SES London is one of the largest search engine marketing conferences in Europe and is taking place between the 21^nd and 25^th of February at the Queen Elizabeth II conference centre, in Westminster. Over 1,500 search marketers will descend on London for three days of SEO, SEM, and social media marketing strategies and tips from a variety of industry experts. We are pleased to announce the conference networking party, supported by SES and Incisive media will be something a little different thanks to our venue sponsor, Raven SEO Tools.

The essential SES London 2011 networking party details are as follows:

• DATE: Wednesday 23^rd February
• VENUE: HMS President, Kings Reach, Victoria Embankment, City of London, EC4Y 0HJ [Google Map]
• TIME: 7.00pm – 11.30pm
• ENTRY: To conference attendees only and you must show your conference pass at the door
• CAPACITY: 350 is the maximum capacity, therefore you must arrive early to be sure to be admitted

Thanks to the generosity of our two sponsors, Raven and Linkdex SEO Tools, the evening will start with a free bar, though given we search marketers are a sociable bunch it would be best to get to the venue as early as possible to take advantage of this.

This party has been brought to you thanks to the awesome Nichola Stott of theMediaFlow and Lisa Myers of Verve Search who have done a fantastic job helping to organise the event and details.

One final message of thanks…

Of course I can’t finish this blog post without a huge thanks to SEO Chicks for holding a competition to win a free SES London conference pass – the winner needed to have the worst Christmas gift and I’m proud to say that was me with my clothes pegs! Thanks to all who voted for me!

So if you’re heading to SES London, make sure you get yourself over to the networking party on the Wednesday evening and you never know, you might just spot a cameo appearance by my winning Christmas clothes pegs!

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SES London 2011 Networking Party: Wednesday 23rd February is a post from: Search Engine Chocolate

In case you missed it before the event, Search Cowboys also interviewed me about my talk, which I later learned was the most retweeted interview – so thank you to those who retweeted!

Overall it was a fantastic two days where I met and caught up with many inspirational people. If you have any questions or just want to keep in touch, please do! A few of my details are below, but you can find my full contact details here.

• Email: Joanna at Search Engine Chocolate dot com
• Connect with me on LinkedIn: LinkedIn.com/in/JoannaButler
• Follow me on Twitter: @JoannaButler

Barriers to Conversion and Discovering Untapped Opportunities with Analytics Slides

There have been some great write ups of the event so far including Top 10 Quotes – A4UExpo Hall of Fame by Search Cowboys, A4UExpo London Coverage 2009 by Richard Baxter AKA SEO Gadget and My review of A4U Expo 2009 – Excel, London by Geoffblog.com.

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1. Think Visibility: Advanced Analytics Slides
2. My SEO Workshop Slides from the Chartered Institute of Marketing Conference

A4U Expo Slides: Barriers to Conversion and Discovering Untapped Opportunities with Analytics is a post from: Search Engine Chocolate

Talks from the other keynotes were fantastic; Sahar Hashemi, founder of Coffee Republic, was particularly inspirational in her talk about being an entrepreneur, Professor Malcolm McDonald‘s gave a great talk about the truth about marketing with some very funny quotes, some of which I had to list here:

• “The good thing about being mediocre is that you’re always at your best”
• “An increase of 100% on nothing, is still nothing”
• “You don’t analyse the ROI (return on investment) of the wings on an aircraft”

Helen Jeremiah, Head of Marketing for Boots, also gave a great talk explaining the history of Boots and their aims and philosophies behind their current marketing strategies.

If you’re interested in web analytics, come and see me speak in London at A4U Expo on the 14th October – you can use my special offer code SEOCHOC10 for 10% off!

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1. 5 Online Marketing Motivators
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My SEO Workshop Slides from the Chartered Institute of Marketing Conference is a post from: Search Engine Chocolate

The talk was truely fascinating, and by no means just a simple run down of how the Internet was born. I left feeling Sir Tim Berners-Lee was a true genius, and so genuine. The talk was actually filmed by BBC Click and as I was on one of the front rows you are guaranteed to see me in the background mesmerised by his talk and tweeting updates!

