ArticleSnatch Blog

You are browsing the archives of search engine marketer.

On Monday, June 16, 2008, before the start of the Search Engine Strategies conference in Toronto, Canada, there will be four search engine marketing training classes. While each of the half-day SEM training workshops costs CAD 795, if you register for a full day, the cost is CAD 1,395.

That’s a savings of 195 Loonies – which is worth between 97 and 98 Toonies. (SES Toronto Conference Chairman, Andrew Goodman, has been trying to help me translate American into Canadian, but Search Engine Strategies Global Content Director, Kevin Ryan, thinks it’s a lost cause.)

Seriously, why would you want to take a search engine marketing training class or two – independently or in addition to registering for the SES Toronto?

There are three key reasons.

First, you’ll be provided with “guided, hands-on exposure that puts theory into practice in a highly interactive environment,” as it says on the Search Engine Strategies Toronto website. These SEM training workshops will be taught by Debra Mastaler, Todd Malicoat, Adam Goldberg and Liana Evans, and I can personally vouch for three of them. (While I don’t know Adam Goldberg personally, he’s an ex-Google Insider who started Google’s Inside Sales team in NYC in 2003. So, I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.)

These search engine marketing experts will provide you with the tools and techniques you need to become (or remain) outstanding in your field. (I know there’s a joke about a guy who is out standing in his field, but I forget the punch line.)

In the end, you’ll not only walk away from the search engine marketing classes with the knowledge and skills you need to be a successful search engine marketer, you may also “jump-start your career and enhance your professional know-how,” as the SES Toronto website puts it.

Second, all four of this year’s SEM training workshops are brand new. Compare them to last’s year’s line up of search engine marketing training classes. There are absolutely no repeats.

In Track 1, Debra Mastaler of Alliance-Link.com is teaching “Link Building Tactics, Tools & Techniques” from 8 a.m. to noon. And Adam Goldberg of ClearSaleing is teaching “Search Engine Marketing Metrics and Myths” from 1 to 5 p.m. (I love the use of alliteration in the titles of their SEM training workshops.)

In Track 2, Todd Malicoat of Stundtdubl is teaching “SEO Tools” from 8 a.m. to noon. And Liana Evans of KeyRelevance is teaching “How to Effectively Use Social Media for Search Marketing Campaigns” from 1 to 5 p.m. (Just because they don’t alliterate their titles doesn’t mean their search engine marketing training classes won’t be fun.)

I interviewed Todd and John Marshall of Market Motive at ad:tech San Francisco a couple of weeks back, when Market Motive announced it has teamed with Search Engine Strategies to provide online classes for training in search marketing, web analytics, and web conversion techniques.

Todd also talked about his SEM training workshop at SES Toronto. Check out the video interview below.

Stundubl’s Todd Malicoat’s Upcoming Session at SES Toronto

There’s a third key reason why you would want to take a search engine marketing training class or two – independently or in addition to registering for the SES Toronto. (There are always three key reasons to do anything. Hang on a second, I’ll remember it.)

You get a lunch break. (No, that’s not it. The lunches are getting better at all of the Search Engine Strategies events, but that’s not a reason to take workshops covering optimization and advertising strategies, analytics, tactics and best practices.)

Oh, now I remember. Whether you’re a consultant, site designer, website owner, or in-house marketing professional, you can’t afford to miss this opportunity to learn firsthand about the latest developments in search engine strategy. (I thought I was having a “senior moment” there.)

No matter where you are on the SEO or SEM learning curve, you’ll leave these intensive workshops with the necessary skills and tools to improve your business results and take your search engine marketing to another level. “Something that never looks bad on your permanent record,” according to Greg Marmalard in Animal House (1978).

See you at the Intercontinental Toronto Centre Hotel, which is a different venue than the main Search Engine Strategies conference, which is being held at the Metro Toronto Convention Center, which is attached to the InterContinental Toronto Centre Hotel. (Was that clear? Check Google Maps.)

See you at SES Toronto.

Let’s say you’re a savvy, seasoned search engine marketer. You can easily send some of your junior staff members to Search Engine Strategies London, which is being held next week at the Business Design Centre. So, why would you want to slip over to Islington for a few days to attend SES London yourself?

Let me give you seven serious reasons:

1. Keynote Roundtable: The Changing Search World. This session on Wednesday, Feb. 20, at 9:00 a.m., will discuss the global impact of Microsoft’s recent bid for Yahoo! Following an introduction from Nick Carr, author of The Big Switch, Rewiring the World, From Edison to Google, Kevin Ryan, Vice President, Global Content Director, Search Engine Strategies and Search Engine Watch, will host a panel of leading industry analysts and search experts that includes: Mike Grehan, SES London Co-Chair and Founder and CEO, Searchvisible Ltd.; Steven Kaufman, SVP Media Director, Digitas; Bryan Eisenberg, Co-Founder, Future Now Inc.; and Erica Schmidt, Global Director of Search, Isobar. Watch the Associated Press video interview of Kevin Ryan on Microsoft’s Yahoo bid.

