Building world-class Search Engine Optimization expertise

If you are going to be in Chicago this week, come check out:
Search Engine Marketing (SEM) Training Workshops - Chicago, IL - June 4, 2008

I’m teaching a class called:
Tech Pitfalls That Will Derail Your SEO

Watch this video to learn more about the workshops and my class:

The Karcher Group is excited to hold our next “Search Engine Marketing Made Simple” seminar & workshop at the University of Akron on Friday, April 25th. 

Held in the brand new, state-of-the-art (and very cool) Taylor Institute for Direct Marketing, this seminar will be interactive, informative and fun!  We love lots of discussion and questions from the audience. We limit the SEO class size to 30 people so that you can get one-on-one instruction.  And, we feed you lunch.

You’ll leave with a list of real-world, actionable strategies you can start working on right away.

• Get one-on-one time in a small group setting
• Get advice from recognized SEO industry experts
• Take home actionable ideas you can implement right away
• Learn SEO basics without breaking the bank
• Have your site evaluated during our optional workshop at the end of the day

Drop by The Karcher Group to get all the details.  Save an extra $50 as a Cleveland SEO reader with the discount code “seminar1″.

Search Engine Strategies New York is right around the corner. The dates are March 17-20, 2008. Many people from ClevelandSEO will be attending, presenting and moderating.

I thought it would be fun to do an interview of someone outside the Cleveland area who will be presenting at SES New York. I spoke with Kristopher Jones, the CEO of Pepperjam — A Full-Service Internet Marketing Agency.

Hopefully you will be at Search Engine Strategies New York. If you have never been before, I highly recommend trying to go. It’s always an amazing event.

Check out my conversation with Kris.

* Tell me a little about Pepperjam. What do you do and what makes you stand out in the industry?

Pepperjam is an industry leading full-service internet marketing and technology agency. We offer outsourced management in the areas of pay-per-click, search-engine optimization, affiliate program management, and online media buying. In addition, Pepperjam recently launched Pepperjam Network, a next generation affiliate tracking, reporting, and payment technology. In fact, Pepperjam Network is the exclusive network for the Search-Engine Strategies Affiliate Program. Pepperjam has been in the business since 1999 and among numerous other awards has been recognized by Inc. Magazine for the last two consecutive years as one of the fastest growing privately held companies in the United States.

* Have you participated at SES NY before? If so, what makes it stand out from other shows that you attend?

Yes. Pepperjam has attended and exhibited at SES - New York, among other SES events for the last several years. In addition, I have been a featured speaker on a range of important issues, including pay-per-click, search-engine optimization, landing page testing, domaining, quality score optimization, and affiliate marketing. SES New York is the biggest get together of search-engine marketing professionals in the world - it is the show of all shows. Each educational session is packed with information and the event provides an incredible forum to network and discuss important issues effecting the search-engine marketing industry. Moreover, all of the top speakers in the world convene on New York City and provide invaluable information to SES attendees.

* What is one thing you are most looking forward to at SES New York?

We are pretty excited that Pepperjam (www.pepperjamblog.com) will be blogging as many educational sessions as possible. We are also excited about all of the different networking opportunities that SES provides, as well as extensive educational sessions.

* What do you think the big topic of the event will be this year? i.e., do you think there is a subject or topic that is really hot at this moment that will be the talk of the town?

Quality scores issues continue to be critical to advertisers on the major pay-per-click engines like Google Adwords and Yahoo Search Marketing. In addition, I think you’ll be hearing more and more about the convergence that is taking place between pay-per-click advertising and search-engine optimization. Finally, I think the “buying links” debate will continue with commentary from both Google, as well as leading link brokers, such as Text-Link-Ads and Text-Link-Brokers.

The Karcher Group is holding our next SEO Seminar on March 25, 2008, at the Ehrnfelt Recreation Center in Strongsville.  “Search Engine Marketing Made Simple” will feature special guest Anita Campbell, editor of the hugely popular Small Business Trends blog, along with TKG’s team of in-house experts.

