SMX Advanced Seattle 2014

This was my first time to the SMX Advanced conference. I was impressed with the programs that Search Engine Land set up. The After Dark Party at the Seattle Aquarium was also fun.

A couple of stand out take aways are:

1. In almost all of the eight sessions site speed was mentioned as a strong correlation in ranking factors. The Periodic Table of SEO Ranking Factors 2014 Edition, Marcus Tober reported that the strongest correlative increase captured over 2013 study was site speed.
2. User experience was also widely mentioned in terms of SEO. This confirms my understanding of Google and SEO. Google is largely concerned with recommending the best relevant content to searchers and user experience is being factored into this. Marcus Tober concluded by recoining Search Engine Optimization to Search Experience Optmization.

Here are the programs I attended:

June 10, 2014

The Periodic Table of SEO Rank Factors: 2014 Edition (#smx 11A)

1. Matthew Brown – SEO Success Factors
2. Marianne Sweeny – How UX Affects SEO Ranking Factors
3. Marcus Tober – Comparing SEO Ranking Factors From 2013 to 2014

Keyword Research on ‘Roids! Advanced Workarounds For Vanishing Keywords Data (#smx #12A)

1. Christine Churchill – Keyword Research on Roids
2. Rae Hoffman – Keyword Research on Roids
3. Chris Silver Smith – In A World of “Not Provided”

Super Session: Enhancing Search Results With Structured Data & Markup (#smx #13A)

1. Jay Myers – Best Buy’s schema.org Journey: Then and Now
2. Jeff Preston – Managing Search, Managing Change
3. Marshall Simmonds – No SEO is NEVER Dead

What Advanced SEOs Should Be Doing About Mobile (#smx #13C)

1. Cindy Krum – Best Practices For Mobile SEO & Page Speed
2. Michael Martin – What Advanced SEOs Should Be Doing About Mobile
3. Maile Ohye
4. Jim Yu – Comparing Approach, Response & Risk With Data

You&A With Matt Cutts (#smx #1KEY)

June 11, 2014

Cortana & The Predictive Search Future (#smx #2KEY)

1. Marcus Ash
2. Rob Chambers

Technically Speaking: Advanced Technical SEO Issues (#smx #21A)

1. Bill Hunt – Technically Speaking Improving Indexing
2. Maile Ohye
3. Eric Wu – AJAX Crawlability

Innovative Success Metric For SEO (#smx #22A)

1. Kerry Dean – SEO Success Metric of the Future!
2. Cory Haldeman – SEO: A Feel Good Story
3. Jeff Sauer – With Disruption Comes Opportunity

Ask The SEOs (#smx #23A)

1. Greg Boser
2. Rae Hoffman
3. Marshall Simmonds

Here are some programs that I would have liked to have been to:

June 10, 2014

Next-Gen Ad Creative & Testing Techniques (#smx #12B)

1. Brad Geddes – Finding New Ad Inspiration

25 Social Media Ideas For The Advanced Search (#smx # 12C)

1. Michael King – Social SEO Research
2. Matt Siltala – Social MADia
3. Lisa Williams – A Mad Men Approach to Social Media for the Search Marketers

Maximizing The Synergy Of Paid Search & Social (#smx #13B)

1. Chad Baldwin – Search & Social Intersections

What Advanced SEMs Should Be Doing About Mobile (#smx #13C)

1. Anna Hughes – Mobile Search Insights From Bing Ads
2. Jaclyn Evans – Mobile Metrics that Matter
3. Jeremy Evans – Trends and Strategy for Mobile Search in 2014

25 Link Acquisition & Auditing Issues For The Advanced SEO (#smx #14A)

1. Prashant Puri – AdLift: Delivering Search ROI
2. Rob Woods – Link Penalties and Clean Ups

PLA To Pay: Maximizing Profits With Product Listing Ads (#smx #14B)

1. Frank Kochenash – Google Shopping Speculations on the Future
2. Elizabeth Marsten – How Bing Ads Does PLAs
3. Jay Stampfl – PLA To Pay

June 11, 2014

Attribution Success In The Age Of Mobile (#smx #23C)

1. Cody Kunning – Attribution Success In The Age Of Mobile