Among the top 7 changes that have occurred in local is the importance of Google+.  It’s amazing to consider that Google+ Local is just under a year old.  Aggressive changes continue to roll out and now more than ever, brand plus location is paramount regardless of your company size.  Help Google help you by implementing rel=publisher and rel=author tags and imbedding your map from My Places.

Another big change in Local Search is with Google’s backend.  Google Map Maker has decreased the amount of time it takes to review and it’s also improved the quality.  And believe it or not, reporting a problem to Google actually works now.  In all, it’s much easier to clean up data problems.

David closed the evening by sharing two process suggestions for improving time management: assign fundamental tasks to the agency and high return projects to the client.

If you’re not an SEMpdx member, join now and benefit all year!

The original post is titled Annual Members Only Event Recap , and it came from SEMpdx .

WEBSITE DESIGN
Whether you are looking for sleek, captivating and enticing – or fun, bright and image rich, Exults can build a custom website that delivers your company’s message clearly. Our innovative team of designers will create a professional and organized website that allows your clients to learn about your brand in an effective and concise manner in a heavily saturated market. Stand out in a sea of sameness with an individually constructed and customized website designed by Exults.

SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING – ORGANIC SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION (SEO) & PAY PER CLICK MANAGEMENT (PPC)
Exults skillfully employs the use of analytical and quantifiable tactics to increase both Organic SEO and Pay-Per-Click positioning which is critical for gaining visibility and qualified traffic to your website. As a Google AdWords Certified Company, Exults expertly organizes and structures Pay-Per-Click accounts by arranging geographically targeted settings, creating relevant ad copy content, and generating bidding strategies that deliver results. Exults focuses on capturing qualified traffic from both Pay-Per-Click and Organic Search Engine positioning that will deliver both leads and sales to strengthen a business’ core.

SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGEMENT
A strong presence on social networking sites is imperative for creating brand recognition online. Regardless of your type of business, customizing and sponsoring pages on social media sites such as Facebook, Google Plus and Twitter, are extremely beneficial and important to your online marketing mix. Exults will help you create and maintain a dynamic social media presence that accurately reflects your business, provides original content to engage new clientele, expands your market and attracts new fans to your brand.

The original post is titled David Steinberg , and it came from SEMpdx .

Ryan began by quickly reviewing several important elements for ROI including tracking codes, CRM, custom data source and universal analytics.  From there, he dived in to some of the latest measurement strategies and tactics you can use to understand the results of your SEM efforts.  One integral strategy is personalizing the site experience.  Keywords, landing pages and other data will show you visitors who were interested in your product or service but didn’t buy anything.  Based on the data you collect, you can then re-target to these visitors.

Three key areas where inaccuracy can come back to bite you are self referrals, non-qualified visitors (e.g. jobs, investors, internal) and conversions on 3^rd party channels.  The data is there, so take advantage of your analytics to prevent these mistakes.

Amanda walked us through a quantitative approach to building personas.  The 3-phase process – research, consideration and decision – taps in to the expectations of your customers so you can determine the types of people coming to your site.  Tools such as Yahoo Clues and Google Trends provide insights on how to keep site visitors more engaged.

Once you’ve built your personas, design your website accordingly.  Implement, test and analyze for PPC landing pages and ad copy, home page re-design, and blog and social content.  You should also review your persona-based site paths and evaluate specific content pieces by persona type.

The original post is titled Google Analytics for Pros Recap , and it came from SEMpdx .

Cat Adoption Team’s 30,000th Adoptee!

SearchFest 2013 drew hundreds of attendees from near and not-so-near to absorb tips & expertise on a wide range of search marketing topics from a distinguished cluster of expert speakers.

But there were a couple of other special attendees, as you might have noticed – ones with fur and claws and cute little faces that seemed to say “adopt me, adopt me!”

They were a little nervous due to the crowds (I’ve been known to be a bit shy among strangers too) but they were a big hit with attendees, many of whom stopped by to visit with Chomper (pictured at the top of this post with Theresa Brown who adopted him recently) or Candy Cane who was also recently adopted.

In fact, Chomper was Cat Adoption Team’s 30,000th adoption!

So why were there cat’s at SearchFest 2013? – I forget to mention that Cat Adoption Team (C.A.T., get it?) is our Charity of Choice this year.

