Dark Horse PPC, SEO, Paid Social
WA15, Altrincham
(24)
Dark Horse PPC, SEO, Paid SocialWA15, Altrincham
(24)
Dark Horse believe and prove that success online is not down to who has the biggest budgets. Our clients win in some of the most competitive industries and face companies with much larger resource. This is why they turn to us. We make them the Dark Horse.
Show more
Verified business
24 customer reviews
Robin Antill
I approached Dark Horse after being with two other agencies that could not rank just four key phrases in the top 100. I had paid these agencies over £18,000 each. I was told by John Keating (their MD) at Dark Horse:- 'Anecdotally, reading your enquiry, I find those results awful. (I am not going to pretend to know myself the in's and out's of that industry but 6k a month and not top 100 with big progress is just not on).' I told them I thought there was something other than just optimising the pages, and it was essential to find out why my website was not ranking. They produced a great plan of action with detailed figures, so I was convinced they knew what they were doing and decided to go ahead, However, all they did was optimise the four main keyphrase pages before going on and optimising other pages on my site. They did not identify why my site was not ranking for those key phrases, and after four months of charging me £12,000 in SEO work, the four main key phrases were nowhere to speak of in the top 100. I was very disappointed that they could not find the cause of my site not ranking or improving. They did do some technical work within that budget. They also charged me £3,000 for digital marketing. I thought this meant three full-blown articles, which they would try to get publishers to use, hoping they would put a backlink to my site. It turned out they were just press releases and not what I expected. Maybe I misunderstood, but I would never have agreed to pay £1,000 for a press release. At the end of the three months, I got one (1) proper link back to my site, which cost me £3,000. Their work never worked for my business, which I am very disappointed about. More...
Reviewed on Facebook
Lynne Hardwick
The Dark Horse team reviewed our paid account and provided a comprehensive and insightful audit. It was all explained in a clear and concise way with actions to be taken. Andrew, Dave & Ryan were really helpful through every step of the process and answered our many, many questions More...
Reviewed on Google Maps
Sam Green
I personally dealt with Dark Horse on behalf of my events company when looking for PPC specialists. Dark Horse provided a very comprehensive audit and I was particularly impressed with the professionalism that came with it. Andrew and Dave provided great insights and explained in laymans terms what they would do and why. They weren't pushy in any way and were very straight talking and to the point which is what I was looking for. I would definitely recommend Dark Horse to anyone looking for a PPC partner More...
Reviewed on Google Maps
Marketing Team Consulting
We are very pleased with the services that Dark Horse have provided so far. The team is always available when needed and really delivers on the objectives. We are happy to have Dark Horse as an SEO and digital PR partner. More...
Reviewed on Google Maps
Superbike Factory Marketing
The team at Dark Horse have been a valuable asset to our own in-house marketing team; providing PPC management and ultimately helping our business grow whilst maintaining CPL's!
Reviewed on Google Maps
Neo online
Staff at Dark Horse are really good at what they do, they helped my business thrive, communicate with me regularly, and provide good levels of growth month on month
Reviewed on Google Maps
Markus Wellmann
Das so einfach und schnell zu verstehen .
Reviewed on Google Maps
Victoria Cedeno
We worked with the Dark Horse team for a year and we built a strong SEO foundation for our website. It was truly a pleasure to work with such a highly committed team.
Reviewed on Google Maps
Stuart Slatcher
Delivered on what was asked for, as simple at that. We wanted better ROAS and they smashed it with a 80% increase in all channel ROAS in our first month. As a growing business we needed to work with people we could trust to give us the best advise, but all allow us to learn while we tested things out. Lovely people, lovely results, top work from the DH Gang. More...
Reviewed on Google Maps
Noah Bier
Dark Horse provided my company Makers Cabinet with 14 months of Performance Marketing management across Meta, Google and other Social platforms. Before our relationship was initiated we expressed our difficult previous relationships with marketeers. The team at Dark Horse were understanding, straight-talking and did not over promise. DH consistently met targets set by us and were a pleasure to work with and grow our business with. I would definitely recommend working with the team because of their expertise, good communication style and effective skills in performance marketing. Note that we are changing provider because we are looking to have content creation and marketing under one provider. More...
