(Photo: Rick Harrison 2011)

The festival, which takes place in November, has already kicked off with events like AweSEOme, an SEO roundtable where leaders in the industry – including Epiphany’s head of search Andy Heaps – discussed the latest trends and updates in front of an audience of both agency and non-agency members. The event was a huge success and led to the creation of Sociality, an event which will also feature an expert panel and discussions about the latest and greatest developments in social media. It will take place at The Adelphi this Wednesday between 12pm and 2pm.

The event is to be run by volunteers and representatives from the digital community, as well as Leeds City Council. Though previous attempts to launch a digital festival have been unsuccessful, designers like Battersby are confident that this festival will be the start of something special for both Leeds and the industry at large.

”Leeds is full of talented individuals and agencies, and this festival is an opportunity for us to share this talent and make Leeds known as the digital city of the north,” said Battersby.

”We have already seen a fantastic level of commitment from so many people to help make LDF2011 success. Loads of people are giving up their own time regardless of agency allegiances, family and workloads to make LDF2011 an event with national impact.”

If you are interested in joining the team of volunteers for the Leeds Digital Festival, be sure to attend the next open meeting this Thursday, 18 August at 6pm at the Midnight Bell, 101 Water Lane, Leeds.

Epiphany Solutions, a leading search marketing agency, has teamed up with the North Leeds Leopards junior rugby league club to sponsor their first ever home game, an under 10s clash branded ‘The Epiphany Challenge’, against the Dewsbury Celtic. The match will be on Sunday, 17 July at 10:30am at Alwoodley Primary School.

The Leeds-based agency will provide individual medals to each participating child as well as an engraved trophy for the winning team. Representatives from Epiphany will be there to present the medals and cheer the Leopards along with local councillors who have welcomed the club to the area.

”We are very excited to sponsor the North Leeds Leopards and to introduce their first home match as The Epiphany Challenge,” said Shane Quigley, CEO at Epiphany. ”As a Leeds business, we are very keen to support the local community.”

The club which attracts more than 50 youngsters to training in four age groups aged 5 to 11 is based at Moortown Social Club, Cranmer Bank and celebrated its year anniversary in May.

Laurence Fox, Chair of Functions and Fundraising for the Leopards welcomed Epiphany as a new sponsor and expressed his delight that the challenge will become an annual event.

”This will be the Leopards first home game and it is fantastic for everyone connected to have the Epiphany trophy being awarded to the winning team to keep for a year,” he commented. ”It is great to see a local business being involved in such a special event.”

The Leopards’ annual barbecue will follow the match at the New Rover Cricket Club, located in Adel.

For more information on the match, visit the Leopards website: http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/northleedsleopardsjuniorrlfc/.

Whittaker, previously a Director of Corporate Finance at KPMG and former partner at BTG McInnes, will support existing directors Shane Quigley, Robin Skidmore and Rob Shaw in the delivery of the company’s growth strategy. Prior to these roles, Jim served as Auditor at Price Waterhouse Coopers, where he received his accountancy training.

Mr Whittaker commented: “Epiphany Solutions is enjoying strong year on year sales growth of more than 50 per cent, driven by the increased need of businesses to drive relevant customer traffic to their websites and, crucially, convert such traffic to sales.”

Shane Quigley, CEO of Epiphany Solutions, said: “This is a new position at Epiphany and is indicative of where we are now in our growth cycle. It reflects our ambitions and confidence going forward.

“Jim brings a considerable amount of financial expertise to the business and will provide invaluable assistance with our expansion strategy.”

The agency has also recently announced a succession of new business wins that are solidifying Epiphany as one of the leading agencies in search. These include charities Run For All, The Jane Tomlinson Appeal, and Lloyds Pharmacy.

Following an outstanding year in 2010 with growth in revenues of 63%, Epiphany is moving into a larger office in London to mark their expansion in the region. Based in Farringdon, the new office space better represents the brand and accommodates the increasing client roster.

Epiphany has welcomed seven new members of staff so far this year and is set to continue steady growth throughout 2011. Joining the Google Accredited agency is Michael Maslona (New Business Director) who moved from competitor icrossing. Michael has more than 12 years industry experience and previously worked with brands such as Toys R Us, HSBC, Total Jobs and Fitness First.