At our seminar, you’ll be sure to:
• Get one-on-one attention (questions are welcomed and encouraged!)
• Take home real-world ideas you can implement right away
• Learn SEO basics without breaking the bank
• Learn in a small group setting (seminar size is limited)
• Get advice from seasoned SEO/SEM professionals
• Have a sales pitch-free experience

For the complete agenda or to register, visit: http://www.thekarchergroup.com/seminar/cleveland2008
Cleveland SEO readers can save $50 by using the discount code “seminar1” during checkout.

Details:
• Seminar – 9:00 AM-2:00 PM ($149)
• Optional Workshop/Site Evaluation – 2:00 PM-4:00 PM ($99)
• Attend the seminar and workshop together for $199
• Save an extra $50 with the discount code “seminar1”

What We’ll Cover:
• Five critical things you need to know about SEO
• Why keywords & copy can make or break your SEO strategy
• Web accessibility/usability issues
• Link building
• Pay-per-click overview and tutorial
• How to blog effectively for your business
• Hot topics: social media, online PR, viral marketing, and more

Who should attend?
• Business owners
• Webmasters
• Marketing and IT professionals
• Ad agencies
• In-house SEOs

Learn more at http://www.thekarchergroup.com/seminar/cleveland2008

Back for the third time, Cleveland SEO will present a 2-hour hands-on program on Search Engine Optimization.   The session speakers will include Dave Goebel from the Goebel Group, Greg Habermann from SageRock.com and John Inama from Pilot Fish. 
The course schedule begins on January 28^th and meets every other week from 7-9 PM. 
Course Description:  

Blogging, RSS feeds, CMS, email marketing, mobile marketing…what exactly is the best way to do eMarketing? How do you guarantee a good return on your investment of money and time?  This new series, which is taught by real-world experts in the field, will teach you a whole spectrum of techniques and tools for eMarketing.  

For details please visit the Corporate College.  Hope you can make it!

Local search is on-fire hot! By catering to a local audience you can significantly increase your sales and your conversion rate. But creating local search campaigns isn’t as simple as just mirroring your national paid search campaign. Come to the Think Global, Act Local Training Class at SES Chicago to learn hands-on, how-to techniques and strategies to make full use of the local search market. Your fellow Clevelanders, Sage Lewis and Greg Habermann, will be heading it up.

Check out this video to get a taste of all you will learn. And click on the following link to get all the details:
http://www.searchenginestrategies.com/chicago/training.html

Check out this video to learn more about it:

Hi everybody,

These are blast every year! Seriously consider putting this party on your holiday calendar. You will be so glad you did.

Check out all the details!

Food, Drinks, Bowling, & Fun

Register Today!

Annual Holiday Networking Party - The Web Association

2007 has been a great year for The Web Association, and more importantly, for many of you, our supporters. It’s time to celebrate our success, and get ready to ring in 2008! Join us for food, drinks, bowling, & fun on Tuesday, December 4th in the private, first-level bar of The Winking Lizard/Lakewood.

Your base ticket price of just $15 gets you heavy appetizers and two (2) drink tickets, as well as a chance to win one of many great door prizes. You’ll also have the chance to rub shoulders with colleagues from not only The Web Association, but also NEOUPA, & Cleveland SEO, making this the premier networking event for the local web community. For an additional $5 donation, you can bowl the night away at one of the private lanes, and also be eligible to enter the Centro Bowl-A-Thon, where one talented bowler will walk away with a grand prize. The additional $5 bowling fee goes straight to The Web Association’s College Scholarship Fund, targeting area students with an interest in a career in the digital field.

Food, drinks, music, bowling, door prizes, and a private bar not enough to get your attention? We will also be hosting the 2nd Annual Silent Auction to benefit our Scholarship Fund, where you will have the opportunity to bid on many great items.

This is the digital party of the year in Cleveland - register today!

Annual Holiday Networking Party - The Web Association

The 2007 Holiday Party is being sponsored by Centro, providing agencies & brands a platform to effectively buy local media.

Register Me Now

Annual Holiday Networking Party - The Web Association

Want To Get Some Visibility At The Party?

