Gareth Simpson

Offsite SEO Pioneer. Speaker, Trainer & Founder of @SeekerDigital - The Performance PR SEO agency for Enterprise, Ecommerce and Tech.

[Gareth Simpson @SimpsonGareth]

Very excited to be accepted onto the MSc in Artificial Intelligence at the University of Essex! It’s delivered over 2 years and will give me an academic grounding to build on for my work.

It’s never too late to start. I left education at 16 and returned to college in my mid-20s to study computing.

I don’t have a traditional degree and the usual entry requirement is a Bachelor's in science. So I applied via the 'prior experiential learning' route based on a portfolio and aptitude test.

Last year I followed a 'DIY BSc in AI' using lectures and short courses all online for free. Now I'm brushing up on foundational maths and feel like I've discovered a new world of thinking.

This year, I plan to 'study in public' sharing insights on how the theory learned connects to industry and innovating our services at @SeekerDigital.

[Gareth Simpson @SimpsonGareth]

Another BrightonSEO roundup post...

- Delivered a Course -

Back with the Advanced Link Building and Outreach course. I adapted the end-to-end workflow to work with Claude:

1. Developed a @MajesticSEO API integration with Python live on the spot.

2. Then performed ideation based on audience and competitor research.

3. Built a branded linkable asset with full HTML and content.

4. Prospected and imported an outreach campaign to Pitchbox and BuzzStream using their APIs.

- Gave a Talk -

Happy with my talk on "Machine PR" how machines interpret information from Digital PR campaigns and the importance of nurturing your brand profile. Packed in too much as usual, aiming to do an extended online version soon.

- Sipped and Searched -

Enjoyed hanging out at the Sip and Search meetup. Watched some slick automation demos from @SERanking, @ahrefs, @Wix, @screamingfrog and a few others. Thanks to chima mmeje🏳️‍🌈 for the invite.

- Showcased an AI Server -

Demoed our custom built GPU box running open-source LLMs, enabling @SeekerDigital to integrate AI more closely into client work with confidentiality and control.

...

Thanks to Dre, Tim, Andrea, Hannah, Kelvin and the rest of the @brightonseo crew for their support and making it a success.

As an exhibitor, people often ask if we get leads and we always do. My advice is consistent is key. Don’t be "flash in the pan" with a huge fancy stand and lose momentum. Spread the budget out, build trust and keep showing up.

Looking forward to the next one, which at this rate of change will be wildly different once again!

Thanks to @Linkbuildinghq for the pic (must try to smile more, I did actually enjoy it 😀)

[Gareth Simpson @SimpsonGareth]

@AndrewPierno send

[Gareth Simpson @SimpsonGareth]

@craigd0412 🤲🏻

[Gareth Simpson @SimpsonGareth]

@CarrieRosePR @brightonseo Clever!

[Gareth Simpson @SimpsonGareth]

Looking forward to next months course! Naturally, with the recent updates I've got lots of fresh technical content to share. @Laura_Mallinson who has won truly incredible coverage recently will be bringing tons of value on the Digital PR front

[brightonSEO @brightonseo]

🔦 Spotlight on...

Our (Advanced) Link Building and Outreach training course🧵

Learn how to score coverage on major publications and build a solid foundation of diverse links that every good site should have.

[Gareth Simpson @SimpsonGareth]

@techseowomen @SeekerDigital @annika_haataja Thank you @techseowomen! Everybody at Seeker is proud to be a WTSPartner :)

[Gareth Simpson @SimpsonGareth]

@KorayGubur Indeed! It was an enjoyable time and I look forward to catching up with you both soon.

[Gareth Simpson @SimpsonGareth]

@WolfofBaldSt I know right

[Gareth Simpson @SimpsonGareth]

PRs, SEOs stop obsessing over “follow” links.

Recently, a prominent link provider reached out to us for ‘follow’ links for a client of theirs.

I asked them “why follow?”.

They cited the usual theory that no-follow links don't ‘pass authority’.

 I asked for an example of a "good follow link" and analyzed it using ChatGPT with a straightforward prompt.

The response was something like:
- Tone and messaging promotional.
- Linked to a commercial landing page.
- Unnatural anchor text.
- No impartiality with outbound links.
- And it literally said “Sponsored” on the post.

You really fooled Google there 🤦

This doesn’t even consider other capabilities Google has at its disposal (such as identifying link footprints).

Similar to how a Venus flytrap reacts to contact with its sensory hairs, Google can detect and nullify your links if too many red flags are raised.

