointing this stuff out since last September.
For months, we were told that our content was not helpful, our
I kept digging into that AI company behind Sports Illustrated's fake writers. Turns out it's created tons more fake writers across the web, sometimes for surprisingly huge media clients. And then things get even wilder...
For
@futurism
//
When
@dan_shure
invited me to his podcast I was nervous.
I worried that people wouldn't understand my accent. And the little voice in my head kept saying "You're not good enough."
But I did it and I loved every minute of it.
Hope you'll like it too ๐
I tried reading all the tweets that went out during the weekend and yesterday regarding this thread.
Some of the responses, discussions and subtweets shocked me.
Here's a thread with my thoughts on all this.
The whole "Prince William is world's sexiest bald man" says "Google study" thing.
I'm sure most people realise what's happened, but in case not, here is a brief explanation:
This is the headline on the version of the story that's been shared the most (from the Independent)...
At NeoMam we fell into a place where link builders wouldn't see us as link builders and PR teams wouldn't see us as PRs.
It took nearly 10 years for us to come to terms with the fact that what we are is content creators.
That's why we approach things differently ๐
We appreciate how much information Google and
@searchliaison
have shared about what a high-quality review is and about helpful content in general.
But these guidelines need to be applied to everyone.
Otherwise, everybody loses but the investment firm:
Next week will be my first
@BrightonSEO
since 2014, when the event was hosted at the Brighton Dome so it wasn't a huge crowd.
I struggle with crowds and social anxiety. If you see me on my phone in the corner, know it's my way to cope but don't feel you can't come say hello โค๏ธ
After an inspiring day at
#BrightonSEO
yesterday, it's T-minus 4 hours till it's my turn to step onto the stage ๐ค
Wish me luck. I'm two parts terrified, one part excited at this point.
A lot has changed at
@neomammalian
since 2019, after I took on the role of CEO.
Sitting in this new seat shifted my perception of the business, and that in turn made us reframe our vision and our plan for the future.
A thread for those curious about this journey ๐
I curated a book (in German) and am sharing around 100 of my favourite maps. Each map is accompanied by a little text. Essentially a collection of super-sized and unclickable tweets.
Buy direct from publisher: Buy from Amazon:
After 3 years of not seeing each other IRL, the
@neomammalian
team spent a full week living together under one roof.
7 days full of hikes, meals, open & honest chats, and real-time collaboration. It was an incredible experience.
Remote work rocks but team retreats are a must ๐
And lastly, I open up about the future of HouseFresh.
I cover what we have done, what we will do, and what we were told we should do.
Thatโs a lot, so I hope youโll stay with me until the end of the article (but no hard feelings if you donโt).
I'm coming to
#BrightonSEO
for the first time since 2014.
It will be exciting to see how much the event has grown since then but my social anxiety is already kicking in.
The only thing calming me down is that I'll get to meet so many of you IRL โค๏ธ
'According to the people who are really in charge at Google, the purpose of Search is not "to organize the worldโs information and make it universally accessible and usefulโ but to build more โreach, engagement and ROIโ for advertisers.'
Many agree:
Our site doesn't rank for branded searches because Google doesn't understand 'HouseFresh' as an entity due to issues with our structured data and social profiles.
We will work on this, but I just want to show how every other search engine doesn't have this issue.
These past few weeks have been intense and nerve-wracking in ways that brought me back to 2014, the year when we almost lost the business.
It made me reflect on the direction in which weโve been leading our team as we make decisions blind.
This will be my first proper talk since 2017 and I am SO READY for it ๐
I've got so many actionable tips, frameworks and tools to share that the talk will be accompanied by an in-depth blog post AND an infographic to go with it ๐ณ
One for new managers and team leaders:
I'm not great at promoting myself.
I feel embarrassed๐ณand don't want to come off as a showoff or annoy people who follow me because of the content I share and not my work stuff.
BUT I will be at
@outREACHconf
on June 12th and would โค๏ธ to see you there:
Not long now to get your early bird ticket - don't miss out on this awesome deal for your chance to learn from these brilliant minds! Sign up for your ticket today:
I dare my impostor syndrome try to make me feel I'm rubbish now I've got this screenshot in my "Happy Moments" folder.
To see our campaign covered by the NYtimes is a sign that we're going in the right direction. It made me reflect on my time at NeoMam, dark memories and all...
The only person who can get me to go through an entire list of tips without ever feeling tempted to switch to another tab or check a notification that popped up on my screen is
@Backlinko
.
So much gold ๐ 27 ways to increase website traffic in 2018:
In this new article, I walk you through an SEO content strategy called โkeyword swarming,โ allegedly developed by Dotdash Meredith to out-publish independent sites and push them down the rankings.
At NeoMam we are never hiring but we're always hiring.
You won't see us putting out job ads but you'll notice that there's new team members joining us every few months.