Kathy Covey

Kathy Covey is currently the PR Manager for C.A.T. and she recently sent me this update on how things went at SearchFest & after:

“Monte Cristo was the first to be adopted, even before SearchFest – quite literally just a few days prior but after I built the SearchFest cat web page and we started talking about him.

“That is what happens and why social media can be so powerful for adoption of pets. I firmly believe that when you start talking about a pet for adoption, getting others involved in the conversation, something goes out into the ethers if you will and the person destined to adopt that pet is drawn in.

“Chomper was one of the kitties who made a short appearance at SearchFest with Candy Cane. He was the very nervous black cat who was very startled with all the clapping. Chomper became our 30,000^th adoption on Friday! (March 15, 2013)

“Candy Cane went home pretty quick after SearchFest (again that magic). He was very outgoing and we just knew it was finding the right person who would accept that he was FIV+ (feline immunodeficiency virus). Candy was the one we brought on stage. He too was terrified of the clapping but otherwise is a super confident kitty.

“Curry, a 13 year old cat with a huge attitude, found her special person as well. We were concerned for Curry. Being 13 years old and not liking cats meant that she really did not put her best “paw” forward here in the shelter. She was cranky and stressed (being around other cats).  Jennifer saw past that and took her home. Here’s the e-Tails article I did on Curry prior to her adoption.

“The two who are still waiting are Scion and Simba. They are buds/sisters in fact and it would be terrific if they could go to a home together.

Scion

“Scion is shy and will need a gentle hand to gain confidence. Perhaps that’s why having her stay with Simba, who is a very outgoing gal, will be best if possible. They are “sisters” who lived together prior to coming to CAT.

“This pair was given up to us by their owner and have been waiting for over a year to find a new home. They are not very old (just a little over 2 years) and are quite affectionate. If I had to guess why they were still here at CAT….. it would be because we really would like them to go to a home together.

Simba 

“Every Tweet or social post about these cats will put them one step closer to the person who will adopt either or both of them.

“Of course, if SEMpdx members and fans prefer black cats, or white cats, or tortie cats, visit our cat & kitten adoption list and pick your favorite to promote, we won’t mind.

“The more folks who see what great cats we have available and how wonderful a pet cat is, the better.”

As our Charity of Choice for 2013, SEMpdx will be contributing 10% of our organization’s proceeds to C.A.T. as well as some of our Board Members donating time to do PPC, SEO and Social.

Adopt me. Now.

And, we’re also covering the cost of adoption during the month of March – so if you’ve been thinking about having a furry feline friend around the house, there’s never been a better time.

And how can you resist a face like this?

Cat Adoption Team
14175 SW Galbreath Drive
Sherwood, OR 97140

503-925-8903
contactus@catadoptionteam.org

The original post is titled SearchFest 2013 Feline Attendee is 30,000th Pet Adoption , and it came from SEMpdx .

Before diving in, always begin by looking at the big picture and decide where conversion rate optimization fits in.  Calculate the revenue equation (Revenue = Traffic  x  Conversion Rate  x  Value of Conversion).  It’s important to focus on each component equally.

Once you’ve looked at the big picture, work through the following seven steps to increase your site’s conversion rate:

1)      Who are our site’s visitors?  Build customer personas, focusing on psychographics rather than demographics.

2)      What are they trying to do?  Continue building customer personas in this step.  Differentiate between primary and secondary personas.

3)      What do we want them to do?  Define KPIs based on your business objectives.  Configure both macro and micro conversions in analytics.

4)      What’s preventing them from doing it?  Look at analytics and user feedback.  In analytics, ensure goals are configured and the correct tracking is installed.  Figure out which page is the problem.  When gathering user feedback, continue to focus on the data.  Tools such as FiveSecondTest, UserTesting.com and Lucky Orange provide great insights into users.

5)      Develop a hypothesis to fix it.

6)      Test.  Don’t get hung up on the tools.

7)      Repeat steps 4 – 6.  What else can we do?

After working through these steps, go back to the big picture.  Calculate the revenue equation with your new numbers and reinvest the extra revenue in traffic.

The original post is titled Conversion Rate Optimization Recap , and it came from SEMpdx .

View slide deck from event

When:
Tuesday, April 9th, 2013 - 5 pm to 7 pm

What:
Learn what you need to do to accurately measure your SEM, how to interpret the analytics data you have to surface meaningful insights about your SEM initiatives, and discover how SEM data can provide insights in to the behavior of your search visitors.

Where:
AboutUs – 107 SE Washington Street, Suite 520 – Portland, OR 97214

Who:
Amanda Bernard | ISITE Design
Amanda Bernard has over 8 years of experience in multimedia marketing and advertising including digital marketing and traditional media. As Director of Digital Marketing at ISITE Design, Amanda works with clients helping them build and utilize effective strategies for paid, organic, and social marketing channels.

She also works with clients to ensure that one continuous targeting strategy flows effectively from demand side marketing to the capture side user experience. Amanda has a digital marketing background that includes SEO, Paid Search, Social Media, PR, Advertising, Online Marketing, and developing cutting-edge marketing strategies across multimedia platforms for brands like KinderCare, Oregon Health & Science University, Planar Systems and the University of Oregon.

Ryan Summers | ISITE Design
Ryan Summers works with clients leading them through Day2′s digital optimization framework. Analytics and optimization can seem daunting task to many organizations, but Ryan excels at asking targeted questions that lead to effective measurement strategies, which are themselves the foundation of effective, ongoing optimization strategies.

Ryan lends his analytics talents to develop pay-per-click, search engine marketing, site optimization, and implementation strategies for industry leading brands in healthcare, higher education, e-commerce, and travel. Prior to joining ISITE, Ryan worked for Webtrends and Symantec to provide analytics support. Ryan is also an active member of Web Analytics Wednesday, a national analytics group.

The original post is titled April 2013 – Google Analytics for Pros , and it came from SEMpdx .

The original post is titled Sherry Genauer , and it came from SEMpdx .

When I was asked last summer to give the link building presentation at SearchFest this year, I was initially excited, and my plan was to share some really juicy stuff, and we were going to have an interactive session where people would actually leave with some links that day.

In the ensuing months though, after continually getting the cr*p kicked out of my own affiliate sites by the Penguin algorithm,  I’ve had to seriously reexamine my whole philosophy.

At the link building panel this year, there will be no presentations, and instead, we’ll have an honest discussion about what has become of link building in 2013 and where it’s going in the future.

The panelists for this session have done their share of ‘pushing the envelope” over the years, and in some cases they’ve pushed too hard too, and all have agreed to openly share their experiences and opinions.

Got Questions?

Have you got questions about certain tactics? Do you need sound and reliable advice? Are you baffled trying to figure out how to make things rank now that anchor text is a no-no?  If so, this interactive session is where you’ll get the answers you need.

The panelists:

Michael King -
is a software and web developer turned SEO since 2006. He is currently the Director of Inbound Marketing at iAcquire. He’s also a international touring rapper.

Follow him on twitter @ipullrank or at his new blog – The Best Practice

Will Scott -
is the founder and President of Search Influence. Will Scott has been helping small businesses get online since 1994 – that’s right, 1994 – before most people even knew there was an Internet. Since then, Will has been focused on making information more accessible online.

… and I’ll be asking the questions you submit, throwing in some of my own, calling on the audience, and  sticking my own two cents in as usual!

Scott Hendison -
is the CEO of Search Commander, Inc. and the founder of SEO Automatic, a set of white label internet marketing tools for WordPress.

As a founding board member of SEMpdx, Scott has been working in some aspects of the search industry since as early as 1999.

Put these three on the hot seat and submit your questions  now so they’ll be the first ones addressed before we go to the microphones.

(Yes, anonymous questions WILL be answered)

The form has been removed as of 7:30 am 2/22 – Show up to ask your questions!

The original post is titled SearchFest 2013 Linkbuilding Questions , and it came from SEMpdx .

Building A Foundation
The first step in developing an effective SEO+PR strategy is to create a dedicated News Room – a dedicated resource for the media and analyst community. Typically consisting of FAQs, backgrounders, press releases, event calendars, awards & recognition and links to coverage, the online News Room is a one-stop shop for the press, yet it also provides value to prospects, customers, partners and peers. The 3.0 News Room may include “socialized” elements including a dedicated PR-focused blog, social profiles and even rich media content like webinars, images, audio, video and a Google News Sitemap. Don’t forget to enable your News Room with social “share” buttons for all relevant content, since social signals are a key factor in rankings (and certainly improve viral shareability). Over time, it’s also advantageous to develop a library of blog posts, articles, presentations and even books that validate your commitment and industry credentials. Those truly interested in building “pundit” or “guru” status should understand and maximize Google’s AuthorRank.

