SEO In-house Blog

Private, In-house Only Event Oct 8th in NYC

Imagine an event with 100+ in-house SEOs only, no agencies, no vendors, no selling! Discuss and share with peers who want to talk about the details of how to pull off SEO with optimal success.

Meet the In-house SEM Exchange!

 The In-house SEM Exchange was created because of in-house SEOs who repeatedly came up and asked for an event that was just for them.  When I asked, “What do you want in an event?” here was the overwhelming concensus:

• In-house SEOs only, no consultants & vendors
• No sales pitches
• No presentations from speakers guessing at what I need to know
• A lot of discussion
• A ton of networking

I took this feedback and created the In-house SEM Exchange. A day of in-house SEOs only, ready to share and divulge things that you wouldn’t discuss publicly and you don’t see on stage; the things you can only discuss in an intimate setting of non-consultants and no competitors. Attendees are divided into groups based on the types of challenges they face – Big Brand, E-Commerce, Publisher, Start ups, etc.  We make sure competitors aren’t in the same group so that everyone is free to talk about what’s working and what isn’t.

An SEO Vault is the concept, with a ‘give it up’ session titled the “SEO Vault”. During this session, what is said in the room, stays in the room!

Here is what people are saying:

“In-house SEM Exchange is where you can get the scoop on juicy white hat SEO tactics, in addition to what works, what doesn't work, and what Google hasn't been able to figure out.”
 - Attendee at In-house SEM Exchange in June 2009 who sent 3 people to the event
 
“In-house SEOs will benefit from the safe haven of this event so that we can share openly, get input from people who have been through their challenges and get several solutions from a room full of people who understand the unique challenges of in-house SEO.”
 - Duane Forrester, Senior Program Manager, SEO – Microsoft/MSN

“It was a great chance to meet top level people at big name companies doing SEO on a broad scale. I would definitely want to attend again, and would recommend it for EXPERIENCED inhouse SEOs, who can really get the most out of it. It is useful for more experienced / senior people; they brought the most to the table and we were able to keep it more strategic than tactical.”
 - Attendee at In-house SEM Exchange in June 2009

“What’s particularly great about this add-on day to SMX is that we get the benefits of a search marketing conference combined with the opportunity to interact with in-house SEOs in a way that facilitates knowledge transfer, relationship building and ways to overcome obstacles specific to in-house SEOs.”
 - Brent D. Payne, Director of Search Engine Optimization, Tribune Company

“The small group atmosphere lets you tap into the collective intelligence of talented search marketing experts from across the internet. Moreover, by meeting and sharing with these individuals, you have the opportunity to establish friendships and grow your network of resources - a HUGE plus for future conferences.”
 - Attendee at In-house SEM Exchange in June 2009

“The needs of search marketers doing SEO in-house are broader than the topics covered at most conferences. It’s not just about basic tactics: you also have to deal with organizational, political and process-related challenges. Insights into how to get past these hurdles often come from peers at other companies who either are or have been going through similar challenges. Having a day that is dedicated to enabling these conversations is priceless.”
 - Olivier Lemaignen, Group Manager, Global Search Marketing – Intuit

Join us in October! Don’t miss out - Limited Space Available

(Note:  You do not have to attend SMX East to attend the In-house SEM Exchange)

