TMMPDX.COM’s SearchFest Preview: Q&A with Ben Lloyd, SEMpdx President

SEMpdx President, Ben Lloyd, took some time out for a Q&A with TMMPDX to talk about SearchFest and give us a preview of the upcoming conference happening March 9, 1010 at the Governer Hotel

“The U.S. core search market grew 16 percent in 2009, driven by a 6-percent gain in unique searchers and a 10-percent gain in search queries per searcher. Google and Bing led among the core search engines in terms of increases in market share.”

The 10% gain in search queries per searcher is interesting: are people not finding what they want and need to refine their search or are they just using search engines more?

“Social networking continued to gain momentum in 2009 with nearly 4 out of 5 Internet users visiting a social networking site on a monthly basis and Facebook and Twitter propelling much of the growth in the category.”

This comes as no surprise, especially specifically highlighting Facebook and Twitter as the two major social networking traffic drivers.

I’m thinking we’ll only see these trends continue in 2010.

Here is what the team from Amplify Interactive thinks will happen with SEM in 2010:

Ben

It’s easy to jump on the bandwagon here and just say the words “social media” – everyone is in a frenzy about this, and I think it’s valuable and a must-do – but replacing search? You’re crazy. The current state of social media marketing reminds me of when search started to gain widespread acceptance – marketers are just frazzled with trying to figure out what they should be doing.  That being said:

1. Definitely more convergence of search & social. Search engines will continue to work on ways to incorporate signals from social media. And this is badly needed – harnessing real time data from twitter & facebook status updates is a pretty great way to catch ‘breaking’ news. However – I think it’s ludicrous to assume that social can or will handle the same functions that search can. Yes – you can find a brand and interact with them. Hell, you can even ask your friends/followers for recommendations or help with a problem – is this the same as search? No.
2. Continued emergence of Bing and hopefully some improvements to their algorithm. Assuming this Yahoo/Bing deal goes through, the search engine space will get a lot more interesting.
3. More emergence of vertical search. Whether Google starts to incorporate tabs for travel, restaurants, etc, or whether Google “killer-ettes” (Danny Sullivan’s term) continue to emerge and serve a specific market much better than Google does (like urbanspoon) – I think we’ll all be better off…. please don’t let Google acquire you.
4. On my wishlist?: Bing, Yahoo & Facebook need to step up their game for making their advertiser interface better and easier to use. Also – more editor tools for Mac users please.
5. Another wish list item: Better education and understanding and acceptance of content as a driver for search and social.
6. Another wish list item: Better understanding of Web analytics and what measurements matter to you… and how to act on the right KPIs. If I hear “our hits are down” one more time…

Blu

In 2010 I do not see a whole lot changing as far as search engines adjusting their algorithms however I do foresee a continued push for companies and individuals to own more of a share of their targeted results through interactive media, social media and content syndication. These days search is so much more than simply optimizing a website or managing bids, it is migrating so that search marketers need to effectively be able to setup and manage multiple third party platforms to achieve their goals.

Christian

I think there will be even more of a convergence between social media and SEO. After all, the goal of having an optimized website is getting found by your ideal customer… this will be the same objective for social media as well (without being too pushy). While it definitely is now, it’ll be more of a focal point for search engine marketers in 2010.

I also believe more and more websites will be “doing the right thing” (i.e. be optimized for their specific target audience) which will only make it even more important to continue creating optimized content to have a dynamic and organic website. More competition is fine if you’re on top of optimized content creation.

And lastly, online reputation monitoring will be even more needed in 2010, as social review websites, Twitter, Facebook and more continue to harvest conversations about you and your brand. If you pretend that the conversations aren’t happening and do not address them head-on, then you’ll be missing out on making relationships with the main “influencers” for your brand and identity.

Spencer

Considering SEO and SEM are dead, Team Amplify must be zombies because we are still around. This makes trends 1,2, and 3….BRAINS!

Seriously though, while staying away from mobile and local search (which are increasingly becoming one in the same), and staring deep into my crystal ball these are my predictions for SEM 2010:

1.) Rise of interactive advertising for streaming web-based content: Perhaps this is more of 2011-12 prediction, but the recent deal struck between Comcast and NBC Universal’s parent company General Electric shows that high quality entertainment is continuing its migration to web. Contrary to what disgruntled Comcast customers may think, Comcast is not stupid. Comcast sees a vast arena to market products through interactive advertising via the web content, whether they are saying it or not.

Just imagine you are watching a live streaming game (using Comcast’s high speed service) on ESPN360, and during the scheduled commercial break, a Nike ad appears. An ad serving system, or Nike’s media buyer, recognizes that you would probably be more receptive to this ad since you are already watching a sporting event. Sounds like TV right? Wait though, at the end of the ad, you as an engaged audience member are given the option to buy it from, say, Zappos, Foot Locker or Nike themselves without having to leave your seat. The best part is, for Nike or its retail partner it is measurable, highly targeted, efficient and featured along side high quality entertainment that has helped sell products for years. This is a very basic example, as product placements, and promotional tie-ins make possibilities endless. Combine these benefits with localized advertising results for big-ticket items such as cars or dishwashers this could be a match made in e-commerce heaven.

Comcast is already the only major cable television and high speed internet provider in many large markets. It has the customer base and infrastructure through these channels to deliver content, now their own, with targeted spots on a customer to customer basis.  They can now charge for the content, and possibly charge on a CPC or CPA basis for its advertisers to get interactive. Get ready for it.

2.) Social Media aggregation: I highlighted this in a recent interview I did for my friends at Idea Mensch, and I stole it from the very bright Jeremiah Owyang. The jist of it is for even web savvy people it is difficult to maintain more than 3 three social media profiles, and for businesses it is even more difficult. What aggregation gives users and businesses (especially) is a one-stop shop to manage all of their social media profiles, no matter how niche the segment is. Scaling social media is difficult, and aggregation is the first of many steps in solving this scaling dilemma.

3.) Amplify Interactive kicking ass and taking names: Because that’s what we do around here.

Check with me around this time next year, and tell me how foolish I was, but rest assured number 3 is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Care to share what you think how SEM will evolve in 2010? Feel free to leave us a comment!

It seems as if fast load times for your website might have a positive effect in influencing your search rankings. That all being said, having slow page load times seemingly will not negatively impact your rankings. Source.

This is reported to have come from Matt Cutts, head of the Webspam team for Google.

It’s a no brainer that, in terms of usability, a fast load time for your web pages definitely helps a user’s overall experience when browsing your site. We’ve all been to “that site” where pages take forever to load. I don’t know about you, but if I encounter a website with slow load times, I usually leave and look for similar information elsewhere.

It will be interesting to see if this ranking factor remains to be, more or less, a small influence or if it will become a bigger part of the search engine ranking puzzle.

We’ve already had several clients start inquiring about testing a PPC campaign with Bing and I’m sure we’ll see more as we move into Q4 and start looking at 2010 budgets. Let us know if you want to look into a PPC campaign with Bing or any of the rest. We’d also like to hear about any recent experiences you may have had with Bing.

As you can read in this article on Search Engine Watch “It’s Official: Microsoft and Yahoo! Finally Strike a Search Deal” – the deal basically says that:

1. Bing will power Yahoo’s organic search results

I think this is a great move. Bing has made some pretty terrific strides in creating a better search engine. Spending another 100 mil on advertising it is making a dent as well. Bing isn’t perfect, but Yahoo organic results haven’t been all that great either.

2. Yahoo will handle the paid search

Again – this is a great move. If you manage paid search campaigns – you know there’s two specific problems with Microsoft/Bing.

1. AdCenter sucks to use. It just does. That’s not to say that Yahoo’s platform is great, but it is better than AdCenter and now they can focus on making it more usable.

2. Low search volume: WIth the exception of some verticals, the search volume is rarely there for clients to justify the time, energy & budget required to build & manage an additional campaign with Bing

So ideally, as a part of this deal we’ll just be able to opt-in or out of displaying ads on Bing with a simple check box. Just like you check a box to add the Google search partner network today.

This move will still be tricky and they’re both a long way from pulling it off. But hopefully by allowing each to focus on what they do best – maybe they’ll be able to actually compete and we’ll also have to start thinking about results from more than one search engine!

BLU

In my opinion SearchFest ’09 knocked it out of the park! It was great to see such a high caliber of speakers and can very well be the point where we look back and say this was the event that put Portland on the Search Marketing map. Seeing Danny Sullivan (the Godfather of search) kick-off the festivities at a SEMpdx event was a big indicator that SEMpdx has arrived as an organization.

But it wasn’t just the speakers that made the event it was also the topics that were discussed. The level of diversity for the different sessions was impressive providing value for everyone, from the novice to expert. I especially enjoyed the analytical session where Eric Peterson, Ian Lurie and Bob Garcia discussed the future of online measurement and services that are readily available today that can make a big difference when it comes to increasing the bottom line.

SPENCER

Searchfest 2009 was my first Searchfest, and I can honestly say is, “nerds, nerds as far as the eye can see, and even some lady nerds.” But in all seriousness it was great. The information served up was almost overwhelming in its quality and quantity. It had everything for everyone no matter the experience level. The speakers not only had a lot of brand cache (see: Yahoo, Microsoft, SEOmoz, Search Engine Land, etc), but they were entertaining and personable.

