Local/Mobile Strategies & Tactics Chris Silver Smith of Argent Media Local and Social: Trends and Tips for Growing Your Business Google Local Rankings 2012 Now over 200 Ranking Factors used Human ratings of webpages included Humans perform varying levels of local listing verifications too. Classic SEO elements still effect local rankings: Title, description meta, domain name, image alt text, keywords in text, etc. Categories that Influence Local Ranking Factors Relevance: Read more [...]

January 10, 2012 – This month’s event began with a discussion on mobile search.  Before delving into optimization strategies, Scott Fish, from ethology, shared several mobile trends to emphasize its growing importance and relevancy.  Among them were two points that especially stood out: 1) Mobile is everywhere.  Literally.  In fact, 39% use the internet on their smart phone while using the restroom. 2) Mobile drives a response.  88% of people looking for local information take action Read more [...]

Come hear a tremendous lineup of speakers. Network. Learn new growth strategies. From the ambitious start up to the well-established corporation, local businesses know they’ll find growth insights, strategies and inspiration at the first annual BizGrowth Expo. Don’t miss the Portland Business Journal’s BizGrowth Expo 2011. When: Thursday, July 21, 2011 7:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Where: Oregon Convention Center How Much? Regularly $99, but SEMpdx members can get 20$ off their admission, Read more [...]

October 12, 2010 – Spicing it up with kegs and a different venue, SEMpdx returned this month with another stellar event.  Speaking to a full house, Portland’s own local search expert David Mihm shared the latest strategies and tactics in ensuring your company runs a successful local search marketing strategy. David began by listing a few statistics, perhaps the most notable being that local search currently captures 20% of the total search volume.  As we watch local displace organic in search Read more [...]

Local Search SearchFest 2010 Session Up-to-date strategies for achieving prominence within Local Search listings. Speakers: Mary Bowling – SEOverflow Matt McGee – Small Business SEM Chris Silver Smith –KeyRelevance Moderator: David Mihm Liveblogger: John McPhee of Anvil Media, a Portland SEM agency Session Details David Mihm has taken the stage to discuss the important stuff, cocktails after the session. OK, now the real introductions… Mary Bowling starts first. Local search Read more [...]

SEMpdx has partnered with CMD, Oregon's largest multi-disciplined marketing agency, and specifically with the agency's earned media group, to help further promote and raise SEMpdx’s profile. CMD has been a front runner in developing best practices for how to incorporate social media and search within PR efforts for its clients, such as Cisco Systems, NW Natural, Intel and JELD-WEN, inc. In fact, the agency's PR group recently changed its name to CMD's earned media group, which better reflects Read more [...]

Dr. Don Schultz, Ph.D. from Northwestern University and Agora, Inc, will be presenting here in Portland in four hour session called MEdia Generations: Media Allocation in a Consumer-Controlled Marketplace. Media planning is a dramatically different marketplace i.e. "push-pull" - which has developed as a result of the current economic situation. come explore what we've earned from the BIGresearch data about consumption by consumers and customers in both good economic times and bad. Find out Read more [...]

Presenters: Greg Hartnett Best of the Web, Mary Bowling seOverflow.com, & Matt McGee Small Business SEM Local search became an emphasis in January 2008 and has increased in frequency since. Greg: Local Link Development #1 thing to be concerned with in local search (and search engines in general) is inbound links. The best method for building a link development plan is competitive analysis - viewing strategies of sites who rank higher. Great first step is directory listing. For Read more [...]

I just wrapped up 4 days of blog coverage for Search Marketing Standard at SES New York. You can read about the 16 sessions I attended online, and check my personal blog for additional color commentary. All-in-all, the event was good. Since I first attended SES in Boston, I've noticed the event has changed along with the industry. For starters, the overall energy level has waned as the SES appeals to a more broad and corporate audience. Back in the early days, you could sense the nervous energy Read more [...]

Entire Day 2 Agenda All Speakers and Bios This day seemed more devoted to "advertising", and there seemed to be even more sessions that were just company showcases. Again, I've whittled it down to only what I felt most useful below, and I did not leave anyone out intentionally. Session 1 Analyst Highlights and Results of Kelsey/comScore UGC Survey Brian Jurutka, Senior Director, comScore Moderator: Stephen T. Marshall, Director of Research and Senior Analyst Brian Jurukta - Interesting Read more [...]