SMX Sydney Discount

SMX SydneySearch Marketing Expo (SMX) is coming to Sydney for the first time this April and the anticipation is already building. The speaker line-up alone is enough to make jaws drop:

* Danny Sullivan, Editor in Chief – Searchengineland.com
* Frederick Valley, Adwords Evangelist, Google Inc.
* Gord Hotchkiss, President & CEO – Enquiro
* Marissa Mayer, Vice President, Search Products & User Experience – Google Inc.
* Rand Fishkin, Director – SEOmoz

As one of the sponsors of the conference, my team and I at Search Engine College are particularly excited to see what Danny and his hardworking local crew (Hi Barry!) have planned for their first SMX event Down Under. It will also be the first time we’ve ever exhibited at a major search conference so we’ve been in preparation mode for some time. Our exhibition fees include a booth but not fit-out or marketing materials and there’s a lot to organize!

The great news is that as sponsors, we’ve secured an exclusive discount that we can pass on to Search Engine College students and readers of this blog, PLUS we’ve also scored a free conference pass to one lucky blog reader. But more about the free pass in a later post. In the meantime, if you’re planning on attending SMX Sydney and you haven’t registered yet, today’s your lucky day. Below is a coupon code that will give you 15 percent off the full conference ticket price:

SMX08-SECVIP

I’m not sure when this coupon is set to expire, but I got the impression that it was a short-term deal. So go and register, quick!

Q and A: Where can I find information on Yahoo’s algorithm changes?

QuestionHi Kalena

I was wondering if you knew anything about the algorithm changes that Yahoo has made in recent months? My pages have really shifted there. Can you refer me to anything that may help?

Diane

Dear Diane

This article by Aaron Wall will probably help you. You will also find some related blog posts and articles in the Yahoo SEO category on Sphinn.

Search Industry Job of the Week: Search Engine Marketing Specialist

Job Title: Search Engine Marketing Specialist
Job Reference #: Unknown
Position Type: Fulltime
Name of employer: AT&T
Location: Birmingham, Alabama
Date Posted: 11 February 2008
Position description:

AT&T is one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world.
AT&T are the leading provider of print and Internet Yellow Page products in the Southeast. They also offer communications products and services ranging from high-speed DSL Internet access, wireless, advanced data and networking solutions, home entertainment and local and long distance service. The new AT&T research and development teams bring the newest technologies to our customers every day.

Outside Search Engine Marketing (SEM) Sales Opportunities

AT&T Advertising & Publishing-East is currently seeking energetic and success motivated SEM sales professionals to assist in the sale of SEM advertising to their print and Internet advertising customers. You will accompany their sales professionals on sales calls where you will utilize your SEM knowledge and sales abilities to help all types of local businesses understand the value of AT&T’s search engine advertising products. You will also conduct one on one and group SEM product line training sessions with their local sales force and structure sales contests as needed.

Though AT&T manage SEM campaigns for thousands of local businesses, they have barely scratched the surface of the hyper growth local search advertising marketplace. This lucrative and rapidly growing market provides an outstanding earnings opportunity and outstanding work experience in an outstanding company!

AT&T are an industry leader and have a proven track record of providing their customers with effective solutions that enable them to realize their goals. Their powerful market branding with AT&T Real Yellow Pages and YELLOWPAGES.COM provide outstanding opportunities to partner with local businesses.

Proven winners chosen for this position will be assigned to the local sales office and be responsible for meeting or exceeding the SEM sales objectives for that office. You will work with highly trained and motivated sales professionals, in a great work environment and have a comprehensive benefits package including:

·         Fully paid training

·         Lap top computer

·         Medical, dental and life insurance

·         401K plan

·         Pension plan

·         Tuition reimbursement

·         Award & recognition programs

·         Paid vacations and holidays

·         Excellent opportunity for advancement 

Requirements Include: 

·         At least 2 years of Search Engine Marketing experience, Google AdWords Certification is a strong positive

·         1+ year of sales experience, media sales experience preferred

·         Internet proficiency

·         Valid drivers license and personal vehicle

·         Strong communications & negotiation skills

·         Willing and able to travel overnight

·         Bachelors Degree or equivalent experience

·         Strong work ethic and communication skills

·         Demonstrated leadership and self-management skills

·         Business acumen 

Salary/Bonus/Benefit Compensation Range: 85,000 – 124,000 USD/Year
Closing date: 8 March 2008
More info from: [www.att.com]
Contact: Teresa Bohannon at teresa.bohannon[at]lmberry.com

For more search industry job vacancies visit Search Engine College Jobs Board

Meeting Jill Whalen

Jill and KalWell after nearly 8 years of communicating online, I’ve finally met Jill Whalen in person.

We’ve always talked about meeting up at one of the search engine conferences in the U.S. but I can never quite get my act (or budget!) together to make the long trip. When I heard that Jill was speaking at Webstock 2008 here in New Zealand, I figured it was my best chance to catch up with her so I registered and booked my flight from Christchurch to Wellington.

Originally I was planning on surprising Jill by just turning up to her session and tapping her on the shoulder, but then I thought that if I didn’t tell her I was coming, her schedule would be booked out and we wouldn’t have the chance for a major catch-up. So I emailed her to let her know I was coming. Turns out that she didn’t have any plans apart from the speaker’s dinner and was glad to find a playmate!

The day I arrived we had a brief chat over a drink at her hotel (The Museum Hotel) and then on Thursday night we had dinner at a Chinese restaurant. We originally planned to go to Restaurant 88, a well-known Vietnamese place but being Valentine’s Day, the place was booked solid and turned us away. So we went next door to a little Chinese restaurant instead. The photo above shows us at the restaurant Thursday night. As you can see by the empty chairs behind us, we stayed way longer than any other patrons and I think they were about to kick us out! Apologies for the grainy photo but my digital camera was playing up the whole trip.

It was great to chat to Jill and gossip about this crazy industry we work in. We talked quite a bit about the personalities in search and about the generation gap that is developing between SEO experts of our era and the new generation of SEO young guns climbing the charts. We also talked about the opportunities that conferences and events can provide for people in this industry and how it can make the difference between an SEO and what I call an SEO Rockstar. While talking to Jill, I realized that I had probably let quite a lot of opportunities for Search Engine College and my consulting business slide in the past because I haven’t really embraced the conference scene.

Anyway, it was just fantastic to meet Jill and be able to give her a real hug instead of a virtual one. She’s always been an inspiration and it was great to pick her brain and have a good old gossip. Maybe the next time we are both on the same continent we can meet up again eh Jill?

Q and A: Do I need to create an RSS feed from scratch?

QuestionHi Kalena

This is Tan from Malaysia, I refer to your article How To Get Your Web Site Content Syndicated and have some questions that need your guidance.

Re the following two paras that were extracted there from, I have written my questions below where I am in doubt:

1. Create a javascript version of the RSS feed to enable other webmasters to syndicate your content on their sites the Wytheville Community College News Center provides this service for free.
(I think the link is not working anymore, could you please provide another link for this?)

2. To keep your feed fresh, try to keep your channel items to a maximum of five, deleting older items from your feed as you update it. The dates next to your news items will adjust depending on when content aggregators pick them up. (If we were to delete the old items, how and where else could we make it available for others to see the old items via the RSS Feed?)

Thanks and please guide me

Best wishes,
Tan

Dear Tan

That article was written many years ago and is now out of date. Instant RSS Feeds are now freely available via blog software and it’s much easier to install this than manually creating a feed from scratch as outlined in the article. Simply use a service such as WordPress or Blogger. They have lots of tutorials to help get you started.

You might also find these Blogging and RSS articles useful. Good luck!