SEM Synergy

SMX East 2008

admin — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 18:56:48 +0000

SMX East is going on this week in New York City, attracting many talented and experienced search and social marketers to the Big Apple. Read the blog this week for liveblog coverage of the sessions.

Cindy Krum, Director of New Media Strategies, Blue Moon Works, talks to Virginia about how to optimize for mobile search. Eric Lander, Associate Editor at Search Engine Journal and Organic Search Manager at ADP/BZ Results, looks at enhanced listings. Then Kate Morris, SEM, RateGenius.com, sits down with Virginia at the WebmasterRadio.FM Search Bash to talk about white hat secrets and contractual issues in SEM campaigns.

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Social Media Dos and Don’ts

admin — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 18:57:57 +0000

Bruce, Susan and Virginia start off the show with a look at the search industry news. Google recently readdressed their paid search agreement with Yahoo, claiming that the deal will not harm competition, that ad prices will not rise, and that the two search companies will not have access to the other’s user data. Yahoo is in the midst of testing a makeover to Yahoo.com and has added a music feature to search results pages. Finally, Live Search has begun integrating Powerset into search results through Freebase Answers, enhanced Wikipedia captions and improved related search suggestions.

Virginia then speaks with Martin Bowling, CTO of Vec3, about integrated marketing strategies and the strength of social media. Martin will be speaking on the Protect Your Rep panel at the Scary SEO mini-con this month, and will award the winner of a contest a free two-night stay and registration for the conference. Martin shares some of the reputation management tips he will be making on the panel, as well as his findings on Google Suggest and how the feature could be harmful to online reputations.

Following up on some of Martin’s social media recommendations, Susan, Michael and Virginia talk about some of the social media don’ts. Don’t ignore or avoid social media. Don’t keep a bare profile or fake involvement. Don’t try to control the conversation. And don’t be pushy in promoting your product or services. In social media, the key to success requires being transparent, up-front and honest about your intentions.

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Behavioral Targeting

admin — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 18:49:41 +0000

This week’s show is dedicated to behavioral targeting and how the technology is changing the search industry as we know it. Bruce, Susan and Virginia start off the show by looking at how behavioral search may decrease the importance of rankings as the prime metric of successful SEO campaigns, a prediction Bruce shared in an interview with Ralph Wilson. Bruce makes the point that if 50 people search for the same query and everyone gets different results through behavioral search, rankings can no longer be a metric for SEO success.

Virginia then interviews Debby Richman, senior vice president at Collarity, a community-based search technology company. Debby breaks behavioral targeting down into three areas: ads, search, and recommended links. She explains that through Collarity, site owners can see users’ behavior grouped in anonymous buckets segmented by their usage patterns on the site. Information about those users’ behavior on other sites is not reported as it is not highly relevant.

Then Susan and Virginia discuss how to leverage behavioral targeting on your site. Through self-segmentation, you can improve conversions by giving the user what they want. Segmentation encourages engagement, provides opportunities to offer more focused content, and helps with market research. If you do chose to implement behavioral targeting, it’s important to remember that success takes time and that the different media of your online marketing campaign must work together.

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Strategy vs. Tactics

admin — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 18:47:50 +0000

Visiting the Bruce Clay, Inc. offices, Kevin Ryan, global content director for Search Engine Strategies and Search Engine Watch, sits down with Bruce for a conversation about highlights and lessons from SES San Jose, speaker submissions for SES Chicago, and upcoming webcasts on Search Engine Watch. Kevin also explains how the Orion panels cover high-level strategies, which help in gaining buy in from the top levels of a company.

Susan, Virginia and Michael use Kevin and Bruce’s conversation as a springboard to discuss the difference between strategy and tactics. While strategy is the overall plan devised to achieve a business goal, tactics are the tools used to perform the strategy. Susan uses the analogy of a battle, saying that if the goal is to win the war, the strategy is to send troops, and the tactics include parachuting down soldiers. Strategy is most often overlooked, even though the success of tactics may depend on a sound strategy.

Then the group takes a look at the issue of net neutrality. Net neutrality refers to the claim that everything on the Web (email, videos, Web pages) should be treated equally. Net neutrality advocates argue that ISPs should not be able to degrade or block any content or access to it on the Web. Net neutrality detractors argue that ISPs should be able to manage the Web content as the providers of Internet infrastructure. An instance of where the net neutrality debate is playing out in real life can be seen in the case of ComCast’s blocking of torrent seeding. The little-known issue of net neutrality legislation could have far-reaching effects that include changes in the way the Internet is accessed, how fast it will be, who will have access and what can be accessed.

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Web Dev and Webmaster Guidelines

admin — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 21:24:52 +0000

Google has released its open-source browser, Chrome, to public beta. The quick and streamlined browser got a lot of attention and also raised concerns about privacy and search engine bias. Bruce and Susan take a look at how browsers’ default settings and history storing can impact searcher behavior and affect marketers’ SEO efforts.

Then Virginia talks to Vanessa Fox, best known for her role in developing Google Webmaster Central and expanding the Google Webmaster Guidelines. Vanessa is also author of the blog Vanessa Fox. Nude. and is part of the team behind Jane and Robot. At Jane and Robot, Vanessa writes about the intersection of Web developer issues and SEO. She talks to Virginia about what developers need to remember about Google’s new Flash crawling ability, as well as her thoughts about redirecting the black hat/white hat debate. She also explains what she’s doing to help coordinate developer sessions at SMX East.

