What I do

SEO icon

Freelance SEO Specialist and WordPress Developer

I have directly contributed to the optimisation of over 1,000 websites in over 25 countries since 2002.

With a background in technical SEO, I have been working in organic marketing, specifically SEO, since its infancy. Over 20 years later, I work with businesses and brands of all sizes, working on a range of projects. I have written the chapters on Technical SEO for two of the latest Econsultancy SEO Best Practice Guidelines. I also speak at numerous industry conferences and events.

Development icon

Web & WordPress Development

I have been specialising in WordPress development since version 2.1.

I specialise in WordPress SEO and have developed several WordPress plugins totalling over 2 million downloads. From building one page websites for startups all the way to building custom API's and global-brand theme deployment, I'm one of the most trusted WordPress developers available.

Current Ventures

FireCask

Co-Founder & Director // a multi-award winning online marketing agency in Manchester, UK.

Specialising in SEO, PPC, social media management, WordPress development and creative content marketing, we have worked with all kinds of businesses small to large including Expedia, Vitabiotics, Financial Times, Quidco, Reed.co.uk, The Big Issue and the Amy Winehouse Foundation.

Yoast

Principal SEO

Yoast is the most used WordPress plugin to improve your SEO. Running on over 13 million sites, I am working at Yoast to help improve not just the core product, but contribute to the company's own SEO strategy as well as help improve related product offering for both Yoast and its parent company Newfold Digital.

Millie & Henry

I am Creator and Co-Founder of Millie & Henry, a new brand for dog owners.

Millie & Henry is a brand that is going to help you and your dog have the best walk of your lives! Launching in the third quarter of 2022, we are developing a product that will help you and your dog enjoy a better walking experience.

Recommendations

All of these recommendations can
be viewed from my Linkedin profile.
Photo of Sam Ridgway

Sam Ridgway

Founder & COO - The Manc Group

Working with Alex and his talented team at FireCask has been an absolute pleasure so far and I'm really excited to see where our working relationship goes. His second to none communication skills and 'contact me any time' approach has allowed us to get a major project off the ground very quickly which will elevate my company tenfold as soon as we take it live. I had a very demanding deadline which didn't seem to be an issue for his team at all and the quality of their work has been exceptional.

I already have a range of projects lined up in my head that I will be dishing out to FireCask once our current project is complete and I highly recommend Alex, and his company, to anyone who is looking for a digital marketing and web development agency to take them to the next level.

Photo of Peter Handley

Peter Handley

SEO Manager at Sage

THE go-to guy on Wordpress with a huge depth of knowledge of developing sites with it as well as a whole bunch of plugins that I've used on a number of different websites. If you need anything done on a Wordpress site, FireCask are the guys to talk to first. More recently, we've been discussing his process driven approaches to getting work done as efficiently as possible using a number of different systems.

We've worked together on a number of different projects over the years and Alex is enthusiastic, full of ideas and really knows his stuff in the online marketing world. He's also a very engaging speaker and we've shared a stage on a number of different venues around Europe discussing complimentary topics. I wouldn't hesitate in recommending Alex's work.

Photo of Martin MacDonald

Martin MacDonald

Former Head of SEO, Orbitz International

Alex is without doubt one of the UK's best known experts in the field of Wordpress development, having produced outstanding work for us here at Expedia Affiliate Networks - and furthermore having published some of the best plugins we use on our corporate site.

I can without reservation recommend Alex and his company for any development needs you may have in the PHP/Wordpress world, on top of his undoubted expertise he is also a great guy to work with!

Photo of Jane Winehouse

Jane Winehouse

Director and Co-Founder of Amy Winehouse Foundation

Alex began consulting with the Amy Winehouse Foundation just after its formation. He has been able to not only help with the Foundation's website but has also become a valuable person to liaise between the Foundation and other organisations we work with and/or support.