SMX West 2014: The Best of the Best Takeaways - Part One

Takeaways
The
Part One
Created by @Matt_Dimock of .

PLEASE BE AWARE.
The information that I am about to reveal to you should not, and I
repeat, SHOULD NOT, make your jaw drop with sheer amazement.
Unless you’re this guy…

 Keyword Research & Copywriting for Search Success
 Link Building Fundamentals
 Link Building in 2014: What’s New, What’s Not
 All Search Is Now Social/The SEO Revolution Will Not Be Televised
 Keynote: A Conversation w/ Google Search Chief, Amit Singhal
Day 1

 Best Practices for Mobile SEO
 Earning Links, Not Building Links
 Life Beyond Google: Diversifying Your SEO Efforts
 Social Meets Search: Where Are We Now; Where Are We Going?
 Forum With Danny Sullivan
Day 2

Christine Churchill, (@ChrisChurchill);
President,
KeyRelevance

• Exact match keyword usage is dead
• The best keywords come straight from the customer's
mouth.
• Keyword tools move you beyond keyword
assumptions.
• Use Google Hot Trends to capitalize on content
marketing opportunities.
• There are three types of searches: navigational,
informational & transactional.

• Tools recommended for keyword research:
 Word Stream’s Niche Finder
 Google Instant
 Soovle
 Ubersuggest
• Remember to use synonyms and related terms to
reinforce what your main content is about.
• Use matrix charts to utilize target keywords on
different pages to avoid cannibalization.

Debra Mastaler, (@debramastaler);
President,
Alliance-Link

• Google is not using Twitter and Facebook
likes/shares/retweet counts in their ranking
algorithm.
• Quantity, quality, relevance and anchor text; the four
proponents you should use to judge your backlinks.
• Avoid using free general directories and making
directory links a large % of your backlinks.
• Avoid partnering with blogs where each entry is a
guest post. Stay out of networks!

• Find authors and you can find quality sources to
publish your content.
• Take valuable written content and turn it into a
podcast and place it on iTunes.
• You should be looking at your backlinks all the time,
just like you would look at your rankings.

Jon Ball, (@linkbuildingjon);
VP of Business Development,
Page One Power

• If you're looking to get better links, look at your site
and ask yourself: would I want to link to these pages?
• Other ways to use content to get links: create textual,
photographic & video reviews of products or services.
• More ways to use content to build links: write
testimonials or interview industry experts.
• Your links will only be as good as your site.

• Five steps to make a link building plan
1. List assets (Text, videos, photos, services,
features, staff, clients, friends, connections, etc…)
2. Research (Competitive analysis, associations,
forums)
3. Strategize
4. Schedule
5. Adapt

• Additional link building ideas:
 Blogging
 Give Love
 Testimonials
 Interviews
 Glossary
 Study/Survey
 Sponsoring non-profits
 Give stuff away
 Resource page outreach

Tami Cannizzaro, (@tamicann);
VP of Marketing,
IBM

• In comparing an apple to a bag of marbles; the bag of
marbles has roughly 300% more surface volume.
• Social advocacy gives your organization authentic
reach. (Basically, let others promote your brand on
your behalf.)
• Content marketing is the engine that drives search
rank and brand engagement.
• Search, social & content are the fuel of your marketing
engine.

Rand Fishkin, (@randfish);
Wizard,
Moz

• Google's backtracking on transparency under the
guise of privacy.
• Content growth is exceeding query growth.
• You have to do more intent matching vs. keyword
matching.
• “If I want some f'ing links, then you sell me some f'ing
links, man..”
• We need to create better expectations or our
teams/client's will continue to demand the impossible.

• Search growth leveling off + Google taking queries for
themselves + increased competition = A need to find
new opportunities.
• Early adapters of new channels/tactics will earn
outsize returns; more than ever, it's paying off to be
on the edge.
• Those who aren't building brands will struggle
mightily in the years ahead.
• The only logical strategy today is to be so good that
Google looks bad taking you out.