In his first month at Epiphany, Maslona has already secured international property consultants King Sturge, which has offices in more than 40 countries and is continually expanding its agency and consultancy services across the globe. The PPC team at Epiphany have commented they’re eager to smash the conversion targets set by the client.

In addition to King Sturge, Epiphany can also add Dennis Publishing to their significant client portfolio. Dennis was impressed with Epiphany’s approach and, after a successful three-month trial, asked the agency to work on 13 additional titles, including The Week and Men’s Fitness.

“We were impressed by Epiphany’s transparent approach to search marketing and continue to be. We’ve got a great relationship with the team there; it’s a pleasure working with them”, said Richard Ayerst, Digital Marketing Manager at Dennis Publishing.

Robin Skidmore, Commercial Director of Epiphany said, ”It’s exciting times for Epiphany. We’ve worked hard for our reputation as an employer of choice and our high client retention rate reflects the world-class service that we continually strive to deliver”.

The charity, formed by the late Jane Tomlinson, has raised more than £3 Million to date for charities both locally and nationally with monies being donated to causes such as Martin House Hospice and Yorkshire Cancer Research

Epiphany, the fastest-growing search agency in the UK, has already embarked upon the research phase of the campaign, with the goal being to dominate search results relating to running events. Epiphany will also be building a social media strategy that aims to engage with key influencers on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and blogs in order to put the charity ‘first in mind’ of the running community and build a loyal support base.

Epiphany’s MD Rob Shaw said,” We are absolutely delighted to be working with Run For All and The Jane Tomlinson Appeal to generate a winning search campaign – not only because they’re a great charity doing astounding things, but because their ethos fits with our brand. And also because there are lots of sporting enthusiasts here at Epiphany!

After the initial review, our talented team will implement their strategies to ensure success in both rankings and traffic.”

As well as three highly successful 10k runs in Hull, Leeds and York the Jane Tomlinson Appeal recently announced its first Swim For All event, the Yorkshire Swimming Festival. With more than 25,000 people due to take part in this year’s events, it’s set to be another fantastic year for charitable sporting events in Yorkshire. For the first time Epiphany will be joining around 500 other corporates to take on the challenge of being the fastest team in this year’s Clarion Leeds 10K corporate challenge.

Mike Tomlinson said, ”We selected Epiphany based on their reputation in the industry and we liked the fact that they’re head office is locally based. I’m looking forward to seeing our charity and its site raise greater awareness, in the hope that we can increase both participation and knowledge.”

Last year, a lot of brands talked about becoming multi-channel, but it’s increasingly apparent that you now need to be multi-media as well. And your content has to be good; you have to offer something that your audience wants to see or learn about.

M&S is a great example of a big brand using video and social media to interact with their audience. M&S have recently announced that they’re bravely embedding all comments from social media into its online video, to improve engagement and essentially boost sales. I think integration is certainly something we will see brands doing more of this year, as social media and video become more vital to the marketing mix.

As an agency, we use video in email marketing to engage with our community. We include news about clients, information on our products/services and industry related news and events. It tells stories and gives the audience something more interesting to interact with. It also provides a ‘behind the scenes’ outlook on your brand, giving a sneak preview into your working environment, something not everyone has access to. We have also seen a 200% increase in engagement in comparison to written content!

Other things to bear in mind are tone of voice and consistency; create a plan with a structure for video marketing and how to integrate this into your wider plans. Make this a long term strategy rather than just a campaign. Use social media as places to upload your video and share with your community – your Facebook page, Linkedin profile and your blog are some examples.

In terms of your search campaign, video content allows you to rank with video search results and should trigger your video within the video section of universal search. And YouTube is the second biggest search engine in the world… so it will certainly strengthen your search campaign!

Including video in your marketing strategy is an important step, and as big brands and agencies continue to expand via social media, reaching your audience through video will ensure you remain seen and on the right track!

(Photo: M&S)

In our own experience, digital marketing activity continues to be the focus of 2011 – and with the amount of content available publically, it’s hard for traditional agencies to argue with this fact. The spotlight (in particular) seems to be on social media and mobile advertising.

Digital marketing budgets are up from last year. The recent Econsultancy Budgets Report states that 72% of companies are increasing their digital marketing budgets this year. Of this 72%, the majority of companies are increasing digital budgets by a whopping 30% since 2010.

There is also a trend in the growth of usage of digital channels. The appeal here is because of the measurability and increasing effectiveness of digital channels for marketing departments. As an agency, we are seeing more reliance for agencies like ourselves to provide this measurement for clients, as the complexity of digital marketing, especially search, continues to grow.

