Lee Machin
SEO agency Hit Search has recruited Lee Machin to head up its new business team and has also launched a new offering for its clients – a reputation management service.
Machin joins Hit Search as new business director following previous roles in online marketing with companies including Wooshii and he was also vice president of operations at Just Search. He began his career at Just Search as a salesman and rose steadily through the agency becoming a manager and sales director before being appointed as VP of operations.
His duties at HitSearch, in addition to brand development, will be building a new sales team.
His appointment at the Liverpool agency takes the headcount to over 20. HitSearch also has an office in London but the majority are based in Liverpool.
Setting aside Liverpool’s ‘big three’ digital agencies: Mando, Rippleffect and New Mind, HitSearch is one of the city’s leading SEO specialists.
Machin said that an early area for development would be online retail as he plans to enhance on the agency’s existing experience built up with online fashion retailers including Matches and Avenue 32. He said: “It is now more difficult than ever to get online retailers into position within the search listings and gain maximum visibility for their brand, but my mission is simply to expand upon that.”
In addition to SEO, PPC and online PR, Hit Search is now also moving into the increasingly busy space surrounding reputation management and ‘cleaning up’.
Andrew Redfern, a director at Hit Search said: “The rise and rise of user generated content means that companies aren’t the only ones talking about their brand online. Anybody can talk about a business and they’re not always speaking positively when they do. Reputation management captures the buzz surrounding a business, such as the instances in which the brand is mentioned on Twitter. This information can then be dissected in various ways to highlight any bad press or ‘negative visibility’.”
HitSearch has just picked up a new account in the shape of Mango Bikes, a manufacturer of custom designed city bikes. Redfern said they’d had to pitch against a number of rival SEOs to win the business.
Mango Bikes, based in Gloucestershire, was established by two friends at University. The company was recently featured on the BBC 3 series ‘Be Your Own Boss’.
Jezz Skelton of Mango Bikes said: “A Mango isn’t just a bike, it’s a fashion accessory. It’s not about simply getting from A to B: it’s about making a statement along the way.”
HitSearch, added Redfern, intends to make “Mango Bikes remain as visible online as they are on the streets of every UK city.”
Other HitSearch clients include the HSE, Tarmac, Lexis Nexis and Blossom Health.
