aimClear® Search Marketing Blog

#SMX Advanced, accelerated arm of Search Marketing Expo, is always a welcome addition to aimClear’s June calendar. This past week in Seattle marked one heck of an installment, drawing together tech luminaries like Bruce Clay, Addie Conner, Christine Churchill, Rand Fishkin, Vanessa Fox, David Mihm, and many more. For two jam-packed days we attended top-shelf sessions, panels, and keynotes, not to mention rad networking events spanning the online marketing spectrum.

The aimClear team enjoyed attending a variety of sessions this go-round.  Read on for a synopsis of  the conference,  key session takeaways & additional links to comprehensive coverage. Read the rest of this entry »

Newsflash from #SMX Advanced Seattle, 2011! There’s more to Local SEO than claiming your business page on Google. Local SEO pros David Mihm, President, GetListed.org, Mike Ramsey, President, Nifty Marketing, and Will Scott, President, Search Influence know this, and they geared up for the final session at SMX Advanced to share Hardcore Local SEO Tactics of their own.

Under the lead of moderator Matt McGee, Executive News Editor, Search Engine Land, & Rhea Drysdale, Co-Founder & CEO, Outspoken Media, Inc. on Q&A, this one a must-attend event for businesses looking to beef up their local SEO. Let’s take a look at the full effect, eh? Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome to Day 2 of #SMX Advanced! The social side of search. Is there anything sexier? Stefan Weitz, Director at Bing and SEL’s Danny Sullivan sat down for a “fire side chat” to discuss, among other things, this very amalgamation. But before the candid Q&A, Stefan thoughtfully examined the significance of making the Internet, ergo search, more social(able). Peppered with best practices, neat statistics, actionable tips, and noteworthy takeaways, Stefan’s morning keynote was a stimulating way to kick off the last day of sessions here at #SMX. Read on for the full scoop. Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome back to aimClear’s coverage of #SMX Advanced! Let’s be honest – by and large, ours is a culture fixated on instant gratification, real-time engagement, the here and now. In such a fast-paced world, it’s no surprise we leverage shorthand vernacular where we can. From OMG to LOL to IITYWIMIWHTKY, we’ve got an acronym for everything. Likewise in an industry where every character counts, the online marketing realm has its fair share of abbreviations from SEO & SERPs to blogs & WYSIWYGS to PPC, CPA, and ROI to CPC vs. CPM. Many chic geeks (present company included) are well-versed in such vocabulary. But as far as “SoLoMo” goes? It’s one of the NKOTB.

As well it should be! The term was only recently coined by Kleiner Perkins internet visionary, Mary Meeker. She’s already begun referring to the next five years as the era of “SoLoMo,” or Social, Mobile, and Local for you n00bz out there (present company included…), and she’s not alone. This powerful intersection represents a serious market revolution to some, a natural evolution of the industry to others. Regardless of the perceived degree of influence, it is noteworthy statistic that for the first time ever, smartphones and tablets are outselling personal computers, emphasizing the fact that people want to be online now, instantly, without lugging themselves over to the other side of the room to boot up the ole’ family PC.

A stacked panel consisting of Kelly Gillease, VP Marketing, Viator, Jennifer Grappone, Partner, Gravity Search Marketing, Daniel Lemin, Founder & Principal, Social Studio, Mac Ling, Director, Mobile, iCrossing, and Nicola Smith, VP, Business Development, Performics, not to mention moderators Greg Sterling, Founding Principal, Sterling Market Intelligence and Michael Martin, Senior SEO Strategist, Covario, Inc. were ready to examine this behemoth trend as well as the opportunities and impact it carries for marketers.  Read on for an in-depth look. Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome to #SMX Advanced 2011! The science of SEO. It’s a code everyone and their mother has been trying to crack since the dawn of organic rankings. Just when we think we know the elements to a success by way of SEO, something changes, wanes in significance, or gets added to the mix. The traditional chemistry between optimized titles, tags, anchor text, on-page content et. all are no longer the only players in the petri dish. The social side of the user experience is gaining some serious traction, and factors such as merchant reputation, user reviews, content quality and social signals are becoming increasingly vital to healthy SEO.

Matthew Brown, Founder, AudienceWise, Duane Forrester, Senior Program Manager SEO, Microsoft, Jeff MacGurn, Director of SEO, Covario, and Jamie Steven, VP Marketing, SEOmoz took the stage on the morning of #SMX Advanced 2011, ready, willing, and eager to tour the audience through The New Periodic Table Of SEO. Moderated by Search Engine Land’s Editor-in-Chief, Danny Sullivan, and Jeff Ferguson, CEO, Fang Digital Marketing, together we donned our proverbial lab coats and goggles, and saddled up to get scientific about SEO. Read on for the full scoop. Read the rest of this entry »