Despite this vast increase in digital marketing spend, it does seem that marketing departments still investing in offline media (for now…)!

Clients are becoming more dependent on digital software such as analytics software for tracking purposes. This will provide a better understanding of the target audience or ‘community’ – where they’re going & what they’re doing, and typical search habits. This goes hand in hand with an increase in spend on technology, such as content management systems, CRM and analytics packages.

The Econsultancy report suggests that social media, corporate websites and SEO are some of the channels that will take the bulk of digital budgets. Spend in each of these channels has risen since last year.

In terms of the resource for agencies themselves, this means we’ll see a big push in recruitment to provide for this extra, (which indeed we are!). Epiphany have grown by 40% year on year due to bigger demand from clients.

Obviously I would love to hear your opinions on your own marketing budgets, and if this reflects your spend this year – feel free to comment below.

As a channel, Twitter has boomed in the last two years, seeing phenomenal sign-up rates from industry leaders and tech-savvy consumers alike. In terms of its corporate appeal, businesses have taken advantage of the b2c nature of the search engine, allowing brands to reach out to their communities and have real conversations with them in real time.

Graham Mudd, VP of comScore, explained last year that Twitter had seen some of the fastest and largest growth in his research experience – talking of nearly three out of four global internet users’ access social networking sites [mainly Twitter] each month.

In terms of our product offering as a search agency, we value Twitter as an integral part of our social media service, which is an increasingly vital element of any search campaign. So the importance speaks for itself!

Twitter has increased its product offering in the last year in a bid to compete with the bigger social media players, introducing features like promoted tweets, upgrading their interface and they’re rumoured to be introducing their own analytics package.

Twitter has been estimated in between the values of $8b and $10 billion. It hasn’t been selling ads for 12 months yet by December 2010 had made more than $200m, and was valued at $3.7 billion. The inflation seems extravagant but in comparison, Facebook is valued at a whopping $50 billion. Other developments, such as AOL shelling out $315 million for the Huffington Post may have raised the stakes.

Why not sell you might ask?! Well, executives at Twitter have been thought to want to continue to build and grow a successful, independent company. We’ll certainly be watching this space….

The fastest growing search marketing agency in the UK announced today that it would be overseeing the SEM for one of the country’s leading retailers of hearing aids. The Hearing Company, who provides hearing aids from more than 300 stores nationwide, has tasked Epiphany Solutions with increasing search rankings and improving online enquiry rates.

The team at Epiphany will commence work with the retailer immediately, assisting The Hearing Company as it looks to increase its online presence to supplement its many stores.

Epiphany’s strategy will include improving the ranking of the website on targeted keywords and ensuring that onsite conversion rates increase month-on-month.

The Hearing Company, which boasts more than 50 years’ experience in hearing care, carries out all its services through qualified Hearing Aid Dispensers.

Robin Skidmore, Commercial Director at Epiphany Solutions, said: “We are delighted to be appointed by The Hearing Company to lead its search strategy and drive up enquiry rates. We are looking forward to increasing their online presence in line with their extensive network of stores.”

Martin Elwell at The Hearing Company, said: “Epiphany’s proven track record in improving search rankings and onsite conversions means we’re confident going into this campaign. We will see an uplift in traffic to our website and helping us to hit our e-commerce goals.”

“The Hearing Company looks forward to working with Epiphany and consolidating our place at the cutting edge of hearing aid retail in the UK.”

Epiphany won the account following a competitive three-way pitch, and will commence work immediately, concentrating its efforts first on a comprehensive and extensive architecture review of the site. Following this, the company will begin more specific measures to increase site visits and encourage increased conversion rates on the 14,000- strong product range.

Maplin, which boasts 180 stores across the UK and a history of nearly 40 years, is the market leader in the specialist consumer electronics field.

Shane Quigley, Chief Executive at Epiphany Solutions, said: “We are delighted that the UK’s largest specialist electronics retailer has chosen Epiphany Solutions to oversee its SEO development.

“Following our initial site architecture review, we will implement our recommendations and look forward to seeing the resultant uplift in both site traffic and search engine rankings very soon.”

Gareth Pownall, Internet Project Manager at Maplin Electronics, said: “We are pleased to announce Epiphany’s appointment today and look forward to working with their talented team of experts.  Whilst we are the UK’s largest specialist retailer of consumer electronics, we are keen to further enhance our online presence.

