ses magazine toronto 2012

20
SESConference.com June 2012 Sneak Preview SES Toronto June 11–13, 2012 Download the SES mobile app. The Impact of US Internet Laws on Canadian Site Owners 9 Make Your Client-Agency Relationship Work 10 The State of Google+, One Year Later 12 Breaking Out of the “+1” Mindset Canada is Losing the Digital Innovation Race. How Can It Become More Competitive? 6

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Page 1: SES Magazine Toronto 2012

SESConferencecom June 2012

Sneak PreviewSES Toronto

June 11ndash13 2012

Download the SES mobile app

The Impact of US Internet Laws on Canadian Site Owners 9

Make Your Client-Agency Relationship Work 10

The State of Google+ One Year Later 12

Breaking Out of the ldquo+1rdquo Mindset

Canada is Losing the Digital Innovation Race How Can It

Become More Competitive 6

LEARN AT YOUR OWN PACE

Enroll today wwwclickzacademycom

Led by industry experts ClickZ Academy provides practical

knowledge and hands-on experience to maximize your

potential in this industry

COURSES Online Marketing FoundationSearch Engine Optimization

Paid Search StrategiesE-Mail Strategy

Social Mediaand more

LEARN AT YOUR OWN PACE

Enroll today wwwclickzacademycom

Led by industry experts ClickZ Academy provides practical

knowledge and hands-on experience to maximize your

potential in this industry

COURSES Online Marketing FoundationSearch Engine Optimization

Paid Search StrategiesE-Mail Strategy

Social Mediaand more

Onsite Training WorkshopsSES TorontomdashWeds June 13Hyatt Regency Toronto

800amndash1200pm bull Online Marketing FoundationmdashSEO bull Email Marketing

Driving 51 Engagement

100pmndash500pm bull Social Local Mobile (SoLoMo)

Marketing bull Link Building to Get Rankings

Register

contents

June 2012

COVER STORY COLUMNS

6

3

16

BREAKING OUT OF THE ldquo+1rdquo MINDSETCanada Is Losing the Digital Innovation Race How Can It Become More Competitive

CONFERENCE INFORMATION

SPONSORS amp EXHIBITORS

SAMPLE SESSIONS AT SES TORONTO

9

10

11

BEYOND THE BORDERThe Impact of US Internet Laws on Canadian Site Owners

MAKE YOUR CLIENT-AGENCY RELATIONSHIP WORKThree Considerations When Choosing a Partner

DOING FORENSICS ON FRUIT SALADThe Challenge of Developing Practical Client-Friendly Strategies in the Unpredictable Social Media Environment

12

14

THE STATE OF GOOGLE+ ONE YEAR LATERGoogle Hasnrsquot Yet Carved Their Niche in Social but Do They Even Need To

THE CONVERSION OPTIMIZATION LIFE CYCLEWhich Advice Should You Follow and Which Should You Avoid in Structuring Your Optimization Program

Follow SES at twittercomSESConf

SES conferences are a great place to learn about the digital marketing industry but how do you get the most out of them if you are new to

the business To help you maximize your time at SES ClickZ Academy offers work-shops on the Monday preceding every con-ference Running in the morning and after-noon these four-hour workshops provide a thorough introduction to the various ele-ments of digital marketing and are included in the SES All-Access Pass

ClickZ and SES are both part of Inci-sive Media ClickZ is the largest resource of interactive marketing news information commentary advice opinion research and reference in the world online or off With over 400000 visitors a month it has become an indispensable tool for marketers ClickZ Academyrsquos faculty are drawn from the pool of ClickZ contributors and SES presenters The instructors are the same industry experts who shape our conference program and con-tribute articles to SES Magazine and ClickZ

Sharpen Your Skills with e-Learning and In-House ClassesIn this constantly evolving business keeping up with recent developments can be difficult

Also a large number of practitioners are self-taught Formal training to provide a solid foundation and clarify industry best prac-tices is vital in this environment

Since pre-conference workshops are not convenient for everyone ClickZ Acad-emy offers a suite of online courses With a library of over 40 e-learning modules it covers every aspect of digital marketing The foundation course discusses the various disciplines at an introductory level the five specialist courses explore social media paid search SEO web analytics and email You can take the courses at any place that has Internet access and at your own pace You can purchase modules individually or in bulk

At the end of a course and after success-ful completion of an assessment you will receive a certificate and be able to network through the ClickZ alumni group on Linked In Membership in this group will show in your LinkedIn profile so anyone searching for you will see that you have been formally trained in online marketing

At one end of the spectrum are individu-als working for small to medium-size busi-nesses who want to fine-tune their skills or

How ClickZ Academy Can Work for YouWorkshops Online and In-House Courses and Recorded Sessions Suit Every Schedule and Knowledge Level

by Paul Fegan

Cover art via Shutterstock

continues on page 15

about SESWelcome to the Toronto issue of SES Magazine This issue features a roster of Canadian writers several of whom will be speaking at the SES Toronto Conference amp Showcase SES Toronto to be held on June 11ndash13 at the Hyatt Regency will consist of three days of break-through sessions covering search social mobile and display and will include these Canada-specific sessions

bull Made in Canada Marketing Online Worldwide bull Conquering the Growing Canadian Affiliate Marketing Industry

In addition to bringing back the very popular Meet the Experts Roundtable Forum wersquore inaugurating the SES Eliminator Quiz a networking event in which participants will compete to see who is the savviest marketer while enjoying an informal pub atmosphere

See pages 16ndash17 for sample sessionsTo make the most of your time in Toronto be sure to download the SES Toronto app The

most up-to-date agenda can also be found on the conference website SESTorontocomAnd donrsquot forget these upcoming events bull SES San Francisco August 13ndash17 Moscone West (SESSanFranciscocom) bull SES Hong Kong September 10ndash12 The Mira Hong Kong (SESHongKongcom) bull SES Berlin October 10ndash11 Kosmos Berlin (SESBerlincom) bull SES Chicago Hyatt Regency (SESChicagocom)

SES Toronto will provide a singular opportunity to learn actionable strategies and mingle with over 1000 C-level executives directors marketers and engineers from leading brands such as Google Microsoft Hewlett Packard and Bell Canada See you there

Best regards

Mike Grehan ChairSES AdviSory BoArd ChAirGloBAl vP ContEnt inCiSivE MEdiA

Matt McGowan MAnAGinG dirECtor north AMEriCAinCiSivE MEdiA

SES ADVISORY BOARD

Comprised of both industry thought leaders and real-world practitioners the SES advisory board brings together top players in the field of interactive media and search The team works to deliver continually cutting-edge search techniques more integrated and relevant content and professional development resources to SES attendees

Mike Grehan ChairGloBAl vP ContEnt SESSEArCh EnGinE WAtChCliCkZ

Bryan EisenbergBEStSEllinG AuthorBryAnEiSEnBErGCoM

Jon MyershEAd of ACCount MAnAGEMEntyAhoo uk amp irElAnd

Jonathan AllendirECtor SEArChEnGinEWAtCh

Paul FeganhEAd of E-lEArninG inCiSivE MEdiA

Lee OddenCEotoPrAnk onlinE MArkEtinG

Matthew BaileyPrESidEntSitE loGiC MArkEtinG

Andrew GoodmanPrESidEntPAGE ZEro MEdiA

Giovanni RodriguezdiGitAl And SoCiAl StrAtEGy dEloittE ConSultinG llP

Chris BoggsdirECtor SEo roSEttA

Bill HuntPrESidEntBACk AZiMuth ConSultinG

Laura RothConfErEnCE ProGrAM amp trAininG MAnAGErSES ConfErEnCE amp ExPo

Mikel ChertudiSr dirECtor onlinE amp dEMAnd MArkEtinG AdoBE

Aaron KahlowChAirMAn amp foundEr onlinE MArkEtinG SuMMit

Crispin SheridanSr dirECtor of SEArCh MArkEtinG StrAtEGySAP

Eddie ChoiMAnAGinG dirECtorfrontiErS diGitAl

Anne F KennedyintErnAtionAl SEArCh StrAtEGiStBEyond ink uSA

staffMatt McGowan

Md north AMEriCA

Mike GrehanGloBAl vP ContEnt

Sharon MorabitohEAd of EvEntS AMEriCAS

Program Development

ConfErEnCE ProGrAM MAnAGEr

ConfErEnCE ProduCEr

Laura RothAnna Lee

OperationsoPErAtionS MAnAGEr

rEGiStrAtion ASSoCiAtE

Kim KiedaischCharisse Rosales

ClickZ amp Search Engine WatchExECutivE Editor CliCkZ

dirECtor SEW

SEnior Editor nEWS

StAff WritEr

CoPy Editor

ASiA dESk Editor

Anna Maria VirziJonathan AllenKate KayeChristopher HeineCaitlin RossmanAdaline Lau

Sales amp MarketingSAlES dirECtorS

ACCount ExECutivE

dirECtor CliEnt SErviCES

MArkEtinG dirECtor

MArkEtinG MAnAGEr

MArkEtinG ASSoCiAtE

WEB dESiGnEr

onlinE oPErAtionS MAnAGEr

onlinE oPErAtionS ASSoCiAtE

Andrew KatzElaine MershonElaine RomeoPeter WesterholmElizabeth HustonJoAnn SimonelliAngela ManAmy XuPloy TangtrakulRebecca HolzLouise LabergeAleksey Gershin

MagazineEditor

ContriButorS

Dawn CavalieriJulie BattenDave DaviesPaul FeganAndrew GoodmanJim HedgerMiranda MillerGarry Przyklenk

CorporateChiEf ExECutivE

GrouP MAnAGinG dirECtor

Tim WellerJames Hanbury

SES Volume 6 Issue 3 | June 2012copy 2012 Incisive Media plc

To subscribe contribute or view past issues visitwwwsesconferencecomses-magazine

To advertise contact sales at salessesconferencecom or +1 (212) 457-4993

Comments Want to unsubscribe E-mail us atmagazinesesconferencecom

Incisive Media US55 Broad Street 22nd fl New York NY 10004-2501tel +1 (646) 736-1888fax +1 (646) 390-6612

Incisive Media head office28-29 Haymarket HouseLondon SW1Y 4RX UKtel +44 (0)20 7316 9609fax +44 (0)20 7930 2238

sesconferencecom bull SES 3

sponsors ampexhibitorsDownload the app or visit SESTorontocom

PLATINUM SPONSOR

Google Engage with AgencieswwwgooglecomGooglersquos innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day Founded in 1998 by Stanford PhD students Larry Page and Sergey Brin Google today is a top web property in all major global markets Googlersquos targeted advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measur-able results while enhancing the overall web experience for users Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas Europe and Asia For more information visit wwwgooglecom

GOLD SPONSOR

BingSponsored SessionswwwbingcomSearch advertising with Microsoft helps you efficiently reach your next best customermdashwithin your budget and with the support you need to get started and optimized and measure your results

SILVER SPONSOR

The Search AgencyTable 5wwwthesearchagencycomThe Search Agency is a global online marketing firm that combines high-tech and high-touch online marketing strategies to deliver new customers and measure ROI beyond a reasonable doubt Ser-vices include paid search SEO landing page optimization display media social media and affiliate program management As the largest and fastest-growing independent search marketing agency in the US (Advertising Age May 2012) and among Deloittersquos 2011 Technology Fast 500 The Search Agency is now bringing over a decade of experience and expertise to Canada Founded in 2002 The Search Agency has grown to more than 200 employees worldwide with Canadian headquarters in Toronto and additional offices in Los Angeles San Francisco East Greenwich Baltimore Tampa London Sydney and Bangalore For more information go to httpwww thesearchagencycom

EXHIBITORS

AdLeadsTable 4wwwadleadscomAdLeads is the industryrsquos first self-serve mobile signup ad platform With AdLeads businesses of all sizes can run ads on top iPhone iPad and Android apps They only pay when someone signs up to hear from themmdashand never for wasted clicks or impressions Hun-dreds of businesses and agencies like childrenrsquos publisher Paper Hat Press Brooklyn-based restaurant Nita Nita and Australian mobile marketing agency Mobile Marketers have used AdLeads to get new customers and grow their businesses

ClickZ Academy and RecruitmentTable 10wwwclickzacademycomClickZ helps develop the careers of professional marketers either through its education program or its recruitment web site This builds on its position as the largest resource of interactive market-ing news information commentary advice opinion research and reference in the world online or off From search to social technol-ogy to trends our coverage is expert exclusive and in-depth

gShift Labs Web Presence OptimizertradeTable 7wwwgshiftlabscom gShift Labsrsquo industry leading SEO software system Web Presence Optimizertrade (WPO) helps marketers and agencies more efficiently and effectively monitor and report on SEO campaigns gShiftrsquos patent-pending WPO software provides insight into an entire web presencemdashwebsite blogs press releases social media and analyt-icsmdashby reporting organic rank data backlinks social signals and competitive intelligence all of which contribute to the goal of rank-ing higher organically in the search engines

The fundamentals of SEO still matter however SEO in 2012 is about social signals (Facebook YouTube Twitter LinkedIn Google+ and Pinterest) and fresh content (blogs and press releases)

Track manage measure and report web presence analytics data all in one place using gShiftrsquos SEO monitoring and reporting software Organizations of all sizes benefit by reducing the time and resources required to analyze and improve organic search optimization

gShift Labs can be contacted at 1-866-743-5960 by emailing salesgShiftLabscom or by visiting wwwgshiftlabscom

Sponsor Showcase Hours Monday June 11 1000amndash630pm | Tuesday June 12 1000amndash300pm

4 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

sponsors ampexhibitors SES Toronto | June 11ndash13 2012

Marin SoftwareTable 1wwwmarinsoftwarecomMarin Software is a leading provider of online advertising man-agement solutions offering an integrated platform for managing search display and social marketing The company provides solu-tions for advertisers and agencies of all sizes enabling them to improve financial performance save time and make better deci-sions Marin Enterprise the companyrsquos flagship product addresses the needs of online marketers spending at least $100000 per month on biddable media Marin Professional delivers the same power and ease of use as Marin Enterprise through an application designed for marketers spending less than $100000 per month on paid search Headquartered in San Francisco with offices worldwide Marinrsquos technology powers marketing campaigns for over 850 cus-tomers managing more than $25 billion of annualized ad spend in more than 160 countries

9th sphereTrack Sponsorwww9thspherecom9th sphere is a full-service web design and Internet marketing solu-tions provider focused on delivering a strong ROI for our clients Since 1997 they have put their award-winning expertise to work earning recognition for effectiveness in design development and marketing resultsndashdriven websites 9th sphere is proud to offer top industry experts state-of-the-art technology and exceptional cus-tomer care that produces smart and powerful website solutions and real results for a wide variety of businesses This ultimately pro-vides a solid service value from which clients prosper Learn about the 9th sphere Advantage at httpwww9thspherecom

NVI SolutionsSponsored SessionwwwnvisolutionscomNVI is a full-service digital marketing agency We leverage our internal tools our broad and diversified experience and the larg-est bilingual staff of experts in the country to serve our customers NVI is known for its resourcefulness and business ability to execute strategic plans that are performance-centric

NVI relies on the ingenuity of its web marketing strategies and the collective energy of its employees to offer the best return on investment to its customers

Page Zero MediaReception SponsorwwwpagezerocomPage Zero Media is a full service digital marketing agency focus-ing especially on paid search (SEM) display advertising and other forms of effective audience targeting Led by founder and president Andrew Goodman the company is headquartered in Toronto Can-ada Clients include Postmedia Digital Canon Direct Energy Wave Accounting and Nutscom Page Zero is a Google AdWords Certified Agency

Reprise MediaTable 3wwwreprisemediacomReprise Media Canada is a full-service search marketing agency Our core business is based on search engine marketing (pay-per-click) search engine optimization (SEO) and social media market-ing Reprise Media Canada offers best-in-class search marketing strategies employed by a team of industry-recognized talents and applies an agenda of innovation to produce breakthrough results for our clients Come see us at Table 3 on June 1112

Search Engine People IncTable 2wwwsearchenginepeoplecomSearch Engine People Inc is one of Canadarsquos oldest and most respected search agencies Since 2001 SEP has helped a wide range of clients (from Fortune 500 to small and medium-size companies) secure business from the web SEP is a Google Adwords Qualified Company and Yahoo Search Marketing Ambassador and is Micro-soft adExcellence certified The company was also named one of the

ldquoTop 25 Up-and-Coming Canadian IT Companiesrdquo by the Branham Group in 2006

SEPrsquos services include search engine optimization (SEO) paid search management (PPC) social media marketing (SMM) online reputation management usability and more Whether yoursquore look-ing to compete in an ultra-competitive space or to dramatically increase your local presence SEP can help

Stop by our booth and talk to our knowledgeable expertsGet Foundtrade

SEMPO CanadaTable 8wwwsempocaSEMPO is the largest nonprofit trade organization in the world serving the search and digital marketing industry and marketing professionals engaged in it

Whether you are a search or social marketing professional or use search and social as part of your profession SEMPO provides the programs and resources to help you succeed

Our activities center on education networking and research To support our educational mission we provide a professional webi-nar series 101 webinar series and quarterly education programs Our local groups provide opportunities to network throughout the world and we also conduct the industryrsquos most respected research We provide members with discounts to training programs and industry events and a robust job board

Learn more at wwwSEMPOorg infoSEMPOorg

SEMRushBadge Booklet SponsorwwwsemrushcomSEMRush provides users with invaluable competitive intelligencemdashtracking the top 95 million keywords and 42 million domains SEMRush data currently includes 10 of the most popular regional

sesconferencecom bull SES 5

Table s on right

Affiliate amp Performance-Based Marketing SolutionsThe Search Agency 5Training Business Pros 6

Display Advertising Marin Software 1Page Zero Media Sponsor

General Search Engines Bing Sponsor

Interactive Marketing Agencies 9th sphere Sponsor

Interactive Marketing Associations amp Publications SEMPO Canada 8

Internet Associations Society of Internet

Professionals 9

Link Building Search Engine People Inc 2SEMRush Sponsor

Local Search Marketing Services amp Directories Bing Sponsor

Marketing Optimization Solutions Marin Software 1Training Business Pros 6

Mobile amp Rich Media Advertising Solutions AdLeads 4

Organic Search Marketing gShift Labs Web

Presence Optimizertrade 79th sphere SponsorNVI Solutions SponsorPage Zero Media SponsorReprise Media 3The Search Agency 5Search Engine People Inc 2

Pay-Per Click Networks amp Management Services NVI Solutions SponsorSearch Engine People Inc 2

Search Marketing Agencies 9th sphere SponsorNVI Solutions Sponsorpage Zero Media SponsorReprise Media 3The Search Agency 5

Search Marketing Software gShift Labs Web

Presence Optimizertrade 7Marin Software 1SEMRush Sponsor

Specialized Search Engines (Multimedia Mobile Shopping International etc) Bing Sponsor

Training Courses amp Certification in Search Marketing ClickZ Academy and

Recruitment 10Training Business Pros 6

Web Analytics gShift Labs Web

Presence Optimizertrade 7Reprise Media 3SEMRush Sponsor

product amp service guide

Google databases as well as US Bing and returns extensive met-rics relative to both organic and paid traffic (both AdWords and AdSense) as well as backlink info

SEMRush can reveal just what keywords your competitors are ranking for what campaigns theyrsquore running what their budget looks like and what kind of traffic they generate Thus it can pro-vide all the ammo one needs to effectively optimize run impactful campaigns and increase overall traffic and revenue

Society of Internet Professionals (SIP)Table 9wwwsipgrouporgThe Society of Internet Professionals (SIP) is an international not-for-profit association based in Canada Since 1997 SIP has upheld professional standards for Internet professionals Our ongoing activities include spearheading strategic partnerships offering edu-cational programs and running networking events

Becoming a professional member of SIP and abiding by our Professional Code of Ethics gives you instant credibility and com-petitive advantage in the marketplace You gain access to exclusive members-only information privileges and offers and you secure a place in a network of serious individuals and organizations focused on success through excellence

Take the first step today by signing up for a free SIP Associate Membership (no dues) Join 10000 SIP Associates who benefit from Affinity Programs and stay informed of upcoming events and valu-able offers via our monthly newsletter for FREE

As part of our 14th anniversary celebrations attendees of the SES Show who sign up at wwwsipgrouporg will be eligible to receive a discount of 50 for the first year of Professional Member-ship dues

For more information and to become a member visit www sipgrouporg

Contact Max Haroon President tel (416) 891-4937 (info sipgrouporg)

Training Business ProsTable 6wwwtrainingbusinessproscom

Training Business Pros is Canadarsquos leading internet market-ing training company offering over 100 intensive business train-ing opportunities throughout North America every year Our cli-ents have exploded their sales in the millions and trainees have increased their personal market value exponentially

Since 2007 Training Business Pros has helped over 22 thousand businesses adopt and adapt internet marketing and social media strategies Whether you are a start-up or a Fortune 500 company it is essential to get valuable information fast in order to get massive results within a short period of time

Visit Table 6 to claim your free introductory training Or learn live from our CEO Paul Tobey on stage June 12th at

235 pm to 255 pm You will learn how 20 minutes a day can dramatically boost your

rankings and how the social media wheel can be the secret sauce to your back-linking strategy

6 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus COVER STORY

Breaking Out of the ldquo+1rdquo MindsetCanada is Losing the Digital Innovation Race How Can It Become More Competitive

by Andrew Goodman

Canada has weathered the economic downturn better than any other G7 nation With a high level of eco-nomic cultural and technological

development and a favorable trading rela-tionship and cultural integration with the US it can hardly be described as hurting Since nothingrsquos terribly broken creating a sense of urgency around living up to our true poten-tial is hard

Some of us feel a constant urge to do bet-ter most of us do not The most likely way to propagate this feeling is to deliberately and systematically push onersquos peers to improve Thatrsquos how it is in organized sports Thatrsquos how it is at SES conferences And thatrsquos how Canadians ought to behave when it comes to technological innovation and business competitiveness

Caution Rather Than CompetitionCanadian caution is dangerously close to an insidious disease complacency For over a century wersquove contentedly enjoyed the ben-efits of our ldquo+1rdquo relationship with the pow-erful innovator to the south Wersquove sat back and waited while dynamic enterprises and innovations were created in the US Instead of competing our businesses have often dawdled watched and withered as compa-nies like Target Wal-Mart and Home Depot moved in and took over

In high technology the decline of a sin-gle leader like Research in Motion (RIM) is enough to throw the entire country into a panic Without the Blackberry what have we given the world Sidney Crosby and maple syrup (Ok a few other things like insulin and the telephone)

The situation isnrsquot that bad But it is a function of a complacent culture that othersrsquo successes (the successes of bold non-Cana-dian tall poppies) are claimed as onersquos own as long as itrsquos convenient with very little done to create an atmosphere that fosters innova-tionmdashuntil it becomes painfully obvious that a single flagship high-tech success story isnrsquot going to cut it

Unfortunately many of the traits that help entrepreneurs feel relatively accepted in the US arenrsquot baked into Canadian culture As a result itrsquos harder to develop a critical mass of digitally savvy companies tech tal-ent investors and other elements that cre-ate clusters of innovation and dynamism If you massage the data enough (as Richard Florida does) you can refer to the broader region around the Greater Toronto Area as a creative cluster However this region is punching well below its weight when it comes to the je ne sais quoi of creating great growth companies This ultimately causes relative backwardness in a whole range of interrelated realms from soft skills needed to staff up fast-growing startups to con-sumer expectations of online retailers The commonality is expectations and standards unless theyrsquore raised they stay too lowmdashif there are any at all

The e-Commerce LagWhere do Canadians shop when we do buy online One of our largest homegrown retailersmdashCanadian Tire which absorbed apparel and sporting-goods giant Forzani Group forming a retail empire of a decent sizemdashonly recently relaunched its website with the capacity to order items online The company had taken a two-year hiatus from e-commerce reverting to a website that offered information about products avail-able in physical stores and various episodic microsites (see article in The Globe and Mail ) Frankly management is living in the same time warp that many other top managers of large Canadian enterprises are in Slow growth in a high-growth area like e-commerce is unacceptable if Canadian-owned companies want to survive it opens up the playing field to US companies that are good at plugging in their existing highly optimized operations

Retail may not be the only measure of the health of a nation but online retail is surely the bellwether for the state of a digital nation Here again average Canadians couldnrsquot care

less and would dissent from this obvious point In their view because more of us have broadband use Facebook send text mes-sages etc wersquore more digitally savvy than other countries including the US Suremdashbut thatrsquos like saying that buying a cute new gym bag makes you a fashion pioneer Itrsquos nice to enjoy whatrsquos made available to you but it doesnrsquot compare at all with say investing in a company that grows into a global fashion label (On that note kudos to Lululemon a wildly successful Canadian brand that is one of the exceptions that prove the rule)

Canadians all too often like to partici-pate in the excitement of advanced trends and taste the fruits of othersrsquo innovation but wouldnrsquot have a clue how to spearhead anything Nor do they quite understand why you would need or want to Thatrsquos the kind of mindset that develops during a century and a half of living in a branch-plant economy

A November 11 article from IBM (cit-ing Forrester research) notes that Canada is behind the US in e-commerce spending and growing more slowly The percentagesmdash54 of total retail sales in Canada versus 60 in the USmdashmake the two countries seem fairly close but 6 of $32 trillion is immense com-pared to 54 of $370 billion Since ad spends website infrastructure and consulting time donrsquot make economic sense below a certain size a chicken-egg problem sets in custom-ers arenrsquot served as well research isnrsquot done ads and content arenrsquot crafted well check-outs donrsquot work as they should and so on The domestic Canadian e-commerce market poses a huge challenge for all but the largest players This makes it all the more frustrat-ing that those large players at least donrsquot recognize the need for urgency and invest-ment Instead of comparing themselves to their peers they should compare themselves to strong players around the globe

Weak Unprofitable Online Marketing Strategies Only a handful of Canadian retail web-site owners and managers know the key

sesconferencecom bull SES 7

focusCOVER STORY

to reaching the big leagues after testing and optimizing your model you can power your way into the top-grossing elite largely through an aggressive targeted online mar-keting spend Thatrsquos no sales pitch thatrsquos how the math works Many businesses appear to forget the enormous cost of the infrastruc-ture and overhead that get them to the table Once they are at that already expensive table the investment is wasted if the resulting revenue remains pitifully low because the method for actually getting new customers is ldquohope pray and DIY on-page SEOrdquo

Winning online businesses have grow-ing revenues (and to be sure marketing spends) that eventually reduce overhead and infrastructure costs to manageable (ide-ally trivial) proportions Losing ones build a large infrastructure and do nothing with it Since only a few companies are getting it right there is a very small pool of exemplars to show the way and wishful thinking sub-stitutes for action

We donrsquot find a Canadian company on the Internet Retailerrsquos Top 500 Guide (as of late April 2012) which ranks B2C retailers in the US and Canada based on online sales until number 152 The Shopping Channel owned by Rogers Media Lululemon Athletica is at 229 nowmdashfor them the skyrsquos the limit ALDO Group (shoes) and Mountain Equip-ment Co-Op (outdoor gear) deserve props at 390 and 395 respectively Unfortunately many Canadian entrepreneursmdashto say noth-ing of large retailersmdasharenrsquot aiming at mak-ing lists like this many havenrsquot even heard of them

Governmentrsquos Share of Blame Canada is falling behind in the global innova-tion race because ldquoCanadian business itself

hellip choose[s] deliberately not to pursue busi-ness strategies that rely on innovation as there [are] easier ways of making profitsrdquo So argue Marcel Cocircteacute founding partner of stra-tegic management consulting firm SECOR and Robert Miller engineer at Eacutecole Poly-technique de Montreacuteal in a recent report

(citing research by the Council of Canadian Academies)

Certainly government has played a role in allowing Canadian companies to be weakened largely through inaction and misappropriation of subsidy funds All gov-ernments sit on and distributemdashin the aggre-gatemdashlarge pools of business development capital and research funding and Canada is no exception Yet funds often trickle out to laggard players or subsidize the operations of established noninnovating companies Powerhouses like RIM return far more to the economy (in the form of jobs spinoffs RampD and tax revenues) than any breaks and incentives they receive A business colum-nist recently described the high-ROI govern-ment incentives that help create blockbust-ers like RIM as ldquofederal largesserdquo Largesse To Research in Motion I think we got our moneyrsquos worth

The lack of similar ldquolargesserdquo to identi-fiable very tall poppies has led to repeated missed opportunities and the lack of role models and good jobs in manufacturing RampD and software The denial of incentives to high-tech firm Mitel in the early 1980s is a salient example (see Donald J Savoiersquos 2009 book Irsquom from Bouctouche Me Roots Matter) the deal would have created thousands of

new telecommunications equipment jobs in Atlantic Canada This attitude has also resulted in the bankruptcy of companies (like Mitel) that could have become global leaders and precursors of other successful companies

What We Can DoIf government wonrsquot make the right moves how can Canadian companies improve on our own We must leave behind the old +1 instincts and the peer pressure to do just well enough Here are some suggestions

bull Avoid the grand narratives Coverage of traditional monopoly sectors such as financial mining and telecom-munications dominates the Canadian business media and only obvious successes are deemed noteworthy In terms of trends in advertising and digital culture little insight or encouragement is to be found in traditional media Look for validation elsewhere in your peer group at industry events among your customers and yes even in other countries

bull Quit scoffing at data Yes our clientsrsquo customers really do buy pecans switchplates furniture dishwasher parts soil remediation equipment and paella pans online Canadiansmdasheven those making digital marketing their career through formal certification coursesmdashhave a nasty habit of assuming that because people like them

ldquowould never click on thatrdquo or ldquowould never buy something like that onlinerdquo itrsquos helpful or insightful to share this preconceived notion The easy work is to hop onto the coattails of some large hip brand and recommend very gradual approaches to budgeting the marketing spend despite the millions in sunk costs (infrastructure office

Unfortunately many of the traits that help

entrepreneurs feel relatively accepted in

the US arenrsquot baked into Canadian culture As a result itrsquos harder to

develop a critical mass of digitally savvy companies

tech talent investors and other elements

that create clusters of innovation and dynamism

continues on page 8

Donrsquot miss these Sesssions at SES Toronto bull Made in Canada Marketing Online WorldwidemdashMonday June 11 200pmndash300pm bull Conquering the Growing Canadian Affiliate Marketing IndustrymdashTuesday June 12 300pmndash400pm

Register

8 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus COVER STORY

space website buildout etc) that make the operation wildly unprofitable on the whole (though seemingly cautious when only the variable costs are taken into account) Do the hard work and stop dismissing what is in fact real consumer behavior screaming for granular analysis

bull Know the role models Many young Canadians Irsquove encountered in formal business courses were not aware of Techcrunch Yelp Zappos and many other mainstays of digital business culture This is inexcusable The best students are the self-taught exceptions Therersquos no guarantee that these self-starters will get great jobs out of the gate but over time they usually prevail

bull Look for smart partners and communities Canada is full of half-baked digital companies that go nowhere fueled by family money and vanity investments Dumb money loses out to savvy skill and passion

bull Risk your own money Funding at the appropriate stage can be an important accelerator but the founders of companies like FreshBooks Acquisio PlentyofFish and HomeStars put in their own money perhaps with the support of family and friends before they did formal fundraising Itrsquos not always possible to bootstrap but companies like these prove that you donrsquot have to raise huge sums of money

to reach the next level You do have to have the entrepreneurial 24-7 mindset

bull Embrace digital jobs as normal If ordinary Canadians donrsquot become conversant with the leading edge of technology and digital enterprise the best minds will continue to drain away due to a lack of both opportunity and peers Our industry needs to be normalized and valued as simply a part of the economy Today wersquore still seen as representing either of two extremesmdashtaking insane risks and living in a cardboard box or lucking into lottery-like wealthmdashas if the profession is worth discussing only for its financial upside not for its substance Until people get it itrsquoll be up to us to evangelize the merits of things like search and display advertising (better targeting) online procurement (reducing friction in the economy) and all of that good stuff Yes it was obvious in 1999 but that doesnrsquot mean people are quite comfortable with it yet

ConclusionNot everyone is going to create the next Radian6 The Internet Retailerrsquos Top 500 is pretty rarefied territory and represents more success than the vast majority of startupsmdashlet alone well-known established retailersmdashcan attain However Canadians should at least be benchmarking themselves against these success stories rather than the semi-successful company down the street The real problem of course is that the comfort level of doing ldquojust so wellrdquo is tempting It may even seem irrational to want to reach a

levels of success far ahead of what is needed to maintain a great lifestyle

The driven minority though seek to have something more impressive than ldquo+1rdquo engraved on their tombstones If and when they do succeed you can bet that the aver-age Canadian and the creators of grand nar-ratives will be only too happy to take partial credit hellip not to mention taxing the bejeesus out of them

Andrew Goodman is founder

and President of Toronto-based

Page Zero Media a full-service

marketing agency founded in

2000 He is also co-founder of

Traffickcom an award-winning

industry commentary site and author of Winning Results with Google AdWords

Breaking Out of the ldquo+1rdquo Mindset

continued from page 7 Canadians should at least be benchmarking themselves against the Internet Retailerrsquos Top 500 rather than the

semi-successful company down the street The real problem of course is that the comfort level of doing ldquojust so wellrdquo is tempting

The driven minority though seek to have

something more impressive than ldquo+1rdquo engraved on

their tombstones

sesconferencecom bull SES 9

focusMARKETING INSIGHTS

If you live and work in Canada you may think of the Internet as a free space in which to share ideas sell products and interact with others with no restrictions

other than those imposed by the Canadian government for the protection of its people Itrsquos reasonable to believe that if you com-ply with these laws you will maintain the health of your website Unfortunately this isnrsquot entirely the case The United States gov-ernment has significant power over how the Internet functions right down to how you use your domain name and how the 1s and 0s on which your site travels are treated

Domain Name OwnershipMany people donrsquot realize that they donrsquot actu-ally own their own domain names they rent them Itrsquos a subtle difference but when com-bined with the fact that the US government owns and controls the com top-level domain (TLD) it brings up a whole new set of con-cerns as the owners of Bodogcom discovered

Bodogcom was a Canadian-owned online gambling site In February the US Depart-ment of Justice and Homeland Security Investigations seized the domain name while a US federal grand jury charged its four owners with conducting an illegal sports gambling site and conspiracy to commit money laundering The indictment alleges that Bodog moved at least $100 million from offshore accounts to bettors in Maryland

ldquoSports betting is illegal in Maryland and federal law prohibits bookmakers from flout-ing that law simply because they are located outside the countryrdquo stated US attorney Rod J Rosenstein (quoted by USA Today)

As this case shows the US government can seize any com site regardless of the loca-tion of the business operation or its hosting provider This principle of government own-ership is logical for country-based domains (such as ca) where the issuing government can take control of a domain rented by one of its citizens but com is the Internet go-to for countless non-US businesses You may think

ldquoThatrsquos OK I donrsquot run a poker siterdquo Just bear

in mind that since you donrsquot own your com domain the US government could confiscate it however unlikely that may be

SOPA and PIPAYoursquod be wrong to think that the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) would not affect your Canadian busi-ness If you use or provide resources (or letrsquos be honest are believed to provide resources) that are deemed unacceptable by the US gov-ernment your site could be blocked your search traffic eliminated and more Although neither bill has passed similar legislation probably will

ldquoIrsquom not worried I donrsquot run an illegal torrent siterdquo you may say The laws as they were drafted apply to any copyright infringe-ment and designate the website owner as the culpable party For example if you operate a forum and one of its members posts content from say a movie script your site could be blocked and search engine traffic eliminated This would be a big punishment for adding a forum to your site in hopes of engaging visi-tors While Irsquom not stating that the US gov-ernment would go to this extreme every time a law like SOPA or PIPA could make your site a target however innocent your intentions

Net Neutrality LegislationWhile I hold the unpopular opinion that ISPs have a right to charge what they like for their bandwidth and that the free market should sort out what this means there is no doubt that US rules and regulations regard-ing net neutrality would have a major impact on Canadian site owners The speed of your site is dependent on the speed of the Inter-net between your web host and the visitor If your visitors are in the US or if your site is hosted there you would be affected

You may point out ldquoMy site is hosted in Canada and my clients are in Canadardquo Unless your clients are in close proximity to your host your data is going to take various routes between the site and visitors Many tests I ran from my office in Victoria BC to

websites across Canada passed through the US at one point or another Net neutrality legislation would have an influence on these paths

Data SecurityMany of us collect data on our sites many of us store this data on our servers Under the law the US government can seize or review this data at any time if your site is hosted at a US hosting facility

You may ask ldquoBut Irsquom not storing any-thing illegal so who caresrdquo Your clients may If yoursquore a lawyer or doctor or if you store any other information on your server that may be deemed confidential you may be violating the law in hosting it in an environ-ment that is subject to seizure

What You Can DoThe purpose of this article isnrsquot to scare you Irsquove done business primarily in the US and hosted the Beanstalk site there since the company was formed and I havenrsquot had any issues stemming from these laws That said itrsquos extremely important to understand and monitor the direction that legislation is tak-ing and the potential impact and to safe-guard yourself against litigation embarrass-ment reduced or eliminated traffic slower speeds for your visitors etc Knowing whatrsquos happening and how it affects your website will help you react quickly

For example if network neutrality legis-lation fails and ISPs are given more freedom in how they charge for bandwidth ensuring that yoursquore hosted on a network with priority should be step one And you might as well buy that ca domain as a backup After all just because yoursquore being paranoid doesnrsquot mean yoursquore wrong

