SEM Training & Certification » sem

Elite Retreat to be held in San Francisco, April 3-4

David Temple — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 10:48:01 +0000

When it comes to sem training there’s an abudance of seminars and conferences available today. Elite Retreat however sets itself apart by the number of instructors (or “leaders” as they are called) to student ratio. They also “screen” the applicants to make sure they are a good fit for the program. I have an idea that newbies aren’t accepted and you should have a good level of internet marketing experience to get the most out of this program. Here’s how they position it on their website;

Two days that will change your business life!
This event is very exclusive and has limited availability. Attendees will be chosen by an application only process. The purpose of this event is to take your business to another level. Bring your business plan or current site objectives with you and we will help you optimize your business structure.

Leaders at this Elite Retreat in San Francisco are Jeremy Schoemaker, Neil Patel, Aaron Wall and Brian Clark, Andy Liu, Margie Zable Fischer with the keynote from Guy Kawasaki. Here’s feedbck from the frst Elite Retreat held last year in San Antonio, Texas by Chris Hooley of ThinkBait.

I know that I sometimes sound like a fan boy when I talk about some of the SEOs I respect, but seriously, this was worth so more than the price tag. I made at least one good friend and a few awesome new business associates (more so than when you go to a big conference). The reason I think they should raise their price is because the size of the group made it special, and the info the we got was so much more specific than any other conference I’ve ever attended. More people will want to be at the next conference for sure, but I don’t know that it will be as effective. The price, certainly was worth it. Great job to all invovled in the Elite Retreat!

Search Industry Flashbacks & “Dumbass of the Week”? Just Ask Kalena

David Temple — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 00:33:15 +0000

Many bloggers looked back at 2007 with “best of” posts or are looking forward to the new year of 2008 with predictions and resolutions. No predictions or resolutions for me. That way I can look back at 2008 and say, yeah I figured that would happen or look what I’ve achieved and didn’t even make a resolution to do so.

There have been a couple of differnet posts that looked back, not at 2007 but at the early days. One is the Hobo blog from Scotland by Shaun Anderson who blogged about the initial post of some the better know seo bloggers entitled “How Did They Start Those Authority SEM/SEO Blogs?” Interesting read if you get the time.

Another look back comes from Kalen Jordan of Ask Kalena. She’s decided to dust off her early posts starting back in 2002 and bring us some oldies but goodies. Here’ her first one in the series.

It’s from August 2002 when Overture was the main PPC provider and they had just rolled out a new keyword matching feature that had the entire industry freaking out.

In addition she’s stated to post about the dumbass of the week article where she brings to attention, well here’s what she says;

I showcase a spam email or telemarketing call I’ve received each week as a way of both publicly humiliating them and providing a way to rid myself of the pent-up frustration they have caused me at the same time. Thanks to the power of social media, my most recent Dumbass of the Week post resulted in 25,000 hits to my blog in a single day!

Search Marketing Expo – SMX West heads to California

David Temple — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 05:43:31 +0000

The new year has just started and the search marketing conferences are ready to roll. The first one out of the gate is Search Marketing Expo, SMX West, to be held in Santa Clara, California February 26-28, 2008. Others SMX events to follow include; Munich, Sydney, Madrid and New York with special events in Seattle, Denver and Los Angeles and maybe some cities that aren’t listed yet.

This conference, which launched only in June of 2007, is growing quickly. They’ve already had conferences outside the US in Stockholm, London, Buenos Aires and Santiago, Chile.

SMX West has sessions designed just for you, whether you’re just starting in search marketing or you’re a seasoned expert. Your All Access registration pass gets you in to the more than 50 search marketing sessions on the agenda.

New to search? Participate in the SMX Boot Camp which covers all the bases of search marketing success: copywriting, link building, paid search fundamentals and search engine friendly web design. After the Boot Camp, you’ll have two full days to dive deep on your areas of interest before SMX West unwinds.

Got some experience? Learn the latest techniques for achieving superior results in both paid and organic search marketing. There are more than 20 sessions designed just for your skill level.

An expert? Heard of Search 3.0? Search 4.0? SMX West has entire days dedicated to keeping you ahead of the curve with the inside scoop on future developments that only the editors of Search Engine Land can deliver, topics like the personalized search revolution, the social graph, and searcher behavior.

SEMPO Institute celebrates one year and 350 students

David Temple — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 03:23:33 +0000

SEMPO Institute, the online sem training program, was launched a year ago by the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO). They now have had 350 enrollees of their search engine marketing training courses, Fundamentals of Search Marketing, Advanced SEO and Advanced Search Advertising.

