Search Marketing Gurus | Online Marketing Professionals Give Search Marketing Tips, Advice, Strategies & Tactics

Fun Photo Fridays: Cindy Krum Doing a Tea Trick at SES Denver Training

By Li Evans

At the beginning of this week, I had the pleasure of doing the Social Media training in Denver for Search Engine Strategies Training event there.  It was a lot of fun, and was also my first time in Denver.  Those of you who follow me on twitter, saw how I was shocked about how far off in the "boonies" the airport was!

While there, Denver local, Cindy Krum of Blue Moon Works, entertained a few of us.  The first night we met at the Blake Street Tavern - formally the Flying Dog Brewery.  For anyone going there, try the Scratch Ale, it's great!  Then, Tuesday night Cindy took us to Mataam Fez, a Moroccan restaurant that was just a great experience.  Cindy even did a tea trick for us - Cindy, not only are you brave, but you rock! :)

If you like this photo of Cindy Krum doing a Tea Trick at SES Denver Training, feel free to comment and favorite it as that's how we'll be judging the photos at the end of the year! Check out the rest of the fun at SES Denver Training, there's over 60 photos to view.

Fun Photo Fridays: SEO Rapper Chuck Lewis Performs the "PageRank" at Unleashed

By Li Evans

Well I'm a day late today, with posting our Friday photo, but I think waiting for this post might be well worth it.  Not only do I have a fun photo, but I have a fun video too!

The folks who ran Search Engine Guide's Unleashed Small Business Marketing Conference treated the conference goers to a live performance on the night before the conference started.  Chuck "SEO Rapper" Lewis of PopLabs entertained the crowd with his newest rap entitled "Code Design".  Chuck also showed us a few of his own dance moves, which I captured here.  In this photo, Chuck's demonstrating the "Page Rank".

If you like this photo of SEO Rapper Chuck Lewis Performs the "PageRank" at Unleashed, feel free to comment and favorite it as that's how we'll be judging the photos at the end of the year! Check out the rest of the fun at Unleashed Small Business Marketing Conference, there's almost 200 photos total!

So I also promised a video!  I shot this video of Chuck's live performance at Unleashed.  If you are interested in seeing his other videos check out Chuck Lewis' m0serious YouTube Channel, he's got all his SEO Raps out there.  Hope you enjoy!

Jason Calacanis - Why I Didn't Throw Veggies At Him At SES New York

By Li Evans

I wanted to, I really, really wanted to.  Everyone knows I really did not have a "love" nor a respect for Jason Calacanis.  The man took every opportunity he could to bash our industry (and my livelihood) for the past year and a half - and people still continued to give him a stage, and the free reign to pretty much say whatever he wanted.  This is a guy who has pissed off more of us than he can likely keep track of.  I took offense to everything Jason was spouting, because I'm not one of those "snake oil salesman", I'm one of these online marketing professionals that believe a sound online marketing strategy is the best practice for a client's success.

So, with that in mind, it's why I called out SES for putting this guy on stage for a 3rd time.  It's also why, when offered the opportunity to see if this guy really knew his stuff, I jumped on it and asked for all of you to send in questions.  I got a lot of questions, and you all really submitted some great stuff.

There was some tense moments, apparently some rumors were floating around people intended to "heckle" Jason.  I think that was something that was just "miscommunicated", or taken the wrong way from some of the comments that were on Sphinn about the post I wrote.  We didn't need to bring in the NYPD, Kevin Ryan did a fine job at keeping things on an even keel, and getting the questions asked and no one heckled Jason ... nor threw veggies.

That all said, showing a bit of humility, is always a good thing.  When you can say "perhaps I was wrong", in front of an audience of more than 1,000 people, credit does have to be given.  I still don't totally agree with Jason's methods or tactics, but I do have to say that I think enough people in this industry have worked at giving him insight into what we do, that he seems to have a different opinion of us than he did back in 2006.

So now onto all of the questions that were submitted & asked from the keynote audience at SES, and those that were answered (answers in red):

9 Networking Tips To Use at SES NYC or Any Conference

By Li Evans

Everyday we're all caught up in the world of online marketing, that we tend to forget about that real, face to face type of marketing.  Alex (my analytics guru/friend and writer here at SMG), called me the "consummate connector" in his article this morning, I never thought of it that way - however, I guess that's what I'm always striving to do.  I'm always trying to make a connection, so maybe one day I can help someone out, perhaps give someone a hand, make someone smile.