Below is a mini write-up including answers to your questions tonight:

• Your questions for Sir Tim Berners-Lee
• My write up and review of Sir Tim Berners-Lee’s talk at the Science Museum

Your Questions for Sir Tim Berners-Lee 

1. @Walkerama asked: Can you have a word with Microsoft about IE6?
   Not covered in the talk specifically, but he did say that information on the Internet should be available independent of the platforms or browsers, and that includes being accessible to people with disabilities
2. @DavidWilcock asked: The Internet has brought porn to the masses, do you feel this makes you one of THE great social pioneers?
   Again, not answered specifically (!), but Sir Tim did say that “the web is a reflection of humanity”, good and bad.
3. @wallglamour asked: you could ask him if the Grid really does exist or are we doomed just to have 24mb download speed.
   I don’t think he believed any of the internet was static; download speeds, just like the technology it relies on, will continue to improve.
4. Anon asked: What kind of idiot decided that mixing semantic tags (quotes etc) with visual styles (colors, sizes etc) was a good design choice for HTML?
   HTML was actually made to resemble the existing CERN documents as closely as possible to encourage people to adopt it quickly.
5. @nsdesign asked: “do you regret not charging a royalty to every web user ?”
   Sir Tim Berners-Lee absolutely believes in royalty-free data and information. Keeping it that way means more people adopt it, therefore more people collaborate on it and consequently a much more invaluable invention.
6. @_elj asked: What’s your favourite recent web innovation?
   Sir Tim Berners-Lee loved the social web, connecting people. He also loved mash-ups where people had used raw data to produce new information such as the Google Maps mash up with traffic black spots. He praised companies that released raw data WITHOUT creating excuses in delaying making it freely available.
7. Audience member (and I) asked: You clearly believe in data and information being made freely available, but where do you stand on newspapers charging for access to their articles online?
   Sir Tim Berners-Lee said there was a need for high qualilty, professional and reliable content online. He compared that with the abundance of untrustworthy blogs online now with questionable sources.
8. Audience member: At what age do you think children should allowed online; not from an online content point of view, but one whereby some people believe the Internet can hinder a child’s development?
   While stating that he was not qualified enough to answer this question, he concluded that early adoption of the Internet by children can either promote great multitasking skills (that older members of the audience may not have) or it could be their road to ruin!

My write up and review of Sir Tim Berners-Lee’s talk at the Science Museum 

Sir Tim Berners-Lee also made the following points:

• The WebFoundation.org will be launching later in 2009
• The Internet should be independent of the platforms and technology used to access it including disabilities. It should act like a collaborative knowledge bank that anyone can access.
• Documents therefore need to be decentralised; the Internet needs to be independent. An example of this would be social networks where you need to re-find your friends due to them being siloed.
• The Internet should work independent of size like water, which is a scale-free system with parts that overlap seamlessly.
• As the Internet is about sharing data between people the social side of it is intrinsic and should always be included in the process of web science.

If you want to read more about Sir Tim Berners-Lee you can find his biography online, his previous presentations, and also his Wikipedia page.

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Review of Centenary Talk by Internet Inventor, Sir Tim Berners-Lee is a post from: Search Engine Chocolate

Earlier, I asked my Twitter followers for questions to pose to Sir Tim Berners-Lee and so far had some great, if very funny, ones! Here are a few:

• @Walkerama asked: Can you have a word with Microsoft about IE6?
• @DavidWilcock asked: The Internet has brought porn to the masses, do you feel this makes you one of THE great social pioneers?
• @wallglamour asked: you could ask him if the Grid really does exist or are we doomed just to have 24mb download speed.
• Anon asked: What kind of idiot decided that mixing semantic tags (quotes etc) with visual styles (colors, sizes etc) was a good design choice for HTML?

I’m not sure I can ask all of those without being subtly ejected from the talk, but I will certainly do my best! I personally, am intrigued by his apparent dislike of Microsoft as suggested in his online biography.

If you have any more you’d like to suggest, please leave a comment as I will check during the talk. I also hope to keep you updated by tweeting any interesting points.

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Sir Tim Berners-Lee Talks at the Science Museum in London is a post from: Search Engine Chocolate

Together with Lisa Myers from Verve Search and Will Critchlow from Distilled, we’ll be covering analytics for affiliate conversion, identifying and breaking down the obstacles preventing visitors from converting.

And, especially for you guys, I’ve got a special discount code giving you 10% off places at A4U Expo London! The discount code is SEOCHOC10, so if you haven’t already, make sure you register your place now as it’s already shaping up to be a terrific event, jam packed full of invaluable sessions.

