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

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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My SEO Workshop Slides from the Chartered Institute of Marketing Conference 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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2. SES London 2011 Networking Party: Wednesday 23rd February
3. Bigger and Better: Have You Booked Your Think Visibility Tickets?

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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Think Visibility: Advanced Analytics Slides is a post from: Search Engine Chocolate

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

2008 began by making the decision to move into online marketing. Having previously been a professional website designer for over 8 years, the step into online marketing was one of my best decisions yet. My first step was to enroll on an online course with the Chartered Institute of Marketing and gained a Professional Development Award in e-Marketing in July. Becoming a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing alone has opened many new doors; I’ve been to as many seminars, workshops and networking events as I possibly can and loved each one as they’ve either given me the chance to learn something new, meet other marketeers or teach people about Internet marketing.

As a web marketing consultant I also became a Qualified Google Advertising Professional. Simply studying for the exam was a great experience – it’s not often you have the chance to get a qualification from one of the key players in your industry. I also created web marketing packages to offer to clients for services such as search engine optimisation, Google AdWords, email marketing and more, and gave one-on-one training sessions.

One of my most exciting achievements of 2008 has to have been speaking at web marketing seminars. It’s something I’d never thought I’d want to do, but I got an incredible kick out of it. Having the opportunity to actually talk to a room of professionals about their understanding, concerns and needs for online marketing was fascinating. I came away able to drastically improve my approach to my current and prospective online marketing clients by understanding them better and improving our packages and support.

I’d had experience of search engine optimisation (SEO) as a web designer in the past, but never had the chance to focus 100% on it, research it to the depth I have now or create and implement an SEO marketing plan. In 2008 I did exactly that and got a new website ranking on page 1 in Google for its top 10 keywords, from initially appearing on page 10, in just 1 month. A personal best (so far – watch this space!) and something I wasn’t even sure was possible in such a short time frame, but with a lot of planning and hard work, including with the great team I’ve been working with, we did it.

So what does 2009 hold for online marketing? I’ve been using more and more relatively new services such as Twitter, and as everyone is predicting, those services will undoubtedly become more and more widespread. It won’t be long before I’ll be creating web marketing packages for my clients that will include them in their overral marketing plan. Customer relationship management and online PR is made so much easier with those services, and taking advantage of them will be key to keeping a competitive edge online in 2009.

As for my career? Hopefully, much more of the same rewarding experiences and achievements. I’ve learned that qualifications in marketing are great for creating firm foundations of knowledge, but it’s the experiences that are the most valuable. Therefore, I’m going to be grabbing every opportunity that comes my way with both hands and giving it my all. But also, just as online marketing creates a unique two-way communication channel between businesses and clients, I’m going to make sure I give as much as I get in this industry by contributing where I can to research, development and training in online marketing and become a true online marketing evangelist!

What are your career goals or online marketing predictions for 2009?

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Online Marketing and Me: 2008 to 2009 is a post from: Search Engine Chocolate