Search Engine Land’s SMX East is every SEO and SEM’s dream: a tactic-packed agenda, more than 100 dynamic and authoritative speakers, keynotes, exceptional networking and more.
If you’re involved in SEO, SEM, PR, social media or any other customer-facing activity, you owe it to yourself (and your company or client’s bottom line) to attend.
The SMX East conference program is huge! It features multiple tracks filled with sessions that cover:
all of the search marketing topics, including search advertising, SEO, technical SEO, analytics and more; and
valuable content that’s designed for all experience levels, from beginner to advanced.
There’s something for everyone… all the time.
You’ll learn proven tactics and techniques you’ll put to work immediately to harness the opportunities and cope with the challenges. It’s the ultimate survival guide to the dynamic and tumultuous world of search marketing.
If this sounds right up your alley, read my preview, and then register by Saturday, August 27, to take advantage of Early Bird rates!
SEO is all about content marketing
With constant algorithm changes, the inexorable shift to mobile and tablet devices and an ever-increasing number of competitive websites appearing every day, it’s challenging for SEOs to keep up. A further challenge is to justify your hard work and persuade bosses or clients why — and exactly how — your work is valuable. We’ve got
SEO sessions designed for seasoned professionals to ensure their continued content marketing success:
Enterprise SEOs, Unite!
Getting AMPed: What You Need To Know About Accelerated Mobile Pages & Google
Optimizing Content For Voice Search & Virtual Assistants
How I Lost My Client’s #1 Ranking And Their Profits Exploded Overnight!
Adaptable Content: The “New Organic” SEO
View all the SEO sessions here.
Ready for profound search advertising changes?
Today, 30-30-80 is the new 25-35-35. Don’t know what that means? SMX is definitely the conference for you! The evolution of AdWords means it is time to rethink your creative and bid strategies, and SMX delivers
SEM sessions designed to ensure you’re prepared. Our Paid Search Tracks are a combination of panel sessions, made up of a group of experts who share their knowledge and techniques on a broad range of topics, and solo sessions that dive deep into a specific topic by an industry thought leader. SEM-focused sessions include:
Exploring The Upcoming AdWords & Bing Ads Changes
Updating Your SEM Toolbox With New Shiny Tools
Perfect Your SEM Testing: How & Why To Evaluate Everything
Creating The Ideal Account Structure
How To Find, Hack & Build Great AdWords Scripts
Getting Images Right In Paid Search
Paid Search Roundtable
View all the SEM sessions here.
SMX Boot Camp gives you the 411 in search marketing
If you’re new or need a refresher in search marketing, our SMX Boot Camp will get you up to speed. Attend SMX Boot Camp on September 27, and you’ll learn the fundamentals in:
Keyword Research & Copywriting For Search Success
Link Building Fundamentals
Paid Search Fundamentals
Search Engine-Friendly Web Design
Register now for SMX Boot Camp and pay only $499 — a $200 savings compared to on-site rates. That includes admission to the Expo Hall, networking lunch, the Expo Hall reception and the Evening Forum on September 27.
SMX Boot Camp is also open to All Access pass holders. Everyone who attends every Boot Camp session receives a Certificate of Completion.
Master local search
Do you run a small business? Or provide search marketing services for companies who serve predominantly local customers? Then you know local search is a unique beast in its own right, requiring different approaches for organic optimization, search advertising and social media marketing efforts.
At SMX East, you’ll get street-savvy tips from experts who are in the trenches. They’ll present case studies highlighting their successes and lessons learned from working in a constantly changing landscape where both competitors, and even local search providers like Yelp and Google, can derail even the most carefully implemented local search campaign. SMX East offers sessions dedicated to addressing local search issues:
Local Search Roundtable: Ask Us Anything About Local SEO & SEM
The 2016 Quantitative Local SEO Ranking Factors Study
The roundtable is an open Q&A session with local search experts who can answer all of your questions; SEO Ranking Factors is packed with data gleaned from a rigorous study of over 100 factors on the rankings of 15,000 local businesses in a hundred different metros.
