SES Magazine June 2009 by Incisive Media

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SearchEngineStrategies.com

JUNE 2009

Is crossing the border the right move for your Canadian company? p. 30

YOUR GUIDE TO

SES TORONTO

AGENDA

FLOOR PLAN

SPONSORS

Advertiser Page

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Acquisio.......................................................... C3 Brafton CustomNews........................................ 4 Canpages Inc.................................................... 8 Clicksor............................................................ 6 Cornerstone Group of Companies.................... 21 eComXpo........................................................ 14 Incisive Media, U.S. 120 Broadway, 5th floor New York, NY 10271 tel (212) 457-9400 fax (646) 822-5237

Incisive Media, head office Haymarket House, 28-29 Haymarket London SW1Y 4RX, UK tel +44 (0)20 7316 9609 fax +44 (0)20 7930 2238

FinditQuick.com.............................................. 41 Idearc Search Marketing................................. C2 NVI................................................................. 11 Outrider Canada................................................ 3 PRWeb............................................................ 43 SearchEngineWatch.com................................ 33 Website Magazine.......................................... 22 Yahoo! Canada................................................ C4 To advertise, subscribe, contribute, or view past issues: www.SearchEngineStrategies.com/ses-magazine Comments? Want to unsubscribe? E-mail us: magazine@SearchEngineStrategies.com

SES ยง June 2009 {Toronto}

Track Location

Nuts & Bolts

Corporateville

Geek

Essex Ballroom

Grand Ballroom West

Grand Ballroom Centre

7:30a-6:30p

Registration

8-9a

Morning Coffee

9-9:15a

Conference Welcome & Orientation

9:15-10a

Opening Keynote: Tara Hunt, Author, The Whuffie Factor; Co-founder & Chief Marketing Officer, Citizen Agency — Grand Ballroom Centre

10-11a 11a-12:15p

Expo Hall Grand Opening SEO Then & Now: What’s the Same? What’s New?

Signals: What Relevancy Indicators Are Search Engineers Watching Today?

Internationalizing Your Campaigns/Site

12:15-1:15p

Networking Lunch

1:15- 2:15p

Orion Panel: Is PageRank Broken? — The Future of Search

2:15-2:30p

Session Interval

2:30-3:45p

Universal & Blended Search: Comprehensive Visibility Challenges

3:45-4:15p 4:15p-5:30p

Agenda

Day 1: Monday, June 8

Beyond Linkbait: Getting Authoritative Online Mentions

Optimizing for Video Search: Virgin Territory?

Afternoon Break — Expo Hall Copywriting: 45-Minute Boot Camp

5:30p-6:30p

Search Ads & Landing Page Clinic

The Ins & Outs of Twitter

Networking Cocktail Reception — Expo Hall

Day 2: Tuesday, June 9 Track Location

Nuts & Bolts

Corporateville

Geek

Essex Ballroom

Grand Ballroom West

Grand Ballroom Centre

8a-4p

Registration

9-10a

Keynote Presentation: Emanuel Rosen, Author, The Anatomy of Buzz Revisited — Grand Ballroom Centre

10-10:30a 10:30-11:45a

Morning Coffee Break — Expo Hall Introduction to Paid Search

11:45a -12:45p 12:45-2p

Campaign Performance Tracking: Basic Tips

Information Architecture, Site Performance Tuning, & SEO

Canada-Specific SEO & PPC Issues Afternoon Break — Expo Hall

Tool Time: The Search Marketer’s Free-to-Cheap Goodie Bag

3:30-4p 4-5:15p

Follow the Carrot: Cool Mobile Apps

Networking Lunch — Expo Hall

2-2:15p 2:15-3:30p

Analytics for Search: ROI, Engagement, Attribution, & More

Social Media: Do Big Companies Get It?

Paid Search Quality Scoring: 201, 301

Session Interval Monetizing Your Audience: Live Site Clinic

How to Speak Geek: Working Collaboratively with Your IT Department to Get Things Done

Extreme Makeover: Live Site Clinic

A Subscribe to newsletters and attend free webcasts every month at

For more details on the sessions and their speakers, see the descriptions beginning on

page 16

For details on Wednesday’s training workshops, go to

page 20

SearchEngineStrategies.com § SES

Pay Per Click advertising just got better! Targeted traffic from only

$0.05/click. Take advantage of this offer today!! FOR MORE INFORMATION:

INTRODUCING:

SES ยง June 2009 {Toronto}

1.212.400.7685 EMAIL cpcads@clicksor.com CALL

www.clicksor.com http://blog.clicksor.com

Sheraton Centre Toronto: Lower Concourse

10'

11 12

21 2

Expo Hall

Grand Ballroom East

(see exhibitor list below)

Blue tracks (Geek) & Keynotes

Green tracks (Corporateville)

Grand Ballroom Centre

Grand Ballroom West

15 16

Mezzanine Level

Exhibitor List: Booths Company

Booth

Acquisio....................................................... 19 Brafton CustonNews.................................... 28 Canpages Inc................................................. 4 Click! Weekly............................................... 12 Clicksor.com, Inc.......................................... 20 Cornerstone Group of Companies................. 23 Express Site Clinics....................................... 6 FinditQuick.com............................................. 8 Idearc Search Marketing.............................. 17 Meet Up Booth............................................. 11

Company

Booth

Microsoft adCenter........................................ 2 NVI.............................................................. 15 Outrider Canada........................................... 16 SearchEngineWatch.com............................... 6 Search Engine People, Inc.............................. 1 Searchlinqs.................................................... 5 SEMPO........................................................ 21 Society of Internet Professionals (SIP).......... 26 Website Magazine....................................... 18 Yahoo! Canada............................................. 14

Express Site Clinics Monday, June 8 Express Search Usability Clinic (12-1p) Shari Thurow, Founder & SEO Director, Omni Marketing Interactive Get one-on-one advice for usability, design, copy, link development, and any technical issues that may prevent your website from receiving high quality search engine traffic and visitor conversions.

User-Friendly Sites That Monetize Well (2-3p) Jennifer Slegg, CEO, JenSense.com Is your site user-friendly, or are visitors wandering around lost before hitting the back button? Is your content engaging? Are your on-site ads suffering from banner blindness? Learn how to make a user-friendly site that monetizes well for you and your advertisers.

Red tracks (Nuts & Bolts) Essex Ballroom

Note: The room colors correspond with the agenda on p. 5.

Is Your Website Clicking On All Cylinders? (3:30-4:30p) Ken Jurina, President & Co-founder, Epiar Are you scratching your head as to how you can further improve the SEO or usability of your website? Get an on-the-spot audit of your site, identifying the good, the bad, and the ugly. Some small changes could get you some big results!

Lobby

(Expo Hall Booth 6; open to all attendees)

Tuesday, June 9 Express Search Usability Clinic (11a-12p) Shari Thurow, Founder & SEO Director, Omni Marketing Interactive Get one-on-one advice for usability, design, copy, link development, and any technical issues that may prevent your website from receiving high quality search engine traffic and visitor conversions.

Floor Plan

10'

User-Friendly Sites That Monetize Well (1:30-2:30p) Jennifer Slegg, CEO, JenSense.com Is your site user-friendly, or are visitors wandering around lost before hitting the back button? Is your content engaging? Are your on-site ads suffering from banner blindness? Learn how to make a user-friendly site that monetizes well for you and your advertisers.

million

There are 28 million Internet users in Canada. Source: CIA World Factbook Find out how many people use the web in each country in ClickZ Stats.

SearchEngineStrategies.com ยง SES

Where Local Search Gets Done. Canpages.ca -

Canada’s fastest growing website in 2008 2

Reaching 3.5 million Canadians per month.

Featuring Canada’s first Street Scene service.

Local search leader for Mobile Canada’s only voice-powered local search application.

SES § June 2009 {Toronto}

comScore Media Metrix, Canada, All Locations, Top 100 Properties, Dec 2007 - Dec 2008. Internal log files, verified by Verified Audit, an independent verification company.

Sponsors &

Exhibitors SearchEngineStrategies.com ยง SES

Premier Sponsor

§ Monday, June 8 § Tuesday, June 9

Microsoft adCenter Booth 2

To find the exhibitors below, see the Floor Plan on p. 7.

10a-6:30p (networking reception, 5:30pm-6:30p) 10a-4p

Brafton CustonNews

http://adcentercanada.ca

How can you make your search advertising three times* more effective? Microsoft adCenter is a tool to help you manage your search advertising campaigns on Microsoft Live Search. Customers who click on Live Search results can be three times* more likely to engage with your website. What does this mean for you? Live Search visitors can request more information, register on your site, and complete and submit online forms — all of which can ultimately help you gain more customers.

*Conversion is defined as a web visitor entering into a secure session on a website. comScore Quality of Click Custom Study (MSN-Windows Live Search), March-May 2008.

Booth 28 www.brafton.com

Brafton CustomNews is the news agency specializing in providing tailored news feeds for websites. Newsroom journalists write news feed articles to an editorial brief and keyword strategy that is controlled by you. All articles are unique, search-engine friendly, and archived on your website. What are the key benefits? Keep your website fresh and updated with breaking news; increase organic listings with search engine-optimized articles; inspire confidence and portray your brand as a leading sector voice; drive revenue by directing traffic to revenue pages from articles; and increase dwell time and repeat visits with archived and related articles.

Canpages Inc.

Exhibitors Sponsors & Exhibitors

Expo Hall Hours

Booth 4 www.canpages.ca

Acquisio Booth 19 www.acquisio.com

Acquisio SEARCH is a pay-per-click management platform designed specifically for agencies who manage PPC accounts for multiple clients. It allows campaign managers to automate monthend reporting with the industry’s most sophisticated white label reporting engine. The platform shines in daily management tasks, thanks to the world’s first and only multi-engine bulk editor. Think AdWords Editor, but for Yahoo Search Marketing and Microsoft adCenter. We know automation is critical — that’s why Acquisio is the only platform that allows you to define sophisticated and granular business rules to automatically or semi-automatically manage bids, change status, delete items, or set alerts on anything. Acquisio optimizes existing campaigns with a proprietary algorithm that quickly identifies keywords that prevent optimal campaign performance. With Acquisio, account managers can now create reports, optimize, and manage all their client accounts on Google AdWords, Yahoo Search Marketing, and Microsoft adCenter from just one login.

Canpages is the largest independent local search and directories publisher in Canada. Its website, Canpages.ca, was the country’s fastest growing web property in 2008, and today it receives more than 3.5 million unique visitors each month. In 2009, Canpages. ca launched its “Street Scene” search feature as well as its voice recognition search application for the iPhone, making it the first in Canada to bring these types of immersive search experiences to users and advertisers. With 80 publications and over 80,000 customers, Canpages reaches more than 8 million households and businesses across Canada. Headquartered in Vancouver, Canpages employs 600 people and has offices in Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec. Canpages has been recognized by the Association of Directory Publishers (ADP) for its excellence in both online and print directories for two straight years.

Click! Weekly Booth 12 www.clickweekly.com

Click! Weekly is a free, opt-in weekly e-news magazine that reports on developments and provides insight for managers who do

Product & Service Guide Advertising Networks Clicksor..................................................... 20 FinditQuick.com........................................... 8 Content & News Feed Providers Brafton CustomNews................................. 28 Click! Weekly............................................. 12 General Search Engines FinditQuick.com........................................... 8 Interactive Marketing Agencies NVI............................................................ 15 Searchlinqs.................................................. 5

Website Magazine..................................... 18

Interactive Marketing Assoc’s & Publications Society of Internet Professionals (SIP)........ 26

Organic Search Marketing Cornerstone Group of Companies............... 23

Local Search Marketing Services & Directories Canpages Inc............................................... 4 Clicksor..................................................... 20 Microsoft adCenter...................................... 2 Search Engine People.................................. 1 Marketing Optimization Solutions Acquisio..................................................... 19 Idearc Search Marketing............................ 17 Mobile & Rich Media Advertising Solutions Yahoo! Canada........................................... 14

SES § June 2009 {Toronto}

*Booth #s on right

NVI............................................................ 15 Outrider Canada......................................... 16 Search Engine People.................................. 1 Searchlinqs.................................................. 5

Pay-Per Click Networks & Management Services Acquisio..................................................... 19 Clicksor..................................................... 20 FinditQuick.com........................................... 8 Microsoft adCenter...................................... 2 Outrider Canada......................................... 16 Yahoo! Canada........................................... 14 Search Marketing Agencies Cornerstone Group of Companies............... 23 Idearc Search Marketing............................ 17

Search Marketing Software Acquisio..................................................... 19 Microsoft adCenter...................................... 2 Specialized Search Engines (Multimedia, Mobile, Shopping, International, etc.) Yahoo! Canada........................................... 14 Web Analytics Cornerstone Group of Companies............... 23

nvi builds, refines, and accelerates your online business model. www.nvisolutions.com

Two NVI experts will be presenting at SES Toronto: Guillaume Bouchard, CEO

Naoise osBorNe, Lead SEO

- The State of Search Marketing in Canada - Social Media: Do Big Companies Get It?

- Site Performance Tuning & SEO

Twitter: @nvi

Twitter: @naoiseosborne

Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll also be in the exhibit hall. Come out and meet us at SES Toronto! Booth #15

INTEracTIVE STraTEgy

business online. It focuses on news that affects online and digital technologies and fundamental business strategy. Readers gain an understanding of the tools, trends, strategies, and research that make the online world functional and profitable. Readers are kept abreast of news related to the nuts-and-bolts of e-commerce, payment processing, analytics, and other related web- or e-mail-based activities that allow companies to operate, measure, and deploy their businesses online, but that are not covered by any other publication.

Clicksor.com, Inc. Booth 20 www.clicksor.com

A dynamic and ever-popular online advertising network, Clicksor is known worldwide for its empowering contextual platforms. Clicksor succeeds where others have failed, by offering all creative mediums, 150-plus categories, and excellent customer service. Advertisers, agencies, publishers, and networks have unfettered access to premium websites within our Open Media Exchange Platform, enabling them to significantly increase their Internet marketing reach and overall online presence.

Cornerstone Group of Companies Booth 23

Sponsors & Exhibitors

www.cstonecanada.com

No one understands measurable media more than Cornerstone Search Marketing & Web Services. Our pay-per-click services include full development of search campaigns, including ongoing daily management and optimization and detailed reporting. A Google AdWords qualified company that has served clients and agencies for over four years, Cornerstone has an infrastructure deep in search analysts and knowledgeable account management. We build and manage campaigns on all search engines, including Google, Yahoo, MSN, Canoe, Business.com, and more. Our search engine optimization services provide website owners with tools to make their sites search engine-friendly. Our quick-fix SEO methodology has increased rankings for publishers, government organizations, educational institutions, nonprofits, B2B, retail e-commerce, and more. We also offer full Google Analytics services.

(SEO) reviews and recommendations, search engine paid inclusion, price comparison, and shopping engine feed optimization and management, as well as full-stream PPC analytics and reporting.

NVI Booth 15 www.nvisolutions.com

NVI is Canada’s front-running web design and interactive strategy company. The company builds viable revenue models for customers by developing and marketing websites based on an innovative online approach to business. NVI not only adapts to a web in flux, but pioneers new interactive strategies. We get to know you and how your industry operates, helping you define, reach, and track your goals. Our results-driven attitude keeps you making money, supported by our core values of efficiency, knowledge, boldness, creativity, and transparency. With a strong core in organic search engine optimization (SEO) and analytics, we determine the ideal supporting services for your business: paid search marketing (PPC), online PR, and banner ad management, plus affiliate marketing, e-mail campaigns, and social media marketing — whatever brings your website the explosive launch (or re-launch) you need.

Outrider Canada Booth 16 http://search.outrider.com/

A leading search marketing company founded in 1994, Outrider provides comprehensive online marketing solutions to Fortune 500 clients, including Sears, AstraZeneca, Western Union, and Visa. With offices in 13 countries, the company offers extensive solutions for companies of all sizes and industries. Outrider specializes in strategic consulting, training, and integration of search into companies’ interactive media plans, focusing on brand building, increasing transactions, and maximum ROI. The company provides measurable results through organic and paid search activities by using industry analysis, competitor research, and query language studies to deliver qualified visitors to clients’ sites.

Search Engine People, Inc.

FinditQuick.com

Booth 1

Booth 8

Search Engine People Inc. is one of Canada’s oldest and most respected search agencies. Since 2001, SEP has helped a wide range of clients — from fortune 500 to small and medium-sized companies — secure business from the web. SEP is a Google Adwords qualified company, Yahoo Search Marketing ambassador, and is Microsoft adExcellence certified. The company was named one of the “top 25 up-and-coming Canadian IT companies” by the Branham Group in 2006. Services include search engine optimization (SEO), paid search management (PPC), social media marketing (SMM), online reputation management, usability, and more. Whether you’re looking to compete in an ultra-competitive space, or to dramatically increase your local presence, SEP can help. Stop by our booth and talk to our knowledgeable experts. Get found!

www.finditquick.com

Launched in March 2000 as one of the first pay-per-click search engine platforms, FinditQuick allows advertisers to list their sites, bid on keywords, and receive targeted search traffic from hundreds of high-quality content sites, directories, and search engines. FinditQuick features an industry-leading user interface, costeffective CPCs across all major categories, no minimum monthly spend requirements, and free account management services. Aside from PPC advertising, FinditQuick offers affiliate marketing, e-commerce, website design and hosting, print advertising, and more to assist site owners in developing their web-based companies.

Idearc Search Marketing Booth 17 www.idearcsearch.com

Idearc Search Marketing offers a full portfolio of professional services using proprietary technology and expertise to design, deploy, and optimize search marketing campaigns. Services include PPC campaign design and management, search engine optimization

SES § June 2009 {Toronto}

www.searchenginepeople.com

Searchlinqs Booth 5 www.searchlinqs.com

Searchlinqs is a leading Canadian Internet marketing company offering vast online expertise while specializing in driving qualified leads to businesses targeting global consumers and businesses.

Searchlinqs specializes in paid search marketing, search engine optimization, and social media marketing. Our mission is to help business grow and profit online while developing a long-term relationship with Searchlinqs. Our account managers are Google, Yahoo, and MSN certified; our SEO staff members have all earned their qualifications from the Search Engine Academy; and our social media guru earned his master’s in behavioral marketing and is currently working on his Ph.D. in social networks at the University of Toronto. We strongly believe education, certification, and constant improvements will help our clients achieve best results.

SEMPO Booth 21

Association Sponsor ACIMA www.acima.ca

The Atlantic Canada Internet Marketing Association (ACIMA) is an industry association dedicated to unifying the Internet marketing community in the Atlantic provinces (Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland), and to the promotion and sharing of Internet marketing knowledge and best practices. The association mandate is comprised of education and training, networking, information sharing, representation, and profile raising.

www.sempo.org

Society of Internet Professionals (SIP) Booth 26 www.sipgroup.org

The Society of Internet Professionals (SIP) is a not-for-profit, membership-based organization representing the interests of Internet professionals. Our mandate is to enhance educational and professional standards for Internet professionals, and as such, SIP has developed the Accredited Internet Professional (AIP) designation in various sectors of the Internet. Since 1977, SIP has spearheaded many initiatives and programs, including workshops, a job board, SIPpost newsletters, a members’ directory, and events.

Website Magazine Booth 18 www.websitemagazine.com

Website Magazine is a must-read for anyone seeking website success and is the most popular trade magazine in its field. Website Magazine will help website owners develop, design, maintain, and promote their online business. Subscribe today free! Advertisers: Download a 2009 media kit at www.websitemagazine.com/advertising/mediakit_2009.pdf. Now reaching more than 135,000 qualified professionals; BPA audited. We are green! Learn more at ReplaceATree.org. Visit our booth for an iPhone giveaway.

Yahoo! Canada Booth 14 www.yahoo.ca

Yahoo! Canada Co. is a leading Internet destination that provides online products and services to meet the needs of Canadians and offers a range of tools and marketing solutions for businesses to connect with Internet users. Yahoo! Canada services Canadians in both English and in French through its sites, www.yahoo.ca and http://qc.yahoo.ca. In Canada, Yahoo! sites were visited by more than 17 million Canadians in April 2009 (comScore Media Metrix).

Media Partners Direct Marketing www.dmn.ca

Direct Marketing is Canada’s leading publication about interactive marketing and sales. Our qualified national readership is a community of more than 20,000 executives who read Direct Marketing to learn how to improve their multi-channel marketing success rates. These unique readers find our monthly editorial features and special reports engaging, allowing us to deliver a highly-involved audience with specialized buying power. Regardless of our readers’ size, resources, or strategies, every organization we reach is powered by orders, driven by data, and striving for loyal customers.

Techvibes www.techvibes.com

Techvibes is a hyper-local technology blog, events calendar, job board, and company directory across a growing network of 12 cities: Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, Ottawa, Kitchener-Waterloo, and Victoria in Canada; and Seattle, Portland, Denver-Boulder, and south Florida in the United States.

TopRank Online Marketing Blog www.toprankblog.com

Ranked in the top 1 percent of blogs by Technorati, TopRank Online Marketing Blog is a leading resource for Internet marketing resources, news, interviews, and how-to articles about natural search optimization, paid search marketing, social media, and online public relations. Online Marketing Blog is edited by TopRank CEO Lee Odden, a 10-year Internet marketing veteran who frequently speaks at search and PR industry conferences.

WebmasterRadio.FM www.webmasterradio.fm

The destination for education and entertainment, WebmasterRadio.FM is a free, Internet-based radio network focused on the B2B e-commerce marketplace. We offer 100 percent original programming led by industry leaders, including “PowerSource,” hosted by Tim Mayer and Jeremy Zawodney of Yahoo Search. Each show we air reaches a different part of the marketplace. All radio programs are broadcast live and then available in archive, mobilcast, and distributed in podcast format through all of the major podcast portals. WebmasterRadio.FM is the official radio network for many of the world’s most prestigious conferences. To learn more, please contact Brandy@WebmasterRadio.FM. SearchEngineStrategies.com § SES

Sponsors & Exhibitors

The Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO) is a non-profit association with over 840 members, representing thousands globally. SEMPO works to increase awareness and promote search engine marketing worldwide. Member benefits include research, SEMPO Institute and event discounts, job board, networking opportunities, research, webinars, membership committees, regional groups, and more. The SEMPO Institute (www. sempoinstitute.com) is the top resource for the serious marketing professional who wants a higher standard of education. The online training curriculum is extensive, and the lessons and tests are designed to take you from beginner to serious SEM professional.

for eCommerce & Affiliate Marketers

July 8 - 9, 2009. Free. Virtual. www.eComXpo.com

The

Leading Free Virtual Event and Job Fair For eCommerce And Affiliate Marketers.

Find us on Facebook | LinkedIn® | Twitter Join The eCommerce & Affiliate Marketing Virtual Community at www.eComXpo.com Use Booking Code 16466XA038 To Register. 14 SES § June 2009 {Toronto}

Sessions

SearchEngineStrategies.com ยง SES

Day 1: Monday, June 8 9:15-10a

geek

Signals: What Relevancy Indicators Are Search Engineers Watching for Today?

Opening Keynote Speaker § Tara Hunt, Author, The Whuffie Factor Co-founder & Chief Marketing Officer, Citizen Agency

11a-12:15p 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 URLs? 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.

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, “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 Toronto Chair & Principal, Page Zero Media Speakers § Mike Grehan, Global KDM Officer, Acronym Media § Dan Zarrella, Social Media & Viral Marketing Scientist, Dan Zarrella

Moderator § Amanda Watlington, Owner, Searching for Profit Speakers § Shari Thurow, Founder & SEO Director, Omni Marketing Interactive § Anne Kennedy, Managing Partner & Founder, Beyond Ink § Jeff Quipp, President & CEO, Search Engine People

1:15-2:15p Orion Panel Is PageRank Broken? The Future of Search

Corporateville

Sessions

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 on top of just standard SEO. We’ll tackle key issues in successfully developing, optimizing, and launching global websites that meet next-generation marketing goals, without losing control or your mind. The session will include some case studies and cover topics such as keyword research, language and cultural issues, geographical issues, and global websites. Moderator § Greg Jarboe, President & Co-founder, SEO-PR Speakers § Kerstin Baker-Ash, Search Account Manager, i-level § Andy Atkins-Krueger, Managing Director, Web Certain Europe Ltd § Erica Schmidt, Global Director of Search, Isobar § Helen Overland, Director, Search Engine Marketing, non-linear creations inc.

What are you searching for at SES Toronto?

I’m searching for... 16

SES § June 2009 {Toronto}

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 its engineering talent pool, storage, retrieval infrastructure, and the breadth of its 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 its superiority by simply revamping the 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 Toronto Chair & Principal, Page Zero Media Speakers § Mike Grehan, Global KDM Officer, Acronym Media § Tim Schigel, CEO, ShareThis § Stacey Jarvis, Search Lead, Consumer & Online, Microsoft Canada

“

more accurate attribution of keyword assists — and a cool new Liberty Village office space, to make that seem a bit less nerdy.

— Andrew Goodman, Page Zero Media

§ Essex Ballroom § Grand Ballroom West § Grand Ballroom Centre

2:30-3:45p

Monday

4:15-5:30p

NUTS & BOLTS

Universal & Blended Search: Comprehensive Visibility Challenges

Copywriting: 45-Minute Boot Camp

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? This session will include research data available only at SES. Moderator § Mike Grehan, Global KDM Officer, Acronym Media Speakers § Anne Kennedy, Managing Partner & Founder, Beyond Ink § Bill Tighe, Agency Business Development AE, Google Canada § Andy Renieris, Head of Search, Yahoo! Canada Search § Jed Schneiderman, Online Marketing Lead, Consumer & Online, Microsoft Canada

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. billion SEO copywriting requires a mix of skills, including an understanding of the balance Financial services spent between a natural flow, and the importance significant online dollars in of keyword research. Improving conversion March. The sector served a rates on landing pages may require testing total 35.2 billion impressions. long versus short copy, headlines, tone, Source: Nielsen Online call-to-action text, and more. Get top tips A Reports refreshed monthly at ClickZ Stats. on how to maximize your search campaign performance by choosing the right words to connect with customers and bots alike.

35.2

Moderator § Amanda Watlington, Owner, Searching for Profit Speakers § Andrew Goodman, SES Toronto Chair & Principal, Page Zero Media

Corporateville

Beyond Linkbait: Getting Authoritative Online Mentions

Search Ads & Landing Page Clinic

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.

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. Speakers § Bryan Eisenberg, Co-founder, Future Now, Inc.

Moderator § Kevin Newcomb, Managing Editor, Search Engine Watch

Optimizing for Video Search: Virgin Territory? According to comScore, YouTube is now the No. 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 Speakers § Gregory Markel, Founder/President, Infuse Creative, LLC § Steve Espinosa, VP of Innovation, eLocal Listing, LLC § Amanda Watlington, Owner, Searching for Profit

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, CEO, Rank-Mobile, LLC Speakers § Mark Evans, Principal, ME Consulting

For the latest information on SES Toronto’s sessions and speakers, visit

SearchEngineStrategies.com SearchEngineStrategies.com § SES

Sessions

geek

Speakers § Greg Jarboe, President & Co-founder, SEO-PR § Mike McDerment, CEO & Co-founder, FreshBooks

Day 2: Tuesday, June 9 9-10a

12:45-2p

Keynote Presentation

NUTS & BOLTS

Speaker § Emanuel Rosen, Author, The Anatomy of Buzz Revisited

Campaign Performance Tracking: Basic Tips

10:30-11:45a NUTS & BOLTS

Introduction to Paid Search Paid search is a form of advertising that places your text ad near search results on engines like Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft Live Search. The ad systems allow you to choose specific keywords you want to bid on. This popular session walks you through the key concepts, warns of you of key pitfalls in the setup phase, and explores strategies for maximizing profit now and going forward. Moderator § Amanda Watlington, Owner, Searching for Profit

Yes, you can do that! Many digital marketers are unaware of just how easy it is to install tracking solutions that monitor return on investment at the keyword or ad level. Panelists will show you precisely what to do to get set up, and explore different techniques for measuring and adjusting campaigns based on key insights. Topics include Google AdWords Conversion Tracker, Google Analytics, and third-party tools that can provide advanced analytics and even insight into “invalid” clicks. This panel is aimed at a beginner to intermediate level marketer (not advanced), and will cover both technical and strategy issues. Moderator § Richard Zwicky, Founder & CEO, Enquisite Speakers § Alan Knecht, Founder & President, K’nechtology Inc. § Julie Batten, eMarketing Manager, Klick Communications § Janice Hatch, Account Manager, Google Canada

Solo Presentation § Matt Van Wagner, President, Find Me Faster

Corporateville Corporateville

Analytics for Search: ROI, Engagement, Attribution, and More Cut to the chase! Use analytics tools to get the specific answers you need about your search marketing campaign’s economic performance, your users’ on-site behaviors, and possible red flags in traffic patterns. This slate of experts will keep you focused rather than poring through hundreds of pages of meaningless statistics.

Sessions

Moderator § Andrew Goodman, SES Toronto Chair & Principal, Page Zero Media Speakers § Richard Zwicky, Founder & CEO, Enquisite § Anne Marie Lorriman, Account Manager, Outrider § June Li, Founder & Managing Director, ClickInsight § Bryan Eisenberg, Co-founder, Future Now, Inc.

While many search engine optimization matters are common globally, Canadian companies face a unique collection of optimization issues due to our proximity to the United States. Panelists offer a variety of practical approaches in dealing with Canada-specific SEO challenges; they’ll also cover key issues for paid search marketers in Canada. Moderator § Andrew Goodman, SES Toronto Chair & Principal, Page Zero Media Speakers § Ari Shomair, Director of Marketing Optimization, henderson bas § Marc Poirier, Co-founder & CMO, Acquisio § Guillaume Bouchard, Co-founder & CEO, NVI § Heather Dougherty, Research Director, Hitwise

Geek

Information Architecture, Site Performance Tuning, & SEO

Geek

Follow the Carrot: Cool Mobile Apps User migration to a mobile environment is driven not only by information and communications requirements, but also a host of applications that are useful, quirky, or just plain fun. App developers and experts explain how these apps hook users, demonstrate their rapid growth trajectory, and explore what might be in store for the future. Moderator § Mitch Joel, President, Twist Image Speakers § Cindy Krum, CEO, Rank-Mobile, LLC § Alfredo Tan, Senior Director, Yahoo! Canada § Miriam Warren, Director of Marketing, Yelp.com

Canada-Specific SEO & PPC Issues

SES § June 2009 {Toronto}

The technical and navigational foundations of your website can significantly impact search referral traffic, either directly or indirectly. Experts explain why all of this matters, and offer tips on how to organize, label, and prioritize your content; how to speed up your site; and how to assess and fix bloated code that may impact the user experience and search rankings. Moderator § Anne Kennedy, Managing Partner & Founder, Beyond Ink Speakers § Shari Thurow, Founder & SEO Director, Omni Marketing Interactive § Jill Sampey, Director of Search Marketing, Blast Radius § Naoise Osborne, SEO Team Lead, NVI

§ Essex Ballroom § Grand Ballroom West § Grand Ballroom Centre

4-5:15p

NUTS & BOLTS

Tool Time: The Search Marketer’s Free-to-Cheap Goodie Bag

Monetizing Your Audience: Live Site Clinic

If you are responsible for your company’s search engine marketing, then you know that you need all of the various tools of your trade close at hand. This session will describe the tools that will help you accomplish your tasks, including indexing, competitive analysis, site ranking, diagnosing and remedying problems, page-level information, site-level information, on-page optimization, and much more. Moderator § Matt Van Wagner, President, Find Me Faster Speakers § Ken Jurina, President and Co-founder, Epiar § Amanda Watlington, Owner, Searching for Profit § Bryan Eisenberg, Co-Founder, Future Now, Inc.

