The Big SMX Advanced Preview – A Virtual Tour Of What To Expect

Search Engine Land’s SMX Advanced, the only search marketing conference designed exclusively for experienced internet marketers, is returning to Seattle June 11-12. Keep reading for an overview of what to expect – then make sure you register before the Early Bird rates expire next week!

2014: New Trends, New Opportunities – And New Challenges For Online Marketers

Change is constant in search marketing. Opportunities emerge faster than they can be absorbed: new channels, Big Data, the explosion of mobile. Even veteran marketers are perpetually catching up with what is possible.

Change also breeds thorny issues, as “not provided,” Hummingbird, authorship and Enhanced campaigns demonstrate.

SMX Advanced delivers cutting edge tips and techniques you’ll put to work immediately to harness the opportunities and cope with the challenges. It’s your survival guide to the dynamic and tumultuous world of search marketing.

Competitive SEO For Fun & Profit

With constant algorithm changes, personalization affecting search results, and an ever-increasing number of competitive websites appearing every day, it’s challenging for SEOs to keep up. At SMX Advanced, we have two full days dedicated to in-depth discussions of the major issues and challenges advanced SEOs have to deal with on a daily basis.

We’ll kick off the SEO track with The Periodic Table Of SEO Ranking Factors: 2014 Edition, our traditional deep-dive examination of search ranking factors that are influencing results, especially important in the wake of Google’s “Hummingbird” rebuild of its entire search engine. What’s on the rise; what’s on the decline; what still works? Our panelists parse the data and focus on the key elements that deliver maximum SEO success.

Although Bing & Google offer tons of help and guidance for SEOs, they can also can make life difficult with some of their policy changes. Case in point: user query data provided by search engines has become an endangered species. But as searchers get more sophisticated, and competition for traffic and customers continues to intensify, effective keyword research is more vital than ever. So what’s a SEO to do?

Fortunately, there are tools that tap into big data resources to mine search activity and offer unique insights into search engine optimization tactics. In Keyword Research On ‘Roids! Advanced Workarounds For Vanishing Keyword Data, veteran SEOs (not affiliated with vendors) take deep dives into three of these sophisticated tools, showing you what they reveal and demonstrating powerful features largely unavailable elsewhere.

Just as they take away, search engines also provide other tools to assist SEOs. In Super Session: Enhancing Search Results With Structured Data & Markup, our panelists will discuss how SEOs are implementing Schema.org and related markup such as RDFa, Authorship & Publisher tags, Open Graph and Twitter Cards to generate increased click-throughs to content by displaying deeper site links, multimedia files and more.

A common refrain these days is “link building is dead” – but is it really? Speakers on the 25 Link Acquisition & Auditing Issues For The Advanced SEO take issue with that statement. They’ll offer fresh new ideas for earning high quality links, including content development and PR-based strategies to drive meaningful citations and build authority. Panelists will also address critical topics such as what constitutes good vs. “bad” links, what to do if you’ve been hit with a link penalty, how to disavow links and how to be proactive about link auditing and risk assessment.

Want more advanced SEO content? Feast on these sessions during day two of SMX Advanced:

• Technically Speaking: Advanced Technical SEO Issues
• Innovative Success Metrics For SEO
• Ask The SEOs

Paid Search For The Pros

Google and Bing continue to launch new paid search options, with new extensions, retargeting options – and the lines are blurring between “simple” text-based paid search and other forms of online advertising such as display, video and other formats. As with SEO, SMX Advanced features two full days of panels dedicated to exploring the nuances and potential of paid search, leading off with the now-infamous Mad Scientists Of Paid Search.

While most of us spend our days toiling away in the deepest details of paid search campaigns, the mad scientists of paid search are running experiments, testing regression models and analyzing larger trends to unlock the fundamental secrets of paid search auctions, attribution, economics and search behaviors. Come hear our distinguished marketing scientists as they present their latest discoveries, insights and knowledge.

With all of the new options available to advertisers, you need new approaches to gain the maximum return from your campaigns. Forget about better than average click and conversion rates. The only thing standing between you and breakthrough campaign success are your ads. Our experts in Next-Gen Ad Creative & Testing Techniques will show you how they write their greatest ads, how they test more quickly and effectively, and their proven secret processes for maintaining high performance day-after-day and month-after-month even in the toughest verticals.