Conference Tips for the In-house SEO

1. Bring a Camera – not just for snapping pics of your new friends, but it’s great for taking pictures of the slides you want to remember later.  Or, the napkin someone wrote on in a bar – yes, I’ve done this when the napkin went to someone else.
2. Take the time to identify who you want to talk to (or at least what type of person you want to talk to) and what questions you have.
3. Bring plenty of cards, print more if you need to – it’s easy to run out, and if you do, visit the business center at the hotel or conference center to print more.  I know it’s the digital age, but few people actually take the time to send out their information after the event.  It’s easy to get swept away with the backlog when you return to the office.
4. Arrive the day before in time to hit the Pre-Event Networking and attend as many social activities as possible – the best advice comes from intimate discussions.
5. Attend the in-house events – sessions, drinks and the In-house SEM Exchange.
6. After the show, go download all of the presentations that were of interest. You’ll forget to do it unless you do it right away.  (NOTE: they may not all be there and it can often take several days after the show to get them loaded)
7. Email the people you met, each day after you meet them.  This way people are more likely to remember you later.
8. Set a goal of really getting to know 3 new people at any conference.  (This advice actually came from Elisabeth Osmeloski).
9. Never eat alone - big advice from Keith Ferrazi.  It’s easy to get intimidated and find yourself eating alone, but don’t. Approach a group of people and introduce yourself. Not only can you get amazing advice, you can establish strong friendships and networking contacts. The search marketing industry is very communal, and when you attend conferences it can often feel like a family reunion if you make a good attempt to meet people.  One good way is to show up at the main conference hotel bar, it is usually hopping right after the event and again around 10pm.  Note, a lot of impromptu meetings happen at conferences, so don’t get discouraged if it feels like you interrupted a conversation, just move on to the next group.
10. Upon arrival, buy Gatorade and aspirin, etc. for the morning after. This advice came from an unnamed source who rebounds well every morning of a conference! The nights can be late at search marketing conferences, and drinks are plenty. It’s easy to lose track of time, stay out late and feel sluggish in the morning, so plan ahead.
11. Take advantage of the ten minutes before a session starts to chat to the people sitting next to you. Forgo working on your laptop; instead, take this time as a networking opportunity.
12. MY TOP ADVICE:  Tell people at the office you aren’t going to be available. This one isn’t always easy, but when I was in-house I set expectations that search marketing conferences go from 9am – 2am, non-stop. You wake up, go to sessions, walk with someone for drinks, meet someone new at drinks and go to dinner, then the dinner group goes to the conference party, and the night ends at the hotel bar with the conference regulars when it closes. You paid a lot of money to attend a

What are your tips?

In-house SEO Job: ABCnews.com Hiring a Sr. In-house SEO (NYC)

ABCnews.com is hiring an in-house SEO.  I had a chat least week with the hiring manager and this is a really good opportunity for someone to work for a big brand, yet not have the typical political in-house challenges of an enterprise-level organization.

ABCnews.com is separate business unit within a large company, and this division isn’t your typical ‘corporate’ atmosphere.  They already have the editorial teams starting to embrace SEO and have one SEO person.  They haven’t begun to realize the SEO potential (which is good for the lucky hire) and are now looking for a senior level in-house SEO to take lead of the SEO program.

The kind of person they need, in addition to the what’s in the job description:

• Someone with strong SEO skills, as this position will focus more on communicating requirements rather than convincing everyone to do SEO. 
• Someone with strong technical SEO skills, you will likely work with IT a lot.
• Someone who can drive the SEO strategy (but the technical/tactical skills are what you’ll use day-to-day)
• Someone who has more technical skills than selling/marketing skills. The current in-house SEO is doing great at evangelizing SEO, now they need someone more senior to give the specific requirements, direction, oversight and occasional training/coaching for the dev and editorial teams.
• Someone who knows large scale SEO.

What is especially nice about this job:

• The hiring manager didn’t think it was going to be difficult to get SEO changes implemented, with only a few technical exceptions.  This means less politics and focusing more on getting SEO executed.
• There is much potential to make a difference, and that will look great on your resume!

The job is located in New York, New York.  You must live/work at their NYC office. 

If interested, send a message and resume to: jobs [at] seoinhouse dotcom.

If you are in the market for a job, let us know! A lot of companies (including many big brands) are calling us to discuss in-house SEO jobs right now.

Meet the In-house SEM Exchange (An In-house Only Event)

I am happy to announce the launch of the In-house SEM Exchange, the first in-house only event of the search marketing industry.

It's an intimate event to facilitate discussions and relationship building with in-house SEOs. It's only 30 people, in-house only - no bloggers, no press. It's less PPT and more facilitated discussions so that you can learn from each other and build relationships with other in-house SEOs. I spent a lot of time talking to in-house SEOs to understand what they want most, it's truly an in-house SEO event designed by In-house SEOs for In-house SEOs.