Any of the conferences are great for that.  Whether its rounding up a group of friends to go out for dinner or grabbing a bite to eat for lunch, or heading off in a group to one of the many search events, it's great to see new people "connecting" or networking - for real, and face to face.  Don't get me wrong, I love social media, Twitter, StumbleUpon, and forums, but nothing replaces that face to face connection you can make.

So if you're an online marketing professional and you are thinking "Man, I've seen these sessions 100's of times before, what am I going to do at SES NYC this time around?"  Well, maybe I can help you with a few tips to use at SES NYC:

• Take a good look at the schedule, seriously, I mean it.  There's some new sessions on tap, and there's NEW SPEAKERS.  That means new content, new points of view, nuggets of information from another person's perspective.  It also means, the chance to go up and meet/connect with/introduce yourself to these new speakers.  Just as Gab Goldenberg what I did at his session at SMX West.

SES NYC - 3 Women Spotlighted at Search Engine Strategies

By Li Evans

As SES attendees, we've had the delight of having Marissa Meyer of Google keynote, but before that, I can't readily remember when a woman was really a spotlight at any sort of search conference.  My how things have changed!

Next week at SES New York City, not one, not two, but three women have been "spotlighted".  How's that for progress?  I think that says a lot for how this industry really respects women and is going beyond "gender lines".

The three women are Kendall Allen, Erica Schmidt and Lyndsay Menzies.  These three women are playing key roles in both the companies they work for and it's great to see them getting the spotlight shined in their direction.

So what do we know about these three great online marketers?

Kendall Allen is the Managing Director at Incognito Digital.  During the three years preceding her joining the team at Incognito Digital – Allen presided over regional Client Services operations for two Search Engine Marketing firms, first as founding executive team member at Fathom and then industry pioneer, iCrossing. It is during these years that Allen met the founding partners Gray and Hoydich of Incognito Digital, collaborating to serve the marketing needs of VOOM HDTV.

With critical periods of her career spent in the SF Bay Area and now on the East Coast in New York, Allen has consulted with, launched and staffed engagement teams against the digital marketing efforts of marketers including Ask Jeeves, SF Examiner, Chandon, Intel, Intuit, VOOM, American Express, Fairmont Hotels, McGraw-Hill and Colgate-Palmolive. Allen now has teamed with her partner, Elizabeth Bleser, to truly evolve the agency Incognito Digital and the brands it serves.

Erica Schmidt is Global Director of Search for Isobar.  Erica is primarily responsible for helping Isobar search agencies across the globe increase their revenues from search engine marketing, and she assists Isobar agencies in launching iProspect-branded search engine marketing practices. Schmidt also ensures that each agency is delivering their services according to the best practices developed at iProspect in the U.S. Prior to joining Isobar, Schmidt was client services director at iProspect, responsible for overseeing a number of client-facing search teams, and focused her attention on delivering superior strategies and proactive account management to iProspect’s clients.

A polished speaker, Schmidt has presented at various conferences around the globe, including Search Engine Strategies. She has also authored articles for industry publications, including Pharmaceutical Executive   Magazine and Direct Magazine.

Lyndsay Menzies is Managing Director of Big Mouth Media. At bigmouth since 1999, and with 100 bigmouths under her watchful eye, Lyndsay's remit can be summed up as 'Responsible for developing and keeping the happiest clients and teams in the industry', whilst growing bigmouthmedia UK into the clear leader in its field.

Lyndsay heads up the 3 UK offices, as well as the NY office. Bigmouthmedia has the highest client and staff retention in the industry, and is a 2007 FT 'Best Place to Work'. A real 'people person', Lyndsay is a pioneer in integration of search within marketing strategy, offering a no-bull, can-do attitude crucial for the success of her clients in a fast-changing medium.

I found her bio on the Big Mouth Media site really funny too (this company certainly has a sense of humor!):

Bigmouthmedia's much loved Managing Director. Complete workaholic. Once went to have her wisdom teeth taken out over lunch and went straight back to work. Finalist in "Scotland's Most Eligible", when asked what her unique fact was, Lyndsay disclosed that she once spent 12 hours in the back of a truck in Cambodia with a dead pig... like we said, she's been working very hard.

Wow, these are some really impressive resumes aren't they?  All three of these women are "take charge and get it done" and that attitude has propelled them to the top of not only their companies but this industry as well. 

I got curious as to why SES & Kevin Ryan selected to highlight not just one, but three women and asked him these questions:

Li:  Kevin, could you tell me why you have them featured?
Kevin Ryan:  They are incredibly talented people that possess thought leadership characteristics along with and “feet on the ground” knowledge.

Li:  What’s their role for this conference (SES NYC)? 
Kevin Ryan:  Women at SES take on a number of roles. From Orion panels to day one’s strategic thought leadership to our week-long tactical sessions. We have a number of nationalities represented and they represent multiple levels in the companies they represent.

Li:  Why were they chosen?
Kevin Ryan:  SES does not discriminate or select speakers on the basis of race, creed, gender, social media platform usage or socio-search engine alignment. Sincerely, the selection process was very simple; they were the most qualified candidates. 

Kudos to Kendall, Erica & Lyndsay, and thanks to Kevin Ryan for selecting to spotlight them at SES New York!

Mike Grehan Joins Acronym Media as Global KDM Officer

By Li Evans

Fresh off the success of a awesome conference, SES London, my good friend Mike Grehan has some rather great news to announce.  Mike's joining Acronym Media, based out of the Empire State Building in New York City. 

Mike's taking on the position of Global KDM Officer, a newly-created senior executive position with worldwide management responsibilities.  Mike's also been appointed to Acronym’s five-member Executive Board and given broad responsibilities to drive the Agency’s global growth and strategy development for key clients.

“I may be the first to have the KDM acronym in my title, even though I’ve always been ‘keyword-driven’,” Mike quipped. “The idea behind Keyword-Driven Marketing™ is elegantly simple yet powerful. Keywords are truly the basic building blocks of integrated marketing campaigns, online and offline. I share Acronym’s vision and will work hard to build upon Acronym’s already stellar reputation and breakthrough thinking.”

I normally don't post a lot about people moving from one company to another (it happens a lot in this industry), but Mike Grehan is probably one of the foremost people in search today and this is pretty big news.  Mike's got his finger on the pulse of this industry like no one else I know, and thus I consider him a mentor as well as a good friend.  Acronym and Anton have snagged one heck of an executive in Mike!

“We are thrilled to have Mike join our global team of search and keyword marketing experts,” said Anton E. Konikoff, Founder and CEO of Acronym Media. “Mike has been a leader in the industry for over a decade and I know he will be a terrific evangelist for our Keyword-Driven Marketing™ framework, with search at its core and keyword intelligence as the basis for decoding customer intent and crafting powerful messaging.”

Working for another of the world's foremost thinkers on keyword research, Christine Churchill of KeyRelevance, I couldn't agree more with Mike's quote.  It's people like Mike & Christine that have really brought this industry forward, while also knowing what the fundamental building blocks are.

Congrats to both Mike and Anton ... maybe now that Mike's going to be in NYC a little more, I can finally get him down here to my hometown area here and take him on a tour of America's oldest brewery!

*(Picture on top right features (from left to right) Mike Grehan, Jon Myers and Christine Churchill)

SES NYC: You Get to Ask Jason Calacanis the Questions

By Li Evans

Remember back in January when I asked the question Why Jason Calacanis for a Third Time at SES?  Well it seems that the kind folks at Search Engine Strategies were listening to us Search Marketers.  How is that you wonder?  Well let me explain.

While in London, I had a conversation with some of the people responsible for programming SES.  Kevin Ryan had read that post and asked "What If Search Marketers Could Ask the Questions for Calacanis at SES NYC?"  What a great idea, I thought!

So, Search Marketing Gurus will be the vehicle that will drive most of the questions during the Calacanis keynote.  We will collect the questions here until 8 p.m. EST - 5 p.m. PST on Thursday March 13th.

There is a few stipulations with submitting questions, so please 'follow the rules':

1. You cannot ask "Jason why are you such an jerk?" or any other type of questions along those lines.  That means, no "why are you a "*insert any other derogatory comment here*?" type questions, and also no "why do you think SEO is bullshit" questions.
   
   I know, I know - where's the fun in that, right?  Well folks, we all know why he is what he is, and why he thinks what he does - he's said it 3 times before.  That being said, lets get creative with this and really ask some tough questions that might make him show his "true" depth of knowledge of this industry!
   
   *Why do you think SEO is Bullshit - why do I say, don't ask that question?  Well that will be asked, we just don't want 50 questions all coming in asking that same thing!
2. Don't post your questions in the comments.  Email them to searchmarketinggurus -a-t- gmail DOT com and put in the subject"Calacanis Keynote Question".
   
   Why?  Well, we don't want J.C. to be prepared, plain and simple we want this to be a unique experience for both him and the audience.
   
