Day one of the Minneapolis High Rankings seminar went well and I think the presentations were well received. One thing I think I did not emphasize is that the speakers are not only subject matter experts, but they’re skilled at instruction as well
Matt Bailey reinforced himself as one of my favorite speakers and I recommend that you travel to wherever it is that he’s speaking next to learn about analytics and usability. If nothing else, you can enjoy his Star Trek “red shirt” hypothesis.
Jill covered technical issues and writing for the search engines as well as an overall recap – all great info. Christine Churchill did two excellent presentations, one on keyword research and one on paid search that I’d like to get recordings of. Karon Thackston did a session on copywriting that focused on SEO as well as persuasion and branding, which I think a lot of SEO copywriters miss out on. I had not seen Scottie Claiborne speak before and her session on link building was very thorough.
I received some good feedback on the “UnGoogle Your Search Marketing” presentation. I had to cover a lot of material in a short amount of time so we could still have time for questions. Topics ranged from blogging to press release optimization to social media. I think the most valuable segment was explaining the notion of how channels of distribution (besides standard search) as well as a holistic approach to search marketing can provide distinct competitive advantages.
Here are a few more photos from the High Rankings seminar, with a few more here:
Of course the best photos would have come from the ClickTracks sponsored reception, but I had to catch my flight here to Chicago for Bulldog Reporter’s Advanced PR Technology conference with Greg Jarboe.
Day two of the High Rankings seminar is more workshop oriented, like a site clinic session from a SES, and will allow attendees to get more specific and personal examples of SEO/SEM tips.
Thanks to High Rankings for bringing your event to the Twin Cities. I’m sure by the end of the day today, the local search marketing community will be much wiser.
