Featured: 10 years of digital media

Advertorial

Toasting success at Watergate Bay Hotel, HookedOnMedia marks 10 years of digital
media services.

While justly celebrating 10 years of consistent growth and success Cornwall’s
HookedOnMedia have gathered at the acclaimed Watergate Bay Hotel to both mark this
impressive business milestone and to look towards future horizons. Employees from
corners of the UK such as Scotland, Nottingham and Cornwall are put heads together to
reflect on the last 10 years of the agency, it’s biggest achievements and what the next ten
years will hold.

This vibrant young company, one of the first SEO agencies to set up in Cornwall, attributes
its success of over 40 years of experience in digital marketing campaigns for businesses
across the UK and looks back on the companies position in their industry after Stewart
Roode (MD) and Andrew Thomas (Technical Director) branched off to set up independently
from the large marketing agency they were part of at the time. “I remember when we started there were three well respected agencies in Cornwall, and due to our previous campaign experience where Stewart and myself worked on clients such as Black & Decker, RAC, London Stock Exchange and even Playboy! We soon forced ourselves into this top 3!

Having optimised websites since Lycos & Ask Jeeves first appeared I’ve seen a lot of SEO changes, I’ve seen many algorithm updates such as ‘Pigeon’& RankBrain’ and general technology enhancements to improve content and usability”

On further reflection Andrew explains two major changes he has experienced in the digital
marketing landscape which have set precedent for the years to follow: “ Responsive Design
had been around since 2008/2009, but under different names such as ‘fluid, liquid & elastic
design’. The term responsive design hit the heights as we formed HookedOnMedia in 2012 and this method was listed as #2 in Top Web Design Trends for 2012 by .net magazine. Another big industry shift was The Hummingbird update which rolled out in August 2013. Former Google Software Engineer Matt Cutts described Hummingbird as a ‘rewrite of the entire core algorithm’, and with this in mind it became one of the most talked about algorithm changes for years.” Andrew goes on to reflect that “ during the roll-out I remember this being a bit of an anti-climax, as results indicated not many changes within search results, especially with our clients. However, looking back now it was in my opinion one of the most important algorithm changes of all time, as the re-structure of this algorithm became the starting point for subsequent waves of innovations that were made possible by it, such as ‘user intent’ and ‘fast conversational search’.

The COVID pandemic changed a lot across all industries and with the huge surge of online
traffic HookedOnMedia welcomed a flux of new leads. However both client and service
provider had to accommodate a different set up process such as offering shorter term
contracts and flexibility, whilst building a trustful foundation during a perpetual time. This
positive “yes man” approach has scored dividends for the company. By engendering long
lasting client relationships when clients had to last minute change tact and even change
businesses completely. A previous client recalls “when I started in March when the
pandemic was kicking off [HookedOnMedia] were really helpful allowing me to stop [the
campaign] and move across to the new business, very helpful in a difficult situation”

On a beautiful windswept October Friday the team of 10 came together to celebrate at one
of Cornwall’s most favoured and beautiful locations and venues, Watergate Bay Hotel. The
Hotel, as always, delivered a superb setting and ambience for both a formal boardroom
meeting as well as breakout areas with stunning views and lunch.

A signature work of beach art by Ebb and Flow was dedicated to HookedOnMedia to mark
their 10 year watershed. A hand crafted product for a Cornish IT phenomena.

Take advantage of HookedOnMedia’s 10 year celebratory offer of 10% of all online marketing services, for up to 12 months! * minimum 3 months applies, available until Q2 2023!