There were three successful Search Engine Optimization Site Clinics at The DMA's ACCM Boston 2007. The attendees were treated to tips from our experts Heather Lloyd-Martin of SuccessWorks, Matt Bailey of Site Logic, Amanda Watlington of Searching For Profit and myself, Detlev Johnson of PositionTech. Stephan Spencer of NetConcepts managed an appearance for a time at the end of the last panel, where the loyal attendees showed appreciation and interest all the way to the end.
Issues that we were able to cover included the importance of writing great titles - not just for search engines, but for all the other places HTML titles are used; by the operating system and the browser software. Tips for keywords, descriptions and keyword research were given throughout the panels. Other tips included writing style for engaging your search audience to improving conversions by finding common barriers and offering our tips for overcoming common objections that lead to more sales.
Attendees asked engaging questions and showed their considerable bravery bringing their Web sites to us for feedback. People always come back for more valuable interaction. Some of the sites suffered techincal problems for indexing, and we worked through the questions in a very useful way with the site owners. For example, there was a moment of emphasis on guided navigation which can be really cool if it is done without sacrificing your search engine visibility. Learn how to shorten those URLs!
One thing we explored with one or two of the sites was feedback about how multiple domain ownership can lead to problems with search engines and how you can still protect your domain branding space while not causing problems with search engine guidelines. Got microsites? You may want to make sure you aren't violating search engine guidelines with them.
If you get the chance to visit a Search Engine Site Clinic at the next event you attend, be prepared to enjoy the session learning not just about your own site if you allow us to review it, but also from other site reviews since much of the advice works for common problems many face. You might share an issue with another attendee and the perspective from search engine experts can lead you to think again about how your site is set up.
There were even tips for a site that used to enjoy a number one listing which has slipped a bit and the owner wants to get back on top. You always get great advice about Search Engine Optimization which includes specifics about how to write excellent HTML titles, descriptions and keywords. When you've got an expert in the room, you can even ask highly complex problems and chances are we've seen it and fixed it for others. Bring your notes back to the office and increase those rankings.
See you at the next one!
Best,
-detlev
Comments