Is Your Event Website Optimized?

Arran Coole, ASP Inc Dave Lutz, Velvet Chainsaw

Stephen Nold, MeetingTechOnline

Agenda

Intro to SEM/SEO 1

SEO/SEM Case Study2

Top 9+ SEO Tactics for Events3

How to use your keypad

• After you read the question• Press appropriate corresponding

button to your answer (1,2,3,4 etc)• Your current answer will display on

keypad• You can change your mind as long as

you hear music

Which of these categories best describes your organization?

1. Association2. Independent Show Organizer3. Facility or CVB4. Supplier or other

Audience Response #1

How would you best describe your organizations adoption of SEO/SEM?

1. Good content, linking and analytics strategy2. Work in progress…fast follower3. Just getting our feet wet4. We’ve heard it’s a good idea

Audience Response #2

Ground Rules

ASKQuestions

Cell Phones OFF

Keep ?’s Relevant

To all

NO Speeches

Do NotRun with Scissors

NO VendorPlugs

Simple RulesSimple Rules

Share yourexperiences

Your new front page:

Am I Google biased??

• Of 12 Billion U.S Searches in July 2008 61.9% were made in Google [Source: Search Engine Watch]

• Google beats Yahoo ~ 3 to 1[Source: Search Engine Watch]

• There are an estimated 20 billion web pages indexed by Google(Source: ASP)

• On average everybody in NA with access to the internet searches Google once a day.

SEO vs. SEM

SEO• organic search results• mass content approach• optionally free• long term results (slow)• more cost effectiveAlways should be used - Free

SEM•paid for results•focused campaigns•paid for (click or placement)•immediate results•more expensiveLaunch shows & new URL’s during visitor promotion campaign

The SEO Goal

To get as many pages indexed by the search engines, with the most relevant content, that is most useful for your event’s target audience, so they repeatedly visit your website

SEO is like Chess

•Minutes to learn the basics•Years to master•Just to make it harder

–Some of the rules are secret–Each search engine is different–Billions of other players!

Alan Eustace, a Google VP of search engineering announced in 2006 that there are over 200 signals that Google uses to determine document relevance for a searcher.

Hmm, Chess is easier!

200 in 2006!Q: How many now?

ASP’s SEO Approach

• It’s impossible to figure out the ultimate SEO strategy as the rules are too complex and change constantly• Holistic approach instead:

–What is Google trying to do?–Google wants to be #1–Google will stay #1 by giving the best results–That means:

Google Empathy

• When you make a search on Google, Google must find the most relevant answerto your query to remain successful• Holistic approach:

– Don’t cheat– Don’t spam– Have loads of great content– Apply all the basic SEO techniques

SEO Areas

Marketer can control• Content (keywords)• Page Titles• Images ALT tags• External linking• Internal linking• Domain name• Social SEO• PR SEO

Web Dev can control• Code structure• Flexibility• Enforcement• Design• Page structure• Submittal

Has your organization tried using PPC advertising?

1. Yes, we have and it appears to be working.2. We’ve trying it, but the jury is still out.3. Haven’t tried PPC yet.

Audience Response #3

Google Analytics MeetingTechOnline.com

Google Analytics MeetingTechOnline.com

Google Analytics MeetingTechOnline.com

Google Analytics MeetingTechOnline.com

Google Analytics MeetingTechOnline.com

Launched Newsletter Monthly to 2 weeks Launched MTO Summit

Google Analytics MeetingTechOnline.com

Google AdWords

Is your organization leveraging Web 2.0 by publishing user generated content?

1. Yes Exhibitor virtual booths, blogs, session and speaker info, social media, social bookmarking, online communities, matchmaking (Most)

2. Yes at least three of these examples3. Not enough

Audience Response #4

Show the Spiders some LOVE!

Event SEO Tactic #1

Take care of the basic ‘techie’ stuff

Event SEO Tactic #2

Benchmark & measure, yourself & others.

Event SEO Tactic #3

Benchmarking Tool

Key-Phrases not Keywords.

Event SEO Tactic #4

# of words used in searches

Source: OneStat (www.onestat.com), 1 Nov 07

Press Releases and SEO

1. Keyword Research2. KW rich content

– H1 heading– Link keywords to

content3. 8 – 15% KW density4. Optimize first 250

words

Blogs

User generated content rules!

Event SEO Tactic #5

Content is King!

Virtual Booth Listings

Sessions, Tracks, Bios

Mix up the media, blended results.

Event SEO Tactic #6

Give them a reason to return.

Event SEO Tactic #7

Links count big-time in your ranking!

Event SEO Tactic #8

Wikipedia Page

Social Bookmarking/Sharing

Increase your rankings• Share This• Add This

Tap into traffic generators

Event SEO Tactic #9

Social Media that Works

Widget Traffic Gen

– SEO Blogs - seo.alltop.com– General - WebMarketing Today– Blogs/Social Media - Chrisbrogan.com– TSW Event Tech Blog– IAEE eMerge Blog – IAEE eMerge Roundtables

Resources