| 7:30am-6:30pm |
Registration |
| 8:00am-9:00am |
Morning Coffee |
| 9:00am-9:15am |
Conference Welcome & Orientation
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| 9:15am-10:00am |
Opening Keynote
Tara Hunt
- Keynote Speaker:
Tara Hunt, Author, The Whuffie Factor, Co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer, Citizen Agency
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| 10:00am-11:00am |
Expo Hall Grand Opening
Express Site Clinics: 12:00-4:30pm
iExpress Site Clinics:
Get your Web site reviewed by one of our SES experts. Clinics are free to attend.
Click to find out more! |
| 11:00am-12:15pm |
Attendees may choose to attend one of the three sessions offered during this time.
Track: Nuts & Bolts
SEO Then & Now: What's the Same? What's New?
If you entered a time capsule in 1999 and stumbled into a search engine optimization assignment in 2009, you'd be startled by an array of unfamiliar challenges. News flash: it's not all about title tags and meta keywords anymore. Reciprocal linking? Yawn. Search engines too stupid to index dynamic URL's? Not anymore. Panelists cover proven SEO fundamentals, and then update you on the latest trends you cannot afford to miss. P.S. Yes, title tags are still important.
- Speakers:
Shari Thurow, Founder & SEO Director, Omni Marketing Interactive
Anne F. Kennedy, SES Advisory Board, International Search Strategist, Beyond Ink USA
Jeff Quipp, Founder and CEO, Search Engine People Inc
Track: Corporateville
Internationalizing Your Campaigns & Sites
As the world becomes smaller and search marketing becomes more complex, the era of "ranking well in Google" is over. This is especially true for companies who are targeting multiple markets or countries. This new opportunity also brings many new complexities to be considered other than standard SEO. This session tackles these key issues critical to successfully developing, optimizing, and launching the Global Websites that would meet those next generation marketing goals, without losing control or your mind.
The session will cover the following topics and will include some case studies:
- Keyword research
- Language & cultural issues
- Geographical issues
- Issues involving different engines and platforms
- Leveraging standardized templates to develop global websites
- Cross-border management issues
- Copy writing for multiple audiences
- Adapting unique market trends and techniques
Track: Geek Track
Signals: What Relevancy Indicators Are Search Engineers Watching For Today?
Unsophisticated information retrieval technology of yesteryear used a handful of variables to rank pages and content against any given search query. This panel takes an advanced look at relevancy factors that may affect your search rankings today and in the future, including clickstream and behavioral analysis, trust measures, personalization, and attempts to shape the format of search results pages to query intent, freshness and 'burstiness of interest', and more. In addition to highlighting trends we should expect to see in the coming years, panelists will address strategic questions: Will search engines of the future be more difficult to "game"? What skills will the SEO community need to develop, and which will soon be obsolete? At the search engine companies, what outlooks do product developers and engineers on the paid and organic sides share regarding relevance and quality of sites and content, and what types of signals might they be teaching each other about?
- Moderator:
Andrew Goodman, SES Advisory Board & President, Page Zero Media
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| 12:15am-1:15pm |
Networking Lunch |
| 1:15pm-2:15pm |
Orion Panel
Is PageRank Broken? The Future of Search
The breadth and complexity of digital information continues to grow at a breakneck pace. Can search engines handle it? One school of thought says that Google is best positioned to stay on top of all of this given their engineering talent pool, storage and retrieval infrastructure, and the breadth of their various searchable properties. But some critics suggest that Google's reliance on "blended" search results masks a fundamental problem: today's search engines are failing at their core task of indexing and sorting web content. Google fans counter that Google can maintain their superiority by simply revamping their algorithm to look at new signals or to personalize search to the user. Who's right? Are there flaws in today's major search algorithms and indexing methodologies? What emerging technological models might be better suited to tomorrow's search tasks?
- Moderator:
Andrew Goodman, SES Advisory Board & President, Page Zero Media
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| 2:15pm-2:30pm |
Session Interval |
| 2:30pm-3:45pm |
Attendees may choose to attend one of the three sessions offered during this time.
Track: Nuts & Bolts
Universal and Blended Search: Comprehensive Visibility Challenges
Search result multiplicity is not a new phenomenon, but recent advancements guarantee that the world of search and marketing will be changing forever. How do the new "blended" search results pages affect your marketing strategy? Do these changes mean that the major search engines are eager to keep the "second click" on web properties owned by themselves? How popular are the new blended search results with users?
- Speakers:
Anne F. Kennedy, SES Advisory Board, International Search Strategist, Beyond Ink USA
Bill Tighe, Agency Business Development AE, Google Canada
Nick Cox, Senior Product Manager, Yahoo!
Jed Schneiderman, Online Marketing Lead, Consumer & Online, Microsoft Canada
Track: Corporateville
Beyond Linkbait: Getting Authoritative Online Mentions
Link building is crucial, but linkbait tactics that worked this year may not be as effective next year. This session focuses on the underlying quality as well as ingenuity needed to get other websites to link to you early and often. It will also explain how you should approach journalists, bloggers and other authoritative sources to enhance your company's online reputation, whether or not you get links.
Track: Geek Track
Optimizing for Video Search: Virgin Territory?
According to comScore, YouTube is now the #2 search destination in the world. While the good old organic results pages still attract tens of thousands of experts probing the latest algorithmic quirks and optimization techniques, video search remains relatively uncharted waters. Panelists discuss the importance of optimizing for video search, and probe into tactics like keyword research, copywriting, reputation enhancement, and sponsorships and special programs.
- Moderator:
Mona Elesseily, Director of Marketing Strategy, Page Zero Media
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| 3:45pm-4:15pm |
Afternoon Break in the Expo Hall |
| 4:15pm-5:30pm |
Attendees may choose to attend one of the three sessions offered during this time.
Track: Nuts & Bolts
Copywriting: 45-Minute Boot Camp
Copywriting requires special skills in the search marketing world. Writing ads for paid search requires three parts science, two parts audience research, and at least one part creativity. SEO copywriting requires a mix of skills, including an understanding of the balance between a natural flow, and the importance of keyword research. And improving conversion rates on landing pages may require testing long versus short copy, headlines, benefits copy, tone, call-to-action text, and more. Our experts share their top tips to maximize your search campaign performance by choosing the right words to connect with customers and bots alike.
Track: Corporateville
Search Ads & Landing Page Clinic
Does your PPC ad make a promise that your landing page can't keep? Make sure that your ad copy and landing page contents are in alignment to ensure a smooth and profitable visitor experience. This clinic will examine actual ads and landing pages offered up by volunteers from the audience.
- Moderator:
Anne F. Kennedy, SES Advisory Board, International Search Strategist, Beyond Ink USA
- Speakers:
Bryan Eisenberg, SES Advisory Board and NYTimes Bestselling Author, bryaneisenberg.com
Mona Elesseily, Director of Marketing Strategy, Page Zero Media
Track: Geek Track
The Ins & Outs of Twitter
Of all emerging social media platforms, Twitter is perhaps the most talked (or should we say tweeted) about today. Coming seemingly out of nowhere, Twitter's exemplary ability to offer real-time search capability is shaking up the search world. And surely, retweets, follower counts, and mentions on Twitter should be factored into the search algorithms of the very near future. There are also downsides and even dark sides to improper use. Panelists discuss, with a longer Q&A; period to take your posts, as submitted on Twitter to #sestortweet.
- Moderator:
Cindy Krum, Chief Executive Officer, Rank-Mobile, LLC
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| 5:30pm-6:30pm |
Networking Cocktail Reception |
| 7:00pm-11:00pm |
Acquisio Presents: The Long Tail Party
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