“We are confident that Epiphany Solutions will be able to meet our brief of increasing site traffic, improve rankings and conversion. We eagerly await the results of all their hard work.”

Epiphany are celebrating following news that they have beaten stiff competition to win the coveted ‘Sites and Search’ category at the annual Fresh Awards held at the Manchester Hilton on Thursday 30 September.

Epiphany scooped the award based on work for exhibition systems specialist Marler Haley and beat six other shortlisted agencies at the prestigious awards night.

The awards, which showcase the best work from creative agencies across the UK, were particularly competitive this year, with multiple previous categories under the SEO and website development banner being amalgamated into one award; ‘Best Sites and Search’.

Robin Skidmore, Commercial Director of Epiphany Solutions, said: “We’re delighted to have won such a competitive category at the Fresh Digital Awards.

“To say that we have out-performed competition such as MediaCom is a real accolade and I’d like to personally express how proud we are of the team and their accomplishments.  Without doubt, they have excelled in their hard work and ongoing commitment to the clients campaign and this award is testament to that.”

Epiphany today announced the latest in a clutch of high-profile account wins as it revealed it has developed a new website for experts in consumer data management, Callcredit Information Group, along with ongoing work to oversee the company’s SEO and PPC.

Epiphany Solutions, the UK’s fastest growing search marketing agency, designed the new website for Callcredit, which went live last week, consolidating five of the group’s brands and existing sites in one streamlined, search-friendly website.

Following the success of the website build, Epiphany has now commenced SEO and PPC campaigns for Callcredit, which will be pivotal in the promotion of the website following launch, aiming to drive awareness and generate leads for the industry leader.

Callcredit, whose cutting edge technology and industry expertise provides businesses with better insight to help them reach more responsible decisions and deliver stronger customer engagement, enlisted the help of Epiphany as the company looks to increase its web presence and boost the prominence of key brands in its stable.

Robin Skidmore, co-founder of Epiphany, said: “We are delighted to announce our work with Callcredit and look forward to assisting them as they undergo a significant overhaul of their online presence.

“Callcredit are strong leaders in their field and we are thrilled that they recognised our credentials in web development and search marketing.

“We are delighted with the new website and look forward to seeing the knock-on effects as we progress both SEO and PPC campaigns for Callcredit.”

David Swift, Marketing Director at Callcredit Information Group, said: “We needed a new website that provided a central hub of information that was easy to navigate and had a fresh look and feel and we’re delighted with the results delivered by Epiphany Solutions.

“As our business grows, we look forward to working with Epiphany to continue to develop, enhance and optimise our website.”

Heading up the new department are brand new appointments to Epiphany, award winning designers, Gareth Battersby and Chris Marsh, who boast a collective 20 years’ experience in the field. Further team members will be appointed as the department continues to grow.

Key initiatives for the new department will be transforming the presentation and reporting of key data both internally and externally, whilst also developing custom applications for clients that will incorporate social media and community engagement strategies with SEO campaigns.

Rob Shaw, MD at Epiphany Solutions, said: “We’re thrilled to launch our new Research and Development department today and to welcome Gaz and Chris to the wider Epiphany team as well.

“Our new department underlines our ongoing commitment to delivering world class service to our clients, through new and innovative ways of reporting and creating bespoke applications that really enable them to increase their rankings through social media interaction.

“Both Chris and Gaz were closely involved in the creation of tools such as www.tweetlection.co.uk earlier this year in the run up to the general election.  It’s this type of innovation and creativity that we want to add to our existing on-line strategies to enhance the results we are currently achieving for our clients.

“The communications landscape is changing at a rapid pace and the new department will enable us to stay ahead of the curve in the digital marketing industry.”

Epiphany, which will work with JD for an initial six-month period, has already conducted a preliminary review and begun boosting SEO. Results so far have been very positive across Google, Bing and Yahoo for the market’s most competitive keywords.

JD Sports Fashion Plc, which is listed in the FTSE 250, owns some of the most prominent sports and fashion retail brands across the UK, with over 400 stores and a significant market share of the lucrative sports fashion sector.

Robin Skidmore, co-founder of Epiphany Solutions, said: “We are thrilled to be working with JD Sports as they look to further enhance their presence online and boost overall revenue as a result. JD Sports are incredibly successful and we are delighted to be working with them. They are another big name we have added to our growing portfolio of blue chip clients.