Enrollment during November reached peak levels as a broad spectrum of agency, in-house and etailer marketers registered for courses. “These professionals know they are going into the New Year with the competitive advantage of high-end SEM knowledge,” says Terry Plank, dean of SEMPO Institute. “As they complete their courses, they can immediately put this knowledge into practice to better serve clients and achieve greater success.”

Simon Heseltine, one of the first to complete the Fundamentals course writes about his experience on his blog Search Engine Tigers. Keep in mind this was early in the process and things may have changed.

All in all, its not a bad start for the SEMPO institute. I’d like to see them do some randomization in the questions, and maybe implement and external testing / maximum amount of retakes policy. Then the certificate of completion will actually mean more. As for whether I’ll recommend that the rest of my team take it. I will, but probably in a month or so, when some of the kinks have been corrected. I’ll also be signing up for the advanced courses when they become available.

SEM training from Search Marketing Now

David Temple — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 05:41:12 +0000

Search Marketing Now is offering a webcast entitled “Search Marketing – The Basics” to air Thursday, December 13 at 1:00 PM EST. Detlev Johnson, “a top technical search-marketing expert and industry leader” will host the program. He will discuss the basics, and how it fits into toay’s marketing efforts. The program will include a powerpoint presentation, streaming audio, and a question and answer session.

This webcast is sponsored by Search Marketing Expo – SMX West, coming to Santa Clara, February 26-28, 2008. Programmed by Search Engine Land Editors Danny Sullivan and Chris Sherman, SMX West will deliver tips, tactics, and techniques for marketers of all levels and expertise. Whether you’re new to search, or are a seasoned pro, you’ll learn something new at SMX West. .

SEM careers topic of discussion on eMarketing TalkShow

David Temple — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 04:43:14 +0000

My friends, Cindy Turietta, Brooke Schumacher and Todd Sarouhan over at eMarketing Talkshow put on some great programs and this should be no exception. Pradeep Chopra wil provide his insights on careers in online marketing and the search marketing industry more specifically. This is a fast growing industry (according to SEMPO it is expected to grow over 25% annually)and the need for training is evident by the explosive job market. Head on over and hear what Pradeep has to say about the available careers.

Live Talk – Friday
Oct 26, 2007 4-5pm PT

Virtually Unlimited Career Opportunities in Search Engine Marketing
with Pradeep Chopra
OMLogic

Growth in the SEM industry has created a strong demand for experienced and talented Search Engine Marketing professionals. This demand is expected to grow even faster in the coming years with lots of new opportunities for existing and budding Search Engine Marketers.

In this episode, Pradeep Chopra of OMLogic & OM Careers will paint a comprehensive picture of SEM careers and highlight various SEM career opportunities, possible job profiles, desired skill sets, emerging areas and key to success.

Speaking of sem training, I’m speaking at Search Expo in Beijing

David Temple — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 07:40:10 +0000

The Search Expo (Search Engine Marketing Conference & Expo) will be held in Beijing on September 5th and 6th. Search Expo is the China based conference put on by Timev Media. Timev held the first two Search Engine Strategies conferences in China and also hold their own conferences. Inway Ni is the conference chair and he has promoted search engine marketing throughout China for the past 5 years. The conference series is intended to keep Asian marketers informed about search engine marketing. The conference is conducted live in both Chinese and English (no small feat I asssure you).

I’ll be speaking on the Keyword Research panel with my friend Farah Sadiq from here in Singapre and the session will be moderated by my Canadian friend and host of the China Search Marketing Tour, Ian McAnerin. I’ll also moderate the Succesful Site Architecture session. Hope to see you there!

Farah Sadiq has had 12 years of hands-on and managerial digital marketing experience in Asia. Prior to joining Acronym Asia, Farah was the Head of Media at Profero Singapore Pte Ltd, In 2003, Farah joined Oracle Asia Pacific technology marketing team as their lead for all digital marketing and direct marketing activities. She had worked with international brands such as Daimler Chrysler Asia Pacific, Millennium & Copthorne Hotels Group, Buena Vista International, Citibank APA, Ericsson APA, Fuji Xerox APA and Seagrams APA.

Ian McAnerin is a well known expert in international SEO and the founder of McAnerin Networks Inc. He is the President of the Search Marketing Association of North America (SMA-NA), a moderator for both the High Rankings and the Search Engine Watch forums, and is widely published. He also has special interest in SEO legal issues due to his legal background.

SEMPO launches Advanced Search Advertising program

David Temple — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 09:45:05 +0000

Just got an email from Katie Donovan, Business Development Manager at SEMPO Institute, announcing the open enrollment for the Advanced Search Advertising program. This advanced program is the most recent search engine marketing training program released this year by SEMPO. The first two were Fundamentals of Search Marketing and Advanced Search Engine Marketing. Fundamentals of Search Marketing is a prerequisite to the other two advance programs.