Corporateville

Social Media: Do Big Companies Get It? Digg, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and much more: For better or for worse, the blanket term for these is still “social media.” Debates continue to rage in social media strategy circles. Should companies be creating catchy campaigns and widgets that go viral? When and how, and how much money should they invest? How do we benchmark social media success? Is there fallout when attentiongetting tactics fail? Which companies and creators of personal brands truly get it when it comes to building loyal followings via social media? And finally, which social media channels are getting old fast? Moderator § Greg Jarboe, President & Co-founder, SEO-PR Speakers § Mark Evans, Principal, ME Consulting § Guillaume Bouchard, Co-founder & CEO, NVI § Krista Neher, CEO, Marketess

As one lavishly-funded content-focused Web 2.0 startup entrepreneur recently told us, “If this AdSense theory doesn’t work out, we’re done for.” What if your audience is growing, but you just aren’t generating enough revenue from it? In an interactive live clinic and Q&A format, our expert panelists provide ideas on seeking appropriate ad networks and platforms; optimizing ad layouts and formats for maximum return on traffic; choosing a primary revenue driver, be it ads, classified listings, paid services and exchanges, or subscriptions; when an in-house ad sales team is needed; and the ins and outs of content subscriptions and free audience growth. Bring your site examples and business model questions, and let us open the discussion to uncover key issues and unlock potential sources of revenue for your company. Moderator § Mona Elesseily, Director of Marketing Strategy, Page Zero Media Speakers § Mike McDerment, CEO & Co-founder, FreshBooks § Jennifer Slegg, CEO, JenSense.com § Rachel Segal, Director, Network Content, b5media Inc.

Corporateville

How to Speak Geek: Working Collaboratively With Your IT Department to Get Things Done Our SES research team has determined that the first attempts to advise companies on better communication strategies with IT was none other than our old friend Jim Sterne — in his book Web Metrics and in articles, including a 1998 classic in Webmaster Magazine. More than a decade later, projects are still being slowed or stalled, and millions of marketing dollars are being wasted, due to the lack of alignment among digital marketing and IT teams. Our master translators offer specific strategies for getting the teams to play together on projects related to usability, SEO, paid search measurement, and more. We promise to get beyond the level of “buy the IT team some beers” (if you don’t already know that, you’re cooked). Moderator § Ian McAnerin, CEO, McAnerin Networks Inc.

Geek

Paid Search Quality Scoring: 201, 301 How are ads ranked in the paid search auctions run by Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft? Each keyword in your campaign is assigned a “quality score” based on past performance. Sounds simple, right? Well, it’s a bit more complicated than that. In any case, you must achieve high quality scores to keep your paid search costs in line. Expert panelists explain the workings of the latest algorithms, discuss case studies and testing techniques, and explain how to troubleshoot problems. Moderator § Anne Kennedy, Managing Partner & Founder, Beyond Ink Speakers § Andrew Goodman, SES Toronto Chair & Principal, Page Zero Media § David Sprinkle, Director of Paid Search, Acronym Media § Gina Cothey, Director of Network Optimization, Yahoo! Canada

Speakers § Shari Thurow, Founder & SEO Director, Omni Marketing Interactive § Keith Boswell, Senior Digital Marketing Strategist, Kaiser Permanente § Laura Coltrin, Search Engine Optimization Manager, MySpace

Geek

Extreme Makeover: Live Site Clinic This interactive session takes volunteers from the audience and examines their websites live to provide general feedback about improving them to gain more traffic from search engines. Moderator § Mike Grehan, Global KDM Officer, Acronym Media Speakers § Lyndsay Blahut, Director of Online Marketing, Canada’s Web Shop § Mitch Joel, President, Twist Image SearchEngineStrategies.com § SES

Sessions

2:15-3:30p

Tuesday

Search Training Workshops: Wednesday, June 10 SES presents search engine marketing (SEM/SEO) training. These intensive workshops will provide you with the tools and hands-on exposure you need to become — and remain — a top performer in your field. This in-depth training in a small class setting means that your instructor is readily accessible for informal one-on-one or small group discussions. Not only will you walk away with the knowledge and skills you need to be a successful search engine marketer, you will also jumpstart your career and learn how to improve your business results. No matter where you are in the SEO/SEM process — and whether you’re a consultant, site designer, website owner, or in-house marketing professional — you cannot afford to miss this opportunity to learn firsthand the latest developments in search engine marketing. Training can be taken in addition to the SES Toronto conference or independently, as workshops take place on the Wednesday following the event. For more information, visit SearchEngineStrategies.com/toronto/training.php

Orange Track

Purple Track

Elgin

Wentworth

7:30-8a 8a-12p

Continental Breakfast Search Marketing Boot Camp

12-1p

Sessions

1-5p

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Workshop Lunch Break

Search Marketing Boot Camp (continued)

Google AdWords Tactics to Improve Your ROI

orange track (8a-5p)

Purple track (8a-12p)

Search Marketing Boot Camp

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Workshop

Search engine marketing (SEM) has quickly grown from a cottage industry into a multi-billion dollar marketing powerhouse. According to a report issued by the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization, search marketing accounted for roughly $5.75 billion in advertising spending in 2006. Piper Jaffray’s Safa Rashtchy has predicted that paid search advertising alone will account for more than $33 billion in annual spending by the end of 2010. With SEM quickly expanding beyond the simple realm of keyword research, on-page optimization, and traditional paid search campaigns, it’s becoming more difficult for businesses to know how and where to break into the mix with their own search-related marketing efforts. If you are attending SES Toronto, but are not yet familiar with the nuances of SEM, link building, viral marketing, and online reputation management, this workshop will provide you with a crash-course in all things search marketing-related.

A search-engine friendly website is a user-friendly, search-friendly, and persuasive site that converts visitors into buyers. For a site to be searchengine friendly, it must meet the terms and conditions set by the search engines (Google, Yahoo, MSN Search, Ask, etc.) Additionally, the site must satisfy the needs of site visitors. Ultimately, the site must be profitable for the website owner. Can a single site satisfy all of these groups?

Who Should Attend? Anyone new to the world of SEM who wants to gain a better understanding of the basic concepts at play in this field.

Who Should Attend? Anyone who promotes websites. Web marketers should understand all parts of a search marketing campaign: optimization, shopping search, paid inclusion, and pay-per-click solutions. Instructor

Shari Thurow is the founder and SEO director at Omni Marketing Interactive, a full-service SEO, web design, and website usability firm. She has designed and promoted websites since 1995; clients have included Yahoo, Microsoft, America Online, ABC News, HSBC, Expedia, and WebMD.

Instructors Matt Bailey is the president and founder of SiteLogic, a website marketing consultancy, and has been training businesses in website marketing since 1997. He speaks at more than 30 international conferences, seminars, and training sessions each year. Matt is the primary trainer and developer for The Direct Marketing Association’s search engine optimization certification program, as well as the trainer for the DMA’s two-day website marketing seminar. This year, Matt was selected as the DMA’s emissary to France because of his expertise in search marketing.

Purple track (1-5p)

Jennifer Evans Laycock is the director of social media at SiteLogic. She crafts creative online marketing and communication plans based on observation of online consumer behavior and an extensive knowledge of social media communities. In addition to her position at SiteLogic, Laycock has also spent five years as editor-in-chief of Search Engine Guide, a popular industry site focused on educating companies about the various aspects of online marketing. She is a highly requested speaker and trainer and is also the author of two books, including the Small Business Guide to Search Engine Marketing.

Who Should Attend? Anyone who advertises with AdWords. The course will help beginners, experts, advertisers, and agencies, increase AdWords profitability.

SES § June 2009 {Toronto}

Google AdWords Tactics to Improve Your ROI Spice up your AdWords account by applying tactics learned in this session. You’ll first dive into the psychology of search that shows how consumers think and act throughout the search process. Next, you’ll learn how to choose the correct keywords to take control of when your ad is displayed. Then, we’ll study how effective ad copy and landing pages can generate more clicks and increase conversion rates. Finally, learn everything you need to know about optimizing your account for quality score.

Instructor Brad is the founder of bgTheory.com, a company dedicated to consulting, educating, and training businesses on Internet marketing theory and best practices. Involved in online advertising since 1999, he has provided usability, PPC, and SEO consulting services to many companies over the years. He thrives in demystifying the more complicated aspects of SEO and PPC.

Managed Search Marketing Solutions from the Measurable Media Experts Tap our robust infrastructure of technical expertise and consultative service in SEO, PPC and Web Analytics Benefit from a broad portfolio of search services with a focus on results Close the loop with landing page optimization, database design and integrated e-mail deployment Improve search rankings, traffic and conversions with our proven methodologies while saving costs

Search engine pay-per-click advertising services Organic search engine optimization services Affordable SEO quick-fix Local search engine optimization Web analytics services To learn more about how we leverage our search marketing expertise to improve your ROI, contact Don Lange at 416-932-9555, Ext. 141 or don@cstonecanada.com.

SearchEngineStrategies.com ยง SES

Win an iPhone in Toronto at Booth 18! Subscribe today and get real-world solutions for Internet success in every issue. Download our new mobile apps so you’re connected wherever you are. Request a FREE subscription at booth 18 or visit

http://www.websitemagazine.com/get

#1 Industry Magazine with +140,000 Subscribers

SES § June 2009 {Toronto}

FOCUS: social media §

interview: Emanuel Rosen Author, The Anatomy of Buzz Revisited By Stewart Quealy Stewart Quealy: The Anatomy of Buzz was written nearly a decade ago and is considered to be the definitive handbook on wordof-mouth marketing. What made you decide to revisit the topic and add 12 brand new chapters? Emanuel Rosen: Advances in social media is one obvious reason, but the main reason for the new book is the explosion in research about the topic in academia and the industry. While I was desperately searching for case studies and data in writing the first edition, I had the opposite problem in writing this one — too much to chose from. The new examples and academic studies helped me focus on concepts that I ignored (or almost ignored) in the first edition, such as the need to measure buzz, storytelling, the power of participation, ethical issues, second-hand buzz, and visual buzz. SQ: Can you define the term “buzz” for us and explain how it is different than viral marketing? ER: Buzz is all of the person-to-person communication about a brand. This type of communication happens all the time as consumers report to each other about their experiences. Buzz marketing or word-ofmouth marketing or viral marketing are different terms people use to describe what companies do to stimulate additional talk. My focus is on examining what makes buzz happen and what a marketer can do to accelerate it. SQ: Is buzz something that springs up randomly, or can it be intentionally triggered and artificially controlled? ER: Buzz doesn’t just happen. It usually starts with a great customer experience that originates in the product or service itself. Buzz cannot be controlled, but it can be stimulated. In fact, I argue that marketers must stimulate buzz, because customers often forget about their experiences, and they run out of opportunities to talk. So it’s

Emanuel Rosen’s keynote presentation will take place on Tuesday, June 9, at 9 a.m.

important to introduce triggers that will act as reminders. SQ: Guy Kawasaki says that journalists no longer create buzz: Rather, they react to it. Do you agree that buzz begets ink these days? ER: It works both ways. I agree that journalists often follow buzz. When you think about it, journalists live by word of mouth, and they love to write about things that have not yet been covered. At the same time, research shows that a lot of what we hear and read in mass media shows up in conversations. We talk a lot about what we learn from TV, newspapers, and radio. SQ: Why do rumors, urban legends, and conspiracy theories naturally generate so much buzz? ER: Rumors are often based on people’s most basic anxieties, and strong emotions always make us talk. It goes back to the very basic reasons for why we talk. Sharing information is a survival mechanism, and whenever we feel we have to warn others about some danger, we are very likely to do it. SQ: Chris Anderson claims that top-down messaging is losing traction, while bottomup buzz is gaining power. Are all consumers created equal when it comes to buzz or are “hubs” and “influentials” more important? ER: I don’t see it as top-down or bottomup. I look at it as a gigantic network. In this network, some people talk more than others, and I call them hubs. I make a distinction between social hubs — people who talk more because they know more people — and expert hubs — people who talk more because they know more about something. This concept seems so simple that some people assume it’s the only way to create buzz. It is not. But when you find these people and give them something interesting to talk about, they can build incredible buzz. SQ: In The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell touches on the strength of “weak ties.” In your book, you expand on this concept and maintain that the Net nurtures weak ties. Can you elaborate?

ER: This is based on work that was done in the late 1960s by Mark Granovetter, who found that your closest friends and family — those who move in the same social circles as you do — don’t usually bring you fresh news because they are likely to be exposed to the same sources of news. He argued that weak ties, such as former workmates or old college friends, are much more likely to tell you something new. And these days on the Internet, it’s really easy to maintain weak ties — when you’re friends with someone on Facebook or follow them on Twitter, you learn new things from distant social clusters. The interesting thing is that even though we have access to millions of ties, we choose to limit them and we prefer to form links with those similar to us. SQ: What happens when buzz turns negative? ER: There’s always some negative buzz and, surprisingly, about a third of it comes from people who never owned your product. So marketers should accept negative buzz as part of the game; it’s also one reason companies should be proactive about stimulating word of mouth. In cases where there is a storm of negative word of mouth, companies should first check the source of the bad news: Did the company do something wrong? If so, apologize and try to fix the problem as quickly as possible. Customers can be very reasonable when you’re open and admit your mistakes. SQ: How does one calculate online and offline buzz? Do traditional ways of measuring media apply? ER: One way is to measure consumer-generated media. You can measure the volume of buzz as well as its dispersion and sentiment (positive versus negative) to get an idea of what people think about your brand and what they expect from you. You can also A

continued on page 25

SearchEngineStrategies.com § SES

§ FOCUS: social media

interview: Stephen Kaufer CEO, TripAdvisor By Erik Qualman

tephen Kaufer is the energetic founder and CEO of TripAdvisor, whose suite of companies attracts nearly 32 million monthly online visitors. Under Kaufer’s guidance, TripAdvisor has carved out a defensible and almost monopolistic position when it comes to travel reviews. With more than 20 million reviews and opinions, TripAdvisor was practicing principals of social media long before it became cache. Recently I had the opportunity to sit down with Steve; here are some outtakes from the conversation. Erik Qualman: TripAdvisor has been highly successful and profitable, and you were acquired by Expedia in 2004. Where did the idea to start TripAdvisor come from, and how did it all start? Stephen Kaufer: It started in 1999, when I was trying to book travel and couldn’t find any helpful tools like a TripAdvisor to help during the decision process. So, like many entrepreneurs, I decided to fill a void in the marketplace. I had three co-founders — Langley Steinert, Nick Shanny and Tom Palka — and we officially launched tripadvisor.com in October 2000. Since that day, I’ve tried to always maintain a customer viewpoint. EQ: It seems that TripAdvisor was ahead of the curve in terms of implementing some social media-like functionality. Any insights? SK: One thing that we have always found is that user-posted pictures are always more popular than the professional beauty shots. Users find these to be authentic and an augmentation to the beauty shots. Now that more and more people are sharing photos via Facebook, mobile, etc., this part of our reviews will only increase in value. EQ: What is one of the key insights about

