SMX East 2011 – Part 1

SMX East 2011 conducted from the 13th of Sept. to 15th of Sept. in New York had the agenda focusing on the following categorized topics Day-wise:

Day 1– 13th Sept. 2011	Day 2 – 14th Sept. 2011	Day 3– 15th Sept. 2011
SMX Boot Camp	Social And Vertical Search	SEO
The Big Picture	The Big Picture	Analytics & Conversions
Enterprise & In-House	Technical SEO	SoLoMo
Best Of SMX Advanced	Paid Search	Paid Search
Sponsors And Partners	Sponsors & Partners and Site Clinics	Site Clinics

The complete agenda can be viewed on http://searchmarketingexpo.com/east/agenda

My main area of interest was organic search  hence I attended  the sessions focused on SEO.

An SEO conference is a platform for multiple sessions and it is very difficult to make a choice of what to attend but the main highlights and takeaways of what sessions I attended are as follows: 

Day 1 – 13th Sept. 2011 

The Big Picture Track - The Great Correlation vs. Causation Debate
Presented by:
· Eric Enge, Stone Temple Consulting
· Micah Fisher-Kirshner, Become, Inc
· Mitul Gandhi, seoClarity
· Kristine Schachinger, SitesWithoutWalls.com
· Tony Wright, WrightIMC

• Correlation is: A mutual relation between two or more things where one has a measurable effect on the other. 
• Causation is: A relationship in which one action or event is the direct consequence of another. 
• In every Causal relationship there is a Correlative One, but there is not a causal effect in every correlative one 
• We sometimes perceive something to have an effect but it may not have an effect as that can be a misperception. 
• The only way to eliminate false positives are is to measure test everything over a period of time with a wide array of data. 
• Almost everything in SEO is correlative not causative. 
• In causal relationships, you can directly measure that A does CAUSE B 
• In correlative relationships, you can only measure the STRENGTH of the effect of A on B 
• Correlations are a place to start not an end. Have a sanity check and and question its sensibility before coming to conclusions. 
• Before testing be sure of what is the return on your investment to collect and test this data? 
• Make sure that you are considering all important variables in time and do not rely only on snapshots in a short time span. 
• Be sure you have enough data and factors to run a linear regression 
• SEO is on a time line on a linear position. A single trend is not a pattern or a causal relationship. 

The Big Picture Track 

Panda-Proofing Your Content
Presented By:

· Justin Briggs, Distilled
· Horst Joepen, Searchmetrics
· Heather Lloyd-Martin, SuccessWorks Search Marketing
· Chris Silver Smith, KeyRelevance

• Only 12% of websites in Google index were affected by Panda update – Matt Cutts 
• We are content marketers if we have a blog or a site. 
• “Panda isn’t simply an algorithm update. It’s a platform for new ways to understand the web and understand user experience.” (Vanessa Fox) 
• “It’s not a new algorithm – it’s a new factor.” (Danny Sullivan) 
• “It is easier to reliably detect social spam than link spam.” (Stefan Weitz and Maile Ohye) 
• Combination of automated metrics and human factors; 
• It’s a method for modelling webpages and websites which have certain usage profile combinations, scoring those combos, then using the scores to rank pages. (Chris Silver Smith) 
• When you produce cheap content then it is not meeting any goal 
• Create Quality content – Search Engines do not pay your bills your customers do. 
• Stop asking what Google wants. Find out what your users want. 
• Evaluate your content assets 
• Plan the Repurpose of content 
• Develop an  editorial calendar 
• Watchdog the quality 
• Leverage it when properly planned and evaluate 
• Get everyone on the same page about SEO content. This could be a quick discussion - or an in-house training. Consider what works best for your team 

Enterprise & In House Track 

In-House SEO Operations: How Things Get Done 

Presented By:

· Laura Callow, intuit
· Simon Heseltine, AOL Inc.
· Erika Mamber, Demand Media
· Ulli Muenker , Bloomberg

• Use SEO as one of the fundamental building blocks in everything you do on your website. 
• Ensure SEO is a part of the DNA of your organization. 
• Build buzz and cultivate mindshare. 
• Tailor the buzz for the relevant audience and add your spin 
• Make it actionable 
• Be seen, be heard, be involved 
• Educate, Elaborate, Excite, Empower, Evangelize 
• Share the SEO why behind the what, because understanding builds a sense of ownership 
• If opportunity cost > available resources + cost of vendors Then hire vendors Else don’t hire vendors 
• Ensure your team works according to an accountable system for delivery. Boil up to meet company / business objectives and vision