Gareth Simpson

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.

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 😀)

@AndrewPierno send

I scraped 10000+ linkedin b2b ads published last month (April’24) - targeting details - advertiser details - ad copy - impression count ❤️ like + comment ‘send’ and i’ll dm you the google sheet (must be following)

@craigd0412 🤲🏻

I have made over £40,000 from this one lead magnet. I'm hosting a workshop where I breakdown my process. Drop ✋if you'd be interested. You need to follow me too. It wouldn't be free, but not ridiculously expensive either (about $50). P.S. This method has worked for other people too. I've done this multiple times now.

@CarrieRosePR @brightonseo Clever!

We’ve landed at #BrightonSEO and if you go up the i360, you’ll get a stunning view 👀😍 Seaweed came in use @brightonseo

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

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

So thankful for our wonderful WTSPartner @SeekerDigital for renewing for the second year in a row! Thank you to @SimpsonGareth, @annika_haataja and the whole team for their support 🙌🏽 --- womenintechseo.com/partners/

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

A memoir with Dear Friends Gareth and Alex. During the Last Night of SEO Vibes Dubai, while I was hiding from something. Fun days to remember. #fivepalmjumeirah #dubai #seo #marketing #digitalmarketing

@WolfofBaldSt I know right

@SimpsonGareth They work. But it’s hard to educate and convince people who have their heads up their own arses. You could paint it black, tell them it’s black, and they’d still say “it depends”. But you gotta jump through these hoops for the business 😂🤷‍♂️ x.com/wolfofbaldst/s…

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.

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

@SimpsonGareth Expect nothing less from my team leader! Hows India mate, did the visa come in time? 🇮🇳

Anyone else's Coinbase balance showing ZERO Or just me?

@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

I won't be able to continue using my UK number in Spain for much longer (thanks Brexit), but I'd like to keep it as I have everything connected to it. Is there a way I can somehow have a Spanish number & UK number on my iPhone? (not buying an Android so plz don't suggest that)

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

@SimpsonGareth @SeekerDigital Congrats mate 8 years is an accomplishment! Didn't know about seeker.ai so signed up 🚀

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: seeker.digital 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: seeker.ai 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: newsletter.seeker.ai. *** 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...

@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

@SimpsonGareth @Jamie_IF @James_S_Oliver @SaketWahi11 @robertniechcial @KorayGubur @JulianGoldieSEO @craigcampbell03 @Linkifi_ @fatjoedavies @autobloggingai @StevenK76583 Well you were public enough last week in Dubai haha

finally recovered from the #SEOVibesDubAI conference by @White_Press and @Charles_SEO. what an absolute banger of event it was! I'm one lucky mf to have represented @odysglobal at it (and that also was one of the sponsors) a 🧵 (tiny one)

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

@vghilien @SimpsonGareth @James_S_Oliver @SaketWahi11 @robertniechcial @KorayGubur @JulianGoldieSEO @craigcampbell03 @Linkifi_ @fatjoedavies @autobloggingai @StevenK76583 Good luck with that!! 🤣😉

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

BUT the best part was seeing good friends and meeting new faces. @Jamie_IF @James_S_Oliver @SaketWahi11 @robertniechcial @KorayGubur @JulianGoldieSEO @craigcampbell03 @SimpsonGareth @Linkifi_ @fatjoedavies @autobloggingai @StevenK76583 and many others - you made this event for me

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

I can now predict who paid for the link on a guest post with near 100% accuracy. Not showing in public for obvious reasons but if you'd like to give it a spin, ping me in the comments. The tool is currently limited to a single blog while I collect the label accuracy metrics.

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

Dubai 📍 @craigcampbell03 @Charles_SEO