Amit Singhal, (@theamitsinghal);
Chief of Search,
Google

• With our knowledge graph, we started understanding
things, and not just strings.
• @dannysullivan: "You're not using social signals for
rankings, right?". @theamitsinghal: "Not yet.“
• We figure out what signals bring those relevant
documents high in the rankings and we use those
signals.
• @dannysullivan: "Will Google ever give a direct answer
via knowledge graph?" @theamitsinghal: "[Insert
swiss army knife analogy]"

• @dannysullivan confronts @theamitsinghal about
Google scraping content. He justifies by stating
@google is fulfilling needs, and that if they didn’t,
people wouldn’t use them.
• Good SEO is all about change
• @dannysullivan: "How does Google verify accuracy
of answers?" @theamitsinghal: "We point to the best
source our algorithms know.“
• @dannysullivan: "Who's the boss of search?"
@theamitsinghal: "As with any good company, you
have to collaborate across the lines."

• You experiment with certain things and let the data
speak for itself.
• @dannysullivan: "Is there a competitor to @google
and how does that influence you?" @theamitsinghal:
"[Insert indirect response]“
Sorry folks – you’re not getting any concrete answers
out of Amit...

During the live event, there was a Twitter storm brewing
regarding Google providing a test change log. People were
requesting it based on wanting a heads up when Google
tested new search results snippets, and Matt Cutts
misconstrued that as thinking people wanted updates
again on what algorithmic changes Google deploys, and
when.
The following conversation ensued…
• AJ Kohn: Yes @dannysullivan! A Google test change
log would save countless inane conversations and
blog posts. #smx

• Matt Cutts: @KeriMorgret @ajkohn @rustybrick
except we did just that for a year, blogging all the
changes we released. Eventually the world got bored.
• Matt Dimock: @mattcutts Not true. I found the
updates from the Google team VERY useful.
• Matt Cutts: @Matt_Dimock @KeriMorgret @ajkohn
@rustybrick good! Most people stopped blogging
about the changes though.
• Matt Dimock: @mattcutts What if I pinky promised
to blog about every algo update from @google?

• Matt Cutts: @Matt_Dimock at that point,
http://google.com/jobs :)
• Matt Dimock: @mattcutts So can I count on you for a
good reference letter? :)
• Matt Cutts: @Matt_Dimock :)
• Matt Dimock: I'll take that as a yes, @mattcutts. So
if you could just DM me on how to apply to your search
quality team, that'd be greaaat..
Never heard back from him. Think it was a no. 

Cindy Krum, (@suzzicks);
CEO, MobileMoxie
Michael Martin, (@mobile_martin);
Senior SEO Manager, Covario
Bryson Meunier, (@brysonmeunier);
Directory of SEO Strategy, Resolution Media
Maile Ohye, (@maileohye);
Senior Developer Programs Engineer, Google

• Google stated side to side scrolling is a negative
experience in mobile.
• No flash for mobile SEO! And focus on optimizing
above the fold using JS & CSS inline.
• Other mobile SEO tips: use efficient CSS selectors,
deferred loading of JS & appropriate font sizes.
• Utilize HTTP header vary user-agent to indicate to
Google that mobile experience will vary per phone,
tablet, etc.
• Don't believe your developers when they say your site
is as fast as it can be.

• Types of broken content that won't rank well in mobile
search: flash, pop ups, hover effects, tiny font sizes..
• Other types of broken content: slow pages, tiny
buttons, device specific content, sideways scrolling.
• Slow mobile page load slows down the speed of the
crawler, which hurts crawl efficiency. Means fewer
pages indexed.
• Speed up mobile design w/ design for mobile first;
remove unnecessary code; minimize file size;
optimize load order.

• Optimize load order by loading elements inline vs.
using external requests.
• Use Google Page Speed Insights to optimize your
mobile and desktop load speeds.
• UX elements may come into play for mobile SEO.
i.e. screen width, font sizes & tap-target sizes.
• Load time is super important for mobile SEO &
usability!
• Using multiple mobile solutions for different pages
for your site is OK; do what's best for the end user!

• 92% of mobile searches in the auto industry are done
from the web; not apps.
• 9 out of 10 mobile searches lead to action. Over half
lead to purchase.
• Average person shifts attention between a
smartphone, tablet and laptop 21 times an hour.
• Google's Page Speed Insight tool tells you if your
mobile site is fat finger friendly.

• 3 basic options for mobile site designs: responsive,
dynamic serving & dedicated mobile.
• Google recommends you have your mobile site load in
a second or less.
• Increase mobile experience w/ mobile coupons,
location awareness, indoor maps, click 2 call & store
locator.
• You have to have the right solution for situation.
Sometimes it's responsive, some times it's not.
• Highest importance factor within country for mobile
users: relevant content.