Dave Davies is CEO of Bean stalk

SEO Services an organic SEO

firm in Victoria BC He wrote the

second edition of SitePointrsquos s

Kit and hosts a weekly radio

show on Webmaster Radio

Beyond the BorderThe Impact of US Laws on Canadian Site Owners

by Dave Davies

10 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus MARKETING INSIGHTS

Searching for a new digital agency is a lot like searching for a mate you spend a lot of time seeing other peo-ple (the RFP process) you eventually

narrow it down to a handful of prospects (the short-list) and eventually you think yoursquove found ldquothe onerdquo (the winning agency) After much wooing and negotiation you agree to move in together (onboarding) and the real

ldquogetting to know each otherrdquo officially begins (the client-agency relationship)

The first couple of months are usu-ally pretty blissful both parties are filled with hope and positivity about the excit-ing adventures (programstactics) to come But you inevitably find out things that you didnrsquot know before and that you may not like Things get a bit bumpy and you start to become disenfranchised with your part-ner Gradually everything starts to unravel

mdashall of a sudden a year has gone by and yoursquore threatening to break up if your mate (agency) doesnrsquot get his or her act together

It doesnrsquot have to be this way There is a way to maintain the honeymoon period indefinitely It really starts with choosing the right partner in the first place Onboarding a new agency is a huge investment so make sure that the agency you choose is going to work out in the long term Ask the following questions about a prospective agency before making your decision

Do the Agencyrsquos Skills Closely Align to Your NeedsRelationship Buster While this may seem obvious often client-agency relationships fail due to mismatches between the cli-entsrsquo needs and the agenciesrsquo competen-cies Agencies do a good job of downplaying their weaknesses and selling their strengths sometimes giving clients distorted represen-tations of their capabilities Clients can also become enamored of specific strengths that arenrsquot even top priorities for the firms

Relationship Saver Have a clear understand-ing of what you need and what yoursquore looking

for in an agency and consistently apply that as a filter when evaluating potential part-ners It is critical that you choose an agency based on a realistic evaluation of your needs and whether their core competencies align with these If yoursquore looking for a digital agency that can offer innovative solutions to engage your audience donrsquot let yourself get wooed by a flashy creative presentation unless yoursquore sure that they have the chops to deliver on the technology side Alterna-tively if you already have a skilled IT team in house and really need a strong strategic and creative shop be sure that they can bring their creative A-game

Does the Agency Have the Proven Ability to DeliverRelationship Buster Clients sometimes under-estimate the importance of delivery in digi-tal programs It is easy to get distracted by cutting-edge solutions and fail to consider whether these programs can realistically be deployed on time on budget and at a high-quality level

Relationship Saver Verify agenciesrsquo track records in deploying similar solutions in a timely and efficient manner They should be able to provide case studies of similar work successfully delivered for other clients and clearly articulate their process for taking a high-level solutionstrategy to detailed tactical implementation plans Strong proj-ect management competence is critical to

ensure that projects are delivered within budget and timelines They should also be able to demonstrate that they have sufficient resources in place to deliver on multiple con-current work streams

Does the Agency Play Well with OthersRelationship Buster Most clients have mul-tiple agency partnersmdashtypically at least a creativeoffline agency and a media agency in addition to their digital agency Clients sometimes assume that all partners will work towards a common goal and that inte-gration will naturally take place However some agencies tend toward a protective or even combative nature when working with other agencies creating a host of problems when interdependencies are present between both agenciesrsquo initiatives

Relationship Saver Prospective partners need to be able to demonstrate the ability to get along with others Your agency should be able to point to specific examples of how they have worked with other agency partners in a harmonious and mutually beneficial way They should demonstrate the ability to take a leadership role in coordinating cross-agency collaboration and integration and have an established process for helping to define and document roles and responsibilities among agency partners

There are many other factors to take into consideration when choosing a new digital agency partner but avoiding the pitfalls above should increase your chances of a long and successful union Happy hunting

Julie Batten is VP strategy digital media at Klick Health focused on online media and digital She brings a wealth of experi-ence in search marketing

digital media and all facets of digital strat-egy to bear helping Klickrsquos clients develop innovative digital solutions

Make Your Client-Agency Relationship WorkThree Considerations When Choosing a Partner

by Julie Batten

Have a clear understanding of what you need and what yoursquore looking for in an agency and

consistently apply that as a filter when evaluating potential partners It is

critical that you choose an agency based on a realistic evaluation of your needs

sesconferencecom bull SES 11

focusSOCIALINTEGRATION

Social media is public relations Social media is inclusionary Social media is necessary to compete with your competitors Social media is todayrsquos

big thingSocial media is also tomorrowrsquos next big

thing More appropriately some form of social media application is tomorrowrsquos next big thing Yesterdayrsquos appears to have been Pinterest which is threatening to displace Foursquare as the mayor of forgotten places As digital marketing experts we are calling on our clients to invest increasing amounts of time staff and money in an area that is evolving too quickly for us to fully under-stand The benefits of increased traffic are obvious but the return on investment on a wide spread of social media profiles can be somewhat harder to quantify

The Changes in Social MediaWith over one-third of the adult population using Facebook Canadians constitute one of the largest national social media footprints in the world Being early adopters Canadian Internet users became amazingly social amazingly quickly Unfortunately many if not most Canadian businesses have not kept up This isnrsquot just because Canadian compa-nies donrsquot fully grasp the social part of the medium itrsquos also because the budgeting and planning necessary to create an effective social media presence is daunting on paper without a clear understanding of benefits

Social media applications have existed for almost as long as the commercial web Early social media applications such as Classmates and Friendster acted as basic connectors They werenrsquot great for commu-nication among users but they provided an ideal foundation on which all subsequent social media applications could build Web 20 which came on the scene in 2003 was a breakthrough that allowed users to inter-act with websites and with each other This was the dawn of the user-generated content (UGC) era Nearly ten years later wersquore just

beginning to understand the fuller implica-tions of UGC on search and the web

Many of the sessions at SES Toronto will address social media measurement engage-ment and techniques Each of the speakers addressing social media has developed his or her own techniques and tactics based on personal experience and shared knowledge Each of them will say that every social media experience is unique Each will maintain that the very best social media experience is one that promotes authenticity and earnest con-nection over marketing and promotion

As the digital marketing environment changes so must the priorities of digital marketers and the clients we serve While itrsquos always about driving good traffic the digital marketing landscape is transforming more rapidly than ever before Social media is continuously extending frontiers and new areas are expanding as rapidly as UGC can be created and user intent can be ascertained and harnessed

To say that social has had an impact on search would be an understatement for search marketers this shift has not been subtle Moving away from its fascination with search SEO has for the last two years focused on social From studying how Face-book alters user behaviors to finding cor-relations between social signals and search engine placements social media has domi-nated search marketing discourse by becom-ing a more popular form of public directory To say that you understand the impact of social media on search would be a vaguely worded lie Nobody understands exactly how social meshes with search Witness Google+

Getting Clients to Be SocialTrying to figure out how to integrate social into search is akin to integrating apples with oranges kiwis strawberries grapes cottage cheese and bananas Itrsquos easy to spot iden-tify and describe the effects of an apple itrsquos not as easy to do forensics on fruit salad This creates yet another problem for digital

marketers when trying to convince small businesses and corporate clients that bud-geting time and money for social media is important

To be authentic in the truest sense cli-ents would do the work in house However in-house SEOSMM is often impractical for the smaller businesses that make up the vast majority of clients This means that the service must be either outsourced to a third party or performed by a digital market-ing agency It is a huge challenge for digi-tal markers to help clients be authentic in a constantly evolving environment that none of us fully grasp

Digital marketers face a number of other issues when guiding clients in the social sphere It is really difficult to know whether the plethora of random information linking to clientsrsquo websites is beneficial or detrimen-tal We have to push our clients into actively participating in an arena that they donrsquot fully understand or we have to try to recre-ate their voices ourselves and authenticity is very hard to engender in the second- or third-party voice Lastly we have to quan-tify a return on investment that translates to

Doing Forensics on Fruit SaladThe Challenge of Developing Practical Client-Friendly Strategies in the Unpredictable Social Media Environment

by Jim Hedger

continues on page 13

From studying how Facebook alters user behaviors to finding

correlations between social signals and search engine placements social media

has dominated search marketing discourse by

becoming a more popular form of public directory

To say that you understand the impact of social

media on search would be a vaguely worded lie

12 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus SOCIALMEDIA

As the first birthday of Googlersquos latest baby draws near the organic search and paid advertising behemoth con- tinues to struggle to find their

niche in social A year ago Google+ was just a rumor Google would deny the existence of a social project until the very day it launched in late June

In that year theyrsquove launched expanded experimented and redesigned the service incurring the verbal wrath of competitors Facebook and Twitter on a number of occa-sions Itrsquos been a whirlwind for Google+ and all fifteen of its loyal users

I kid To be fair there is a small but dedi-cated group of core users in the Google+ net-work Larry Page Sergey Brin Vic Gundotra and the rest of the crew have become old pros at dodging questions about the num-ber of actual active users but we can safely assume that itrsquos nowhere near Facebookrsquos 850 million Does it need to be

Googlersquos Busy Year What Google has accomplished with Google+ in under a year is nothing short of amazing June 2011 saw the launch of Google+ as a social network Over the summer tech jour-nalists and analysts were positively wooed keeping a watchful eye on every indicator (precise or not) of increasing traffic and user activity on Google+ The Washington Post even announced in August that ldquoGoogle Plus could be the fastest-growing site in historyrdquo In all of history Well as long as wersquove had websites anyway (The original comScore report noted that it was the fast-est site to reach 25 million unique visits In what can only be described as a bizarre game of cyberjournalism this report morphed into Reutersrsquo claim that Google+ ldquoattracted 25 million usersrdquo and The Washington Postrsquos assertion that ldquoGoogle has 25 million usersrdquo)

Google+ launched business Pages on November 7 Pages were already popu-lar on Facebook and since Google+ hadnrsquot included them at the start there was a lot of

anticipation around the launch In the weeks following however Google+ would struggle to connect with brands their brands in turn would struggle to connect with a user base worth marketing to within the Google+ network

As Google began integrating brand Page results in seemingly dominant positions in the organic search listings other compa-nies began to cry foul Hot on the heels of that development Google made their latest foray into social search Google Search Plus Your World (SPY World anyone) in early January Twitter for one lost it quite pub-licly announcing ldquoWersquore concerned that as a result of Googlersquos changes finding this infor-mation will be much harder for everyone We think thatrsquos bad for people publishers news organizations and Twitter usersrdquo Their con-cern stemmed partly from the possibility that Google might have been abusing their dominance in their core industry search to excel in the realm of social largely Twitterrsquos and Facebookrsquos territory to that point The old grumblings of antitrust resurfaced only to peter out again within a few months

Later in January Google again stunned users and analysts with the announcement of an amalgamated privacy policy one that would bring user data from all 60+ of their

services under one umbrella They said that this would be better for users Many dis-agreed some agencies threatened to inves-tigate and users protested yet perhaps the widest-ranging and most important change in Googlersquos policies went off as planned on April 1

Also in January a month marked by a flurry of announcements from the search giant Google changed the sign-up process for many of their services Those signing on for a Gmail or YouTube account were auto-matically assigned a Google+ account Prom-inent markers appeared in the navigation bar every time users visited a Google property urging them to check out their notifications on the social network

Why Engagement Is Incidental Only Google knows how effective this was at actually getting people to the site although I suspect that user engagement was only a secondary goal at best In response to a scathing WSJcom article ticking off the

ldquomounting minusesrdquo at Google+ I wrote an article explaining why low user counts and engagement might not matter to Google

Facebook has had to find outside partners nurture (and invest heavily in) the app envi-ronment and build out their ecosystem over a period of years in order to gain access to the type and depth of user data they need to power their advertisement business Google is transitioning the other way from an advertising and data powerhouse to a social platform They already have an incredible reach largely through their DoubleClick ad network and dozens of properties

They donrsquot need to seek out partners who offer services users might opt into to share data back and forth They already have the data theyrsquore collecting it from millions of websites and user actions often without the usersrsquo explicit knowledge that theyrsquore being tracked at the time Whereas Facebookrsquos data pool shows more intent on the part of usersmdashthey liked something they shared something elsemdashGoogle reigns supreme in

The State of Google+ One Year LaterGoogle Hasnrsquot Yet Carved Their Niche in Social but Do They Even Need To

by Miranda Miller

Google doesnrsquot need to seek out partners who offer

services users might opt into to share data back and

forth They already have the data theyrsquore collecting it from millions of websites

and user actions

Whereas Facebookrsquos data pool shows more intent

on the part of users Google reigns supreme in

the low-intent market

sesconferencecom bull SES 13

focusSOCIALMEDIA

the low-intent market They know when and where you check your email on your Android They know the types of videos you search for and watch on YouTube

This is a fantastic thing for advertisers For users hellip not so much Yet users sign up for Google accounts in droves opting into Google+ without a second thought Track-ing goes beyond the actions users take while signed in to a Google service interacting with a +1 button on a website for example could set a cookie allowing tracking over all Google properties for a period of time

The efforts of the W3C Tracking Protec-tion Working Group will have huge ramifi-cations for the online advertising industry especially for Google If users click a +1 social icon is that really an interaction with Google Have they really indicated the intent to share data with Google for the next 24 36 or 48 hours from every website they visit that might show Google ads These ques-tions have no answers right now but the

working group aims to define first and third parties Advertisers will not be satisfied with poorly targeted paid search and display ads so Google and other ad companies need the data However users need their privacy

ConclusionWhat we are seeing in the current online advertising environment is a precarious balancing act with Google perched square in the middle teetering from side to side Everyone in the industry and even in the mainstream media has their eyes on Google+ Google has certainly given us plenty to talk about Hangouts with Obama seemingly constant updates and new features and even a recent redesign complete with new naviga-tion and profile pages

We canrsquot forget though that Google+ is just one cog in the wheel that drives Googlersquos 44 stake in the $486 billion global adver-tising market (see report by ZenithOpti-media) While slick photos funny updates

and all manner of things are being shared or overshared on the front end of Google+ the real action occurs behind the scenes Google doesnrsquot really need you hanging out on the Google+ site all day long they just need you to have an account and do everything you would normally do on the web in the course of a daymdashand donrsquot mind if they tag along while you do it

Google VP Bradley Horowitz said it best in September when he proclaimed that

ldquoGoogle+ is Google itselfrdquo Indeed

A staff writer with Search En-

gine Watch Miranda Miller co-

ordinates the annual Translit-

eracy Conference for Ontario

educators manages a small

number of social media cam-

paigns through an agency and serves on the Ca-

nadian Hemophilia Societyrsquos Advisory Board for

their Code Rouge awareness project

common sense better than to the dollars and cents that our clientsrsquo creditors understand

In practice my firm generally limits our recommendations to the big three of Face-book Twitter and Google+ placing other social networks into an ldquoadvisably optionalrdquo category Our clients have enough difficulty wrapping their heads around Facebook and Twitter without worrying about other net-works We include Google+ in the mix only because of the ldquorel=authorrdquo support and because we believe that Google actively favors websites associated with Google+ profiles

Training businesses to promote their ideas and images on Facebook and Google+ is relatively easy and teaching them Twit-ter behaviors and etiquette is only slightly harder Even though we limit our advice to

the big three we still end up chasing clients to convince them to monitor and maintain their social networks We do recommend secondary social networks such as LinkedIn Pinterest and Foursquare as they apply to clients and as clients can afford our training and application rates

We know that we are missing traffic but we balance this drawback by being practical In cases where we have to act as social media coordinators for our small to medium-sized business clients exposing them to only the big three limits our need to bill for out-of-control charges for allotted work time It also helps to ease clients into expanding their own social media participation and interaction

ConclusionDigital marketing professionals have to make a lot of choices as we steer clients along the

social media learning curve By sticking to the most trafficked social networks and deploying assets in secondary ones as neces-sary my company believes that wersquove found a balance our clients can live with

SES Toronto will provide a valuable forum for Canadian practitioners to dis-cuss the problems inherent in social media marketing

Jim Hedger is a founding part-

ner of the Toronto-based

search and social media mar-

keting agency Digital Always

Media He has an extensive

background in SEO dating to

the late 1990s He leads the SEO and content cre-

ation teams at Digital Always Media

Doing Forensics on Fruit Salad

continued from page 11

14 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus CONVERSIONamp ROI

Conversion optimization has been around for a while but its benefits are hard to ignore These include reduced cost of acquisition through

digital marketing increased customer satis-faction and retention increased average rev-enue per order and improved search engine rankings In order to reap the rewards of an optimization program you need to know where to start what to avoid and how to develop your program for long-term success

Getting StartedDo-it-yourself small business owners digital marketers and web analysts tend to inherit a lot of excess baggage so focusing on only one or two sore spots on a website is often difficult Consider these top five places to start

1 Optimize paid search landing pages Look-ing for big impact right away Optimize those paid search landing pages and start counting the money you save on search marketing immediately Vary your value proposition urgency pricing product mix and form length

2 Examine internal search results pages Searches performed on your website often yield the best (and cheapest) way to judge the voice of the customer These searchers are committed visi-tors who probably arenrsquot finding what they want intuitively Look at queries with no results top queries that should be satisfied through navigation and perhaps synonyms you didnrsquot consider when writing creative

3 Enhance your help sections Areas on a website dedicated to helping people are most often frequented by loyal custom-ers who would rather solve problems on their own than cost you money by calling or emailing support staff Help them help you by optimizing help docs downloads and public service messages

4 Test product and service recommendations The art of the upsell is best exhibited by e-commerce giants such as Apple Ama-zon GoDaddy and Dell If yoursquore able to measure cart abandonment on your site yoursquore ready to start testing product and service recommendations to increase your average revenue per order

5 Evaluate pathways from top entry pages Entry pages to your site are a bit harder to optimize because referred traffic through search or other websites isnrsquot always continuous or predictable but itrsquos usually free Measure common path-ways from entry pages to determine how content can be changed to reduce bounce rate you may just improve your search rankings at the same time

Growing the BaseOnce yoursquove started building quick wins in your conversion optimization program yoursquoll want to maintain that momentum and expand your effort to other areas of your site Unfortunately many marketers fall into the trap of overoptimizing based on bad advice so try to avoid or at least question the fol-lowing five optimization tips that can hurt conversion rates

1 Tip to avoid Keep your copy short sharp concise Itrsquos hard to argue that trimming the overall content on a landing page would be anything but successful for most campaigns as it reduces the prob-ability that a landing page will over-whelm a prospect However providing less information may hurt overall con-version rates over time or worse still lower average revenue per order

2 Tip to avoid Remove or de-emphasize primary and secondary navigation from the template of your landing page Fewer escape routes make prospects more likely to continue along your chosen path However a lack of consistency

across the rest of your site may com-promise new visitorsrsquo trust and result in higher abandonment

3 Tip to avoid Add trust marks to your land-ing pages While I certainly can attest to the conversion lift that trust marks can provide on an e-commerce site landing pages are somewhat different In most cases getting visitors to click on links deeper in your site to privacy statements and certificates can be a more powerful way to convert skeptical prospects

4 Tip to avoid Boost your brand with tes-timonials and client logos In B2B cam-paigns association with large-scale brands with which you do business can boost conversion especially for start-ups but do your due diligence by seek-ing written approval for logo usage and recommendations The last thing you want is conflict with a long-term lucra-tive client

5 Tip to avoid Incentivize your prospects with freebies calls for urgency and pro-motions While these tactics can elicit a strong positive reaction among first-time visitors they can have very unde-sirable effects on lead quality Many visitors are conditioned to perform microconversions such as lead forms without reading anything else on a landing page Donrsquot be afraid to lose a few cheapskates on your landing pages who would otherwise sacrifice your profitability

Planning for the FutureNow that yoursquore well on your way to optimi-zation nirvana yoursquoll want to expand your program beyond online impact and start leveraging your online success for dramatic cross-channel maturity Here are five things to consider when bridging conversion opti-mization to business process optimization

The Conversion Optimization Life CycleWhich Advice Should You Follow and Which Should You Avoid in Structuring Your Optimization Program

by Garry Przyklenk

sesconferencecom bull SES 15

focusCONVERSIONamp ROI

1 Relate online customer pain points to front-line personnel Some of the best online optimizations can result in a cultural shift or reimaging of the offline sales process and vice versa Keep your sales and support members in the loop of online optimizations because your cross-channel prospects are often very similar

2 Try some of your companyrsquos own products and services The importance of stepping into your customersrsquo shoes cannot be overemphasized Irsquove done it on numer-ous occasions with a high degree of success It helps to assume an angry persona and pretend that you have less than five minutes to do anything that you need to do

3 Build new products and services with optimization in mind Build a culture of

conversion testing by baking it into the product or client life cycle Letrsquos face itmdasha lot can go wrong from initial con-ceptualization of a product or service to delivery especially when development cycles are really wrong

4 Leverage web analytics information and customer relationship management sys-tems (CRMs) Integration of web ana-lytics data with CRMs is much more common these days because businesses usually have a significant portion of their operations or interactions with customers through nonline channels

5 Analyze the competition Sometimes the best original score is a remix Think yoursquore smarter than your competitor Prove it by testing their ideas with your audience to find out what they might be doing better or worse

Although no two websites are exactly the same in terms of customer experience and behavior similarly structured products and services likely attract similar prospects and customers

For more guidance on conversion optimiza-tion be sure to visit one of the many optimi-zation sessions at SES this year

Garry Przyklenk manager of

analytics implementation at

TD Bank Group is an expert in

lead generation search engine

marketing web analytics and

social media marketing He has

successfully championed creative marketing cam-

paigns and executed on actionable insights in

several vertical markets

learn more about a different aspect of the industry For example if yoursquore an in-house SEO you may find yourself responsible for your companyrsquos social media You already know about Facebook LinkedIn and Twitter but you may not know which is right for your industry and the ways in which success will be defined Since a social media program is not just about ldquolikesrdquo and ldquofollowersrdquo align-ing it with corporate objectives to generate revenue is not a simple matter

At the other end are large organizations rolling out training to their employees Some allocate specific courses to individuals and make completion compulsory while others give employees access to the library of con-tent and encourage self-study in the areas that would be the most beneficial Online training is perfect for companies who do not

have the budget or time to send everyone to a course and allows each employee to receive a tailored syllabus

This kind of program can be comple-mented by an in-house training sessionmdasha course tailored to meet the specific objec-tives of the organization and held at the com-panyrsquos offices By blending online and class-room courses ClickZ Academy makes sure that employees from different offices arrive at the in-house portion with the same basic understanding so that their time together is maximized

Catch That Missed Session with Conference RecordingsBecause several concurrent content tracks run at SES conferences you may find that you are not able to attend every session that you would like Therefore we now offer recorded sessions from some conferences

The recordings sync the PowerPoint presen-tations and the videos simulating the experi-ence of being at the sessions This is a conve-nient way to catch up on any session that you missed or to share sessions with colleagues Available for purchase on the ClickZAcad-emy website recordings cover a number of tracks Recordings from SES London are now available and consist of the Kick Start PPC and Accelerator tracks

To learn more stop by the ClickZ table at SES Toronto or visit ClickZacademycom

Paul Fegan is head of e-learn-

ing at Incisive Media and is re-

sponsible for creating on-line

training content for all of its

brands He co-founded his own

e-learning company and has

been delivering online professional and CPD train-

ing since 2000

How ClickZ Academy Can Work for You

continued from page 1

16 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

sessions SES Toronto | June 11ndash13 2012 | hosted by

Day 1mdashMonday June 11

1030ndash1130amTrack 2Driving Mobile Traffic PPC amp SEOJump-start your mobile presence with these fundamentals for pre-senting content thatrsquos both SEO- and mobile-friendly Not fully ready for a mobile site Learn inexpensive and easy options to get started the right way From desktop and mobile to tablets smart-phones and feature phones wersquoll dive into key mobile differences for SEO and PPC and the strategies to drive and convert more mobile traffic

Moderator Gregg Stewart President 15 Miles

Speaker Jeff Allen Account Manager Hanapin Marketing

Speaker Jeremy Evans Director of Strategic Accounts Marin Software

1145ndash1245pmTrack 2Developing a Video Optimization amp Marketing CampaignThis session will use real-world examples to help you understand and master the entire video process including what to create how to optimize your video how to market it with search and social media and how to measure its real business impact

Moderator Sage Lewis President SageRockcom

Speaker Jonathan Allen Director Search Engine Watch

Speaker Greg Jarboe President amp Co-founder SEO-PR

200ndash300pmTrack 2Made in Canada Marketing Online WorldwideThis session will focus on specific challenges facing Canadian Internet marketers It will cover

bull How to balance Canadian and American content challenges in a consistent meaningful way (domains architecture content keyphrases etc)

bull How to compete in the US market as a Canadian business and not lose your Canadian online presence

bull The different results on Googlecom and Googleca from a search engine perspective and which consumers prefer the search enginesrsquo growing preferences for local

Moderator Andrew Goodman SES Advisory Board President Page Zero Media

Speaker Anne F Kennedy SES Advisory Board International Search Strategist Author Beyond Ink USA

Speaker Ian McAnerin CEO McAnerin International Inc

Speaker Ezra Silverton President 9th sphere

330ndash430pmTrack 3Content Marketing OptimizationOnline marketing is increasingly competitive and brand marketers worldwide are seeking real advantages that will improve the effi-ciency and impact of their social media and SEO efforts This ses-sion will provide unique insight into content-based optimization strategies and processes as well as tactics for sourcing creating and promoting optimized content on the social web

Speaker Matt McGowan Managing Director Americas Incisive Media

Krista LaRiviere CoFounder amp CEO gShift Labs

Speaker Lee Odden SES Advisory Board CEO TopRank Online Marketing

Speaker Jennifer Slegg CEO JenSense

Sample SessionsDownload the app or visit wwwSESTorontocom for complete agenda and session descriptions

sesconferencecom bull SES 17

sessionsDownload the app or visit SESNewYorkcom

Day 2mdashTuesday June 12

900ndash1000amTrack 2Social Media Solutions on a BudgetGetting your company or organization started with social media doesnrsquot have to be a pricey proposition In this session yoursquoll learn how to

bull Take advantage of great free and low-cost tools that cover man-aging conversations measuring reach and engagement and developingpublishing great content

bull Leverage lesser-known social media channels to increase expo-sure and reach

bull Create great social media friendly content to build trust and authority inexpensively

Moderator Laura Roth Conference Program amp Training Manager SES Conference amp Expo

Speaker Danny Iny Co-Founder Firepole Marketing

Speaker Krista Neher CEO Boot Camp Digital

130ndash230pmTrack 3From Keywords to ldquoBuy Wordsrdquo Finding High-Value Paid Search Keywords

ldquoProfessorsrdquo Van Wagner and Goodman will take you beyond garden-variety keyword lists to delve deeper into how user queries signal different kinds of intent You will learn how to go beyond the blind reading of ldquoafter-the-factrdquo ROI statistics how to anticipate how your most valuable searchers will express themselves with search que-ries and even how to subtly mold their preferences as they progress from search queries to your ads landing pages and transactions

Moderator Greg Jarboe President amp Co-founder SEO-PR

Speaker Andrew Goodman SES Advisory Board President Page Zero Media

Speaker Matt Van Wagner President Find Me Faster

300ndash400pmTrack 2Conquering the Growing Canadian Affiliate Marketing IndustryIn this session you will learn the following and more

bull Affiliate marketing in Canada is a viable growing traffic channel bull Online retail merchants need to educate and form strategic

partnerships with web publishers in order to generate traffic bull Establishing a successful Canadian affiliate marketing channel

requires sophisticated software development strategic market-ing and stability

bull Retail merchants need to be prepared to accommodate Canadian affiliate partnerships with the right tools in order for all parties to succeed

Speaker Nicky Senyard President Share Results

415ndash515pmTrack 1Maximizing ROI in e-Commerce with SearchAll e-commerce websites and e-tailers should be on top of certain ROI trends and opportunities This session will show you how to maximize ROI in e-commerce by leveraging one e-marketing chan-nel to improve the performance of another You will hear a series of combined channel campaign strategies along with case studies that illustrate how to maximize the ROI of your campaigns by taking advantage of low-hanging fruit

Moderator Chris Boggs SES Advisory Board Director SEO Rosetta

Speaker Guillaume Bouchard President CEO NVI

Speaker Elazar Gabay Vice President Performance Marketing LeSiteca

515ndash615pmSEW Eliminator QuizJoin us for the inaugural SEW Eliminator Quiz a pub-trivia-style networking event where you and your fellow marketers will compete to see who is the savviest and most knowledgeable marketer in the room Afterward yoursquoll have a chance to network with your favorite drink in hand

New YorkMarch

ShanghaiApril

TorontoJune -

San FranciscoAugust -

Hong KongSeptember ndash

BerlinOctober ndash

ChicagoNovember -

SingaporeNovember ndash

San DiegoFebruary

LondonFebruary

SES Conference amp Expo is the leading global event series that educates professionals in search and social marketing putting a special focus on tactics and best practices SES Events provide instructions from the industryrsquos top experts including representatives from the Search Engines themselves

World Tour ndash

SESConferencecom

Page 2: SES Magazine Toronto 2012

LEARN AT YOUR OWN PACE

Enroll today wwwclickzacademycom

Led by industry experts ClickZ Academy provides practical

knowledge and hands-on experience to maximize your

potential in this industry

COURSES Online Marketing FoundationSearch Engine Optimization

Paid Search StrategiesE-Mail Strategy

Social Mediaand more

LEARN AT YOUR OWN PACE

Enroll today wwwclickzacademycom

Led by industry experts ClickZ Academy provides practical

knowledge and hands-on experience to maximize your

potential in this industry

COURSES Online Marketing FoundationSearch Engine Optimization

Paid Search StrategiesE-Mail Strategy

Social Mediaand more

Onsite Training WorkshopsSES TorontomdashWeds June 13Hyatt Regency Toronto

800amndash1200pm bull Online Marketing FoundationmdashSEO bull Email Marketing

Driving 51 Engagement

100pmndash500pm bull Social Local Mobile (SoLoMo)

Marketing bull Link Building to Get Rankings

Register

contents

June 2012

COVER STORY COLUMNS

6

3

16

BREAKING OUT OF THE ldquo+1rdquo MINDSETCanada Is Losing the Digital Innovation Race How Can It Become More Competitive

CONFERENCE INFORMATION

SPONSORS amp EXHIBITORS

SAMPLE SESSIONS AT SES TORONTO

9

10

11

BEYOND THE BORDERThe Impact of US Internet Laws on Canadian Site Owners

MAKE YOUR CLIENT-AGENCY RELATIONSHIP WORKThree Considerations When Choosing a Partner

DOING FORENSICS ON FRUIT SALADThe Challenge of Developing Practical Client-Friendly Strategies in the Unpredictable Social Media Environment

12

14

THE STATE OF GOOGLE+ ONE YEAR LATERGoogle Hasnrsquot Yet Carved Their Niche in Social but Do They Even Need To

THE CONVERSION OPTIMIZATION LIFE CYCLEWhich Advice Should You Follow and Which Should You Avoid in Structuring Your Optimization Program

Follow SES at twittercomSESConf

SES conferences are a great place to learn about the digital marketing industry but how do you get the most out of them if you are new to

the business To help you maximize your time at SES ClickZ Academy offers work-shops on the Monday preceding every con-ference Running in the morning and after-noon these four-hour workshops provide a thorough introduction to the various ele-ments of digital marketing and are included in the SES All-Access Pass

ClickZ and SES are both part of Inci-sive Media ClickZ is the largest resource of interactive marketing news information commentary advice opinion research and reference in the world online or off With over 400000 visitors a month it has become an indispensable tool for marketers ClickZ Academyrsquos faculty are drawn from the pool of ClickZ contributors and SES presenters The instructors are the same industry experts who shape our conference program and con-tribute articles to SES Magazine and ClickZ

Sharpen Your Skills with e-Learning and In-House ClassesIn this constantly evolving business keeping up with recent developments can be difficult

Also a large number of practitioners are self-taught Formal training to provide a solid foundation and clarify industry best prac-tices is vital in this environment

Since pre-conference workshops are not convenient for everyone ClickZ Acad-emy offers a suite of online courses With a library of over 40 e-learning modules it covers every aspect of digital marketing The foundation course discusses the various disciplines at an introductory level the five specialist courses explore social media paid search SEO web analytics and email You can take the courses at any place that has Internet access and at your own pace You can purchase modules individually or in bulk

At the end of a course and after success-ful completion of an assessment you will receive a certificate and be able to network through the ClickZ alumni group on Linked In Membership in this group will show in your LinkedIn profile so anyone searching for you will see that you have been formally trained in online marketing

At one end of the spectrum are individu-als working for small to medium-size busi-nesses who want to fine-tune their skills or

How ClickZ Academy Can Work for YouWorkshops Online and In-House Courses and Recorded Sessions Suit Every Schedule and Knowledge Level

by Paul Fegan

Cover art via Shutterstock

continues on page 15

about SESWelcome to the Toronto issue of SES Magazine This issue features a roster of Canadian writers several of whom will be speaking at the SES Toronto Conference amp Showcase SES Toronto to be held on June 11ndash13 at the Hyatt Regency will consist of three days of break-through sessions covering search social mobile and display and will include these Canada-specific sessions

bull Made in Canada Marketing Online Worldwide bull Conquering the Growing Canadian Affiliate Marketing Industry

In addition to bringing back the very popular Meet the Experts Roundtable Forum wersquore inaugurating the SES Eliminator Quiz a networking event in which participants will compete to see who is the savviest marketer while enjoying an informal pub atmosphere

See pages 16ndash17 for sample sessionsTo make the most of your time in Toronto be sure to download the SES Toronto app The

most up-to-date agenda can also be found on the conference website SESTorontocomAnd donrsquot forget these upcoming events bull SES San Francisco August 13ndash17 Moscone West (SESSanFranciscocom) bull SES Hong Kong September 10ndash12 The Mira Hong Kong (SESHongKongcom) bull SES Berlin October 10ndash11 Kosmos Berlin (SESBerlincom) bull SES Chicago Hyatt Regency (SESChicagocom)

SES Toronto will provide a singular opportunity to learn actionable strategies and mingle with over 1000 C-level executives directors marketers and engineers from leading brands such as Google Microsoft Hewlett Packard and Bell Canada See you there

Best regards

Mike Grehan ChairSES AdviSory BoArd ChAirGloBAl vP ContEnt inCiSivE MEdiA

Matt McGowan MAnAGinG dirECtor north AMEriCAinCiSivE MEdiA

SES ADVISORY BOARD

Comprised of both industry thought leaders and real-world practitioners the SES advisory board brings together top players in the field of interactive media and search The team works to deliver continually cutting-edge search techniques more integrated and relevant content and professional development resources to SES attendees

Mike Grehan ChairGloBAl vP ContEnt SESSEArCh EnGinE WAtChCliCkZ

Bryan EisenbergBEStSEllinG AuthorBryAnEiSEnBErGCoM

Jon MyershEAd of ACCount MAnAGEMEntyAhoo uk amp irElAnd

Jonathan AllendirECtor SEArChEnGinEWAtCh

Paul FeganhEAd of E-lEArninG inCiSivE MEdiA

Lee OddenCEotoPrAnk onlinE MArkEtinG

Matthew BaileyPrESidEntSitE loGiC MArkEtinG

Andrew GoodmanPrESidEntPAGE ZEro MEdiA

Giovanni RodriguezdiGitAl And SoCiAl StrAtEGy dEloittE ConSultinG llP

Chris BoggsdirECtor SEo roSEttA

Bill HuntPrESidEntBACk AZiMuth ConSultinG

Laura RothConfErEnCE ProGrAM amp trAininG MAnAGErSES ConfErEnCE amp ExPo

Mikel ChertudiSr dirECtor onlinE amp dEMAnd MArkEtinG AdoBE

Aaron KahlowChAirMAn amp foundEr onlinE MArkEtinG SuMMit

Crispin SheridanSr dirECtor of SEArCh MArkEtinG StrAtEGySAP

Eddie ChoiMAnAGinG dirECtorfrontiErS diGitAl

Anne F KennedyintErnAtionAl SEArCh StrAtEGiStBEyond ink uSA

staffMatt McGowan

Md north AMEriCA

Mike GrehanGloBAl vP ContEnt

Sharon MorabitohEAd of EvEntS AMEriCAS

Program Development

ConfErEnCE ProGrAM MAnAGEr

ConfErEnCE ProduCEr

Laura RothAnna Lee

OperationsoPErAtionS MAnAGEr

rEGiStrAtion ASSoCiAtE

Kim KiedaischCharisse Rosales

ClickZ amp Search Engine WatchExECutivE Editor CliCkZ

dirECtor SEW

SEnior Editor nEWS

StAff WritEr

CoPy Editor

ASiA dESk Editor

Anna Maria VirziJonathan AllenKate KayeChristopher HeineCaitlin RossmanAdaline Lau

Sales amp MarketingSAlES dirECtorS

ACCount ExECutivE

dirECtor CliEnt SErviCES

MArkEtinG dirECtor

MArkEtinG MAnAGEr

MArkEtinG ASSoCiAtE

WEB dESiGnEr

onlinE oPErAtionS MAnAGEr

onlinE oPErAtionS ASSoCiAtE

Andrew KatzElaine MershonElaine RomeoPeter WesterholmElizabeth HustonJoAnn SimonelliAngela ManAmy XuPloy TangtrakulRebecca HolzLouise LabergeAleksey Gershin

MagazineEditor

ContriButorS

Dawn CavalieriJulie BattenDave DaviesPaul FeganAndrew GoodmanJim HedgerMiranda MillerGarry Przyklenk

CorporateChiEf ExECutivE

GrouP MAnAGinG dirECtor

Tim WellerJames Hanbury

SES Volume 6 Issue 3 | June 2012copy 2012 Incisive Media plc

To subscribe contribute or view past issues visitwwwsesconferencecomses-magazine

To advertise contact sales at salessesconferencecom or +1 (212) 457-4993

Comments Want to unsubscribe E-mail us atmagazinesesconferencecom

Incisive Media US55 Broad Street 22nd fl New York NY 10004-2501tel +1 (646) 736-1888fax +1 (646) 390-6612

