Have you heard that it’s important to “optimize your content for search engines” – but you have no idea how to do it? Do prospects visit your site and leave without buying? Now, you can take control of your site – and learn the secrets to creating top-positioned Web content that informs, engages – and makes your company money!

Even if you’re not a copywriter or a “techie,” you can learn how to create persuasive, high ranking SEO content for your business. The training is split into two parts: How-to, and hands-on:

How-to: Learn the proven SEO copywriting best practice secrets the pros know. We’ll cover topics like:

• How you can use free tools to target money-making keyphrases.
• Wondering what to write about? Easy ways to find article ideas.
• 3 places where your content should always contain keyphrases
• Proven ways to help your existing content position better in the engines.

Hands-on: The afternoon training gets hands-on and personal, giving you a chance to apply what you’ve learned from the morning’s training. All attendees will be walked through step-by-step SEO copywriting exercises. With plenty of time for Q & A, it’s like receiving your own private training for the low price of a seminar.

As an exclusive incentive, all attendees will receive a free, three-month subscription to Success Works’ SEO Copywriting Certification program – a $599 value – which features eight in-depth learning modules, twice-monthly Q&A group conference calls, and access to all archived events!

Bring your laptops to this fun, fast-paced training!

Instructor: Heather Lloyd-Martin, CEO SuccessWorks
When: September 15th, 2010
Where: Bellevue, WA
Hours: 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Save $200 until September 7, 2010 with coupon code SEOTRAIN. Sign up now!

SEO Copywriting for Businesses: Tips, Techniques and Real-World Strategies, September 15th is a post from: SEMpdx

Bend WebCAM, the mind-blowing Web, Creative and Marketing conference scheduled for September 30 – October 1, 2010 has added yet another amazing speaker to its already stellar line up. Jason Bagley, Creative Director on Old Spice’s world-famous “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” campaign has been confirmed as a keynote speaker on Thursday, September 30 at the Tower Theatre in downtown Bend, Oregon.

As a Copywriter and Creative Director for Wieden + Kennedy in Portland, Bagley has helped transform Old Spice from a stale, forgotten brand, to one of the most loved products in America among men 12-30. The last 11 Old Spice commercials produced by Bagley and his team have averaged over 6.2 million YouTube views each. And since its launch in February, “the Man your man could smell like” campaign has generated more than 1.4 BILLION impressions for the brand, including 130 million video views! The first-of-it’s kind Old Spice social-media response videos generated and unheard of 23 million views in just 36 hours. To top it all off, the campaign recently won an Emmy-award, beating out several spectacular commercials.

Presented by Pixelsilk and hosted by the Ad Federation of Central Oregon, the Bend WebCAM serves up a superfreaking boost for the logical and practical (geek) side of your brain, as well as the creative and emotional (chic) side, with some of the nation’s most influential geniuses in web marketing, social media, SEO, creative, design and brand development.

“We already had a world-class collection of speakers lined up from some of the top agencies, brands and SEO consortiums,” said Cam Davis of Wordplay and Co-Director of WebCAM Programming. “Bringing in Jason, who’s been involved in everything from the casting of the instantly famous Old Spice spokesman to the incredible special effects to the writing of the social media campaign, makes this one of the premier conferences in the country, if not the entire planet. Being there is simply a no-brainer.”

In addition to Bagley, the Conference features keynote speaker Mike Geiger, Chief Digital Officer at Goodby Silverstein & Partners; some of the West’s creative and marketing All-Stars; and a virtual Who’s Who list of SEO and Social Media experts. Breakout sessions will be led by Cal McAllister & Ian Cohen, Julie Beeler, Scott Cowan & Randall Schoonover, David Mihm, Kent Lewis, Vanessa Fox, John Andrews, Shari Thurow, Bill Hunt, Jeremy Sanchez, Andre Jensen, Paige Perdue & Sarah Kotlova, and Jill Whalen.

Last, but definitely not least, a special History of SEO keynote panel will feature industry pioneers, such as Bruce Clay, Adam Sherk, Jim Stob, Disa Johnson, Marshall Simmonds, Meg Thompson and Derrick Wheeler.

Rounding out the conference will be the highly popular Brew-Ha-Ha social gathering at The Blacksmith, the 5th edition of Ignite Bend, an entertaining collection of eclectic Powerpoint presentations, and the highly popular Hot Seat website critique.

Now is your last chance to take advantage of generous Early Bird registration discounts. Until Monday, August 30, admission to this amazing event is just $160 for AdFed Members (a savings of $30 off regular prices) and $250 for Non-members (a savings of $40 off regular prices).

A full conference agenda, detailed speaker information and registration are available at www.bendwebcam.com. If you don’t click there right now, you’re out of your superfreakin’ mind.

Last Chance to Catch Early Bird Savings For Bend WebCAM! is a post from: SEMpdx

July’s SEMpdx networking event promises to be a good one, as we try out a new venue. There’s no charge to attend this one, and no “education” beyond that which you’ll get from hobnobbing with the smartest internet marketers in Portland.

Where:
The Hop and Vine
1914 North Killingsworth Street
Portland, Oregon 97217

When:
Tuesday July 20 – 4:30pm to 6:30 pm

If you’re a Facebook member, you can read a little bit about them here but if not, you’ll have to get more information here.

There’s no charge to attend, and we hop to see you there!

July 2010 Networking Event is a post from: SEMpdx

SEMpdx Social Networking Rooftop Party 2010

Attention advertisers, marketers, PR pros, online gurus, tech geeks, social media rock stars and search engine marketers! Join us Tuesday, August 10th for a fabulous evening of drinks, hors d’oeuvres, live music and social networking on the roof of Hotel deLuxe in downtown Portland.

Location: On the roof of Hotel deLuxe

729 SW 15th Ave, Portland, OR
Date:Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Time: 5:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Cost: $12

Networking:

The SEMpdx annual Rooftop Party promises to be the most talked-about networking event of the year. Not only will you be on top of one of Portland’s most luxurious and exclusive hotels – you’ll also be on top of the latest developments going on at the most innovative marketing associations in the Pacific Northwest!

Our friends from the following organizations will be attending as well:

• American Marketing Association (AMA)
• Portland State University: Multimedia Professional Program
• Social Media Club
• Oregon Entrepreneur Network (OEN)
• Public Relations Society of America (PRSA)
• Oregon Creative Industries (OCI)
• Oregon Columbia International Association of Business Communicators (OCIABC)
• Software Association of Oregon (SAO)

This event is pre-register ONLY. Sorry: NO WALK-UP REGISTRATION will be allowed. Unregistered individuals will not be admitted at the door. Registration will close on Tuesday, August 10 at 12:00 p.m.

Secure your registration for this exciting event today! We look forward to seeing you there!

Live Music:

We are very excited to have a live band this year! The local band Donerail will be performing throughout the evening. Donarail’s unique sound is based on the fundamentals of classic rock, with the fresh spin of indie rock, punk and country.

Sponsors:

The Online Marketing Institute (OMI), in association with Wharton Interactive Media Initiative, is an education-focused, career development organization offering marketers accreditation in the various fields of online marketing. OMI’s curriculum of case studies, best practices, peer validation and trend analysis is delivered to students via workshops, webinars, seminars and online learning channels. OMI’s education program was built in conjunction with leading universities, research firms and associations to give marketers market-tested practical knowledge that can immediately benefit their careers. OMI’s courses are available to the general public.

OMI is the educational sister entity of the Online Marketing Summit (OMS).

EngineWorks is an innovative data-driven Internet marketing company headquartered in Portland, Oregon. We provide sophisticated interactive services that enable businesses and organizations of all sizes to be found through search engines, content sites, and social networks.

Founded in 2005 by Internet marketing veterans, our professional company offers affordable services that dramatically increase the return on your interactive investment. Our core team of seasoned experts acquired their search marketing acumen by successfully founding and working at several of the world’s most established interactive marketing companies.

Register Today!

SEMpdx Social Networking Rooftop Party 2010 is a post from: SEMpdx

SEMpdx will be heavily involved at the eMarketing Summit at Innotech

• We’ll be presenting a panel called “The Future of Search” at the eMarketing Summit on May 5
• We’ll have a Site Lab booth at the eMarketing Summit and in the Innotech exhibitor area
• We are co-hosting the SoMe awards

If you haven’t already – sign up! The event is next week. Here’s more information

eMarketing Summit @ InnoTech

“The Evolution to Digital Marketing”

May 5-6, Oregon Convention Center
www.emarketingsummit.com for information and registration
Price is only $126 (normally $149) and includes two full days of the summit, luncheon presentation, InnoTech Conference, expo & receptions.  During registration use EMS20AT in the Discount code field for the lower price.

The 5th annual eMarketing Summit meets in Portland, OR this year, and brings together over 170 marketing & business professionals.

Featured Luncheon Speaker, Thursday, May 6

hosted by AMA – Oregon Chapter

-          Southwest Airlines Online Spokesperson & Emerging Media Specialist, Lindsay Reynolds

Additional Topics Include:

- Top 10 Extreme Social Media Promotion Hacks – 2 Hour Social Media Workshop

- Mobile Marketing Five Can’t-Miss Mobile Marketing Trends For 2010
- Future of Search Panel – Hosted by SEMpdx
- Doing Analtyics Right: Understand Your Goals, Measure Contextually & ACT!

- The Science of Greater Online Lead Generation
- Location, Location, Location” — A Crash Course in Geo-targeted Search Engine Marketing
- and much more.  Information and details at www.emarketingsummit.com or www.innotechoregon.com.

2^nd Annual SoMe’ Awards –

The SoMe’ Awards – The NW’s Social Media Awards is also happening the evening of May 6 at the MAC Club.  Register at www.someawards.com.  Cost is only $20 and includes two drinks, networking and dessert.  Hosted by Social Media Club of Portland, SEMpdx, TMMpdx, SAO and InnoTech.

Don’t Miss the eMarketing Summit at Innotech is a post from: SEMpdx

Portland Code Camp and SQLSaturday Portland (http://portlandcodecamp.org/) are pleased to announce that these events will join together on Saturday, May 22, 2010 at the University of Portland. These free, community-driven mini-conferences emphasize learning through sharing among the local development community, and have become quite popular in the Portland area. Having the events at the same venue at the same time will allow participants to explore a greater variety of topics.

Portland CodeCamp has traditionally been an event where software developers working with the Microsoft stack of development tools could attend sessions and network amongst their peers. SQLSaturday started as an event where SQL Server DBAs could attend sessions, network, and expand their knowledge of the SQL Server environment. The realities of the larger development community are that no single product, vendor, technology, architecture, or approach has a lock on ‘the solution’ to ever increasing complex business requirements. As a result, Portland CodeCamp and SQLSaturday Portland have combined and expanded their scope in order to better serve the larger development community.

Portland CodeCamp is reaching out for significant interaction and inclusion with developers that work in the Mobile, Social, Cloud, and Gaming arenas –as well as the more traditional business problem solutions. SQLSaturday has expanded to include not only T-SQL, but PL/SQL, PostgreSQL, MySQL, and any SQL platform –with a special interest on interoperability between platforms and developer tools.

Speaking Opportunity

Expected attendance at Portland Code Camp 2010 is over 500 software technical people from our region. These range from seasoned professionals from major technical corporations, to students and programming newbies. Some of these have an interest in learning how to develop search engine friendly Websites. You have the opportunity to help them learn.

Designing for Search Engines 101 is in demand. As an SEO or SEM you have probably been limited by the capabilities of the Website, calculating shopping cart ROI for example. This your opportunity to speak to any SEM/technical issue you feel may benefit this community.

If you want to speak, you go to their website sign up as a speaker, add your profile, then submit your session idea. If you are not sure what people will like, I recommend offering several ideas. They will select the one(s) that they want and get back to you. Deadline to submit is May 3rd.

Portland CodeCamp and SQLSaturday Combine Events in 2010 (SEO Speaking Opportunity) is a post from: SEMpdx

April 13, 2010 – For this month’s event, SEMpdx held its first annual members-only appreciation night.  With a panel of four experts, members had the rare opportunity to ask a host of questions on all things search related.  And if the valuable information learned wasn’t enough, great prizes were handed out throughout the evening.

The first piece of insider advice came from Anne Kennedy, Beyond Ink and Joblr, who discussed mobile marketing.  In an arena where every network provider has a different way of setting things up, it can be a daunting task to create and implement your strategy.  Kennedy pointed members where to look for help in achieving a competitive advantage through this wireless technology.

Many questions raised were related to social media.  Kent Lewis, of Anvil Media, gave his recommended sources for determining social media KPIs.  He went on to discuss Twitter and LinkedIn strategies, providing his own LinkedIn account as a case study.  When the proper time is invested, LinkedIn has the potential for becoming a company’s best lead generator.  Adam Audette, of AudetteMedia, shared ways search engines are adapting to social media and how we can optimize link equity.  He also offered successful blogging advice to complement your website.

Define Search Strategies’ Matthew Brown discussed effective ways to ensure integrated marketing in your campaigns.  Many companies lack consistent messaging when running an advertisement and miss out on countless conversions.  By aligning your traditional and digital media, campaign performance will thrive.