As with most things, we've got a clear process for inviting new people to join our remote team:
My best follow-up tip is to use the best coverage you already achieved to format your pitch:
๐ Headline = your subject line
๐ Opening paragraph = your intro
๐ If it's a data-led campaign, highlight any findings they pulled out
๐ผ๏ธ Embed the image they opened their story with
How many follow-up emails do you send
How long do you wait to send them?
I usually send one follow-up email per journo, and I wait *at least* 2 days to send them.
(1/4)
#prtwitter
#digitalpr
I am the Managing Editor of one of the many independent sites struggling to compete with big media in Google search results.
These Digital Goliaths use product recommendations as their personal piggy bank, exploiting their domain authority and the publicโs trust.
The best advice on outreach I've read in YEARS.
Alex shared a clear framework, backed by killer case studies that prove his approach works across verticals and different types of media outlets.
The best part? It's not the same regurgitated tips you've read a million times ๐
Today the
@neomammalian
team got to welcome back someone who had left.
Every time this happens, it fills me with pride for building a workplace people want to return to. And it also fills me with love to see how happy everyone is to have their teammate back.
It was a good dayโค๏ธ
It took 14 years and A LOT of no-thank-yous, but I can finally add The New York Times logo to my imaginary deck with all the big wins I helped secure with my outreach ๐ฅน
A tale of perseverance and constant improvement.
In 2022 we watched as many teams moved away from hero campaigns in favour of reactive PR.
It made us doubt the value of continuing with the
@neomammalian
Jealousy List, and we were this ๐ค close to killing this post.
In the end, inspiration won:
It will be my first time on a stage in a few years so anxiety is already kicking in.
But anxiety and all, I can't wait to meet everyone and to share everything I know about producing and promoting content.
Sadly, these are just empty words because Google has a clear bias towards big media publishers.
Google is killing independent sites that actually test products through inaction.
Meanwhile, investment firms and โinnovative digital media companiesโ are selling you bad products.
Every single big media company is currently pumping up its bottom line with affiliate earnings.
The problem is, for the most part, they recommend products without firsthand testing.
They churn out new lists every day, simply copy-pasting marketing materials and Amazon info.
"Our industry needs to get better at not making newcomers feel bad for not knowing something."~
@JulieJoyce
If you're starting out: Don't be afraid to ask questions + Try to find someone to talk to 1:1.
๐ง Julie on
#linkbuilding
, leadership and writing:
I cover why Forbes is flooding the web with articles about puppies (yeah, really) and how trusted publications are being flipped by SEO-minded people with a taste for affiliate money.
NeoMam has always closed shop throughout Xmas and NYE.
In 2019 I proposed we do the same during summer to allow for everyone to disconnect without the stress of a handover before going away, and the impossible inbox when coming back.
It was a risky idea but it worked for us ๐
Today is the day!
The time has come for our two-week summer shutdown ๐๏ธ
We ticked everything off our to-do lists, wrapped up a lot of projects, updated our clients, and are finally ready to turn off our computers for two full weeks.
We'll be back in September ๐
It's been three weeks since I stepped back into outreach to support our team.
The last time I was regularly launching campaigns from scratch was back in 2019.
Here's some thoughts on worries I had, what has changed, and what has stayed the same.
๐
Remote work has environmental benefits, brings life back to rural villages and small towns, and strengthens our ties with our local communities.
But most importantly, it gives us freedom to live where/how we want, and flexibility to be closer to those who matter most to us ๐
โPeople need to go back to the office for the human contact and connectionโ
But I get way more โhuman contactโ with my kids, family, friends, & doing the things I love most โ while doing the best work of my life โbeing a remote worker?
Breaking down this office myth ๐งต
As weโre sure youโve all spotted, this week, the conversation finally shone a light on the lack of racial diversity within the
#DigitalPR
community. While this has taken far too long, weโre glad to see people starting to sit up and listen to this topic. (A Thread)
Ahead of International Women's Day, Business Financing have released a map of the top Female Founders in every country!
Using data from
@crunchbase
the study has also ranked the top ten female founders across the world ๐
I've been beating myself up over only having published two blog posts this year.
For some reason, I put a lot of pressure on myself to "give back to the industry" ever since I joined.
So the voice in my head keeps telling me I should have done/said/shared more.
Been writing threads on how the world's largest companies (eg. Apple, Ikea, Starbucks) use psychological hacks to get people to spend money.
Here are 10 deep dives ๐งต
But wait, there's more:
I explore the trend of big media publishers being caught lying about AI-written, Google-focused content in the last six months.
And I also examine the role of journalists in this new world of commerce content partnerships.
One of the things I get asked A LOT is how to deal with unlinked brand mentions during content marketing campaigns. So I wrote about it.
Here's how to get big-name media sites to credit your content with a link:
If you're at
#BrightonSEO
tomorrow for the Online PR Show, then you cannot miss
@IonaJTownsley
's crash course on creative ideation for shareable campaigns at 3:30pm ๐งฒ๐
She will dissect her process to come up with ideas for content that gets covered around the world: