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Event Recap: SEMpdx Hot Seat (8/14/07)

Published by Ben | Filed under Amplify-Interactive, Events

As mentioned previously, I was a panelist on last night’s SEMpdx Hot Seat event.
The event was a great success if I do say so myself (I planned it after all). I don’t have a final headcount - but I believe 45-50 people attended last night, we reviewed 5 Web sites, and as an added bonus had a special guest moderator (Anne Kennedy of BeyondInk) in the house to keep things moving.

For those who aren’t familiar with the Hot Seat series - the concept is simple. We line up search experts on a panel, we put a Web site on display, then the panel tells the site owner what they could be doing better from a search marketing standpoint. Inevitably, some advice about improving conversions & usability gets doled out as well.

A few mental notes from last night:

  • Once again, I am surprised that people want help with SEO, but don’t do keyword research to know the keywords they should be targeting. From the response of the crowd - I gather that keyword research is still a bit of a mystery. You can find links to a few keyword research resources on our site.
  • The next thing that always surprises me is that even the basic SEO-101 stuff gets neglected. Things like placing keywords in title tags, writing META descriptions, putting a statement on the home page about who you are, what you do and what I will find on your site, using keywords in body copy, etc.
  • We need to put together a SEMpdx “beginner’s guide to SEO” or something and go over it at the top of each event. Just a short 1-sheet on the 1st ten things that search marketers look at when evaluating a site.

Next Hot Seat is slated for October - keep tabs on the SEMpdx site for upcoming Hot Seats and other SEMpdx events.

August 15th, 2007


2 Responses to “Event Recap: SEMpdx Hot Seat (8/14/07)”

  1. Event Recap: SEMpdx Hot Seat (8/14/07) | Portland Search Engine Marketing Professionals Blog Says:
    August 15th, 2007 at 9:46 am

    […] = “http://www.semportland.com/events/event-recap-sempdx-hot-seat-81407/”; I wrote up a quick recap of last night’s SEMpdx Hot Seat event over at the Amplify Interactive […]

  2. Scott Hendison Says:
    August 19th, 2007 at 3:18 pm

    I too was surprised at some of the most basic fundamentals completely missing from a couple of the reviewed sites,. I agree that a top 10 list of what be reviewed would help too, so people can know what panelists are looking for. Another great event though…

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