aimClear® Search Marketing Blog

The types of marketing conversations that dominated #SESNY 2011 demonstrated a turning-point of analytic maturity for the industry. From the complexities (to some, futility) of attribution modeling, to the advertising implications of Do Not Track legislation, to borderline existential discussions of user intent & behavior, it’s easy to forget just how far our interpretation of web analytics have evolved. Some analytics packages and logfile analyzers (such as IPRO) will be turning 17 along with Justin Bieber this year. Just because we’ve gone from summing “hits” from a single web page to cross-channel user attribution, are we beyond revisiting the basics for refreshed perspective?

In the session Introduction to Analytics at Search Engine Strategies New York, we looked at differences between the core technologies of analytics, uses, as well as advantages & drawbacks of each. Don’t let the “Introductory” angle of this session’s title fool you. Elementary essentials of analytics were addressed, but there were deep technical chestnuts that would pique the interest of even seasoned marketing vets. Read on for a recap of the insightful discussion. Read the rest of this entry »

Day #2 at #SESNY picked up after lunch with a great opportunity to scream, cry, learn, prepare, & group hug. Whether your [website's] bottom was sore from a recent Google-spanking (warranted or not), you wanted to prepare for a future inevitable spanking, or just wanted to know what the hell people meant when they kept referring to farmers & panda bears, Search Engine Strategies‘ Search Engine Watch Round Table Special tackling Panda: The Aftermath was a way-worthy discussion to check out.

The SEW panel featured Jonathan Allen, Director, SearchEngineWatch, Danny Goodwin, Associate Editor, SearchEngineWatch and Frank Watson, CEO, Kangamurra Media. With  Mike Grehan, Chair SES Advisory Board, Global VP Content, SES/Search Engine Watch/ClickZ as moderator, the quartet discussed last month’s massive update the Google algorithm, now infamously referred to as Google Panda (or Farmer). Panda’s double-wave algo’ change, rolled out only in the U.S., was intended to eliminate content farms & crappy content in general from the Google index. But many victims of the update  claim their clean-cut white-hat sites were still spanked. With vengeance. aimClear live-tweeted this animated chat. Read on for shimmering highlights. Read the rest of this entry »

Day 2 at #SESNY kicked off with a groundbreaking keynote. But wait. Let’s rewind. Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of interviewing Paul Lima of Lima Consulting on the topic of Digital Marketing To Latino Users. The Q&A was an eye-opening peek at the opportunity represented by the growing online Hispanic market, and a serious appeteaser to the inaugural launch of the Focus Latino track at Search Engine Strategies New York.

The keynote was introduced & moderated by Mike Grehan, Chair SES Advisory Board, Global VP Content, SES/Search Engine Watch/ClickZ, Carlos Vassallo, CEO, LatinVision Media Inc., Carlos Manzano, Executive Director, Latin Media & Entertainment Commission, City of NY, and Paul Lima himself. Mark López , Head of U.S. Hispanic Audience, Google, took the stage for the main event, which was jam-packed with awesome stats about Latino users. Oodles of them live below the fold, in addition to a hearty helping of takeaways from the follow-up session, Reaching Latinos through SEO, presented by Rafael E. Hernandez, Sales Manager, AudienceScience and Matias Perel, Founder and CEO, Latin3. aimClear live-tweeted both of these fascinating sessions. Read on for the goodies. Read the rest of this entry »

Day 1 of #SESNY wrapped up with sweet, petite, brutally-honest Noran El-Shinnawy, Internet Marketing Manager with Acquisio. Her first order of business was to address the forbidden term: “Voldemort” “Social Media Expert” (or “Social Media Guru”… *shudder*)… a term that seems to worm into way too many Twitter bios. Noran’s two cents:  ”All that term means is that you’re unemployed & unemployable.” (She also used a naughty word to describe such people, which I will not repeat here.)

Harsh. But true-ish! It’s quite the feat to be expert in an area that’s still very much in its infancy; moreover, most self-proclaimed “social media experts” don’t know jack about real marketing. Social media ain’t just sunshine & pussy cats. There’s a very real marketing aspect that requires attention to metrics, reporting, testing. Attendees at Noran’s solo presentation on Social Media Metrics were in for a crash course in how to track social media metrics like an expert a rockstar. Read on for the full scoop. Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome to Day 1 of #SESNY! Whether your company’s goal is to make a trillion friends or a trillion dollars, a solid SEM strategy is a serious cornerstone of success. Consider it the well-balanced breakfast of champion marketers. A healthy blend of organic, paid, contextual, and conversion optimization (plus, of course, two scoops of raisins and a strawberry toaster pastry) can help pave the way for an effective, measurable search marketing campaign. Day 1 of Search Engine Strategies New York kicked off with an array of rad panels, but for attendees hungry for super-actionable takeaways, the 6 Strategies For Superior SEM Results session was a supreme choice.

Wpromote’s Michael Mothner and Michael Stone took the stage to share client case studies and specific examples that demonstrated the 6 strategies. The #1 goal? Dish out piping hot brain-chow that can be “immediately implemented to improve the results of your online marketing efforts.” (The special bonus surprise? Gummi Hamburgers for everyone in the audience. Pretty sweet menu.) aimClear live-tweeted this session. Full coverage lives after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »