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Mel66
Lisa an introvert?!? She always struck me as Miss Outgoing! I guess you never know.
Great tips, Lisa. Planning ahead and scheduling meet-ups before you leave town are two great tips. This way you will fill at least some of your down time and usually will meet more than just the person you set out to meet. Attaching to an extrovert is also great advice. I did this a few years ago when I was new in the industry, and it helped me meet enough people that now I am the one introducing newbies to others! It is hard to approach the big names in search, but remember they are just folks like the rest of us. I have found very few people who are aloof - most are glad to sit and chat and share knowledge - and introduce you to other big names in search!
This was the best presentation at SMX Advanced, IMHO. Very practical and informative. David already knows this ;) but I thought I'd point this out to the rest of the Sphinn crowd.
This would be funny if it weren't true. Yikes. Yahoo, WTF are you thinking?!?
1. Now that the Yahoo deal is a no-go, what plans does MS have to improve adCenter and their paid search program? The current interface is painful to use; traffic is quality, but very low; etc. Are they going to step up their efforts to compete? Or are they going to take another run at Yahoo or maybe another 3rd tier engine like Ask?
What's running thru my mind is, "Does Jerry know where to find the shift key?" ;)
@JDrankings: I think the lack of good title tags and meta descriptions is definitely a contributing factor for a couple of our clients. We're in the process of improving those on the client sites in hopes QS improves as a result.
Nothing earth-shattering in this post, IMHO. I read it and thought, "well, duh - any PPC professional could have told you that." Then again, it is a good example of the fact that you can't take CTR and other stats at face value - you have to look at the whole picture.
I (ahem) did this once, by accident. I had exported a campaign from AW Editor to Excel, then copied and pasted the entire column of keywords back into Editor - including the column header, which is "Keyword." Caught it the next day. It *was* pretty funny - but could have been disastrous if I hadn't noticed it as soon as I did.
This is why it's critical to look at your PPC results every single day, folks! I saw referrals in our analytics on the keyword "keyword" and knew something was amiss.
Melissa
Story: Google Maps don't show Dick
I have to agree with ukdaz and Derick. I thought Sphinn was supposed to be a way for anyone involved in SEM to submit articles they think are interesting and useful - not to be another popularity contest and "searcharazzi" forum.
I don't mind the basic articles. Often they serve as good reminders of what we all should be doing, but sometimes forget. The ones I skip are "Is Matt Cutts really a lolcat?" or "Rand Fishkin really screwed up by recommending XYZ directory" or "Gee, don't we all love Danny Sullivan?" No offense intended to any of these guys -- my point is, I personally don't care or have time for things like lolcats and who saw who at the bar at SES. What I do have time for is SEM articles that'll help me do my job better. Whether they're written by an A-list blogger or another unknown like me doesn't matter - if it's good, useful content *for me,* I'll Sphinn it. If not, I skip it and move on.
I think there is something for everyone at Sphinn and that's what makes it interesting. Turning it into a "who's who of search" and discouraging "unknowns" from posting will make it much less appealing, IMHO.
Melissa
Story: The SEO Invasion of Facebook
Good article, Todd - it was enough to get me off the fence and go sign up...
Melissa
Great article! We struggle with the same issue. It's a fine tightrope to walk.
Melissa
Networking is important, because many of us in-housers are the only one in our organization working with search. Therefore, some level of networking is essential in order to keep up with trends in the search industry. It's also really valuable for sharing ideas, especially with those in non-competing businesses.
danperry's ideas are good - conferences, forums, blogs, LinkedIn, etc. are all great ways to meet other in-house SEMs. There is a lot to be learned from agency folks, too, so don't count them out!
Melissa
It's brilliant marketing. They took what amounts to a "Grease for the 21st century" and made it into one of the biggest tween phenomenons yet. HSM2 is getting just as much buzz - not bad for a follow-up.
My 10-year old daughter is counting down the days till August 17 when HSM2 debuts.
Story: The Introverts Guide to Conference Networking