SES § June 2009 {Toronto}

TripAdvisor that many of us might not be aware of? SK: The popular belief that people only take the time to post something when they want to vent or discuss a bad experience is simply not true — at least in our experience. The majority of our over 20 million reviews and opinions we have received on TripAdvisor are positive ones. People are simply compelled to give back to a community that has given to them. EQ: Recently, TripAdvisor enabled the ability for hotel sites, airline sites, and more to integrate some of the TripAdvisor review content onto their sites. Why? SK: Again this decision harkens back to a user perspective. If I’m a user and I’m looking to book a hotel, and I’d like to have some quick and salient user review information, it makes it much easier on me to have it all in one location. EQ: This makes sense. In my mind, it’s somewhat similar to what the major television broadcasters are wrestling with. Many major networks are requesting and in some cases suing the likes of YouTube and Hulu to remove their content for fear of losing viewers on their site, yet this is the almost the reverse of that — you are happy for others to post your content. SK: We are fortunate to be profitable with our business model, one that has been based on putting the user first. This isn’t a zero sum game. It’s not an issue where if a user sees our information on another site, they don’t need to visit TripAdvisor. In some instances this will be the case, but in others, the customer will require more information and will visit TripAdvisor to obtain it. Or they may visit TripAdvisor after they return from their trip to post a review. Also, in many cases, the user on the hotel or airline site will be exposed to TripAdvisor and our clients for the first time. Keep in mind that all this information has links back to our site

and is also branded with TripAdvisor. EQ: That is a good point and one that sometimes companies get confused with when faced with new technologies. It’s not necessarily where they see the content — it’s that they see the content. I always scratch my head when someone like the Associated Press asks Google not to list their stories anymore. Whereas companies that truly get it are actually paying experts for search engine optimization so that they rank high in Google. It seems like you would want to increase your viewership across every platform rather than making an AOL-like walled garden mistake. In regards to the explosion of social media, everyone is talking about Facebook, Twitter, etc. Why now? SK: Many have covered that we are all inherently social animals, which is true to some extent, but I think one of the real overlooked beauties of social media is the passivity of it. Unlike e-mail that requires a response, with a site like Facebook, friends or relatives can passively observe, and share, without having to interrupt someone else. EQ: It’s my understanding that TripAdvisor has benefited from the explosion of social media. SK: We’ve had some notable wins, in particular on Facebook and YouTube. On FaceBook, we launched our “Local Picks” restaurant reviews and ratings application in the fall of 2007. We grew our offering from less than 100,000 establishments to nearly 500,000 in approximately 15 months. Our “Cities I’ve Visited” and TravelPod’s “Traveler IQ” applications have also been successful. TripAdvisor Apps: Monthly Facebook Users Cities I’ve Visited

1,794,279

Traveler IQ

112,921

Local Picks

16,218

s EQ: I became addicted to the “Traveler IQ” application and had a little competition going with my wife; we each had our own respective cheat sheets. SK: You weren’t alone. We are astonished at the amount of time users interact with these applications — sometimes hours at a time, which is great brand exposure for TripAdvisor and TravelPod. These three applications total about 2 million active monthly users on Facebook. And for “Traveler IQ” and “Cities I’ve Visited,” we take comfort in knowing that we are helping to further the geographical education of our users. EQ: This is true. I now know where Christmas Island is located — off the northwest coast of Australia. What about YouTube? SK: On YouTube we were able to do a short two-minute video with celebrity Rosario Dawson discussing TripAdvisor, and that has attracted over a million views. EQ: What has been the secret to your social media success? SK: I have a sign outside my door that says, “Speed Wins.” That is our motto when it comes to social media as well. For every success you see, we’ve had plenty of items that we tested and didn’t work out. You really never know what the next big thing will be. In the “Cities I’ve Visited” development process, my team estimated it would take four months to build. I put a challenge for us to get it done in four days, and we met that challenge. On the successful YouTube video, we originally launched a similar video with me as the spokesperson, and that received an unflattering 1,000 views. It’s apparent that YouTube viewers find Rosario more appealing to listen to than myself. EQ: Do you see the next step for TripAdvisor as integrating tools like Facebook Connect, which will enable users to easily see reviews from their friends along with reviews from people that they don’t know?

SK: Again, it will all come back to the user. If the users find this sort of connection helpful, than, by all means, we will look to integrate such tools to benefit our users. It’s important to note that the comfort of being fully transparent varies from user to user. For some users it’s no problem, while other users don’t want their identity to be known, and it may affect how they review a particular travel experience if there’s a chance it could go massively viral with their name associated with it. EQ: You were captain of the fencing team at Harvard. Do any of the skills you learned while fencing transfer to your current role? SK: I’m not sure how much is transferable, but possibly 1) needing to anticipate your opponents’ moves and strategies; 2) you need to be nimble; and 3) the competitive nature and learning what it takes to win. § Stephen Kaufer co-founded TripAdvisor in 2000 to help travelers plan and have the perfect trip. Under his leadership, TripAdvisor has grown into the world’s largest travel community with 25 million monthly visitors, 10 million members, and 23 million reviews/ opinions. Kaufer has also built the TripAdvisor Media Network, acquiring 13 travel sites and extending the brand into 10 languages. Previously, he was president of CDS, Inc. and co-founded CenterLine Software. He has a B.S. in computer science from Harvard. Kaufer has four children and is an active board member for the Caring for Carcinoid Foundation (CFCF), which has awarded over $4.5 million in research grants to leading scientists at renowned institutions. Erik Qualman is the global vice president of online marketing for EF Education. His book, Socialnomics: How Social Media Transforms the Way We Live and Do Business, from Wiley Publishing, will be in stores Aug. 28 and can be pre-ordered on Amazon today. Previously, Qualman helped grow the online marketing and e-business functions of Cadillac & Pontiac (199497), BellSouth (1998-2000), Yahoo (2000-03), EarthLink (2003-05), and Travelzoo (2005-08).

[ ROSEN from page 23 ] measure buzz using traditional marketing research methods by asking people about their conversations. We’ve made a lot of progress in the past 10 years, and companies can have a pretty good idea of how much buzz they’re getting. The objective, however, should not be just to count buzz, but to use this information to improve the consumer’s experience. SQ: Twitter is obviously a powerful way to spark interest and to push existing buzz along. Any parting thoughts on the future of social media and the power of participation? ER: Your objective should not be just to get buzz, but to get buzz that relates to the product and its benefits. Ultimately you want customer A to recommend your product to customer B. This is the most important part of buzz because it is likely to lead to a sale. So whether you use Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, or any other tool, this should be your main question: What can we do to trigger conversations that focus on our product and its benefits? § Emanuel Rosen is the author of the national bestseller The Anatomy of Buzz (Doubleday, 2000) and The Anatomy of Buzz Revisited (Doubleday, 2009). Previously, he was VP of marketing at Niles Software, where he launched and marketed the company’s flagship product EndNote. During this time Rosen became interested in buzz and especially in how it can be accelerated. He started his career as a copywriter in Israel and holds an MBA from the University of San Francisco. Stewart Quealy is VP of content development for Search Engine Strategies. He has been part of the SES content team since 2001 and plays a key role in programming Incisive Media’s interactive marketing events. Previously, he was part of the original Jupitermedia team that launched emerging technology events such as Jupiter Advertising Forum, Grid Computing Planet, and ClickZ Online Video Advertising.

SearchEngineStrategies.com § SES

§ FOCUS: social media

Search and Social: The Best of Friends

By Ben Straley ith so many companies wondering how to harness Facebook, Twitter, blogs, viral video, and content sharing these days, it’s got many search marketers thinking about how to leverage social media to boost the effectiveness of their SEM and SEO programs. And they’re right to be investigating the intersection between social and search, because it’s an untapped linkbuilding, keyword-boosting goldmine. Despite the potential of integrating SEM and SEO programs to social media marketing techniques, many search marketers, accustomed to working with the most measurable form of marketing around, are nervous about embracing new and largely unproven social media marketing techniques as part of their overall strategy. But by ignoring the word-of-mouth circulating about your brand, you’re losing out on valuable SEO and SEM traffic. Or maybe you’re convinced you need to get started with social media, but you don’t know how. My company works with brands to help them measure the impact of word-ofmouth on their marketing programs, so I’ve tackled a lot of tough questions from marketers who want to make sure their social media programs generate real results. One of the questions I hear the most is: “How can I integrate social media into my already hugely successful paid search and SEO programs to make all of my marketing initiatives deliver more ROI?” The answer to that question is two-fold. Before you integrate your search and social programs, your company’s marketing team needs to find out with certainty what the latter delivers in terms of ROI and brand engagement. (Engagement is a bit harder to measure than the straight marketing ROI that comes from clicks and conversions, but several tools offer a pretty accurate reading on the engagement results of a social media brand campaign.) Make sure everything your company does in the social media marketing realm is measurable. Either use a tool to precisely track what results you’re getting from social media marketing and the real impact of word-of-mouth buzz when it comes to sales and brand recognition, or hire a social media marketing agency that knows its stuff. Several free tools are available — such as

SES § June 2009 {Toronto}

Google Trends and Nielsen BuzzMetrics’ BlogPulse — that allow you to get some sort of handle, with varying degrees of precision, on the activity generated by your social marketing campaigns. Once your company has figured out what results its social media marketing programs are delivering — whether the program is a simple Facebook page or a sophisticated mix of Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, blogs, and buzz-building — you can start to integrate social media with search. This is where the fun part begins for search marketers. You will need to work closely with your company’s brand marketing team to create a closely aligned social-and-search program that generates more ROI together than these programs could on their own.

Step 1

Take advantage of the amazing linkbuilding power of social media to drive SEO traffic to your site. When people share links with friends to your campaigns and website, talk about your brand in blogs and on social networks, read and interact with content and videos related to your brand via social networking sites (Facebook and others), or become a follower of your brand via Twitter, they are generating tons of links online that include your brand and product names. Social media activity drives a huge increase in searchable content about your brand. Tuning into and responding to these buzz-creators is an essential component of any company’s marketing strategy today. But tracking the flow of word-of-mouth about your brand should not be an isolated activity for the brand marketers in your company; as a search marketer, you need to know what conversations are taking place and where, so that you can optimize your website and campaigns to reflect these critical conversations as they occur.

Step 2

Analyze the online conversations about your brand to make strategic keyword buying decisions. You already have lots of ways to analyze the value of a keyword: clicks, conversions, and ROI. But what about the “buzz value” of a certain term? People may be talking about one of your campaigns or your products for a day or two, and then move onto another

conversation. Most paid search marketers miss these micro-trends, because they appear and disappear in a matter of days. Instead, use social media tracking tools to see exactly what people are saying about your brand in real time, and then buy keywords associated with those conversations on the fly. You’ll see a huge uptick in click-through on those terms during the “buzz” period about a certain topic, and then it will die down as the conversation shifts. Then, it’s time to move onto the next keyword buy, based on the latest micro-trend concerning your brand.

Step 3

Measure and analyze ROI of search and social together. Many marketers get search, and others get social — but few understand how to combine the unique characteristics and strengths of both to drive lasting branding, a lift in sales, and maximum marketing ROI. It’s easy to begin measuring the impact your search marketing efforts are having on the performance of your social media marketing campaigns — and vice versa. Start by correlating changes in natural search traffic with changes in traffic volumes from social media sites, including Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Similarly you can correlate the number of back-links from the aforementioned social sites with the organic search traffic you’re monitoring through site analytics. These simple tests will begin to quantify the benefits your marketing program receives when search and social work together. A little harmony between social and search goes a long way. If you follow these simple steps, you’ll be on your way to boosting ROI across both types of marketing simultaneously — and everyone could use a dose of marketing success right about now. § Ben Straley is the CEO of Meteor Solutions. He has spent the last 13 years leading marketing and business teams for both venture-backed startups and large, publicly-traded companies, such as Starwave, Sanctum Corporation, and Ignition-backed Judy’s Book. His current company measures word-of-mouth with the same precision as paid media. As CEO, Ben manages the business and secures key partnerships. Clients include Microsoft, AT&T, comScore, Disney, and other high-profile brands.

FOCUS: content & URLs §

Planning SEO for a Website Redesign

By Ezra Silverton nternet marketing teams are often introduced to a website redesign project when the site is just about to go live or even later. The alarm and dismay you see on the faces of your online marketers is not imagined. Months of work may have just been wasted. Positioning could have disappeared. It’s not a good place to be for either the website owner or the SEO team. To be most efficient and save costs, there are several key items you’ll want to consider, ideally during the planning stages of a redesign project. If it’s too late for that, at the very least, implement these elements before going live. Note that these suggestions are under the assumption that both your domain name and hosting provider remain the same. If they are not, that’s a different topic.

Be Search Engine-Friendly

Make sure that the new site is search engine-friendly, or even friendlier than the previous website. I’m referring to the ease with which a search engine can crawl your site. Use links in the navigation so that search engines can follow clean code. Use proper titles and HTML labels. Also, add good internal link structure throughout body text links and footer links. Minimize the depth of your folder structure; I suggest no deeper than three subfolders. Examine for different technologies. For instance, creating a new site exclusively using Flash may work against you if your old site didn’t use it.

Watch Those File Names

Most redesigns involve changing the navigation and structure of the old website. Newer sites often use more dynamic, database-driven content. This change typically causes the URLs to change. Ideally you should use mod-rewrite if you are using an Apache server to change long and complicated URLs to something shorter and userfriendly that includes your keywords. Note that you may end up changing many URLs and creating newer ones that the search

engines don’t know about yet. For instance, a services.html page may now be abcservices.php page. Another result of changed URLs is the disappearance of older files. Both visitors and search engines will not be able to find your original content. Anyone who bookmarked the old page, any websites that linked to the old page, and any search engines that placed a strong quality score to the page may now be lost. To avoid this, try to keep as many of the same URLs as possible. Even keeping the same extensions helps. If you must change the URL, implement both a 301 redirect and a custom 404 error message page. 301 redirection is a way of telling the search engines that the page they originally referenced no longer exists and to now use a new page in its place. Doing this will also redirect any weight the search engines placed on the old URL to the new one. A custom 404 error page is displayed when an old URL no longer exists. Instead of a generic server-generated error page, give the user a short message and clearly direct him to the new page. You can also help visitors find information on the new site by promoting your site map or search feature.

Keep Similar Page Content

If you know that some pages on your old site ranked highly in the search results, try to keep the same URL and same general page content for the new page. For instance, if your old abc-services.html page talked about how great your ABC service is, use a similar theme and key phrases within the new page. I recommend that you also use the same page title. This is the <title> tag displayed at the top of your browser window and is used as the main link from an organic search engine result. The title tag is a very important one to watch.

Develop Site Maps and Evaluate

If you don’t already have an HTML and XML site maps, create them. A site map

informs your visitors of all the important pages on your website, and it tells the search engines which pages to index. Adding Google XML sitemap (via Google Webmaster tools) and Yahoo urllist.txt helps. These files have special formats and will contain a list of all pages that you will want to index with Google, Heavy social media contributors in China connect Yahoo, and MSN. with an average 84 people, For more informacompared to people in the tion about XML U.S., who connect with 248 site maps, visit people per week on average. sitemaps.org. Source: Netpop Research A Read about more web usage trends Once your site in ClickZ Stats. is live, watch your web analytics. Compare the data with past results to evaluate the effects of the site changes. A Google Webmaster account will add another level of understanding about errors and how Google crawls your new site. Having regular conversations with your Internet marketing teams is important. They need to be kept in the loop on all website projects, including in-house. If you haven’t applied these suggestions to your old website, implementing them may actually improve positioning. However, it’s important to remember that even if you were to implement all of these items, your new site may still be affected by positioning changes, but at least it will be at a reduced risk. §

Ezra Silverton is the founder of 9th sphere (www.9thsphere. com), an award-winning website solutions firm, providing effective Internet marketing services that include search engine marketing, search engine optimization, social media marketing, reputation management, and more. With over 11 years of website experience, 9th sphere provides significant insight in developing effective solutions for a wide range of businesses.

SearchEngineStrategies.com § SES

Dear CMS: Code My Site, but Don’t Hinder My Search Results Key terms SEO: search engine optimization CMS: content management system

hether you’re an established SEO or an aspiring one, it’s safe to say we all understand the importance of content. As the web continues to grow at an astounding rate and websites expand in scope, there is a growing need to house and manage massive amounts of content. Content management systems (CMS) come into play here. Many CMS solutions are available, ranging greatly in complexity and cost. Regardless of size and price, many tools have the same problems when it comes to SEO.