My highlights from the event:

Best speaker: Danny Sullivan (Search Engine Land) – Almost most entertaining, but got edged out. Loved his dismissal of white hat vs. black hat debate. Basically, do not be a scumbag, not cheating and down with the spammers. Being fairly green in the industry, I enjoyed his “historical perspectives” on search.

Most Entertaining Speaker: Marty Weintraub (aimClear) – He could have filled the whole hour, and no one would have noticed.

Best Session: SEO Beyond Theory: SEO Tips From the Trenches – Marshall, Laura, Jeff and Derrick presented great tips for SEO noobs and vets, and featured my favorite stats.

Favorite Session: Online Reputation Management – Really good tips about how to set up your own monitoring program with feeds, and how to participate with your consumers online effectively. Plus, swearing, slandering and social media always make for a good time.

Best/Favorite Stat (tie): Derrick Wheeler (Microsoft) – Microsoft.com has over 2 billion+ unique URL. Marshall Simmonds (NYT, About.com) – The New York Times had 591 duplicate versions of a news story. They both better get paid well.

Person Who Learned the Most: Me (Amplify-Interactive)…long way to go before I can present.

Best Room Monitor: Me (Amplify-Interactive) All I can say is I rocked.

CHRISTIAN

1)  Favorite presenters / presentations: I really enjoyed the social media session with Dawn Foster, Neil Patel and Matt Inman.  Sure, Neil’s presentation might have been more gray area than it should have been… but out of any of the sessions I attended, this one got me thinking the most.  Also – Matt’s presentation got me thinking about potential linkbait ideas for my clients; his examples showed that, really, you can create engaging linkbait for any client.

2)  Best new tip or trick I learned: there were a couple of key takeaways for me.  I gained a great deal of knowledge during the Local SEM session about what’s important when optimizing a local business.  There were some ideas presented that got me thinking about optimizing a local website in ways I never even thought about previously.  I also learned a couple of tips from the Technical SEO session, namely which pages you should block with your robots.txt file that I didn’t even think about.

3)  Best stat: in the PR session – 2/3rds of the “internet population” visit social media sites.  That’s a whole lot of Facebook / Myspace / LinkedIn / Twitter people.  Todd also mentioned that 91% of people use Google’s standard search to find articles or research something in the middle of a sales cycle.

4)  Most interesting industry person I met: Todd Freisen of PositionTech.  Funny presentation and he was sitting at my table for awhile and we talked a bit.  Funny and nice guy.

5)  Etc.: I really enjoyed the sessions I attended.  The local session, technical SEO and social media sessions were definitely my favorite.

So – did you go to SearchFest 09? What did you think?

As president of SEMpdx, I was really proud of the quality of the event. Having had to plan SearchFest on my own previously – I know it’s not easy and takes a lot of extra time & effort to pull together. I had the luxury of not having to worry about a thing this year and I really want to thank SEMpdx for all their hard work. We had some top speakers from around the country and even a few folks from town (special thanks to local heroes Kerry McClenahan, Rick Turoczy & Dawn Foster… I’m sure I’m forgetting someone).

Some interesting stuff here:

• Twitter was absolutely BLOWING UP with tweets about SearchFest (Did Janet Johnson lead the pack?) – see SearchFest 09 tweets here
• Lots of blog posts – there will be more. See SearchFest 09 blog posts here
• Fox News stopped by to cover SearchFest 09 (thanks Amy Rosenberg!) – here’s the SEMpdx SearchFest 09 story along with the short video

We’ll follow up soon with more on SearchFest

More details can be found at www.searchfest.org – register soon as prices will increase in February.

In my crystal ball – I predict that the search marketing industry will weather the current economic storm, but it won’t be the best year. It’ll just be OK with more churn than growth. While there will be potentially more dollars devoted to search, those dollars won’t be astronomical. There will be opportunities for search marketing firms to really demonstrate effectiveness and to grow accounts, but the flip side is that the companies we work with won’t be immune to the economic downturn. The savvy companies will adapt and spend more money on the Web.

Like everyone else – I also see “traditional” marketing agencies taking an even greater interest in bringing an SEM offering to the table as they struggle to stay afloat as marketing dollars dry up. I also see this as the beginnings of consolidation where marketing agencies and other SEM firms consolidate as the economy starts to turn around late this year and into 2010. I also predict that sole practitioners and smaller SEM shops will be absorbed into larger firms as finding and keeping clients gets harder to do and the brand and business development power of a larger shop or marketing firm brings in the clients.

These 2009 SEM predictions were also posted to the SEMpdx.org Web site