I’m Also Speaking at the CIM Power of Marketing Event

While I’m on the topic of events, I’m also speaking at an annual Chartered Institute of Marketing all day event in Nottingham called the Power of Marketing.

In the morning of the 2nd of October I’ll be taking an interactive workshop on search engine optimisation, then later in the day delegates can catch author and professor, Malcolm McDonald, Boots Marketing Director, Elizabeth Fagan and co-founder of Coffee Republic, Sahar Hashemi. There’s an early bird discount that runs until the 11th of September, so make sure you book your place before it’s too late!

If you’re attending either of these events, don’t be afraid to come and say hello!

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1. I’m Speaking at Think Visibility
2. Bigger and Better: Have You Booked Your Think Visibility Tickets?
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I’m Speaking at A4UExpo London 2009 is a post from: Search Engine Chocolate

The second Think Visibility conference is coming round already on Saturday 12th September at the Alea Casino in Leeds and promises to be even bigger and better than before! This time around I’m not speaking, but will be enjoying the fantastic, packed schedule that Dom has put together.

Tickets for the event will go fast! They’re priced at £99, but there are some discount codes going round if you’re quick!

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Bigger and Better: Have You Booked Your Think Visibility Tickets? is a post from: Search Engine Chocolate

Several of you expressed an interest in some analytics posts with hints and tips to help you analyse your website statistics so I will schedule some of those posts shortly. I will also be writing up some step by step guides to using advanced segmentation so watch this space! To be notified on any new blog posts subscribe to my RSS feed or follow me on Twitter.

Huge thanks goes to Dominic for ensuring such a fantastic event. Look out for the next Think Visibility in September!

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The topic I’ll be covering is Advanced Analytics. I’m not going to give anything away, but suffice to say that I hope to help you rethink a few strategies using your analytics data by teaching you how to break down and analyse the information given to you.

While I was doing some background reading on the topic I came across a really great extension for Firefox called Better Google Analytics. I’ve only used it briefly but it has some fantastic features. If you’re responsible for reporting website statistics back to your managers or directors it is a massive help as it turns percentages into real figures that they can relate to. For example, rather than blind them with a goal conversion rate, turn that into the real number of people who converted and they are much more likely to listen. The extension also gives you a shortcut to open profiles in a new tab and export to Google Docs. Download it here: http://www.vkistudios.com/tools/firefox/betterga/

Also, while I’m on the topic of analytics, Google released a new qualification on Wednesday (4th March) called the Google Analytics Individual Qualification. It’s a great way to show off your analytics skills especially if you’re consulting or freelancing as you don’t need to be a part of company to take it. I passed on Wednesday – you can too.

Right, back to preparing for Think Visibility! If you’re coming along, let me know and I’ll look out for you! If you’re coming to my talk then I’m afraid you’ll have to bring your own rotten tomatoes

Wish me luck!

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I’m Speaking at Think Visibility is a post from: Search Engine Chocolate

It brings me to say this: get offline! I (probably like many of you reading this) spend a lot of time reading news websites and blogs, using social media to connect to people and brushing up on my skills online. But nothing substitutes actually meeting other professionals in the flesh and sharing your experiences. Unique and exciting opportunities arise from relationships forged in person.

Never networked before? Don’t panic! Most events such as Nott Tuesday have a really relaxed atmosphere – just be yourself! As a first networking event I highly recommend going down to your local Twestival charity meet tomorrow night (events in 175+ cities worldwide, I am helping organise the Nottingham Twestival). Why? It’s about as informal and fun as a networking events get PLUS it’s for charity! If you use Twitter now, it’ll be like meeting your friends for a drink after work. Except better because you may meet a potential new business partner, employer, colleague or friend!

Networking is also a great way to air new business or career ideas too – so many great minds in one room; it’s the perfect forum.

Here’s a handful of other organisations with networking events to try:
(These are UK based – if you can recommend events outside the UK, feel free leave a comment!)

• The Chartered Institute of Marketing: marketing-centric seminars, workshops and networking events held nationwide.
• Business Link: seminars and events for businesses on anything from starting up to tax to IT and eCommerce.
• eBusiness Clubs: nationwide events on a wide range of topics including marketing, business, legal issues and business advice.

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Online Marketeers and Technology Professionals: Get Offline! is a post from: Search Engine Chocolate