The Big Wave Blog was at the SMX Seattle show last week. Here are the highlights of my trip to a very rainy Seattle.
Being in Seattle always gives me a thrill, as someone who grew up during the grunge era. Pearl Jam, Nirvana and Soundgarden come to mind…ah, the good music from the 90s!
Getting into Seattle after a bumpy roller coaster ride in the sky got me thinking of people who have a fear of flying and finally took the courage to get on a plane today… after this experience, they will be taking the bus back home!
Still, we landed safely in the lap of Microsoft, Amazon and Starbucks HQs. The cabbie pointed out the Amazon and Starbucks corporate offices to me on the way downtown to the Bell Harbor Convention Center. It’s a beautiful location for a search conference. Then it started raining…and rained almost all the time since I landed.
Keynote
Kevin Johnson, President, Platform and Services Division, gave the keynote. The high point was his plea to the search marketing community. The “Help Me Help You” rant was right out of Jerry Maguire. MSN Live Search has some neat features, but it does not have the once crucial thing that Google has… sheer traffic volume.
Link Building Session
It started out by emphasizing the importance of getting some .edu links for boosting your search rankings. (Note to all our readers: start getting some.) The often controversial HOT topic of whether or not you should buy links was very nicely covered. “Don’t Be Scared of Matt Cutts,” as well as playing dirty games to hurt your competition were thrown around. I will post my stance on buying links next week, so look out for that post!
Bot Herding
This session covered the tech aspects of search engine robots and basically how to put your best foot forward. White Hat alternatives to some really controversial Back Hat tactics were discussed as well. I will be making some neat posts for our readers about getting deeper into the tech-heavy side of things in the coming weeks.
Buying Sites for SEO
Looking to improve your rankings… how about buying websites and abandoned blogs? Pretty sweet… oh, the things we have to do to get rankings. Some etiquette for approaching potential sellers was discussed, as well as factors to consider before buying a website.
Developer Tracks
There were some interesting developer tracks that took a very educational approach to getting web programmers to develop more search-friendly website structures and content management systems.
SMX After Dark
There was a SMX After Dark party later in the night which had the search engine marketing staples: Open Bar (Check), Loud Music (Check), Guitar Hero (Check), Wii Sports (Check), and one of my favorites… Halo 3. I finally got my hands dirty with Halo 3 after catching up with some industry friends and people I met in sessions.
One Last Thing
There is a Seattle establishment that is essential to wrapping up a bumpy flight, strong technical sessions, rainy days, and a late night attempt on Halo 3… it’s called Dick’s and its awesome!