Incisive Media head office28-29 Haymarket HouseLondon SW1Y 4RX UKtel +44 (0)20 7316 9609fax +44 (0)20 7930 2238

sesconferencecom bull SES 3

sponsors ampexhibitorsDownload the app or visit SESTorontocom

PLATINUM SPONSOR

Google Engage with AgencieswwwgooglecomGooglersquos innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day Founded in 1998 by Stanford PhD students Larry Page and Sergey Brin Google today is a top web property in all major global markets Googlersquos targeted advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measur-able results while enhancing the overall web experience for users Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas Europe and Asia For more information visit wwwgooglecom

GOLD SPONSOR

BingSponsored SessionswwwbingcomSearch advertising with Microsoft helps you efficiently reach your next best customermdashwithin your budget and with the support you need to get started and optimized and measure your results

SILVER SPONSOR

The Search AgencyTable 5wwwthesearchagencycomThe Search Agency is a global online marketing firm that combines high-tech and high-touch online marketing strategies to deliver new customers and measure ROI beyond a reasonable doubt Ser-vices include paid search SEO landing page optimization display media social media and affiliate program management As the largest and fastest-growing independent search marketing agency in the US (Advertising Age May 2012) and among Deloittersquos 2011 Technology Fast 500 The Search Agency is now bringing over a decade of experience and expertise to Canada Founded in 2002 The Search Agency has grown to more than 200 employees worldwide with Canadian headquarters in Toronto and additional offices in Los Angeles San Francisco East Greenwich Baltimore Tampa London Sydney and Bangalore For more information go to httpwww thesearchagencycom

EXHIBITORS

AdLeadsTable 4wwwadleadscomAdLeads is the industryrsquos first self-serve mobile signup ad platform With AdLeads businesses of all sizes can run ads on top iPhone iPad and Android apps They only pay when someone signs up to hear from themmdashand never for wasted clicks or impressions Hun-dreds of businesses and agencies like childrenrsquos publisher Paper Hat Press Brooklyn-based restaurant Nita Nita and Australian mobile marketing agency Mobile Marketers have used AdLeads to get new customers and grow their businesses

ClickZ Academy and RecruitmentTable 10wwwclickzacademycomClickZ helps develop the careers of professional marketers either through its education program or its recruitment web site This builds on its position as the largest resource of interactive market-ing news information commentary advice opinion research and reference in the world online or off From search to social technol-ogy to trends our coverage is expert exclusive and in-depth

gShift Labs Web Presence OptimizertradeTable 7wwwgshiftlabscom gShift Labsrsquo industry leading SEO software system Web Presence Optimizertrade (WPO) helps marketers and agencies more efficiently and effectively monitor and report on SEO campaigns gShiftrsquos patent-pending WPO software provides insight into an entire web presencemdashwebsite blogs press releases social media and analyt-icsmdashby reporting organic rank data backlinks social signals and competitive intelligence all of which contribute to the goal of rank-ing higher organically in the search engines

The fundamentals of SEO still matter however SEO in 2012 is about social signals (Facebook YouTube Twitter LinkedIn Google+ and Pinterest) and fresh content (blogs and press releases)

Track manage measure and report web presence analytics data all in one place using gShiftrsquos SEO monitoring and reporting software Organizations of all sizes benefit by reducing the time and resources required to analyze and improve organic search optimization

gShift Labs can be contacted at 1-866-743-5960 by emailing salesgShiftLabscom or by visiting wwwgshiftlabscom

Sponsor Showcase Hours Monday June 11 1000amndash630pm | Tuesday June 12 1000amndash300pm

4 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

sponsors ampexhibitors SES Toronto | June 11ndash13 2012

Marin SoftwareTable 1wwwmarinsoftwarecomMarin Software is a leading provider of online advertising man-agement solutions offering an integrated platform for managing search display and social marketing The company provides solu-tions for advertisers and agencies of all sizes enabling them to improve financial performance save time and make better deci-sions Marin Enterprise the companyrsquos flagship product addresses the needs of online marketers spending at least $100000 per month on biddable media Marin Professional delivers the same power and ease of use as Marin Enterprise through an application designed for marketers spending less than $100000 per month on paid search Headquartered in San Francisco with offices worldwide Marinrsquos technology powers marketing campaigns for over 850 cus-tomers managing more than $25 billion of annualized ad spend in more than 160 countries

9th sphereTrack Sponsorwww9thspherecom9th sphere is a full-service web design and Internet marketing solu-tions provider focused on delivering a strong ROI for our clients Since 1997 they have put their award-winning expertise to work earning recognition for effectiveness in design development and marketing resultsndashdriven websites 9th sphere is proud to offer top industry experts state-of-the-art technology and exceptional cus-tomer care that produces smart and powerful website solutions and real results for a wide variety of businesses This ultimately pro-vides a solid service value from which clients prosper Learn about the 9th sphere Advantage at httpwww9thspherecom

NVI SolutionsSponsored SessionwwwnvisolutionscomNVI is a full-service digital marketing agency We leverage our internal tools our broad and diversified experience and the larg-est bilingual staff of experts in the country to serve our customers NVI is known for its resourcefulness and business ability to execute strategic plans that are performance-centric

NVI relies on the ingenuity of its web marketing strategies and the collective energy of its employees to offer the best return on investment to its customers

Page Zero MediaReception SponsorwwwpagezerocomPage Zero Media is a full service digital marketing agency focus-ing especially on paid search (SEM) display advertising and other forms of effective audience targeting Led by founder and president Andrew Goodman the company is headquartered in Toronto Can-ada Clients include Postmedia Digital Canon Direct Energy Wave Accounting and Nutscom Page Zero is a Google AdWords Certified Agency

Reprise MediaTable 3wwwreprisemediacomReprise Media Canada is a full-service search marketing agency Our core business is based on search engine marketing (pay-per-click) search engine optimization (SEO) and social media market-ing Reprise Media Canada offers best-in-class search marketing strategies employed by a team of industry-recognized talents and applies an agenda of innovation to produce breakthrough results for our clients Come see us at Table 3 on June 1112

Search Engine People IncTable 2wwwsearchenginepeoplecomSearch Engine People Inc is one of Canadarsquos oldest and most respected search agencies Since 2001 SEP has helped a wide range of clients (from Fortune 500 to small and medium-size companies) secure business from the web SEP is a Google Adwords Qualified Company and Yahoo Search Marketing Ambassador and is Micro-soft adExcellence certified The company was also named one of the

ldquoTop 25 Up-and-Coming Canadian IT Companiesrdquo by the Branham Group in 2006

SEPrsquos services include search engine optimization (SEO) paid search management (PPC) social media marketing (SMM) online reputation management usability and more Whether yoursquore look-ing to compete in an ultra-competitive space or to dramatically increase your local presence SEP can help

Stop by our booth and talk to our knowledgeable expertsGet Foundtrade

SEMPO CanadaTable 8wwwsempocaSEMPO is the largest nonprofit trade organization in the world serving the search and digital marketing industry and marketing professionals engaged in it

Whether you are a search or social marketing professional or use search and social as part of your profession SEMPO provides the programs and resources to help you succeed

Our activities center on education networking and research To support our educational mission we provide a professional webi-nar series 101 webinar series and quarterly education programs Our local groups provide opportunities to network throughout the world and we also conduct the industryrsquos most respected research We provide members with discounts to training programs and industry events and a robust job board

Learn more at wwwSEMPOorg infoSEMPOorg

SEMRushBadge Booklet SponsorwwwsemrushcomSEMRush provides users with invaluable competitive intelligencemdashtracking the top 95 million keywords and 42 million domains SEMRush data currently includes 10 of the most popular regional

sesconferencecom bull SES 5

Table s on right

Affiliate amp Performance-Based Marketing SolutionsThe Search Agency 5Training Business Pros 6

Display Advertising Marin Software 1Page Zero Media Sponsor

General Search Engines Bing Sponsor

Interactive Marketing Agencies 9th sphere Sponsor

Interactive Marketing Associations amp Publications SEMPO Canada 8

Internet Associations Society of Internet

Professionals 9

Link Building Search Engine People Inc 2SEMRush Sponsor

Local Search Marketing Services amp Directories Bing Sponsor

Marketing Optimization Solutions Marin Software 1Training Business Pros 6

Mobile amp Rich Media Advertising Solutions AdLeads 4

Organic Search Marketing gShift Labs Web

Presence Optimizertrade 79th sphere SponsorNVI Solutions SponsorPage Zero Media SponsorReprise Media 3The Search Agency 5Search Engine People Inc 2

Pay-Per Click Networks amp Management Services NVI Solutions SponsorSearch Engine People Inc 2

Search Marketing Agencies 9th sphere SponsorNVI Solutions Sponsorpage Zero Media SponsorReprise Media 3The Search Agency 5

Search Marketing Software gShift Labs Web

Presence Optimizertrade 7Marin Software 1SEMRush Sponsor

Specialized Search Engines (Multimedia Mobile Shopping International etc) Bing Sponsor

Training Courses amp Certification in Search Marketing ClickZ Academy and

Recruitment 10Training Business Pros 6

Web Analytics gShift Labs Web

Presence Optimizertrade 7Reprise Media 3SEMRush Sponsor

product amp service guide

Google databases as well as US Bing and returns extensive met-rics relative to both organic and paid traffic (both AdWords and AdSense) as well as backlink info

SEMRush can reveal just what keywords your competitors are ranking for what campaigns theyrsquore running what their budget looks like and what kind of traffic they generate Thus it can pro-vide all the ammo one needs to effectively optimize run impactful campaigns and increase overall traffic and revenue

Society of Internet Professionals (SIP)Table 9wwwsipgrouporgThe Society of Internet Professionals (SIP) is an international not-for-profit association based in Canada Since 1997 SIP has upheld professional standards for Internet professionals Our ongoing activities include spearheading strategic partnerships offering edu-cational programs and running networking events

Becoming a professional member of SIP and abiding by our Professional Code of Ethics gives you instant credibility and com-petitive advantage in the marketplace You gain access to exclusive members-only information privileges and offers and you secure a place in a network of serious individuals and organizations focused on success through excellence

Take the first step today by signing up for a free SIP Associate Membership (no dues) Join 10000 SIP Associates who benefit from Affinity Programs and stay informed of upcoming events and valu-able offers via our monthly newsletter for FREE

As part of our 14th anniversary celebrations attendees of the SES Show who sign up at wwwsipgrouporg will be eligible to receive a discount of 50 for the first year of Professional Member-ship dues

For more information and to become a member visit www sipgrouporg

Contact Max Haroon President tel (416) 891-4937 (info sipgrouporg)

Training Business ProsTable 6wwwtrainingbusinessproscom

Training Business Pros is Canadarsquos leading internet market-ing training company offering over 100 intensive business train-ing opportunities throughout North America every year Our cli-ents have exploded their sales in the millions and trainees have increased their personal market value exponentially

Since 2007 Training Business Pros has helped over 22 thousand businesses adopt and adapt internet marketing and social media strategies Whether you are a start-up or a Fortune 500 company it is essential to get valuable information fast in order to get massive results within a short period of time

Visit Table 6 to claim your free introductory training Or learn live from our CEO Paul Tobey on stage June 12th at

235 pm to 255 pm You will learn how 20 minutes a day can dramatically boost your

rankings and how the social media wheel can be the secret sauce to your back-linking strategy

6 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus COVER STORY

Breaking Out of the ldquo+1rdquo MindsetCanada is Losing the Digital Innovation Race How Can It Become More Competitive

by Andrew Goodman

Canada has weathered the economic downturn better than any other G7 nation With a high level of eco-nomic cultural and technological

development and a favorable trading rela-tionship and cultural integration with the US it can hardly be described as hurting Since nothingrsquos terribly broken creating a sense of urgency around living up to our true poten-tial is hard

Some of us feel a constant urge to do bet-ter most of us do not The most likely way to propagate this feeling is to deliberately and systematically push onersquos peers to improve Thatrsquos how it is in organized sports Thatrsquos how it is at SES conferences And thatrsquos how Canadians ought to behave when it comes to technological innovation and business competitiveness

Caution Rather Than CompetitionCanadian caution is dangerously close to an insidious disease complacency For over a century wersquove contentedly enjoyed the ben-efits of our ldquo+1rdquo relationship with the pow-erful innovator to the south Wersquove sat back and waited while dynamic enterprises and innovations were created in the US Instead of competing our businesses have often dawdled watched and withered as compa-nies like Target Wal-Mart and Home Depot moved in and took over

In high technology the decline of a sin-gle leader like Research in Motion (RIM) is enough to throw the entire country into a panic Without the Blackberry what have we given the world Sidney Crosby and maple syrup (Ok a few other things like insulin and the telephone)

The situation isnrsquot that bad But it is a function of a complacent culture that othersrsquo successes (the successes of bold non-Cana-dian tall poppies) are claimed as onersquos own as long as itrsquos convenient with very little done to create an atmosphere that fosters innova-tionmdashuntil it becomes painfully obvious that a single flagship high-tech success story isnrsquot going to cut it

Unfortunately many of the traits that help entrepreneurs feel relatively accepted in the US arenrsquot baked into Canadian culture As a result itrsquos harder to develop a critical mass of digitally savvy companies tech tal-ent investors and other elements that cre-ate clusters of innovation and dynamism If you massage the data enough (as Richard Florida does) you can refer to the broader region around the Greater Toronto Area as a creative cluster However this region is punching well below its weight when it comes to the je ne sais quoi of creating great growth companies This ultimately causes relative backwardness in a whole range of interrelated realms from soft skills needed to staff up fast-growing startups to con-sumer expectations of online retailers The commonality is expectations and standards unless theyrsquore raised they stay too lowmdashif there are any at all

The e-Commerce LagWhere do Canadians shop when we do buy online One of our largest homegrown retailersmdashCanadian Tire which absorbed apparel and sporting-goods giant Forzani Group forming a retail empire of a decent sizemdashonly recently relaunched its website with the capacity to order items online The company had taken a two-year hiatus from e-commerce reverting to a website that offered information about products avail-able in physical stores and various episodic microsites (see article in The Globe and Mail ) Frankly management is living in the same time warp that many other top managers of large Canadian enterprises are in Slow growth in a high-growth area like e-commerce is unacceptable if Canadian-owned companies want to survive it opens up the playing field to US companies that are good at plugging in their existing highly optimized operations

Retail may not be the only measure of the health of a nation but online retail is surely the bellwether for the state of a digital nation Here again average Canadians couldnrsquot care

less and would dissent from this obvious point In their view because more of us have broadband use Facebook send text mes-sages etc wersquore more digitally savvy than other countries including the US Suremdashbut thatrsquos like saying that buying a cute new gym bag makes you a fashion pioneer Itrsquos nice to enjoy whatrsquos made available to you but it doesnrsquot compare at all with say investing in a company that grows into a global fashion label (On that note kudos to Lululemon a wildly successful Canadian brand that is one of the exceptions that prove the rule)

Canadians all too often like to partici-pate in the excitement of advanced trends and taste the fruits of othersrsquo innovation but wouldnrsquot have a clue how to spearhead anything Nor do they quite understand why you would need or want to Thatrsquos the kind of mindset that develops during a century and a half of living in a branch-plant economy

A November 11 article from IBM (cit-ing Forrester research) notes that Canada is behind the US in e-commerce spending and growing more slowly The percentagesmdash54 of total retail sales in Canada versus 60 in the USmdashmake the two countries seem fairly close but 6 of $32 trillion is immense com-pared to 54 of $370 billion Since ad spends website infrastructure and consulting time donrsquot make economic sense below a certain size a chicken-egg problem sets in custom-ers arenrsquot served as well research isnrsquot done ads and content arenrsquot crafted well check-outs donrsquot work as they should and so on The domestic Canadian e-commerce market poses a huge challenge for all but the largest players This makes it all the more frustrat-ing that those large players at least donrsquot recognize the need for urgency and invest-ment Instead of comparing themselves to their peers they should compare themselves to strong players around the globe

Weak Unprofitable Online Marketing Strategies Only a handful of Canadian retail web-site owners and managers know the key

sesconferencecom bull SES 7

focusCOVER STORY

to reaching the big leagues after testing and optimizing your model you can power your way into the top-grossing elite largely through an aggressive targeted online mar-keting spend Thatrsquos no sales pitch thatrsquos how the math works Many businesses appear to forget the enormous cost of the infrastruc-ture and overhead that get them to the table Once they are at that already expensive table the investment is wasted if the resulting revenue remains pitifully low because the method for actually getting new customers is ldquohope pray and DIY on-page SEOrdquo

Winning online businesses have grow-ing revenues (and to be sure marketing spends) that eventually reduce overhead and infrastructure costs to manageable (ide-ally trivial) proportions Losing ones build a large infrastructure and do nothing with it Since only a few companies are getting it right there is a very small pool of exemplars to show the way and wishful thinking sub-stitutes for action

We donrsquot find a Canadian company on the Internet Retailerrsquos Top 500 Guide (as of late April 2012) which ranks B2C retailers in the US and Canada based on online sales until number 152 The Shopping Channel owned by Rogers Media Lululemon Athletica is at 229 nowmdashfor them the skyrsquos the limit ALDO Group (shoes) and Mountain Equip-ment Co-Op (outdoor gear) deserve props at 390 and 395 respectively Unfortunately many Canadian entrepreneursmdashto say noth-ing of large retailersmdasharenrsquot aiming at mak-ing lists like this many havenrsquot even heard of them

Governmentrsquos Share of Blame Canada is falling behind in the global innova-tion race because ldquoCanadian business itself

hellip choose[s] deliberately not to pursue busi-ness strategies that rely on innovation as there [are] easier ways of making profitsrdquo So argue Marcel Cocircteacute founding partner of stra-tegic management consulting firm SECOR and Robert Miller engineer at Eacutecole Poly-technique de Montreacuteal in a recent report

(citing research by the Council of Canadian Academies)

Certainly government has played a role in allowing Canadian companies to be weakened largely through inaction and misappropriation of subsidy funds All gov-ernments sit on and distributemdashin the aggre-gatemdashlarge pools of business development capital and research funding and Canada is no exception Yet funds often trickle out to laggard players or subsidize the operations of established noninnovating companies Powerhouses like RIM return far more to the economy (in the form of jobs spinoffs RampD and tax revenues) than any breaks and incentives they receive A business colum-nist recently described the high-ROI govern-ment incentives that help create blockbust-ers like RIM as ldquofederal largesserdquo Largesse To Research in Motion I think we got our moneyrsquos worth

The lack of similar ldquolargesserdquo to identi-fiable very tall poppies has led to repeated missed opportunities and the lack of role models and good jobs in manufacturing RampD and software The denial of incentives to high-tech firm Mitel in the early 1980s is a salient example (see Donald J Savoiersquos 2009 book Irsquom from Bouctouche Me Roots Matter) the deal would have created thousands of

new telecommunications equipment jobs in Atlantic Canada This attitude has also resulted in the bankruptcy of companies (like Mitel) that could have become global leaders and precursors of other successful companies

What We Can DoIf government wonrsquot make the right moves how can Canadian companies improve on our own We must leave behind the old +1 instincts and the peer pressure to do just well enough Here are some suggestions

bull Avoid the grand narratives Coverage of traditional monopoly sectors such as financial mining and telecom-munications dominates the Canadian business media and only obvious successes are deemed noteworthy In terms of trends in advertising and digital culture little insight or encouragement is to be found in traditional media Look for validation elsewhere in your peer group at industry events among your customers and yes even in other countries

bull Quit scoffing at data Yes our clientsrsquo customers really do buy pecans switchplates furniture dishwasher parts soil remediation equipment and paella pans online Canadiansmdasheven those making digital marketing their career through formal certification coursesmdashhave a nasty habit of assuming that because people like them

ldquowould never click on thatrdquo or ldquowould never buy something like that onlinerdquo itrsquos helpful or insightful to share this preconceived notion The easy work is to hop onto the coattails of some large hip brand and recommend very gradual approaches to budgeting the marketing spend despite the millions in sunk costs (infrastructure office

Unfortunately many of the traits that help

entrepreneurs feel relatively accepted in

the US arenrsquot baked into Canadian culture As a result itrsquos harder to

develop a critical mass of digitally savvy companies

tech talent investors and other elements

that create clusters of innovation and dynamism

continues on page 8

Donrsquot miss these Sesssions at SES Toronto bull Made in Canada Marketing Online WorldwidemdashMonday June 11 200pmndash300pm bull Conquering the Growing Canadian Affiliate Marketing IndustrymdashTuesday June 12 300pmndash400pm

Register

8 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus COVER STORY

space website buildout etc) that make the operation wildly unprofitable on the whole (though seemingly cautious when only the variable costs are taken into account) Do the hard work and stop dismissing what is in fact real consumer behavior screaming for granular analysis

bull Know the role models Many young Canadians Irsquove encountered in formal business courses were not aware of Techcrunch Yelp Zappos and many other mainstays of digital business culture This is inexcusable The best students are the self-taught exceptions Therersquos no guarantee that these self-starters will get great jobs out of the gate but over time they usually prevail

bull Look for smart partners and communities Canada is full of half-baked digital companies that go nowhere fueled by family money and vanity investments Dumb money loses out to savvy skill and passion

bull Risk your own money Funding at the appropriate stage can be an important accelerator but the founders of companies like FreshBooks Acquisio PlentyofFish and HomeStars put in their own money perhaps with the support of family and friends before they did formal fundraising Itrsquos not always possible to bootstrap but companies like these prove that you donrsquot have to raise huge sums of money

to reach the next level You do have to have the entrepreneurial 24-7 mindset

bull Embrace digital jobs as normal If ordinary Canadians donrsquot become conversant with the leading edge of technology and digital enterprise the best minds will continue to drain away due to a lack of both opportunity and peers Our industry needs to be normalized and valued as simply a part of the economy Today wersquore still seen as representing either of two extremesmdashtaking insane risks and living in a cardboard box or lucking into lottery-like wealthmdashas if the profession is worth discussing only for its financial upside not for its substance Until people get it itrsquoll be up to us to evangelize the merits of things like search and display advertising (better targeting) online procurement (reducing friction in the economy) and all of that good stuff Yes it was obvious in 1999 but that doesnrsquot mean people are quite comfortable with it yet

ConclusionNot everyone is going to create the next Radian6 The Internet Retailerrsquos Top 500 is pretty rarefied territory and represents more success than the vast majority of startupsmdashlet alone well-known established retailersmdashcan attain However Canadians should at least be benchmarking themselves against these success stories rather than the semi-successful company down the street The real problem of course is that the comfort level of doing ldquojust so wellrdquo is tempting It may even seem irrational to want to reach a

levels of success far ahead of what is needed to maintain a great lifestyle

The driven minority though seek to have something more impressive than ldquo+1rdquo engraved on their tombstones If and when they do succeed you can bet that the aver-age Canadian and the creators of grand nar-ratives will be only too happy to take partial credit hellip not to mention taxing the bejeesus out of them

Andrew Goodman is founder

and President of Toronto-based

Page Zero Media a full-service

marketing agency founded in

2000 He is also co-founder of

Traffickcom an award-winning

industry commentary site and author of Winning Results with Google AdWords

Breaking Out of the ldquo+1rdquo Mindset

continued from page 7 Canadians should at least be benchmarking themselves against the Internet Retailerrsquos Top 500 rather than the

semi-successful company down the street The real problem of course is that the comfort level of doing ldquojust so wellrdquo is tempting

The driven minority though seek to have

something more impressive than ldquo+1rdquo engraved on

their tombstones

sesconferencecom bull SES 9

focusMARKETING INSIGHTS

If you live and work in Canada you may think of the Internet as a free space in which to share ideas sell products and interact with others with no restrictions

other than those imposed by the Canadian government for the protection of its people Itrsquos reasonable to believe that if you com-ply with these laws you will maintain the health of your website Unfortunately this isnrsquot entirely the case The United States gov-ernment has significant power over how the Internet functions right down to how you use your domain name and how the 1s and 0s on which your site travels are treated

Domain Name OwnershipMany people donrsquot realize that they donrsquot actu-ally own their own domain names they rent them Itrsquos a subtle difference but when com-bined with the fact that the US government owns and controls the com top-level domain (TLD) it brings up a whole new set of con-cerns as the owners of Bodogcom discovered

Bodogcom was a Canadian-owned online gambling site In February the US Depart-ment of Justice and Homeland Security Investigations seized the domain name while a US federal grand jury charged its four owners with conducting an illegal sports gambling site and conspiracy to commit money laundering The indictment alleges that Bodog moved at least $100 million from offshore accounts to bettors in Maryland

ldquoSports betting is illegal in Maryland and federal law prohibits bookmakers from flout-ing that law simply because they are located outside the countryrdquo stated US attorney Rod J Rosenstein (quoted by USA Today)

As this case shows the US government can seize any com site regardless of the loca-tion of the business operation or its hosting provider This principle of government own-ership is logical for country-based domains (such as ca) where the issuing government can take control of a domain rented by one of its citizens but com is the Internet go-to for countless non-US businesses You may think

ldquoThatrsquos OK I donrsquot run a poker siterdquo Just bear

in mind that since you donrsquot own your com domain the US government could confiscate it however unlikely that may be

SOPA and PIPAYoursquod be wrong to think that the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) would not affect your Canadian busi-ness If you use or provide resources (or letrsquos be honest are believed to provide resources) that are deemed unacceptable by the US gov-ernment your site could be blocked your search traffic eliminated and more Although neither bill has passed similar legislation probably will

ldquoIrsquom not worried I donrsquot run an illegal torrent siterdquo you may say The laws as they were drafted apply to any copyright infringe-ment and designate the website owner as the culpable party For example if you operate a forum and one of its members posts content from say a movie script your site could be blocked and search engine traffic eliminated This would be a big punishment for adding a forum to your site in hopes of engaging visi-tors While Irsquom not stating that the US gov-ernment would go to this extreme every time a law like SOPA or PIPA could make your site a target however innocent your intentions

Net Neutrality LegislationWhile I hold the unpopular opinion that ISPs have a right to charge what they like for their bandwidth and that the free market should sort out what this means there is no doubt that US rules and regulations regard-ing net neutrality would have a major impact on Canadian site owners The speed of your site is dependent on the speed of the Inter-net between your web host and the visitor If your visitors are in the US or if your site is hosted there you would be affected

You may point out ldquoMy site is hosted in Canada and my clients are in Canadardquo Unless your clients are in close proximity to your host your data is going to take various routes between the site and visitors Many tests I ran from my office in Victoria BC to

websites across Canada passed through the US at one point or another Net neutrality legislation would have an influence on these paths

Data SecurityMany of us collect data on our sites many of us store this data on our servers Under the law the US government can seize or review this data at any time if your site is hosted at a US hosting facility

You may ask ldquoBut Irsquom not storing any-thing illegal so who caresrdquo Your clients may If yoursquore a lawyer or doctor or if you store any other information on your server that may be deemed confidential you may be violating the law in hosting it in an environ-ment that is subject to seizure

What You Can DoThe purpose of this article isnrsquot to scare you Irsquove done business primarily in the US and hosted the Beanstalk site there since the company was formed and I havenrsquot had any issues stemming from these laws That said itrsquos extremely important to understand and monitor the direction that legislation is tak-ing and the potential impact and to safe-guard yourself against litigation embarrass-ment reduced or eliminated traffic slower speeds for your visitors etc Knowing whatrsquos happening and how it affects your website will help you react quickly

For example if network neutrality legis-lation fails and ISPs are given more freedom in how they charge for bandwidth ensuring that yoursquore hosted on a network with priority should be step one And you might as well buy that ca domain as a backup After all just because yoursquore being paranoid doesnrsquot mean yoursquore wrong

Dave Davies is CEO of Bean stalk

SEO Services an organic SEO

firm in Victoria BC He wrote the

second edition of SitePointrsquos s

Kit and hosts a weekly radio

show on Webmaster Radio

Beyond the BorderThe Impact of US Laws on Canadian Site Owners

by Dave Davies

10 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus MARKETING INSIGHTS

Searching for a new digital agency is a lot like searching for a mate you spend a lot of time seeing other peo-ple (the RFP process) you eventually

narrow it down to a handful of prospects (the short-list) and eventually you think yoursquove found ldquothe onerdquo (the winning agency) After much wooing and negotiation you agree to move in together (onboarding) and the real

ldquogetting to know each otherrdquo officially begins (the client-agency relationship)

The first couple of months are usu-ally pretty blissful both parties are filled with hope and positivity about the excit-ing adventures (programstactics) to come But you inevitably find out things that you didnrsquot know before and that you may not like Things get a bit bumpy and you start to become disenfranchised with your part-ner Gradually everything starts to unravel

mdashall of a sudden a year has gone by and yoursquore threatening to break up if your mate (agency) doesnrsquot get his or her act together

It doesnrsquot have to be this way There is a way to maintain the honeymoon period indefinitely It really starts with choosing the right partner in the first place Onboarding a new agency is a huge investment so make sure that the agency you choose is going to work out in the long term Ask the following questions about a prospective agency before making your decision

Do the Agencyrsquos Skills Closely Align to Your NeedsRelationship Buster While this may seem obvious often client-agency relationships fail due to mismatches between the cli-entsrsquo needs and the agenciesrsquo competen-cies Agencies do a good job of downplaying their weaknesses and selling their strengths sometimes giving clients distorted represen-tations of their capabilities Clients can also become enamored of specific strengths that arenrsquot even top priorities for the firms

Relationship Saver Have a clear understand-ing of what you need and what yoursquore looking

for in an agency and consistently apply that as a filter when evaluating potential part-ners It is critical that you choose an agency based on a realistic evaluation of your needs and whether their core competencies align with these If yoursquore looking for a digital agency that can offer innovative solutions to engage your audience donrsquot let yourself get wooed by a flashy creative presentation unless yoursquore sure that they have the chops to deliver on the technology side Alterna-tively if you already have a skilled IT team in house and really need a strong strategic and creative shop be sure that they can bring their creative A-game

Does the Agency Have the Proven Ability to DeliverRelationship Buster Clients sometimes under-estimate the importance of delivery in digi-tal programs It is easy to get distracted by cutting-edge solutions and fail to consider whether these programs can realistically be deployed on time on budget and at a high-quality level

Relationship Saver Verify agenciesrsquo track records in deploying similar solutions in a timely and efficient manner They should be able to provide case studies of similar work successfully delivered for other clients and clearly articulate their process for taking a high-level solutionstrategy to detailed tactical implementation plans Strong proj-ect management competence is critical to

ensure that projects are delivered within budget and timelines They should also be able to demonstrate that they have sufficient resources in place to deliver on multiple con-current work streams

Does the Agency Play Well with OthersRelationship Buster Most clients have mul-tiple agency partnersmdashtypically at least a creativeoffline agency and a media agency in addition to their digital agency Clients sometimes assume that all partners will work towards a common goal and that inte-gration will naturally take place However some agencies tend toward a protective or even combative nature when working with other agencies creating a host of problems when interdependencies are present between both agenciesrsquo initiatives

Relationship Saver Prospective partners need to be able to demonstrate the ability to get along with others Your agency should be able to point to specific examples of how they have worked with other agency partners in a harmonious and mutually beneficial way They should demonstrate the ability to take a leadership role in coordinating cross-agency collaboration and integration and have an established process for helping to define and document roles and responsibilities among agency partners

There are many other factors to take into consideration when choosing a new digital agency partner but avoiding the pitfalls above should increase your chances of a long and successful union Happy hunting

Julie Batten is VP strategy digital media at Klick Health focused on online media and digital She brings a wealth of experi-ence in search marketing

digital media and all facets of digital strat-egy to bear helping Klickrsquos clients develop innovative digital solutions

Make Your Client-Agency Relationship WorkThree Considerations When Choosing a Partner

by Julie Batten

Have a clear understanding of what you need and what yoursquore looking for in an agency and

consistently apply that as a filter when evaluating potential partners It is

critical that you choose an agency based on a realistic evaluation of your needs

sesconferencecom bull SES 11

focusSOCIALINTEGRATION

Social media is public relations Social media is inclusionary Social media is necessary to compete with your competitors Social media is todayrsquos

big thingSocial media is also tomorrowrsquos next big

thing More appropriately some form of social media application is tomorrowrsquos next big thing Yesterdayrsquos appears to have been Pinterest which is threatening to displace Foursquare as the mayor of forgotten places As digital marketing experts we are calling on our clients to invest increasing amounts of time staff and money in an area that is evolving too quickly for us to fully under-stand The benefits of increased traffic are obvious but the return on investment on a wide spread of social media profiles can be somewhat harder to quantify

The Changes in Social MediaWith over one-third of the adult population using Facebook Canadians constitute one of the largest national social media footprints in the world Being early adopters Canadian Internet users became amazingly social amazingly quickly Unfortunately many if not most Canadian businesses have not kept up This isnrsquot just because Canadian compa-nies donrsquot fully grasp the social part of the medium itrsquos also because the budgeting and planning necessary to create an effective social media presence is daunting on paper without a clear understanding of benefits

Social media applications have existed for almost as long as the commercial web Early social media applications such as Classmates and Friendster acted as basic connectors They werenrsquot great for commu-nication among users but they provided an ideal foundation on which all subsequent social media applications could build Web 20 which came on the scene in 2003 was a breakthrough that allowed users to inter-act with websites and with each other This was the dawn of the user-generated content (UGC) era Nearly ten years later wersquore just

beginning to understand the fuller implica-tions of UGC on search and the web

Many of the sessions at SES Toronto will address social media measurement engage-ment and techniques Each of the speakers addressing social media has developed his or her own techniques and tactics based on personal experience and shared knowledge Each of them will say that every social media experience is unique Each will maintain that the very best social media experience is one that promotes authenticity and earnest con-nection over marketing and promotion

As the digital marketing environment changes so must the priorities of digital marketers and the clients we serve While itrsquos always about driving good traffic the digital marketing landscape is transforming more rapidly than ever before Social media is continuously extending frontiers and new areas are expanding as rapidly as UGC can be created and user intent can be ascertained and harnessed

To say that social has had an impact on search would be an understatement for search marketers this shift has not been subtle Moving away from its fascination with search SEO has for the last two years focused on social From studying how Face-book alters user behaviors to finding cor-relations between social signals and search engine placements social media has domi-nated search marketing discourse by becom-ing a more popular form of public directory To say that you understand the impact of social media on search would be a vaguely worded lie Nobody understands exactly how social meshes with search Witness Google+

Getting Clients to Be SocialTrying to figure out how to integrate social into search is akin to integrating apples with oranges kiwis strawberries grapes cottage cheese and bananas Itrsquos easy to spot iden-tify and describe the effects of an apple itrsquos not as easy to do forensics on fruit salad This creates yet another problem for digital

marketers when trying to convince small businesses and corporate clients that bud-geting time and money for social media is important

To be authentic in the truest sense cli-ents would do the work in house However in-house SEOSMM is often impractical for the smaller businesses that make up the vast majority of clients This means that the service must be either outsourced to a third party or performed by a digital market-ing agency It is a huge challenge for digi-tal markers to help clients be authentic in a constantly evolving environment that none of us fully grasp

Digital marketers face a number of other issues when guiding clients in the social sphere It is really difficult to know whether the plethora of random information linking to clientsrsquo websites is beneficial or detrimen-tal We have to push our clients into actively participating in an arena that they donrsquot fully understand or we have to try to recre-ate their voices ourselves and authenticity is very hard to engender in the second- or third-party voice Lastly we have to quan-tify a return on investment that translates to

Doing Forensics on Fruit SaladThe Challenge of Developing Practical Client-Friendly Strategies in the Unpredictable Social Media Environment

by Jim Hedger

continues on page 13

From studying how Facebook alters user behaviors to finding

correlations between social signals and search engine placements social media

has dominated search marketing discourse by

becoming a more popular form of public directory

To say that you understand the impact of social

media on search would be a vaguely worded lie

12 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus SOCIALMEDIA

As the first birthday of Googlersquos latest baby draws near the organic search and paid advertising behemoth con- tinues to struggle to find their

niche in social A year ago Google+ was just a rumor Google would deny the existence of a social project until the very day it launched in late June

In that year theyrsquove launched expanded experimented and redesigned the service incurring the verbal wrath of competitors Facebook and Twitter on a number of occa-sions Itrsquos been a whirlwind for Google+ and all fifteen of its loyal users

I kid To be fair there is a small but dedi-cated group of core users in the Google+ net-work Larry Page Sergey Brin Vic Gundotra and the rest of the crew have become old pros at dodging questions about the num-ber of actual active users but we can safely assume that itrsquos nowhere near Facebookrsquos 850 million Does it need to be

Googlersquos Busy Year What Google has accomplished with Google+ in under a year is nothing short of amazing June 2011 saw the launch of Google+ as a social network Over the summer tech jour-nalists and analysts were positively wooed keeping a watchful eye on every indicator (precise or not) of increasing traffic and user activity on Google+ The Washington Post even announced in August that ldquoGoogle Plus could be the fastest-growing site in historyrdquo In all of history Well as long as wersquove had websites anyway (The original comScore report noted that it was the fast-est site to reach 25 million unique visits In what can only be described as a bizarre game of cyberjournalism this report morphed into Reutersrsquo claim that Google+ ldquoattracted 25 million usersrdquo and The Washington Postrsquos assertion that ldquoGoogle has 25 million usersrdquo)

Google+ launched business Pages on November 7 Pages were already popu-lar on Facebook and since Google+ hadnrsquot included them at the start there was a lot of

anticipation around the launch In the weeks following however Google+ would struggle to connect with brands their brands in turn would struggle to connect with a user base worth marketing to within the Google+ network

