ThinkVisibility is a refreshing change from the corporate SEO conferences like Search Engine Strategies and SMX.
I have added a short summary for each talk I attended and have now embedded the presentations. The best ones to watch out for are:
Kudos to Dom Hodgson for putting this event on in Leeds to attract the active SEOs / digital marketers in the North of England. I went to Uni in Leeds, so it was nice to go back and nicely laid back since it was Saturday (although getting up was a struggle).
OK, here's the tips I picked up:
Great analogy for flowing link juice from Tim Nash "€“ performing with leaky buckets and then bungs the holes up to represent the "nofollow" "€“ a great way of explaining to marketers who haven't encountered the concept.
Blogger Chris Garrett has (of course) a list of 25 SEO for blogging / traffic building tips. Can't face typing all of them since it's Saturday, but Number 1 is getting in early and regularly commenting on influential blogs read by your audience. Related, commeting on forums can get good direct traffic and so subscribers.
Chis is a fan of guest blogging and interviews - I find the interviews are a popular feature on my blog and newsletter through my monthly E-marketing Excellence column. And yes it's does get back links. If you think you can help other marketers learn about any aspect of digital marketing then contact me to setup an interview.
Money making blogs don't make money! Instead write on something you have a passion for. Affiliate Al writes gadget blogs amongst others - Coolest Gadgets - a good example of an affiliate blog and finds Diggs works well for this audience, for example a front-page Digg gave 20,000 visitors.
Although admits he outsources a lot, in fact nearly all articles
Likes Q&A and we have a good discussion:
Someone asks for top 3 revenue sources for his blog:
1. Affiliate marketing (these continuing to work)
2. AdSense (but falling from £1500 a day last year)
3. Chitika - similar to AdSense but better rates and images included.
Will also approach merchants to sell ads directly.
Has experimented with Facebook ads without much success. Get's clicks but they didn't convert. Or FB will switch off ads if they don't like them.
Admits he is very dependent on SEO and big G, but insulates this through having email and RSS subscribers - Coolest Gadgets has over 70,000 feed subscribers.
Problogger job boards are the best place for writers for Al.
Secret of pro affiliate marketing is "mud slinging" - tries lots of ideas and see what sticks - more have failed than been successful.
A break from the SEO (although it's about eyetracking can help improve SEO and Google AdWords).
Guy has a great promotional calculator for eyetracking costs (starting at £4,500). Simple Usability have an impressive client list, reckons they and Bunnyfoot are the best options in the UK. So Simple Usability good if you want to look at a Leeds-based supplier.
No surprises that recognition of browser / page <title> s within the natural search results pages are important, but I liked Guy's take that many <title>s are written for SEO keyword density rather than having a conversation with the searcher - that's important too.
Not a fan of Nielsen's F - pattern - depends on the design.
Has nice examples you can see on their YouTube channel
Nice quote about AdWords:
"No point in buying AdWords keywords if the words aren't on the page"
Visitors to page:
Simple Usability have a YouTube Channel of eyetracking videos where you can see the technique if you haven't seen it:
Finished with nice story about "content fairy" - the mythical person who is going to create content - always someone else!
Wanted to keep it interactive, so super-short newbie tips:
Rule #1. 25% is site design and site structure and even re-engineering, etc.
Rule #2. Content, content and more content - make it useful for the visitor.
Rule #3. Link quality - one quality link is worth many crappy links
Gave lot's of great examples and mainly wanted to Q&A.
Random SEO Tips:
.
This was in the side-room but packed - should have been in main room.
Reputation Management - Tom Critchlow's Talk from Think Visibility
Tom's presentation covered what is sometimes called "negative SEO" - combatting problems like Ryanair having prominent negative terms for a brand search. Obviously don't do the bad stuff - but that's tricky. Contacting site owners by phone can work also.
But the best approach is an inverse approach to SEO - getting new content on independent sites. A brand almost certainly has top one or two slots in the SERPs. Here are Tom's tactics:
Will help to point links at some of these - use your authority to boost these.
Also need to look at related or navigational brand terms, e.g. Ryanair price, Ryanair customer service, Ryanair reviews.
Another approach is "SERP replacement" - if the negative post is on a blog or forum, try to obtain another, positive example on the other site.
Problems to watch out for are Wikis and newspapers which are difficult to displace, but you may be able to add internal links through forums posts and profile pages to more positive pages.
For some pages a copyright infringement may http://www.google.co.uk/dmca.html
If all else fails, buy links from a known paid-link network or silver bullet site (although Tom didn't condone this).
I've been told by the conference organiser I need to put links into everyone I blog about, so follow - Blogstorm - I follow it via Twitter.
Need to link-build everyday
Patrick had a nice trust/authority pyramid, ideas:
A. TrustRank links
Get on top 10 niche blogs in your niche
Get on mainstream
B. PageRank Links
Need to get these to product or category pages so you rank better for these
C. Keyword Links
Aim here is to get keywords in your anchor text.
Can use niche directories
Recommend's not buying links unless last resort. But if you buy links, don't admit to it... Approach site owner directly, but check they remain focused/trustworthy.
Gives GoCompare example - had to contact all link owners before they were allowed back in. This can be tricky if you have outsourced SEO.
Also talked about Linkbait - nice 4 steps:
1. Create a list of link-targets - top blogs and those who link to them.
2. Determine what they write about and why they link to people, e.g. www.engadget.com only writes about breaking news.
3. Write article/create tool.
4. Let them know by email or phone.
In many sectors need to get in fast. Send tips to sites like TechCrunch - not necessarily yours - they may credit you. If you break a story your post is favoured due to QDF - query deserves freshness, but after a while different backlinks may change this.
Final tip:
Turbo-charge your links - get other related tips
Need to head home now - great day - thanks!
I also had a chat with Joanna Butler - sad to miss her "Advanced Google Analytics talk";
Think Visibility - Advanced Analytics - Joanna Butler
Here's a couple of other talks I missed you may be interested in:
By Katie Lips
Moving to Mobile: Simple Strategies for SMEs
By Dirk Ginader
By Dave Chaffey
Digital strategist Dr Dave Chaffey is co-founder and Content Director of online marketing training platform and publisher Smart Insights. 'Dr Dave' is known for his strategic, but practical, data-driven advice. He has trained and consulted with many business of all sizes in most sectors. These include large international B2B and B2C brands including 3M, BP, Barclaycard, Dell, Confused.com, HSBC, Mercedes-Benz, Microsoft, M&G Investment, Rentokil Initial, O2, Royal Canin (Mars Group) plus many smaller businesses. Dave is editor of the templates, guides and courses in our digital marketing resource library used by our Business members to plan, manage and optimize their marketing. Free members can access our free sample templates here. Dave is also keynote speaker, trainer and consultant who is author of 5 bestselling books on digital marketing including Digital Marketing Excellence and Digital Marketing: Strategy, Implementation and Practice. In 2004 he was recognised by the Chartered Institute of Marketing as one of 50 marketing ‘gurus’ worldwide who have helped shape the future of marketing. My personal site, DaveChaffey.com, lists my latest Digital marketing and E-commerce books and support materials including a digital marketing glossary. Please connect on LinkedIn to receive updates or ask me a question.
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