   
   
3. When you email, let us know if you want us to state whom the question is from.
   
   We want to give credit where credit is due, but of course if you'd rather ask anonymously, we will still consider the question for the keynote.

If Jason Calacanis is going to park his butt on that stage again at another Search Engine Strategies, why should his hour there be cakewalk like it was the past two times, and not to mention the additional hour a week ago at affiliate summit?  Isn't it time, we as an industry ask this guy some serious questions, instead of letting him slide by with calling our industry "bullshit" and push Mahalo?

* ok, Danny's got a point - it wasn't a total cakewalk when Danny had him on stage (but I don't think Danny expected the F bomb to be dropped nor SEO to be called bullshit).  My point is, is if they want Calacanis on stage, and they are giving us the opportunity, why not hold this man's feet to the fire a little more?  I know there's some great questions out there - I've heard them in conversations!

Come on, send in your question!  I know there's quite a few out there, send the on in! 

Remember send the questions into searchmarketinggurus -a-t- gmail DOT com, put in the subject "Calacanis Keynote Question".

Does Your Mother Know What It Is You Do?

By Karl Ribas

Tell me... does it ever occur to you that there may not nearly be enough hours in a given day to address all the things you wanted to? Or, is it just me? I'm thinking a few of you readers out there are feeling my pain. I've been juggling a few side projects since the New Year began, and keeping up with them as well as trying to maintain some sort of personal life with friends and family has really become quite difficult. In any event, I've managed to find a little breathing room tonight and so I thought that I would reach out to you all, and put down one of these half-thoughts that I've been holding onto for quite a while now.

Today's post brings me back to this past December when I was attending SES in Chicago. I was sitting in on the "So you want to be a Search Marketer" session, and Kevin Ryan, who was moderating the panel, mentions that this would be the perfect panel for his mother to sit in on, because she's still waiting for him to get a "real" job. Obviously, his mother, much like my parents, family, and friends, doesn't quite understand the nature of search marketing.

It was then that I first began thinking about all the times I've personally stuttered through a conversation with a friend, family member, or those I was meeting for the first time. Answering the "what do you do for a living" or "what kind of work are you in" question is a tough time for me, and honestly it's one that I've started to dread. In fact, I started hating having to explain search marketing to people so much that I simply gave up on it. Instead, I'd much rather say that I am web site designer or involved with marketing than having to explain the mere complexities of how I utilize search engines to rank websites and get paid for it.

As it sits now, my entire family is under the assumption that I am a web site designer, while many of my friends who are more up with the times understand that I not only design web sites but market them via search engines. Of course, there are a few people out there that have the idea that I work for Google or Yahoo! – don't even get me started on that.

My reasoning for this post, is to find out how you address these, often awkward, situations with your parents and other non-industry folks, and what, if anything, do you say to help avoid the "deer-in-the-headlights" look and move the conversation forward? Do you simply opt to be a "web designer" or do you use some other well-recognized occupation to explain your career?

SES London 08: The Best SES in a Long Time

By Li Evans

There's still a full day of conference sessions to go to, but I have to say with the two that have past, this SES conference has been the best in a long time.  It's miles above SES London last year, and not just because of the location.

Mike Grehan has put together a spectacular show with Kevin Ryan.  The speakers are top notch, and I can actually say for the first time in a long time I've taken more than one "nugget" away.  I've met some really great search marketers this time out, as well as some great new people, passionate people and intelligent people. 

That's not to say that I never met them before at a conference, but there is just something different going on here.  It is nearly electric as you walk around and converse with people, maybe it's the potential of Yahoo-Microsoft, maybe it is people freely speaking about linking while Adam Lasnick is in the room, maybe it is the kick-ass keynotes, and maybe it is the enthusiasm of the attendees  - I honestly can't tell you what it is, but I'm actually sad that SES London 2008 ends today.

For those of you who've missed this great conference, there's a ton of coverage and photos, and I plan on doing a more in depth post about my experiences here in London.  I don't agree with one of the reviews that was mentioned to me, there wasn't a sales pitch in any of the sessions I was in (and trust me, if there is I let Stewart know).  I just really wanted to convey that the quality of this show has really ratcheted up,  Mike Grehan has put together one awesome show.

SES London 08: Video & Podcast SEO

By Li Evans

Speakers:

• Amanda Watlington, Owner, Searching for Profit
• Onil Gunawardana, Vice President / General Manager Advertising, blinkx
• Tim Gibbon, Account Director, Elemental Communications
• Joseph Morin, Partner, Boost Search Marketing and CEO, Storybids, Inc.

