About Us

John Nicholson and Karan Gill have been collaborating on web projects since meeting at GEICO in 2004. John led the Internet marketing team while Karan was a senior-level web designer and developer. They helped GEICO become a dominant player online and learned a ton in the process. In 2009 John and Karan started Marketade to help businesses of all sizes improve their online presence.

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John Nicholson

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John helps clients with Internet marketing and the user experience (UX). He has 15 years of marketing experience, specializing in the online space since 2000. He is an expert on:

  • Discount usability testing
  • A/B testing and conversion optimization
  • SEO and SEM
  • Web analytics
  • Writing for the web

In 2003, John joined GEICO as its first web marketer and launched core programs such as search and affiliate marketing and web analytics. Over the next 4 years, he helped build a team of marketers and analysts that grew online sales by 50% each year.

Prior to GEICO, John spent 3 years at Brainbench — an IT certification company in the Dulles, VA corridor — and 4 years at the Mercatus Center, an economic think tank in Arlington, VA. His side projects have included launching a social network for customer reviews and an online resume service. He graduated with a B.A. in political science from Brown University.

Outside of work, John loves surfing, tennis, public libraries, social psychology, and Brazilian music. He lives in DC’s Logan Circle.

Karan Gill

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Karan helps clients with web design and development. He has 13 years of experience with both the creative and technical aspects of the development process. He is a big fan of MVC frameworks, JavaScript toolkits, and semantic HTML. His areas of expertise include:

  • Creative design
  • User interface/interaction design
  • Client-side development (CSS, HTML, JavaScript)
  • Server-side development (PHP, MySQL)
  • Server administration (LAMP Stack - Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP)

Karan joined GEICO's web development team in 2005. Over the next 4 years, he led efforts to redesign GEICO.com and launch the GEICO Careers website. He also led the development of a content management system that cut content publication time in half.

Prior to GEICO, Karan worked at Penn State University's School of Information Sciences and Technology (IST) where he developed innovative touch screen kiosks and worked on cutting-edge eLearning initiatives. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in Information Sciences and Technology from Penn State University.

Karan spends his spare time competing in cycling races, working on cars, and hiking with his dog Bella. He is based in York, PA.