Why The Exchange is Different

• You'll get the search engines on video telling developers what is needed for a search engine friendly site - There is a session called the "Search Engine Hot Seat" designed to address the opposition In-house SEOs face from developers, we currently have Google and Live Search lined up to speak and answer your questions that we'll capture on video. After the event, we'll create mini-videos to answer the questions and you can take them back to IT to prove what search engines really need for a search engine friendly website.
• It's clear that in-house SEOs want to share, so there is an In-house SEO Vault, a session where everyone is expected to lay things out and really learn from each other. It's like the SMX Advanced "Give it Up Session" and we, as a group, will talk about how long things need to remain confidential. We want you to open up, so the group will define what stays in the room vs. leaves, and repercussions for breaking the rules could include no future admittance into The Exchange. We'll decide as a group during the event kickoff.
• We're going to recap and discuss the big takeaways from SMX Advanced and how you can use them at your company. Sometimes even grey hat SEO tactics can be tweaked just slightly to become white hat approaches to SEO. Since everyone takes away something different from the event, this will be a good way to recap the best advice from SMX Advanced.
• 3 Leading In-house SEOs will available for intense Q&A based on your most pressing challenges. These in-house SEOs are definitely on my shortlist of in-house SEOs that I would hire to head up an in-house SEO team: Dennis Goedegebuure (eBay), Brent Payne (Tribune Company) and Derrick Wheeler (Microsoft)
• Each attendee will be surveyed before the event to best understand your most pressing issues/questions, what we need to ask the engines in the Hot Seat and to aid in the discussion topics related to the agenda. The plan is to know what your unique challenges are, and ensure you leave with solutions for your specific challenges.
• You'll get a "What I Learned Report" when you send us your notes that we can combine into one document that you can tweak and forward to management to illustrate what you learned from the event. Some in-house SEOs have now have to write a report to justify every conference - you don't have time for that, so we'll help you out!
• It's a limited number of 30 in-house SEOs only. No agencies, no vendors, no bloggers and no press. We are vetting registration the list to help ensure that every attendee is truly an in-house SEO and not a consultant masquerading as an agency.

Event Details: http://www.InhouseSEMexchange.com

Comments from In-house SEOs that were Instrumental in Creating this Event:

"In-house SEOs will benefit from the safe haven of this event so that we can share openly, get input from people who have been through their challenges and get several solutions from a room full of people who the unique challenges of in-house SEO."
- Duane Forester, Senior Program Manage, SEO - Microsoft/MSN

“The needs of search marketers doing SEO in-house are broader than the topics covered at most conferences. It’s not just about basic tactics: you also have to deal with organizational, political and process-related challenges. Insights into how to get past these hurdles often come from peers at other companies who either are or have been going through similar challenges. Having a day that is dedicated to enabling these conversations is priceless.”
- Olivier Lemaignen, Group Manager, Global Search Marketing – Intuit

"Even though other search marketing events are really useful, what’s particularly great about this add-on day to SMX is that we get the benefits of a search conference combined with the opportunity to interact with in-house SEOs in a way that facilitates knowledge transfer, relationship building and ways to overcome obstacles specific to in-house SEOs.”
- Brent D. Payne, Director of Search Engine Optimization, Tribune Company

Registration details:

• The early bird pricing ends 5/1.
• Register at: http://www.InhouseSEMexchange.com
• You do not need to attend SMX Advanced to attend the In-house SEM Exchange, but you do save if you attend both!
• SMX has a couple of promos for travel

See you in Seattle!

In-house Only Mixer at SMX West (sponsored by SEMPO)

In-house Search Marketers, there is a special event just for you at SMX West. 

The SEMPO In-house Only Mixer is a great place to talk about search, not get a sales pitch, and really talk candidly with other people facing the same challenges you are facing.

I guarantee you will walk away with solid solutions to implement at your company. (if you don't find a good answer, hunt me down and I'll help you out! Pic so you can spot me)

Hope you can make it!

SEMPO In-house Only Night at SMX West
(this event is exclusively for in-house search marketers)

Who: In-house marketers, SEOs, SEMs, etc. 
What: Food & drinks served (courtesy of SEMPO)
When: Tuesday, Feb. 10th, 5:30 pm - 7:30 PM
Where: Camino Real room at the Hyatt (conference hotel)

Why: This is your chance to talk to people in the trenches. Come with your challenges, leave with answers.  Whatever challenge you have, someone has already been through it and will have solid advice for you.