A CMS will seldom offer benefits to your SEO campaign, and will more often than not become a hindrance. Most issues caused by a CMS are technical in nature. Common Technical Issues

URLs: Setting up your URLs to maximize SEO can be impeded by a CMS. Not only does this cause diminished SEO benefits, but in some situations a CMS can also cause problems. Some systems use parameters to uniquely identify pages or employ other unique identifiers such as numbers for file names in the URL. These methods neither enhance SEO nor general web usability. Intelligent CMS solutions will accommodate ways to set up directory structures and file names that allow the use of keywords in the URLs to help with your SEO. This is a more intuitive

SES § June 2009 {Toronto}

By Jim McFadyen

method of organizing of a website. Caution must be used however, as some CMS implementations will allow the creation of unique URLs for your pages, while still making it possible to reach the pages via the default method. By allowing both the optimized URLs and the URLs made up of a parameter or other ID, this introduces an entirely new set of SEO inhibitors, which manifest themselves as duplicate content issues. File Management: Most CMS tools offer basic file management, but unless the proposed architecture is well planned out, it may cause problems. If you update documents, such as PDFs or other downloadable files on a regular basis, you might be forced to upload new file names. This can create a bloated file system and cause additional maintenance overhead, because you have to update the sitemap.xml each time you upload a new document. Another possible issue that arises from a poorly built file management system is server caching. Server Errors: Another technical issue to consider is how the CMS handles server errors. Some CMS tools will handle custom 404 error pages by responding with a server code 200 success. This is problematic to the way search engines manage pages and server codes. It will also prevent the verification of the site with Google Webmaster Tools using the file upload method. Besides being problematic for search engines, this is also not a best practice technical implementation.

FOCUS: content & URLs §

How Can an SEO Overcome These Technical Issues?

If your technology team is shopping for a CMS, you must make yourself a part of the process. When you request inclusion in the selection process, your technology team will appreciate your list of additional requirements. In most cases, your needs will not contradict the technical requirements. Key SEO Requirements Unique Title & Meta Tags

Your CMS must have the ability to create unique title and meta tags for every page. This is one of the most important features of a CMS; luckily, most tools now incorporate it. Also, ensure the CMS can uniquely create custom directory and file names (the CMS should not offer this at the risk of creating the aforementioned duplicate content issues).

Minor Technical Requirements

If you plan to create a multilingual site, ensure the CMS supports UTF-8 character encoding. Another key point is to check that your CMS allows you to create mod_rewrites so you can handle proper 301 server redirects.

Analytics Software

Ensure that you can easily add site-wide web analytic software. It should be obvious to all SEOs why this is critical.

Sitemap.xml & Robots.txt

Try to get a CMS that automatically creates a sitemap.xml file and dynamically creates a site map page for your site. Some CMS solutions will even offer the ability to manage your robots.txt file.

Additional Features to Consider Multi-Language Support

A CMS feature that isn’t necessarily SEOrelated but will offer some great benefits is the ability to handle multiple languages. This can either be a run-time or publish-time implementation.

Digital Asset Management (DAM)

Properly created, a DAM can be a great benefit because it can help manage all your asset files, such as images, videos, PDFs, and more. The DAM is even more valuable if it offers file version control. This will allow you to revert back to old versions of files should the need arise. Often, if the DAM offers file versioning, your content can be version controlled too.

Workflow Management

Once the time is taken to set up a proper method of workflow management, all teams can work together in a more streamlined, efficient process.

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CMS Takeaways

Most CMS vendors will tout their product as being equipped with all the necessary tools. They will likely be able to show you examples of how their product addresses your requirements one by one. Oftentimes however, the individual examples don’t work well collectively. If they’re serious about selling you their CMS, ask the vendor to provide a sample solution that takes all of your requests into consideration. All too often, issues arise after you have already committed to your CMS implementation.

Your CMS must have the ability to create unique title and meta tags for every page. Have confidence when selecting your CMS. You have many options to consider, and making sense of all the information can be time consuming, difficult, and overwhelming. Your new advantage is that you’re now armed with some valuable, critical questions that can help you make an informed decision. By systematically analyzing all available options, you can select a CMS that addresses all your requirements. This will ensure your website is poised to maximize factors influencing your success. § Jim McFadyen is the technology and search marketing director at Wizardworks Web Design Inc, located in Calgary, AB, Canada. His work consists of developing strategies for clients, primarily focusing on SEO and social media marketing. In addition, he still does occasional web development work. Previously, Jim worked as a front-end engineer at Yahoo and a web development manager and the search technology expert for Critical Mass, Canada’s largest interactive agency.

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fantastic Canadian search marketers who really know what they are talking ‘aboot.’

— Cindy Krum, Rank-Mobile.com SearchEngineStrategies.com § SES

Is crossing the border the right move for your Canadian company? By Dave Davies

ou have a seemingly Herculean task set before you. You’ve started a company, and your blue widgets are selling like hotcakes to the local market. Maybe you even have a few stores selling them, but you want to stretch a little farther. You want to break into the U.S. market and reach the over 300 million people there who are just dying to purchase your blue widgets. So how do you get them to your website? While I’m not a business manager, I do have experience in marketing a Canadian company primarily to the U.S. The Canadian SEO firm I currently co-own and run ranks better in the U.S., our client base is predominantly American, and our conversions are higher in the U.S. than in Canada.

Some SEO Tips

So, what advice can I give to fellow Canadians on ranking in the U.S.? Isn’t it all the same? No, it’s not. The differences, while subtle, are important to note.

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COVER STORY / FOCUS: marketing §

Hosting — If you want to rank in the U.S., host in the U.S. If you want to rank in Canada, host in Canada. And if you want to rank in both, well — pick the one you want more. You may well rank in both locations, but you’ll likely rank better in the one you’re hosted in. Keywords — Check your keywords and those of your American competitors, including PPC. What Canadians use for keywords and the way we spell may be completely different. Be sure to conduct solid keyword research, check broadly and do not lock yourself into how you or your neighbors would search. Americans are different than we are, and there are slight differences in the way we speak and look for information. Domains — The .ca is a Canadian extension. If you want to rank highly in Canada, it’s great; if you want to rank highly in the U.S., use a .com.

Presentation

Presenting yourself to the U.S. market is a very different thing than presenting yourself to Canada. To Canadians, you’re likely “just being yourself.” You’re about to swim in a much bigger pond with much bigger fish, and your blue widgets don’t hold the same home-grown status as they do in Canada. Here are a few quick pointers on presenting yourself online in the U.S. Spelling — This may seem obvious, but a lot of people don’t think about it. There are some subtle but very important differences in spelling between the U.S. and Canada. Perhaps you were caught off guard in the paragraph above, when “neighbours” was “misspelled” as the Americanized “neighbors.” This is the same misspelling that an American will see when they visit your site if you talk about your “favourite colour” of widget. Unless you want your site riddled with misspellings, use U.S. English. It’s also important to remember that Canadians are amply accustomed to reading U.S. English and likely won’t think anything

of it. Americans are not used to reading Canadian English and may well perceive it as a spelling error. Not a great confidence builder — especially if it occurs often. It’s OK to be Canadian — Canada is a great country, and we’re blessed with a great trade partner in the U.S. Fortunately, they feel the same about us. Americans don’t hesitate to do business with Canadians (there are a few notable exceptions, generally where legal jurisdiction may become an issue). If you “mispronounce” the word “about” on the phone or have a Canadian address on your website, that’s fine and not something you need to hide. Be proud — just watch your spelling while you do it. Charge in U.S. Dollars — If what you want to charge for your blue widget is $100 CAD, then visit a currency conversion site, run the numbers, and charge the U.S. dollar amount. An American who doesn’t know that you’re charging in Canadian may think your pricing is too high when there may be other blue widgets for sale at $90 out of the U.S. If you convert the currency, however, you’d be charging closer to $80 (at the print time of this magazine anyway). That looks a lot better and may well be the difference between thriving and bankruptcy.

Financial Advantages

As a Canadian, you have some very distinct advantages when it comes to competing in the U.S. market. Some we’ve already touched on; others will not be capitalized on unless you specifically recognize them. I wish I had recognized these advantages when Beanstalk SEO first launched. Currency — The vast majority of the time, we’re at an advantage in currency in that the Canadian dollar is worth less. What this means is that you can charge less than your U.S. competitors, and once it’s converted, it works out equal. A word of warning though — it can happen (and has recently) that the U.S. dollar is lower than the Canadian dollar, or at least close

to it. You have to deal with this and ride it out. Don’t charge so little that an equal dollar will see you losing money. Taxation — Ah, taxation. We all love to hate it. When selling into the U.S., you don’t have to charge the oh-so-loved goods and services tax (GST). And as U.S. companies have an advantage in selling to the Canadian market by not having to charge GST, so too do we have advantages (depending on the nature of your blue widgets and the state) in not having to charge all the same taxes that American companies would have to.

Is It Worth the Risk?

So now you have to decide what you’re going to do. If you already rank in Canada and are getting business, is it worth a hosting change and risking a drop in rankings in Canada for the long-term goal of ranking in the U.S.? Do you really want to change your site’s spelling and writing to U.S. English when your market right now is Canadian? Only you know your risk tolerance. Know that just because you rank highly in Canada doesn’t mean that simply changing your hosting location to the U.S. will give you the same results there. The competition for most phrases is higher in the U.S., so if you’re ranking in Canada, you may lose out until you strengthen your site enough to compete south of the border. In the end, though, you can do it. Many Canadian companies rank and do very well in the U.S. Just be aware that you may have a give a bit in the short term (or perhaps even a lot), to win the larger market down the road. § Dave Davies is the CEO of Beanstalk Search Engine Optimization, Inc. Beanstalk offers performance-based SEO services, consulting, training, link building, and SEO copywriting. Visit the company online at www.BeanstalkSEO.com for more information.

SearchEngineStrategies.com § SES

§ FOCUS: marketing shifts

Catching up with the Consumer: Budgeting for Digital

By Caitlin Frost he benefits of digital marketing are clear: improved customer engagement, instant feedback, and the ability to connect with a large-scale audience. Even as the world’s economy continues to drag and budget cuts loom for all categories of ad spending, the digital industry continues to show promise. With user engagement on social networks and video sites at all-time highs, executives are shifting their spending toward targeted digital campaigns, including social media, e-mail, search, and display ads. In Europe, 70 percent of advertisers are increasing their online spend during 2009, according to research by the European Interactive Advertisers Association (EIAA), while pulling money from traditional TV and magazine budgets. So why aren’t all executives putting dollars into digital? It could be a lack of understanding for the landscape, a fear of disassembling an existing brand image, or a concern that ROI is impossible to measure. Whatever the case, companies that do not make the jump into digital will be left behind and lose opportunities to connect with their customers.

Cost Efficiency on Consumer Engagement

“The Internet remains a place of continuing innovation, with users finding new ways to integrate online usage into their daily lives,” said Charles Buchwalter, SVP of research and analytics at Nielsen Online. “Advertisers are starting to positively re-assess the value of the online experience and create more meaningful relationships with consumers.” Another reason marketers are shifting

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their budgets online: It’s cheap. Social media marketing is the ultimate way to engage consumers while managing ad spending. Creating an online presence is fast and cost effective with the help of social media platforms, applications that facilitate blog and website creation, and consumer-generated content. Some executives believe that their social media marketing efforts are too valuable to cut, even in a depressed economy. Although the actual ROI of social media marketing is often disputed, the cost efficiencies are hard to ignore. Forrester Research found that 53% of marketers are determined to increase their social media budget during the recession. Why? Because social media has become an integral component to a marketing strategy. No more toying around on Twitter or haphazardly posting blog content. To remain competitive in our viral video-obsessed culture, companies are moving beyond experimentation and implementing fullfledged, organized, measurable campaigns. On the surface, social media is unbridled and unmanageable. In reality, the direct consumer feedback can be easily tracked and qualified, and can significantly improve your ability to meet consumer needs. To realize the greatest benefits of a social media program after creating a budget, executives need to allocate time and money toward campaign management, utilize online professional services, and make the strategy permanent.

More Companies Are Digitizing

More high profile companies are setting the tone and migrating their marketing budgets from staid advertising channels to digital ventures. These companies are experiencing

“

lower returns on their traditional media spending and risk losing profits if they don’t re-work their marketing approach. Talbots, the multi-brand women’s clothing retailer, is a current example of a business rooted in classic advertising that’s making major changes in strategy. To manage costs and improve ROI, the company decreased catalog circulation by over 20 million and increased e-mail marketing spending due to solid Internet sales. Talbots started its digital shift last year, eliminating all TV and national print advertising and redirecting budgets to online. The objective, like many national brands in this transition, is to leverage the web to engage consumers and increase contact with potential customers.

Bright Future For Digital

If and when the economy makes a turn for the better, the Internet’s share of total ad spend will continue to increase, led by social media, search, and video, says Nielsen Online. Processes ingrained in traditional marketing will be replaced by innovative digital strategies, the disconnect between customer and company will diminish, and corporate transparency will spread. Although it’s taken some time for executives to let go of their tried and true marketing practices and put money into digital, they are finally catching up with consumers. § Caitlin Frost is a journalist and copywriter who creates viralworthy content for the social web. Throughout her career, Caitlin has successfully driven relevant, qualified traffic to online businesses in various industries. She received a 2008 Hearst Journalism Award from the William Randolph Hearst Foundation, and graduated from the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication.

the Internet marketing equivalent of the ancient slingshot that the Davids of today’s business world can wield against competing Goliaths.

— Matt Van Wagner, Find Me Faster

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SearchEngineStrategies.com § SES

Personalized e-Commerce Sites Can Increase Conversions by 70 Percent

By Mark Nagaitis oday’s most successful e-commerce sites routinely experience transaction closure rates in the range of 8 to 10 percent of visits, with the average across all of e-commerce pegged at a dismal 2.8 percent. Bounce rates frequently exceed 50 percent, and customer engagement with most sites is so low that customer loyalty is virtually nonexistent. Some of this can be attributed to everyone’s use of the web as a tool for research that ultimately leads to purchasing the best deals online or at brick and mortar establishments, where store conversions are in the 40-plus percent range. However, the primary reason for the failure of online retailing to convert customers at acceptable rates is because historically, e-commerce websites have been a one-size-fits-all proposition. For example, the majority of e-commerce websites contain a user interface, content, and presentation that remain static for every visitor. This occurs even though we intuitively know individuals have unique motivations and communication preferences. Shoppers rely on different information and different types of websites when making a buying decision.

New Levels of Customer Insight

New web personalization technologies dynamically alter sites in real-time to provide a customized experience for every visitor to an e-commerce site. Such software identifies an individual’s preferences, then delivers on-the-fly adjustments that make each customer feel the site was built just for him. The visitor feels instant rapport with the site, resulting in a deeper level of engagement and dramatically higher conversions. The next level of web personalization technology departs significantly from earlier technologies by not identifying

SES § June 2009 {Toronto}

customers based on demographics, purchase history, or statistical information, such as “40 percent of buyers who bought X purchased Y as well.” Instead, new technologies rely on expert systems based on time-tested principles of behavioral psychology and psychological linguistics that determine each user’s preferences in real time. This way, the software delivers a context-sensitive, instantaneous, completely personalized experience as customers navigate the website. Not intended to replace traditional web analytics and demographic data, these new personalization technologies complement and provide a different view of the customer for the e-marketer. The software essentially takes the driving principles of building rapport in the offline world to the online realm. In the same way that skilled communicators use both verbal and nonverbal cues to determine the best approach, new web personalization software considers a number of key factors — including selected language usage, information presentation preferences, referrer type, mouse speed, mouse path on the screen, scrolling, time on page, and more — when developing a “portrait” or psychographic profile of each website visitor. The bottom line is that deep personalization techniques have delivered far more relevant web experiences, increased conversion rates by 70 percent, and reduced ad campaign costs by as much as 50 percent. This has a significant impact on search-related advertising as well — including PPC content advertising and keyword targeting — by making the ads more effective and reducing advertising costs.

How It Works

The new web personalization software collapses a wealth of information gathered via website users’ online

FOCUS: search & psychology §

interactions into eight portrait types. Each portrait is unique and responds to different triggers in language and site features. Once traffic on an e-commerce website has been analyzed and segmented by these eight behavioral types, adjustments can be made to the outbound marketing mix to attract the behavioral segments who are already coming to the site and converting to sales in significant numbers. These behavioral segments are already aligned with the website content, and driving more likeminded visitors to the site is the easiest way to increase conversion rates. Conversely, behavioral segments that are underrepresented in the website traffic can also be attracted via outbound marketing, but analysis and modification of the website content, navigation, and site layout will need to be made to avoid misalignment or dissonance for those behavioral segments once on the site. If these behavioral segments are not comfortable with the buying experience presented to them on a given website, they will simply abandon, and the outbound marketing spend will be wasted.

