When it comes to local search, a major challenge is to make sure that we’re local, but not too local.  A dentist with a physical address in Ashland may want to attract customers from Holliston and Milford, a kitchen remodeler may cover a 50 mile radius around Boston, and a locksmith may service 60 towns in western Mass.  Getting sites to rank outside of their hometown can be challenging, especially if a company services or draws customers from 100-plus towns.  This presentation will show online marketers how to tackle the challenge of not-too-local SEO while avoiding the dangers of duplicate content and being relevant to a number of local searches.

Please register now for this event.

Local Search and Lead Generation
Thursday, February 16, 2012
6:00 – Badge pickup
6:30 – 7:30 Reception
7:30 – 9:00 Presentation followed by Q&A
Sheraton Framingham, Framingham, MA

About the Speaker

Richard develops Web-based strategies and online marketing plans for Basement Systems, Inc., a network of dealerships and franchises throughout the U.S., Canada, and U.K. in the home improvement industry.  Richard began his career in the Web industry with the IT event planner Comdex in 1994. He has presented on various subjects, including Web analytics, email marketing, Web site promotion, usability, SEO, local search, and social media marketing.  His expertise includes SEO, conversion analysis, lead generation, and developing plans to increase online market share.

Michael King

Michael King of Publicis Modem will be speaking December 7, 2011 in Rocky Hill.  Michael will discuss methods of using searcher personae to further connect user experience, information architecture and most importantly people to conversion and ROI. This talk includes information on how to obtain demographic data from your audience on a keyword level and other advanced methods and tools for keyword research, data extraction and opportunity discovery.  Please post your suggestions or questions to the SEMNE LinkedIn Group.

The Past, Present & Future of Personae in Search
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
6:30 – 7:30 Networking
7:30 – 9:00 Keynote speaker
Rocky Hill Marriott, Rocky Hill, Connecticut
Speaker: Michael King, SEO Manager, Publicis Modem

About the speaker

Mike King (aka iPullRank) is a Philadelphia native turned Brooklynite and the SEO capability lead at Publicis Modem. With experience in software and web development, as well as a 10 year stint as the best rapper ever, he makes it his goal to bring interesting perspectives to inbound marketing.

• Step changes in the industry such as Google Instant often result in increased volumes for advertisers.  Anticipating the effects of these changes and budgeting accordingly allows you to grab market share during times of change.
• The Yahoo-Bing search alliance not only made it easier to buy inventory, but also improved performance on the combined engine.  Building keyword sets for the search alliance is likely easier, and more profitable, than you may think.
• Recent changes in Quality Score algorithms have made using advanced match types more important.  We’ll review tactics that smart marketers are using to maximize their opportunity.
• Facebook ads represent a new frontier in PPC.  Learn how smart marketers are leveraging their paid search skills to optimize Facebook ads, and how simple tricks like rotating ads can reduce ad blindness and increase click-through rates.

Register Now!

Evolution of Paid Search
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
6:00 – Badge pickup
6:30 – 7:30 Reception
7:30 – 9:00 Presentation followed by Q&A
Sheraton Framingham, Framingham, MA
Speaker: Matt Lawson of Marin Software

About the Speaker

Matt Lawson is Vice President of Marketing for Marin Software, provider of the leading platform used by advertisers and agencies to manage search, display, and social advertising.  At Marin, Matt is responsible for worldwide branding and demand generation. Previously, Matt held marketing and product leadership positions at Coremetrics, one of the early innovators in web analytics and paid search marketing. Matt is a regular speaker at Ad:Tech, SMX, SES, and Search Insider Summit. He writes a regular column for Search Engine Land, and has penned by-lines for Search Engine Watch, MediaPost, Adotas, and other publications. Matt holds a Computer Science degree from Princeton University and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

• Techniques to gather market research from search
• How to get management to buy into a search marketing campaign
• What search can do to reinforce traditional marketing

Insights from Search Marketing
Tuesday, Aug 30, 2011
6:30 – 7:30 Networking
7:30 – 9:00 Talk, questions, and site reviews
Rocky Hill Marriott, Rocky Hill, Connecticut
Speaker: Jordan Rost, Agency Lead, Google Inc.