• Two parts of doing mobile SEO: the technical part &
the user experience.
• Metrics for mobile SEO has to be more granular.
Focus on qualitative metrics vs. quantitative.
• Example of qualitative metrics: focus on increasing
user experience for individual user personas.
• Other metrics to gauge mobile success: look at time
decay per user for purchases/conversions.
• Who cares about ranking if you can never convert.

• Mobile SEO = start with a user persona and finish with
fulfilling task completions and micro conversions.
• Research tools for establishing user personas: focus
on creating studies. Maybe use Bing Ad Intelligence.
• I asked @maileohye if collapsing content via jQuery is
OK for mobile SEO. She confirmed yes & thanked me
for being so focused on being white hat.
• For local search provider mobile sites: use a HUGE
phone number or map w/ directions to your store vs.
more content.

Monique Pouget, (@moniquethegeek);
Director of Content Strategy,
Thunder SEO
Samuel Scott, (@samueljscott);
Director of SEO & Digital Marketing,
The Cline Group
Kaila Strong, (@cliquekaila);
Director of Client Strategy,
Vertical Measures

• Tools for link earning: topsy, socialmention, twtrland,
quora, open site explorer & boardreader.
• Look for things that are not so share worthy and bring
new light to them (re: link earning).
• Give away free stuff! One of the most fundamental
ways to earn links, ethically.
• Know your audience, create plan of attack, manage
content creation efficiently & create attractive
content.

• When earning links, first identify your goals, and then
develop your strategy.
• Do something newsworthy, create something valuable,
promote something shareable, or fulfill business needs.
• What can you do to make you stand out from the
competitor's in your industry?
• Social, SEO, talking in person; just different forms of
PR.
• Great PR should never be fake.

• SEO is a collection of best practices done right,
including PR!
• Compile list of outlets read by target audiences for
link earning.
• An ideal media list contains: publications, specific
writers, social followings & online sites.
• Write press releases for newsworthy stuff;
NEVER for the sake of link generation!
• The best way to build your brand both online and
offline has been, is & always will be, PR.

• Scalability = less quality, no matter what kind of
content you're creating or marketing you're doing.
• You can't do link earning without time, money, or the
ability to create content.
• Unlinked brand mentions are the lowest hanging fruit
in regards to link earning - reach out and get them!
• Use Fresh Web Explorer to find unlinked brand
mentions!
• Link building isn't hard, we just have to work smarter.

• When reaching out, sound authoritative, don't use
stop words, follow up, don't automate & do offer
addtional info.
• Use employees names to find link opportunities by
using Google advanced search operators.
• Q: "Do reciprocal links make sense?" A: "Ask yourself,
does it provide value [to both parties]?" - @cliquekaila
• "If you have to argue about whether the link is good or
bad - the link is bad!” - @stonetemple

Ted Ives, (@tedives);
Owner,
Coconut Headphones
Eric Enge, (@stonetemple);
CEO,
Stone Temple Consulting
Joshua Moody, (@gotmoody);
Lead Enterprise Digital Marketer,
97th Floor

• Marketing content; marketing channels; marketing
audience = the road to content marketing success.
• Expanding to different channels, traffic sources, and
content types may require organizational changes.
• If you rely 100% on organic traffic and you're hesitant
to use data from paid search, you're crazy.
• Any piece of great unique content you have, you should
repurpose it in 15 different ways.
15 suggested ways are to follow…

• Reach out to the industry leader in your niche, and
work on building your own authority via their site.
• It's really important to have your content & social
strategies aligned, otherwise you won't get that far.
• Don't just assume you're doing all the right things;
measure your progress via organic means.
• It's only good to share content on social media when
it's GOOD content!
• Influencers act as an accelerant to content marketing.

• Paraphrased: "[Visual elements are an essential key to
increasing social shares.]”
• When sharing content, make sure you're descriptive,
so people are more willing to engage.
• Paraphrased: "[Tailor your content & social media
efforts to each platform to capitalize on engagement.]”
• Even when influencers don't have as large of an
audience as you, their reach does not 100% overlap
with yours.