Searching for a Personalized Experience

Optimizing outbound marketing to align with website traffic presents many opportunities for e-marketers to drive traffic and increase sales conversions. Outbound marketing activities include direct mail, print advertising, online banner advertising, and PPC content advertising. One of the fundamental tenants of linguistic psychology is that language predicts behavior, and in this context, the language used in advertising can be optimized to appeal to selected behavioral segments. For example, let’s look at Google AdWords, which allows e-marketers to create ads and select keywords. When people search on Google using one of the advertiser’s keywords, the ad may appear next to the search results. Google considers this to be advertising to an audience that’s already interested in your company or products. In addition, Google offers what it calls content advertising: online advertising through its content network — websites, news pages, and blogs that partner with Google to display AdWords ads. The goal

here is targeting the right user in the right context. Using advertiser-selected keywords, Google’s contextual targeting technology matches ads to web pages in its content network that are most relevant to a specific type of business. Google offers placement targeting for specific sites or sections of sites where advertisers want their ads to appear. Aligning ad language in all of these search-based Google advertising products with web personalization software can drive highly targeted traffic to an e-marketer’s website, resulting in substantially higher sales conversion rates. To illustrate how combining search advertising with web personalization might work in practice, consider a Google AdWord ad as it is used for one of the behavioral portrait types. One of the eight portrait types is highly influenced by references and recommendations, especially those from peers or those they aspire to be peers with. This portrait type also doesn’t take action without recommendations, case studies, or some other form of acceptance or recognition. The easiest way to catch their attention is with messaging that infers value by virtue of wide acceptance, such as testimonials or awards. When shopping, these portrait types typically have a predefined need — but they’re open to different products that will meet that need. They love online communities (especially affinity groups) and product forums. Search advertising optimized for this behavioral portrait type should contain: Recommendations References Awards Images of people like the targeted audience You can also grab this portrait’s attention by focusing on a goal: “Whiter teeth in a week! See before and after photos.” “A faster way to a cleaner house. Read what your neighbors say about our new service!” “All the best designer shoes in one store. Bring your friends and find all the shoes you want at prices you want to pay.”

Combining Google search advertising’s emphasis on context and keywords with web personalization technology results in attracting customers who are contextually qualified and predisposed to respond psychologically to specific language, buying behaviors, and information presentation. The ads direct customers to landing pages or web pages on the advertisers’ e-commerce sites that are optimized for these behavioral types through use of specific language, type of information presented, images, and site navigation.

Conclusion

New web personalization technologies use behavioral psychology and psychological linguistics to dynamically and transparently million provide customers with a comfortCircuit City spent $3.5 million able online shopfor its retail locations and $1.8 ping experience. million for its online store in These new techonline advertising last December as stores were closing. nologies are a Source: TNS Media Intelligence natural compleA Learn about the top 50 advertisers by ment to traditional media value each month at ClickZ Stats. web analytics and demographics products that have been used for years by e-marketers; they provide a different type of valuable insight into the customer mindset. Once e-marketers analyze their website traffic by behavioral segmentation, targeted outbound marketing messaging can be used with search advertising to drive specific behavioral segment traffic to e-commerce websites, where personalization software will ensure the online buying experience is the best it can be. Early e-commerce customers of this new web personalization technology have experienced sales conversion increases as high as 70 percent. §

$1.8

Mark Nagaitis is the CEO of 7 Billion People. His 20-plus years of experience include engineering, marketing, and executive roles at technology providers like Sun Microsystems, Hewlett-Packard, and Compaq. Mark’s focus throughout his career has been identifying new markets and developing and introducing groundbreaking products into those markets.

SearchEngineStrategies.com § SES

§ FOCUS: ad tracking

Are Your Competitors Clicking on Your PPC Ads? Find Out

By Helen Overland lmost all advertisers who run PPC campaigns have had the sneaking suspicion that competitors are clicking on their ads. Wouldn’t it be interesting to find out if they really are? And wouldn’t it fascinating to know what keywords your competitors are clicking on, and gain insight into their interests over time? Here’s a tightly-packed introduction to tracking your competitors’ search activities. If your organization is using the Google Analytics (GA) platform to monitor traffic, you can find out if your competitors are clicking on your PPC ads and which keywords they clicked on. Now, GA doesn’t allow us to identify an individual through its system. However, the platform tracks and records the “network location” of each visitor on your site. Many businesses, especially large organizations or highly technical ones, tend to have their business name as their network name. Therefore, you can use this information to help identify your competitors’ activities. As long as you have a GA account that tracks your AdWords ads, and your competitors have their business name set as their network name, you can easily find out which ads they clicked on, and you can even look retroactively at other data.

Step 1: Set Up a Custom Report

To find out if your competitors are clicking on your ads, simply log in to your GA account and create a new custom report. The report can use whatever metrics you choose, but a few good choices are “entrances,” “pages/visit,” and “goal conversion rate.” In a GA custom report, a “metric” is the data that will be measured.

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SES § June 2009 {Toronto}

When building the custom report, it is very important to use the correct dimensions. The dimensions sort the data in your report and allow you to drill down further. For this report, the first dimension should be set to “network location.” This will allow the GA reporting system to drill down into the activity of each network location tracked by the system. The second dimension included in the report should be set to “keyword.” Once you identify which networks have clicked on a PPC ad, you can see exactly which keywords the visitors from that network clicked on.

Step 2: Narrow Your Focus

Once your report has been created, simply run the report. You should see a list of network location names, many of which are the generic network names of ISPs that people use to access the Internet. A few of these network locations may be the familiar names of your competitors, and these are the visitors we are interested in. At this point, however, if you’re not running the report on a profile that only includes PPC traffic, you are still looking at visitors who may have clicked on an organic listing. To run the report for paid visitors only, use the advanced segments function. Click on the drop-down menu, check “paid traffic,” and un-click “all visits.” Now you’re looking at a list of networks that have arrived on your website through a paid ad.

Step 3: Identify the Keywords

If you can identify your competitors in this list, you can now find out which keywords the people from each network clicked on. Just click on the network location in the

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report to drill down further. If people from that network clicked on a search ad, you will see each keyword in the report, along with how many times they clicked on each ad, when they clicked on it, and other valuable information. Because we also set up the goal conversion rate in the custom report, we can also now see if a competitor generated a conversion. Are your competitors filling out your forms and downloading your white papers? The information could be in here.

Gain the Advantage

What advantage, really, does this information offer? Think of it this way: What is it worth to you to find out what your competitors are interested in, when they are interested in it? For example, if one of your competitors suddenly starts showing interest in a product or service that you offer (and you know they don’t offer something similar), this could be an indication that they are preparing to compete with you. What is that information worth? Finding out what your competitors are searching for can be a profit-oriented activity. The information you learn will reap benefits over time if you are the more prepared and informed business. § Helen Overland is director of search engine marketing with non-linear creations, a technical services and online marketing firm. She’s been marketing online for almost a decade and has generated significant results for small and enterprise organizations, including TD Canada Trust, Petro-Canada, and The Canadian Press. Find out more at nonlinearcreations.com.

people who can tell me things I don’t already know, and show me things I haven’t already seen.

— Anne Marie Lorriman, Outrider

Speaker Bios SearchEngineStrategies.com ยง SES

Andy Atkins-Krüger Managing Director Web Certain Europe Ltd

Andy is a trained linguist with 20 years of international marketing experience, having worked with major brand leaders in advertising and public relations on five continents. In 1997 he discovered SEO and a couple of years later, paid search. As the marketing manager of Portakabin, Andy was responsible for promoting the company throughout Europe in the late ’90s and needed a multilingual SEO solution. The result was the business now known as WebCertain, which Andy later acquired; he became managing director in 2002. WebCertain has been operating search marketing campaigns for over 10 years and is one of few agencies that only deal with international campaigns; the company doesn’t deal in English-only projects. Following Andy’s experience in multi-country PR campaigns, WebCertain centralizes campaigns in many languages and employs a team of native speakers that covers all major European and Scandinavian languages; Hebrew and Arabic for the Middle East; and Japanese, Mandarin, and Kon for the far East.

Kerstin Baker-Ash

Search Account Manager i-level Kerstin Baker-Ash is an independent consultant, having worked for six years in the paid and natural search space across sectors including government, finance, travel, and health and beauty. A 2008 IMA Awards finalist, Kerstin is passionate about engaging clients and colleagues across the spectrum in best practices and is a member of SEMPO and the IPA search panel. A native of Toronto, Kerstin has brought a unique bi-continental perspective to search campaigns in the U.K. and Europe, and has enjoyed speaking at industry events on both sides of the Atlantic.

Julie Batten

eMarketing Manager Klick Communications As the e-marketing manager at Klick Communications, Julie Batten leads the online media team, which develops and manages online marketing campaigns for world-class brands. With a strong emphasis on search marketing activities, Julie conceptualizes digital marketing strategies to enhance clients’ online presences. She previously headed up the SEM practice at non-linear creations, where she managed the search marketing team to deliver exceptional results through organic and paid search campaigns. Julie has written several white papers and articles, instructed online courses, and spoken at various seminars about search.

Lyndsay Blahut

Speaker Bios

Director of Online Marketing Canada’s Web Shop Lyndsay Blahut (formerly Walker) is the director of online marketing at Canada’s Web Shop, located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. She is responsible for the strategy and coordination of clients’ online campaigns, including organic search, paid search, e-mail marketing, banner advertising, affiliate marketing, and social media. Lyndsay’s experience includes working with internationally-recognized brands in some of the most competitive industries such as Internet pharmacies, payday loans, and travel. Also involved in web design and development for over 10 years, she brings a technical background to complement her marketing skills.

SES § June 2009 {Toronto}

Keith Boswell

Senior Digital Marketing Strategist Kaiser Permanente Keith is the senior digital marketing strategist for Kaiser Permanente, America’s leading integrated health plan. Founded in 1945, the plan’s mission is to provide high-quality, affordable health care services to improve the health of members and the communities it serves. Kaiser Permanente currently serves 8.6 million members in nine states and the District of Columbia. Keith previously worked in the digital marketing agency world for over 13 years. In 2002, he joined Marketleap, a niche search engine marketing firm, as COO. He helped write and execute a business plan that led to Marketleap’s acquisition by Digital Impact. He lives with his wife, Wendy, and two daughters in Rockford, Mich.

Guillaume Bouchard CEO & Co-founder NVI

Guillaume Bouchard is the co-founder and CEO of NVI, an interactive strategy shop serving the North American market. The company builds viable revenue models for customers by developing and marketing websites based on an innovative online approach to business. Guillaume, a graduate of the prestigious Canadian business and administration school HEC Montreal, applies his nine years of experience as an entrepreneur towards client consulting, strategizing, and blogging. For a number of years, he wrote a column at SEOmoz.org, one of the top search engine optimization blog and resource sites on the web, and at Go-Referencement.org, a French-language SEO, marketing, and web 2.0 resources blog. He is recognized by his peers as a leader in his field and is repeatedly invited as a guest speaker to various conferences across North America. Guillaume enjoys jolting the market by leveraging sites, brands, and companies that would have received less exposure had they invested their marketing budgets only in offline strategies.

Laura Coltrin

Search Engine Optimization Manager MySpace Laura Coltrin is an accomplished online marketing professional with expertise in social networking, search marketing, and web analytics. She has a proven track record of driving business results through boosting organic traffic, focusing on revenue-generating initiatives, and training core business units in search methods unique to their roles. Her search portfolio includes work with highprofile sites such as FoxSports, American Idol, Fox, and Scout.com. Currently, Laura is an SEO manager at MySpace.

Gina Cothey

Director of Network Optimization Yahoo! Canada

Cothey joined Yahoo Canada as director of network optimization in 2008. Previously, as director of Websearch Europe, she managed products and operations for Yahoo Search in the U.K., France, Spain, Italy, and Germany. Earlier, she optimized Yahoo’s product and monetization efforts across properties throughout Europe. In her new role, Cothey is responsible for the introduction of new online advertising and platform innovations, as well as the optimization of the advertiser experience across all Yahoo Canada properties, including search and partner networks. She holds a master’s of engineering from the University of Oxford in the U.K.

Director, Research Hitwise

Heather is a leading authority in online commerce and marketing, a result of covering the field extensively since 1997. At Hitwise, she continues her focus on the space, providing clients with insight into online consumer behavior and competitive intelligence. Heather’s expertise of the online commerce landscape has been quoted extensively in the press, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and BusinessWeek. Heather has also been a guest on ABC World News Tonight, CNBC, NPR, and CBS Radio. She speaks frequently at industry events such as Shop.org, Internet Retailer, Ad:tech, and Search Engine Strategies. Prior to joining Hitwise, Heather was with Nielsen//NetRatings as a senior retail analyst, where she provided strategic analysis and designed custom research projects. Before her time at Nielsen, she spent four years with Jupiter Research covering the online retail and commerce space, including marketing and promotions, merchandising, and personalization.

Bryan Eisenberg Co-founder Future Now, Inc.

Bryan Eisenberg is a co-founder of Future Now, Inc. (FUTR.OB), an interactive marketing optimization firm. He is a co-inventor Persuasion Architecture, Future Now’s framework for optimizing online experiences to maximize lead generation, subscriptions, and sales. He is the publisher of Future Now’s award-winning blog, GrokDotCom, a columnist for ClickZ and Forbes.com, and has authored several books and reports, including The New York Times, USA Today, and The Wall Street Journal-bestselling Call to Action and Waiting For Your Cat to Bark? Bryan is a sought-after speaker at major business conferences, including DMA Annual, Ad:tech, Search Engine Strategies, Internet World, eMetrics Summit, and Wizard Academy. He has been recognized by publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Forrester Research, Chicago Business Tribune, Inc Magazine, Entrepreneur, Target Marketing, DM News, MarketingSherpa, and Internet Retailer for his thought leadership in the critical areas of Internet marketing, online customer behavior, web analytics, and multivariate testing.

Mona Elesseily

Director of Marketing Strategy Page Zero Media At Page Zero Media, Mona focuses on paid search strategy and conversion improvement. In her career, she has significantly improved campaign performance for large brands such as Capital One, CareerBuilder.com, and Cathay Pacific, as well as medium to large retailers and high-tech B2B enterprise niches. Mona is considered by many the authority on the Yahoo Search Marketing platform. She completed the world’s only guide to Yahoo Search Marketing (a.k.a. Overture) called “Mastering Panama: A special report on Yahoo’s new search marketing platform” (August 2007). Mona is a regular speaker at marketing conferences. She’s a columnist at SearchEngineLand.com and contributes to a variety of other publications on marketing-related issues. Her industry knowledge is regularly sought after by the business community, including Wall Street analysts, and she is frequently quoted in marketing industry publications. Mona earned a B.A. from Simon Fraser University. She’s based in Vancouver, British Columbia, and enjoys West Coast activities such as yoga and hiking.

Steve Espinosa VP of Innovation eLocal Listing, LLC

Espinosa brings years of experience in Internet search, web product development, product development, multimedia, and search engine optimization. He was responsible for the development of the iZone product, the precursor to eLocal Listing’s current product offering. Based on his knowledge of SEO, video production, design, and marketing, eLocal has become a premier supplier of successful SEO and universal search optimization services to small businesses. He has consummated several major web development contracts million for large companies such as Honda and Bridal Networks.

11.6

Mark Evans Principal ME Consulting

The number of active Internet users in Australia numbered 11.6 million in January — up 42,000 from December.

Source: Nielsen Online Find out how many people use the web in each country in ClickZ Stats.

Mark Evans is a digital marketing, communications, and social media consultant who provides companies with strategic and tactical services to drive their brands, engage with customers, and increase sales. With extensive knowledge on social media, hands-on experience with three online start-ups, and 10 years as a technology journalist with two of Canada’s national newspapers, Mark focuses on delivering valuable and cost-effective insight and advice. Mark is also one of the founders and organizers of the meshU and mesh conferences. He also writes three blogs: Mark Evans Tech, Twitterrati, and All About Nortel.