In-house SEOs, I want to hear you vent!

I'm working on something for in-house SEOs that has gotten a very positive response from both in-house newbies and some of the best in-house veterans that I know.

To make it better, I need more input:

• What are the problems you are having related to implementing SEO at your company?  
• Who in the company is your biggest opposition?
• What are the reasons people are giving you for not doing SEO?
• What happens when you walk into the meeting?  Are you even invited to meetings?
• If you could change everything, what would you do differently?

Give me a jingle and vent! 

2009 In-house SEO Events to Start the Year Off Right

In-house SEO Day at SMX West
SMX West Conference
February 12, 2009
Santa Clara, CA  (just outside of San Jose, CA)

In-house SEO Advocate and founder of SEOinhouse.com, Jessica Bowman, planned the day and a stellar line-up that will give you the best-of-the-best in-house SEO tactics and sucesses.

Hear from in-house SEOs at:

• Cisco
• Nickelodean
• AOL
• Yahoo
• Microsoft

 

How to Create a Successful In-house SEO Program

Half-day workshop at Search Engine Strategies New York
Monday March 23, 2009 Chicago, IL

Led by Jessica Bowman

Part workshop, part training, this session allows you to create a game plan for what you need to be doing for your in-house SEO program, right now, to make SEO top of mind, high on the priority list and get your SEO changes live on the site.
Register by January 9th and Save!

In-house SEO Roadmap Training & Workshop

January 22, 2008
February 25, 2008
April 15, 2008

If you have less than 2 years under your belt as an in-house SEO, this is where you'll define how to get the program in order and set the game plan that will get your SEO program moving forward, faster, once you get back into the office.

Wondering what other In-house Search Marketers are paid?

Wouldn't it be great to know what in-house search marketers are making with your job title?  Or your next job search? Then fill it out, and pass this to all of the in-house search marketers you know!

Each year (OK, this is the 2nd year), SEMPO sends out an annual survey to help the in-house search marketing community identify what is the going rate for in-house search marketers.

If SEMPO gets enough people to fill it out, they can even break out the data geographically, that means you could find out what in-house search marketers are making in your city.
Makes ya salivate doesn't it!  It won't take long.

All of the in-house search marketing community will thank you immensely.

In-house SEO Day in New York City October 8th, 2008

October 8th will be a jam-packed day, completely dedicated to in-house SEO.

If you're in-house, you need be at SMX In-house SEO Day.

This track is filled with speakers who have figured it out so that you don't have to reinvent the wheel.  10 in-house SEOs will tell you what worked, what doesn't and give you the advice that they had to "figure out" on their own.

Just a few of the things you'll learn:   

• What successful in-house SEOs are doing daily/monthly/weekly
• If you were recently assigned SEO, what you need to do to get the ball rolling
• If you're an SEO manager, what successful in-house SEO managers are doing all day
• How to get SEO into the development life cycle, and how it's being done at other companies
• Innovative tactics for getting around obstacles from IT -- for example, you'll hear a case study about one in-house SEO who used Facebook to get developers to make the necessary SEO changes

More importantly, you'll have the chance to mix-and-mingle with other in-house SEOs to talk about challenges, solutions and bounce ideas off each other.  These relationships alone are worth the price of your flight to New York.

See you there!

Have you had to break up with your PPC agency?

Let's face it, break-ups happen. Unfortunately, breaking up with your search marketing agency can get more complicated than you envisioned when you signed the dotted line.

If you've had to break up with your PPC agency, get on stage to talk about your lessons learned at SMX East in New York on October 6, 2008. They're looking for speakers for this session:

Breaking Up (With Your Agency) Is Hard To Do
When a client and an agency part after a search marketing campaign, who owns what? On the SEO side, code and ownership is often clear. For PPC, who owns the quality score associated with an account? Knowledge from landing page tests? This session looks at legal uncertainties and offers suggestions for resolution.

If you're interested, pitch to speak.