“We are pleased that initial reports have already yielded very positive results. We look forward to building on these results over the coming months, helping to consolidate their position at the top of the sports fashion tree in the UK.”

Chris Bracken from JD Sports said: “We are really pleased with the initial results from Epiphany’s work and are excited about boosting our SEO as the work continues apace over the coming months.

“JD Sports is a prominent name on the High Street and we are sure that Epiphany will further enhance our online offering and market prominence too.”

The UK’s fastest growing search specialist was chosen by Pets at Home on the strength of its sector credentials and initial results have boasted significant improvements on rankings for key search terms, including ‘dog food’, ‘cat food’ and ‘dog beds’ which rose 64 positions to be ranked 6th on Google!

Epiphany also confirmed that initial work over the past month led to an impressive 13 per cent increase in site conversions from non-brand organic referrals. Pets at Home, which has over 260 pet stores across the UK, is keen to capitalise on its growing online presence through the SEO campaign.

Epiphany will continue boosting Pets at Home’s ranking for key search terms, improving overall site visibility and increasing site referrals as the campaign continues.

Shane Quigley, Chief Executive at Epiphany Solutions, said: “We are thrilled to be working with Pets at Home and to reveal that our initial work on their behalf has already yielded excellent results. We look forward to working with the company as they seek to increase their online visibility.”

Matt Stead from Pets at Home said: “We were impressed by Epiphany’s track record of improving online visibility and search rankings over key terms and we are pleased with the initial results from their work. We recognise the importance of increasing our online presence and we are confident that Epiphany have the skills and expertise to ensure this happens.”

With the mature market increasingly embracing online retail, Bonmarché is keen to make sure its online presence is sufficiently prominent to capitalise on this growth market.

Epiphany have been overseeing the build of the new website, ensuring that Bonmarché is ideally placed to attract a growing segment of the online mature market.

Following the initial launch period, Epiphany will tailor the campaign to ensure key product lines achieve online prominence and boost sales for the retailer, which will celebrate its thirtieth anniversary in 2012.

Robin Skidmore, Co-Founder of Epiphany Solutions, said: “We are thrilled to be appointed by Bonmarché at such a pivotal time in the life cycle of the company. An increasing proportion of over 45s are shopping online and we are keen to enable Bonmarché to attract an increased segment of this lucrative market.”

Donald Angus, Direct Marketing Manager at Bonmarché said: “We were impressed by Epiphany’s credentials and look forward to seeing our search rankings improve following the launch of our new website. There is no doubt that the mature consumer is turning to the internet as a fast and effective way of purchasing clothes and we look forward to capitalising on this growing trend.
“We are excited by Epiphany’s specific product-led campaign approach and the prospect of boosting sales across specific product lines and making sure that our online presence goes from strength to strength.”

Joining the Google-Accredited company are, from left to right, Paul Martin (SEO Analyst), Lu Jackson (Account Manager), Christian Milburn, (Client Services Manager), Tom Bagnall (Business Development Manager) and Dave Sellars (Web Developer) – not pictured.
With the agency poised to reveal the names of major new clients in the coming weeks, the five new staff will be well placed to enable the company to capitalise on its recent account wins and facilitate further growth as 2010 continues.

Robin Skidmore, Co-Founder of Epiphany Solutions, said: “We’re thrilled to say we have had an unprecedented start to 2010 and our five new members of staff are testament to that.
“ The fact that we have been able to employ additional staff across all divisions of the company is further proof that the agency is growing strongly, in all areas of the business.
“Our growing workforce also means we’re ideally placed to undergo further expansion in future months. This strategic growth, coupled with being on the cusp of revealing some major new clients means we’ve had a fantastic start to the year.”

Epiphany Solutions, which won the contract to work with the JD Williams group, has conducted preliminary SEO work on behalf of six main brands.

Initial site modification, in addition to content and architectural changes, have enabled Epiphany to maximise the visibility of JD Williams’ sites.

Epiphany will now spend the next six months modifying the six clothing brands’ websites to ensure they are fully optimised.

Shane Quigley, Chief Executive, said: “We are delighted with the preliminary results from our first six months activity with JD Williams and the positive effect this will have on their business. “To see such dramatic improvement in just six months is testament to the quality of work undertaken by our team and we look forward to further improving the SEO of the well-known and well-loved brands in JD Williams’ stable over the next six months.”

