Searching for the key to optimise marketing strategies over the internet

Matt Bush, who manages advertising agency relationships across all Google products, headlines the ionSearch event which will take place at The Carriageworks, in Millennium Square on April 18.

ionSearch was set up in Leeds by Blueclaw Media. The firm’s managing director, Fergus Clawson, believes that the digital community in Leeds is bucking the economic trend.

He said: “Leeds has become a hot bed for SEO with a thriving digital community despite the gloomy economic outlook.

“We have created ionSearch for anyone passionate about marketing and for those who want to create a strong web presence for their business and clients.”

The speakers include local digital marketing experts Alex Craven, managing director of Leeds-based Bloom; James Holmes, paid search director at Blueclaw, as well as Martin MacDonald, SEO strategy director at online travel site Expedia and Lee Odden, CEO at TopRank Online Marketing.

Mr Clawson added: “The North is now home to some of the country’s biggest and most respected digital marketing companies. Perhaps one of the biggest areas of growth in the last few years has been in the online marketing sector, with many traditional full-service agencies expanding their in-house marketing teams due to demand.”

Mr Clawson cited the latest research from ITjobswatch which revealed that over the past four years the Yorkshire region has seen a 240 per cent rise in the number of online marketing jobs, slightly above the UK average of 233 per cent.

In comparison, London has seen an increase below the UK average of just 157 per cent, indicating that marketing companies are investing in regions where wages are typically lower.

Mr Clawson added: “Typically clients will receive the same quality of work, but at a much lower cost, both in terms of business overheads and wages.

“The average wage over the past two years in London for jobs containing ‘online marketing’ in the title is £39,696 compared with just £30,169 in Yorkshire.”

For more information about the ionSearch event visit ionsearch.co.uk.

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