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1,325 viewsCombining genuine, market leading expertise with strong leadership, Mike heads up the digital team at Blue Frontier. Having managed SEO & PPC campaigns for a variety of clients since 2007, he is highly experienced in the digital marketing sector. Mike worked alongside Blue Frontier for many years, before officially joining them in 2015 when they acquired his company Dynamics Digital. The acquisition of Dynamics Digital has helped enable Blue Frontier to offer a full end-to-end digital service.
Sitting on the board of directors, Mike’s role is instrumental in guiding Blue Frontier’s marketing strategy and online growth. Specialising in SEO, PPC, content marketing, social media and analytics, Mike is responsible for helping many businesses realise their full online potential.
Please introduce yourself and where you work.
My name is Michael Bunn, I am the Digital Director at Blue Frontier, a digital agency based in Salisbury, Wiltshire.
I officially joined Blue Frontier in 2015 when the company acquired Dynamics Digital, a digital marketing agency I founded.
How do you think SEO has changed over the last 10 years?
It has changed dramatically and for the better, especially since the Penguin update as the internet was quickly filling up with noise, although some people are still following these tactics 5 years later!
The inclusion of social signals and user metrics, working alongside Google’s “Quality Update”, has played a vital part in delivering high quality results. And don’t forget, at the same time the Panda update was removing copied content.
As I said, it has changed a lot and for the better: quality content, a clean build and expert marketing will return decent results.
How did you get introduced to digital marketing, more specifically SEO?
I introduced myself to SEO many moons ago. After building a homemade website which resulted in 1 organic visitor per month (most likely myself), I found I had a genuine interest in the structure and analytics behind the website and decided that I wanted to learn more about online optimisation. This was over 10 years ago, and back then they said content was king and they are still saying it today; maybe SEO hasn’t changed that much after all!
What are the services you provide to your clients?
Blue Frontier offer end-to-end digital services, including consultancy, development, design, marketing, IT support and hosting to name a few. We wanted to make life easier for our clients by offering numerous services under one roof; not only can clients rely on us for multiple services, they can also be reassured that they are working with a team with an expansive knowledge encompassing all digital specialisms.
What strategy according to you will prevail in 2017 for SEO?
A technically well-built website with a well thought-out structure, navigation, content and great design will always do well. But on top of this, I believe you have to market across multiple channels to really succeed; SEO as a standalone service will underperform compared to companies using a dual or more channel approach i.e. SEO, PPC, social media and content marketing.
What would your advice be to people who are looking to take up digital marketing as a career choice?
Digital marketing is an exciting industry to be involved in, with technology evolving every day. No two days are ever exactly the same and it’s a really rewarding career, watching your hard-work and innovation pay-off, with your clients’ businesses going from strength to strength. My advice would be:
1.To make sure you do your research and stay up-to-date on the latest news and developments in the industry; digital marketing isn’t something you can just learn, it’s something you need to develop and adapt.
2.Don’t be a one trick pony! Although it’s a good idea to specialise in one area, you need to look at the bigger picture. In a competitive industry, it’s not enough to just specialise in social media, or PPC etc. You need to have an understanding of all digital marketing disciplines in order to make informed decisions.
3.Don’t take shortcuts. Too often in digital marketing, we come across poorly executed SEO, where companies have cut corners. Quality is crucial when it comes to digital marketing; taking your time and following the best practices always delivers strong results.
4.Have confidence in your own ability and the learning resources available on the web. Everyone starts somewhere; what’s important isn’t background or education, it’s the commitment you have to learn and adapt.
I wish the best of luck to anyone starting up in digital marketing, it’s an extremely rewarding career path and will keep you on your toes!
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