2. Opening Keynote: Fredrick Marckini, Chief Global Search Officer, Isobar. Fredrick founded iProspect and is recognized as a leading expert in the field of search engine marketing. He is speaking on Tuesday, Feb. 19, at 3:30 p.m. Fredrick has authored three of the SEM industry’s earliest books, including Secrets to Achieving Top-10 Positions (1997), Achieving Top-10 Rankings in Internet Search Engines (1998), and Search Engine Positioning (2001). If you want an idea of what he’ll be talking about, read “Fredrick Marckini iProspect Exclusive SEO Interview with Dan Horton.”

3. Orion Panel: Universal, Blended and Vertical Search. This panel of industry gurus is being held on Tuesday, Feb. 19, at 4:45 p.m. Moderated by Kevin Ryan, the speakers on this panel include: Andrew Goodman, Principal, Page Zero Media; Adam Lasnik, Search Evangelist, Search Quality Team, Google; Mike Grehan; and Jeff Revoy, VP Yahoo! Search and Social Media, Yahoo! Europe.

4. Orion Panel: All Star Analytics Team. This panel of thought leaders is being held on Tuesday, Feb. 19, at 1:30 p.m. Moderated by Kevin Ryan, the speakers include: Brian Clifton, Head of Web Analytics, EMEA, Google; Bryan Eisenberg, Co-Founder, Future Now Inc.; Steve Jackson, Senior Consultant, Web Analytics & Search Marketing, SATAMA, & International Co-Chair, Web Analytics Association; Jim Sterne, Target Marketing & Chairman, Web Analytics Association; and Ian Thomas, Director, Customer Intelligence, Microsoft Advertiser & Publisher Solutions. To get a flavor of the session, read Christine Churchill’s blog post, “A Chat with Analytics Guru Jim Sterne.”

5. Searcher Behavior Research Update. This session is being held on Wednesday, Feb. 20, at 4:00 p.m. Moderated by Jon Myers, Head of Search, MediaVest, speakers include: Piers Stobbs, Vice President, ComScore Europe; Erica Schmidt, Global Director of Search, Isobar; Dr. Jon Dodd, Co-founder and Managing Director, Bunnyfoot; and John Marshall, CTO, Market Motive. For a preview of what one of the speakers plans to say, read Simon Heseltine’s blog post, “SES London 2008 Interview - Piers Stobbs.” Or read Massimo Burgio’s blog post, “Pre-SES London interviews: Piers Stobbs, comScore.”

6. My SEM Toolbox. This session is being held on Thursday, Feb. 21, at 2:15 p.m. Several search marketers share a variety of tools and services they find useful in performing SEO and SEM. Moderated by Mike Grehan, speakers include: Thomas Bindl, Founder and CEO, Refined Labs GmbH; Maxime Grandchamp, President, Trellian Europe; and Bruce Clay, President, Bruce Clay, Inc.

7. News Search SEO. This session is being held on Wednesday, Feb. 20, at 10:30 a.m. Moderated by Anne Kennedy, Manager, Managing Partner, Beyond Ink, speakers include: Lee Odden, CEO, TopRank Online Marketing; Tim Gibbon, Director, Elemental Communications; and me. For a preview of what one of the speakers plans to say, read Lee’s article, “SES London: News & Blog SEO, Reputation Management.”

As the title of Lee’s article indicates, there are a lot more than seven reasons to attend SES London. I should disclose that Search Engine Strategies London is a client. So, don’t take my word for it.

Read Lisa Barone’s blog post over at BurceClay.com, “Gearing up for SES London!” She lists 16 sessions that “we think will give you the most bang for your SEO buck,” including all seven of the sessions listed above.

Or watch Mike Grehan’s video clip on YouTube, which covers his take on the highlights of the upcoming Search Engine Strategies London conference.

So, you should give serious consideration to slipping over to Islington for a few days.

What’s the biggest mistake any search engine marketer can make? Blowing a presentation to decision-makers. Even with phenomenal results and ROI, a search marketing campaign has little value unless your CEO understands why you’re investing millions of dollars online.
Search marketing agency OneUpWeb announced the launch of a new eye tracking service today that builds on [...]

E-commerce sites are heavy users of search engine marketing; with each of the top ten search engine marketers being retail or comparison-shopping sites according to comScore qSearch Market report.
In March, close to 20 billion sponsored links were offered to U.S. Internet users from the top search engines. eBay was the top search engine marketer with [...]

If you check out the Google search results for most terms, you’ll find Wikipedia at or near the top of the list.
The popular user-collaborated encyclopedia has more page views than Digg and MySpace, and could be largest untapped resource in online marketing to date.
Danny Sullivan moderated today’s session focused on the viability of [...]

If you are not involved in the search engine optimization community, January 21st, 2007 probably held no significance for you. However, if you are a search engine marketer or SEO, you probably remember January 21st as the day that Wikipedia died. To the untrained eye, Wikipedia is exactly the same t…
More: continued here
wikipedia [...]

A survey by the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO) found that nearly everyone running a paid search campaign tosses some cash in Google’s direction.
With $9.4 billion spent on North American search engine marketing in 2006, it is easy to see why Google has remained the dominant power in SEM. If it is [...]