Tony Wood of JD Williams said: “We have been impressed by both the speed and scale of improvements Epiphany has brought to bear on our websites and we look forward to continuing to work with them as our online visibility grows.”

Epiphany began the dedicated PPC campaign on July 01 2009 with the express aim of capturing newly qualified and existing doctors practising in the UK. The BMA is the leading professional body and trade union for doctors in the UK.

Epiphany helped to increase the membership of the association through the use of a tailored landing page on the BMA’s website with clear calls to action, including a direct link through to the initial sign-up form and prominent contact details. A substantial number of new members were recruited through the campaign in its first six months, Epiphany exceeded initial targets and the campaign has been extended by the BMA due to its success.

As a result of the success of the campaign, Epiphany has also been asked to tender proposals focussed on improved interaction with members who are already engaging with social media.

Shane Quigley, CEO Epiphany Solutions, said: “We are delighted by the results of the PPC membership campaign for the BMA and pleased that the campaign is being continued due to its enormous success.

“It is a privilege to work with the BMA. We are now very excited about the next stage of the campaign”

Gemma Matthews, Membership Recruitment Marketing Manager at BMA, said: “We are very impressed with the results, professionalism and ethos displayed by Epiphany Solutions. The first stage of their campaign has been a success and we are looking forward to seeing their proposals for our social media strategy.”

Thanks for all of the great entries and to everyone who submitted a response. Keep them coming by tweeting your suggestions using the #youwouldnt hashtag on twitter.

Each month, the best suggestion will feature in our double page advert and we’ll reference the winner’s twitter handle. Each winner will also receive an iPod shuffle.

The advert is in today’s issue of The Drum:

You can follow @epiphanysol or keep visiting our blog for winners and latest info.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW OTHER ENTRIES

Epiphany is pleased to announce the addition of a premium clothing company to its rapidly expanding roster of clients. Pure Collection, the online cashmere specialist, has enlisted the help of Epiphany as it looks to grow revenue and increase site visibility for customers across the UK.

Following a competitive pitch, Epiphany won the prestigious account, based on its proven approach to SEO.

Pure Collection, which sources the finest grades of cashmere from sustainable herds in Mongolia, recognised the importance of improving its online presence and appointed the agency based on its industry credentials.

As part of Epiphany’s work, site architecture will be adapted and a strategic link acquisition campaign will commence to enhance overall online visibility.

Robin Skidmore, Commercial Director of Epiphany Solutions, said: “We are thrilled to be appointed by Pure Collection to assist the company as it looks to boost revenue and increase online visibility.

“The company offers a premium product that deserves premium rankings and we look forward to offering them just that. Beating off competition from some of the largest search agencies in the UK is testament to the quality of our work and the creativity of our approach.

“We look forward to enabling Pure Collection to garner more market share at the top end of the online clothing industry.”

Stuart Lee, e-commerce manager at Pure Collection, said: “We are delighted to appoint Epiphany as our search agency, we understand the power and influence of the web and anticipate this activity playing a big part in our company’s continued growth”.

“Epiphany’s approach stood out for us, particularly their straightforward and tangible approach to social media and we look forward to our online sales increasing over the coming months.”

Previously Head of SEO for the Latitude Group and responsible for delivering campaigns such as Haven Holidays and Swinton Insurance, Andy will head up all search production teams covering PPC, SEO and Conversion Rate Optimisation. Recently named as one of the most influential people in search marketing, Andy brings with him a vast array of experience, knowledge and talent.

Managing Director Rob Shaw commented on the appointment: “Andy is well respected both for his technical knowledge, his vision and leadership; he is a valuable addition to the Epiphany team.

“2009 was a great year for Epiphany and bringing Andy onboard will ensure the agency continues to push the boundaries of Search Marketing in 2010.”

The appointment of Heaps comes on the back of unparalleled growth for Epiphany in 2009 beginning with the appointment of Shaw as MD and followed by a string of new business wins including Ventura, The British Medical Association and Savills as well as several new appointments across all areas of the business.

Talking about his new role Andy Heaps commented: “I’m delighted to be joining a dynamic agency that has demonstrated such success and growth. I’ve been aware of Epiphany for a number of years now and their prominence in the industry is increasing at a phenomenal rate.