Additional paid search sessions at SMX Advanced include:

• Maximizing The Synergy Of Paid Search & Social
• Conversion Rate Rockstars
• Rethinking Retargeting: Top Strategies For Driving Conversions From Key Audiences
• Amazing Paid Search Tactics & Tools

Local + Social + Mobile = LoSoMo?

The convergence of local, social and mobile has opened up countless new opportunities for search marketers. Combining location awareness with recommendations from friends, user generated content and on-demand contextual information, it’s now possible to reach customers right when they’re ready to convert, regardless of where they may be located.

In the local, social and mobile track at SMX Advanced, you’ll hear our expert speakers discuss:

• Let’s Talk Local Search: Super Therapy Session For Advanced Local Marketers
• 25 Social Media Ideas For The Advanced Search Marketer
• What Advanced SEMs Should Be Doing About Mobile
• What Advanced SEOs Should Be Doing About Mobile

Great Content Leads To Conversion

Google’s prime directive is “create good content,” and algorithm updates like Hummingbird and Panda cast a sharp spotlight on the quality of content in websites. Content marketing has become a huge topic of discussion, and SMX Advanced has it covered. Our speakers will share content creation tactics that have made them successful in Creating Blockbuster Content. This session will help you develop a comprehensive content creation strategy that delivers the value that justifies your time, money and effort. You’ll learn winning approaches for developing, re-purposing and maximizing the value from content, along with the metrics to measure and demonstrate your success.

Once you’ve got content, you’ve got to work it, just as you would with any other type of SEO strategy. Executing A Flawless Content Marketing Strategy explores the crucial elements of getting the most from your content marketing strategy, beyond optimizing for the search engines. We’ll explore topics including building authority and trust, advanced social tactics to maximize sharing, and creating conversion funnels that transform content consumers into customers and fans.

From tracking the influence of online marketing to offline purchase activities, to understanding multi-screen habits and cross-channel campaign influences, marketers face greater attribution challenges than ever before, even with more tools at their disposal. Attribution Success In The Age Of Mobile will show how marketers are successfully tracking and the attributing the impact of their digital campaigns using Google and other tools to make better strategic decisions and outsmart their competition.

You & A With Matt Cutts

To any serious search marketer, Matt Cutts needs no introduction. In this annual SMX Advanced tradition, the head of Google’s web spam team joins Search Engine Land founder Danny Sullivan for a lively conversation. And bring your questions as well – anything and everything is fair game in this session.

Pre-Conference Workshops & Training

Looking for even more advice in a smaller group setting on particular topics? Come a day early, and you’ve got a choice of in-depth workshops and training classes to choose from:

• International Search Summit
• Local University Advanced
• In-House SEO Exchange
• Bruce Clay SEO Training
• Advanced Adwords Training

Save by registering for both the SMX Advanced pre-conference workshops and All Access pass combo.

New: The Search Engine Land Summit

Insightful and forward-thinking. That’s the core of the new Search Engine Land Summit, a pre-conference programming day that adds a strategic “big picture” dimension to the SMX Advanced experience. SEL Summit will take place on Tuesday, June 10th.

Designed for advanced marketers, SEL Summit will offer keynote-level, solo presentations focusing on forward-looking themes and trends. These dynamic speakers were selected for their thought-leadership, unique perspective and insight into where the industry is heading over the next few years.

At the Search Engine Land Summit you’ll hear from:

Justin Sanger, Founder & CEO, SupportLocal on Local & The Place Of Humans
Rebecca Lieb, Industry Analyst, The Altimeter Group on Real-Time Marketing: The Agility To Leverage “Now”
Kevin Ryan, CEO, Motivity Marketing on Automation (Does Not Equal) Strategy (Or, A Tool Box Does Not A Cabinet Make)
Cindy Krum, CEO, MobileMoxie on The Coming Paradigm Shift In Mobile Marketing
Rhonda Hanson, Sr. Director, Digital Marketing, Global Marketing, Concur Technologies on The Importance Of Imagery
Marty Weintraub, Founder & Evangelist, aimClear on Search Powered Psychographics: Enter The Age Of True Persona Marketing
Erynn Petersen, Executive Director, Outercurve Foundation on Search and Find: Marketing in the Age of Internet of Things
Duane Forrester, Senior Product Manager at Bing on The Future Of Search
Joanna Lord, Chief Marketing Officer, BigDoor on The Future Of A Brand

To attend both the Summit and SMX Advanced, register for an All Access pass and add the workshop option. If you just want to attend Summit, register for a Workshop only pass. Don’t wait, seating will be limited!