Developing A Story
Without complete synergy between the SEO and PR teams, creating and promoting compelling content can be challenging. Google news & trends are the natural places to initiate story research and development, as both offer insights into keywords and concepts essential to any successful search and PR campaign. Once an idea is formulated, the next step is to conduct detailed research to identify industry influencers across publications, blogs and the social graph. While keyword and directory research may create an initial list of candidates, thorough vetting of individual and organizational credibility (PageRank, Klout, etc.) is recommended to help refine and tier your list. Once you’ve finalized your list, leverage knowledge of their personalities, areas of interests (or beats) and previous writings (which may include competitor mentions) to formulate a compelling “pitch.” If direct outreach may not be ideal or effective, consider leveraging your network or the community by seeding forums or blogs with key messages and supporting content to foster a groundswell of support. Continue to facilitate conversation even after the initial goal is achieved (i.e. coverage, link or citation), as long-term relationships are the backbone of effective PR programs.

Building Authoritative Content
Beyond building a well-designed News Room and conducting regular outreach to your targeted media list – a truly successful SEO+PR campaign includes regular development of foundational content including press releases, articles and speaking engagements. To ensure proper momentum with PR activities, create, optimize and syndicate press releases on a monthly (or otherwise appropriate) basis. Press releases can still be effective at generating visibility in news search engines and social media, which in turn helps fuel inbound links, even if they do not directly result in coverage. For maximum visibility, consider utilizing a paid service like PRWeb to distribute the press release, and include rich media elements like photos, audio or video. Paid services offer more advanced reporting beyond basic distribution, including views and clicks. To maximize visibility on industry publications and blogs, become a regular guest contributor. If you’re internal team lacks the bandwidth or skills to regularly produce timely articles, consider hiring a freelancer or even an industry pundit (budget and regulatory issues aside). Lastly, submit for relevant speaking opportunities, as they not only build industry visibility and credibility, but also generate high-quality inbound links from bios and session abstracts on event sites. The same is true for industry awards and certification opportunities.

Securing Authoritative Links
Regardless of the level of diligence surrounding initial research and message crafting, at the end of the day, a SEO/PR campaign’s success ultimately relies on the quality of the “offer” which may vary based on the topic, business, objective and messenger. More than a decade ago, I worked for a consumer electronics e-retailer and quickly realized I could not compete with Best Buy’s marketing muscle. In order to compete for awareness, links and traffic, I sent sample product to key influencers for review and promotional purposes. In one case, I sent two digital cameras to Chris Pirillo – one to give away to as a partner promotion and another to “review” (which we did not ask him to return). The result was exposure to hundreds of thousands of potential buyers through the review and giveaway, and ultimately tens of thousands of dollars in sales (tracked through affiliate links). Alternative offers that have a similar ability to gain attention include limited trials, product demos, special contests or promotions. Companies lacking the ability to discount or give away product are relegated to creating compelling, unique content the target influencer would be happy to share (think Red Bull Stratos). When the “earned media” approach fails to produce a desirable link, consider securing strategic sponsorships that offer inbound link opportunities (often with a greater level of control over anchor text and link destination).

Measuring Success
The traditional PR measurement model, which I learned about early in my career, focused on the equivalent advertising value of coverage (usually in column inches of ink). Conversely, traditional SEO measurement models focused on rankings for targeted terms and resulting traffic to a website. Both fall short of more compelling goals like an ability to effectively generate qualified leads or sales. Somewhere in between, consider measuring the quality of links (PageRank) and direct traffic from those links (via analytics and marketing automation). To maximize the impact of all your hard work, do not forget the critical last mile: syndicate all optimized PR content (press releases, articles, rich media, etc.) via social and other marketing channels, including any resulting coverage. Remember to “vote” for your SEO/PR content on third party websites via social share buttons. For bonus points, also track citations/mentions and analyze sentiment to truly understand the overall impact of your SEO+PR efforts.

By following the five steps outlined above, you will see a meaningful increase in quality inbound links, resulting in greater industry visibility, authority and ultimately revenue. As an SEO+PR professional who’s built an entire digital marketing career including 4 businesses and 2 organizations with this approach, I can tell you it works quite well.

Related Articles
How to Become a Social Media Guru in 3 Easy Steps
SEM PR – When Search Engine Marketing Meets Public Relations Part 1 and Part 2
Online Reputation Management: Seven Strategies to Build Your Brand

The original post is titled Five Steps to Generate Search Engine Visibility, Authority and Quality Links via Public Relations , and it came from SEMpdx .