Dan Callis.
A 15+ year veteran of Search Marketing, Dan Callis is a Freelance SEO Consultant based in Suffolk, UK.
SEO Services.
I offer freelance SEO services on both ad-hoc and retained basis. I’ve been working in SEO since 2011. I’ve also dabbled in other areas of digital marketing such as PPC, social media and content over the years, but SEO is my specialism. I’ve been working in SEO since 2011 and freelancing since the end of 2019.
I cut my digital marketing teeth with Vertical Leap, StrategiQ, Branded 3, Further, Brit-Net and Netmums - all of these businesses remain successful to this day, even if the owners/names have changed. The clients I’ve worked on run from international websites with millions of visitors a day to local businesses chasing customers on their own doorstep. Both are interesting for completely different reasons.
Big Beats are the Best.
I started/joined my first band when I was 16 - we played one gig at a mate's birthday party and all I remember was covering a Ramones song (badly, which is an achievement). I moved to Portsmouth when I was 18 and spent 10 years involved in a selection of bands as a vocalist, mostly across heavier genres of sound, and putting on the odd gig. I have been in two Punk bands since returning to Suffolk in 2015. My main musical project since 2021 however has been under the name DShappyBOI, making a varied mix of electronica/dance/noise with Retro Consoles and Samples. I like raves and gigs for different vibes.
You're a Grandad ALREADY? Wait, WTAF?!
That's right. My daughter was born when I was 16 and due to some international circumstances that are too long for details she grew up in the USA. I met her for the first time when she was 14. She spent some time living with me in the UK in her mid/late-teens. In 2023 she decided to get pregnant and thus Gianni appeared, making me a Grandfather and adding some Mexican-heritage to the family tree. I have visited twice since Gianni was born and hope to get him over to visit the UK when he's capable of forming long term memory. My USA family are based in South Carolina - therefore I follow the Panthers in the NFL.
Live over the years...
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2006 -
2010 -
2012 -
2017
Dedicated Tractor Boy of 30 years.
I went to my first game when I was nine years old when Ipswich beat Leicester 4-2 at Portman Road in 1996. I've had a season ticket in the SBR stand for over a decade and the recent celebrations vs the 15 years prior have made it worth it. Three pitch invasions in four years! I try to do a handful of away games every season and have visited over 50 football grounds within the UK. I also went to the San Siro in 2001 to see us play European football and saw us get promoted at the old Wembley stadium in 2000. All time favourite players I've seen in a Town shirt include Mauricio Taricco, Bobby Petta and, most recently, Wes Burns. Also had the honour of meeting Sir Bobby Robson as a kid.
Go outside & touch grass.
I retired from skateboarding officially in 2025, after accepting I will never land a flip trick again and my risk-to-reward ratio cares more about bailing than landing things. I gave up alcohol in 2019 and have been active in some way or form since with regular gym trips. I do around 3-4 hours of classes a week and then another similar amount of time lifting things that are too heavy for me. I can often be found ditching my car to go out on my push-bike or by foot. As the world falls apart I find myself becoming more interested in survivalism - I'd say I'm a bit of a prepper these days and love wild camping. I have no aims to compete in anything or look a particular way - I just want to be healthy and enjoy doing it (which is hard to believe as a statement but I'VE CHANGED).
Milestones
How it's panned out thus far.
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1987
Born in Bury. St Edmunds Suffolk.
Came out C-section at close to midnight. Born a pain in the arse. No patterns to worry about there...
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1991
Went to school in Lakenheath.
Met my friend Roach in the playground when I was six. We instantly started fighting all lunchtime for no reason without saying a word. We've been close mates since.
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1995
Discovered ITFC.
Came home after starting to play football at lunch and asked for a ManU shirt like all the other kids at school. Mum literally said "f*ck off" and got me an Ipswich one instead. Not sure whether to thank or curse her for that. Could be worse, I could support ManU...
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1996
Moved up to Middle School in Mildenhall.
My earliest memories of school/life getting tough as I look back. I had to navigate some bullying through various social/physical means and got to a 5th Kyu in Karate, but gave up when my football coach dropped me from the local team (I wasn't very good, but I was 10 years old, harsh).