“I’m looking forward to working with them on their growth strategy as well as bringing new and innovative ideas to market. They have a large and talented production team that has delivered results consistently for their clients and I’m relishing the opportunity to help drive strategy and innovation to help cement their position as market leaders.”

As well as managing SEO and PPC teams Heaps will oversee the expansion of the company’s Web Converter service – Epiphany is one of only a handful of companies to be awarded Google Conversion Professional (GCP) accreditation.

Talking about the year ahead, Shaw added: “We spent 2009 focussing on our core strengths, bringing the right staff on board and securing some great clients. We are in a fantastic position to capitalise on this in 2010 –the company has a clear vision of where it intends to go and talented individuals like Andy will ensure that we get there quickly.”

Every month during 2010, Epiphany is running a different double-page advert in The Drum magazine and every month we are crowdsourcing the headline copy, with the winning entry being credited in the ad.

Tweet your quirky suggestions using the #youwouldnt hashtag. Each month, the best suggestion will feature in our double page advert and we’ll reference the winner’s twitter handle. Each winner will also receive an iPod shuffle.

The ads will run along these lines:

“You wouldn’t ask Peter Stringfellow for fashion tips.”

“You wouldn’t use a kitchen fork to rake your garden.”

“You wouldn’t ask an MP to do your expenses.”

“You wouldn’t ask Russell Brand or Amy Winehouse for hair care tips.”

To give you a flavour, the latest ad is shown below (this was a company strap line, so no twitter handle underneath):

So what wouldn’t you do?!!

You can follow @epiphanysol or keep visiting our blog for winners and latest info. It’s as simple as that!

CLICK HERE TO VIEW OTHER ENTRIES

Meet our Experts here….

We have identified areas that we feel are quickly transforming in digital marketing and have awarded one person within the company with researching and staying on top of any impending ideas and projects in that area.

The Experts will meet once a month and discuss these developments in an idea sharing forum, then communicate the information discussed with the rest of the company who will then share the necessary information with our clients and wider community.

Below is a list of our Experts and their specific area of expertise:

Dan Peden
Analytics

Pete Gould
Paid Search (other than Google PPC)

Alex Postance
New techniques of Link Acquisition

Chris Rowett
Conversion Rate Optimization

Mike Gomez
Social Media

Emma Fisher
Social Media

Dave Wilding
Digital Innovation

Malcolm Slade
Google Algorithm

So watch this space for information and regular updates!

Ventura, which provides outsourced services including contact centres, customer services management and external business processing, employs more than 7,000 people at five UK sites – three in Leeds, where is it based, plus two in Dearne Valley – and one in India.  The company also operates contact centres in Cardiff and Milton Keynes.

Last year the organisation rebranded to reflect its growing dominance and range of services in the outsourcing market – with over £160m in annual revenue in 2008 it is the UK’s second largest outsourcing business.

Epiphany has been appointed to further develop the company’s online presence, starting with a new Ventura.co.uk website, while dedicated SEO and PPC campaigns aim to maximise returns from digital spend.

Johanna Jarrold, Marketing Manager at Ventura, said: “With our rebrand complete, we are moving on to the next stage of our latest marketing campaign and digital is a growing area of importance for us.

“The Internet is one of our shop windows, so in order to make our services front-of-mind with potential buyers we need to make our online spend work harder and smarter.  Epiphany have a track record of getting results, hitting targets and they are a trusted brand in the digital marketing arena, so they’re the right fit for us.

“We’re the second biggest outsourcing organisation in the UK and our aim is to be the first choice for customers.  In order to help cement our position, and following the rebrand, we are launching a new website and enhancing our online visibility with paid and natural online search campaigns.”

Rob Shaw, managing director of Epiphany, said: “Ventura is a huge UK organisation working with some of the UK’s biggest businesses, so to win this account is a fantastic endorsement of our expertise in digital marketing.

“This is a full service piece of business in that we are using all of our digital departments to ensure the client’s online investment achieves the best possible return.”

Ventura has more than 40 years’ experience in the outsourcing industry and currently has 25 blue chip clients in sectors covering financial services, telecoms, utilities, retail, travel, automotive, as well public sector and not-for-profit.

Epiphany has opened up the offer to any company with a high traffic website that has analytics and conversion tracking data available, and is accepting a maximum of five companies on a quarterly basis into this new programme.