The evening ended with insightful suggestions for all search marketers in our ongoing efforts to improve and stay ahead of the curve.  If you’re not an SEMpdx member, join now and benefit year-round!

Members Appreciation Night – April SEMpdx Event Recap is a post from: SEMpdx

Attention search engine marketers, web designers, developers, digital strategists, PR rockstars and social media mavens! The SEMpdx board would like you to join us for an evening of social networking!

When: Tuesday April 20th, 2009 at 5:30pm – 7:00pm
Where: Rontoms 600 E Burnside, Portland, OR 97214
Cost: Free!!!

SEMpdx April Networking is a post from: SEMpdx

March Event: Social Media Smack Down is a post from: SEMpdx

We’re not being anal-retentive…analytics matter.

Speakers:

Eric Peterson – Web Analytics Demystified

Aaron Gray - Greater Returns

Moderator:

Hallie Janssen

LiveBlogger:

Kim Toomey of Anvil Media, a Search Engine Marketing (SEM) Agency

Session Details:

Eric Peterson kicked off this session with a top-down approach to web analytics for your organization.

Web analytics fails marketers for a number of reasons:

• It’s a complex technology. Many enterprise level analytics platforms are not inherently user friendly and require complex training to make them work for you.
• We’re afraid of numbers. And math. But also the terminology used can be confusing. We have to sort out the difference between visitors and daily visits vs. monthly visits and unique visitors and clicks! Oh my.
• There are always some unknowns to analytics. Some things we still cannot account for. The analytics industry as a whole is working to remedy this, but that’s going to involve things like math and more complex terminology.
• We don’t have enough time/energy/enthusiasm.

So how do we solve these problems you ask? Because web analytics IS IMPORTANT! (Can I get a Hallelujah?!)

The answer is to take a top down approach, meaning…

• Organize your output – piles of excel spreadsheets are useless. Make the data relevant and understandable for you and your team/boss.
• Evaluate your tools. Not any one analytics tool will do everything you want it to. It won’t. Figure out what you need to find out from your data and then get the right tools for the job.
• Balance your investments. Peterson recommends taking a 50/50 approach to tools and people. 50% of your budget on tools and 50% on people to manage those tools. *If you’re using a free solution, pretend it cost you money. Peterson guarantees that if you slap Google analytics on your site and don’t invest any other resources to manage/report, then you won’t have a successful analytics strategy.

Your analytics reporting should ultimately be providing you with insights not data. Please refer to my own rendition of what I will call “Peterson’s hierarchy of analytics value”

And in recap – Google analytics is free/awesome/wonderful/FREE!

But, it doesn’t do everything, so again – find all the tools you need based on your goals and use them. When done right, analytics results can be awesome.

Our second speaker, Aaron Gray took a Bottoms up approach to Analytics.

The tools and technology that you use collect behavior data ultimately. These tools really need to be used to optimize your business and understand your customers (again, going back to the pinnacle of web analytics strategy – that data should ultimately provide business recommendations).

You can’t manage what you don’t measure. And you can’t get better as a business without managing your efforts. So you better be measuring. Your business and website goals should drive your analytics strategy. This is the only way you’ll be able to improve your value contribution to the overall organization. And think of not only improving the value you are adding but even proving your value, and the value of the activities you are managing.

A quick vendor cheat sheet for you (just a few – most of these guys are pretty well known)

• CoreMetrics – great for retail
• Unica – newer player gaining marketing headway
• Woopra – started out as a blog monitoring tool, but has evolved to much more
• OneStat
• Clicky
• VisiStat

There are four basic buckets of things to be looking at within your analytics strategy:

• Traffic & Audience Analytics
• Voice of Customer
• Infrastructure
• Community Measurement

Make sure you are connecting conversions to marketing. Traffic is pretty useless  - focus on value generation.

There are two ways to really use your analytics data, look back or look forward.

If you’re going to look back, use your data to understand what works & what didn’t and then optimize your existing marketing efforts from those learnings.

If you’re going to look forward and do some predictive modeling, use your analytics data to determine the response and spend required to meet your goals. If you know existing conversion rates, you can determine how many more visitors you need to increase your total conversions/sales/leads. Then you just need to figure out the best way to grow your traffic.

Here is a link for the workback waterfall demonstration that Aaron did on predictive modeling: http://bit.ly/DeckerBullseye

The key takeaway from Aaron’s presentation was to focus on your goals and ensure that your analytics is reporting and providing insights on your progress towards achieving those objectives.

Measuring Online Success (Analytics) SearchFest 2010 Session is a post from: SEMpdx