Exploring Social Meets Search

Everything we program at Search Engine Land’s SMX: Search Marketing Expo events are always related to search. So why a post about social media sessions at our upcoming SMX West conference? Because social continues to play a big role in search. Search marketers need to know social. Here’s what we’ve got planned for you at our show next month.

Social Signals & Search

Yesterday, Google rolled out an expanded version of Google social search. What your friends like or share can influence what you see. Meanwhile, Bing is continue to make use of Facebook Likes in its own search results.

Both Google and Bing will be speaking about these moves as part of our Social Signals & Search session that happens on the first day of SMX West, March 8. What are they doing now? Where might they be heading? All this will be discussed — along with plenty of time for questions from the search marketing audience.

Social & Local Search

Another area where social has been colliding with search is in the local search space. Services like Foursquare have turned social “check-ins” into an on-demand type of local search.

We’ve got two sessions that look at this area. Location Services: The New Local Search? is on March 8, immediately followed by a keynote conversation with Foursquare’s business development director Tristan Walker. Check In To Foursquare’s Keynote At SMX West! covers that talk in more detail.

Social & Paid Search

Doing paid search and think social has nothing to do with you? Savvy paid search marketers are real believers in Facebook ads, which get them positioned in front of people earlier in the search cycle. Our Facebook Ad Tactics For Search Marketers session on March 9 covers this.

Taken on its own, YouTube continues to be one of the most popular search engines on earth — huge amounts of searches happen there. That’s why for the paid search marketer, this is another place to be considering ads. Our YouTube Ads For Fun And Profit session on March 8 explores this area.

Social Content & Search

All those YouTube searches, of course, mean opportunities for the SEO crowd. There’s “free” traffic to be had, if you’re paying attention to YouTube and crafting great content. Our New Tools & Techniques For YouTube Success on March 9 looks at this.

Blogs also continue to have a big social component — and WordPress remains one of the most popular blogging platforms out there. So we’ve got something special planned for search marketers: WordPress SEO, which happens on March 10.

Social Guidance

Looking for more specific advice related to social? Bring your real life questions to our Social Media Clinic on March 10 and get answers.

Are your social efforts paying off, especially in terms of your search marketing campaigns? Analytics For Social Media, also on March 10, is designed to help you assess those efforts.

Social As The New Link Building

As I wrote in What Social Signals Do Google & Bing Really Count? last December, “retweets serve as a new form a link building.” So do Facebook shares and likes, for that matter. Beyond generating traffic from Twitter and Facebook, being shared on social networks gives you visibility in social search engines and influences “regular” results.

So for SMX West, we’ve got two panels on March 9 devoted to this new and important form of link building: Retweet Me: How To Be A Twitter Authority and Building Buzz On Facebook: Getting Liked & Shared. Attend, and learn how to build the next generation of links.

In addition, we’ve also got a real treat on March 9 — Don’t Be A Twitter Spammer. This session features Twitter’s director of trust and safety, Del Harvey.

Many search marketers are familiar with Google’s web spam fighting chief Matt Cutts. Del is Twitter’s version of Matt. What does Twitter like and dislike? Del knows — come listen to her, and learn Twitter right.

See You In San Jose!

Speaking of social, SMX West even has its own dedicated social network to help attendees connect before and during the show! Plus, you can keep us with the SMX on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Our SMX West event has much more beyond the sessions I’ve spotlighted above. Check out the entire SMX West agenda, and see you in San Jose this March 8-10!