About the speaker

Jordan is currently a lead on Google’s Agency Business Development team focused primarily on Search Engine Marketers. Based in New York, he helps Google’s agency partners make the best use of Google’s products and platforms for their clients. Prior to this role, Jordan helped to build out account management and support structures for Google’s Canadian agency customers while working in San Francisco. Before coming to Google, Jordan worked as a freelance art director and web designer and received a degree in Communications & Political Science from Northwestern University.

In the world of search engine algorithms the only constant is change. Google’s latest bombshell was the Panda update which was released on February 23, 2011. As part of this update Google started to begin to actively measure things such as content quality and user engagement. Eric will go into these recent changes in depth and what they mean for publishers. In addition, Eric will look at the changes he expects to see from Google in the future.

The Google Panda Update & Beyond
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
5:30 – 6:30 Meeting for SEMNE Members
6:30 – 7:30 Networking for Members and Guests
7:30 – 9:00 Presentation followed by Q&A
Sheraton Framingham, Framingham, MA
Speaker: Eric Enge of Stone Temple Consulting

About the Speaker

Eric Enge is the president of Stone Temple Consulting, an SEO consultancy with offices in Massachusetts and California. Eric writes for the Stone Temple blog, Search Engine Land and Search Engine Watch and is a co-author of The Art of SEO, published by O’Reilly Media. He has interviewed many leading figures in the search industry.

Everybody loves free traffic! This talk will focus on how to get more free traffic by fixing technical issues with your web site.  We will cover HTML code, page speed, redirects, content management systems such as WordPress, how to prevent hacking, and diagnostic tools.  As search engines continue to evolve you need to keep up with the latest technologies.  There’s so much to do, and so little time.  How do you prioritize?  Which changes will have the most benefit, and which are a waste of time?  This talk will bring you up to speed on best practices, whether you are a web site owner, web developer, or SEO consultant.

Technical SEO
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
6:30 – 7:30 Networking
7:30 – 9:00 Talk, questions, and site reviews
Rocky Hill Marriott, Rocky Hill, Connecticut
Speaker: Jonathan Hochman, Founder of Hochman Consultants

About Jonathan Hochman

Jonathan Hochman is the founder of Hochman Consultants. A Yale University graduate with two degrees in computer science, he has 20 years experience as a business development, marketing and technology consultant. Hochman is the Chairman of SEMNE, an association of professional search marketers in New England.

Hochman’s credentials include Qualified Google Advertising Professional, Yahoo Search Marketing Ambassador, and Microsoft adExcellence Member. He speaks regularly at various conferences, including Web 2.0 Summit, Search Marketing Expo (SMX) and Search Engine Strategies (SES). He writes for Search Engine Land, Search Marketing Standard, and Internet Evolution.

Our speaker is Jonathan Allen, Director of Search Engine Watch. Attend this event to gain insights into where search marketing is headed in 2011. If you are wondering about things like mobile search, Google Instant, Facebook, or Groupon (and its clones), this is the perfect opportunity to ask questions. Click the event link below to view Jonathan Allen’s bio.

Event details

Hot Topics in Search Marketing for 2011
When: Monday, February 7, 2011; from 6:30 PM – 9:00 PM
Where: Boston Marriott Newton, Newton, MA
Speaker: Jonathan Allen, Search Engine Watch
Cost:  Free for SEMNE members, $49 for non-members

About Jonathan Allen

Jonathan came on board as Director of Search Engine Watch with Incisive Media in December 2009. This newly created role will see him bring the spirit of collaboration back to Search Engine Watch and transform the site into a vibrant community of search and tech marketing professionals.  Before joining Search Engine Watch, Jonathan worked as Search Marketing Specialist for Incisive Media on leading B2B print/online publications and job boards in the legal, tech and finance sectors (websites such as Legal Week, TheInquirer.net, V3.co.uk,Accountancy Age Jobs & Computing Careers)

Before Incisive Media, Jonathan worked as a SEO consultant and also co-founded Moblog:tech, an award winning mobile social networking software provider and owner of the mobile social network, Moblog. In 2008 Moblog:tech’s build of Channel 4′s The Big Art Mob won the community engagement award at MediaGuardian Awards for Innovation (MEGAS), The Royal Television Society’s “On The Move” award, and received 3 BAFTA nominations.  In 2009, Moblog won the Experimental & Innovation Webby award for a collaborative mapping project with Shozu.

Convergence of the search and social signals, location based gaming and the transformation of the online video industry is on Jonathan’s radar in 2011.

Connect with Jonathan on Linked In