Andrew Goodman

SES Toronto Chair Principal, Page Zero Media Goodman is founder and president of Toronto-based Page Zero Media, a full-service marketing agency founded in 2000. Page Zero focuses on paid search campaigns and a variety of custom digital marketing programs. Clients include Direct Energy, Canon, MIT, BLR, and more. He is co-founder of Traffick.com, an award-winning industry commentary site; author of Winning Results with Google AdWords (McGraw-Hill, 2nd ed., 2008); and frequently quoted in the business press. In recent years he has served as program chair for the Search Engine Strategies Toronto conference; all told, he’s spoken or moderated at countless SES events since 2002. His spare time eccentricities include rollerblading without kneepads and naming his Japanese maples. He also co-founded HomeStars, a consumer review site with aspirations to become the TripAdvisor for home improvement. He lives in Toronto with his wife Carolyn.

Mike Grehan

Global KDM Officer Acronym Media Mike Grehan is the global KDM officer of Acronym Media, a top 10 search agency located on the 55th floor of the Empire State Building in New York City. Mike has been involved in online marketing since 1995 and is recognized as a leading search engine marketing expert. His knowledge of conventional marketing, combined with his technical skills and understanding of search engine algorithms, has helped many top firms improve their visibility on search engines and directories. Mike is a highly sought-after search engine marketing speaker who has written multiple books SearchEngineStrategies.com § SES

Speaker Bios

Heather Dougherty

What are you searching for at SES Toronto?

I’m searching for...

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what searchers really think. Sometimes, the best keyword research doesn’t come from an online keyword research tool. The best keyword research comes from listening.

— Shari Thurow, Omni Marketing Interactive

and white papers on the subject. His second edition of Search Engine Marketing: The Essential Best Practice Guide gained plaudits from numerous industry authorities. Mike also writes as an expert for the ClickZ Network, and his personal newsletter is read by over 17,000 international subscribers. In 2004, Mike was named by E-consultancy as one of the U.K.’s top 100 influential people in Internet marketing.

Janice Hatch

Account Manager Google Canada

Janice Hatch is an account manager based in Toronto. She joined Google in 2004 and helps Canadian marketers implement advertising campaigns, optimize results and track ROI through analytics and conversion tracking. Prior to joining Google, Janice worked in technology sales. She holds a degree in history and languages from McGill University.

Tara Hunt

Author, The Whuffie Factor Co-founder & CMO, Citizen Agency Online marketing pioneer Tara Hunt is a leading authority on online communities — how they are our changing culture and how businesses can adapt effectively to this new environment. She specializes in community marketing, delighting people in the communities a company serves through product, communication, and experience. Tara is an expert in using the tools and the opportunities of the participatory web to create and improve business relationships of all kinds. She is the author of The Whuffie Factor: Using the Power of Social Networks to Build Your Business (released in April), an insightful and practical guide to connecting with the online communities that matter to your business in ways that enrich you both. She is a co-founder and the CMO of Citizen Agency, an Internet consultancy specializing in community-centric strategies around product research, design, development, and marketing. She has 11-plus years’ experience in web design, eight years in online marketing, and four-plus years of blogging (horsepigcow.com). She is a frequent speaker on the subject of marketing and community building at technology conferences, including Mesh, the Future of Web Apps, ETech, and Web 2.0 Expo. Tara was named by Fast Company to its list of the “Most Influential Women in Technology.”

Greg Jarboe

Speaker Bios

President & Co-founder SEO-PR Greg Jarboe is the president and co-founder of SEO-PR, a search engine optimization firm, public relations agency, and video production company. Founded in 2003, SEO-PR has won a Golden Ruler Award from the Institute for Public Relations and PR News, and was a finalist for SES Awards in three categories: best social media marketing campaign, best B2B search marketing campaign, and best integration of search with other media. Greg is a frequent speaker at Search Engine Strategies and is the news search, blog

SES § June 2009 {Toronto}

search, and PR correspondent for the search engine marketing news blog at Search Engine Watch. He is regarded as a pioneer and leading authority on online publicity and is a member of the Market Motive faculty, which has been called the “Internet marketing dream team.” He is writing a book, YouTube and Video Marketing: An Hour A Day, which will be published in August by Wiley.

Stacey Jarvis

Search Lead, Consumer & Online Microsoft Canada With over 13 years’ experience in search marketing, Stacey Jarvis is no stranger to search. She joined Microsoft Canada in 2007 as a member of the launch team for adCenter in Canada; for the past three years, she’s been working with the company’s search team. In her current role, Stacey oversees the Microsoft search business in the Canadian market, including product development, marketing strategy, competitive analysis, and consumer research. Previously, Stacey worked with global agencies Wunderman and Lowe Worldwide with a focus in online media, SEO, SEM, and direct and interactive relationship marketing.

Mitch Joel President Twist Image

Marketing Magazine dubbed him the “rock star of digital marketing,” and in 2006 he was named one of the most influential authorities on blog marketing in the world. Mitch Joel is president of Twist Image, an award-winning digital marketing agency. He is a board member for the Canadian Marketing Association and a former board member of the Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada. His first book, Six Pixels of Separation, will be released in the fall of 2009 on Grand Central Publishing (formerly Time Warner Books), and his newspaper business column, “New Business — Six Pixels of Separation,” runs bi-monthly in both The Montreal Gazette and Vancouver Sun.

Ken Jurina

President & Co-founder Epiar Ken Jurina has more than 10 years of experience in traditional advertising and Internet marketing. In 1993, he founded Top Draw, which has become a leading advertising, graphic design, and web development firm in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Epiar, co-founded by Ken in 2002, is an Internet marketing and search engine optimization company that has pioneered techniques merging web development technology with online marketing strategies to drive qualified traffic and sales. Ken has served as a judge at the Canadian New Media Association awards for the past four years; has spoken at Search Engine Strategies conferences in New York, Chicago, San Jose, and Toronto; and serves as co-chair of the marketing committee for the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization. Ken also plays key organizational roles for various noteworthy causes, including the Cross Cancer Institute.

Speaker Bios SearchEngineStrategies.com ยง SES

Alan K’necht

President K’nechtology Inc. Alan K’necht is founder and president of K’nechtology Inc., one of Toronto’s leading SEO, SEM, and web analytics consulting firms. He has been implementing web analytic solutions since 1996 and has provided guidance to organizations across North America, including Canada’s federal government, the U.S. Navy, Toyota Canada, media and e-commerce companies, and an array of other businesses. Through web analytics, K’necht has helped to maximize his clients’ ROI for their web-based initiatives. K’necht is an internationally-published columnist and who has spoken at conferences throughout North America, Australia, and England, and has been quoted by The Wall Street Journal, The National Post, Ottawa Citizen, CBC radio, and other publications. He first got involved in web development back in the mid-’90s, and since 2000 has focused on search engine optimization, search engine marketing, and measuring effectiveness through web analytics.

Anne Kennedy

Managing Partner & Founder Beyond Ink With nearly 40 years of experience in marketing and public relations, Anne Kennedy founded Beyond Ink in 1997 to bring the fundamental principles of marketing communications to online media. A search engine marketer for more than 10 years, she is an industry thought leader and sought-after speaker and writer worldwide. Currently, Anne represents professional SEO firms on the Search Engine Strategies (SES) advisory board, an influential group of business professionals from various industries and fields of expertise selected to propel the search industry forward. She also serves on the board of directors for Helium.com, a community of writers providing experience-based knowledge, wisdom, and creativity to publishers and readers. Barely 18 months after launch, Helium gained 110,000 writers who have published one million articles on the site. In 2001 she launched SEOnews.net to foster better understanding of the emerging search marketing platform and opportunities to a growing market of potential customers.

Cindy Krum

Speaker Bios

Founder & CEO Rank-Mobile

Cindy Krum is the CEO of Rank-Mobile, LLC. She brings fresh and creative ideas to her clients, speaking at national and international trade events about mobile web marketing, social network marketing, and international SEO. Cindy writes for industry publications and has been quoted in PC World, Internet Retailer, TechWorld, Direct Magazine, and Search Marketing Standard. She served as the co-chair of the SEMPO emerging technologies mobile web task force and is an active member of the search community. Cindy is passionate about bringing creative online marketing solutions to clients, and working with clients to develop high-level mobile and international marketing strategies.

June Li

Founder & Managing Director ClickInsight June is an online marketing optimization consultant and managing director of ClickInsight. ClickInsight works with organizations to maximize the success of online initiatives by helping customers

SES § June 2009 {Toronto}

define website goals and measure key metrics. June has over 20 years of e-business, marketing, manufacturing, logistics, and sales experience, and specializes in developing continuous improvement strategies that realize measurable results. Her diverse experience affords her a unique capability to interpret data and foster performance improvements across a wide variety of industries. June is an associate instructor for the web analytics program at the University of British Columbia, as well as an instructor for a web analytics course at the University of Toronto Professional Learning Centre. She has spoken and moderated at the Emetrics Summit and is a contributing writer to OneDegree.ca and the AIMS blog.

Anne Marie Lorriman Account Manager Outrider

Anne Marie began her digital career at Brandworks, a full-service agency, under the mentorship of one of Toronto’s well-respected digital leaders, Linda Burlison. Over her career, Anne Marie has developed and managed digital media strategies for many industry leaders, including P&G, Mercedes-Benz, Nintendo Canada, Molson, Nestle Canada, Vonage, Nikon, Primus Canada, and more. She is dedicated to helping clients achieve their business objectives and has developed a unique optimization strategy that has significantly reduced the cost per acquisition of many search engine marketing campaigns. At Outrider, Anne Marie develops clients’ paid search strategies. Her clients include P&G, TD, Manulife, Greyhound, Adoption Ontario, and George Brown College.

Gregory Markel Founder/President Infuse Creative, LLC

Gregory is recognized as a pioneer in search. His Infuse Creative company is internationally regarded as one of the premiere techdriven lead generation, e-commerce, and entertainment-focused search engine marketing companies in the world, with clients that include Pacificare, National Geographic, Prudential, Universal, CBS, EA Sports, Fox Network, Newline Cinema, Sony, Time Warner, Warner Bros., and many others, representing dramatically varying client types. Gregory began his SEO career in 1995 in the real estate website vertical as one of the industry’s first real estate site optimizers, eventually landing his SEO code on over 60,000 websites, with many still top-ranked to this day.

Ian McAnerin

CEO McAnerin Networks Inc. Ian McAnerin is the “SEM Resources and Advice” moderator for the High Rankings Forum, the “Search and Legal Issues” moderator for the Search Engine Watch forum, a DMOZ editor, and has been vetted by standards watchdogs SEOConsultants.com and SEOPros. com. He is the president and founder of the Search Marketing Association of North America (SMA-NA) and has been an election committee member and legal issues adviser to SEMPO. He is a returning speaker and moderator at the Search Engine Strategies Toronto conference, and his articles on SEO-related subjects have been published in many newsletters, magazines, and website news reports. He is a known white-hat SEO who does not spam or attempt to obtain rankings in an unethical manner. Recently, he co-hosted the China Search Marketing Tour and became a member of the board for the first Search Engine Strategies conference in China, where he also spoke and moderated.

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SearchEngineStrategies.com § SES

Speaker Bios

“On the Internet... PRWeb has the pole position.” - Fortune

Mike McDerment CEO & Co-founder FreshBooks

Mike is the co-founder and CEO of FreshBooks, planet earth’s leading online invoicing app for service-oriented professionals, freelancers, and teams. In 2003, Mike built FreshBooks for his design firm and scratched his own itch. Since launching in May 2004, FreshBooks has touched over 800,000 lives. Mike and his team dedicate themselves to being a great service for people who love their work and want to focus on it — instead of focusing on their paperwork.

Krista Neher CEO Marketess

Krista Neher is the CEO of Marketess, a marketing consultancy that emphasizes the creative use of technology and social media to grow brands online. Marketess has provided marketing solutions for Fortune 500 companies as well as startups and small businesses. Marketess brings a unique combination of traditional marketing skills and experience, technical knowledge, and creative new marketing approaches with an emphasis on online and social media marketing. Krista worked at Procter and Gamble for five-plus years in sales, finance, and marketing. While there, she worked on some of the biggest brands and on some of the largest and most successful product launches. Prior to Marketess, Krista was the VP of marketing for Photrade.com, a technology startup where she used branding, strategic marketing, technology, and social media to grow the business. Krista is an active blogger and social media enthusiast.

Kevin Newcomb

Managing Editor Search Engine Watch Kevin joined Search Engine Watch in December 2006. He has been covering search marketing and other digital marketing topics since 2004, and has been reporting on web-based businesses since 2000. Before the bubble burst, Kevin was a marketing manager for an online computer reseller, handling copywriting, e-mail marketing, search marketing, and the affiliate program. With a combination of real-world marketing experience and years of business journalism, Kevin brings to SEW a unique ability to deliver news and training materials that help search marketers do their jobs better.

Naoise Osborne

Speaker Bios

SEO Team Lead NVI

Since 2004, Naoise Osborne has worked extensively as an independent affiliate marketer, and selectively with a handful of search marketing agencies across North America. In 2006, he joined Montreal-based Acquisio Inc., an SEM software firm with an SEO and paid-search services division called Canalytics. Within six months, Naoise was promoted to director of search marketing, where he helped market the Acquisio brand in a multitude of capacities, and contributed to the software development process of the company’s flagship product, Acquisio SEARCH. In early 2008, Naoise joined NVI, the leading social media team in Canada, to focus his career on advanced SEO projects. Naoise works as the SEO team leader at NVI, managing one of Canada’s largest dedicated SEO departments.

SES § June 2009 {Toronto}

Helen Overland

Director, Search Engine Marketing non-linear creations inc. Helen Overland has been immersed in the online world for almost a decade. As director of search engine marketing at non-linear creations (NLC), a leading Canadian web development and IT integrator, Helen manages a team of SEM specialists, using creative online marketing strategies to drive significant results for enterprise and SMB organizations. Helen combines her tech savvy with her knowledge of online channels to identify innovative online tactics. Specializing in SEO, PPC, and intelligent application of emerging trends, she is experienced in maximizing campaign returns. She sharpened her skills in the trenches of e-commerce and grew revenues through the dot-com bust. In the past, Helen generated sales in excess of $500k within an $18k online marketing campaign. She continues to apply her expertise in effective web campaigns for clients such as TD Canada Trust and Tridel.

Marc Poirier

Co-Founder & CMO Acquisio Marc Poirier is a professional search engine marketing expert with more than a decade of experience in the search industry. He is co-founder and CMO of Acquisio, where he leads all marketing activities. Previously, Marc was founder and president at Canalytics, a boutique SEM and SEO agency regarded as one of the most active Google Analytics authorized consultants in the world today. Prior to Canalytics, Marc held various e-marketing management positions for technology and software companies, including Komunik, a relational marketing software vendor, and Cognicase, a Canadian leading IT consulting and systems integration firm. He also held a position as a strategic consultant at U.S.-based marchFIRST. Marc began his entrepreneurial career in 1996 while completing his cognitive science Ph.D. studies. At that time, he founded Webaxis Alliance, an interactive agency that worked on major Canadian websites such as sympatico.ca and canada411.ca.

Jeff Quipp

President & CEO Search Engine People Jeff Quipp is founder and CEO of Search Engine People Inc., one of Canada’s largest search and social media marketing agencies. Jeff has been involved in search marketing for more than a decade, and was amongst the first to foresee its role as an integral part of the marketing mix. Jeff has an undergraduate degree in economics and an MBA from Wilfrid Laurier University.

Andy Renieris

Head of Search Yahoo! Canada Search

Renieris joined Yahoo Canada in 2005 as the product manager for search to interact with the Yahoo international search team, drive product deployments, develop strategy, and execute products both globally and locally. Renieris coordinates the Yahoo search teams and provides strategic product insight, local market knowledge, and competitive analysis. He keeps the team up-to-date on market needs, and product changes and requirements. He has 10 years of experience in an international matrix environment. Previously, he was the channel manager for MSN Search, where he managed releases, functionality, and user experience.