Here’s the email;

SEMPO Institute is Pleased to Announce
Advanced Search Advertising is now open for enrollment.

Advanced Search Advertising gives marketers the ability to get more return on their ad buys by providing a deeper level of strategy and tactics. The class is the most comprehensive class available to marketers and it comes at a time when online advertising is growing in importance. Topics include PPC Models, Keywords & Campaign, Copywriting for Ads, Bidding & Ranking, Landing Pages, Success Metrics, PPC Program Specifics, Reporting & Analytics and more.

Enjoy the flexibility of learning via the Internet. Work at your own pace and at your own convenience, from home, work or the local coffee shop. Earn a Certificate of Completion upon successfully passing the tests within the course.

The course fee for Advanced Search Advertising is US $2250 and has a prerequisite of Fundamentals of Search Marketing. SEMPO members, full-time students and military personnel receive course discounts which are detailed on SEMPO Institutes enrollment page.

Please contact Katie Donovan at kdonovan@sempoinstitute.com with any questions regarding this course or any other offering from SEMPO Institute.

Best regards,

SEMPO Institute
www.sempoinstitute.com

Marketing Pilgrim announces contest fab five finalists

David Temple — Tue, 15 May 2007 19:03:19 +0000

Marketing Pilgrim has announced the finalists in their second search engine marketing scholarship contest. Now the five finalists will go before the judges who will determine who is the most deserving of the $10,000 prize package. There were a total of 20 articles submitted for the contest. Good luck to the finalists and congrats to everyone who submitted an article and participated in the contest.

AIDS Clickathon – A Viral Marketing Strategy to Fight the HIV/AIDS Virus in Africa
Have Your Top Competitors Do Some Of Your SEO For You
The 7 Deadly Sins that Hurt You as an SEO or SEM
Big SEO Projects – A Strategy To Get Them
Increase Conversion Rates with the Google Website Optimizer?

Judges:
Kim Krause Berg – UsabilityEffect.com
Jim Boykin – WebBuildPages.com
Rand Fishkin – SEOMoz.org
Andrew Goodman – Page-Zero.com
Michael Jensen – SoloSEO.com
Kalena Jordan – SearchEngineCollege.com
Jennifer Laycock – SearchEngineGuide.com
Todd Malicoat – Stuntdubl.com
Boris Mordkovich – SearchMarketingStandard.com
Lee Odden – TopRankBlog.com
Elisabeth Osmeloski – SearchEngineWatch.com
Neil Patel – PronetAdvertising.com
Barry Schwartz – RustyBrick.com
Brett Tabke – WebmasterWorld.com
Laura Thieme – BizResearch.com
Aaron Wall – SEOBook.com

SEM training offered by Search Engine Strategies in New York

David Temple — Wed, 02 May 2007 14:04:44 +0000

SEM training courses will be offered by Search Engine Strategies in New York prior to the SES conference. The courses will be held on Monday April 9th and the SES conference will start on Tuesday. The sem training will be led by Shari Thurow, Matt Bailey, Jennifer Laycock, Debra Mastaler, Amanda Watlington, Greg Jarboe, Nan Dawkins and Rob Key.

Search Engine Strategies sem training will include;

Link Building Tactics, Tools & Techniques – Shari Thurow
This presentation will demonstrate how these skills are essential for building a user–friendly, search–friendly, and persuasive site that converts visitors into buyers.

Link Building Tactics, Tools & Techniques – Debra O’Neil-Mastaler
Need links? In order to rank well and successfully promote your online business, you need an effective link building program as part of your over-all SEO strategy.

Search & Analytics Workshop: Using Analytics to Increase Search Effectiveness - Matt Bailey
Analytics are a gold mine of information, just waiting to be uncovered. The results of your campaigns, effectiveness of the website, and the efficiency of your rankings can all be measured with a good analytics program.

Getting Found in All The Right Places – Greb Jarboe – Amanda Watlington
Everyone who promotes Web sites as part of their work should attend this workshop. Web marketers should understand how to optimize and leverage their content and its distribution across news, blog, social, image, audio and video search engines.

Viral Marketing & Link Baiting – Jennifer Laycock
In this workshop, you will gain a better understanding of the concepts, ideas and implementations that are required to launch a viral marketing or link baiting campaign.

Creating an Effective Social Media Strategy – Nan Dawkins – Rob Key
The power of social media, together with its increasing visibility in search engines, has made it incumbent for brands to engage in these “Web 2.0″ environments, including blogs, social networks, wikis, and more