If you use WordPress and run your business or manage your online brand, then you are in the right place.
It doesn’t matter whether you have been successful in the past or not. It doesn’t even matter if you are successful now or not…times are changing, and you need to stay ahead of the game.
This is my site, the main hub of everything that I do online, and it’s also where I will provide a ton of value to help ensure that you do just that!
So what’s up everybody?! I am Ahmed Khalifa, and this is my site.
My Story
At university, I studied and graduated with BA (Hons) Sports Management and went on to do an MA in International Marketing Management.
Here was the idea – I wanted to combine these two to work in the sports marketing industry.
And offline too.
How times have changed?!
After graduating and looking for a new job, I decided to work at a local store back in 2008 where they had an eBay Store and Amazon Marketplace. This is where I first dabbled in the concept of keywords and content, and how it can help customers find what they’re looking for.
After several years of managing their online stores as well as launching and maintaining websites, I moved to Berlin, Germany to be in charge of the online marketing activities of an affiliate publishing company.
Living in Berlin was a fantastic experience and it allowed me to have access to a bigger community as well as learning more about SEO, affiliate marketing, content and Google Analytics.
Consequently this helped me to land my first agency job as a SEO Engineer, where it got even more in-depth and I had even greater access to very smart people within the agency and across the community.
From the South coast of England to Edinburgh, Scotland, where I took on the role of being in charge of SEO for the national footwear retailer, schuh. It was a hugely enjoyable few years of experience.
But something nagged at me towards the latter years of my full-time employment.
On the side, I have always enjoyed helping other people to manage their sites but still continued to work full-time. By doing this I was able to further develop my WordPress skills…which allowed me to start my own business, (formerly known as IgniteRock) in July 2016.
I help entrepreneurs and small businesses with WordPress sites to grow their online visibility, increase their audience engagement and encourage conversions.
And this is now my focus.
For more details about my professional background and what I did for the companies I worked for, you can visit my LinkedIn page.
What Have I Done?
- Volunteered at WordCamp Edinburgh 2015
- Spoke at WordPress Edinburgh Meetup
- Spoke at WordCamp Belfast 2016: How to Find Endless & Relevant Ideas Using Just Google
- Ran a workshop on Yoast SEO WordPress plugin
- Part of the SEO Panel which included a Google employee
- Co-organised WordCamp Edinburgh 2017
- Spoke at WordCamp Belfast 2018
What is Keeping Me Busy?
- Running my business Khalifa Media Ltd (formerly known as IgniteRock) and helping clients to grow their visibility, engagement and conversions
- Writing blog posts here to bring value to those who are running their own websites
- Run and host my own podcast; where I talk to creative individuals who are doing awesome things using WordPress
- Running and maintaining this site
- Being involved in the WordPress community e.g. attending the local WordPress Edinburgh meetup group and WordCamps
- Lead organiser of the next WordCamp Edinburgh (dates are to be confirmed)
- Being sociable on Twitter and Instagram
- Volunteer at with local deaf charity in Edinburgh to provide support, break down stigmas and demonstrate how technology can enhance your life if you are hard of hearing or deaf
