The following is coverage of the Search Engine Strategies (SES) New York presentation called “Mobile Search Optimization” by Cindy Krum of Blue Moon Works, Gregory Markel, President of Infuse Creative LLC and Rachel Pasqua, Director of Mobile Marketing at iCrossing.

This presentation provided a fascinating glimpse into the young realm of mobile site creation, compliance and optimization. I have a lot of information to work with here so to make this article a little more digestible I have broken it into two parts; one is the site creation and the second is the site optimization. Read more…

It has been a long day. I got into New York early this morning and had to get up bright and early to attend the most interesting presentations. Between making contacts at my first Search Engine Strategies conference and attending two advanced presentations I had a long day indeed. That said, I met some great people and at least one new friend in the industry – always invaluable for networking and bouncing ideas off (especially tough questions from you guys!). Read more…

Attending a Search Engine Strategies Conference has been likened to having an encyclopedia downloaded into your mind in two or three intense days of concentrated information sessions. For long term SEOs and SEMs, a SES conference is a chance to catch up with colleagues and exchange gossip, information and collegiate humour.

Traveling across the continent to get to the conference can be tiring. My parents live in Toronto so I am fortunate enough to have a place to stay complete with home cooked meals and the security of sleeping in a familiar bed. Given the tenor of the conference and the exhaustion of jet-lag, staying at my parents’ place is more than helpful. Read more…

An historic event in the search marketing community is taking place in Nanjing, China over the next two days. The first annual Search Engine Strategies China Conference is taking place. The fine folks at Search Engine Round Table are providing full coverage of the conference from attendee Marc Hil Macalua.

Here are a few quick facts about the Chinese Internet market in 2006, as noted by Yu Yang, CEO of Analysis International.

- There are 100 million Chinese Internet users.
- 65% of those users are under the age of 30.
- 84% of them use search engines at least once per week.

Peter Lu from the China Internet Network Information Center told his audience that approximately 50% of Chinese searchers use Baidu. Google is rapidly gaining a loyal following, becoming more popular with governmental, corporate and high-income users.

There is a great deal to learn about the Chinese search engine market. The SES China 2006 Conference continues until tomorrow.

(by Jim Hedger)

The room was excellent, providing seating for about 50 people per session. The chalkboard and flip charts were fully stocked with fresh chalk, clean brushes and brand-new Sharpie markers. There were three thermoses of organic coffee, which never seemed to empty, no matter how many cups were consumed. The overhead projector and the A/B/C switch (attached to the three laptops used by the presenters) were wired and the movie screen behind the podium automatically raised and lowered at the push of a button. Sizing up the situation at half past seven o’clock in the morning, Bruno, Frank and I smiled, each knowing something interesting was going to happen in just a few short hours. Read more…

In a few hours I will be boarding a small, single prop sea plane (likely a DeHavilland DHC3 Otter) for a short hop across the Georgia Strait into downtown Vancouver. There, I will be met by Frank Klassen and Bruno Hoffman, co-founders of Vancouver based Search Engine Business World, a conference and planning organization formed to educate Canadian businesses about search engine marketing.

Tomorrow, I will be speaking at the downtown campus of Simon Fraser University addressing topics ranging from a brief history of search to the latest tools and trends in search marketing. I am not certain if registration is still available but if you find yourself in Vancouver tomorrow morning and are in the mood for some informative fun, SFU Downtown is the place to be.

While in Vancouver, I have some spare time tonight and tomorrow afternoon. If any StepForth client or reader is interested in having a coffee, please feel free to call our office (1-877-385-5526) or email jimhedger@stepforth.com to arrange a time.

A full weekend has passed since Larry Page made the last of what was assumed to be three major speeches from the heads of the three major search engines at the 2006 CES convention in Las Vegas. Page’s lackluster announcements on Google Pack and Google Video followed similar underwhelming performances by Yahoo’s Terry Semel and Microsoft’s Bill Gates. Perhaps expectations had been placed too high by the press. Scheduled fresh on the heels of the Christmas-New Year’s slump, commentators and observers wrote highly speculative pieces, mostly about Google. By Friday afternoon however, what might have been, simply was not. Read more…

Bill Gates opened the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last night calling this the decade of the digital lifestyle and workstyle. While his keynote speech only touched on search in general terms, he played down the threat of Google in an earlier interview and noted IBM as Microsoft’s chief competitor. Read more…

A moderator at WebMasterWorld, Ian Turner, has been missing since the end of the WebMasterWorld Conference held last week in New Orleans. He was reported missing over 48-hours after failing to meet a flight to the UK in Atalanta.

Anyone with information on Ian Turner or who spoke with him on Saturday or Sunday are asked to contact WebMasterWorld founder Brett Tabke (contact info below)

Brett Tabkebtabke(at)webmasterworld.com
512-231-8107 (9a-3p cst mon-fri gmt-6)Fax 512-231-1653

Search Engine Marketing is a sensible vocation. Driven by many of the same basic tenets that inform the traditional marketing sector, the goal is to be sure one’s clients’ products are among the first people think of when looking for that certain something those clients create. In the olden days it was all about placement, positioning and repetition. Elaborate campaigns involving radio, television and print would be conceived and executed with the goal of establishing a foothold for new products in the households of the nation or solidifying the stability of a pre-existing brand. Those olden days may be, like so ’80′s, in relation to the crazed new world that search brings however, humans being humans, the ideas of an older generation often remain the ones that play best on the Internet today. Read more…