Writing
For almost a decade, blogging has been one of my pastimes. In the past I wrote recreationally about television and technology. Today, I write a weekly blog post on trends and techniques with digital marketing and search engine optimisation. This page collates some of my favourite writing (some longer, some shorter) from over the years.
Television
- Britain's Forgotten Talent
27 May 2013 – For every Susan Boyle and Ashleigh and Pudsey, Britain's Got Talent highlights a slew of entertainers forgotten before the end credits. Revisit the impressive impressionists and masterful musicians who failed to become household names. - Counting Down to a New Dictionary
12 Oct 2013 – After 32 years, Channel 4 game show Countdown bid farewell to using a printed dictionary to verify contestants' words. While traditionalists may have been fearful of change, I reflected on the neologisms permitted by the transition to a digital dictionary. - Eggs-cellent Television
8 Jun 2013 – During the Britain's Got Talent 2013 final, Simon Cowell was pelted with eggs by a violinist booked to perform with one of the acts. I love live television being stretched to its limits, and took the opportunity to chuckle at other clips of TV sets being invaded. - Going L!VE – and Going, Going, Gone!
31 May 2013 – In 2013, the tape archive and IP from defunct cable channel L!VE TV was auctioned on eBay, selling for just over £14,000. As a fan of their low budget and often lowbrow programming, I mused about the TV gold (and iron pyrite) going up for sale. - Grand Slam: The Welcome Return of The Slammer
8 Nov 2013 – Greg Scott, former host of cult phone-in Quizmania, made a cameo in CBBC's The Slammer when it returned after three years off the air. I was chuffed for Greg – and for children everywhere. This talent-cum-sketch show was the best kids' show of the noughties. - How to Beat Your Friends at Countdown
22 Jun 2013 – When I was 14, I took on the tick-tock tension of television's Countdown clock. If you're a fan of the programme and looking to improve your scores, here are a few intermediate level tips to help you fare better at the letters, numbers and conundrum. - How To Pack The Ultimate TV Runner's Rucksack
5 Feb 2013 – After more than four years of working as a runner on location-based TV productions, my backpack was chock-full of OB essentials. This rundown offered a comprehensive checklist of must-have items for anyone starting out in television. - My Tribute to Television Centre
18 Mar 2013 – Whether as a TV enthusiast, game show contestant or broadcast industry underling, Television Centre was an aspirational constant in my life. Shortly before its closure at the end of March 2013, I shared a few thought on the question mark-shaped building. - Reconnecting: Why Only Connect Is The Best Quiz Show Ever
12 May 2013 – What is the connection between a poker player, a Cardiff television studio, Egyptian hieroglyphics, and wrds wth n vwls? Only Connect, the insanely difficult but ridiculously rewarding quiz show. Learn why I love it, and play along with a puzzle in the style of the programme. - Robot Wars Reactivated on Challenge
21 Mar 2014 – When Challenge bought the rights to air series 2 of Robot Wars for the first time since 1998, I was delighted. Not only had they picked up my favourite childhood show, but my favourite series of my favourite childhood show. Here's why!
Technology
- 21 Christmas Jokes for SEOs
22 Dec 2014 – Sometimes, the easiest blogs to write end up being the most popular. For Christmas 2014, I assembled a list of cheesy puns loosely themed around SEO, PPC and social media. They went down a treat, picking up retweets and upvotes left, right and centre. - 6 Kinds of Duplicate Content (and How to Fix Them)
23 Feb 2015 – A website with many versions of the same content is effectively in competition with itself. The site will suffer from lower rankings than if closely-related content was all in one place. This post explains how to find and fix duplicate content issues on your site. - About the Latest Google Panda Update
29 Sep 2014 – Far from being cuddly, Google Panda is a part of the search engine's ranking algorithm that penalises certain websites. Victims risk loss of traffic and sales, so it's a big deal. I compiled a Google Panda recap after an update to the algorithm. - Adios, AltaVista
8 Jul 2013 – Inevitable as its demise may have been, I was saddened by the closure of pioneering search engine AltaVista in 2013. I've never been one to turn down an opportunity for nostalgia, and composed an e-eulogy for the one-time Google rival. - Exclusive: Google Pigeon Has Been Captured
1 Apr 2014 – Practical jokes are one of my favourite forms of humour, and so it follows that I love April Fools' Day. To celebrate its arrival in 2014, I wrote about Google's many animals. In reality, these are just code names for features of their search engine. - How to Use Robots.txt for a Better Google Crawl
2 Mar 2015 – I've long been a lover of robots, but for once I'm not talking about Sir Killalot. On the web, a robot is a program which crawls your website in search of information. This post explains how to control them, with benefits for security and search rankings. - I ♥ PowerPoint
14 Feb 2013 – Written as a tongue-in-cheek article for Valentine's Day, this blog post explores my entirely genuine affection for Microsoft PowerPoint. It's probably the most hated software in the world, but – as I try to explain – in the right hands it is really rather good. - Never Knowingly Undershared
10 Nov 2013 – Also known as “How I Went Viral By Accident”! When John Lewis unveiled their 2013 Christmas advert I tweeted my reaction, but accidentally messaged a man called John Lewis and not the retailer. Over 200 retweets later, he was a social media celebrity! - Why Is Every Website Blue?
28 May 2013 – This is an exploration of the role of colour in contemporary web design. Or, a vitriolic rant about why so many popular websites (including Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn) use blue as their brand colour. Either way, the irony isn't lost on me. - Your Strongest Competitor Isn't Always Right Behind You
24 Nov 2013 – A call to arms for owners of e-commerce websites. This blog post addresses how quickly search rankings can change, and how you can predict and pre-empt your competitors' movements in order to keep them at bay.
Miscellaneous
- Never a Cross Word
11 Jan 2014 – Cryptic crossword puzzles have long been one of my favourite distractions. Better as solver than setter, I had sometimes wondered how my name might be hidden in a crossword grid. A social media challenge offered me the chance to find out. - Philpot: What's in a Name?
5 Oct 2013 – Despite frequently being introduced as “Phil”, I'm pretty attached to my surname. But what is the origin of the family name Philpot? Am I descended from potmen, gardeners or snooker players? The answer might just surprise you!