Henry Smith – Head of SEO

With 8 years of SEO experience under his belt, Henry has worked on both agency-side at Candid Sky as well as leading in-house SEO teams to commercial success, from managing SEO for We Buy Any Car growing their organic traffic by 183%, to more recently heading up SEO at American Golf, improving their organic channel and page 1 rankings by 20% YoY.

At Dark Horse, Henry led the SEO strategy for leading safety consultancy group, Rhino Safety. With a forensic approach, Henry’s multi-faceted (wit-woo) SEO strategy gained:

• 156% increase in organic sessions
• 159% increase in organic users
• 97% growth in keyword profile

Izzy Till – Deputy Head of SEO

Izzy is Dark Horse’s Deputy Head of SEO and has been a key member of the SEO team since joining in 2022. With over four years’ experience in SEO, Izzy has worked across all core areas including technical SEO, content marketing, and digital PR, helping clients improve their online visibility and search rankings.

At Dark Horse, she leads SEO strategy and collaborates closely with clients and internal teams to deliver effective, data-driven campaigns. A Masters’ graduate of Newcastle University, Izzy is proud of her role in elevating Dark Horse’s reputation and is known for her analytical approach and creative insight.

Bree Shemilt – SEO Content Executive

After a brief stint as a freelance copywriter, Bree discovered that search marketing was a thing and started an apprenticeship at a digital marketing agency in Macclesfield. She quickly learned the ropes, and eventually stepped up into managing the SEO content department, where she worked alongside the technical and outreach teams to co-ordinate work for 15+ ecommerce and lead gen clients.

Now, Bree is part of the SEO team at Dark Horse, leading on strategies that take clients from 7 to 8 figures. During her 7+ years in SEO, Bree has had her hands on sites across a lot of different niches, including home & garden, insurance, medical supplies, robotic automation, online courses, and more.

Kate Glynn – Content Manager

Kate has a lifelong passion for reading and writing, which led her to pursue a degree in English, before embarking on her content writing career in 2013. She uses her love of words to create content for different audiences, sectors and purposes, while telling the stories behind brands, products and services.

Kate has worked at several digital marketing agencies in the Manchester area, with her most recent pre-Dark Horse role seeing her responsible for managing a global client’s editorial content production, as well as a small team.

Kate joined Dark Horse in January 2022, where she delivers SEO content and strategies for clients in sectors including technology, education, fashion, and e-commerce. And with previous experience writing for both B2B and B2C clients across the health and wellness, lifestyle, food and drink, recruitment, finance and travel industries, Kate can turn her hand to anything – you name it, she’s written it.

Emma Stretton – SEO Content

Emma started her working life buying greetings cards, segued way into marketing for a curtain retailer and eventually realised words were what she was good at. Her first SEO role was for Cedarwood Digital, a small agency in Manchester where she learnt about keywords, internal links and FAQs, and began applying her skills to a range of client work.

Emma started at Dark Horse in February 2023 and writes about everything from Christmas trees and care homes to vintage fashion and fine jewellery. Whether it’s a landing page, blog or PLP, Emma creates useful content and ensures that organic clicks and impressions continue to grow for her clients. She’s also the one you can always rely on for swift client communications.

Javier Castaneda – Tech SEO 

Javier is a Technical SEO Specialist with deep experience across WordPress, Shopify, and Magento platforms. Before joining Dark Horse in 2022, he led technical SEO efforts at Add People, supporting a large portfolio of clients across diverse sectors. There, he delivered comprehensive audits, tackled indexation and performance issues, and worked closely with account teams to ensure seamless implementation.

At Dark Horse, Javier plays a key role in scaling SEO output for ecommerce and lead-gen websites, specialising in Core Web Vitals, crawl budget optimisation, canonical strategies, structured data, and internal linking. Known for his clarity and precision, he translates complex technical challenges into actionable solutions for both developers and stakeholders.

He also brings a creative approach to automation and AI, constantly testing new methods to improve efficiency across SEO workflows. From generating alt text and categorising large datasets to enhancing audit processes, Javier seeks solutions where none yet exist—anticipating how technical SEO will evolve.