Harry Clarkson-Bennett
London
Summary
A confident and ambitious SEO Director, with nearly a decade of SEO, content and audience experience alongside a thorough knowledge of all things on-page, technical and off-page. A keen problem solver with an eye for creative projects and a proven ability to use data to tell stories. The ongoing development of brands, audiences, websites and teams is a real passion of mine.
Overview
12
12
years of professional experience
5
5
years of post-secondary education
Work history
SEO Director
The Telegraph
London
2023.05 - Current
- I built and run a team of 15 news, evergreen and technical SEOs from scratch
- We have maintained traffic directly from traditional search over the last two years (something more impressive than it sounds), with record levels of non-subscriber page views
- Discover traffic has seen equally record breaking levels of traffic over this timeframe
- I have played a key role in creating and defining a new audience strategy due to the shifts in search and AI
- And worked with wider audience departments (social, newsletters and the wider marketing team) to create and hone audience-first acquisition strategies
- As a team, we have led on planning huge events across the newsroom, managed migrations, and delivered record levels of affiliate traffic
- With a product and technical arm of the team, we have built our own analytical and time-saving tools designed to track Top Stories presence and trendning topics across all platforms among others
Head of SEO & Performance - Commerce
The Telegraph
London
2022.03 - 2023.05
- Responsible for the SEO performance of all content in The Telegraph's Commerce division. This includes managing a performance marketing team, supporting vertical leads with content strategy, quality, affiliate and technical improvements.
- Commercial Responsibility: Record traffic and revenue performance driven across multiple verticals, primarily through organic traffic
- SEO agency management
SEO Director
Harvest Digital
London
2021.04 - 2022.03
- I was brought in to improve the quality of SEO work, set the department's strategic direction and increase department revenue, whilst creating improved cross-departmental workflows.
- Team Leadership: Of a department of six, upskilling in content and SEO initiatives
- Commercial Responsibility: Increased department revenue by 40% with goals to hit 80% within 12 months. Including winning the company's largest ever client
Editor, SEO and Content Lead
MVF Global
London
2018.08 - 2021.04
- Led the content, SEO and product strategy for multiple affiliate and leadgen websites alongside the development of content creators and SEO-ers.
SEO & Content Manager
Positive Digital
London
2017.04 - 2018.08
Content & SEO Executive
Andrew Martin
London
2016.09 - 2017.04
Content & SEO Executive
Clive Christian
London
2016.03 - 2016.09
Recruiter
Various Agencies
London
2013.09 - 2016.03
Education
Geography Degree -
Newcastle University
2010.01 - 2013.01
A - Levels - English, Geography and Economics
Eastbourne College
2006.01 - 2008.01
Skills
- Vibe coding and tool development (Python primarily)
- Data analysis
- Google Sheets
- Public speaking
- Presenting & pitching
- Forecasting
- Audience analysis
- Team leadership & mentoring
Accomplishments
- I have built and launched multiple affiliate websites and been a consistent, albeit limited jiu-jitsu and boxing hobbyist for the last few years.
- Keen writer. Both for my own Substack, where I have started to build an audience and comedically, where I have semi-finished a sitcom that needs much work.
- Mentoring in the SEo world
Custom
A confident and ambitious content and Head of SEO and Content Performance professional, with seven years of SEO and content experience alongside a thorough knowledge of all things on-page, technical and off-page. A keen problem solver with an eye for creative projects and a proven ability to use data to tell stories. The ongoing development of brands, websites and teams is a real passion of mine, as is building websites and finding ways for them to rank and be successful.
Timeline
SEO Director
The Telegraph
2023.05 - Current
Head of SEO & Performance - Commerce
The Telegraph
2022.03 - 2023.05
SEO Director
Harvest Digital
2021.04 - 2022.03
Editor, SEO and Content Lead
MVF Global
2018.08 - 2021.04
SEO & Content Manager
Positive Digital
2017.04 - 2018.08
Content & SEO Executive
Andrew Martin
2016.09 - 2017.04
Content & SEO Executive
Clive Christian
2016.03 - 2016.09
Recruiter
Various Agencies
2013.09 - 2016.03
Geography Degree -
Newcastle University
2010.01 - 2013.01
A - Levels - English, Geography and Economics
Eastbourne College
2006.01 - 2008.01