Reviewed on Google Maps
Matthew Holland
Great firm. Couldn't recommend them enough. We have worked with them for a couple of years. Any hiccups or issues are always dealt with diligently and quickly. Google ads isn't straightforward. As a small business owner we are naturally sceptical of 3rd parties, so I have had Darkhorse's work audited on a couple of occasions. Both time the auditing party couldn't fault their work or approach. Keith is fantastic. Andrew is ok. More...
Reviewed on Google Maps
Ian Fowler
A refreshingly frank approach to their work which underpins extensive depth of knowledge. They are on your side. Many agencies aren't. Recommended.
Reviewed on Google Maps
Ben Wightman
Very good digital marketing agency with an experienced & talented team
Reviewed on Google Maps
Alex Shannon
We have worked with the team at Dark Horse for a good period now, and they have driven consistent results for us. The team are exceptionally friendly, and do exactly as they say they will.
Reviewed on Google Maps
Matthew Holland
Seriously cool branding, backed up by serious PPC knowledge. We have worked with Dark Horse for a short period of time, however they have really impressed us with their honest, down to earth approach.
Reassuring us that they work for us, and not Google. The problem with a lot of PPC agencies is that their secret focus is to maximise spending on your Google Ads account, this is normally linked to the amount they invoice.
Our relationship with Dark Horse is founded upon a deep focus on efficiency, and getting the best return on advertising spend. They are yet to prove themselves in our peak season, however I am getting all the right signals that it will be an improvement upon our previous Ad Agency.
I would recommend them to any business who feels they need to switch up their Google PPC agency, or are struggling to manage/understand their Google Ads account themselves.
Matthew Holland
Managing Director
Hollands Country Clothing
More...
Ben Slaven
6 months in and the results are strong!
Dan and Andrew put together an audit and strong proposal before I signed up and I was impressed by their PPC knowledge and market strategy.
They set some key targets and have been working towards them for the last 6 months with positive results.
Click volume an ROI have both increased which is impressive, having taken over an already well established Ads account.
More...
Colin Bennett
Professional and Proactive.
I have used a number of agency's over the years.
Dark Horse are by far the most responsive.
Stephen Barnard
John and the team at PPC Evolved delivered some fantastic lead generation results for me at my previous role and I would highly recommend them for anybody looking to grow their business and increase their leads. Easy to work with and are always quick to respond to any enquiry you may have. Keep up the good work guys! More...
Reviewed on Google Maps
Nicola Scott
Used these guys in a previous role and was impressed by their knowledge, enthusiasm and professionalism- can’t recommend them highly enough
Reviewed on Google Maps
Mike Locke
We've worked with PPC Evolved for a while now and I can honestly say their professionalism is highlighted through their strong results. Our account managers are quick to respond and very helpful even with difficult requests. If you're looking for a PPC agency, strongly consider PPC Evolved. More...
Reviewed on Google Maps
Sophie Parden
PPC Evolved have been taking care of my PPC needs for a number of years. The ROI they provide is incredible. The team at PPC Evolved have had great significance in the growth of my business and I could not be happier with their service.
Reviewed on Google Maps
Edward Westbrook
PPC Evolved took care of my paid search activity during my time working at CANDDi. Not only did they deliver on what was promised they went above and beyond to ensure we were delighted with the results. Their attention to ROI is refreshing and is delivered with complete transparency. More...
Reviewed on Google Maps
Sophie Whittingham
We've been working with the team at PPC Evolved for a year now and they provide excellent professional Google AdWords for our business and our franchisees. Great service from the whole team at PPC Evolved, who are always there to support us when needed. Highly recommend! :) More...
Reviewed on Google Maps
Steve Upham
PPC Evolved co-ordinated our Adwords and Facebook campaigns successfully last year and helped altspace meet a number of marketing objectives. I'd recommend their professional approach and I enjoyed brainstorming some creative solutions with them. More...
Reviewed on Google Maps
What do you love most about your job?
Results. Possibly a cliche but there are two things that really give me a buzz about them.
Firstly, results can be fairly simple. We can save money and cut costs or we can improve performance and get more sales. The real buzz is when these are not mutually exclusive. Saving a client money AND getting them more sales is such a great feeling. Knowing that their previous search marketing agency was not getting them results vindicates why we exist as an agency and further spurs us on.