As Google began integrating brand Page results in seemingly dominant positions in the organic search listings other compa-nies began to cry foul Hot on the heels of that development Google made their latest foray into social search Google Search Plus Your World (SPY World anyone) in early January Twitter for one lost it quite pub-licly announcing ldquoWersquore concerned that as a result of Googlersquos changes finding this infor-mation will be much harder for everyone We think thatrsquos bad for people publishers news organizations and Twitter usersrdquo Their con-cern stemmed partly from the possibility that Google might have been abusing their dominance in their core industry search to excel in the realm of social largely Twitterrsquos and Facebookrsquos territory to that point The old grumblings of antitrust resurfaced only to peter out again within a few months

Later in January Google again stunned users and analysts with the announcement of an amalgamated privacy policy one that would bring user data from all 60+ of their

services under one umbrella They said that this would be better for users Many dis-agreed some agencies threatened to inves-tigate and users protested yet perhaps the widest-ranging and most important change in Googlersquos policies went off as planned on April 1

Also in January a month marked by a flurry of announcements from the search giant Google changed the sign-up process for many of their services Those signing on for a Gmail or YouTube account were auto-matically assigned a Google+ account Prom-inent markers appeared in the navigation bar every time users visited a Google property urging them to check out their notifications on the social network

Why Engagement Is Incidental Only Google knows how effective this was at actually getting people to the site although I suspect that user engagement was only a secondary goal at best In response to a scathing WSJcom article ticking off the

ldquomounting minusesrdquo at Google+ I wrote an article explaining why low user counts and engagement might not matter to Google

Facebook has had to find outside partners nurture (and invest heavily in) the app envi-ronment and build out their ecosystem over a period of years in order to gain access to the type and depth of user data they need to power their advertisement business Google is transitioning the other way from an advertising and data powerhouse to a social platform They already have an incredible reach largely through their DoubleClick ad network and dozens of properties

They donrsquot need to seek out partners who offer services users might opt into to share data back and forth They already have the data theyrsquore collecting it from millions of websites and user actions often without the usersrsquo explicit knowledge that theyrsquore being tracked at the time Whereas Facebookrsquos data pool shows more intent on the part of usersmdashthey liked something they shared something elsemdashGoogle reigns supreme in

The State of Google+ One Year LaterGoogle Hasnrsquot Yet Carved Their Niche in Social but Do They Even Need To

by Miranda Miller

Google doesnrsquot need to seek out partners who offer

services users might opt into to share data back and

forth They already have the data theyrsquore collecting it from millions of websites

and user actions

Whereas Facebookrsquos data pool shows more intent

on the part of users Google reigns supreme in

the low-intent market

sesconferencecom bull SES 13

focusSOCIALMEDIA

the low-intent market They know when and where you check your email on your Android They know the types of videos you search for and watch on YouTube

This is a fantastic thing for advertisers For users hellip not so much Yet users sign up for Google accounts in droves opting into Google+ without a second thought Track-ing goes beyond the actions users take while signed in to a Google service interacting with a +1 button on a website for example could set a cookie allowing tracking over all Google properties for a period of time

The efforts of the W3C Tracking Protec-tion Working Group will have huge ramifi-cations for the online advertising industry especially for Google If users click a +1 social icon is that really an interaction with Google Have they really indicated the intent to share data with Google for the next 24 36 or 48 hours from every website they visit that might show Google ads These ques-tions have no answers right now but the

working group aims to define first and third parties Advertisers will not be satisfied with poorly targeted paid search and display ads so Google and other ad companies need the data However users need their privacy

ConclusionWhat we are seeing in the current online advertising environment is a precarious balancing act with Google perched square in the middle teetering from side to side Everyone in the industry and even in the mainstream media has their eyes on Google+ Google has certainly given us plenty to talk about Hangouts with Obama seemingly constant updates and new features and even a recent redesign complete with new naviga-tion and profile pages

We canrsquot forget though that Google+ is just one cog in the wheel that drives Googlersquos 44 stake in the $486 billion global adver-tising market (see report by ZenithOpti-media) While slick photos funny updates

and all manner of things are being shared or overshared on the front end of Google+ the real action occurs behind the scenes Google doesnrsquot really need you hanging out on the Google+ site all day long they just need you to have an account and do everything you would normally do on the web in the course of a daymdashand donrsquot mind if they tag along while you do it

Google VP Bradley Horowitz said it best in September when he proclaimed that

ldquoGoogle+ is Google itselfrdquo Indeed

A staff writer with Search En-

gine Watch Miranda Miller co-

ordinates the annual Translit-

eracy Conference for Ontario

educators manages a small

number of social media cam-

paigns through an agency and serves on the Ca-

nadian Hemophilia Societyrsquos Advisory Board for

their Code Rouge awareness project

common sense better than to the dollars and cents that our clientsrsquo creditors understand

In practice my firm generally limits our recommendations to the big three of Face-book Twitter and Google+ placing other social networks into an ldquoadvisably optionalrdquo category Our clients have enough difficulty wrapping their heads around Facebook and Twitter without worrying about other net-works We include Google+ in the mix only because of the ldquorel=authorrdquo support and because we believe that Google actively favors websites associated with Google+ profiles

Training businesses to promote their ideas and images on Facebook and Google+ is relatively easy and teaching them Twit-ter behaviors and etiquette is only slightly harder Even though we limit our advice to

the big three we still end up chasing clients to convince them to monitor and maintain their social networks We do recommend secondary social networks such as LinkedIn Pinterest and Foursquare as they apply to clients and as clients can afford our training and application rates

We know that we are missing traffic but we balance this drawback by being practical In cases where we have to act as social media coordinators for our small to medium-sized business clients exposing them to only the big three limits our need to bill for out-of-control charges for allotted work time It also helps to ease clients into expanding their own social media participation and interaction

ConclusionDigital marketing professionals have to make a lot of choices as we steer clients along the

social media learning curve By sticking to the most trafficked social networks and deploying assets in secondary ones as neces-sary my company believes that wersquove found a balance our clients can live with

SES Toronto will provide a valuable forum for Canadian practitioners to dis-cuss the problems inherent in social media marketing

Jim Hedger is a founding part-

ner of the Toronto-based

search and social media mar-

keting agency Digital Always

Media He has an extensive

background in SEO dating to

the late 1990s He leads the SEO and content cre-

ation teams at Digital Always Media

Doing Forensics on Fruit Salad

continued from page 11

14 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus CONVERSIONamp ROI

Conversion optimization has been around for a while but its benefits are hard to ignore These include reduced cost of acquisition through

digital marketing increased customer satis-faction and retention increased average rev-enue per order and improved search engine rankings In order to reap the rewards of an optimization program you need to know where to start what to avoid and how to develop your program for long-term success

Getting StartedDo-it-yourself small business owners digital marketers and web analysts tend to inherit a lot of excess baggage so focusing on only one or two sore spots on a website is often difficult Consider these top five places to start

1 Optimize paid search landing pages Look-ing for big impact right away Optimize those paid search landing pages and start counting the money you save on search marketing immediately Vary your value proposition urgency pricing product mix and form length

2 Examine internal search results pages Searches performed on your website often yield the best (and cheapest) way to judge the voice of the customer These searchers are committed visi-tors who probably arenrsquot finding what they want intuitively Look at queries with no results top queries that should be satisfied through navigation and perhaps synonyms you didnrsquot consider when writing creative

3 Enhance your help sections Areas on a website dedicated to helping people are most often frequented by loyal custom-ers who would rather solve problems on their own than cost you money by calling or emailing support staff Help them help you by optimizing help docs downloads and public service messages

4 Test product and service recommendations The art of the upsell is best exhibited by e-commerce giants such as Apple Ama-zon GoDaddy and Dell If yoursquore able to measure cart abandonment on your site yoursquore ready to start testing product and service recommendations to increase your average revenue per order

5 Evaluate pathways from top entry pages Entry pages to your site are a bit harder to optimize because referred traffic through search or other websites isnrsquot always continuous or predictable but itrsquos usually free Measure common path-ways from entry pages to determine how content can be changed to reduce bounce rate you may just improve your search rankings at the same time

Growing the BaseOnce yoursquove started building quick wins in your conversion optimization program yoursquoll want to maintain that momentum and expand your effort to other areas of your site Unfortunately many marketers fall into the trap of overoptimizing based on bad advice so try to avoid or at least question the fol-lowing five optimization tips that can hurt conversion rates

1 Tip to avoid Keep your copy short sharp concise Itrsquos hard to argue that trimming the overall content on a landing page would be anything but successful for most campaigns as it reduces the prob-ability that a landing page will over-whelm a prospect However providing less information may hurt overall con-version rates over time or worse still lower average revenue per order

2 Tip to avoid Remove or de-emphasize primary and secondary navigation from the template of your landing page Fewer escape routes make prospects more likely to continue along your chosen path However a lack of consistency

across the rest of your site may com-promise new visitorsrsquo trust and result in higher abandonment

3 Tip to avoid Add trust marks to your land-ing pages While I certainly can attest to the conversion lift that trust marks can provide on an e-commerce site landing pages are somewhat different In most cases getting visitors to click on links deeper in your site to privacy statements and certificates can be a more powerful way to convert skeptical prospects

4 Tip to avoid Boost your brand with tes-timonials and client logos In B2B cam-paigns association with large-scale brands with which you do business can boost conversion especially for start-ups but do your due diligence by seek-ing written approval for logo usage and recommendations The last thing you want is conflict with a long-term lucra-tive client

5 Tip to avoid Incentivize your prospects with freebies calls for urgency and pro-motions While these tactics can elicit a strong positive reaction among first-time visitors they can have very unde-sirable effects on lead quality Many visitors are conditioned to perform microconversions such as lead forms without reading anything else on a landing page Donrsquot be afraid to lose a few cheapskates on your landing pages who would otherwise sacrifice your profitability

Planning for the FutureNow that yoursquore well on your way to optimi-zation nirvana yoursquoll want to expand your program beyond online impact and start leveraging your online success for dramatic cross-channel maturity Here are five things to consider when bridging conversion opti-mization to business process optimization

The Conversion Optimization Life CycleWhich Advice Should You Follow and Which Should You Avoid in Structuring Your Optimization Program

by Garry Przyklenk

sesconferencecom bull SES 15

focusCONVERSIONamp ROI

1 Relate online customer pain points to front-line personnel Some of the best online optimizations can result in a cultural shift or reimaging of the offline sales process and vice versa Keep your sales and support members in the loop of online optimizations because your cross-channel prospects are often very similar

2 Try some of your companyrsquos own products and services The importance of stepping into your customersrsquo shoes cannot be overemphasized Irsquove done it on numer-ous occasions with a high degree of success It helps to assume an angry persona and pretend that you have less than five minutes to do anything that you need to do

3 Build new products and services with optimization in mind Build a culture of

conversion testing by baking it into the product or client life cycle Letrsquos face itmdasha lot can go wrong from initial con-ceptualization of a product or service to delivery especially when development cycles are really wrong

4 Leverage web analytics information and customer relationship management sys-tems (CRMs) Integration of web ana-lytics data with CRMs is much more common these days because businesses usually have a significant portion of their operations or interactions with customers through nonline channels

5 Analyze the competition Sometimes the best original score is a remix Think yoursquore smarter than your competitor Prove it by testing their ideas with your audience to find out what they might be doing better or worse

Although no two websites are exactly the same in terms of customer experience and behavior similarly structured products and services likely attract similar prospects and customers

For more guidance on conversion optimiza-tion be sure to visit one of the many optimi-zation sessions at SES this year

Garry Przyklenk manager of

analytics implementation at

TD Bank Group is an expert in

lead generation search engine

marketing web analytics and

social media marketing He has

successfully championed creative marketing cam-

paigns and executed on actionable insights in

several vertical markets

learn more about a different aspect of the industry For example if yoursquore an in-house SEO you may find yourself responsible for your companyrsquos social media You already know about Facebook LinkedIn and Twitter but you may not know which is right for your industry and the ways in which success will be defined Since a social media program is not just about ldquolikesrdquo and ldquofollowersrdquo align-ing it with corporate objectives to generate revenue is not a simple matter

At the other end are large organizations rolling out training to their employees Some allocate specific courses to individuals and make completion compulsory while others give employees access to the library of con-tent and encourage self-study in the areas that would be the most beneficial Online training is perfect for companies who do not

have the budget or time to send everyone to a course and allows each employee to receive a tailored syllabus

This kind of program can be comple-mented by an in-house training sessionmdasha course tailored to meet the specific objec-tives of the organization and held at the com-panyrsquos offices By blending online and class-room courses ClickZ Academy makes sure that employees from different offices arrive at the in-house portion with the same basic understanding so that their time together is maximized

Catch That Missed Session with Conference RecordingsBecause several concurrent content tracks run at SES conferences you may find that you are not able to attend every session that you would like Therefore we now offer recorded sessions from some conferences

The recordings sync the PowerPoint presen-tations and the videos simulating the experi-ence of being at the sessions This is a conve-nient way to catch up on any session that you missed or to share sessions with colleagues Available for purchase on the ClickZAcad-emy website recordings cover a number of tracks Recordings from SES London are now available and consist of the Kick Start PPC and Accelerator tracks

To learn more stop by the ClickZ table at SES Toronto or visit ClickZacademycom

Paul Fegan is head of e-learn-

ing at Incisive Media and is re-

sponsible for creating on-line

training content for all of its

brands He co-founded his own

e-learning company and has

been delivering online professional and CPD train-

ing since 2000

How ClickZ Academy Can Work for You

continued from page 1

16 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

sessions SES Toronto | June 11ndash13 2012 | hosted by

Day 1mdashMonday June 11

1030ndash1130amTrack 2Driving Mobile Traffic PPC amp SEOJump-start your mobile presence with these fundamentals for pre-senting content thatrsquos both SEO- and mobile-friendly Not fully ready for a mobile site Learn inexpensive and easy options to get started the right way From desktop and mobile to tablets smart-phones and feature phones wersquoll dive into key mobile differences for SEO and PPC and the strategies to drive and convert more mobile traffic

Moderator Gregg Stewart President 15 Miles

Speaker Jeff Allen Account Manager Hanapin Marketing

Speaker Jeremy Evans Director of Strategic Accounts Marin Software

1145ndash1245pmTrack 2Developing a Video Optimization amp Marketing CampaignThis session will use real-world examples to help you understand and master the entire video process including what to create how to optimize your video how to market it with search and social media and how to measure its real business impact

Moderator Sage Lewis President SageRockcom

Speaker Jonathan Allen Director Search Engine Watch

Speaker Greg Jarboe President amp Co-founder SEO-PR

200ndash300pmTrack 2Made in Canada Marketing Online WorldwideThis session will focus on specific challenges facing Canadian Internet marketers It will cover

bull How to balance Canadian and American content challenges in a consistent meaningful way (domains architecture content keyphrases etc)

bull How to compete in the US market as a Canadian business and not lose your Canadian online presence

bull The different results on Googlecom and Googleca from a search engine perspective and which consumers prefer the search enginesrsquo growing preferences for local

Moderator Andrew Goodman SES Advisory Board President Page Zero Media

Speaker Anne F Kennedy SES Advisory Board International Search Strategist Author Beyond Ink USA

Speaker Ian McAnerin CEO McAnerin International Inc

Speaker Ezra Silverton President 9th sphere

330ndash430pmTrack 3Content Marketing OptimizationOnline marketing is increasingly competitive and brand marketers worldwide are seeking real advantages that will improve the effi-ciency and impact of their social media and SEO efforts This ses-sion will provide unique insight into content-based optimization strategies and processes as well as tactics for sourcing creating and promoting optimized content on the social web

Speaker Matt McGowan Managing Director Americas Incisive Media

Krista LaRiviere CoFounder amp CEO gShift Labs

Speaker Lee Odden SES Advisory Board CEO TopRank Online Marketing

Speaker Jennifer Slegg CEO JenSense

Sample SessionsDownload the app or visit wwwSESTorontocom for complete agenda and session descriptions

sesconferencecom bull SES 17

sessionsDownload the app or visit SESNewYorkcom

Day 2mdashTuesday June 12

900ndash1000amTrack 2Social Media Solutions on a BudgetGetting your company or organization started with social media doesnrsquot have to be a pricey proposition In this session yoursquoll learn how to

bull Take advantage of great free and low-cost tools that cover man-aging conversations measuring reach and engagement and developingpublishing great content

bull Leverage lesser-known social media channels to increase expo-sure and reach

bull Create great social media friendly content to build trust and authority inexpensively

Moderator Laura Roth Conference Program amp Training Manager SES Conference amp Expo

Speaker Danny Iny Co-Founder Firepole Marketing

Speaker Krista Neher CEO Boot Camp Digital

130ndash230pmTrack 3From Keywords to ldquoBuy Wordsrdquo Finding High-Value Paid Search Keywords

ldquoProfessorsrdquo Van Wagner and Goodman will take you beyond garden-variety keyword lists to delve deeper into how user queries signal different kinds of intent You will learn how to go beyond the blind reading of ldquoafter-the-factrdquo ROI statistics how to anticipate how your most valuable searchers will express themselves with search que-ries and even how to subtly mold their preferences as they progress from search queries to your ads landing pages and transactions

Moderator Greg Jarboe President amp Co-founder SEO-PR

Speaker Andrew Goodman SES Advisory Board President Page Zero Media

Speaker Matt Van Wagner President Find Me Faster

300ndash400pmTrack 2Conquering the Growing Canadian Affiliate Marketing IndustryIn this session you will learn the following and more

bull Affiliate marketing in Canada is a viable growing traffic channel bull Online retail merchants need to educate and form strategic

partnerships with web publishers in order to generate traffic bull Establishing a successful Canadian affiliate marketing channel

requires sophisticated software development strategic market-ing and stability

bull Retail merchants need to be prepared to accommodate Canadian affiliate partnerships with the right tools in order for all parties to succeed

Speaker Nicky Senyard President Share Results

415ndash515pmTrack 1Maximizing ROI in e-Commerce with SearchAll e-commerce websites and e-tailers should be on top of certain ROI trends and opportunities This session will show you how to maximize ROI in e-commerce by leveraging one e-marketing chan-nel to improve the performance of another You will hear a series of combined channel campaign strategies along with case studies that illustrate how to maximize the ROI of your campaigns by taking advantage of low-hanging fruit

Moderator Chris Boggs SES Advisory Board Director SEO Rosetta

Speaker Guillaume Bouchard President CEO NVI

Speaker Elazar Gabay Vice President Performance Marketing LeSiteca

515ndash615pmSEW Eliminator QuizJoin us for the inaugural SEW Eliminator Quiz a pub-trivia-style networking event where you and your fellow marketers will compete to see who is the savviest and most knowledgeable marketer in the room Afterward yoursquoll have a chance to network with your favorite drink in hand

New YorkMarch

ShanghaiApril

TorontoJune -

San FranciscoAugust -

Hong KongSeptember ndash

BerlinOctober ndash

ChicagoNovember -

SingaporeNovember ndash

San DiegoFebruary

LondonFebruary

SES Conference amp Expo is the leading global event series that educates professionals in search and social marketing putting a special focus on tactics and best practices SES Events provide instructions from the industryrsquos top experts including representatives from the Search Engines themselves

World Tour ndash

SESConferencecom

Page 3: SES Magazine Toronto 2012

LEARN AT YOUR OWN PACE

Enroll today wwwclickzacademycom

Led by industry experts ClickZ Academy provides practical

knowledge and hands-on experience to maximize your

potential in this industry

COURSES Online Marketing FoundationSearch Engine Optimization

Paid Search StrategiesE-Mail Strategy

Social Mediaand more

Onsite Training WorkshopsSES TorontomdashWeds June 13Hyatt Regency Toronto

800amndash1200pm bull Online Marketing FoundationmdashSEO bull Email Marketing

Driving 51 Engagement

100pmndash500pm bull Social Local Mobile (SoLoMo)

Marketing bull Link Building to Get Rankings

Register

contents

June 2012

COVER STORY COLUMNS

6

3

16

BREAKING OUT OF THE ldquo+1rdquo MINDSETCanada Is Losing the Digital Innovation Race How Can It Become More Competitive

CONFERENCE INFORMATION

SPONSORS amp EXHIBITORS

SAMPLE SESSIONS AT SES TORONTO

9

10

11

BEYOND THE BORDERThe Impact of US Internet Laws on Canadian Site Owners

MAKE YOUR CLIENT-AGENCY RELATIONSHIP WORKThree Considerations When Choosing a Partner

DOING FORENSICS ON FRUIT SALADThe Challenge of Developing Practical Client-Friendly Strategies in the Unpredictable Social Media Environment

12

14

THE STATE OF GOOGLE+ ONE YEAR LATERGoogle Hasnrsquot Yet Carved Their Niche in Social but Do They Even Need To

THE CONVERSION OPTIMIZATION LIFE CYCLEWhich Advice Should You Follow and Which Should You Avoid in Structuring Your Optimization Program

Follow SES at twittercomSESConf

SES conferences are a great place to learn about the digital marketing industry but how do you get the most out of them if you are new to

the business To help you maximize your time at SES ClickZ Academy offers work-shops on the Monday preceding every con-ference Running in the morning and after-noon these four-hour workshops provide a thorough introduction to the various ele-ments of digital marketing and are included in the SES All-Access Pass

ClickZ and SES are both part of Inci-sive Media ClickZ is the largest resource of interactive marketing news information commentary advice opinion research and reference in the world online or off With over 400000 visitors a month it has become an indispensable tool for marketers ClickZ Academyrsquos faculty are drawn from the pool of ClickZ contributors and SES presenters The instructors are the same industry experts who shape our conference program and con-tribute articles to SES Magazine and ClickZ

Sharpen Your Skills with e-Learning and In-House ClassesIn this constantly evolving business keeping up with recent developments can be difficult

Also a large number of practitioners are self-taught Formal training to provide a solid foundation and clarify industry best prac-tices is vital in this environment

Since pre-conference workshops are not convenient for everyone ClickZ Acad-emy offers a suite of online courses With a library of over 40 e-learning modules it covers every aspect of digital marketing The foundation course discusses the various disciplines at an introductory level the five specialist courses explore social media paid search SEO web analytics and email You can take the courses at any place that has Internet access and at your own pace You can purchase modules individually or in bulk

At the end of a course and after success-ful completion of an assessment you will receive a certificate and be able to network through the ClickZ alumni group on Linked In Membership in this group will show in your LinkedIn profile so anyone searching for you will see that you have been formally trained in online marketing

At one end of the spectrum are individu-als working for small to medium-size busi-nesses who want to fine-tune their skills or

How ClickZ Academy Can Work for YouWorkshops Online and In-House Courses and Recorded Sessions Suit Every Schedule and Knowledge Level

by Paul Fegan

Cover art via Shutterstock

continues on page 15

about SESWelcome to the Toronto issue of SES Magazine This issue features a roster of Canadian writers several of whom will be speaking at the SES Toronto Conference amp Showcase SES Toronto to be held on June 11ndash13 at the Hyatt Regency will consist of three days of break-through sessions covering search social mobile and display and will include these Canada-specific sessions

bull Made in Canada Marketing Online Worldwide bull Conquering the Growing Canadian Affiliate Marketing Industry

In addition to bringing back the very popular Meet the Experts Roundtable Forum wersquore inaugurating the SES Eliminator Quiz a networking event in which participants will compete to see who is the savviest marketer while enjoying an informal pub atmosphere

See pages 16ndash17 for sample sessionsTo make the most of your time in Toronto be sure to download the SES Toronto app The

most up-to-date agenda can also be found on the conference website SESTorontocomAnd donrsquot forget these upcoming events bull SES San Francisco August 13ndash17 Moscone West (SESSanFranciscocom) bull SES Hong Kong September 10ndash12 The Mira Hong Kong (SESHongKongcom) bull SES Berlin October 10ndash11 Kosmos Berlin (SESBerlincom) bull SES Chicago Hyatt Regency (SESChicagocom)

SES Toronto will provide a singular opportunity to learn actionable strategies and mingle with over 1000 C-level executives directors marketers and engineers from leading brands such as Google Microsoft Hewlett Packard and Bell Canada See you there

Best regards

Mike Grehan ChairSES AdviSory BoArd ChAirGloBAl vP ContEnt inCiSivE MEdiA

Matt McGowan MAnAGinG dirECtor north AMEriCAinCiSivE MEdiA

SES ADVISORY BOARD

Comprised of both industry thought leaders and real-world practitioners the SES advisory board brings together top players in the field of interactive media and search The team works to deliver continually cutting-edge search techniques more integrated and relevant content and professional development resources to SES attendees

Mike Grehan ChairGloBAl vP ContEnt SESSEArCh EnGinE WAtChCliCkZ

Bryan EisenbergBEStSEllinG AuthorBryAnEiSEnBErGCoM

Jon MyershEAd of ACCount MAnAGEMEntyAhoo uk amp irElAnd

Jonathan AllendirECtor SEArChEnGinEWAtCh

Paul FeganhEAd of E-lEArninG inCiSivE MEdiA

Lee OddenCEotoPrAnk onlinE MArkEtinG

Matthew BaileyPrESidEntSitE loGiC MArkEtinG

Andrew GoodmanPrESidEntPAGE ZEro MEdiA

Giovanni RodriguezdiGitAl And SoCiAl StrAtEGy dEloittE ConSultinG llP

Chris BoggsdirECtor SEo roSEttA

Bill HuntPrESidEntBACk AZiMuth ConSultinG

Laura RothConfErEnCE ProGrAM amp trAininG MAnAGErSES ConfErEnCE amp ExPo

Mikel ChertudiSr dirECtor onlinE amp dEMAnd MArkEtinG AdoBE

Aaron KahlowChAirMAn amp foundEr onlinE MArkEtinG SuMMit

Crispin SheridanSr dirECtor of SEArCh MArkEtinG StrAtEGySAP

Eddie ChoiMAnAGinG dirECtorfrontiErS diGitAl

Anne F KennedyintErnAtionAl SEArCh StrAtEGiStBEyond ink uSA

staffMatt McGowan

Md north AMEriCA

Mike GrehanGloBAl vP ContEnt

Sharon MorabitohEAd of EvEntS AMEriCAS

Program Development

ConfErEnCE ProGrAM MAnAGEr

ConfErEnCE ProduCEr

Laura RothAnna Lee

OperationsoPErAtionS MAnAGEr

rEGiStrAtion ASSoCiAtE

Kim KiedaischCharisse Rosales

ClickZ amp Search Engine WatchExECutivE Editor CliCkZ

dirECtor SEW

SEnior Editor nEWS

StAff WritEr

CoPy Editor

ASiA dESk Editor

Anna Maria VirziJonathan AllenKate KayeChristopher HeineCaitlin RossmanAdaline Lau

Sales amp MarketingSAlES dirECtorS

ACCount ExECutivE

dirECtor CliEnt SErviCES

MArkEtinG dirECtor

MArkEtinG MAnAGEr

MArkEtinG ASSoCiAtE

WEB dESiGnEr

onlinE oPErAtionS MAnAGEr

onlinE oPErAtionS ASSoCiAtE

Andrew KatzElaine MershonElaine RomeoPeter WesterholmElizabeth HustonJoAnn SimonelliAngela ManAmy XuPloy TangtrakulRebecca HolzLouise LabergeAleksey Gershin

MagazineEditor

ContriButorS

Dawn CavalieriJulie BattenDave DaviesPaul FeganAndrew GoodmanJim HedgerMiranda MillerGarry Przyklenk

CorporateChiEf ExECutivE

GrouP MAnAGinG dirECtor

Tim WellerJames Hanbury

SES Volume 6 Issue 3 | June 2012copy 2012 Incisive Media plc

To subscribe contribute or view past issues visitwwwsesconferencecomses-magazine

To advertise contact sales at salessesconferencecom or +1 (212) 457-4993

Comments Want to unsubscribe E-mail us atmagazinesesconferencecom

Incisive Media US55 Broad Street 22nd fl New York NY 10004-2501tel +1 (646) 736-1888fax +1 (646) 390-6612

Incisive Media head office28-29 Haymarket HouseLondon SW1Y 4RX UKtel +44 (0)20 7316 9609fax +44 (0)20 7930 2238

sesconferencecom bull SES 3

sponsors ampexhibitorsDownload the app or visit SESTorontocom

PLATINUM SPONSOR

Google Engage with AgencieswwwgooglecomGooglersquos innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day Founded in 1998 by Stanford PhD students Larry Page and Sergey Brin Google today is a top web property in all major global markets Googlersquos targeted advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measur-able results while enhancing the overall web experience for users Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas Europe and Asia For more information visit wwwgooglecom

GOLD SPONSOR

BingSponsored SessionswwwbingcomSearch advertising with Microsoft helps you efficiently reach your next best customermdashwithin your budget and with the support you need to get started and optimized and measure your results

SILVER SPONSOR

The Search AgencyTable 5wwwthesearchagencycomThe Search Agency is a global online marketing firm that combines high-tech and high-touch online marketing strategies to deliver new customers and measure ROI beyond a reasonable doubt Ser-vices include paid search SEO landing page optimization display media social media and affiliate program management As the largest and fastest-growing independent search marketing agency in the US (Advertising Age May 2012) and among Deloittersquos 2011 Technology Fast 500 The Search Agency is now bringing over a decade of experience and expertise to Canada Founded in 2002 The Search Agency has grown to more than 200 employees worldwide with Canadian headquarters in Toronto and additional offices in Los Angeles San Francisco East Greenwich Baltimore Tampa London Sydney and Bangalore For more information go to httpwww thesearchagencycom

EXHIBITORS

AdLeadsTable 4wwwadleadscomAdLeads is the industryrsquos first self-serve mobile signup ad platform With AdLeads businesses of all sizes can run ads on top iPhone iPad and Android apps They only pay when someone signs up to hear from themmdashand never for wasted clicks or impressions Hun-dreds of businesses and agencies like childrenrsquos publisher Paper Hat Press Brooklyn-based restaurant Nita Nita and Australian mobile marketing agency Mobile Marketers have used AdLeads to get new customers and grow their businesses

ClickZ Academy and RecruitmentTable 10wwwclickzacademycomClickZ helps develop the careers of professional marketers either through its education program or its recruitment web site This builds on its position as the largest resource of interactive market-ing news information commentary advice opinion research and reference in the world online or off From search to social technol-ogy to trends our coverage is expert exclusive and in-depth

gShift Labs Web Presence OptimizertradeTable 7wwwgshiftlabscom gShift Labsrsquo industry leading SEO software system Web Presence Optimizertrade (WPO) helps marketers and agencies more efficiently and effectively monitor and report on SEO campaigns gShiftrsquos patent-pending WPO software provides insight into an entire web presencemdashwebsite blogs press releases social media and analyt-icsmdashby reporting organic rank data backlinks social signals and competitive intelligence all of which contribute to the goal of rank-ing higher organically in the search engines

The fundamentals of SEO still matter however SEO in 2012 is about social signals (Facebook YouTube Twitter LinkedIn Google+ and Pinterest) and fresh content (blogs and press releases)

Track manage measure and report web presence analytics data all in one place using gShiftrsquos SEO monitoring and reporting software Organizations of all sizes benefit by reducing the time and resources required to analyze and improve organic search optimization

gShift Labs can be contacted at 1-866-743-5960 by emailing salesgShiftLabscom or by visiting wwwgshiftlabscom

Sponsor Showcase Hours Monday June 11 1000amndash630pm | Tuesday June 12 1000amndash300pm

4 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

sponsors ampexhibitors SES Toronto | June 11ndash13 2012

Marin SoftwareTable 1wwwmarinsoftwarecomMarin Software is a leading provider of online advertising man-agement solutions offering an integrated platform for managing search display and social marketing The company provides solu-tions for advertisers and agencies of all sizes enabling them to improve financial performance save time and make better deci-sions Marin Enterprise the companyrsquos flagship product addresses the needs of online marketers spending at least $100000 per month on biddable media Marin Professional delivers the same power and ease of use as Marin Enterprise through an application designed for marketers spending less than $100000 per month on paid search Headquartered in San Francisco with offices worldwide Marinrsquos technology powers marketing campaigns for over 850 cus-tomers managing more than $25 billion of annualized ad spend in more than 160 countries

9th sphereTrack Sponsorwww9thspherecom9th sphere is a full-service web design and Internet marketing solu-tions provider focused on delivering a strong ROI for our clients Since 1997 they have put their award-winning expertise to work earning recognition for effectiveness in design development and marketing resultsndashdriven websites 9th sphere is proud to offer top industry experts state-of-the-art technology and exceptional cus-tomer care that produces smart and powerful website solutions and real results for a wide variety of businesses This ultimately pro-vides a solid service value from which clients prosper Learn about the 9th sphere Advantage at httpwww9thspherecom

NVI SolutionsSponsored SessionwwwnvisolutionscomNVI is a full-service digital marketing agency We leverage our internal tools our broad and diversified experience and the larg-est bilingual staff of experts in the country to serve our customers NVI is known for its resourcefulness and business ability to execute strategic plans that are performance-centric

NVI relies on the ingenuity of its web marketing strategies and the collective energy of its employees to offer the best return on investment to its customers

Page Zero MediaReception SponsorwwwpagezerocomPage Zero Media is a full service digital marketing agency focus-ing especially on paid search (SEM) display advertising and other forms of effective audience targeting Led by founder and president Andrew Goodman the company is headquartered in Toronto Can-ada Clients include Postmedia Digital Canon Direct Energy Wave Accounting and Nutscom Page Zero is a Google AdWords Certified Agency

Reprise MediaTable 3wwwreprisemediacomReprise Media Canada is a full-service search marketing agency Our core business is based on search engine marketing (pay-per-click) search engine optimization (SEO) and social media market-ing Reprise Media Canada offers best-in-class search marketing strategies employed by a team of industry-recognized talents and applies an agenda of innovation to produce breakthrough results for our clients Come see us at Table 3 on June 1112

Search Engine People IncTable 2wwwsearchenginepeoplecomSearch Engine People Inc is one of Canadarsquos oldest and most respected search agencies Since 2001 SEP has helped a wide range of clients (from Fortune 500 to small and medium-size companies) secure business from the web SEP is a Google Adwords Qualified Company and Yahoo Search Marketing Ambassador and is Micro-soft adExcellence certified The company was also named one of the

ldquoTop 25 Up-and-Coming Canadian IT Companiesrdquo by the Branham Group in 2006

SEPrsquos services include search engine optimization (SEO) paid search management (PPC) social media marketing (SMM) online reputation management usability and more Whether yoursquore look-ing to compete in an ultra-competitive space or to dramatically increase your local presence SEP can help

Stop by our booth and talk to our knowledgeable expertsGet Foundtrade

SEMPO CanadaTable 8wwwsempocaSEMPO is the largest nonprofit trade organization in the world serving the search and digital marketing industry and marketing professionals engaged in it

Whether you are a search or social marketing professional or use search and social as part of your profession SEMPO provides the programs and resources to help you succeed

Our activities center on education networking and research To support our educational mission we provide a professional webi-nar series 101 webinar series and quarterly education programs Our local groups provide opportunities to network throughout the world and we also conduct the industryrsquos most respected research We provide members with discounts to training programs and industry events and a robust job board

Learn more at wwwSEMPOorg infoSEMPOorg

SEMRushBadge Booklet SponsorwwwsemrushcomSEMRush provides users with invaluable competitive intelligencemdashtracking the top 95 million keywords and 42 million domains SEMRush data currently includes 10 of the most popular regional

sesconferencecom bull SES 5

Table s on right

Affiliate amp Performance-Based Marketing SolutionsThe Search Agency 5Training Business Pros 6

Display Advertising Marin Software 1Page Zero Media Sponsor

General Search Engines Bing Sponsor

Interactive Marketing Agencies 9th sphere Sponsor

Interactive Marketing Associations amp Publications SEMPO Canada 8

Internet Associations Society of Internet

Professionals 9

Link Building Search Engine People Inc 2SEMRush Sponsor

Local Search Marketing Services amp Directories Bing Sponsor

Marketing Optimization Solutions Marin Software 1Training Business Pros 6

Mobile amp Rich Media Advertising Solutions AdLeads 4

Organic Search Marketing gShift Labs Web

Presence Optimizertrade 79th sphere SponsorNVI Solutions SponsorPage Zero Media SponsorReprise Media 3The Search Agency 5Search Engine People Inc 2

Pay-Per Click Networks amp Management Services NVI Solutions SponsorSearch Engine People Inc 2

Search Marketing Agencies 9th sphere SponsorNVI Solutions Sponsorpage Zero Media SponsorReprise Media 3The Search Agency 5

Search Marketing Software gShift Labs Web

Presence Optimizertrade 7Marin Software 1SEMRush Sponsor

Specialized Search Engines (Multimedia Mobile Shopping International etc) Bing Sponsor

Training Courses amp Certification in Search Marketing ClickZ Academy and

Recruitment 10Training Business Pros 6

Web Analytics gShift Labs Web

Presence Optimizertrade 7Reprise Media 3SEMRush Sponsor

product amp service guide

Google databases as well as US Bing and returns extensive met-rics relative to both organic and paid traffic (both AdWords and AdSense) as well as backlink info

SEMRush can reveal just what keywords your competitors are ranking for what campaigns theyrsquore running what their budget looks like and what kind of traffic they generate Thus it can pro-vide all the ammo one needs to effectively optimize run impactful campaigns and increase overall traffic and revenue

Society of Internet Professionals (SIP)Table 9wwwsipgrouporgThe Society of Internet Professionals (SIP) is an international not-for-profit association based in Canada Since 1997 SIP has upheld professional standards for Internet professionals Our ongoing activities include spearheading strategic partnerships offering edu-cational programs and running networking events