The Web Association is still actively seeking donors to donate items for the Holiday event, both for the Silent Auction, as well as for door prizes. 100% of all proceeds from the auction will benefit The Web Association Scholarship Fund, helping Northeast Ohio retain educated young professionals interested in a career in the digital field. Help us beat last year’s auction total and assist more worthy students like Megan Reilly & Danielle Pizzuli of Cleveland State University, this year’s inaugural scholarship recipients.

All donors who offer a prize (or cash) valued at $100 or more will receive the following:

- Mention in press release announcing event & auction details
- Donor/company description to accompany item at auction
- Recognition/link in both pre & post-event emails sent to entire WA database
- Recognition/link on webassociation.org event page after event
- Receipt detailing donation for tax purposes

All donors providing items valued at less than $100 will receive verbal recognition at event as item is awarded.

To find out more, or to donate an item, please contact us through our web site below and we will call you directly.

Donate To The Auction

Annual Holiday Networking Party - The Web Association

Headed to next month’s Search Engine Strategies-Chicago?  Be sure to check out fellow Cleveland SEO members Sage Lewis and Geoff Karcher who’ll be speaking on the same panel.  Their topic “SEO & Development - Get It Together!” is on how to ensure a website’s SEO and Development get in sync. Geoff will represent the benefits of having SEO & Dev under one roof, while Sage will represent an SEO-only shop.

At The Karcher Group, we have been longtime proponents of the idea of SEO & Dev together, so we were thrilled when the folks at SES accepted our idea for a session on the topic.  However, we’re even more excited to see two Northeast Ohioans on the panel together.  No doubt it will be an entertaining session with Sage speaking!

These Northeast Ohio SEOs will also be speaking during the five-day event: Paul Elliot (eMergent Marketing/Brulant), Mike Murray (Fathom SEO), Matt Bailey (SiteLogic), and Greg Habermann (SageRock).

Due to the overwhelming success of the eMarketing Technique Series this June, Cleveland SEO has been proudly asked back to teach a 2 hour program on Search Engine Organization. This program takes place on Moday, Oct. 1st at Corporate College East from 7-9pm and is open for registration. It will be presented by John Inama from Pilot Fish, David Goebel from the Goebel Group, and Greg Habermann from Sagerock.com.

Here’s a brief intro to the 5 week series..

Learn how to take your business to the next level by leveraging all the
internet has to offer. eMarketing Techniques can be utilized to substantially
grow your business in a cost-effective and time-efficient manner. Work with
area experts in a hands-on and practical series, as we explore the power of
eMarketing Techniques.

Download the PDF or visit KeyEntrepeneurs.org for more information. Hope to see you there!

We’ve just returned from the Search Engine Strategies Conference in San Jose.

This was maybe the best SES I can recall attending. It’s our first time to exhibit in San Jose. We are regulars at the Chicago SES. We’ve had a booth there for several years.

ClevelandSEO was extremely well represented. People that were there included: Paul Elliot (and several other cool Emergent/Brulant folks), Chris Caputo, Matt Bailey, The Karcher Group, Dave Goebel, Steve Lamb from IdeaStar, Jeff Rohrs and yours truly. Did I miss anyone?

Paul Elliot and Jeff Rohrs spoke throughout the week. Matt Bailey and I taught a training class at the end of the week:

Training Classes: Search Engine Strategies San Jose

My class was fairly technical. But being that I am an English/Music major, I think I bring a real personal touch to the tech world People seemed to enjoy it. There will be evaluations coming out soon, so we’ll know for sure. I sat in on Matt’s class dealing with analytics. He has a great perspective on this topic. He is becoming (if not already is) the leading voice in this area.

Paul Elliot continues to hire extensively. This makes the Cleveland search community even stronger than it already is.

If you have never attended a Search Engine Strategies, I can’t recommend it enough. It’s the center of the universe for the best minds in search for that given week.

If you ever wonder how powerful the Northern Ohio search engine marketing community is, you just need to go to a show in San Jose, Chicago or New York and see how well Cleveland is represented as the leading minds in the industry. We are extremely fortunate to have the people we have here. I’m incredibly proud to be a part of the overall community.

Nice work everybody!

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