• Influencers become influencers by [building
relationships w/ people in the industry and giving
back].
• If you want to meet an influencer, go see them present.
Tell them you liked it; lie if you have to.
• Paraphrased: "[Don't just measure progress by
quantity, but more so by who has actually engaged.]'
• Paraphrased: "[Compare yourself to competing authors
on a site. If they out-share you, mimic their strategy.]'
• Paraphrased: "When targeting social media sites,
consider different user personas based on platform"

• With not provided data on the rise, don't be afraid.
Just mitigate your risk.
• Turn images into Twitter cards, so when people share
that, your data always shows.
• Using graphics are great because people like to reuse
them. Which means images are GREAT for link
building.
• BuzzFeed increased total reviews of referral traffic
10% with just 40 minutes of work.

• You need significantly less shares on LinkedIn to
[have your image] shared on the home page.
• SlideShare converts people a lot better than pretty
much any other social platform.
• Q: "How do I get local traffic using @SlideShare?"
A:"Generate buzz just around things unique to your
city.' - @gotmoody
• Q: "@SlideShare account; personal or company
accounts?' A: "Company accounts." - @gotmoody

Duane Forrester, (@DuaneForrester);
Sr. Product Manager,
Bing
Ruslan Belkin, (@ruslansv);
Senior Director of Engineering,
Twitter

• Paraphrased: "[Using a push medium isn't enough;
you have to respond and engage with customers.]”
• @DuaneForester just confirmed @bing uses G+ data
to serve up better search results!!!
• Do not take shortcuts! Do not go to link farms, things
of that nature - it's so obvious to us. You'll find they
don't help your rankings and you've just wasted your
time and money.
• We test and we try to find the winners in [the data].

Out of context, but @DuaneForrester from @bing told me
I have "lovely facial hair.", haha. #awesome
• Starting up your business and launching it is NOT
the end goal. The end goal, is my revenue going up?
• Remember: It's all about quality; not about quantity.
• It takes just ONE link to rank.
• Paraphrased: "[Data for natural social signals looks
like lightning bolts - there are no certain paths.]

• Any time you can get people to follow you, we're
damn interested in knowing why.
• @dannysullivan says, “Links are still valuable..”.
@DuaneForrester from @bing jokingly interrupts,
“Are they?”
• @DuaneForrester says, “Imagine you're the
consumer. Do you want to hear companies you hire
are taking shortcuts?” RE: social media shortcuts.

• Q: "Are all retweets equal?” A: "At the current time,
everything gets an equal share.” - @ruslansv
• @dannysullivan asks, “How do people search
@twitter? Hastags, people, words?” @ruslansv says,
“It's about the same.”
• @dannysullivan asks, “What factors are Twitter
signals?” @ruslansv says, “One is an engagement
graph, called Real Graph.”
• @dannysullivan says, "Oh, you guys should use Magic
Recs.”

• @dannysullivan asks, “What do you want to
improve?” @ruslansv says, “Our searches are up
120%, so we're doing something right.”
• @dannysullivan asks, “Suggestions for getting better
results in Twitter?” @ruslansv says, “Write good
content or promote.”
• At any one time, there are a number of front and back
end experiments happening on @twitter.
• Paraphrased: @ruslansv says, “[Frequency of tweets
plays a part, but we look at who is following/sharing.]”

• @dannysullivan asks, “Is there an official name for
@twitter's algorithm? Dickrank?”
@ruslansv says, “No.”
• @ruslansv states @google and @twitter had a great
partnership and they mutually agreed to go separate
ways.
• @dannysullivan asks, “Did @TheEllenShow break
@twitter?” @ruslansv says, “Yes.”
• @ruslansv says, “You don't always have time to do it
right but you have time to do it over?”
RE: #socialmedia shortcuts.

Danny Sullivan, (@dannysullivan);
Founding Editor,
Marketing Land & Search Engine Land

Some guy named Josh asked, "If you had $500 to spend for
marketing, where'd you spend it." My advice: "Your plane
ticket home.“
• Great answer to "how to spend $500 on marketing my
business?" Start a $500 scholarship.“
• Create a Google+ account so you can setup authorship.
Doesn't mean you have to use it.
• Google may cut off keyword data for advertisers.

Have Questions?
Are you a local
contractor looking to
increase your leads?
Call
(800) 727-3920

SMX West 2014: The Best of the Best Takeaways - Part One

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SMX West 2014: The Best of the Best Takeaways - Part One