Quality Programming

I’ve covered most of the show, which has over 30 editorial session in all. Now, some words about producing those sessions.

All the SMX sessions I’ve described above are what we call editorial sessions. People are speaking on them because we feel they have great information to offer. No one bought their way onto a panel.

Each session is developed by a “session coordinator” who reviews speaking pitches and reaches out to knowledgeable people to assemble a panel. The session coordinator works with the speakers to create a session where presentations support each other, rather than overlap. In most cases, the session coordinator is also the session moderator.

Formats also vary. Sometimes we have panels with multiple people. Sometimes we have only one or two speakers. Some panels are all Q&A. Some feature presentations. We don’t lock ourselves into one particular format, because different topics require different approaches. Instead, we focus on creating a great overall experience.

The entire editorial portion of the show is overseen by me and my co-chair Danny Sullivan. We’ve been organizing search conferences longer than anyone in the industry – more than 15 years and counting!

The attention to programming is part of what we call the SMX Content Difference, and it’s why we’re able to guarantee the quality of our events.

Expo Hall & Plus Sessions

Our many SMX Advanced sponsors & exhibitors also have great information to share with SMX attendees. That’s why we provide several ways for attendees to hear from them.

As part of the agenda, we have a Plus Session Track. Unlike our editorial sessions, these are created and produced by the company sponsoring them. Because these sessions compete with high quality editorial sessions, the companies producing Plus Sessions make sure that plenty of great information is offered. You’ll definitely want to check them out.

The Expo Hall runs for both days of the show. In it, you can get information from exhibitors and sponsors about the many products and services available to search marketers.

This is also a good time to thank our Premier Sponsors Bing and Yahoo Gemini, our Gold Sponsors Bright Edge, Bruce Clay, Inc and Yext and our Buzz Sponsor aimClear.

Invaluable, Organized Networking

SMX Advanced brings together the most accomplished search marketers in the world, and we provide plenty of organized and social networking activities for you to connect with your peers.

Even before you arrive, our SMX Advanced Facebook event group will allow you to connect other attendees and speakers before, during and after the show.

We kick off the conference with the SMX Meet & Greet reception, sponsored by Bruce Clay, Inc. and NetElixer. The informal reception on the top of the Bell Harbor building offers great views and plenty of engaging conversations with your fellow attendees and speakers.

The SMX Expo Hall Reception, taking place Wednesday June 11th, offers another chance to mingle and check out the best-of-breed marketing solutions from our exhibitors and sponsors.

During lunches, we offer our unique Birds-Of-A-Feather lunch tables, where attendees can network with each other and discuss specific topics. Being grouped with people who share a common interest is a great icebreaker. Table topics are published several weeks prior to the show.

You won’t want to miss SMX After Dark at the Seattle Aquarium on June 11th, sponsored by Bing. There’ll be music, drinks, munchies, and great conversations while watching more than 800 fish swimming nearby. And make sure to wrap up your SMX Advanced experience by attending the Closing Night Bash on June 12th, including billiards, bowling and more networking, sponsored by Moz.

All these options can be found our networking page. We keep SMX Advanced intentionally intimate, so you are guaranteed to meet plenty of amazing people!

Good Food, WiFi & Backpacks

A good SMX experience means no boxed lunches at our shows. You’ll get a great meal, on a real plate, and you’ll want to go back for more. You’ll also get refreshments and snacks during the day. People take pictures of the food we serve at our events, they’re so amazed and pleased. Honest!

We’ll also keep you connected, providing free WiFi in the conference rooms. Also among the little touches, we’ll also give you a conference backpack. It’s a real backpack, one that you’ll take home and use again and again.

Join Us In Seattle!

We hope you’ve found this preview useful and are ready to attend. You’ll find more details on the SMX Advanced web site, including the Agenda-At-A-Glance. You can register online or by phone at (877) 242-5242 between 9am-5pm ET Monday thru Friday. Do it by May 2 to secure the “Early Bird” rate on your ticket.