NEWS

News, Insights & Opinions
Why we never stop learning
Why we never stop learning
|Steve Maybury
SEO and social media is a fast-moving industry. Techniques that were once best practice can quickly become obsolete. Websites that once performed well on search engines can plummet down the... Read more...
*POSITION NOW FILLED* SEO Marketing Consultant
*POSITION NOW FILLED* SEO Marketing Consultant
|Emma Thompson
Job title: SEO / Search Marketing Consultant Full time, salary dependent on experience Gosforth, Newcastle-upon-Tyne No Agencies Please   This role is now filled, but to be considered for future... Read more...
Alt+Shift+2 – learn it, use it (Or: why H2 tags are essential for your blogs)
Alt+Shift+2 – learn it, use it (Or: why H2 tags are essential for your blogs)
|Steve Maybury
    H1 tags are an essential part of blogging, because they improve your page’s SEO and help to make your content more readable/accessible. You can read our quick guide to using them here. But H2 tags are important, too, as they can improve the structure of your blog/web page and help Google to understand what your blog is about. Think of an H2 tag as being a sub-heading, like this: An example of an H2 tag They serve two key purposes: firstly, they are a ranking factor. That is,... Read more...
'Why doesn’t my business show up on Google search?' A case for long tail keywords
'Why doesn’t my business show up on Google search?' A case for long tail keywords
|Emma Thompson
When you try to find something online, how do you go about it? Say you want to find the best interior designer in your area. Do you open a Google search tab and type in “interior designer Newcastle”? We’re guessing that you do. Maybe you’ll find a couple of options, and then realise that you need someone who also knows how to do landscaping, and you can’t see anyone local that looks like they do both. So, the next search might be, “interior design and landscaping North East England.” Is... Read more...
Graphic design graduates: get on the Podium!
Graphic design graduates: get on the Podium!
|Emma Thompson
*Update: this position has now been filled* We're always looking for potential new team members - feel free to contact us with a covering letter and CV if you'd like to join us. Graphic design work placement Full time, 26 weeks Gosforth, Newcastle-upon-Tyne Podium has a new position available for a creative and driven graphic designer interested in gaining experience in a digital marketing agency. This is an incredible opportunity for a graduate to gain agency experience while developing their portfolio. During their time with us they will gain relevant... Read more...
Podium gets funky with event planning
Podium gets funky with event planning
|Emma Thompson
Although we specialise in digital marketing and SEO, Podium is also willing to bend over backwards and do the moonwalk for our clients - quite literally. We recently got the opportunity to put on a wild event for one of our clients, Northern Gas and Power. When we say wild... we mean glow-in-the-dark, fire-breathing, stilt-walking, dubstepping wild: we got to plan a RAVE.     The rave was coordinated as an employee appreciation event for NGP, who have taken on over 70 new staff members so far this year and... Read more...
Recruitment at Podium: account manager
Recruitment at Podium: account manager
|Emma Thompson
*Update 2/5/17: we are no longer accepting applications for this position* Account Manager: online content and social media Full time, salary dependent on experience Gosforth, Newcastle-upon-Tyne We have an outstanding opportunity for an enthusiastic and talented Marketing Account Manager at our growing digital marketing agency. The successful candidate will be required to hit the ground running and to write online content to a high standard, across a wide range of subjects. The candidate must also be able to manage multiple clients’ expectations across a wide range of sectors. Degree in... Read more...
Life as an apprentice
Life as an apprentice
|Andy Thevarokiam
As National Apprenticeship Week (6th – 10th March 2017) draws to a close, Podium’s apprentice, Elizabeth, has agreed to answer a few questions about her time as an apprentice. What... Read more...
Copywriting: burying the angle to increase dwell time
Copywriting: burying the angle to increase dwell time
|Steve Maybury
Internet advertising revenue, the value of clicks and website dwell time are leading to the rise of a new phenomenon: the buried news angle. Podium copywriter Steve Maybury looks at the issue and explains why the approach may bring short-term gains, but will alienate readers in the long-term. The art of news reporting involves getting the angle of the story - the best, most interesting aspect - out there first. It hooks the audience, but also means that the point of the story is successfully conveyed in the event that... Read more...