Secondly, is to expand on vindication. When we do get the results that allows a client to achieve their goals, it's a tremendous pleasure to get a metaphorical pat on the back that I hired the best staff I could. I go out there to try and hire PPC, SEO and Paid Social heroes and this has a certain cost, both financially and on workload, it's my job to recruit the best. When we get a new testimonial or case study then I get that fuzzy warm feeling as this means that I did my bit. I may not have done the hard work, the stats, the science, the art, the psychology being the work BUT I helped create the environment to allow that to happen.
Who doesn't like feeling smug when things go well?
John Keating
Director and Founder
What inspired you to start your own business?
I got fired - many moons ago. In order to protect my client list, I figured I would set up a temporary business to look after them until I find a new job. Fast forward 10 years, 30+ staff and growing turnover and client numbers - I never found that job!
Thank you for firing me all those years ago.
John
Why should our clients choose you?
Here are a handful of reasons why you should use the services of Dark Horse:
Experience
Our team covers the complete gamit of PPC and SEO. Tech SEO, Content and Outreach SEO too. Without all three, you will not get all the results. So that means that freelancers or micro companies either outsource part of it or can't do it well. We outsource nothing and have all the skills in house in the NW of England.
Value
We know this is the one you are all interested in. Dark Horse will make you money. We don’t charge exorbitant hourly rates. We want our clients to be happy so we are looking for lower margins with clients so happy with us, they never want to leave.
The fees that we charge are extremely competitive and will never be an issue for clients. Our proactive approach and ability to get the returns always results in clients looking to increase their commitment to us. We start small, prove concepts and then grow with clients.
Results
We get results in the first 6 months and then build upon that powering the results higher in the next 6. Google does not move in mysterious ways and we don't believe in not being accountable. We audit so many accounts from other agencies or where the SEO is being done internally by a marketing manager. Many are car crashes and even though some are cheaper - the results are awful. Thus actually making them more expensive.
and remember..... Anyone who guarantees you top spot or guarantees success - it's a ploy. They can't. The reason being is that there is no barrier for competition and they have no awareness of the algorithm changes. What those types of companies do is pick an obscure keyword that no ones wants and gets you to #1 for that. There's your guarantee. So if you want to be top for "Pink Penguins that fly in Colchester" then pick a company and pay them £200 a month for SEO.
Think about that too..... how many hours of work on SEO would you get a month paying someone a few hundred quid? Answer - **** all. Cheap is not cheap. It's usually a rip off. You need a smart agency with fair pricing who are willing to graft.
SEO
SEO is all or nothing. 'Good' isn't enough
It’s the opposite of the music industry – number 1 still means something. Secure the top spot in Google search results and be the pick of the crop. Dark Horse make you money by generating unpaid, natural rankings. Positions that demand respect and lead to conversions.
Good SEO gets you seen; great SEO gives your business access to whole new level of sales and profits.
Dark Horse works with companies who want change, who want to realise their potential. We elevate our clients through technical SEO, Content and Outreach excellence.
SEO requires diverse skills and a team of increasing dedicated expertise. This is not some shit you can do yourself from reading a book or Moz.
PPC Results
PPC management is for others. We do PPC dominance.
Tough markets make top money. PPC is powerful; it needs experience, expertise and strategy. Dark Horse takes on challenging clients in tight spots and skyrockets their sales and profits. Your sales and profits. Tell us your mission impossible and we will catapult you to success, making you shit loads of money on the way.
PPC can be your magic bullet. In the right hands it will drive people with intent to your website again and again. Dark Horse are not your bang average agency. We use bold moves to knock your competition off their perch, hiring Manchester's strongest players to elevate your brand. Secure the ivory tower with Dark Horse. Be the unexpected winner.
Digital Marketing Audit
Most audits are shit.
We've seen some real horrors in our time. Audits that skim the surface of a business, that prettify shocking results, that offer vanity metrics rather than the bottom line. We will give you the most comprehensive digital growth audit in the industry. It will completely change the way you look at PPC and SEO success. We don't twist the figures. If it's going well, we’ll show you and if changes are needed, we make them happen. At Dark Horse, we meet your Goliaths with objectives and strategies, and we conquer them, sling in hand.
Paid Social Advertising
Tap into the social media powerhouse.
Stop scrollers in their tracks. Capture their attention by infiltrating the platforms they use most frequently. Get inside their heads. Let people discover you. Build a network of customers who claim you proudly and spend their cash liberally.
Paid social ads are flexible. We target channels that suit your business and audiences who will be reactive to your campaign. A clash of hard logic and sharp creativity, paid social ads capture attention and demand conversions.