Becoming a professional member of SIP and abiding by our Professional Code of Ethics gives you instant credibility and com-petitive advantage in the marketplace You gain access to exclusive members-only information privileges and offers and you secure a place in a network of serious individuals and organizations focused on success through excellence

Take the first step today by signing up for a free SIP Associate Membership (no dues) Join 10000 SIP Associates who benefit from Affinity Programs and stay informed of upcoming events and valu-able offers via our monthly newsletter for FREE

As part of our 14th anniversary celebrations attendees of the SES Show who sign up at wwwsipgrouporg will be eligible to receive a discount of 50 for the first year of Professional Member-ship dues

For more information and to become a member visit www sipgrouporg

Contact Max Haroon President tel (416) 891-4937 (info sipgrouporg)

Training Business ProsTable 6wwwtrainingbusinessproscom

Training Business Pros is Canadarsquos leading internet market-ing training company offering over 100 intensive business train-ing opportunities throughout North America every year Our cli-ents have exploded their sales in the millions and trainees have increased their personal market value exponentially

Since 2007 Training Business Pros has helped over 22 thousand businesses adopt and adapt internet marketing and social media strategies Whether you are a start-up or a Fortune 500 company it is essential to get valuable information fast in order to get massive results within a short period of time

Visit Table 6 to claim your free introductory training Or learn live from our CEO Paul Tobey on stage June 12th at

235 pm to 255 pm You will learn how 20 minutes a day can dramatically boost your

rankings and how the social media wheel can be the secret sauce to your back-linking strategy

6 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus COVER STORY

Breaking Out of the ldquo+1rdquo MindsetCanada is Losing the Digital Innovation Race How Can It Become More Competitive

by Andrew Goodman

Canada has weathered the economic downturn better than any other G7 nation With a high level of eco-nomic cultural and technological

development and a favorable trading rela-tionship and cultural integration with the US it can hardly be described as hurting Since nothingrsquos terribly broken creating a sense of urgency around living up to our true poten-tial is hard

Some of us feel a constant urge to do bet-ter most of us do not The most likely way to propagate this feeling is to deliberately and systematically push onersquos peers to improve Thatrsquos how it is in organized sports Thatrsquos how it is at SES conferences And thatrsquos how Canadians ought to behave when it comes to technological innovation and business competitiveness

Caution Rather Than CompetitionCanadian caution is dangerously close to an insidious disease complacency For over a century wersquove contentedly enjoyed the ben-efits of our ldquo+1rdquo relationship with the pow-erful innovator to the south Wersquove sat back and waited while dynamic enterprises and innovations were created in the US Instead of competing our businesses have often dawdled watched and withered as compa-nies like Target Wal-Mart and Home Depot moved in and took over

In high technology the decline of a sin-gle leader like Research in Motion (RIM) is enough to throw the entire country into a panic Without the Blackberry what have we given the world Sidney Crosby and maple syrup (Ok a few other things like insulin and the telephone)

The situation isnrsquot that bad But it is a function of a complacent culture that othersrsquo successes (the successes of bold non-Cana-dian tall poppies) are claimed as onersquos own as long as itrsquos convenient with very little done to create an atmosphere that fosters innova-tionmdashuntil it becomes painfully obvious that a single flagship high-tech success story isnrsquot going to cut it

Unfortunately many of the traits that help entrepreneurs feel relatively accepted in the US arenrsquot baked into Canadian culture As a result itrsquos harder to develop a critical mass of digitally savvy companies tech tal-ent investors and other elements that cre-ate clusters of innovation and dynamism If you massage the data enough (as Richard Florida does) you can refer to the broader region around the Greater Toronto Area as a creative cluster However this region is punching well below its weight when it comes to the je ne sais quoi of creating great growth companies This ultimately causes relative backwardness in a whole range of interrelated realms from soft skills needed to staff up fast-growing startups to con-sumer expectations of online retailers The commonality is expectations and standards unless theyrsquore raised they stay too lowmdashif there are any at all

The e-Commerce LagWhere do Canadians shop when we do buy online One of our largest homegrown retailersmdashCanadian Tire which absorbed apparel and sporting-goods giant Forzani Group forming a retail empire of a decent sizemdashonly recently relaunched its website with the capacity to order items online The company had taken a two-year hiatus from e-commerce reverting to a website that offered information about products avail-able in physical stores and various episodic microsites (see article in The Globe and Mail ) Frankly management is living in the same time warp that many other top managers of large Canadian enterprises are in Slow growth in a high-growth area like e-commerce is unacceptable if Canadian-owned companies want to survive it opens up the playing field to US companies that are good at plugging in their existing highly optimized operations

Retail may not be the only measure of the health of a nation but online retail is surely the bellwether for the state of a digital nation Here again average Canadians couldnrsquot care

less and would dissent from this obvious point In their view because more of us have broadband use Facebook send text mes-sages etc wersquore more digitally savvy than other countries including the US Suremdashbut thatrsquos like saying that buying a cute new gym bag makes you a fashion pioneer Itrsquos nice to enjoy whatrsquos made available to you but it doesnrsquot compare at all with say investing in a company that grows into a global fashion label (On that note kudos to Lululemon a wildly successful Canadian brand that is one of the exceptions that prove the rule)

Canadians all too often like to partici-pate in the excitement of advanced trends and taste the fruits of othersrsquo innovation but wouldnrsquot have a clue how to spearhead anything Nor do they quite understand why you would need or want to Thatrsquos the kind of mindset that develops during a century and a half of living in a branch-plant economy

A November 11 article from IBM (cit-ing Forrester research) notes that Canada is behind the US in e-commerce spending and growing more slowly The percentagesmdash54 of total retail sales in Canada versus 60 in the USmdashmake the two countries seem fairly close but 6 of $32 trillion is immense com-pared to 54 of $370 billion Since ad spends website infrastructure and consulting time donrsquot make economic sense below a certain size a chicken-egg problem sets in custom-ers arenrsquot served as well research isnrsquot done ads and content arenrsquot crafted well check-outs donrsquot work as they should and so on The domestic Canadian e-commerce market poses a huge challenge for all but the largest players This makes it all the more frustrat-ing that those large players at least donrsquot recognize the need for urgency and invest-ment Instead of comparing themselves to their peers they should compare themselves to strong players around the globe

Weak Unprofitable Online Marketing Strategies Only a handful of Canadian retail web-site owners and managers know the key

sesconferencecom bull SES 7

focusCOVER STORY

to reaching the big leagues after testing and optimizing your model you can power your way into the top-grossing elite largely through an aggressive targeted online mar-keting spend Thatrsquos no sales pitch thatrsquos how the math works Many businesses appear to forget the enormous cost of the infrastruc-ture and overhead that get them to the table Once they are at that already expensive table the investment is wasted if the resulting revenue remains pitifully low because the method for actually getting new customers is ldquohope pray and DIY on-page SEOrdquo

Winning online businesses have grow-ing revenues (and to be sure marketing spends) that eventually reduce overhead and infrastructure costs to manageable (ide-ally trivial) proportions Losing ones build a large infrastructure and do nothing with it Since only a few companies are getting it right there is a very small pool of exemplars to show the way and wishful thinking sub-stitutes for action

We donrsquot find a Canadian company on the Internet Retailerrsquos Top 500 Guide (as of late April 2012) which ranks B2C retailers in the US and Canada based on online sales until number 152 The Shopping Channel owned by Rogers Media Lululemon Athletica is at 229 nowmdashfor them the skyrsquos the limit ALDO Group (shoes) and Mountain Equip-ment Co-Op (outdoor gear) deserve props at 390 and 395 respectively Unfortunately many Canadian entrepreneursmdashto say noth-ing of large retailersmdasharenrsquot aiming at mak-ing lists like this many havenrsquot even heard of them

Governmentrsquos Share of Blame Canada is falling behind in the global innova-tion race because ldquoCanadian business itself

hellip choose[s] deliberately not to pursue busi-ness strategies that rely on innovation as there [are] easier ways of making profitsrdquo So argue Marcel Cocircteacute founding partner of stra-tegic management consulting firm SECOR and Robert Miller engineer at Eacutecole Poly-technique de Montreacuteal in a recent report

(citing research by the Council of Canadian Academies)

Certainly government has played a role in allowing Canadian companies to be weakened largely through inaction and misappropriation of subsidy funds All gov-ernments sit on and distributemdashin the aggre-gatemdashlarge pools of business development capital and research funding and Canada is no exception Yet funds often trickle out to laggard players or subsidize the operations of established noninnovating companies Powerhouses like RIM return far more to the economy (in the form of jobs spinoffs RampD and tax revenues) than any breaks and incentives they receive A business colum-nist recently described the high-ROI govern-ment incentives that help create blockbust-ers like RIM as ldquofederal largesserdquo Largesse To Research in Motion I think we got our moneyrsquos worth

The lack of similar ldquolargesserdquo to identi-fiable very tall poppies has led to repeated missed opportunities and the lack of role models and good jobs in manufacturing RampD and software The denial of incentives to high-tech firm Mitel in the early 1980s is a salient example (see Donald J Savoiersquos 2009 book Irsquom from Bouctouche Me Roots Matter) the deal would have created thousands of

new telecommunications equipment jobs in Atlantic Canada This attitude has also resulted in the bankruptcy of companies (like Mitel) that could have become global leaders and precursors of other successful companies

What We Can DoIf government wonrsquot make the right moves how can Canadian companies improve on our own We must leave behind the old +1 instincts and the peer pressure to do just well enough Here are some suggestions

bull Avoid the grand narratives Coverage of traditional monopoly sectors such as financial mining and telecom-munications dominates the Canadian business media and only obvious successes are deemed noteworthy In terms of trends in advertising and digital culture little insight or encouragement is to be found in traditional media Look for validation elsewhere in your peer group at industry events among your customers and yes even in other countries

bull Quit scoffing at data Yes our clientsrsquo customers really do buy pecans switchplates furniture dishwasher parts soil remediation equipment and paella pans online Canadiansmdasheven those making digital marketing their career through formal certification coursesmdashhave a nasty habit of assuming that because people like them

ldquowould never click on thatrdquo or ldquowould never buy something like that onlinerdquo itrsquos helpful or insightful to share this preconceived notion The easy work is to hop onto the coattails of some large hip brand and recommend very gradual approaches to budgeting the marketing spend despite the millions in sunk costs (infrastructure office

Unfortunately many of the traits that help

entrepreneurs feel relatively accepted in

the US arenrsquot baked into Canadian culture As a result itrsquos harder to

develop a critical mass of digitally savvy companies

tech talent investors and other elements

that create clusters of innovation and dynamism

continues on page 8

Donrsquot miss these Sesssions at SES Toronto bull Made in Canada Marketing Online WorldwidemdashMonday June 11 200pmndash300pm bull Conquering the Growing Canadian Affiliate Marketing IndustrymdashTuesday June 12 300pmndash400pm

Register

8 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus COVER STORY

space website buildout etc) that make the operation wildly unprofitable on the whole (though seemingly cautious when only the variable costs are taken into account) Do the hard work and stop dismissing what is in fact real consumer behavior screaming for granular analysis

bull Know the role models Many young Canadians Irsquove encountered in formal business courses were not aware of Techcrunch Yelp Zappos and many other mainstays of digital business culture This is inexcusable The best students are the self-taught exceptions Therersquos no guarantee that these self-starters will get great jobs out of the gate but over time they usually prevail

bull Look for smart partners and communities Canada is full of half-baked digital companies that go nowhere fueled by family money and vanity investments Dumb money loses out to savvy skill and passion

bull Risk your own money Funding at the appropriate stage can be an important accelerator but the founders of companies like FreshBooks Acquisio PlentyofFish and HomeStars put in their own money perhaps with the support of family and friends before they did formal fundraising Itrsquos not always possible to bootstrap but companies like these prove that you donrsquot have to raise huge sums of money

to reach the next level You do have to have the entrepreneurial 24-7 mindset

bull Embrace digital jobs as normal If ordinary Canadians donrsquot become conversant with the leading edge of technology and digital enterprise the best minds will continue to drain away due to a lack of both opportunity and peers Our industry needs to be normalized and valued as simply a part of the economy Today wersquore still seen as representing either of two extremesmdashtaking insane risks and living in a cardboard box or lucking into lottery-like wealthmdashas if the profession is worth discussing only for its financial upside not for its substance Until people get it itrsquoll be up to us to evangelize the merits of things like search and display advertising (better targeting) online procurement (reducing friction in the economy) and all of that good stuff Yes it was obvious in 1999 but that doesnrsquot mean people are quite comfortable with it yet

ConclusionNot everyone is going to create the next Radian6 The Internet Retailerrsquos Top 500 is pretty rarefied territory and represents more success than the vast majority of startupsmdashlet alone well-known established retailersmdashcan attain However Canadians should at least be benchmarking themselves against these success stories rather than the semi-successful company down the street The real problem of course is that the comfort level of doing ldquojust so wellrdquo is tempting It may even seem irrational to want to reach a

levels of success far ahead of what is needed to maintain a great lifestyle

The driven minority though seek to have something more impressive than ldquo+1rdquo engraved on their tombstones If and when they do succeed you can bet that the aver-age Canadian and the creators of grand nar-ratives will be only too happy to take partial credit hellip not to mention taxing the bejeesus out of them

Andrew Goodman is founder

and President of Toronto-based

Page Zero Media a full-service

marketing agency founded in

2000 He is also co-founder of

Traffickcom an award-winning

industry commentary site and author of Winning Results with Google AdWords

Breaking Out of the ldquo+1rdquo Mindset

continued from page 7 Canadians should at least be benchmarking themselves against the Internet Retailerrsquos Top 500 rather than the

semi-successful company down the street The real problem of course is that the comfort level of doing ldquojust so wellrdquo is tempting

The driven minority though seek to have

something more impressive than ldquo+1rdquo engraved on

their tombstones

sesconferencecom bull SES 9

focusMARKETING INSIGHTS

If you live and work in Canada you may think of the Internet as a free space in which to share ideas sell products and interact with others with no restrictions

other than those imposed by the Canadian government for the protection of its people Itrsquos reasonable to believe that if you com-ply with these laws you will maintain the health of your website Unfortunately this isnrsquot entirely the case The United States gov-ernment has significant power over how the Internet functions right down to how you use your domain name and how the 1s and 0s on which your site travels are treated

Domain Name OwnershipMany people donrsquot realize that they donrsquot actu-ally own their own domain names they rent them Itrsquos a subtle difference but when com-bined with the fact that the US government owns and controls the com top-level domain (TLD) it brings up a whole new set of con-cerns as the owners of Bodogcom discovered

Bodogcom was a Canadian-owned online gambling site In February the US Depart-ment of Justice and Homeland Security Investigations seized the domain name while a US federal grand jury charged its four owners with conducting an illegal sports gambling site and conspiracy to commit money laundering The indictment alleges that Bodog moved at least $100 million from offshore accounts to bettors in Maryland

ldquoSports betting is illegal in Maryland and federal law prohibits bookmakers from flout-ing that law simply because they are located outside the countryrdquo stated US attorney Rod J Rosenstein (quoted by USA Today)

As this case shows the US government can seize any com site regardless of the loca-tion of the business operation or its hosting provider This principle of government own-ership is logical for country-based domains (such as ca) where the issuing government can take control of a domain rented by one of its citizens but com is the Internet go-to for countless non-US businesses You may think

ldquoThatrsquos OK I donrsquot run a poker siterdquo Just bear

in mind that since you donrsquot own your com domain the US government could confiscate it however unlikely that may be

SOPA and PIPAYoursquod be wrong to think that the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) would not affect your Canadian busi-ness If you use or provide resources (or letrsquos be honest are believed to provide resources) that are deemed unacceptable by the US gov-ernment your site could be blocked your search traffic eliminated and more Although neither bill has passed similar legislation probably will

ldquoIrsquom not worried I donrsquot run an illegal torrent siterdquo you may say The laws as they were drafted apply to any copyright infringe-ment and designate the website owner as the culpable party For example if you operate a forum and one of its members posts content from say a movie script your site could be blocked and search engine traffic eliminated This would be a big punishment for adding a forum to your site in hopes of engaging visi-tors While Irsquom not stating that the US gov-ernment would go to this extreme every time a law like SOPA or PIPA could make your site a target however innocent your intentions

Net Neutrality LegislationWhile I hold the unpopular opinion that ISPs have a right to charge what they like for their bandwidth and that the free market should sort out what this means there is no doubt that US rules and regulations regard-ing net neutrality would have a major impact on Canadian site owners The speed of your site is dependent on the speed of the Inter-net between your web host and the visitor If your visitors are in the US or if your site is hosted there you would be affected

You may point out ldquoMy site is hosted in Canada and my clients are in Canadardquo Unless your clients are in close proximity to your host your data is going to take various routes between the site and visitors Many tests I ran from my office in Victoria BC to

websites across Canada passed through the US at one point or another Net neutrality legislation would have an influence on these paths

Data SecurityMany of us collect data on our sites many of us store this data on our servers Under the law the US government can seize or review this data at any time if your site is hosted at a US hosting facility

You may ask ldquoBut Irsquom not storing any-thing illegal so who caresrdquo Your clients may If yoursquore a lawyer or doctor or if you store any other information on your server that may be deemed confidential you may be violating the law in hosting it in an environ-ment that is subject to seizure

What You Can DoThe purpose of this article isnrsquot to scare you Irsquove done business primarily in the US and hosted the Beanstalk site there since the company was formed and I havenrsquot had any issues stemming from these laws That said itrsquos extremely important to understand and monitor the direction that legislation is tak-ing and the potential impact and to safe-guard yourself against litigation embarrass-ment reduced or eliminated traffic slower speeds for your visitors etc Knowing whatrsquos happening and how it affects your website will help you react quickly

For example if network neutrality legis-lation fails and ISPs are given more freedom in how they charge for bandwidth ensuring that yoursquore hosted on a network with priority should be step one And you might as well buy that ca domain as a backup After all just because yoursquore being paranoid doesnrsquot mean yoursquore wrong

Dave Davies is CEO of Bean stalk

SEO Services an organic SEO

firm in Victoria BC He wrote the

second edition of SitePointrsquos s

Kit and hosts a weekly radio

show on Webmaster Radio

Beyond the BorderThe Impact of US Laws on Canadian Site Owners

by Dave Davies

10 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus MARKETING INSIGHTS

Searching for a new digital agency is a lot like searching for a mate you spend a lot of time seeing other peo-ple (the RFP process) you eventually

narrow it down to a handful of prospects (the short-list) and eventually you think yoursquove found ldquothe onerdquo (the winning agency) After much wooing and negotiation you agree to move in together (onboarding) and the real

ldquogetting to know each otherrdquo officially begins (the client-agency relationship)

The first couple of months are usu-ally pretty blissful both parties are filled with hope and positivity about the excit-ing adventures (programstactics) to come But you inevitably find out things that you didnrsquot know before and that you may not like Things get a bit bumpy and you start to become disenfranchised with your part-ner Gradually everything starts to unravel

mdashall of a sudden a year has gone by and yoursquore threatening to break up if your mate (agency) doesnrsquot get his or her act together

It doesnrsquot have to be this way There is a way to maintain the honeymoon period indefinitely It really starts with choosing the right partner in the first place Onboarding a new agency is a huge investment so make sure that the agency you choose is going to work out in the long term Ask the following questions about a prospective agency before making your decision

Do the Agencyrsquos Skills Closely Align to Your NeedsRelationship Buster While this may seem obvious often client-agency relationships fail due to mismatches between the cli-entsrsquo needs and the agenciesrsquo competen-cies Agencies do a good job of downplaying their weaknesses and selling their strengths sometimes giving clients distorted represen-tations of their capabilities Clients can also become enamored of specific strengths that arenrsquot even top priorities for the firms

Relationship Saver Have a clear understand-ing of what you need and what yoursquore looking

for in an agency and consistently apply that as a filter when evaluating potential part-ners It is critical that you choose an agency based on a realistic evaluation of your needs and whether their core competencies align with these If yoursquore looking for a digital agency that can offer innovative solutions to engage your audience donrsquot let yourself get wooed by a flashy creative presentation unless yoursquore sure that they have the chops to deliver on the technology side Alterna-tively if you already have a skilled IT team in house and really need a strong strategic and creative shop be sure that they can bring their creative A-game

Does the Agency Have the Proven Ability to DeliverRelationship Buster Clients sometimes under-estimate the importance of delivery in digi-tal programs It is easy to get distracted by cutting-edge solutions and fail to consider whether these programs can realistically be deployed on time on budget and at a high-quality level

Relationship Saver Verify agenciesrsquo track records in deploying similar solutions in a timely and efficient manner They should be able to provide case studies of similar work successfully delivered for other clients and clearly articulate their process for taking a high-level solutionstrategy to detailed tactical implementation plans Strong proj-ect management competence is critical to

ensure that projects are delivered within budget and timelines They should also be able to demonstrate that they have sufficient resources in place to deliver on multiple con-current work streams

Does the Agency Play Well with OthersRelationship Buster Most clients have mul-tiple agency partnersmdashtypically at least a creativeoffline agency and a media agency in addition to their digital agency Clients sometimes assume that all partners will work towards a common goal and that inte-gration will naturally take place However some agencies tend toward a protective or even combative nature when working with other agencies creating a host of problems when interdependencies are present between both agenciesrsquo initiatives

Relationship Saver Prospective partners need to be able to demonstrate the ability to get along with others Your agency should be able to point to specific examples of how they have worked with other agency partners in a harmonious and mutually beneficial way They should demonstrate the ability to take a leadership role in coordinating cross-agency collaboration and integration and have an established process for helping to define and document roles and responsibilities among agency partners

There are many other factors to take into consideration when choosing a new digital agency partner but avoiding the pitfalls above should increase your chances of a long and successful union Happy hunting

Julie Batten is VP strategy digital media at Klick Health focused on online media and digital She brings a wealth of experi-ence in search marketing

digital media and all facets of digital strat-egy to bear helping Klickrsquos clients develop innovative digital solutions

Make Your Client-Agency Relationship WorkThree Considerations When Choosing a Partner

by Julie Batten

Have a clear understanding of what you need and what yoursquore looking for in an agency and

consistently apply that as a filter when evaluating potential partners It is

critical that you choose an agency based on a realistic evaluation of your needs

sesconferencecom bull SES 11

focusSOCIALINTEGRATION

Social media is public relations Social media is inclusionary Social media is necessary to compete with your competitors Social media is todayrsquos

big thingSocial media is also tomorrowrsquos next big

thing More appropriately some form of social media application is tomorrowrsquos next big thing Yesterdayrsquos appears to have been Pinterest which is threatening to displace Foursquare as the mayor of forgotten places As digital marketing experts we are calling on our clients to invest increasing amounts of time staff and money in an area that is evolving too quickly for us to fully under-stand The benefits of increased traffic are obvious but the return on investment on a wide spread of social media profiles can be somewhat harder to quantify

The Changes in Social MediaWith over one-third of the adult population using Facebook Canadians constitute one of the largest national social media footprints in the world Being early adopters Canadian Internet users became amazingly social amazingly quickly Unfortunately many if not most Canadian businesses have not kept up This isnrsquot just because Canadian compa-nies donrsquot fully grasp the social part of the medium itrsquos also because the budgeting and planning necessary to create an effective social media presence is daunting on paper without a clear understanding of benefits

Social media applications have existed for almost as long as the commercial web Early social media applications such as Classmates and Friendster acted as basic connectors They werenrsquot great for commu-nication among users but they provided an ideal foundation on which all subsequent social media applications could build Web 20 which came on the scene in 2003 was a breakthrough that allowed users to inter-act with websites and with each other This was the dawn of the user-generated content (UGC) era Nearly ten years later wersquore just

beginning to understand the fuller implica-tions of UGC on search and the web

Many of the sessions at SES Toronto will address social media measurement engage-ment and techniques Each of the speakers addressing social media has developed his or her own techniques and tactics based on personal experience and shared knowledge Each of them will say that every social media experience is unique Each will maintain that the very best social media experience is one that promotes authenticity and earnest con-nection over marketing and promotion

As the digital marketing environment changes so must the priorities of digital marketers and the clients we serve While itrsquos always about driving good traffic the digital marketing landscape is transforming more rapidly than ever before Social media is continuously extending frontiers and new areas are expanding as rapidly as UGC can be created and user intent can be ascertained and harnessed

To say that social has had an impact on search would be an understatement for search marketers this shift has not been subtle Moving away from its fascination with search SEO has for the last two years focused on social From studying how Face-book alters user behaviors to finding cor-relations between social signals and search engine placements social media has domi-nated search marketing discourse by becom-ing a more popular form of public directory To say that you understand the impact of social media on search would be a vaguely worded lie Nobody understands exactly how social meshes with search Witness Google+

Getting Clients to Be SocialTrying to figure out how to integrate social into search is akin to integrating apples with oranges kiwis strawberries grapes cottage cheese and bananas Itrsquos easy to spot iden-tify and describe the effects of an apple itrsquos not as easy to do forensics on fruit salad This creates yet another problem for digital

marketers when trying to convince small businesses and corporate clients that bud-geting time and money for social media is important

To be authentic in the truest sense cli-ents would do the work in house However in-house SEOSMM is often impractical for the smaller businesses that make up the vast majority of clients This means that the service must be either outsourced to a third party or performed by a digital market-ing agency It is a huge challenge for digi-tal markers to help clients be authentic in a constantly evolving environment that none of us fully grasp

Digital marketers face a number of other issues when guiding clients in the social sphere It is really difficult to know whether the plethora of random information linking to clientsrsquo websites is beneficial or detrimen-tal We have to push our clients into actively participating in an arena that they donrsquot fully understand or we have to try to recre-ate their voices ourselves and authenticity is very hard to engender in the second- or third-party voice Lastly we have to quan-tify a return on investment that translates to

Doing Forensics on Fruit SaladThe Challenge of Developing Practical Client-Friendly Strategies in the Unpredictable Social Media Environment

by Jim Hedger

continues on page 13

From studying how Facebook alters user behaviors to finding

correlations between social signals and search engine placements social media

has dominated search marketing discourse by

becoming a more popular form of public directory

To say that you understand the impact of social

media on search would be a vaguely worded lie

12 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus SOCIALMEDIA

As the first birthday of Googlersquos latest baby draws near the organic search and paid advertising behemoth con- tinues to struggle to find their

niche in social A year ago Google+ was just a rumor Google would deny the existence of a social project until the very day it launched in late June

In that year theyrsquove launched expanded experimented and redesigned the service incurring the verbal wrath of competitors Facebook and Twitter on a number of occa-sions Itrsquos been a whirlwind for Google+ and all fifteen of its loyal users

I kid To be fair there is a small but dedi-cated group of core users in the Google+ net-work Larry Page Sergey Brin Vic Gundotra and the rest of the crew have become old pros at dodging questions about the num-ber of actual active users but we can safely assume that itrsquos nowhere near Facebookrsquos 850 million Does it need to be

Googlersquos Busy Year What Google has accomplished with Google+ in under a year is nothing short of amazing June 2011 saw the launch of Google+ as a social network Over the summer tech jour-nalists and analysts were positively wooed keeping a watchful eye on every indicator (precise or not) of increasing traffic and user activity on Google+ The Washington Post even announced in August that ldquoGoogle Plus could be the fastest-growing site in historyrdquo In all of history Well as long as wersquove had websites anyway (The original comScore report noted that it was the fast-est site to reach 25 million unique visits In what can only be described as a bizarre game of cyberjournalism this report morphed into Reutersrsquo claim that Google+ ldquoattracted 25 million usersrdquo and The Washington Postrsquos assertion that ldquoGoogle has 25 million usersrdquo)

Google+ launched business Pages on November 7 Pages were already popu-lar on Facebook and since Google+ hadnrsquot included them at the start there was a lot of

anticipation around the launch In the weeks following however Google+ would struggle to connect with brands their brands in turn would struggle to connect with a user base worth marketing to within the Google+ network

As Google began integrating brand Page results in seemingly dominant positions in the organic search listings other compa-nies began to cry foul Hot on the heels of that development Google made their latest foray into social search Google Search Plus Your World (SPY World anyone) in early January Twitter for one lost it quite pub-licly announcing ldquoWersquore concerned that as a result of Googlersquos changes finding this infor-mation will be much harder for everyone We think thatrsquos bad for people publishers news organizations and Twitter usersrdquo Their con-cern stemmed partly from the possibility that Google might have been abusing their dominance in their core industry search to excel in the realm of social largely Twitterrsquos and Facebookrsquos territory to that point The old grumblings of antitrust resurfaced only to peter out again within a few months

Later in January Google again stunned users and analysts with the announcement of an amalgamated privacy policy one that would bring user data from all 60+ of their

services under one umbrella They said that this would be better for users Many dis-agreed some agencies threatened to inves-tigate and users protested yet perhaps the widest-ranging and most important change in Googlersquos policies went off as planned on April 1

Also in January a month marked by a flurry of announcements from the search giant Google changed the sign-up process for many of their services Those signing on for a Gmail or YouTube account were auto-matically assigned a Google+ account Prom-inent markers appeared in the navigation bar every time users visited a Google property urging them to check out their notifications on the social network

Why Engagement Is Incidental Only Google knows how effective this was at actually getting people to the site although I suspect that user engagement was only a secondary goal at best In response to a scathing WSJcom article ticking off the

ldquomounting minusesrdquo at Google+ I wrote an article explaining why low user counts and engagement might not matter to Google

Facebook has had to find outside partners nurture (and invest heavily in) the app envi-ronment and build out their ecosystem over a period of years in order to gain access to the type and depth of user data they need to power their advertisement business Google is transitioning the other way from an advertising and data powerhouse to a social platform They already have an incredible reach largely through their DoubleClick ad network and dozens of properties

They donrsquot need to seek out partners who offer services users might opt into to share data back and forth They already have the data theyrsquore collecting it from millions of websites and user actions often without the usersrsquo explicit knowledge that theyrsquore being tracked at the time Whereas Facebookrsquos data pool shows more intent on the part of usersmdashthey liked something they shared something elsemdashGoogle reigns supreme in

The State of Google+ One Year LaterGoogle Hasnrsquot Yet Carved Their Niche in Social but Do They Even Need To

by Miranda Miller

Google doesnrsquot need to seek out partners who offer

services users might opt into to share data back and

forth They already have the data theyrsquore collecting it from millions of websites

and user actions

Whereas Facebookrsquos data pool shows more intent

on the part of users Google reigns supreme in

the low-intent market

sesconferencecom bull SES 13

focusSOCIALMEDIA

the low-intent market They know when and where you check your email on your Android They know the types of videos you search for and watch on YouTube

This is a fantastic thing for advertisers For users hellip not so much Yet users sign up for Google accounts in droves opting into Google+ without a second thought Track-ing goes beyond the actions users take while signed in to a Google service interacting with a +1 button on a website for example could set a cookie allowing tracking over all Google properties for a period of time

The efforts of the W3C Tracking Protec-tion Working Group will have huge ramifi-cations for the online advertising industry especially for Google If users click a +1 social icon is that really an interaction with Google Have they really indicated the intent to share data with Google for the next 24 36 or 48 hours from every website they visit that might show Google ads These ques-tions have no answers right now but the

working group aims to define first and third parties Advertisers will not be satisfied with poorly targeted paid search and display ads so Google and other ad companies need the data However users need their privacy

ConclusionWhat we are seeing in the current online advertising environment is a precarious balancing act with Google perched square in the middle teetering from side to side Everyone in the industry and even in the mainstream media has their eyes on Google+ Google has certainly given us plenty to talk about Hangouts with Obama seemingly constant updates and new features and even a recent redesign complete with new naviga-tion and profile pages

We canrsquot forget though that Google+ is just one cog in the wheel that drives Googlersquos 44 stake in the $486 billion global adver-tising market (see report by ZenithOpti-media) While slick photos funny updates

and all manner of things are being shared or overshared on the front end of Google+ the real action occurs behind the scenes Google doesnrsquot really need you hanging out on the Google+ site all day long they just need you to have an account and do everything you would normally do on the web in the course of a daymdashand donrsquot mind if they tag along while you do it

Google VP Bradley Horowitz said it best in September when he proclaimed that

ldquoGoogle+ is Google itselfrdquo Indeed

A staff writer with Search En-

gine Watch Miranda Miller co-

ordinates the annual Translit-

eracy Conference for Ontario

educators manages a small

number of social media cam-

paigns through an agency and serves on the Ca-

nadian Hemophilia Societyrsquos Advisory Board for

their Code Rouge awareness project

common sense better than to the dollars and cents that our clientsrsquo creditors understand

In practice my firm generally limits our recommendations to the big three of Face-book Twitter and Google+ placing other social networks into an ldquoadvisably optionalrdquo category Our clients have enough difficulty wrapping their heads around Facebook and Twitter without worrying about other net-works We include Google+ in the mix only because of the ldquorel=authorrdquo support and because we believe that Google actively favors websites associated with Google+ profiles

Training businesses to promote their ideas and images on Facebook and Google+ is relatively easy and teaching them Twit-ter behaviors and etiquette is only slightly harder Even though we limit our advice to

the big three we still end up chasing clients to convince them to monitor and maintain their social networks We do recommend secondary social networks such as LinkedIn Pinterest and Foursquare as they apply to clients and as clients can afford our training and application rates

We know that we are missing traffic but we balance this drawback by being practical In cases where we have to act as social media coordinators for our small to medium-sized business clients exposing them to only the big three limits our need to bill for out-of-control charges for allotted work time It also helps to ease clients into expanding their own social media participation and interaction

ConclusionDigital marketing professionals have to make a lot of choices as we steer clients along the

social media learning curve By sticking to the most trafficked social networks and deploying assets in secondary ones as neces-sary my company believes that wersquove found a balance our clients can live with

SES Toronto will provide a valuable forum for Canadian practitioners to dis-cuss the problems inherent in social media marketing

Jim Hedger is a founding part-

ner of the Toronto-based

search and social media mar-

keting agency Digital Always

Media He has an extensive

background in SEO dating to

the late 1990s He leads the SEO and content cre-

ation teams at Digital Always Media

Doing Forensics on Fruit Salad

continued from page 11

14 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus CONVERSIONamp ROI

Conversion optimization has been around for a while but its benefits are hard to ignore These include reduced cost of acquisition through

digital marketing increased customer satis-faction and retention increased average rev-enue per order and improved search engine rankings In order to reap the rewards of an optimization program you need to know where to start what to avoid and how to develop your program for long-term success

Getting StartedDo-it-yourself small business owners digital marketers and web analysts tend to inherit a lot of excess baggage so focusing on only one or two sore spots on a website is often difficult Consider these top five places to start

1 Optimize paid search landing pages Look-ing for big impact right away Optimize those paid search landing pages and start counting the money you save on search marketing immediately Vary your value proposition urgency pricing product mix and form length

2 Examine internal search results pages Searches performed on your website often yield the best (and cheapest) way to judge the voice of the customer These searchers are committed visi-tors who probably arenrsquot finding what they want intuitively Look at queries with no results top queries that should be satisfied through navigation and perhaps synonyms you didnrsquot consider when writing creative

3 Enhance your help sections Areas on a website dedicated to helping people are most often frequented by loyal custom-ers who would rather solve problems on their own than cost you money by calling or emailing support staff Help them help you by optimizing help docs downloads and public service messages

4 Test product and service recommendations The art of the upsell is best exhibited by e-commerce giants such as Apple Ama-zon GoDaddy and Dell If yoursquore able to measure cart abandonment on your site yoursquore ready to start testing product and service recommendations to increase your average revenue per order

5 Evaluate pathways from top entry pages Entry pages to your site are a bit harder to optimize because referred traffic through search or other websites isnrsquot always continuous or predictable but itrsquos usually free Measure common path-ways from entry pages to determine how content can be changed to reduce bounce rate you may just improve your search rankings at the same time

Growing the BaseOnce yoursquove started building quick wins in your conversion optimization program yoursquoll want to maintain that momentum and expand your effort to other areas of your site Unfortunately many marketers fall into the trap of overoptimizing based on bad advice so try to avoid or at least question the fol-lowing five optimization tips that can hurt conversion rates

1 Tip to avoid Keep your copy short sharp concise Itrsquos hard to argue that trimming the overall content on a landing page would be anything but successful for most campaigns as it reduces the prob-ability that a landing page will over-whelm a prospect However providing less information may hurt overall con-version rates over time or worse still lower average revenue per order

2 Tip to avoid Remove or de-emphasize primary and secondary navigation from the template of your landing page Fewer escape routes make prospects more likely to continue along your chosen path However a lack of consistency

across the rest of your site may com-promise new visitorsrsquo trust and result in higher abandonment

3 Tip to avoid Add trust marks to your land-ing pages While I certainly can attest to the conversion lift that trust marks can provide on an e-commerce site landing pages are somewhat different In most cases getting visitors to click on links deeper in your site to privacy statements and certificates can be a more powerful way to convert skeptical prospects

4 Tip to avoid Boost your brand with tes-timonials and client logos In B2B cam-paigns association with large-scale brands with which you do business can boost conversion especially for start-ups but do your due diligence by seek-ing written approval for logo usage and recommendations The last thing you want is conflict with a long-term lucra-tive client

5 Tip to avoid Incentivize your prospects with freebies calls for urgency and pro-motions While these tactics can elicit a strong positive reaction among first-time visitors they can have very unde-sirable effects on lead quality Many visitors are conditioned to perform microconversions such as lead forms without reading anything else on a landing page Donrsquot be afraid to lose a few cheapskates on your landing pages who would otherwise sacrifice your profitability

Planning for the FutureNow that yoursquore well on your way to optimi-zation nirvana yoursquoll want to expand your program beyond online impact and start leveraging your online success for dramatic cross-channel maturity Here are five things to consider when bridging conversion opti-mization to business process optimization