Optimising your website for mobile
Optimising your website for mobile
|Andy Thevarokiam
People don’t talk any more. They text, inbox and share. I find myself commenting on funny videos or images that are on my social media feed and even have my... Read more...
The Thanksgiving recipe for marketing success
The Thanksgiving recipe for marketing success
|Emma Thompson
First of all, can we all please press pause on the Christmas hype? As the token American at Podium, I must remind you of the goodness that is Thanksgiving. I’ve been constantly asked to describe exactly what goes into a Thanksgiving dinner from my British friends, while my American friends ask, “Do they celebrate Thanksgiving in England?” Both sides would find these questions quite amusing, but from a marketer’s perspective, I’ve been thinking about the answers a bit… creatively. As an SEO marketing agency, Podium does things a bit differently... Read more...
Social media privacy: where do you draw the line?
Social media privacy: where do you draw the line?
|Steve Maybury
The Admiral insurance group has unveiled plans to launch a product called firstcarquote, which will monitor people's social media activity, tracking the personality traits that, in its view, make dangerous drivers, and adjusting policy prices accordingly. We are in favour of insurers finding ways to legitimately make our roads safer, but surely this is an invasion of privacy: an Orwellian policing of thought. This won't prevent accidents from happening, or make an overconfident or careless driver slow down or concentrate harder. It's simply profiling young people in a bid to... Read more...
Podium wears it pink for Breast Cancer Now
Podium wears it pink for Breast Cancer Now
|Andy Thevarokiam
On Friday 21st October, we hosted a fundraiser for Breast Cancer Now’s Wear It Pink Day. The event aims to raise enough funds to eradicate breast cancer by the year... Read more...
3 essential free tools for content marketers (part 1)
3 essential free tools for content marketers (part 1)
|Andy Thevarokiam
Don’t you just love it when you come across an app, program, website, or chrome add-on which just completely revolutionises your job? Here’s a small selection of them that we... Read more...
Why simplifying content is not the same as 'dumbing down'
Why simplifying content is not the same as 'dumbing down'
|Steve Maybury
There is a feeling that, as a culture, we are dumbing down. A feeling that a fixation with celebrities and pictures of cats, along with supposedly reduced attention spans, means the only way to reach an audience is to join in and churn out endless pointless memes that offer no real value to anybody, beyond fleeting entertainment. That's not the case, of course, but it does create a challenge for those businesses that want to use social media to engage with an audience (which, in 2016, should be virtually every... Read more...
Three simple beginner's steps to improve your SEO
Three simple beginner's steps to improve your SEO
|Podium
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) can be complicated: it’s true that there are many factors that go into making a webpage rank well (or badly), from disavow files, canonical links, 301 redirects, secure connections and many more. But, there are also many simple and straightforward things you can do to make your site rank better starting with these three key points. 1. Meta Titles It’s amazing how many sites we look at where this key ranking factor has been overlooked. Meta titles are the first thing that anybody sees in a... Read more...
It's Internaut Day, but no room for nostalgia in SEO
It's Internaut Day, but no room for nostalgia in SEO
|Steve Maybury
Today – August 23rd – is Internaut Day, the 25th anniversary of the internet being made open to the public. We’re not fans of the portmanteau – Inter-, as in internet and -naut as in astronaut, symbolising discovery, and it’d be incredibly trite to do what every other blogger is doing today by pointing out what a difference the internet has made to our lives in the past 25 years. Even looking back at how the internet has changed is a slightly painful experience and, if we're honest, not especially... Read more...
How to adapt to the latest social media algorithm updates
How to adapt to the latest social media algorithm updates
|Emma Thompson
Podium monitors algorithm changes in order to adapt quickly and maintain high rankings for our clients. Whether it’s an update to Google search, which impacts SEO, or adjustments to how social media networks display content to users, these changes impact our day-to-day work. Understanding changes to algorithms helps us to gauge how to better tailor our services for clients’ websites and social media pages. If it’s a major change, we’ll adjust our marketing strategy to maintain page one search results for our clients, and to continue driving web traffic from... Read more...