Last week I got the chance to attend the latest BlueGlass conference in LA. I’ve got to admit, when heading out to the US I had high expectations for this event having heard a lot of buzz around previous conferences they’ve held and you might have seen my interview with Chris Winfield ahead of the event. But I’d have to say, they exceeded expectations way beyond what I ever expected!
This was quite easily the best search event I have ever attended (and there’s been quite a few now!), the sessions were packed full of great content – once you’ve been to a lot of conferences you find yourself skipping quite a few sessions, but this conference was the exception – and every session was full to the back of the room! But as is normally the way, the highlight was the networking – you really could just sell tickets for “an audience with Greg Boser” show! Getting the chance to meet everyone before the event at Mike’s SEO BBQ was a great way to kick-off the conference – and the intimate feel of the event by having a limited number of 125 attendees and all staying at the amazing Standard Hotel in Downtown LA with a free bar and rooftop party is always an appreciated nice touch!
Anyway getting into the content, I’ve organised my tweets and notes so that hopefully you can pickup a couple of useful tips even if you weren’t able to attend the event:
Conversion Rate Optimisation
Use descriptive words on buttons – ‘create a gift’, not ‘buy now’ @hnshahDesign for conversions tips; CROToolkit, lightbox promotions, cross-promo ad banners, promote top posts @hnshahStick to basics on Twitter, share great, relevant & interesting content. @KISSmetrics grown to 88,000 followers @hnshahUse aweber & WordPress for drip email marketing on blogs @hnshahCRO tools; whichtestwon.com, usertesting.com, 99designs.com for landing pages, visualwebsiteoptimizer.com @hnshahGreat CRO landing page examples; RipFire, DollarShaveClub @jasonnazarCan also have social proof on purchase page…’verified by’, better business bureau, etc.@jasonnazarUse social proof CRO – client logos (e.g. visualwebsiteoptimizer.com), as seen on, customer testimonials @jasonnazarCall-to-action; size, colour & text biggest CRO quick win. Dark forest green button converts well – agree, green means go! @jasonnazarSingle biggest CRO tip; headline most important text on page – not call-to-action or on-page text. Great example; Square @jasonnazarOn-Site SEO
Evaluate those low performing pages. Good reminder to either optimize them, or 301 to higher value sections. @alanbleiweissAre your highest visited/stickiest pages converting? A/B test your call-to-action & content wording. @alanbleiweissIn Page Analytics in GA recommended by @alanbleiweiss to determine phrases people find relevant, based on internal CTRs400% increase in organic visits shown by @alanbleiweiss as example of why you don’t need to look at granular kw levelSmart bet is keyword data could go completely & not provided to =100% – interesting prediction by @alanbleiweiss‘SEO is organic ad writing’ great quote by @aimclear@aimclear As far as KWs go, (not set) means the URL, GATC , or AdWords wasn’t set up correctly.‘Within analytics work on the short-tail first because it helps you understand the long-tail.’ @aimclearGA not provided tip; segment landing page data by keyword & map to GWT to compare no of kw visits @aimclear@alanbleiweiss: So many finally validating what i was advocating last spring abt schema as the 2012 big opportunity in SEOLink Building
Buy traditional advertising then use that relationship to get free editorial links that last forever. @RavenJonBuild private lists & set auto reminders to interact w/ people you want to connect w/ on Twitter @RavenJonPosition yourself or your client as an expert source. Recommends @helpareporter to help them find you @RavenJonFullContact, BuzzStream & Tout recommended by @RavenJon to find contact details & manage relationshipsGreat answer from @jamies to my question; how do you value how much a link is worth? Measure attention & traffic it generates@jamies Is tearing up , fantastic realtime ideas, highlighting TheVerge CMS, also likes AtlanticWireGreat tip by @jamies: Google Analytics Query Explorer can be used to map traffic alongside links in @seomozContent Marketing / Infographics
Infographic tips; work with a great publishing partner, capitalise on previous success & tap proven ideas @danieltynskiServe needs of business & potential customers, once you’ve targeted audience, by creating remarkable content @danieltynskiBuild a content team: Community Mgr, Content Strategist, Moderators, Guest Authors, Video Producers, Graphic Designers43% of online news is shared via social networks, 27% of ppl who share are frequent sharers & responsible for 87% of sharesBlogging / Cultivating Visibility
Email marketing tips from @chrisbrogan Brevity – 250 words max, don’t start with view in browser, don’t use dontreply@ addressNice tip from @copyblogger @chrisbrogan unsubscribe your annoying email subscribers, e.g. grammar nazi’s who always reply!Plain text emais have better delivery rates, take people to landing pages, healthy ratio of value vs promotion @copyblogger‘We don’t buy lists, we build audiences.’ ~Brian Clark @copyblogger‘never invest in the carpet, invest in the people who are walking on it!’ @chrisbrogan ’Don’t be an artist. Be a business person who makes art.’ – @chrisbroganThere’s so many bloggers out there, but lack of real quality in most niches – still lots of big opportunities @copybloggerThanks for the @copyblogger 10 landing page commandments @JasonNazarWordPress
Understand WP version numbers: .1 is a major release, .2 is a security update @yoastTrusted Recommendations & New PR
‘always take your work seriously, don’t take yourself seriously’ great advice from @soniasimoneBest pitches in the world are 7 words that describe exactly what you’re pitching @petershankmanWe tend to think more ass in chair time produces more. Take breaks. @soniasimoneI never write unless I’ve just gotten a workout in. Working out spawns creativity. @petershankmanDon’t just sent out press releases, have conversations @soniasimone‘if you’re not making money from it, you’re doing it wrong’ on PR @petershankman‘Personal recommendation is the new PR’ – absolutely true! @misswetapatelThere’s also been some great write-ups on the sessions, checkout the BlueGlass blog where Kelsey Libert did a great job on covering the key points from each. And if anyone else has tips to add or questions – please feel free to do so in the comments and I’ll keep an eye on these.
Kevin Gibbons is Founder/Director of Strategy at SEOptimise. Kevin is well known within the search industry as a blogger for sites such as Search Engine Land, Econsultancy and Search Engine Watch. Kevin is also a frequent SEO speaker at a number of conferences including Search Marketing Expo (SMX), Search Engine Strategies (SES), a4uexpo, SAScon and BrightonSEO.
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