The Conversion Optimization Life CycleWhich Advice Should You Follow and Which Should You Avoid in Structuring Your Optimization Program

by Garry Przyklenk

sesconferencecom bull SES 15

focusCONVERSIONamp ROI

1 Relate online customer pain points to front-line personnel Some of the best online optimizations can result in a cultural shift or reimaging of the offline sales process and vice versa Keep your sales and support members in the loop of online optimizations because your cross-channel prospects are often very similar

2 Try some of your companyrsquos own products and services The importance of stepping into your customersrsquo shoes cannot be overemphasized Irsquove done it on numer-ous occasions with a high degree of success It helps to assume an angry persona and pretend that you have less than five minutes to do anything that you need to do

3 Build new products and services with optimization in mind Build a culture of

conversion testing by baking it into the product or client life cycle Letrsquos face itmdasha lot can go wrong from initial con-ceptualization of a product or service to delivery especially when development cycles are really wrong

4 Leverage web analytics information and customer relationship management sys-tems (CRMs) Integration of web ana-lytics data with CRMs is much more common these days because businesses usually have a significant portion of their operations or interactions with customers through nonline channels

5 Analyze the competition Sometimes the best original score is a remix Think yoursquore smarter than your competitor Prove it by testing their ideas with your audience to find out what they might be doing better or worse

Although no two websites are exactly the same in terms of customer experience and behavior similarly structured products and services likely attract similar prospects and customers

For more guidance on conversion optimiza-tion be sure to visit one of the many optimi-zation sessions at SES this year

Garry Przyklenk manager of

analytics implementation at

TD Bank Group is an expert in

lead generation search engine

marketing web analytics and

social media marketing He has

successfully championed creative marketing cam-

paigns and executed on actionable insights in

several vertical markets

learn more about a different aspect of the industry For example if yoursquore an in-house SEO you may find yourself responsible for your companyrsquos social media You already know about Facebook LinkedIn and Twitter but you may not know which is right for your industry and the ways in which success will be defined Since a social media program is not just about ldquolikesrdquo and ldquofollowersrdquo align-ing it with corporate objectives to generate revenue is not a simple matter

At the other end are large organizations rolling out training to their employees Some allocate specific courses to individuals and make completion compulsory while others give employees access to the library of con-tent and encourage self-study in the areas that would be the most beneficial Online training is perfect for companies who do not

have the budget or time to send everyone to a course and allows each employee to receive a tailored syllabus

This kind of program can be comple-mented by an in-house training sessionmdasha course tailored to meet the specific objec-tives of the organization and held at the com-panyrsquos offices By blending online and class-room courses ClickZ Academy makes sure that employees from different offices arrive at the in-house portion with the same basic understanding so that their time together is maximized

Catch That Missed Session with Conference RecordingsBecause several concurrent content tracks run at SES conferences you may find that you are not able to attend every session that you would like Therefore we now offer recorded sessions from some conferences

The recordings sync the PowerPoint presen-tations and the videos simulating the experi-ence of being at the sessions This is a conve-nient way to catch up on any session that you missed or to share sessions with colleagues Available for purchase on the ClickZAcad-emy website recordings cover a number of tracks Recordings from SES London are now available and consist of the Kick Start PPC and Accelerator tracks

To learn more stop by the ClickZ table at SES Toronto or visit ClickZacademycom

Paul Fegan is head of e-learn-

ing at Incisive Media and is re-

sponsible for creating on-line

training content for all of its

brands He co-founded his own

e-learning company and has

been delivering online professional and CPD train-

ing since 2000

How ClickZ Academy Can Work for You

continued from page 1

16 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

sessions SES Toronto | June 11ndash13 2012 | hosted by

Day 1mdashMonday June 11

1030ndash1130amTrack 2Driving Mobile Traffic PPC amp SEOJump-start your mobile presence with these fundamentals for pre-senting content thatrsquos both SEO- and mobile-friendly Not fully ready for a mobile site Learn inexpensive and easy options to get started the right way From desktop and mobile to tablets smart-phones and feature phones wersquoll dive into key mobile differences for SEO and PPC and the strategies to drive and convert more mobile traffic

Moderator Gregg Stewart President 15 Miles

Speaker Jeff Allen Account Manager Hanapin Marketing

Speaker Jeremy Evans Director of Strategic Accounts Marin Software

1145ndash1245pmTrack 2Developing a Video Optimization amp Marketing CampaignThis session will use real-world examples to help you understand and master the entire video process including what to create how to optimize your video how to market it with search and social media and how to measure its real business impact

Moderator Sage Lewis President SageRockcom

Speaker Jonathan Allen Director Search Engine Watch

Speaker Greg Jarboe President amp Co-founder SEO-PR

200ndash300pmTrack 2Made in Canada Marketing Online WorldwideThis session will focus on specific challenges facing Canadian Internet marketers It will cover

bull How to balance Canadian and American content challenges in a consistent meaningful way (domains architecture content keyphrases etc)

bull How to compete in the US market as a Canadian business and not lose your Canadian online presence

bull The different results on Googlecom and Googleca from a search engine perspective and which consumers prefer the search enginesrsquo growing preferences for local

Moderator Andrew Goodman SES Advisory Board President Page Zero Media

Speaker Anne F Kennedy SES Advisory Board International Search Strategist Author Beyond Ink USA

Speaker Ian McAnerin CEO McAnerin International Inc

Speaker Ezra Silverton President 9th sphere

330ndash430pmTrack 3Content Marketing OptimizationOnline marketing is increasingly competitive and brand marketers worldwide are seeking real advantages that will improve the effi-ciency and impact of their social media and SEO efforts This ses-sion will provide unique insight into content-based optimization strategies and processes as well as tactics for sourcing creating and promoting optimized content on the social web

Speaker Matt McGowan Managing Director Americas Incisive Media

Krista LaRiviere CoFounder amp CEO gShift Labs

Speaker Lee Odden SES Advisory Board CEO TopRank Online Marketing

Speaker Jennifer Slegg CEO JenSense

Sample SessionsDownload the app or visit wwwSESTorontocom for complete agenda and session descriptions

sesconferencecom bull SES 17

sessionsDownload the app or visit SESNewYorkcom

Day 2mdashTuesday June 12

900ndash1000amTrack 2Social Media Solutions on a BudgetGetting your company or organization started with social media doesnrsquot have to be a pricey proposition In this session yoursquoll learn how to

bull Take advantage of great free and low-cost tools that cover man-aging conversations measuring reach and engagement and developingpublishing great content

bull Leverage lesser-known social media channels to increase expo-sure and reach

bull Create great social media friendly content to build trust and authority inexpensively

Moderator Laura Roth Conference Program amp Training Manager SES Conference amp Expo

Speaker Danny Iny Co-Founder Firepole Marketing

Speaker Krista Neher CEO Boot Camp Digital

130ndash230pmTrack 3From Keywords to ldquoBuy Wordsrdquo Finding High-Value Paid Search Keywords

ldquoProfessorsrdquo Van Wagner and Goodman will take you beyond garden-variety keyword lists to delve deeper into how user queries signal different kinds of intent You will learn how to go beyond the blind reading of ldquoafter-the-factrdquo ROI statistics how to anticipate how your most valuable searchers will express themselves with search que-ries and even how to subtly mold their preferences as they progress from search queries to your ads landing pages and transactions

Moderator Greg Jarboe President amp Co-founder SEO-PR

Speaker Andrew Goodman SES Advisory Board President Page Zero Media

Speaker Matt Van Wagner President Find Me Faster

300ndash400pmTrack 2Conquering the Growing Canadian Affiliate Marketing IndustryIn this session you will learn the following and more

bull Affiliate marketing in Canada is a viable growing traffic channel bull Online retail merchants need to educate and form strategic

partnerships with web publishers in order to generate traffic bull Establishing a successful Canadian affiliate marketing channel

requires sophisticated software development strategic market-ing and stability

bull Retail merchants need to be prepared to accommodate Canadian affiliate partnerships with the right tools in order for all parties to succeed

Speaker Nicky Senyard President Share Results

415ndash515pmTrack 1Maximizing ROI in e-Commerce with SearchAll e-commerce websites and e-tailers should be on top of certain ROI trends and opportunities This session will show you how to maximize ROI in e-commerce by leveraging one e-marketing chan-nel to improve the performance of another You will hear a series of combined channel campaign strategies along with case studies that illustrate how to maximize the ROI of your campaigns by taking advantage of low-hanging fruit

Moderator Chris Boggs SES Advisory Board Director SEO Rosetta

Speaker Guillaume Bouchard President CEO NVI

Speaker Elazar Gabay Vice President Performance Marketing LeSiteca

515ndash615pmSEW Eliminator QuizJoin us for the inaugural SEW Eliminator Quiz a pub-trivia-style networking event where you and your fellow marketers will compete to see who is the savviest and most knowledgeable marketer in the room Afterward yoursquoll have a chance to network with your favorite drink in hand

New YorkMarch

ShanghaiApril

TorontoJune -

San FranciscoAugust -

Hong KongSeptember ndash

BerlinOctober ndash

ChicagoNovember -

SingaporeNovember ndash

San DiegoFebruary

LondonFebruary

SES Conference amp Expo is the leading global event series that educates professionals in search and social marketing putting a special focus on tactics and best practices SES Events provide instructions from the industryrsquos top experts including representatives from the Search Engines themselves

World Tour ndash

SESConferencecom

Page 4: SES Magazine Toronto 2012

about SESWelcome to the Toronto issue of SES Magazine This issue features a roster of Canadian writers several of whom will be speaking at the SES Toronto Conference amp Showcase SES Toronto to be held on June 11ndash13 at the Hyatt Regency will consist of three days of break-through sessions covering search social mobile and display and will include these Canada-specific sessions

bull Made in Canada Marketing Online Worldwide bull Conquering the Growing Canadian Affiliate Marketing Industry

In addition to bringing back the very popular Meet the Experts Roundtable Forum wersquore inaugurating the SES Eliminator Quiz a networking event in which participants will compete to see who is the savviest marketer while enjoying an informal pub atmosphere

See pages 16ndash17 for sample sessionsTo make the most of your time in Toronto be sure to download the SES Toronto app The

most up-to-date agenda can also be found on the conference website SESTorontocomAnd donrsquot forget these upcoming events bull SES San Francisco August 13ndash17 Moscone West (SESSanFranciscocom) bull SES Hong Kong September 10ndash12 The Mira Hong Kong (SESHongKongcom) bull SES Berlin October 10ndash11 Kosmos Berlin (SESBerlincom) bull SES Chicago Hyatt Regency (SESChicagocom)

SES Toronto will provide a singular opportunity to learn actionable strategies and mingle with over 1000 C-level executives directors marketers and engineers from leading brands such as Google Microsoft Hewlett Packard and Bell Canada See you there

Best regards

Mike Grehan ChairSES AdviSory BoArd ChAirGloBAl vP ContEnt inCiSivE MEdiA

Matt McGowan MAnAGinG dirECtor north AMEriCAinCiSivE MEdiA

SES ADVISORY BOARD

Comprised of both industry thought leaders and real-world practitioners the SES advisory board brings together top players in the field of interactive media and search The team works to deliver continually cutting-edge search techniques more integrated and relevant content and professional development resources to SES attendees

Mike Grehan ChairGloBAl vP ContEnt SESSEArCh EnGinE WAtChCliCkZ

Bryan EisenbergBEStSEllinG AuthorBryAnEiSEnBErGCoM

Jon MyershEAd of ACCount MAnAGEMEntyAhoo uk amp irElAnd

Jonathan AllendirECtor SEArChEnGinEWAtCh

Paul FeganhEAd of E-lEArninG inCiSivE MEdiA

Lee OddenCEotoPrAnk onlinE MArkEtinG

Matthew BaileyPrESidEntSitE loGiC MArkEtinG

Andrew GoodmanPrESidEntPAGE ZEro MEdiA

Giovanni RodriguezdiGitAl And SoCiAl StrAtEGy dEloittE ConSultinG llP

Chris BoggsdirECtor SEo roSEttA

Bill HuntPrESidEntBACk AZiMuth ConSultinG

Laura RothConfErEnCE ProGrAM amp trAininG MAnAGErSES ConfErEnCE amp ExPo

Mikel ChertudiSr dirECtor onlinE amp dEMAnd MArkEtinG AdoBE

Aaron KahlowChAirMAn amp foundEr onlinE MArkEtinG SuMMit

Crispin SheridanSr dirECtor of SEArCh MArkEtinG StrAtEGySAP

Eddie ChoiMAnAGinG dirECtorfrontiErS diGitAl

Anne F KennedyintErnAtionAl SEArCh StrAtEGiStBEyond ink uSA

staffMatt McGowan

Md north AMEriCA

Mike GrehanGloBAl vP ContEnt

Sharon MorabitohEAd of EvEntS AMEriCAS

Program Development

ConfErEnCE ProGrAM MAnAGEr

ConfErEnCE ProduCEr

Laura RothAnna Lee

OperationsoPErAtionS MAnAGEr

rEGiStrAtion ASSoCiAtE

Kim KiedaischCharisse Rosales

ClickZ amp Search Engine WatchExECutivE Editor CliCkZ

dirECtor SEW

SEnior Editor nEWS

StAff WritEr

CoPy Editor

ASiA dESk Editor

Anna Maria VirziJonathan AllenKate KayeChristopher HeineCaitlin RossmanAdaline Lau

Sales amp MarketingSAlES dirECtorS

ACCount ExECutivE

dirECtor CliEnt SErviCES

MArkEtinG dirECtor

MArkEtinG MAnAGEr

MArkEtinG ASSoCiAtE

WEB dESiGnEr

onlinE oPErAtionS MAnAGEr

onlinE oPErAtionS ASSoCiAtE

Andrew KatzElaine MershonElaine RomeoPeter WesterholmElizabeth HustonJoAnn SimonelliAngela ManAmy XuPloy TangtrakulRebecca HolzLouise LabergeAleksey Gershin

MagazineEditor

ContriButorS

Dawn CavalieriJulie BattenDave DaviesPaul FeganAndrew GoodmanJim HedgerMiranda MillerGarry Przyklenk

CorporateChiEf ExECutivE

GrouP MAnAGinG dirECtor

Tim WellerJames Hanbury

SES Volume 6 Issue 3 | June 2012copy 2012 Incisive Media plc

To subscribe contribute or view past issues visitwwwsesconferencecomses-magazine

To advertise contact sales at salessesconferencecom or +1 (212) 457-4993

Comments Want to unsubscribe E-mail us atmagazinesesconferencecom

Incisive Media US55 Broad Street 22nd fl New York NY 10004-2501tel +1 (646) 736-1888fax +1 (646) 390-6612

Incisive Media head office28-29 Haymarket HouseLondon SW1Y 4RX UKtel +44 (0)20 7316 9609fax +44 (0)20 7930 2238

sesconferencecom bull SES 3

sponsors ampexhibitorsDownload the app or visit SESTorontocom

PLATINUM SPONSOR

Google Engage with AgencieswwwgooglecomGooglersquos innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day Founded in 1998 by Stanford PhD students Larry Page and Sergey Brin Google today is a top web property in all major global markets Googlersquos targeted advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measur-able results while enhancing the overall web experience for users Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas Europe and Asia For more information visit wwwgooglecom

GOLD SPONSOR

BingSponsored SessionswwwbingcomSearch advertising with Microsoft helps you efficiently reach your next best customermdashwithin your budget and with the support you need to get started and optimized and measure your results

SILVER SPONSOR

The Search AgencyTable 5wwwthesearchagencycomThe Search Agency is a global online marketing firm that combines high-tech and high-touch online marketing strategies to deliver new customers and measure ROI beyond a reasonable doubt Ser-vices include paid search SEO landing page optimization display media social media and affiliate program management As the largest and fastest-growing independent search marketing agency in the US (Advertising Age May 2012) and among Deloittersquos 2011 Technology Fast 500 The Search Agency is now bringing over a decade of experience and expertise to Canada Founded in 2002 The Search Agency has grown to more than 200 employees worldwide with Canadian headquarters in Toronto and additional offices in Los Angeles San Francisco East Greenwich Baltimore Tampa London Sydney and Bangalore For more information go to httpwww thesearchagencycom

EXHIBITORS

AdLeadsTable 4wwwadleadscomAdLeads is the industryrsquos first self-serve mobile signup ad platform With AdLeads businesses of all sizes can run ads on top iPhone iPad and Android apps They only pay when someone signs up to hear from themmdashand never for wasted clicks or impressions Hun-dreds of businesses and agencies like childrenrsquos publisher Paper Hat Press Brooklyn-based restaurant Nita Nita and Australian mobile marketing agency Mobile Marketers have used AdLeads to get new customers and grow their businesses

ClickZ Academy and RecruitmentTable 10wwwclickzacademycomClickZ helps develop the careers of professional marketers either through its education program or its recruitment web site This builds on its position as the largest resource of interactive market-ing news information commentary advice opinion research and reference in the world online or off From search to social technol-ogy to trends our coverage is expert exclusive and in-depth

gShift Labs Web Presence OptimizertradeTable 7wwwgshiftlabscom gShift Labsrsquo industry leading SEO software system Web Presence Optimizertrade (WPO) helps marketers and agencies more efficiently and effectively monitor and report on SEO campaigns gShiftrsquos patent-pending WPO software provides insight into an entire web presencemdashwebsite blogs press releases social media and analyt-icsmdashby reporting organic rank data backlinks social signals and competitive intelligence all of which contribute to the goal of rank-ing higher organically in the search engines

The fundamentals of SEO still matter however SEO in 2012 is about social signals (Facebook YouTube Twitter LinkedIn Google+ and Pinterest) and fresh content (blogs and press releases)

Track manage measure and report web presence analytics data all in one place using gShiftrsquos SEO monitoring and reporting software Organizations of all sizes benefit by reducing the time and resources required to analyze and improve organic search optimization

gShift Labs can be contacted at 1-866-743-5960 by emailing salesgShiftLabscom or by visiting wwwgshiftlabscom

Sponsor Showcase Hours Monday June 11 1000amndash630pm | Tuesday June 12 1000amndash300pm

4 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

sponsors ampexhibitors SES Toronto | June 11ndash13 2012

Marin SoftwareTable 1wwwmarinsoftwarecomMarin Software is a leading provider of online advertising man-agement solutions offering an integrated platform for managing search display and social marketing The company provides solu-tions for advertisers and agencies of all sizes enabling them to improve financial performance save time and make better deci-sions Marin Enterprise the companyrsquos flagship product addresses the needs of online marketers spending at least $100000 per month on biddable media Marin Professional delivers the same power and ease of use as Marin Enterprise through an application designed for marketers spending less than $100000 per month on paid search Headquartered in San Francisco with offices worldwide Marinrsquos technology powers marketing campaigns for over 850 cus-tomers managing more than $25 billion of annualized ad spend in more than 160 countries

9th sphereTrack Sponsorwww9thspherecom9th sphere is a full-service web design and Internet marketing solu-tions provider focused on delivering a strong ROI for our clients Since 1997 they have put their award-winning expertise to work earning recognition for effectiveness in design development and marketing resultsndashdriven websites 9th sphere is proud to offer top industry experts state-of-the-art technology and exceptional cus-tomer care that produces smart and powerful website solutions and real results for a wide variety of businesses This ultimately pro-vides a solid service value from which clients prosper Learn about the 9th sphere Advantage at httpwww9thspherecom

NVI SolutionsSponsored SessionwwwnvisolutionscomNVI is a full-service digital marketing agency We leverage our internal tools our broad and diversified experience and the larg-est bilingual staff of experts in the country to serve our customers NVI is known for its resourcefulness and business ability to execute strategic plans that are performance-centric

NVI relies on the ingenuity of its web marketing strategies and the collective energy of its employees to offer the best return on investment to its customers

Page Zero MediaReception SponsorwwwpagezerocomPage Zero Media is a full service digital marketing agency focus-ing especially on paid search (SEM) display advertising and other forms of effective audience targeting Led by founder and president Andrew Goodman the company is headquartered in Toronto Can-ada Clients include Postmedia Digital Canon Direct Energy Wave Accounting and Nutscom Page Zero is a Google AdWords Certified Agency

Reprise MediaTable 3wwwreprisemediacomReprise Media Canada is a full-service search marketing agency Our core business is based on search engine marketing (pay-per-click) search engine optimization (SEO) and social media market-ing Reprise Media Canada offers best-in-class search marketing strategies employed by a team of industry-recognized talents and applies an agenda of innovation to produce breakthrough results for our clients Come see us at Table 3 on June 1112

Search Engine People IncTable 2wwwsearchenginepeoplecomSearch Engine People Inc is one of Canadarsquos oldest and most respected search agencies Since 2001 SEP has helped a wide range of clients (from Fortune 500 to small and medium-size companies) secure business from the web SEP is a Google Adwords Qualified Company and Yahoo Search Marketing Ambassador and is Micro-soft adExcellence certified The company was also named one of the

ldquoTop 25 Up-and-Coming Canadian IT Companiesrdquo by the Branham Group in 2006

SEPrsquos services include search engine optimization (SEO) paid search management (PPC) social media marketing (SMM) online reputation management usability and more Whether yoursquore look-ing to compete in an ultra-competitive space or to dramatically increase your local presence SEP can help

Stop by our booth and talk to our knowledgeable expertsGet Foundtrade

SEMPO CanadaTable 8wwwsempocaSEMPO is the largest nonprofit trade organization in the world serving the search and digital marketing industry and marketing professionals engaged in it

Whether you are a search or social marketing professional or use search and social as part of your profession SEMPO provides the programs and resources to help you succeed

Our activities center on education networking and research To support our educational mission we provide a professional webi-nar series 101 webinar series and quarterly education programs Our local groups provide opportunities to network throughout the world and we also conduct the industryrsquos most respected research We provide members with discounts to training programs and industry events and a robust job board

Learn more at wwwSEMPOorg infoSEMPOorg

SEMRushBadge Booklet SponsorwwwsemrushcomSEMRush provides users with invaluable competitive intelligencemdashtracking the top 95 million keywords and 42 million domains SEMRush data currently includes 10 of the most popular regional

sesconferencecom bull SES 5

Table s on right

Affiliate amp Performance-Based Marketing SolutionsThe Search Agency 5Training Business Pros 6

Display Advertising Marin Software 1Page Zero Media Sponsor

General Search Engines Bing Sponsor

Interactive Marketing Agencies 9th sphere Sponsor

Interactive Marketing Associations amp Publications SEMPO Canada 8

Internet Associations Society of Internet

Professionals 9

Link Building Search Engine People Inc 2SEMRush Sponsor

Local Search Marketing Services amp Directories Bing Sponsor

Marketing Optimization Solutions Marin Software 1Training Business Pros 6

Mobile amp Rich Media Advertising Solutions AdLeads 4

Organic Search Marketing gShift Labs Web

Presence Optimizertrade 79th sphere SponsorNVI Solutions SponsorPage Zero Media SponsorReprise Media 3The Search Agency 5Search Engine People Inc 2

Pay-Per Click Networks amp Management Services NVI Solutions SponsorSearch Engine People Inc 2

Search Marketing Agencies 9th sphere SponsorNVI Solutions Sponsorpage Zero Media SponsorReprise Media 3The Search Agency 5

Search Marketing Software gShift Labs Web

Presence Optimizertrade 7Marin Software 1SEMRush Sponsor

Specialized Search Engines (Multimedia Mobile Shopping International etc) Bing Sponsor

Training Courses amp Certification in Search Marketing ClickZ Academy and

Recruitment 10Training Business Pros 6

Web Analytics gShift Labs Web

Presence Optimizertrade 7Reprise Media 3SEMRush Sponsor

product amp service guide

Google databases as well as US Bing and returns extensive met-rics relative to both organic and paid traffic (both AdWords and AdSense) as well as backlink info

SEMRush can reveal just what keywords your competitors are ranking for what campaigns theyrsquore running what their budget looks like and what kind of traffic they generate Thus it can pro-vide all the ammo one needs to effectively optimize run impactful campaigns and increase overall traffic and revenue

Society of Internet Professionals (SIP)Table 9wwwsipgrouporgThe Society of Internet Professionals (SIP) is an international not-for-profit association based in Canada Since 1997 SIP has upheld professional standards for Internet professionals Our ongoing activities include spearheading strategic partnerships offering edu-cational programs and running networking events

Becoming a professional member of SIP and abiding by our Professional Code of Ethics gives you instant credibility and com-petitive advantage in the marketplace You gain access to exclusive members-only information privileges and offers and you secure a place in a network of serious individuals and organizations focused on success through excellence

Take the first step today by signing up for a free SIP Associate Membership (no dues) Join 10000 SIP Associates who benefit from Affinity Programs and stay informed of upcoming events and valu-able offers via our monthly newsletter for FREE

As part of our 14th anniversary celebrations attendees of the SES Show who sign up at wwwsipgrouporg will be eligible to receive a discount of 50 for the first year of Professional Member-ship dues

For more information and to become a member visit www sipgrouporg

Contact Max Haroon President tel (416) 891-4937 (info sipgrouporg)

Training Business ProsTable 6wwwtrainingbusinessproscom

Training Business Pros is Canadarsquos leading internet market-ing training company offering over 100 intensive business train-ing opportunities throughout North America every year Our cli-ents have exploded their sales in the millions and trainees have increased their personal market value exponentially

Since 2007 Training Business Pros has helped over 22 thousand businesses adopt and adapt internet marketing and social media strategies Whether you are a start-up or a Fortune 500 company it is essential to get valuable information fast in order to get massive results within a short period of time

Visit Table 6 to claim your free introductory training Or learn live from our CEO Paul Tobey on stage June 12th at

235 pm to 255 pm You will learn how 20 minutes a day can dramatically boost your

rankings and how the social media wheel can be the secret sauce to your back-linking strategy

6 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus COVER STORY

Breaking Out of the ldquo+1rdquo MindsetCanada is Losing the Digital Innovation Race How Can It Become More Competitive

by Andrew Goodman

Canada has weathered the economic downturn better than any other G7 nation With a high level of eco-nomic cultural and technological

development and a favorable trading rela-tionship and cultural integration with the US it can hardly be described as hurting Since nothingrsquos terribly broken creating a sense of urgency around living up to our true poten-tial is hard

Some of us feel a constant urge to do bet-ter most of us do not The most likely way to propagate this feeling is to deliberately and systematically push onersquos peers to improve Thatrsquos how it is in organized sports Thatrsquos how it is at SES conferences And thatrsquos how Canadians ought to behave when it comes to technological innovation and business competitiveness

Caution Rather Than CompetitionCanadian caution is dangerously close to an insidious disease complacency For over a century wersquove contentedly enjoyed the ben-efits of our ldquo+1rdquo relationship with the pow-erful innovator to the south Wersquove sat back and waited while dynamic enterprises and innovations were created in the US Instead of competing our businesses have often dawdled watched and withered as compa-nies like Target Wal-Mart and Home Depot moved in and took over

In high technology the decline of a sin-gle leader like Research in Motion (RIM) is enough to throw the entire country into a panic Without the Blackberry what have we given the world Sidney Crosby and maple syrup (Ok a few other things like insulin and the telephone)

The situation isnrsquot that bad But it is a function of a complacent culture that othersrsquo successes (the successes of bold non-Cana-dian tall poppies) are claimed as onersquos own as long as itrsquos convenient with very little done to create an atmosphere that fosters innova-tionmdashuntil it becomes painfully obvious that a single flagship high-tech success story isnrsquot going to cut it

Unfortunately many of the traits that help entrepreneurs feel relatively accepted in the US arenrsquot baked into Canadian culture As a result itrsquos harder to develop a critical mass of digitally savvy companies tech tal-ent investors and other elements that cre-ate clusters of innovation and dynamism If you massage the data enough (as Richard Florida does) you can refer to the broader region around the Greater Toronto Area as a creative cluster However this region is punching well below its weight when it comes to the je ne sais quoi of creating great growth companies This ultimately causes relative backwardness in a whole range of interrelated realms from soft skills needed to staff up fast-growing startups to con-sumer expectations of online retailers The commonality is expectations and standards unless theyrsquore raised they stay too lowmdashif there are any at all

The e-Commerce LagWhere do Canadians shop when we do buy online One of our largest homegrown retailersmdashCanadian Tire which absorbed apparel and sporting-goods giant Forzani Group forming a retail empire of a decent sizemdashonly recently relaunched its website with the capacity to order items online The company had taken a two-year hiatus from e-commerce reverting to a website that offered information about products avail-able in physical stores and various episodic microsites (see article in The Globe and Mail ) Frankly management is living in the same time warp that many other top managers of large Canadian enterprises are in Slow growth in a high-growth area like e-commerce is unacceptable if Canadian-owned companies want to survive it opens up the playing field to US companies that are good at plugging in their existing highly optimized operations

Retail may not be the only measure of the health of a nation but online retail is surely the bellwether for the state of a digital nation Here again average Canadians couldnrsquot care

less and would dissent from this obvious point In their view because more of us have broadband use Facebook send text mes-sages etc wersquore more digitally savvy than other countries including the US Suremdashbut thatrsquos like saying that buying a cute new gym bag makes you a fashion pioneer Itrsquos nice to enjoy whatrsquos made available to you but it doesnrsquot compare at all with say investing in a company that grows into a global fashion label (On that note kudos to Lululemon a wildly successful Canadian brand that is one of the exceptions that prove the rule)

Canadians all too often like to partici-pate in the excitement of advanced trends and taste the fruits of othersrsquo innovation but wouldnrsquot have a clue how to spearhead anything Nor do they quite understand why you would need or want to Thatrsquos the kind of mindset that develops during a century and a half of living in a branch-plant economy

A November 11 article from IBM (cit-ing Forrester research) notes that Canada is behind the US in e-commerce spending and growing more slowly The percentagesmdash54 of total retail sales in Canada versus 60 in the USmdashmake the two countries seem fairly close but 6 of $32 trillion is immense com-pared to 54 of $370 billion Since ad spends website infrastructure and consulting time donrsquot make economic sense below a certain size a chicken-egg problem sets in custom-ers arenrsquot served as well research isnrsquot done ads and content arenrsquot crafted well check-outs donrsquot work as they should and so on The domestic Canadian e-commerce market poses a huge challenge for all but the largest players This makes it all the more frustrat-ing that those large players at least donrsquot recognize the need for urgency and invest-ment Instead of comparing themselves to their peers they should compare themselves to strong players around the globe

Weak Unprofitable Online Marketing Strategies Only a handful of Canadian retail web-site owners and managers know the key

sesconferencecom bull SES 7

focusCOVER STORY

to reaching the big leagues after testing and optimizing your model you can power your way into the top-grossing elite largely through an aggressive targeted online mar-keting spend Thatrsquos no sales pitch thatrsquos how the math works Many businesses appear to forget the enormous cost of the infrastruc-ture and overhead that get them to the table Once they are at that already expensive table the investment is wasted if the resulting revenue remains pitifully low because the method for actually getting new customers is ldquohope pray and DIY on-page SEOrdquo

Winning online businesses have grow-ing revenues (and to be sure marketing spends) that eventually reduce overhead and infrastructure costs to manageable (ide-ally trivial) proportions Losing ones build a large infrastructure and do nothing with it Since only a few companies are getting it right there is a very small pool of exemplars to show the way and wishful thinking sub-stitutes for action

We donrsquot find a Canadian company on the Internet Retailerrsquos Top 500 Guide (as of late April 2012) which ranks B2C retailers in the US and Canada based on online sales until number 152 The Shopping Channel owned by Rogers Media Lululemon Athletica is at 229 nowmdashfor them the skyrsquos the limit ALDO Group (shoes) and Mountain Equip-ment Co-Op (outdoor gear) deserve props at 390 and 395 respectively Unfortunately many Canadian entrepreneursmdashto say noth-ing of large retailersmdasharenrsquot aiming at mak-ing lists like this many havenrsquot even heard of them

Governmentrsquos Share of Blame Canada is falling behind in the global innova-tion race because ldquoCanadian business itself

hellip choose[s] deliberately not to pursue busi-ness strategies that rely on innovation as there [are] easier ways of making profitsrdquo So argue Marcel Cocircteacute founding partner of stra-tegic management consulting firm SECOR and Robert Miller engineer at Eacutecole Poly-technique de Montreacuteal in a recent report

(citing research by the Council of Canadian Academies)

Certainly government has played a role in allowing Canadian companies to be weakened largely through inaction and misappropriation of subsidy funds All gov-ernments sit on and distributemdashin the aggre-gatemdashlarge pools of business development capital and research funding and Canada is no exception Yet funds often trickle out to laggard players or subsidize the operations of established noninnovating companies Powerhouses like RIM return far more to the economy (in the form of jobs spinoffs RampD and tax revenues) than any breaks and incentives they receive A business colum-nist recently described the high-ROI govern-ment incentives that help create blockbust-ers like RIM as ldquofederal largesserdquo Largesse To Research in Motion I think we got our moneyrsquos worth

The lack of similar ldquolargesserdquo to identi-fiable very tall poppies has led to repeated missed opportunities and the lack of role models and good jobs in manufacturing RampD and software The denial of incentives to high-tech firm Mitel in the early 1980s is a salient example (see Donald J Savoiersquos 2009 book Irsquom from Bouctouche Me Roots Matter) the deal would have created thousands of

new telecommunications equipment jobs in Atlantic Canada This attitude has also resulted in the bankruptcy of companies (like Mitel) that could have become global leaders and precursors of other successful companies

What We Can DoIf government wonrsquot make the right moves how can Canadian companies improve on our own We must leave behind the old +1 instincts and the peer pressure to do just well enough Here are some suggestions

bull Avoid the grand narratives Coverage of traditional monopoly sectors such as financial mining and telecom-munications dominates the Canadian business media and only obvious successes are deemed noteworthy In terms of trends in advertising and digital culture little insight or encouragement is to be found in traditional media Look for validation elsewhere in your peer group at industry events among your customers and yes even in other countries

bull Quit scoffing at data Yes our clientsrsquo customers really do buy pecans switchplates furniture dishwasher parts soil remediation equipment and paella pans online Canadiansmdasheven those making digital marketing their career through formal certification coursesmdashhave a nasty habit of assuming that because people like them

ldquowould never click on thatrdquo or ldquowould never buy something like that onlinerdquo itrsquos helpful or insightful to share this preconceived notion The easy work is to hop onto the coattails of some large hip brand and recommend very gradual approaches to budgeting the marketing spend despite the millions in sunk costs (infrastructure office

Unfortunately many of the traits that help

entrepreneurs feel relatively accepted in

the US arenrsquot baked into Canadian culture As a result itrsquos harder to

develop a critical mass of digitally savvy companies

tech talent investors and other elements

that create clusters of innovation and dynamism

continues on page 8

Donrsquot miss these Sesssions at SES Toronto bull Made in Canada Marketing Online WorldwidemdashMonday June 11 200pmndash300pm bull Conquering the Growing Canadian Affiliate Marketing IndustrymdashTuesday June 12 300pmndash400pm

Register

8 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus COVER STORY

space website buildout etc) that make the operation wildly unprofitable on the whole (though seemingly cautious when only the variable costs are taken into account) Do the hard work and stop dismissing what is in fact real consumer behavior screaming for granular analysis

bull Know the role models Many young Canadians Irsquove encountered in formal business courses were not aware of Techcrunch Yelp Zappos and many other mainstays of digital business culture This is inexcusable The best students are the self-taught exceptions Therersquos no guarantee that these self-starters will get great jobs out of the gate but over time they usually prevail

bull Look for smart partners and communities Canada is full of half-baked digital companies that go nowhere fueled by family money and vanity investments Dumb money loses out to savvy skill and passion

bull Risk your own money Funding at the appropriate stage can be an important accelerator but the founders of companies like FreshBooks Acquisio PlentyofFish and HomeStars put in their own money perhaps with the support of family and friends before they did formal fundraising Itrsquos not always possible to bootstrap but companies like these prove that you donrsquot have to raise huge sums of money

to reach the next level You do have to have the entrepreneurial 24-7 mindset

bull Embrace digital jobs as normal If ordinary Canadians donrsquot become conversant with the leading edge of technology and digital enterprise the best minds will continue to drain away due to a lack of both opportunity and peers Our industry needs to be normalized and valued as simply a part of the economy Today wersquore still seen as representing either of two extremesmdashtaking insane risks and living in a cardboard box or lucking into lottery-like wealthmdashas if the profession is worth discussing only for its financial upside not for its substance Until people get it itrsquoll be up to us to evangelize the merits of things like search and display advertising (better targeting) online procurement (reducing friction in the economy) and all of that good stuff Yes it was obvious in 1999 but that doesnrsquot mean people are quite comfortable with it yet

ConclusionNot everyone is going to create the next Radian6 The Internet Retailerrsquos Top 500 is pretty rarefied territory and represents more success than the vast majority of startupsmdashlet alone well-known established retailersmdashcan attain However Canadians should at least be benchmarking themselves against these success stories rather than the semi-successful company down the street The real problem of course is that the comfort level of doing ldquojust so wellrdquo is tempting It may even seem irrational to want to reach a

levels of success far ahead of what is needed to maintain a great lifestyle

The driven minority though seek to have something more impressive than ldquo+1rdquo engraved on their tombstones If and when they do succeed you can bet that the aver-age Canadian and the creators of grand nar-ratives will be only too happy to take partial credit hellip not to mention taxing the bejeesus out of them

Andrew Goodman is founder

and President of Toronto-based

Page Zero Media a full-service

marketing agency founded in

2000 He is also co-founder of

Traffickcom an award-winning

industry commentary site and author of Winning Results with Google AdWords

Breaking Out of the ldquo+1rdquo Mindset

continued from page 7 Canadians should at least be benchmarking themselves against the Internet Retailerrsquos Top 500 rather than the

semi-successful company down the street The real problem of course is that the comfort level of doing ldquojust so wellrdquo is tempting