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2000
Left a school before I got expelled.
Around my early teens I found heavy music (thanks Limp Bizkit) and started to form the foundations of things I still enjoy. I also discovered cannabis, alcohol and cigarettes. I got more confrontational with adults (sometimes for good reason) and did things that got me in trouble to impress others (looping back to the social navigation of school).
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2001
Moved to Bury St. Edmunds for School.
Had a 7.30am to 6.30pm day with school between with the bus distance, and still went out skateboarding with my mates in the evening. Still got in a lot of trouble at my new school, but felt more looked after by better teachers who had my interests at heart. By this point I was just a stroppy teenager testing my social/legal boundaries.
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2002
Went to my first PROPER gig.
With a touring band in a venue, not my mate's band in a local pub.
A now-cancelled Punk band with Darkest Hour and Pipedown on support at the London Astoria (RIP).
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2003
Got my first job.
And then lost it.
I worked for one of the food places on the local USRAF Base and was there six months before they sacked me. It was 4-5 of the naughtiest local teenagers being paid minimum wage to fry chicken - how'd you'd expect that to go? I then worked washing dishes in a pub for a little bit extra money and got a place to access booze underage for me and my mates.
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2005-2008
Left College for Uni.
via Portsmouth, stayed there a decade.
Video / TV & Film Production. I was okay at doing but not the academic type. Had my dissertation been written 15 years later and was allowed in blog form I'd probably have done better. I later did 3-4 years of on/off video freelance work but found any passion was gone (respect to my friends working in video, it's TOUGH).
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2011
Got my first proper "career" job.
Post-graduation I'd been delivering pizza.
When commuting and trainee salary added up via contractual hours, vs the flexibility/tips of hospitality, I initially took a pay cut to get my foot in the door for digital marketing. Having some early-adapter knowledge/experience with social media as a Millennial in bands, plus design skills, was enough to land me a place in SEO.
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2015
Moved back to Suffolk.
I had some friends move/pass away down South, my Dad had a motorbike accident and I missed regular football, so I decided to move back.
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2018
Met my daughter for the first time.
In Arizona as she has family there.
We went to the Grand Canyon.
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2019
Became my own boss.
It's a blessing and a curse when you have ADHD as heavy-yet-undiagnosed as mine (it's ironic the hoops they make you jump through to get a non-paid assessment), but I think I'd struggle to have a full time boss demanding I turn up for 8 hours a day now.
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2023
Gianni is born.
He's 1/2th Mexican, 1/4th American and 1/4th British. A lot of passport options for when he plays in the 2042 World Cup...
DON'T GROW UP, IT'S A TRAP.
I still enjoy an evening on my sofa with Earthworm Jim or Finn & Jake. I enjoy music like I'm still a teenager hearing it for the first time. I often say and do the stupidest stuff at my own detriment to make people laugh. I will go to the gym wearing my Spongebob Squarepants shorts. I will fill my house with retro wrestling figures and rewatch the 1999-2000 Mick Foley vs Triple H feud as if I attended in the flesh. I will play Golden Axe, Sonic the Hedgehog and Goldeneye 64 whilst my PS5 gathers dust. I'm not EXCLUSIVELY an idiot - I consume endless knowledge around geo-political history, true crime, topical events, science and nature - but I often find it entertaining to act like one. When I grow up, I still want to be a Ghostbuster.
Some shows I've promoted...
CAAATS! CAAATS! CAAATS!
I have two cats - Raven & Bandit. Raven is the black girl (surprisingly) who I re-homed in 2024 after her old owner developed an allergy. She is my shadow and demands cuddles/treats at least 5 times a day. She is very vocal and chatty, occasionally delivering live frogs to my bedroom at 3am. Bandit is the part-stripey beast who was found as a stray kitten in an Ipswich warehouse. It took him a few months to settle and he can be wary of other humans, but he thinks me and Raven are the coolest folks on the planet. He may look gentle and sweet but another cat steps on his patch and it's GOING DOWN.
Do I sound cool enough to do your SEO?
You can contact me and talk about your aims (with occasional chats about football & music) using the button below.