Use search marketing for brand building
Brands face unique challenges, ranging from sites in many countries to managing a wide array of stakeholder interests — all while protecting the integrity of the brand and trying to keep it relevant in the minds of users. The Brands track offers a diverse array of content to help you tackle these challenges:
Brands Talk Search Marketing
Searching for Searchers Outside The Search Box
The Art Of Engaging Customers In A Multi-Channel World
Conquering Google Display & Gmail Ad Targeting
The New 1+1=3: Using Search Marketing to Amplify TV Buys
Get exclusive insights in mobile, retargeting and more
Most sessions at SMX East consist of panels of three or four speakers, each offering their own distinct viewpoint, tactics and tips to the discussion. But sometimes you want to hear a single speaker take a deep dive into a topic. On the SEM front, you’ll hear in-depth discussions of:
Your Mobile PPC Sucks (But It Doesn’t Have To!)
Your Retargeting Sucks (But It Doesn’t Have To!)
Location Targeting: The Benefits Of Thoughtful Segmentation
RLSA Will Save the Day!
The Lowdown On Google Customer Match One Year Later
Untangle yourself from crazy-complicated technical SEO issues
Even SEO veterans can run into serious challenges when they dive into website infrastructure and find that things get a lot more complicated. URL parameter facets + pagination + canonicalization? Mobile + hreflang + international versions? AJAX multiget calls? And if you don’t solve these issues, the fantastic content you’ve created may never be indexed.
Need a life preserver, anyone? Our deep dive sessions into technical SEO include:
What’s New With Markup & Structured Data
What To Do When Google Can’t Understand Your JavaScript
Internationalizing Your SEO
Everything You Need To Know About Redirects
The Power of Google Featured Snippets in 2016 — Analysis, Case Studies, and Recommendations
Better Safe Than Sorry With HTTPS
What You Need To Know About Google App Indexing
What You Need To Know About Apple iOS App Search & Universal Links
Eye Tracking Update: How Users View & Interact With Mobile Search Results
20 Link Building Stories That Will Save your Site
Adaptable Content: The “New Organic” SEO
Better Together: Search & Social
As search marketers, we’re faced with the constant task of crafting great content, developing a successful link building strategy or improving our PPC efforts to touch individual searchers briefly, without revealing the complexity of our online advertising effort. Social is an equally important factor that needs to fit into your search marketing efforts. But social is different, by its very definition. You’re exposed, you’re directly engaged, and it’s thrilling when it works and you’ve directly connected with your customers and prospects — but there’s nowhere to hide if something misfires and communities or memes turn against you.
We have three sessions covering the marriage of search and social:
SEO & Social: Let’s Dance!
Using Paid Search & Social Together To Deliver The Ultimate Knock-Out Punch
Social Media Clinic
Keynote: What’s New & Cool At Google
In this highly anticipated keynote conversation, come hear Google’s Jerry Dischler, vice president, product management, AdWords, and Babak Pahlavan, senior director, measurement and analytics, discuss the recent changes to AdWords and Analytics, including new “mobile-first” bidding support, “promoted pins” to put advertisers on Google Maps, longer text ads, and the road map for attribution for Google as a whole.
You’ll also be the first to hear about a new, free product that Google will announce during this can’t-miss keynote conversation.
Advanced Tactics For Online Retailers
Retailers face unique challenges, such as maintaining complex sites with hundreds, thousands or even millions of products that constantly change based on inventory, new items or models and consumer demand. Beyond optimizing their own sites, retailers also must deal with issues like providing structured product listings to shopping and comparison search engines. And new technologies like beacons make the picture even more complex. If you’re involved with online retail, you won’t want to miss these sessions:
Beacons & Beyond: Offline Conversions And Online Retargeting
Retail Search Beyond Google: Get Found More, Sell More
Shopping Campaign Tips & Tricks You’ll Want To Own
Make smarter, more well-informed decisions with analytics and conversion tools
Forget about better-than-average click and conversion rates. Our experts in Analytics & Conversion track will show you new approaches to gain the maximum return from your campaigns. Sessions include:
Conversion Rates & The Law of Diminishing Astonishment
Google Analytics Power-Reporting For SEO And SEM
Art Meets Insight: Eye Catching Visualizations For Better Analytics
Rethinking Conversion Optimization
Smarter SEM Attribution
Ask the experts obsessed with SEO & SEM
SMX East wraps up with two perpetual favorites: Ask The SEOs and Ask The SEMs. Both sessions are open-ended forums where you can ask panelists anything you want — about the conference, specific tactics or techniques or industry trends.