Epiphany, which is one of only a few agencies in the UK to be certified a Google Conversion Professional and is the fastest growing search agency in the country, is shocked at the number of companies who aren’t maximising their websites’ potential.

Shane Quigley, Chief Executive Officer of Epiphany said: “The report suggests that high levels of dissatisfaction around conversion rates are caused by a lack of resource and a lack of budget.

“Therefore, we are saying to anyone who’s unhappy with their current conversion rates, we’ll prove we can enhance them and we won’t charge a penny unless we hit pre-agreed targets.

“It’s an open invite for businesses to submit their sites and every quarter we’ll choose five companies to put on our no win, no fee service – it’s as simple as that.”

Google Conversion Programme Manager, Alan Wrafter, says “We welcome the idea with open arms. Our Google Conversion Professionals offer many different payment structures and plans so that they can meet the needs of the market. No win, No fee is an ideal way for businesses to kick off their conversion maximisation projects. We encourage businesses of all sizes to try it out!”
[Source: Alan Wrafter, Google, 05/11/2009]

To register for Epiphany’s No Win, No Fee offer, email webconverter@epiphanysolutions.co.uk

The event saw more than 1700 participants encircle the magnificent grounds of Harewood House in north Leeds, to raise money for the charity.

The idea was first introduced by CEO Shane Quigley, who thought that doing a fun run would be a great team-building exercise, whilst also whipping the agency into better shape (not implying they needed it….).

“I’m always looking for fitness related challenges and I thought running a 10k as a company would be a great way to build a rapport amongst the team, working together outside of the office, and would get us all fit.

Everyone welcomed the suggestion and I was delighted with the enthusiasm and positive response the idea received.

It got quite competitive as the training intensified and the event drew nearer, but it was all in good spirits and there was a fantastic atmosphere on the day which pushed everyone that little bit harder. We smashed our sponsorship target and since the outset, it has been a pleasure to be involved in such a great event.”

Epiphany are now training for the Abbey Dash in November, another 10k charity run, in an attempt to beat all of their previous times and put even more back into the community. Go team!

The Leeds-based business has been certified a Google Conversion Professional (GCP) and is now in an elite band of companies in the UK – including global management consulting company, Accenture – endorsed by Google as being an expert in website optimisation.

In order to receive GCP status, companies must first apply for and achieve two separate Google accreditations – Google Analytics Authorized Consultant and Google Website Optimizer Authorized Consultant.

The final stage involves months of detailed analysis and interviews to ensure rigorous qualification standards are met.

Rob Shaw, managing Director of Epiphany, said: “This is a fantastic endorsement of the expertise which resides within the agency and cements our position as one of the UK’s leading digital agencies.

“Google doesn’t give this accreditation lightly, they have created a robust qualification process and we appreciate that. To be part of an exclusive club including the likes of Accenture is a tremendous achievement for us.“It demonstrates the maturing of our business into a commercially aware agency with a results-orientated approach. We have always said that we wanted to build a world class digital marketing agency and this latest accolade is a further step to achieving that objective.”

Next week, Epiphany will be attending a four-day conference at Google’s headquarters at Mountain View, California.

Richard has four years’ experience in digital marketing, initially at agency Cheeze where he worked on travel clients, before relocating North to work for Bradford & Bingley developing and implementing the brand’s online strategy which saw retail site traffic increase by 41%.

At Epiphany he will provide strategic input for client campaigns across SEO, PPC, web design, web development and social media. He said: “Epiphany is a young, vibrant and ambitious company so naturally I’m delighted to be a part of the team.

“The vision of the company is clear and I was impressed with the speed at which the agency is developing and the direction it is taking. The culture is a good balance of work, reward and fun and I’m looking forward to becoming a valuable addition to the team.”

Nicola joins from RBS’s Insurance division where she was Project Manager working on clients including Tesco, General Motors, Prudential and BMW for eight years. She takes up a similar role at Epiphany with a focus on web development projects.

She said: “This is an incredibly exciting industry to be in and Epiphany is a young and dynamic agency, but with a real family-like environment. I’m looking forward to being part of the roll-out of our new processes, procedures and controls and seeing the business continue to grow rapidly.”

Shane Quigley, Chief Executive Officer of Epiphany, said: “Our aim is to build a world class operation here and talented staff are at the core of that aspiration – Nicola and Richard have the experience and pedigree and we’re delighted to welcome them to the agency.”