Susan and Virginia then discuss the various search engines’ webmaster guidelines in more detail. Along with the search engines’ published guidelines, search engine official blogs, forums and conference coverage also provide excellent sources which clarify and provide further explanation of the intentions and recommendations. Another helpful resource is Feed the Bot, for its straightforward break-down of Google’s guidelines, complete with definitions and examples that shed light on any jargon.

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Online Reputation Management

admin — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 21:14:30 +0000

Bruce, Susan and Virginia start off the show with a look at the recent search headlines. Not surprising, most of the news revolves around Google. The country’s number one search engine gained search share in July, according to comScore, and also took the top spot for customer satisfaction in the search and portal category for the American Customer Satisfaction Index. This month, Google also added an Enhance 404 feature to Webmaster Central and changed the calculation for Adwords Quality Score.

Virginia then talks to David Snyder, Search Specialist at JRDunn.com and co-founder of Search and Social. At SES San Jose, David was on two social media focused panels. On the show he shares his tips for where companies should focus their visibility efforts and how to monitor your reputation online. He is currently planning the upcoming Scary SEO mini-conference in Florida.

Following up on David’s social media pointers, Susan and Virginia talk about what individuals and companies alike should be doing to manage their online reputation. The best defense against negative Web content about your brand is a good offense. Provide the best possible customer service and attend to customers’ issues as they arise. If you still find yourself battling negative search results showing up for your brand, create new content to push the negative results from the front page.

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Directing Bots on Your Site

admin — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 18:16:14 +0000

Returning last week from SES San Jose, Bruce, Susan and Virginia consider the highlights of the conference. Strong sessions, constant networking, and great opportunities for visibility were the norm. Whether listening to experienced SEOs debate tactics in the conference hall or over dinner, the Internet marketing action never slowed.

While at SES, Virginia got a chance to talk to Live Search Webmaster Center Program Manager Jeremiah Andrick. Jeremiah gave his insight into the improved functionality of the recent Webmaster Tools update and explained how by supporting the online publishing community Live Search is helping the end user gain access to the best content available.

Then Susan and Virginia give some suggestions for ways to direct search engine bots on your site. When search engine bots visit your site, you want to make it as easy as possible for them to crawl and index your pages. Effective bot herding can be achieved through a site map, robots.txt file, Meta tags and nofollow attributes.

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SES San Jose 2008

admin — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 18:18:33 +0000

Many of the hosts of SEM Synergy are attending SES San Jose. Live from the expo room floor, Virginia interviews three of the presenters.

Chris Winfield, President of 10e20, sits down first to talk about his presentation on Igniting Viral Marketing Campaigns. He explains what viral markeint is and the main places conversations are taking place online. He gives some ideas of good content and his tips for someone trying to start a viral marketing campaign.

Then, Cindy Krum, Director of New Media Strategies at Blue Moon Works, stops by the WebmasterRadio booth to talk about her session. Presenting on panel Death of the ‘.mobi’, Cindy explains why marketers should be interested in mobile. She talks about how mobile rankings differ, even among different mobile devices. And then she touches on the different site architecture solutions for addressing mobile search.

Wrapping up the show, Dave Snyder, Search Specialist at JRDunn.com and co-founder of Search & Social, talks about his session Successful Tactics for Social Media Optimization. He explains what it is that companies can get out of SMO and where people should focus their visibility efforts. He then shares what he’s looking forward to in the search mini-con he’s organizing in October, Scary SEO.

Unfortunately, due to technical issues, this program is no longer available.

On the Way to SES San Jose

admin — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 18:07:44 +0000

With Bruce heading out to SES San Jose next week, he and Robert take a look at the subject of the panel on which Bruce will be speaking. Black Hat, White Hat: Playing Dirty with SEO covers a much-discussed topic in the SEO industry - one that has increasingly found the limelight following the Give It Up session at SMX Advanced in June. Bruce explains that black hat tactics may be a fine method of experimentation for SEOs’ personal domains, however, search engine-approved methodology is often a more sustainable business model.

Then Bruce talks to Kevin Ryan, the VP and global content director of Search Engine Strategies and Search Engine Watch. Kevin speaks to his goals and direction for the show, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this month. With constantly updated session topics and a growing number of attendees, SES continues to offer strong opportunities for education and networking in the highly-competitive industry.

Susan and Virginia close out the show with a look at the sessions and events they will be sure not to miss. From the keynotes to the parties, there are more than enough activities to keep all attendees busy for the four-day long conference. Certainly, you’ll find blogger Lisa Barone, Susan and Virginia at the Google Dance and Search Bash come night fall!

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Agency vs. In-House SEO

admin — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 17:47:28 +0000

Bruce, Robert and Virginia kick off the show with recent search headlines. In Google news, the search engine announced it will begin indexing audio and video files on YouTube’s Politicians channels. Google has been sued over its AdSense for Domains program, allegedly selling low-quality ads unlikely to convert. And the Google AdWords program got a makeover when they announced that keyword and placement targeting will be combined in a single ad group.

Then Virginia talks to Scott Polk, a new senior SEO analyst at Bruce Clay, Inc. Experienced as a consultant and in-house SEO, Scott talks about the transition from in-house to agency and the different demands of the two environments. Implementation, evangelism and the number of hats worn all vary slightly in each role.

Susan and Virginia close out the show with a look at the different types of training courses. Training is one of the ways that Internet marketers can stay up to date with new technologies and search engine guidelines. Training seminars, remote training, and on-site training are all options that you will have to weigh based on your needs and resources. The Bruce Clay, Inc. SEOToolSet Training will be presented following SMX East Oct. 9-10. It’s a great opportunity to attend the white hat SEO training course that has, until now, only been offered on the West Coast.

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