Moderator:  Anne Kennedy

Amanda Watlington
Adding video and audio is compelling for brand marketers.  Helps to create engagements, loyalities.  Search marketers are challenged to create results with this medium.  This creates a direct medium to connect and communicate with the audience.  You can convey emotional content that you cannot do otherwise.  An approachable means to relating the approachableness of the company.

Video presents challenges.  Most users don't know where to look for it.  YouTube grabs the most attention.  Professional competes with consumer generated video. 

Tips:  offer in multiple formats, use tags, individual landing pages, user rss to distribute.  Create video with branding in it.  Avoid pop up players.

Podcasting:  success is based on planning.   is it a scheduled weekly show.  are you a full out entertainment site or just a blog?  Before you set out, name your show and research it.  Distinguish the show from the episode name.  Transcribe or abstract - transcript is better for SEO.

Come up with a keyword list before the show.  Build your infrastructure in advance.  Download and test tag editorers in advance.

Distribution is the SEO.  It's a 4 step process.  Optimising the sound (ID3 Tags).  Optimising the page.  Validate RSS Feeds.  Track and Monitor Submissions  Promote the podcasts!

Optimising Tag:  Album Name is the Show Name, Artist, Year, Episode #, Genre, Comments.
Make sure the file name is unique but makes sense, use words that make sense.

Optimising the Page:  Have a page for the show and then a page for each episode for each the episode.  Provide information on how to subscribe.  Include a player for people to listen online.

Onil Gunawandana of Blinkx
Blinkx has over 18 million hours of video.  Started in the UK but headquartered out of LA.  Public company.  They power the video player and video search of Ask.  They've had 50 million uniques world wide and 12 million uniques from UK in the past year.

When it comes to video, users expect be able to find a video easily and be able to watch it on the same page.  Goals for Video SEO
Advertising
    In-Video - Preroll or Invideo
    Out-Video - Banners, text ads like adwords
Traffic to site
Distribution for Promotional Video

They take the meta data, then speech recognition to convert the audio to text. 
SEO Tactics
    Metadata use it - sometimes it is often lost during conversion, metadata cleaning
    Key elements:  title and description.  filename.  category.  tags. 
    Sitemap / MRSS File
    Format - in format meta data
    Where to Submit - user generated video sites (YouTube MetaCafe), Video Search Engines (blinx)

Tim Gibbon:
Video is important as a marketing tool, engages with your audience, encourages interactivity.
Attracting users to your site:  make sure its RSS enable, title and keywords with each page.  Offer multiple download forms.  Allow users to embed the video on their own sites and blogs.  Have only one video per page, ensure your URL's are friendly.

Uploading to sites.  Descriptive and attention grabbing.  If the video allows you to select a still frame, ensure that it is one that captures attention.  Tags used are vital, ideally between 5-10.

Sites to use:  Blinkx, Fooooo and Truveo.  There are niche sites out there that we call gems look to find those.

You can input meta-data into the video itself.  Search Engines read the properties for video, word, pdf.  Some services allow embedded urls.  Can search on the content of the video rath than just the keywords associated with it.  Allow you to tweak keywords.

Dos/Don'ts - name properly, create video sitemaps, have only one video per page, rss enabled.  Don't stuff title, tag and descriptions.  Post poor quality and irrelevant, post pur commercials, cloak and flame your own content to boost hits, make content a one way dialogue.

Joe Morin of Boost
Video strategy - what is it?  Video optimization is SEO too.  It's necessary to have some kind of strategy.
Google has 51% of the market with YouTube.  Comscore stated the December was the heaviest video consumption month ever.  Convergence of Online & Offline advertising.

Just having the video isn't enough.  Distribution and Syndication of your video will draw so much more traffic and brand awareness.  Make sure social media channels are in place as well.  There's video crawlers optimization and uploaded optimization.

Don't use a stand alone player that loads up in a popup.  Make use of social media tags, comments & ratings.  For best results use metadeata during encoding.

Posted - use video overlays for branding.  Many hosted sites transcode the video so metadata may be stripped ou but encode anyway this may change over time.  Use the word "video" in the title.

TubeMogul - you can upload to 13 video aggregators with one upload.  Analytics can track views, ratings and comments.
VisibleMeasures - video measures.  views, pauses and rewinds.
Ooyala - Ex-Googlers that publishing and analytics.

Video Monetization
PreRoll, PostRoll, Pay per download, Contextual, In-Video advertising