The driven minority though seek to have

something more impressive than ldquo+1rdquo engraved on

their tombstones

sesconferencecom bull SES 9

focusMARKETING INSIGHTS

If you live and work in Canada you may think of the Internet as a free space in which to share ideas sell products and interact with others with no restrictions

other than those imposed by the Canadian government for the protection of its people Itrsquos reasonable to believe that if you com-ply with these laws you will maintain the health of your website Unfortunately this isnrsquot entirely the case The United States gov-ernment has significant power over how the Internet functions right down to how you use your domain name and how the 1s and 0s on which your site travels are treated

Domain Name OwnershipMany people donrsquot realize that they donrsquot actu-ally own their own domain names they rent them Itrsquos a subtle difference but when com-bined with the fact that the US government owns and controls the com top-level domain (TLD) it brings up a whole new set of con-cerns as the owners of Bodogcom discovered

Bodogcom was a Canadian-owned online gambling site In February the US Depart-ment of Justice and Homeland Security Investigations seized the domain name while a US federal grand jury charged its four owners with conducting an illegal sports gambling site and conspiracy to commit money laundering The indictment alleges that Bodog moved at least $100 million from offshore accounts to bettors in Maryland

ldquoSports betting is illegal in Maryland and federal law prohibits bookmakers from flout-ing that law simply because they are located outside the countryrdquo stated US attorney Rod J Rosenstein (quoted by USA Today)

As this case shows the US government can seize any com site regardless of the loca-tion of the business operation or its hosting provider This principle of government own-ership is logical for country-based domains (such as ca) where the issuing government can take control of a domain rented by one of its citizens but com is the Internet go-to for countless non-US businesses You may think

ldquoThatrsquos OK I donrsquot run a poker siterdquo Just bear

in mind that since you donrsquot own your com domain the US government could confiscate it however unlikely that may be

SOPA and PIPAYoursquod be wrong to think that the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) would not affect your Canadian busi-ness If you use or provide resources (or letrsquos be honest are believed to provide resources) that are deemed unacceptable by the US gov-ernment your site could be blocked your search traffic eliminated and more Although neither bill has passed similar legislation probably will

ldquoIrsquom not worried I donrsquot run an illegal torrent siterdquo you may say The laws as they were drafted apply to any copyright infringe-ment and designate the website owner as the culpable party For example if you operate a forum and one of its members posts content from say a movie script your site could be blocked and search engine traffic eliminated This would be a big punishment for adding a forum to your site in hopes of engaging visi-tors While Irsquom not stating that the US gov-ernment would go to this extreme every time a law like SOPA or PIPA could make your site a target however innocent your intentions

Net Neutrality LegislationWhile I hold the unpopular opinion that ISPs have a right to charge what they like for their bandwidth and that the free market should sort out what this means there is no doubt that US rules and regulations regard-ing net neutrality would have a major impact on Canadian site owners The speed of your site is dependent on the speed of the Inter-net between your web host and the visitor If your visitors are in the US or if your site is hosted there you would be affected

You may point out ldquoMy site is hosted in Canada and my clients are in Canadardquo Unless your clients are in close proximity to your host your data is going to take various routes between the site and visitors Many tests I ran from my office in Victoria BC to

websites across Canada passed through the US at one point or another Net neutrality legislation would have an influence on these paths

Data SecurityMany of us collect data on our sites many of us store this data on our servers Under the law the US government can seize or review this data at any time if your site is hosted at a US hosting facility

You may ask ldquoBut Irsquom not storing any-thing illegal so who caresrdquo Your clients may If yoursquore a lawyer or doctor or if you store any other information on your server that may be deemed confidential you may be violating the law in hosting it in an environ-ment that is subject to seizure

What You Can DoThe purpose of this article isnrsquot to scare you Irsquove done business primarily in the US and hosted the Beanstalk site there since the company was formed and I havenrsquot had any issues stemming from these laws That said itrsquos extremely important to understand and monitor the direction that legislation is tak-ing and the potential impact and to safe-guard yourself against litigation embarrass-ment reduced or eliminated traffic slower speeds for your visitors etc Knowing whatrsquos happening and how it affects your website will help you react quickly

For example if network neutrality legis-lation fails and ISPs are given more freedom in how they charge for bandwidth ensuring that yoursquore hosted on a network with priority should be step one And you might as well buy that ca domain as a backup After all just because yoursquore being paranoid doesnrsquot mean yoursquore wrong

Dave Davies is CEO of Bean stalk

SEO Services an organic SEO

firm in Victoria BC He wrote the

second edition of SitePointrsquos s

Kit and hosts a weekly radio

show on Webmaster Radio

Beyond the BorderThe Impact of US Laws on Canadian Site Owners

by Dave Davies

10 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus MARKETING INSIGHTS

Searching for a new digital agency is a lot like searching for a mate you spend a lot of time seeing other peo-ple (the RFP process) you eventually

narrow it down to a handful of prospects (the short-list) and eventually you think yoursquove found ldquothe onerdquo (the winning agency) After much wooing and negotiation you agree to move in together (onboarding) and the real

ldquogetting to know each otherrdquo officially begins (the client-agency relationship)

The first couple of months are usu-ally pretty blissful both parties are filled with hope and positivity about the excit-ing adventures (programstactics) to come But you inevitably find out things that you didnrsquot know before and that you may not like Things get a bit bumpy and you start to become disenfranchised with your part-ner Gradually everything starts to unravel

mdashall of a sudden a year has gone by and yoursquore threatening to break up if your mate (agency) doesnrsquot get his or her act together

It doesnrsquot have to be this way There is a way to maintain the honeymoon period indefinitely It really starts with choosing the right partner in the first place Onboarding a new agency is a huge investment so make sure that the agency you choose is going to work out in the long term Ask the following questions about a prospective agency before making your decision

Do the Agencyrsquos Skills Closely Align to Your NeedsRelationship Buster While this may seem obvious often client-agency relationships fail due to mismatches between the cli-entsrsquo needs and the agenciesrsquo competen-cies Agencies do a good job of downplaying their weaknesses and selling their strengths sometimes giving clients distorted represen-tations of their capabilities Clients can also become enamored of specific strengths that arenrsquot even top priorities for the firms

Relationship Saver Have a clear understand-ing of what you need and what yoursquore looking

for in an agency and consistently apply that as a filter when evaluating potential part-ners It is critical that you choose an agency based on a realistic evaluation of your needs and whether their core competencies align with these If yoursquore looking for a digital agency that can offer innovative solutions to engage your audience donrsquot let yourself get wooed by a flashy creative presentation unless yoursquore sure that they have the chops to deliver on the technology side Alterna-tively if you already have a skilled IT team in house and really need a strong strategic and creative shop be sure that they can bring their creative A-game

Does the Agency Have the Proven Ability to DeliverRelationship Buster Clients sometimes under-estimate the importance of delivery in digi-tal programs It is easy to get distracted by cutting-edge solutions and fail to consider whether these programs can realistically be deployed on time on budget and at a high-quality level

Relationship Saver Verify agenciesrsquo track records in deploying similar solutions in a timely and efficient manner They should be able to provide case studies of similar work successfully delivered for other clients and clearly articulate their process for taking a high-level solutionstrategy to detailed tactical implementation plans Strong proj-ect management competence is critical to

ensure that projects are delivered within budget and timelines They should also be able to demonstrate that they have sufficient resources in place to deliver on multiple con-current work streams

Does the Agency Play Well with OthersRelationship Buster Most clients have mul-tiple agency partnersmdashtypically at least a creativeoffline agency and a media agency in addition to their digital agency Clients sometimes assume that all partners will work towards a common goal and that inte-gration will naturally take place However some agencies tend toward a protective or even combative nature when working with other agencies creating a host of problems when interdependencies are present between both agenciesrsquo initiatives

Relationship Saver Prospective partners need to be able to demonstrate the ability to get along with others Your agency should be able to point to specific examples of how they have worked with other agency partners in a harmonious and mutually beneficial way They should demonstrate the ability to take a leadership role in coordinating cross-agency collaboration and integration and have an established process for helping to define and document roles and responsibilities among agency partners

There are many other factors to take into consideration when choosing a new digital agency partner but avoiding the pitfalls above should increase your chances of a long and successful union Happy hunting

Julie Batten is VP strategy digital media at Klick Health focused on online media and digital She brings a wealth of experi-ence in search marketing

digital media and all facets of digital strat-egy to bear helping Klickrsquos clients develop innovative digital solutions

Make Your Client-Agency Relationship WorkThree Considerations When Choosing a Partner

by Julie Batten

Have a clear understanding of what you need and what yoursquore looking for in an agency and

consistently apply that as a filter when evaluating potential partners It is

critical that you choose an agency based on a realistic evaluation of your needs

sesconferencecom bull SES 11

focusSOCIALINTEGRATION

Social media is public relations Social media is inclusionary Social media is necessary to compete with your competitors Social media is todayrsquos

big thingSocial media is also tomorrowrsquos next big

thing More appropriately some form of social media application is tomorrowrsquos next big thing Yesterdayrsquos appears to have been Pinterest which is threatening to displace Foursquare as the mayor of forgotten places As digital marketing experts we are calling on our clients to invest increasing amounts of time staff and money in an area that is evolving too quickly for us to fully under-stand The benefits of increased traffic are obvious but the return on investment on a wide spread of social media profiles can be somewhat harder to quantify

The Changes in Social MediaWith over one-third of the adult population using Facebook Canadians constitute one of the largest national social media footprints in the world Being early adopters Canadian Internet users became amazingly social amazingly quickly Unfortunately many if not most Canadian businesses have not kept up This isnrsquot just because Canadian compa-nies donrsquot fully grasp the social part of the medium itrsquos also because the budgeting and planning necessary to create an effective social media presence is daunting on paper without a clear understanding of benefits

Social media applications have existed for almost as long as the commercial web Early social media applications such as Classmates and Friendster acted as basic connectors They werenrsquot great for commu-nication among users but they provided an ideal foundation on which all subsequent social media applications could build Web 20 which came on the scene in 2003 was a breakthrough that allowed users to inter-act with websites and with each other This was the dawn of the user-generated content (UGC) era Nearly ten years later wersquore just

beginning to understand the fuller implica-tions of UGC on search and the web

Many of the sessions at SES Toronto will address social media measurement engage-ment and techniques Each of the speakers addressing social media has developed his or her own techniques and tactics based on personal experience and shared knowledge Each of them will say that every social media experience is unique Each will maintain that the very best social media experience is one that promotes authenticity and earnest con-nection over marketing and promotion

As the digital marketing environment changes so must the priorities of digital marketers and the clients we serve While itrsquos always about driving good traffic the digital marketing landscape is transforming more rapidly than ever before Social media is continuously extending frontiers and new areas are expanding as rapidly as UGC can be created and user intent can be ascertained and harnessed

To say that social has had an impact on search would be an understatement for search marketers this shift has not been subtle Moving away from its fascination with search SEO has for the last two years focused on social From studying how Face-book alters user behaviors to finding cor-relations between social signals and search engine placements social media has domi-nated search marketing discourse by becom-ing a more popular form of public directory To say that you understand the impact of social media on search would be a vaguely worded lie Nobody understands exactly how social meshes with search Witness Google+

Getting Clients to Be SocialTrying to figure out how to integrate social into search is akin to integrating apples with oranges kiwis strawberries grapes cottage cheese and bananas Itrsquos easy to spot iden-tify and describe the effects of an apple itrsquos not as easy to do forensics on fruit salad This creates yet another problem for digital

marketers when trying to convince small businesses and corporate clients that bud-geting time and money for social media is important

To be authentic in the truest sense cli-ents would do the work in house However in-house SEOSMM is often impractical for the smaller businesses that make up the vast majority of clients This means that the service must be either outsourced to a third party or performed by a digital market-ing agency It is a huge challenge for digi-tal markers to help clients be authentic in a constantly evolving environment that none of us fully grasp

Digital marketers face a number of other issues when guiding clients in the social sphere It is really difficult to know whether the plethora of random information linking to clientsrsquo websites is beneficial or detrimen-tal We have to push our clients into actively participating in an arena that they donrsquot fully understand or we have to try to recre-ate their voices ourselves and authenticity is very hard to engender in the second- or third-party voice Lastly we have to quan-tify a return on investment that translates to

Doing Forensics on Fruit SaladThe Challenge of Developing Practical Client-Friendly Strategies in the Unpredictable Social Media Environment

by Jim Hedger

continues on page 13

From studying how Facebook alters user behaviors to finding

correlations between social signals and search engine placements social media

has dominated search marketing discourse by

becoming a more popular form of public directory

To say that you understand the impact of social

media on search would be a vaguely worded lie

12 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus SOCIALMEDIA

As the first birthday of Googlersquos latest baby draws near the organic search and paid advertising behemoth con- tinues to struggle to find their

niche in social A year ago Google+ was just a rumor Google would deny the existence of a social project until the very day it launched in late June

In that year theyrsquove launched expanded experimented and redesigned the service incurring the verbal wrath of competitors Facebook and Twitter on a number of occa-sions Itrsquos been a whirlwind for Google+ and all fifteen of its loyal users

I kid To be fair there is a small but dedi-cated group of core users in the Google+ net-work Larry Page Sergey Brin Vic Gundotra and the rest of the crew have become old pros at dodging questions about the num-ber of actual active users but we can safely assume that itrsquos nowhere near Facebookrsquos 850 million Does it need to be

Googlersquos Busy Year What Google has accomplished with Google+ in under a year is nothing short of amazing June 2011 saw the launch of Google+ as a social network Over the summer tech jour-nalists and analysts were positively wooed keeping a watchful eye on every indicator (precise or not) of increasing traffic and user activity on Google+ The Washington Post even announced in August that ldquoGoogle Plus could be the fastest-growing site in historyrdquo In all of history Well as long as wersquove had websites anyway (The original comScore report noted that it was the fast-est site to reach 25 million unique visits In what can only be described as a bizarre game of cyberjournalism this report morphed into Reutersrsquo claim that Google+ ldquoattracted 25 million usersrdquo and The Washington Postrsquos assertion that ldquoGoogle has 25 million usersrdquo)

Google+ launched business Pages on November 7 Pages were already popu-lar on Facebook and since Google+ hadnrsquot included them at the start there was a lot of

anticipation around the launch In the weeks following however Google+ would struggle to connect with brands their brands in turn would struggle to connect with a user base worth marketing to within the Google+ network

As Google began integrating brand Page results in seemingly dominant positions in the organic search listings other compa-nies began to cry foul Hot on the heels of that development Google made their latest foray into social search Google Search Plus Your World (SPY World anyone) in early January Twitter for one lost it quite pub-licly announcing ldquoWersquore concerned that as a result of Googlersquos changes finding this infor-mation will be much harder for everyone We think thatrsquos bad for people publishers news organizations and Twitter usersrdquo Their con-cern stemmed partly from the possibility that Google might have been abusing their dominance in their core industry search to excel in the realm of social largely Twitterrsquos and Facebookrsquos territory to that point The old grumblings of antitrust resurfaced only to peter out again within a few months

Later in January Google again stunned users and analysts with the announcement of an amalgamated privacy policy one that would bring user data from all 60+ of their

services under one umbrella They said that this would be better for users Many dis-agreed some agencies threatened to inves-tigate and users protested yet perhaps the widest-ranging and most important change in Googlersquos policies went off as planned on April 1

Also in January a month marked by a flurry of announcements from the search giant Google changed the sign-up process for many of their services Those signing on for a Gmail or YouTube account were auto-matically assigned a Google+ account Prom-inent markers appeared in the navigation bar every time users visited a Google property urging them to check out their notifications on the social network

Why Engagement Is Incidental Only Google knows how effective this was at actually getting people to the site although I suspect that user engagement was only a secondary goal at best In response to a scathing WSJcom article ticking off the

ldquomounting minusesrdquo at Google+ I wrote an article explaining why low user counts and engagement might not matter to Google

Facebook has had to find outside partners nurture (and invest heavily in) the app envi-ronment and build out their ecosystem over a period of years in order to gain access to the type and depth of user data they need to power their advertisement business Google is transitioning the other way from an advertising and data powerhouse to a social platform They already have an incredible reach largely through their DoubleClick ad network and dozens of properties

They donrsquot need to seek out partners who offer services users might opt into to share data back and forth They already have the data theyrsquore collecting it from millions of websites and user actions often without the usersrsquo explicit knowledge that theyrsquore being tracked at the time Whereas Facebookrsquos data pool shows more intent on the part of usersmdashthey liked something they shared something elsemdashGoogle reigns supreme in

The State of Google+ One Year LaterGoogle Hasnrsquot Yet Carved Their Niche in Social but Do They Even Need To

by Miranda Miller

Google doesnrsquot need to seek out partners who offer

services users might opt into to share data back and

forth They already have the data theyrsquore collecting it from millions of websites

and user actions

Whereas Facebookrsquos data pool shows more intent

on the part of users Google reigns supreme in

the low-intent market

sesconferencecom bull SES 13

focusSOCIALMEDIA

the low-intent market They know when and where you check your email on your Android They know the types of videos you search for and watch on YouTube

This is a fantastic thing for advertisers For users hellip not so much Yet users sign up for Google accounts in droves opting into Google+ without a second thought Track-ing goes beyond the actions users take while signed in to a Google service interacting with a +1 button on a website for example could set a cookie allowing tracking over all Google properties for a period of time

The efforts of the W3C Tracking Protec-tion Working Group will have huge ramifi-cations for the online advertising industry especially for Google If users click a +1 social icon is that really an interaction with Google Have they really indicated the intent to share data with Google for the next 24 36 or 48 hours from every website they visit that might show Google ads These ques-tions have no answers right now but the

working group aims to define first and third parties Advertisers will not be satisfied with poorly targeted paid search and display ads so Google and other ad companies need the data However users need their privacy

ConclusionWhat we are seeing in the current online advertising environment is a precarious balancing act with Google perched square in the middle teetering from side to side Everyone in the industry and even in the mainstream media has their eyes on Google+ Google has certainly given us plenty to talk about Hangouts with Obama seemingly constant updates and new features and even a recent redesign complete with new naviga-tion and profile pages

We canrsquot forget though that Google+ is just one cog in the wheel that drives Googlersquos 44 stake in the $486 billion global adver-tising market (see report by ZenithOpti-media) While slick photos funny updates

and all manner of things are being shared or overshared on the front end of Google+ the real action occurs behind the scenes Google doesnrsquot really need you hanging out on the Google+ site all day long they just need you to have an account and do everything you would normally do on the web in the course of a daymdashand donrsquot mind if they tag along while you do it

Google VP Bradley Horowitz said it best in September when he proclaimed that

ldquoGoogle+ is Google itselfrdquo Indeed

A staff writer with Search En-

gine Watch Miranda Miller co-

ordinates the annual Translit-

eracy Conference for Ontario

educators manages a small

number of social media cam-

paigns through an agency and serves on the Ca-

nadian Hemophilia Societyrsquos Advisory Board for

their Code Rouge awareness project

common sense better than to the dollars and cents that our clientsrsquo creditors understand

In practice my firm generally limits our recommendations to the big three of Face-book Twitter and Google+ placing other social networks into an ldquoadvisably optionalrdquo category Our clients have enough difficulty wrapping their heads around Facebook and Twitter without worrying about other net-works We include Google+ in the mix only because of the ldquorel=authorrdquo support and because we believe that Google actively favors websites associated with Google+ profiles

Training businesses to promote their ideas and images on Facebook and Google+ is relatively easy and teaching them Twit-ter behaviors and etiquette is only slightly harder Even though we limit our advice to

the big three we still end up chasing clients to convince them to monitor and maintain their social networks We do recommend secondary social networks such as LinkedIn Pinterest and Foursquare as they apply to clients and as clients can afford our training and application rates

We know that we are missing traffic but we balance this drawback by being practical In cases where we have to act as social media coordinators for our small to medium-sized business clients exposing them to only the big three limits our need to bill for out-of-control charges for allotted work time It also helps to ease clients into expanding their own social media participation and interaction

ConclusionDigital marketing professionals have to make a lot of choices as we steer clients along the

social media learning curve By sticking to the most trafficked social networks and deploying assets in secondary ones as neces-sary my company believes that wersquove found a balance our clients can live with

SES Toronto will provide a valuable forum for Canadian practitioners to dis-cuss the problems inherent in social media marketing

Jim Hedger is a founding part-

ner of the Toronto-based

search and social media mar-

keting agency Digital Always

Media He has an extensive

background in SEO dating to

the late 1990s He leads the SEO and content cre-

ation teams at Digital Always Media

Doing Forensics on Fruit Salad

continued from page 11

14 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus CONVERSIONamp ROI

Conversion optimization has been around for a while but its benefits are hard to ignore These include reduced cost of acquisition through

digital marketing increased customer satis-faction and retention increased average rev-enue per order and improved search engine rankings In order to reap the rewards of an optimization program you need to know where to start what to avoid and how to develop your program for long-term success

Getting StartedDo-it-yourself small business owners digital marketers and web analysts tend to inherit a lot of excess baggage so focusing on only one or two sore spots on a website is often difficult Consider these top five places to start

1 Optimize paid search landing pages Look-ing for big impact right away Optimize those paid search landing pages and start counting the money you save on search marketing immediately Vary your value proposition urgency pricing product mix and form length

2 Examine internal search results pages Searches performed on your website often yield the best (and cheapest) way to judge the voice of the customer These searchers are committed visi-tors who probably arenrsquot finding what they want intuitively Look at queries with no results top queries that should be satisfied through navigation and perhaps synonyms you didnrsquot consider when writing creative

3 Enhance your help sections Areas on a website dedicated to helping people are most often frequented by loyal custom-ers who would rather solve problems on their own than cost you money by calling or emailing support staff Help them help you by optimizing help docs downloads and public service messages

4 Test product and service recommendations The art of the upsell is best exhibited by e-commerce giants such as Apple Ama-zon GoDaddy and Dell If yoursquore able to measure cart abandonment on your site yoursquore ready to start testing product and service recommendations to increase your average revenue per order

5 Evaluate pathways from top entry pages Entry pages to your site are a bit harder to optimize because referred traffic through search or other websites isnrsquot always continuous or predictable but itrsquos usually free Measure common path-ways from entry pages to determine how content can be changed to reduce bounce rate you may just improve your search rankings at the same time

Growing the BaseOnce yoursquove started building quick wins in your conversion optimization program yoursquoll want to maintain that momentum and expand your effort to other areas of your site Unfortunately many marketers fall into the trap of overoptimizing based on bad advice so try to avoid or at least question the fol-lowing five optimization tips that can hurt conversion rates

1 Tip to avoid Keep your copy short sharp concise Itrsquos hard to argue that trimming the overall content on a landing page would be anything but successful for most campaigns as it reduces the prob-ability that a landing page will over-whelm a prospect However providing less information may hurt overall con-version rates over time or worse still lower average revenue per order

2 Tip to avoid Remove or de-emphasize primary and secondary navigation from the template of your landing page Fewer escape routes make prospects more likely to continue along your chosen path However a lack of consistency

across the rest of your site may com-promise new visitorsrsquo trust and result in higher abandonment

3 Tip to avoid Add trust marks to your land-ing pages While I certainly can attest to the conversion lift that trust marks can provide on an e-commerce site landing pages are somewhat different In most cases getting visitors to click on links deeper in your site to privacy statements and certificates can be a more powerful way to convert skeptical prospects

4 Tip to avoid Boost your brand with tes-timonials and client logos In B2B cam-paigns association with large-scale brands with which you do business can boost conversion especially for start-ups but do your due diligence by seek-ing written approval for logo usage and recommendations The last thing you want is conflict with a long-term lucra-tive client

5 Tip to avoid Incentivize your prospects with freebies calls for urgency and pro-motions While these tactics can elicit a strong positive reaction among first-time visitors they can have very unde-sirable effects on lead quality Many visitors are conditioned to perform microconversions such as lead forms without reading anything else on a landing page Donrsquot be afraid to lose a few cheapskates on your landing pages who would otherwise sacrifice your profitability

Planning for the FutureNow that yoursquore well on your way to optimi-zation nirvana yoursquoll want to expand your program beyond online impact and start leveraging your online success for dramatic cross-channel maturity Here are five things to consider when bridging conversion opti-mization to business process optimization

The Conversion Optimization Life CycleWhich Advice Should You Follow and Which Should You Avoid in Structuring Your Optimization Program

by Garry Przyklenk

sesconferencecom bull SES 15

focusCONVERSIONamp ROI

1 Relate online customer pain points to front-line personnel Some of the best online optimizations can result in a cultural shift or reimaging of the offline sales process and vice versa Keep your sales and support members in the loop of online optimizations because your cross-channel prospects are often very similar

2 Try some of your companyrsquos own products and services The importance of stepping into your customersrsquo shoes cannot be overemphasized Irsquove done it on numer-ous occasions with a high degree of success It helps to assume an angry persona and pretend that you have less than five minutes to do anything that you need to do

3 Build new products and services with optimization in mind Build a culture of

conversion testing by baking it into the product or client life cycle Letrsquos face itmdasha lot can go wrong from initial con-ceptualization of a product or service to delivery especially when development cycles are really wrong

4 Leverage web analytics information and customer relationship management sys-tems (CRMs) Integration of web ana-lytics data with CRMs is much more common these days because businesses usually have a significant portion of their operations or interactions with customers through nonline channels

5 Analyze the competition Sometimes the best original score is a remix Think yoursquore smarter than your competitor Prove it by testing their ideas with your audience to find out what they might be doing better or worse

Although no two websites are exactly the same in terms of customer experience and behavior similarly structured products and services likely attract similar prospects and customers

For more guidance on conversion optimiza-tion be sure to visit one of the many optimi-zation sessions at SES this year

Garry Przyklenk manager of

analytics implementation at

TD Bank Group is an expert in

lead generation search engine

marketing web analytics and

social media marketing He has

successfully championed creative marketing cam-

paigns and executed on actionable insights in

several vertical markets

learn more about a different aspect of the industry For example if yoursquore an in-house SEO you may find yourself responsible for your companyrsquos social media You already know about Facebook LinkedIn and Twitter but you may not know which is right for your industry and the ways in which success will be defined Since a social media program is not just about ldquolikesrdquo and ldquofollowersrdquo align-ing it with corporate objectives to generate revenue is not a simple matter

At the other end are large organizations rolling out training to their employees Some allocate specific courses to individuals and make completion compulsory while others give employees access to the library of con-tent and encourage self-study in the areas that would be the most beneficial Online training is perfect for companies who do not

have the budget or time to send everyone to a course and allows each employee to receive a tailored syllabus

This kind of program can be comple-mented by an in-house training sessionmdasha course tailored to meet the specific objec-tives of the organization and held at the com-panyrsquos offices By blending online and class-room courses ClickZ Academy makes sure that employees from different offices arrive at the in-house portion with the same basic understanding so that their time together is maximized

Catch That Missed Session with Conference RecordingsBecause several concurrent content tracks run at SES conferences you may find that you are not able to attend every session that you would like Therefore we now offer recorded sessions from some conferences

The recordings sync the PowerPoint presen-tations and the videos simulating the experi-ence of being at the sessions This is a conve-nient way to catch up on any session that you missed or to share sessions with colleagues Available for purchase on the ClickZAcad-emy website recordings cover a number of tracks Recordings from SES London are now available and consist of the Kick Start PPC and Accelerator tracks

To learn more stop by the ClickZ table at SES Toronto or visit ClickZacademycom

Paul Fegan is head of e-learn-

ing at Incisive Media and is re-

sponsible for creating on-line

training content for all of its

brands He co-founded his own

e-learning company and has

been delivering online professional and CPD train-

ing since 2000

How ClickZ Academy Can Work for You

continued from page 1

16 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

sessions SES Toronto | June 11ndash13 2012 | hosted by

Day 1mdashMonday June 11

1030ndash1130amTrack 2Driving Mobile Traffic PPC amp SEOJump-start your mobile presence with these fundamentals for pre-senting content thatrsquos both SEO- and mobile-friendly Not fully ready for a mobile site Learn inexpensive and easy options to get started the right way From desktop and mobile to tablets smart-phones and feature phones wersquoll dive into key mobile differences for SEO and PPC and the strategies to drive and convert more mobile traffic

Moderator Gregg Stewart President 15 Miles

Speaker Jeff Allen Account Manager Hanapin Marketing

Speaker Jeremy Evans Director of Strategic Accounts Marin Software

1145ndash1245pmTrack 2Developing a Video Optimization amp Marketing CampaignThis session will use real-world examples to help you understand and master the entire video process including what to create how to optimize your video how to market it with search and social media and how to measure its real business impact

Moderator Sage Lewis President SageRockcom

Speaker Jonathan Allen Director Search Engine Watch

Speaker Greg Jarboe President amp Co-founder SEO-PR

200ndash300pmTrack 2Made in Canada Marketing Online WorldwideThis session will focus on specific challenges facing Canadian Internet marketers It will cover

bull How to balance Canadian and American content challenges in a consistent meaningful way (domains architecture content keyphrases etc)

bull How to compete in the US market as a Canadian business and not lose your Canadian online presence

bull The different results on Googlecom and Googleca from a search engine perspective and which consumers prefer the search enginesrsquo growing preferences for local

Moderator Andrew Goodman SES Advisory Board President Page Zero Media

Speaker Anne F Kennedy SES Advisory Board International Search Strategist Author Beyond Ink USA

Speaker Ian McAnerin CEO McAnerin International Inc

Speaker Ezra Silverton President 9th sphere

330ndash430pmTrack 3Content Marketing OptimizationOnline marketing is increasingly competitive and brand marketers worldwide are seeking real advantages that will improve the effi-ciency and impact of their social media and SEO efforts This ses-sion will provide unique insight into content-based optimization strategies and processes as well as tactics for sourcing creating and promoting optimized content on the social web

Speaker Matt McGowan Managing Director Americas Incisive Media

Krista LaRiviere CoFounder amp CEO gShift Labs

Speaker Lee Odden SES Advisory Board CEO TopRank Online Marketing

Speaker Jennifer Slegg CEO JenSense

Sample SessionsDownload the app or visit wwwSESTorontocom for complete agenda and session descriptions

sesconferencecom bull SES 17

sessionsDownload the app or visit SESNewYorkcom

Day 2mdashTuesday June 12

900ndash1000amTrack 2Social Media Solutions on a BudgetGetting your company or organization started with social media doesnrsquot have to be a pricey proposition In this session yoursquoll learn how to

bull Take advantage of great free and low-cost tools that cover man-aging conversations measuring reach and engagement and developingpublishing great content

bull Leverage lesser-known social media channels to increase expo-sure and reach

bull Create great social media friendly content to build trust and authority inexpensively

Moderator Laura Roth Conference Program amp Training Manager SES Conference amp Expo

Speaker Danny Iny Co-Founder Firepole Marketing

Speaker Krista Neher CEO Boot Camp Digital

130ndash230pmTrack 3From Keywords to ldquoBuy Wordsrdquo Finding High-Value Paid Search Keywords

ldquoProfessorsrdquo Van Wagner and Goodman will take you beyond garden-variety keyword lists to delve deeper into how user queries signal different kinds of intent You will learn how to go beyond the blind reading of ldquoafter-the-factrdquo ROI statistics how to anticipate how your most valuable searchers will express themselves with search que-ries and even how to subtly mold their preferences as they progress from search queries to your ads landing pages and transactions

Moderator Greg Jarboe President amp Co-founder SEO-PR

Speaker Andrew Goodman SES Advisory Board President Page Zero Media

Speaker Matt Van Wagner President Find Me Faster

300ndash400pmTrack 2Conquering the Growing Canadian Affiliate Marketing IndustryIn this session you will learn the following and more

bull Affiliate marketing in Canada is a viable growing traffic channel bull Online retail merchants need to educate and form strategic

partnerships with web publishers in order to generate traffic bull Establishing a successful Canadian affiliate marketing channel

requires sophisticated software development strategic market-ing and stability

bull Retail merchants need to be prepared to accommodate Canadian affiliate partnerships with the right tools in order for all parties to succeed

Speaker Nicky Senyard President Share Results

415ndash515pmTrack 1Maximizing ROI in e-Commerce with SearchAll e-commerce websites and e-tailers should be on top of certain ROI trends and opportunities This session will show you how to maximize ROI in e-commerce by leveraging one e-marketing chan-nel to improve the performance of another You will hear a series of combined channel campaign strategies along with case studies that illustrate how to maximize the ROI of your campaigns by taking advantage of low-hanging fruit

Moderator Chris Boggs SES Advisory Board Director SEO Rosetta

Speaker Guillaume Bouchard President CEO NVI

Speaker Elazar Gabay Vice President Performance Marketing LeSiteca

515ndash615pmSEW Eliminator QuizJoin us for the inaugural SEW Eliminator Quiz a pub-trivia-style networking event where you and your fellow marketers will compete to see who is the savviest and most knowledgeable marketer in the room Afterward yoursquoll have a chance to network with your favorite drink in hand

New YorkMarch

ShanghaiApril

TorontoJune -

San FranciscoAugust -

Hong KongSeptember ndash

BerlinOctober ndash

ChicagoNovember -

SingaporeNovember ndash

San DiegoFebruary

LondonFebruary

SES Conference amp Expo is the leading global event series that educates professionals in search and social marketing putting a special focus on tactics and best practices SES Events provide instructions from the industryrsquos top experts including representatives from the Search Engines themselves

World Tour ndash

SESConferencecom

Page 5: SES Magazine Toronto 2012

sesconferencecom bull SES 3

sponsors ampexhibitorsDownload the app or visit SESTorontocom

PLATINUM SPONSOR

Google Engage with AgencieswwwgooglecomGooglersquos innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day Founded in 1998 by Stanford PhD students Larry Page and Sergey Brin Google today is a top web property in all major global markets Googlersquos targeted advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measur-able results while enhancing the overall web experience for users Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas Europe and Asia For more information visit wwwgooglecom

GOLD SPONSOR

BingSponsored SessionswwwbingcomSearch advertising with Microsoft helps you efficiently reach your next best customermdashwithin your budget and with the support you need to get started and optimized and measure your results

SILVER SPONSOR

The Search AgencyTable 5wwwthesearchagencycomThe Search Agency is a global online marketing firm that combines high-tech and high-touch online marketing strategies to deliver new customers and measure ROI beyond a reasonable doubt Ser-vices include paid search SEO landing page optimization display media social media and affiliate program management As the largest and fastest-growing independent search marketing agency in the US (Advertising Age May 2012) and among Deloittersquos 2011 Technology Fast 500 The Search Agency is now bringing over a decade of experience and expertise to Canada Founded in 2002 The Search Agency has grown to more than 200 employees worldwide with Canadian headquarters in Toronto and additional offices in Los Angeles San Francisco East Greenwich Baltimore Tampa London Sydney and Bangalore For more information go to httpwww thesearchagencycom

EXHIBITORS

AdLeadsTable 4wwwadleadscomAdLeads is the industryrsquos first self-serve mobile signup ad platform With AdLeads businesses of all sizes can run ads on top iPhone iPad and Android apps They only pay when someone signs up to hear from themmdashand never for wasted clicks or impressions Hun-dreds of businesses and agencies like childrenrsquos publisher Paper Hat Press Brooklyn-based restaurant Nita Nita and Australian mobile marketing agency Mobile Marketers have used AdLeads to get new customers and grow their businesses

ClickZ Academy and RecruitmentTable 10wwwclickzacademycomClickZ helps develop the careers of professional marketers either through its education program or its recruitment web site This builds on its position as the largest resource of interactive market-ing news information commentary advice opinion research and reference in the world online or off From search to social technol-ogy to trends our coverage is expert exclusive and in-depth

gShift Labs Web Presence OptimizertradeTable 7wwwgshiftlabscom gShift Labsrsquo industry leading SEO software system Web Presence Optimizertrade (WPO) helps marketers and agencies more efficiently and effectively monitor and report on SEO campaigns gShiftrsquos patent-pending WPO software provides insight into an entire web presencemdashwebsite blogs press releases social media and analyt-icsmdashby reporting organic rank data backlinks social signals and competitive intelligence all of which contribute to the goal of rank-ing higher organically in the search engines

The fundamentals of SEO still matter however SEO in 2012 is about social signals (Facebook YouTube Twitter LinkedIn Google+ and Pinterest) and fresh content (blogs and press releases)

Track manage measure and report web presence analytics data all in one place using gShiftrsquos SEO monitoring and reporting software Organizations of all sizes benefit by reducing the time and resources required to analyze and improve organic search optimization

gShift Labs can be contacted at 1-866-743-5960 by emailing salesgShiftLabscom or by visiting wwwgshiftlabscom

Sponsor Showcase Hours Monday June 11 1000amndash630pm | Tuesday June 12 1000amndash300pm

4 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

sponsors ampexhibitors SES Toronto | June 11ndash13 2012

Marin SoftwareTable 1wwwmarinsoftwarecomMarin Software is a leading provider of online advertising man-agement solutions offering an integrated platform for managing search display and social marketing The company provides solu-tions for advertisers and agencies of all sizes enabling them to improve financial performance save time and make better deci-sions Marin Enterprise the companyrsquos flagship product addresses the needs of online marketers spending at least $100000 per month on biddable media Marin Professional delivers the same power and ease of use as Marin Enterprise through an application designed for marketers spending less than $100000 per month on paid search Headquartered in San Francisco with offices worldwide Marinrsquos technology powers marketing campaigns for over 850 cus-tomers managing more than $25 billion of annualized ad spend in more than 160 countries