Author The Anatomy of Buzz Revisited Emanuel Rosen is the author of the national bestseller The Anatomy of Buzz (Doubleday, 2000) and The Anatomy of Buzz Revisited (Doubleday, 2009). Prior to writing these books, he was VP of marketing at Niles Software, where he was responsible for launching and marketing the company’s flagship product, EndNote, which spread to a large extent by word of mouth. It was during this time that Rosen became interested in buzz and especially in how it can be accelerated. He started his career as a copywriter in Israel. For his work in advertising, he won the Bronze Lion from the Cannes International Advertising Festival. He holds an MBA from the University of San Francisco and lives in Menlo Park, Calif. The Anatomy of Buzz “has managed to generate quite a bit of buzz itself” as BusinessWeek Online noted. The book hit The Wall Street Journal’s business best-seller list and is available in 12 languages.

Jill Sampey

Director of Search Marketing Blast Radius Jill Sampey started designing and building websites in 1999, and has been specializing in SEO and analytics for the past six years. Having worked on a wide range of websites, from 10 to 5 million pages, B2B to B2C, healthcare portals to virtual worlds, she possesses a unique understanding of how to optimize search exposure across systems and technologies. She currently runs the search marketing discipline at Blast Radius, a strategic interactive agency, working with top innovate brands such as Electronic Arts, Nintendo, Heineken, BMW, and Roxy. Previously, she managed organic and paid search exposure for the Thomas Industrial Network, leading the design and development of their web analytics solution that’s now used on more than 6,000 websites.

Tim Schigel CEO ShareThis

As CEO of ShareThis, Tim aims to help people discover what matters through a simple, universal sharing network. ShareThis is currently available on more than 100,000 websites. Tim was previously a director at Blue Chip Venture Company, an early stage venture firm with $600 million under management. He led technology investing for a decade, investing in leading companies such as Advertising.com (AOL/TW), Nielsen Buzzmetrics (Nielsen) and Third Screen Media (AOL/TW). Before that, Tim was a technology entrepreneur and international consultant, leading innovative projects for Apple Computer, Hitachi, Hallmark Cards, Motorola, and Procter & Gamble. Tim received his B.S. in electrical engineering from Case Western Reserve University.

Erica Schmidt

Global Director of Search Isobar Schmidt helps Isobar search agencies across the globe increase revenues from search engine marketing, and she assists Isobar agencies in launching iProspect-branded SEM practices. Previously, she was client services director at iProspect, overseeing a number of client-facing search teams. 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.

Jed Schneiderman

OnLine Marketing Lead, Consumer & Online Microsoft Canada Jed is a proven leader in the traditional and new media space, with expertise in digital marketing, business development, and brand marketing. As online marketing lead, Jed is responsible for driving the business and marketing strategies for Windows’ live, search, and mobile services businesses. Previously, he worked at CTV Television Inc., where he was instrumental in launching CTV’s digital media group and launching MTV across TV, mobile, and online. Jed has also worked at several direct marketing agencies, specializing in loyalty and permission marketing, as well as Procter & Gamble and AOL Canada. He lives in Toronto with his wife and two children.

Ari Shomair

Director of Marketing Optimization henderson bas Ari is director of marketing optimization at henderson bas, Canada’s most awarded interactive marketing agency. He began his online marketing career in 1996, performing web design and search engine optimization for SMBs. Today, he is responsible for ensuring search engine friendliness on websites for many of the world’s largest brands, such as Coke, Mercedes-Benz, Nintendo, Nestle, and Capital One. In addition, Ari is a member of the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s search marketing council, and he leads the SEO roundtable at the Canadian Marketing Association’s digital marketing conference. He holds an HBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business and is a certified Google Advertising professional.

Jennifer Slegg CEO JenSense.com

Jennifer Slegg began as a freelance writer and then turned to writing content for the web 15 years ago. Having created numerous contentrich and community-based sites in niche markets, Jen is well-versed in the many ways to monetize content online. Acknowledged as the leading expert on the Google AdSense contextual advertising program and the Yahoo Publisher Network, she also writes on JenSense, a blog dealing exclusively with contextual advertising issues for publishers. Her unique style brings insight to both publishers and advertisers of contextual advertising programs. She also has her blog JenniferSlegg.com, which covers the search industry beyond content monetization — she discusses everything from link building to social media marketing success tips.

David Sprinkle

Director of Paid Search Acronym Media David Sprinkle is director of paid search at Acronym Media, a top 10 search and keyword-driven marketing agency located in the Empire State Building in New York City. With five years of PPC expertise, David specializes in improving relevance for customers from search engine results pages (SERPs) through conversion and beyond. Prior to entering the SEM world, he worked for three years in television advertising services at Video Monitoring Services. He also attended Columbia University and New School University. SearchEngineStrategies.com § SES

Speaker Bios

Emanuel Rosen

Alfredo Tan

Senior Director Yahoo! Canada

With responsibility for multiple portfolios, Alfredo leads the charge in growing Yahoo’s mobile Internet presence in Canada, through innovative products and strategic mobile initiatives with companies such as Rogers Wireless and Bell Mobility. He also leads the search marketing and search affiliate teams to ensure growth of Yahoo search, through partnerships and monetization of search traffic through thousands of Canadian SMBs. Previously, Alfredo was strategic alliances director at Sympatico MSN, responsible for media sales, business development, and strategic partnerships. Before that, he worked in enterprise marketing and strategy at Bell Canada, where he played a key role in developing and negotiating the strategic alliance between Cisco Systems and Bell Canada.

Shari Thurow

Founder & SEO Director Omni Marketing Interactive Shari Thurow is the founder and search engine optimization (SEO) director at Omni Marketing Interactive, a full-service search engine optimization, web design, and website usability firm. Shari has designed and promoted websites since 1995, and is outsourced to many firms worldwide. Clients include Yahoo, Microsoft, America Online, ABC News, HSBC, Expedia, Deloitte and Touche, National Cancer Institute, and WebMD. As a pioneer in the area of search engine-friendly website design, she has a 100 percent success rate for getting client sites ranked at the top of search engines. She is the author of Search Engine Visibility (www.searchenginesbook. com), which has been translated into French, Japanese, Korean, and Polish. Her forthcoming book, When Search Meets Web Usability, is due to be released in the spring of 2009. Omni Marketing Interactive has been featured in many publications, including The New York Times, USA Today, Fortune, Internet Retailer, and Crain’s Chicago Business.

Bill Tighe

Agency Business Development AE Google Canada Bill Tighe is an account executive with Google, based in Toronto. He joined Google in 2003 and works exclusively with leading Canadian ad agencies on national and international ad campaigns. Prior to joining Google, Bill spent five years in marketing with Molson and two years with Internet search startup WebHelp.com.

Matt Van Wagner

Speaker Bios

President Find Me Faster

Matt is a seasoned sales and marketing professional specializing in search engine marketing strategies for small and medium-sized companies in New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, and Vermont. An award-winning speaker whose presentations are usually as entertaining as they are informative, Matt is the president and founder of Find Me Faster, a search engine marketing firm based in Nashua, N.H., and an early member of the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO). He writes on Internet, search engines, and technology topics for the New Hampshire Business Review. Matt is a graduate of St. Lawrence University, Canton, N.Y. (B.S. in economics), with an MBA from Rivier College in Nashua, N.H.

SES § June 2009 {Toronto}

Miriam Warren

Director of Marketing Yelp.com Miriam is director of marketing for Yelp.com, a website that connects people to great local businesses. Previously she was the community manager for Yelp in Washington, D.C.. One of the first members of the Yelp elite squad, she’s looking forward to soon writing her 2,000th review. She cut her teeth during the first dot-com boom in San Francisco and then traveled the world solo for a year before landing at McKesson, a health care company. Miriam evangelizes Yelp and leads a team of community managers in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Toronto, and London. Miriam is an urban adventurer who lives in New York City. Read her reviews and learn more at miriam.yelp.com.

Amanda Watlington Owner Searching for Profit

Amanda Watlington is owner of Searching for Profit, a search marketing consultancy focusing on the interaction of the consumer with businesses, using search engines, RSS, blogs, podcasting, or other new media to deliver their messages. An industry thought leader and an internationally-recognized speaker, Amanda has led sessions on search marketing, web strategy, and social media at Search Engine Strategies, Webmaster World, Ad:tech, and DMA. She shares her views of where search marketing is headed on her blog, Blogs and Feeds, and as a blogger for Search Engine Watch.

Dan Zarrella

Social Media & Viral Marketing Scientist Dan Zarrella

Dan combines his web development and programming capabilities with a passion for social marketing to create applications like the social URL shortener Votrs.com. His “Link Attraction Factors” report helped readers determine which topics, days, times, and keywords attract links in social media stories for semantic content optimization, while his “Viral Content” report details the motivations, preferences and habits involved in online content sharing. Dan has written extensively on the science of viral marketing and social communications and has been featured in Forbes, Wired, The Wall Street Journal, and TechCrunch. He currently works as an inbound marketing manager at HubSpot.

Richard Zwicky Founder & CEO Enquisite

Richard has been involved in search marketing for 10 years, starting in the late 1990s. He started in the industry by managing the online campaigns for his own successful e-tail operation, which quickly led to developing Metamend, a leading search engine optimization firm that he co-founded in 2000. As CEO, he managed and led the optimization campaigns for web properties ranging from SOHOs to Fortune 500 sites. He split Metamend and Enquisite into separate companies in 2006, as Enquisite’s services are designed for use by any SEO and SEM. Today, he leads Enquisite, which recently released its first products. Richard focuses on helping search marketers manage campaigns more easily and with greater success. He believes in long-term successful campaigns that are built from the ground up, and are never caught flat-footed by shifts in search engine algorithms or by regional variances in search user behavior.

San Jose 2009

New York 2010

Chicago 2009

Toronto 2010

Aug. 10-14 San Jose Convention Center

Dec. 7-10 Chicago Hilton

London 2010 February 16-18 Business Design Centre

March 22-26 Hilton New York

June 1-3 Sheraton Centre Toronto

2009 Training Workshops & Forums New York, June 16 Dallas, Oct. 12 London, Aug. 10 Berlin โ ข Nov. 24-25 New York, Sept. 9

Speaker Bios

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glossary advertising network: A service where ads are bought centrally through one company, and displayed on multiple websites that contract with that company for a share of revenue generated by ads served on their site. algorithm: The technology that a search engine uses to deliver results to a query. Search engines utilize several algorithms in tandem to deliver a page of search results or keyword-targeted search ads. anchor text: The clickable text part of a hyperlink. The text usually gives visitors or search engines important information on what the page being linked to is about. click through rate (CTR): The rate (expressed in a percentage) at which users click on an ad. This is calculated by dividing the total number of clicks by the total number of ad impressions. CTR is an important metric for Internet marketers to measure the performance of an ad campaign. content network: A group of websites that agree to show ads on their site, served by an ad network, in exchange for a share of the revenue generated by those ads. Examples include Google AdSense or the Yahoo Publisher Network. contextual advertising: Advertising that is targeted to a web page based on the page’s content, keywords, or category. Ads in most content networks are targeted contextually. cost per action (CPA): A form of advertising where payment is dependent upon an action that a user performs as a result of the ad. The action could be making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or asking for a follow-up call. An advertiser pays a set fee to the publisher based on the number of visitors who take action. Many affiliate programs use the CPA model. cost per click (CPC): Also called pay-per-click (PPC). A performance-based advertising model where the advertiser pays a set fee for every click on an ad. The majority of text ads sold by search engines are billed under the CPC model. cost per thousand (CPM): An ad model that charges advertisers every time an ad is displayed to a user, whether the user clicks on the ad or not. The fee is based on every 1,000 ad impressions (M is the Roman numeral for 1,000). Most display ads, such as banner ads, are sold by CPM. geo-targeting: Delivery of ads specific to the geographic location of the searcher. Geo-targeting allows the advertiser to specify where ads will or won’t be shown based on the searcher’s location, enabling more localized and personalized results. Googlebot: Google uses several user-agents to crawl and index content in the Google.com search engine. Googlebot describes all Google spiders. All Google bots begin with “Googlebot”;

SES § June 2009 {Toronto}

Below you will find commonly-used terms that every search marketer should know. Keep this list handy throughout the week! A

for example, Googlebot-Mobile: crawls pages for Google’s mobile index; Googlebot-Image: crawls pages for Google’s image index. inbound link: An inbound link is a hyperlink to a particular web page from an outside site, bringing traffic to that web page. Inbound links are an important element that most search engine algorithms use to measure the popularity of a web page. invisible web: A term that refers to the vast amount of information on the web that isn’t indexed by search engines. Coined in 1994 by Dr. Jill Ellsworth. keyword: A word or phrase entered into a search engine in an effort to get the search engine to return matching and relevant results. Many websites offer advertising targeted by keywords, so an ad will only show when a specific keyword is entered. link bait: Editorial content, often sensational in nature, posted on a web page and submitted to social media sites in hopes of building inbound links from other sites. Or, as Matt Cutts of Google says, “something interesting enough to catch people’s attention.” link building: The process of getting quality websites to link to your websites, in order to improve search engine rankings. Link building techniques can include buying links, reciprocal linking, or entering barter arrangements. meta tags: Information placed in the HTML header of a web page, providing information that is not visible to browsers, but can be used in varying degrees by search engines to index a page. Common meta tags used in search engine marketing are title, description, and keyword tags. pay per click (PPC): See cost per click (CPC). quality score: A score assigned by search engines that is calculated by measuring an ad’s clickthrough rate, analyzing the relevance of the landing page, and considering other factors used to determine the quality of a site and reward those of higher quality with top placement and lower bid requirements. Some factors that make up a quality score are historical keyword performance, the quality of an ad’s landing page, and other undisclosed attributes. All of the major search engines now use some form of quality score in their search ad algorithm. return on investment (ROI): The amount of money an advertiser earns from their ads compared to the amount of money the advertiser spends on their ads. search advertising: Also called paid search. An advertiser bids for the chance to have their ad display when a user searches for a given keyword. These are usually text ads, which are displayed

above or to the right of the algorithmic (organic) search results. Most search ads are sold by the PPC model, where the advertiser pays only when the user clicks on the ad or text link. search engine marketing (SEM): The process of building and marketing a site with the goal of improving its position in search engine results. SEM includes both search engine optimization (SEO) and search advertising, or paid search. search engine optimization (SEO): The process of making a site and its content highly relevant for both search engines and searchers. SEO includes technical tasks to make it easier for search engines to find and index a site for appropriate keywords, as well as marketing-focused tasks to make a site more appealing to users. Successful search marketing helps a site gain top positioning for relevant words and phrases. search engine results pages (SERPs): The page searchers see after they’ve entered their query into the search box. This page lists several web pages related to the searcher’s query, sorted by relevance. Increasingly, search engines are returning blended search results, which include images, videos, and results from specialty databases on their SERPs. social media: A category of sites based on user participation and user-generated content. They include social networking sites like LinkedIn or Facebook, social bookmarking sites like Del. icio.us, social news sites like Digg or Reddit, and other sites that are centered on user interaction. spider: A search engine spider is a program that crawls the web, visiting web pages to collect information to add to or update a search engine’s index. The major search engines on the web all have such a program, which is also known as a “crawler” or a “bot.” title tag: An HTML meta tag with text describing a specific web page. The title tag should contain strategic keywords for the page, since many search engines pay special attention to the title text when indexing pages. The title tag should also make sense to humans, since it is usually the text link to the page displayed in search engine results. universal search: Also known as blended, or federated search results, universal search pulls data from multiple databases to display on the same page. Results can include images, videos, and results from specialty databases like maps and local information, product information, or news stories. web 2.0: A term that refers to a supposed second generation of Internet-based services. These usually include tools that let people collaborate and share information online, such as social networking sites, wikis, communication tools, and folksonomies.

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