I’ve been teaching this theory on my BrightonSEO link building course for many years. It has been challenged but Google's announcement that the no-follow is just a hint validates this perspective.

Learning Natural Language Processing helped me to better understand how Google may work. Google will use the signals it deems appropriate for the scenario. This may change from site to site, SERP to SERP.

For example, if a news site no-follows all outbound links, how can it be used as a differentiator? It’s a useless signal in that situation and algos will resort to other methods.

So, if your agency reports on or touts “follow links” they don’t have the right mindset for modern link building. Forming our own hypothesis instead of blindly following the SEO crowd has stood the test of time for Seeker’s clients.

At best, low quality links will be ignored, at worst they’ll harm your domain reputation - negatively impacting your SEO performance. With organic attribution so hazy you may never even know it.

I can help with that by grading the links and looking for cause and effect in the SERPs. Send me a DM if you'd like me to take a look.

[Gareth Simpson @SimpsonGareth]

@fatjoedavies Hahaha. Yeah it was pretty quick! Its pretty good, I'm getting lots done with my colleagues and the dogs have been friendly ;)

[Gareth Simpson @SimpsonGareth]

@iamrofe As others have said, have your physical sim converted to an esim by the network then it can live forever in virtual form inside your phone

[Gareth Simpson @SimpsonGareth]

@CharC_SEO @SeekerDigital Thanks mate! I enjoyed catching up in Dubai

[Gareth Simpson @SimpsonGareth]

Happy birthday to @SeekerDigital (and to me)!

8 years ago, on my birthday, I founded this agency and I’m newsjacking it again for 3 exciting announcements…

1:
https://t.co/JTsQqWprrX

In 2016, I was driving the current generation of off-site SEO. Numerous forward thinking PLCs and industry big hitters invested heavily in (and loved) our tactics. A few startups also stumbled upon us and we helped them become very very succesful.

In 2024, many will continue to shill (a Wish version of) the link building I helped to pioneer, but it's effectiveness is diminishing. We're transitioning to the next generation of organic marketing which is bigger than links and much more than SEO...

I'm back to growth hacking and developing a new suite of services to help you keep growing in never-before-seen arenas.

***

Seeker is looking for 3 beta-testers, so if you’re a founder/marketer at a PR worthy ecom or tech brand please DM me.

***

2:
https://t.co/7UFZ0WoKym

Through Seeker AI, I work directly with marketing/growth leaders to develop and implement AI marketing roadmaps.

I’m now segmenting this service from the agency partly because others are using GenAI to automate low quality marketing and I don't want my team's handcrafted work to be confused with it.

No criticism intended here, as long as it’s user centric. I prefer this to buying ads and funding ‘the big tech establishment’ ;)

***

I'm looking to take on one more consulting client. Get a preview of what this work can do for your marketing ops at:

https://t.co/IhmSb4FxhX.

***

3:
laptoplinkup (dot) org

The charity I founded is in need of an experienced trustee. Laptop Linkup aims to donate laptops to children who need them, and we’re ready to launch.

***

Please let me know if you, or anybody you know is interested in joining the board.

***

Finally, a big thank you to Annika and the rest of the Seeker team for everything you do, and enabling me to chase these whacky ideas! Also, thanks everyone for all the birthday messages and support :)

It's going to be an exciting year...

[Gareth Simpson @SimpsonGareth]

@vghilien @Jamie_IF @James_S_Oliver @SaketWahi11 @robertniechcial @KorayGubur @JulianGoldieSEO @craigcampbell03 @Linkifi_ @fatjoedavies @autobloggingai @StevenK76583 Ah ya got me! Alright alright I'll do it 😂 (I was keen to anyway) and @Jamie_IF ofc

[Gareth Simpson @SimpsonGareth]

@Jamie_IF @vghilien @James_S_Oliver @SaketWahi11 @robertniechcial @KorayGubur @JulianGoldieSEO @craigcampbell03 @Linkifi_ @fatjoedavies @autobloggingai @StevenK76583 Jamie can attest that I try to avoid publicity 😅

[Gareth Simpson @SimpsonGareth]

@vghilien @Jamie_IF @James_S_Oliver @SaketWahi11 @robertniechcial @KorayGubur @JulianGoldieSEO @craigcampbell03 @Linkifi_ @fatjoedavies @autobloggingai @StevenK76583 Enjoyed hanging out with you Vlad!

[Gareth Simpson @SimpsonGareth]

@dejanseo That's awesome would love to test it out. Happy provide training data too

[Gareth Simpson @SimpsonGareth]

@CarrieRosePR @craigcampbell03 @Charles_SEO Great to see you all as always