Quality programming & speakers
All of the 60+ sessions I’ve described above are editorial sessions. People are speaking on them because we feel they have great information to offer. Note: 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 speakers to create a session where presentations support each other, rather than overlap. Formats also vary. We have panels with multiple people or only one or two speakers. Some panels are all Q&A. Some feature presentations. We use several formats because different topics require different presentation approaches. That makes for the optimal SMX 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 18 years and counting!
Expo Hall & Plus Sessions
Our many SMX East sponsors & exhibitors also have great solutions and demos to share. That’s why we provide several ways for attendees to hear from them.
Plus Sessions are part of the agenda; they are produced by sponsoring companies. These companies know they are competing for your attention with our educational sessions, so they’re highly motivated to deliver great information and value.
Bing and Google will each conduct full days of programming on their search advertising offerings, Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. On Tuesday, you’ll hear from Catalyst (part of mega-agency GroupM) and Stone Temple Consulting.
The Expo Hall is open Tuesday and Wednesday, September 27 and 28. There you can get information from exhibitors and sponsors about the many products and services available to accelerate your business and performance.
Looking to network and visit the Expo Hall? An Expo+ Pass might be the right fit for you. Learn more.
Hands-on workshops
Looking for intensive training in a smaller group setting on a particular search marketing topic? SMX East offers a number of in-depth workshops to choose from:
You’ll save $400 off on-site rates by registering for an All Access + Workshop combo pass.
Networking with like-minded peers
SMX East 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 them:
Our SMX East Facebook group page will allow you to connect with other attendees and speakers before, during and after the conference.
We’ll kick off the conference with the SMX Meet & Greet reception, sponsored by Bruce Clay, Inc. The informal reception at the spectacular Iguana Mexican Restaurant in Manhattan’s theater district offers great food and drink and plenty of time for engaging conversations with your fellow attendees and speakers.
If you’re new to SMX, be sure to attend the SMX Orientation, where we’ll show you how to optimize your conference experience. The orientation is from 8:30 to 8:50 a.m. on Tuesday, September 27, just before the conference officially kicks off.
During lunch, sign up for an “Obsessed With… ” networking table, where you’ll network with other attendees and discuss specific topics. Being grouped with people who share a common interest is a great icebreaker.
The SMX Expo Hall Reception, on Tuesday, September 27, offers another chance to mingle and check out the best-of-breed marketing solutions from our exhibitors and sponsors.
The Expo Hall Reception is followed by the popular Janes Of Digital evening panel and group discussion event, covering topics in equity, diversity and inclusion. Join us for small bites, drinks, connecting and engaging discussion between industry leaders and the audience. Janes is sponsored by Bing and SMX.
And you won’t want to miss Search Engine Land’s Landy Awards Gala on Wednesday, September 28, from 8:00 to 11:00 p.m. Join search industry leaders and fellow colleagues as we “Celebrate the Power of Search” and honor the winners of the second annual Landy Awards!
Tickets to the Landys are sold separately, and admission is $150, which gives you access to an evening cocktail party with flowing libations, passed hors d’ouevres and gourmet food stations, entertainment and dancing. Plan to celebrate with search marketing industry peers and colleagues in style!
The Landy Awards Gala will take place at the elegant Edison Ballroom, 240 West 47th Street (between 7th and 8th Avenue), New York, NY 10036.
Space is limited, so secure your spot today!
Need more details? You’ll find them on the SMX East networking page. You’ll be sure to meet plenty of amazing people!
I hope you’ve found my preview useful and that you’ll be joining us in New York City next month. Register now and get the complete SMX experience for the low “early bird” rate of $1,795 — that’s $200 off on-site rates! But hurry, rates increase next week. Register today!
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