9th sphereTrack Sponsorwww9thspherecom9th sphere is a full-service web design and Internet marketing solu-tions provider focused on delivering a strong ROI for our clients Since 1997 they have put their award-winning expertise to work earning recognition for effectiveness in design development and marketing resultsndashdriven websites 9th sphere is proud to offer top industry experts state-of-the-art technology and exceptional cus-tomer care that produces smart and powerful website solutions and real results for a wide variety of businesses This ultimately pro-vides a solid service value from which clients prosper Learn about the 9th sphere Advantage at httpwww9thspherecom

NVI SolutionsSponsored SessionwwwnvisolutionscomNVI is a full-service digital marketing agency We leverage our internal tools our broad and diversified experience and the larg-est bilingual staff of experts in the country to serve our customers NVI is known for its resourcefulness and business ability to execute strategic plans that are performance-centric

NVI relies on the ingenuity of its web marketing strategies and the collective energy of its employees to offer the best return on investment to its customers

Page Zero MediaReception SponsorwwwpagezerocomPage Zero Media is a full service digital marketing agency focus-ing especially on paid search (SEM) display advertising and other forms of effective audience targeting Led by founder and president Andrew Goodman the company is headquartered in Toronto Can-ada Clients include Postmedia Digital Canon Direct Energy Wave Accounting and Nutscom Page Zero is a Google AdWords Certified Agency

Reprise MediaTable 3wwwreprisemediacomReprise Media Canada is a full-service search marketing agency Our core business is based on search engine marketing (pay-per-click) search engine optimization (SEO) and social media market-ing Reprise Media Canada offers best-in-class search marketing strategies employed by a team of industry-recognized talents and applies an agenda of innovation to produce breakthrough results for our clients Come see us at Table 3 on June 1112

Search Engine People IncTable 2wwwsearchenginepeoplecomSearch Engine People Inc is one of Canadarsquos oldest and most respected search agencies Since 2001 SEP has helped a wide range of clients (from Fortune 500 to small and medium-size companies) secure business from the web SEP is a Google Adwords Qualified Company and Yahoo Search Marketing Ambassador and is Micro-soft adExcellence certified The company was also named one of the

ldquoTop 25 Up-and-Coming Canadian IT Companiesrdquo by the Branham Group in 2006

SEPrsquos services include search engine optimization (SEO) paid search management (PPC) social media marketing (SMM) online reputation management usability and more Whether yoursquore look-ing to compete in an ultra-competitive space or to dramatically increase your local presence SEP can help

Stop by our booth and talk to our knowledgeable expertsGet Foundtrade

SEMPO CanadaTable 8wwwsempocaSEMPO is the largest nonprofit trade organization in the world serving the search and digital marketing industry and marketing professionals engaged in it

Whether you are a search or social marketing professional or use search and social as part of your profession SEMPO provides the programs and resources to help you succeed

Our activities center on education networking and research To support our educational mission we provide a professional webi-nar series 101 webinar series and quarterly education programs Our local groups provide opportunities to network throughout the world and we also conduct the industryrsquos most respected research We provide members with discounts to training programs and industry events and a robust job board

Learn more at wwwSEMPOorg infoSEMPOorg

SEMRushBadge Booklet SponsorwwwsemrushcomSEMRush provides users with invaluable competitive intelligencemdashtracking the top 95 million keywords and 42 million domains SEMRush data currently includes 10 of the most popular regional

sesconferencecom bull SES 5

Table s on right

Affiliate amp Performance-Based Marketing SolutionsThe Search Agency 5Training Business Pros 6

Display Advertising Marin Software 1Page Zero Media Sponsor

General Search Engines Bing Sponsor

Interactive Marketing Agencies 9th sphere Sponsor

Interactive Marketing Associations amp Publications SEMPO Canada 8

Internet Associations Society of Internet

Professionals 9

Link Building Search Engine People Inc 2SEMRush Sponsor

Local Search Marketing Services amp Directories Bing Sponsor

Marketing Optimization Solutions Marin Software 1Training Business Pros 6

Mobile amp Rich Media Advertising Solutions AdLeads 4

Organic Search Marketing gShift Labs Web

Presence Optimizertrade 79th sphere SponsorNVI Solutions SponsorPage Zero Media SponsorReprise Media 3The Search Agency 5Search Engine People Inc 2

Pay-Per Click Networks amp Management Services NVI Solutions SponsorSearch Engine People Inc 2

Search Marketing Agencies 9th sphere SponsorNVI Solutions Sponsorpage Zero Media SponsorReprise Media 3The Search Agency 5

Search Marketing Software gShift Labs Web

Presence Optimizertrade 7Marin Software 1SEMRush Sponsor

Specialized Search Engines (Multimedia Mobile Shopping International etc) Bing Sponsor

Training Courses amp Certification in Search Marketing ClickZ Academy and

Recruitment 10Training Business Pros 6

Web Analytics gShift Labs Web

Presence Optimizertrade 7Reprise Media 3SEMRush Sponsor

product amp service guide

Google databases as well as US Bing and returns extensive met-rics relative to both organic and paid traffic (both AdWords and AdSense) as well as backlink info

SEMRush can reveal just what keywords your competitors are ranking for what campaigns theyrsquore running what their budget looks like and what kind of traffic they generate Thus it can pro-vide all the ammo one needs to effectively optimize run impactful campaigns and increase overall traffic and revenue

Society of Internet Professionals (SIP)Table 9wwwsipgrouporgThe Society of Internet Professionals (SIP) is an international not-for-profit association based in Canada Since 1997 SIP has upheld professional standards for Internet professionals Our ongoing activities include spearheading strategic partnerships offering edu-cational programs and running networking events

Becoming a professional member of SIP and abiding by our Professional Code of Ethics gives you instant credibility and com-petitive advantage in the marketplace You gain access to exclusive members-only information privileges and offers and you secure a place in a network of serious individuals and organizations focused on success through excellence

Take the first step today by signing up for a free SIP Associate Membership (no dues) Join 10000 SIP Associates who benefit from Affinity Programs and stay informed of upcoming events and valu-able offers via our monthly newsletter for FREE

As part of our 14th anniversary celebrations attendees of the SES Show who sign up at wwwsipgrouporg will be eligible to receive a discount of 50 for the first year of Professional Member-ship dues

For more information and to become a member visit www sipgrouporg

Contact Max Haroon President tel (416) 891-4937 (info sipgrouporg)

Training Business ProsTable 6wwwtrainingbusinessproscom

Training Business Pros is Canadarsquos leading internet market-ing training company offering over 100 intensive business train-ing opportunities throughout North America every year Our cli-ents have exploded their sales in the millions and trainees have increased their personal market value exponentially

Since 2007 Training Business Pros has helped over 22 thousand businesses adopt and adapt internet marketing and social media strategies Whether you are a start-up or a Fortune 500 company it is essential to get valuable information fast in order to get massive results within a short period of time

Visit Table 6 to claim your free introductory training Or learn live from our CEO Paul Tobey on stage June 12th at

235 pm to 255 pm You will learn how 20 minutes a day can dramatically boost your

rankings and how the social media wheel can be the secret sauce to your back-linking strategy

6 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus COVER STORY

Breaking Out of the ldquo+1rdquo MindsetCanada is Losing the Digital Innovation Race How Can It Become More Competitive

by Andrew Goodman

Canada has weathered the economic downturn better than any other G7 nation With a high level of eco-nomic cultural and technological

development and a favorable trading rela-tionship and cultural integration with the US it can hardly be described as hurting Since nothingrsquos terribly broken creating a sense of urgency around living up to our true poten-tial is hard

Some of us feel a constant urge to do bet-ter most of us do not The most likely way to propagate this feeling is to deliberately and systematically push onersquos peers to improve Thatrsquos how it is in organized sports Thatrsquos how it is at SES conferences And thatrsquos how Canadians ought to behave when it comes to technological innovation and business competitiveness

Caution Rather Than CompetitionCanadian caution is dangerously close to an insidious disease complacency For over a century wersquove contentedly enjoyed the ben-efits of our ldquo+1rdquo relationship with the pow-erful innovator to the south Wersquove sat back and waited while dynamic enterprises and innovations were created in the US Instead of competing our businesses have often dawdled watched and withered as compa-nies like Target Wal-Mart and Home Depot moved in and took over

In high technology the decline of a sin-gle leader like Research in Motion (RIM) is enough to throw the entire country into a panic Without the Blackberry what have we given the world Sidney Crosby and maple syrup (Ok a few other things like insulin and the telephone)

The situation isnrsquot that bad But it is a function of a complacent culture that othersrsquo successes (the successes of bold non-Cana-dian tall poppies) are claimed as onersquos own as long as itrsquos convenient with very little done to create an atmosphere that fosters innova-tionmdashuntil it becomes painfully obvious that a single flagship high-tech success story isnrsquot going to cut it

Unfortunately many of the traits that help entrepreneurs feel relatively accepted in the US arenrsquot baked into Canadian culture As a result itrsquos harder to develop a critical mass of digitally savvy companies tech tal-ent investors and other elements that cre-ate clusters of innovation and dynamism If you massage the data enough (as Richard Florida does) you can refer to the broader region around the Greater Toronto Area as a creative cluster However this region is punching well below its weight when it comes to the je ne sais quoi of creating great growth companies This ultimately causes relative backwardness in a whole range of interrelated realms from soft skills needed to staff up fast-growing startups to con-sumer expectations of online retailers The commonality is expectations and standards unless theyrsquore raised they stay too lowmdashif there are any at all

The e-Commerce LagWhere do Canadians shop when we do buy online One of our largest homegrown retailersmdashCanadian Tire which absorbed apparel and sporting-goods giant Forzani Group forming a retail empire of a decent sizemdashonly recently relaunched its website with the capacity to order items online The company had taken a two-year hiatus from e-commerce reverting to a website that offered information about products avail-able in physical stores and various episodic microsites (see article in The Globe and Mail ) Frankly management is living in the same time warp that many other top managers of large Canadian enterprises are in Slow growth in a high-growth area like e-commerce is unacceptable if Canadian-owned companies want to survive it opens up the playing field to US companies that are good at plugging in their existing highly optimized operations

Retail may not be the only measure of the health of a nation but online retail is surely the bellwether for the state of a digital nation Here again average Canadians couldnrsquot care

less and would dissent from this obvious point In their view because more of us have broadband use Facebook send text mes-sages etc wersquore more digitally savvy than other countries including the US Suremdashbut thatrsquos like saying that buying a cute new gym bag makes you a fashion pioneer Itrsquos nice to enjoy whatrsquos made available to you but it doesnrsquot compare at all with say investing in a company that grows into a global fashion label (On that note kudos to Lululemon a wildly successful Canadian brand that is one of the exceptions that prove the rule)

Canadians all too often like to partici-pate in the excitement of advanced trends and taste the fruits of othersrsquo innovation but wouldnrsquot have a clue how to spearhead anything Nor do they quite understand why you would need or want to Thatrsquos the kind of mindset that develops during a century and a half of living in a branch-plant economy

A November 11 article from IBM (cit-ing Forrester research) notes that Canada is behind the US in e-commerce spending and growing more slowly The percentagesmdash54 of total retail sales in Canada versus 60 in the USmdashmake the two countries seem fairly close but 6 of $32 trillion is immense com-pared to 54 of $370 billion Since ad spends website infrastructure and consulting time donrsquot make economic sense below a certain size a chicken-egg problem sets in custom-ers arenrsquot served as well research isnrsquot done ads and content arenrsquot crafted well check-outs donrsquot work as they should and so on The domestic Canadian e-commerce market poses a huge challenge for all but the largest players This makes it all the more frustrat-ing that those large players at least donrsquot recognize the need for urgency and invest-ment Instead of comparing themselves to their peers they should compare themselves to strong players around the globe

Weak Unprofitable Online Marketing Strategies Only a handful of Canadian retail web-site owners and managers know the key

sesconferencecom bull SES 7

focusCOVER STORY

to reaching the big leagues after testing and optimizing your model you can power your way into the top-grossing elite largely through an aggressive targeted online mar-keting spend Thatrsquos no sales pitch thatrsquos how the math works Many businesses appear to forget the enormous cost of the infrastruc-ture and overhead that get them to the table Once they are at that already expensive table the investment is wasted if the resulting revenue remains pitifully low because the method for actually getting new customers is ldquohope pray and DIY on-page SEOrdquo

Winning online businesses have grow-ing revenues (and to be sure marketing spends) that eventually reduce overhead and infrastructure costs to manageable (ide-ally trivial) proportions Losing ones build a large infrastructure and do nothing with it Since only a few companies are getting it right there is a very small pool of exemplars to show the way and wishful thinking sub-stitutes for action

We donrsquot find a Canadian company on the Internet Retailerrsquos Top 500 Guide (as of late April 2012) which ranks B2C retailers in the US and Canada based on online sales until number 152 The Shopping Channel owned by Rogers Media Lululemon Athletica is at 229 nowmdashfor them the skyrsquos the limit ALDO Group (shoes) and Mountain Equip-ment Co-Op (outdoor gear) deserve props at 390 and 395 respectively Unfortunately many Canadian entrepreneursmdashto say noth-ing of large retailersmdasharenrsquot aiming at mak-ing lists like this many havenrsquot even heard of them

Governmentrsquos Share of Blame Canada is falling behind in the global innova-tion race because ldquoCanadian business itself

hellip choose[s] deliberately not to pursue busi-ness strategies that rely on innovation as there [are] easier ways of making profitsrdquo So argue Marcel Cocircteacute founding partner of stra-tegic management consulting firm SECOR and Robert Miller engineer at Eacutecole Poly-technique de Montreacuteal in a recent report

(citing research by the Council of Canadian Academies)

Certainly government has played a role in allowing Canadian companies to be weakened largely through inaction and misappropriation of subsidy funds All gov-ernments sit on and distributemdashin the aggre-gatemdashlarge pools of business development capital and research funding and Canada is no exception Yet funds often trickle out to laggard players or subsidize the operations of established noninnovating companies Powerhouses like RIM return far more to the economy (in the form of jobs spinoffs RampD and tax revenues) than any breaks and incentives they receive A business colum-nist recently described the high-ROI govern-ment incentives that help create blockbust-ers like RIM as ldquofederal largesserdquo Largesse To Research in Motion I think we got our moneyrsquos worth

The lack of similar ldquolargesserdquo to identi-fiable very tall poppies has led to repeated missed opportunities and the lack of role models and good jobs in manufacturing RampD and software The denial of incentives to high-tech firm Mitel in the early 1980s is a salient example (see Donald J Savoiersquos 2009 book Irsquom from Bouctouche Me Roots Matter) the deal would have created thousands of

new telecommunications equipment jobs in Atlantic Canada This attitude has also resulted in the bankruptcy of companies (like Mitel) that could have become global leaders and precursors of other successful companies

What We Can DoIf government wonrsquot make the right moves how can Canadian companies improve on our own We must leave behind the old +1 instincts and the peer pressure to do just well enough Here are some suggestions

bull Avoid the grand narratives Coverage of traditional monopoly sectors such as financial mining and telecom-munications dominates the Canadian business media and only obvious successes are deemed noteworthy In terms of trends in advertising and digital culture little insight or encouragement is to be found in traditional media Look for validation elsewhere in your peer group at industry events among your customers and yes even in other countries

bull Quit scoffing at data Yes our clientsrsquo customers really do buy pecans switchplates furniture dishwasher parts soil remediation equipment and paella pans online Canadiansmdasheven those making digital marketing their career through formal certification coursesmdashhave a nasty habit of assuming that because people like them

ldquowould never click on thatrdquo or ldquowould never buy something like that onlinerdquo itrsquos helpful or insightful to share this preconceived notion The easy work is to hop onto the coattails of some large hip brand and recommend very gradual approaches to budgeting the marketing spend despite the millions in sunk costs (infrastructure office

Unfortunately many of the traits that help

entrepreneurs feel relatively accepted in

the US arenrsquot baked into Canadian culture As a result itrsquos harder to

develop a critical mass of digitally savvy companies

tech talent investors and other elements

that create clusters of innovation and dynamism

continues on page 8

Donrsquot miss these Sesssions at SES Toronto bull Made in Canada Marketing Online WorldwidemdashMonday June 11 200pmndash300pm bull Conquering the Growing Canadian Affiliate Marketing IndustrymdashTuesday June 12 300pmndash400pm

Register

8 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus COVER STORY

space website buildout etc) that make the operation wildly unprofitable on the whole (though seemingly cautious when only the variable costs are taken into account) Do the hard work and stop dismissing what is in fact real consumer behavior screaming for granular analysis

bull Know the role models Many young Canadians Irsquove encountered in formal business courses were not aware of Techcrunch Yelp Zappos and many other mainstays of digital business culture This is inexcusable The best students are the self-taught exceptions Therersquos no guarantee that these self-starters will get great jobs out of the gate but over time they usually prevail

bull Look for smart partners and communities Canada is full of half-baked digital companies that go nowhere fueled by family money and vanity investments Dumb money loses out to savvy skill and passion

bull Risk your own money Funding at the appropriate stage can be an important accelerator but the founders of companies like FreshBooks Acquisio PlentyofFish and HomeStars put in their own money perhaps with the support of family and friends before they did formal fundraising Itrsquos not always possible to bootstrap but companies like these prove that you donrsquot have to raise huge sums of money

to reach the next level You do have to have the entrepreneurial 24-7 mindset

bull Embrace digital jobs as normal If ordinary Canadians donrsquot become conversant with the leading edge of technology and digital enterprise the best minds will continue to drain away due to a lack of both opportunity and peers Our industry needs to be normalized and valued as simply a part of the economy Today wersquore still seen as representing either of two extremesmdashtaking insane risks and living in a cardboard box or lucking into lottery-like wealthmdashas if the profession is worth discussing only for its financial upside not for its substance Until people get it itrsquoll be up to us to evangelize the merits of things like search and display advertising (better targeting) online procurement (reducing friction in the economy) and all of that good stuff Yes it was obvious in 1999 but that doesnrsquot mean people are quite comfortable with it yet

ConclusionNot everyone is going to create the next Radian6 The Internet Retailerrsquos Top 500 is pretty rarefied territory and represents more success than the vast majority of startupsmdashlet alone well-known established retailersmdashcan attain However Canadians should at least be benchmarking themselves against these success stories rather than the semi-successful company down the street The real problem of course is that the comfort level of doing ldquojust so wellrdquo is tempting It may even seem irrational to want to reach a

levels of success far ahead of what is needed to maintain a great lifestyle

The driven minority though seek to have something more impressive than ldquo+1rdquo engraved on their tombstones If and when they do succeed you can bet that the aver-age Canadian and the creators of grand nar-ratives will be only too happy to take partial credit hellip not to mention taxing the bejeesus out of them

Andrew Goodman is founder

and President of Toronto-based

Page Zero Media a full-service

marketing agency founded in

2000 He is also co-founder of

Traffickcom an award-winning

industry commentary site and author of Winning Results with Google AdWords

Breaking Out of the ldquo+1rdquo Mindset

continued from page 7 Canadians should at least be benchmarking themselves against the Internet Retailerrsquos Top 500 rather than the

semi-successful company down the street The real problem of course is that the comfort level of doing ldquojust so wellrdquo is tempting

The driven minority though seek to have

something more impressive than ldquo+1rdquo engraved on

their tombstones

sesconferencecom bull SES 9

focusMARKETING INSIGHTS

If you live and work in Canada you may think of the Internet as a free space in which to share ideas sell products and interact with others with no restrictions

other than those imposed by the Canadian government for the protection of its people Itrsquos reasonable to believe that if you com-ply with these laws you will maintain the health of your website Unfortunately this isnrsquot entirely the case The United States gov-ernment has significant power over how the Internet functions right down to how you use your domain name and how the 1s and 0s on which your site travels are treated

Domain Name OwnershipMany people donrsquot realize that they donrsquot actu-ally own their own domain names they rent them Itrsquos a subtle difference but when com-bined with the fact that the US government owns and controls the com top-level domain (TLD) it brings up a whole new set of con-cerns as the owners of Bodogcom discovered

Bodogcom was a Canadian-owned online gambling site In February the US Depart-ment of Justice and Homeland Security Investigations seized the domain name while a US federal grand jury charged its four owners with conducting an illegal sports gambling site and conspiracy to commit money laundering The indictment alleges that Bodog moved at least $100 million from offshore accounts to bettors in Maryland

ldquoSports betting is illegal in Maryland and federal law prohibits bookmakers from flout-ing that law simply because they are located outside the countryrdquo stated US attorney Rod J Rosenstein (quoted by USA Today)

As this case shows the US government can seize any com site regardless of the loca-tion of the business operation or its hosting provider This principle of government own-ership is logical for country-based domains (such as ca) where the issuing government can take control of a domain rented by one of its citizens but com is the Internet go-to for countless non-US businesses You may think

ldquoThatrsquos OK I donrsquot run a poker siterdquo Just bear

in mind that since you donrsquot own your com domain the US government could confiscate it however unlikely that may be

SOPA and PIPAYoursquod be wrong to think that the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) would not affect your Canadian busi-ness If you use or provide resources (or letrsquos be honest are believed to provide resources) that are deemed unacceptable by the US gov-ernment your site could be blocked your search traffic eliminated and more Although neither bill has passed similar legislation probably will

ldquoIrsquom not worried I donrsquot run an illegal torrent siterdquo you may say The laws as they were drafted apply to any copyright infringe-ment and designate the website owner as the culpable party For example if you operate a forum and one of its members posts content from say a movie script your site could be blocked and search engine traffic eliminated This would be a big punishment for adding a forum to your site in hopes of engaging visi-tors While Irsquom not stating that the US gov-ernment would go to this extreme every time a law like SOPA or PIPA could make your site a target however innocent your intentions

Net Neutrality LegislationWhile I hold the unpopular opinion that ISPs have a right to charge what they like for their bandwidth and that the free market should sort out what this means there is no doubt that US rules and regulations regard-ing net neutrality would have a major impact on Canadian site owners The speed of your site is dependent on the speed of the Inter-net between your web host and the visitor If your visitors are in the US or if your site is hosted there you would be affected

You may point out ldquoMy site is hosted in Canada and my clients are in Canadardquo Unless your clients are in close proximity to your host your data is going to take various routes between the site and visitors Many tests I ran from my office in Victoria BC to

websites across Canada passed through the US at one point or another Net neutrality legislation would have an influence on these paths

Data SecurityMany of us collect data on our sites many of us store this data on our servers Under the law the US government can seize or review this data at any time if your site is hosted at a US hosting facility

You may ask ldquoBut Irsquom not storing any-thing illegal so who caresrdquo Your clients may If yoursquore a lawyer or doctor or if you store any other information on your server that may be deemed confidential you may be violating the law in hosting it in an environ-ment that is subject to seizure

What You Can DoThe purpose of this article isnrsquot to scare you Irsquove done business primarily in the US and hosted the Beanstalk site there since the company was formed and I havenrsquot had any issues stemming from these laws That said itrsquos extremely important to understand and monitor the direction that legislation is tak-ing and the potential impact and to safe-guard yourself against litigation embarrass-ment reduced or eliminated traffic slower speeds for your visitors etc Knowing whatrsquos happening and how it affects your website will help you react quickly

For example if network neutrality legis-lation fails and ISPs are given more freedom in how they charge for bandwidth ensuring that yoursquore hosted on a network with priority should be step one And you might as well buy that ca domain as a backup After all just because yoursquore being paranoid doesnrsquot mean yoursquore wrong

Dave Davies is CEO of Bean stalk

SEO Services an organic SEO

firm in Victoria BC He wrote the

second edition of SitePointrsquos s

Kit and hosts a weekly radio

show on Webmaster Radio

Beyond the BorderThe Impact of US Laws on Canadian Site Owners

by Dave Davies

10 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus MARKETING INSIGHTS

Searching for a new digital agency is a lot like searching for a mate you spend a lot of time seeing other peo-ple (the RFP process) you eventually

narrow it down to a handful of prospects (the short-list) and eventually you think yoursquove found ldquothe onerdquo (the winning agency) After much wooing and negotiation you agree to move in together (onboarding) and the real

ldquogetting to know each otherrdquo officially begins (the client-agency relationship)

The first couple of months are usu-ally pretty blissful both parties are filled with hope and positivity about the excit-ing adventures (programstactics) to come But you inevitably find out things that you didnrsquot know before and that you may not like Things get a bit bumpy and you start to become disenfranchised with your part-ner Gradually everything starts to unravel

mdashall of a sudden a year has gone by and yoursquore threatening to break up if your mate (agency) doesnrsquot get his or her act together

It doesnrsquot have to be this way There is a way to maintain the honeymoon period indefinitely It really starts with choosing the right partner in the first place Onboarding a new agency is a huge investment so make sure that the agency you choose is going to work out in the long term Ask the following questions about a prospective agency before making your decision

Do the Agencyrsquos Skills Closely Align to Your NeedsRelationship Buster While this may seem obvious often client-agency relationships fail due to mismatches between the cli-entsrsquo needs and the agenciesrsquo competen-cies Agencies do a good job of downplaying their weaknesses and selling their strengths sometimes giving clients distorted represen-tations of their capabilities Clients can also become enamored of specific strengths that arenrsquot even top priorities for the firms

Relationship Saver Have a clear understand-ing of what you need and what yoursquore looking

for in an agency and consistently apply that as a filter when evaluating potential part-ners It is critical that you choose an agency based on a realistic evaluation of your needs and whether their core competencies align with these If yoursquore looking for a digital agency that can offer innovative solutions to engage your audience donrsquot let yourself get wooed by a flashy creative presentation unless yoursquore sure that they have the chops to deliver on the technology side Alterna-tively if you already have a skilled IT team in house and really need a strong strategic and creative shop be sure that they can bring their creative A-game

Does the Agency Have the Proven Ability to DeliverRelationship Buster Clients sometimes under-estimate the importance of delivery in digi-tal programs It is easy to get distracted by cutting-edge solutions and fail to consider whether these programs can realistically be deployed on time on budget and at a high-quality level

Relationship Saver Verify agenciesrsquo track records in deploying similar solutions in a timely and efficient manner They should be able to provide case studies of similar work successfully delivered for other clients and clearly articulate their process for taking a high-level solutionstrategy to detailed tactical implementation plans Strong proj-ect management competence is critical to

ensure that projects are delivered within budget and timelines They should also be able to demonstrate that they have sufficient resources in place to deliver on multiple con-current work streams

Does the Agency Play Well with OthersRelationship Buster Most clients have mul-tiple agency partnersmdashtypically at least a creativeoffline agency and a media agency in addition to their digital agency Clients sometimes assume that all partners will work towards a common goal and that inte-gration will naturally take place However some agencies tend toward a protective or even combative nature when working with other agencies creating a host of problems when interdependencies are present between both agenciesrsquo initiatives

Relationship Saver Prospective partners need to be able to demonstrate the ability to get along with others Your agency should be able to point to specific examples of how they have worked with other agency partners in a harmonious and mutually beneficial way They should demonstrate the ability to take a leadership role in coordinating cross-agency collaboration and integration and have an established process for helping to define and document roles and responsibilities among agency partners

There are many other factors to take into consideration when choosing a new digital agency partner but avoiding the pitfalls above should increase your chances of a long and successful union Happy hunting

Julie Batten is VP strategy digital media at Klick Health focused on online media and digital She brings a wealth of experi-ence in search marketing

digital media and all facets of digital strat-egy to bear helping Klickrsquos clients develop innovative digital solutions

Make Your Client-Agency Relationship WorkThree Considerations When Choosing a Partner

by Julie Batten

Have a clear understanding of what you need and what yoursquore looking for in an agency and

consistently apply that as a filter when evaluating potential partners It is

critical that you choose an agency based on a realistic evaluation of your needs

sesconferencecom bull SES 11

focusSOCIALINTEGRATION

Social media is public relations Social media is inclusionary Social media is necessary to compete with your competitors Social media is todayrsquos

big thingSocial media is also tomorrowrsquos next big

thing More appropriately some form of social media application is tomorrowrsquos next big thing Yesterdayrsquos appears to have been Pinterest which is threatening to displace Foursquare as the mayor of forgotten places As digital marketing experts we are calling on our clients to invest increasing amounts of time staff and money in an area that is evolving too quickly for us to fully under-stand The benefits of increased traffic are obvious but the return on investment on a wide spread of social media profiles can be somewhat harder to quantify

The Changes in Social MediaWith over one-third of the adult population using Facebook Canadians constitute one of the largest national social media footprints in the world Being early adopters Canadian Internet users became amazingly social amazingly quickly Unfortunately many if not most Canadian businesses have not kept up This isnrsquot just because Canadian compa-nies donrsquot fully grasp the social part of the medium itrsquos also because the budgeting and planning necessary to create an effective social media presence is daunting on paper without a clear understanding of benefits

Social media applications have existed for almost as long as the commercial web Early social media applications such as Classmates and Friendster acted as basic connectors They werenrsquot great for commu-nication among users but they provided an ideal foundation on which all subsequent social media applications could build Web 20 which came on the scene in 2003 was a breakthrough that allowed users to inter-act with websites and with each other This was the dawn of the user-generated content (UGC) era Nearly ten years later wersquore just

beginning to understand the fuller implica-tions of UGC on search and the web

Many of the sessions at SES Toronto will address social media measurement engage-ment and techniques Each of the speakers addressing social media has developed his or her own techniques and tactics based on personal experience and shared knowledge Each of them will say that every social media experience is unique Each will maintain that the very best social media experience is one that promotes authenticity and earnest con-nection over marketing and promotion

As the digital marketing environment changes so must the priorities of digital marketers and the clients we serve While itrsquos always about driving good traffic the digital marketing landscape is transforming more rapidly than ever before Social media is continuously extending frontiers and new areas are expanding as rapidly as UGC can be created and user intent can be ascertained and harnessed

To say that social has had an impact on search would be an understatement for search marketers this shift has not been subtle Moving away from its fascination with search SEO has for the last two years focused on social From studying how Face-book alters user behaviors to finding cor-relations between social signals and search engine placements social media has domi-nated search marketing discourse by becom-ing a more popular form of public directory To say that you understand the impact of social media on search would be a vaguely worded lie Nobody understands exactly how social meshes with search Witness Google+

Getting Clients to Be SocialTrying to figure out how to integrate social into search is akin to integrating apples with oranges kiwis strawberries grapes cottage cheese and bananas Itrsquos easy to spot iden-tify and describe the effects of an apple itrsquos not as easy to do forensics on fruit salad This creates yet another problem for digital

marketers when trying to convince small businesses and corporate clients that bud-geting time and money for social media is important

To be authentic in the truest sense cli-ents would do the work in house However in-house SEOSMM is often impractical for the smaller businesses that make up the vast majority of clients This means that the service must be either outsourced to a third party or performed by a digital market-ing agency It is a huge challenge for digi-tal markers to help clients be authentic in a constantly evolving environment that none of us fully grasp

Digital marketers face a number of other issues when guiding clients in the social sphere It is really difficult to know whether the plethora of random information linking to clientsrsquo websites is beneficial or detrimen-tal We have to push our clients into actively participating in an arena that they donrsquot fully understand or we have to try to recre-ate their voices ourselves and authenticity is very hard to engender in the second- or third-party voice Lastly we have to quan-tify a return on investment that translates to

Doing Forensics on Fruit SaladThe Challenge of Developing Practical Client-Friendly Strategies in the Unpredictable Social Media Environment

by Jim Hedger

continues on page 13

From studying how Facebook alters user behaviors to finding

correlations between social signals and search engine placements social media

has dominated search marketing discourse by

becoming a more popular form of public directory

To say that you understand the impact of social

media on search would be a vaguely worded lie

12 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus SOCIALMEDIA

As the first birthday of Googlersquos latest baby draws near the organic search and paid advertising behemoth con- tinues to struggle to find their

niche in social A year ago Google+ was just a rumor Google would deny the existence of a social project until the very day it launched in late June

In that year theyrsquove launched expanded experimented and redesigned the service incurring the verbal wrath of competitors Facebook and Twitter on a number of occa-sions Itrsquos been a whirlwind for Google+ and all fifteen of its loyal users

I kid To be fair there is a small but dedi-cated group of core users in the Google+ net-work Larry Page Sergey Brin Vic Gundotra and the rest of the crew have become old pros at dodging questions about the num-ber of actual active users but we can safely assume that itrsquos nowhere near Facebookrsquos 850 million Does it need to be

Googlersquos Busy Year What Google has accomplished with Google+ in under a year is nothing short of amazing June 2011 saw the launch of Google+ as a social network Over the summer tech jour-nalists and analysts were positively wooed keeping a watchful eye on every indicator (precise or not) of increasing traffic and user activity on Google+ The Washington Post even announced in August that ldquoGoogle Plus could be the fastest-growing site in historyrdquo In all of history Well as long as wersquove had websites anyway (The original comScore report noted that it was the fast-est site to reach 25 million unique visits In what can only be described as a bizarre game of cyberjournalism this report morphed into Reutersrsquo claim that Google+ ldquoattracted 25 million usersrdquo and The Washington Postrsquos assertion that ldquoGoogle has 25 million usersrdquo)

Google+ launched business Pages on November 7 Pages were already popu-lar on Facebook and since Google+ hadnrsquot included them at the start there was a lot of

anticipation around the launch In the weeks following however Google+ would struggle to connect with brands their brands in turn would struggle to connect with a user base worth marketing to within the Google+ network

As Google began integrating brand Page results in seemingly dominant positions in the organic search listings other compa-nies began to cry foul Hot on the heels of that development Google made their latest foray into social search Google Search Plus Your World (SPY World anyone) in early January Twitter for one lost it quite pub-licly announcing ldquoWersquore concerned that as a result of Googlersquos changes finding this infor-mation will be much harder for everyone We think thatrsquos bad for people publishers news organizations and Twitter usersrdquo Their con-cern stemmed partly from the possibility that Google might have been abusing their dominance in their core industry search to excel in the realm of social largely Twitterrsquos and Facebookrsquos territory to that point The old grumblings of antitrust resurfaced only to peter out again within a few months

Later in January Google again stunned users and analysts with the announcement of an amalgamated privacy policy one that would bring user data from all 60+ of their

services under one umbrella They said that this would be better for users Many dis-agreed some agencies threatened to inves-tigate and users protested yet perhaps the widest-ranging and most important change in Googlersquos policies went off as planned on April 1

Also in January a month marked by a flurry of announcements from the search giant Google changed the sign-up process for many of their services Those signing on for a Gmail or YouTube account were auto-matically assigned a Google+ account Prom-inent markers appeared in the navigation bar every time users visited a Google property urging them to check out their notifications on the social network

Why Engagement Is Incidental Only Google knows how effective this was at actually getting people to the site although I suspect that user engagement was only a secondary goal at best In response to a scathing WSJcom article ticking off the

ldquomounting minusesrdquo at Google+ I wrote an article explaining why low user counts and engagement might not matter to Google

Facebook has had to find outside partners nurture (and invest heavily in) the app envi-ronment and build out their ecosystem over a period of years in order to gain access to the type and depth of user data they need to power their advertisement business Google is transitioning the other way from an advertising and data powerhouse to a social platform They already have an incredible reach largely through their DoubleClick ad network and dozens of properties

They donrsquot need to seek out partners who offer services users might opt into to share data back and forth They already have the data theyrsquore collecting it from millions of websites and user actions often without the usersrsquo explicit knowledge that theyrsquore being tracked at the time Whereas Facebookrsquos data pool shows more intent on the part of usersmdashthey liked something they shared something elsemdashGoogle reigns supreme in

The State of Google+ One Year LaterGoogle Hasnrsquot Yet Carved Their Niche in Social but Do They Even Need To

by Miranda Miller

Google doesnrsquot need to seek out partners who offer

services users might opt into to share data back and

forth They already have the data theyrsquore collecting it from millions of websites

and user actions

Whereas Facebookrsquos data pool shows more intent

on the part of users Google reigns supreme in

the low-intent market

sesconferencecom bull SES 13

focusSOCIALMEDIA

the low-intent market They know when and where you check your email on your Android They know the types of videos you search for and watch on YouTube

This is a fantastic thing for advertisers For users hellip not so much Yet users sign up for Google accounts in droves opting into Google+ without a second thought Track-ing goes beyond the actions users take while signed in to a Google service interacting with a +1 button on a website for example could set a cookie allowing tracking over all Google properties for a period of time

The efforts of the W3C Tracking Protec-tion Working Group will have huge ramifi-cations for the online advertising industry especially for Google If users click a +1 social icon is that really an interaction with Google Have they really indicated the intent to share data with Google for the next 24 36 or 48 hours from every website they visit that might show Google ads These ques-tions have no answers right now but the

working group aims to define first and third parties Advertisers will not be satisfied with poorly targeted paid search and display ads so Google and other ad companies need the data However users need their privacy

ConclusionWhat we are seeing in the current online advertising environment is a precarious balancing act with Google perched square in the middle teetering from side to side Everyone in the industry and even in the mainstream media has their eyes on Google+ Google has certainly given us plenty to talk about Hangouts with Obama seemingly constant updates and new features and even a recent redesign complete with new naviga-tion and profile pages

We canrsquot forget though that Google+ is just one cog in the wheel that drives Googlersquos 44 stake in the $486 billion global adver-tising market (see report by ZenithOpti-media) While slick photos funny updates

and all manner of things are being shared or overshared on the front end of Google+ the real action occurs behind the scenes Google doesnrsquot really need you hanging out on the Google+ site all day long they just need you to have an account and do everything you would normally do on the web in the course of a daymdashand donrsquot mind if they tag along while you do it

Google VP Bradley Horowitz said it best in September when he proclaimed that

ldquoGoogle+ is Google itselfrdquo Indeed

A staff writer with Search En-

gine Watch Miranda Miller co-

ordinates the annual Translit-

eracy Conference for Ontario

educators manages a small

number of social media cam-

paigns through an agency and serves on the Ca-

nadian Hemophilia Societyrsquos Advisory Board for

their Code Rouge awareness project

common sense better than to the dollars and cents that our clientsrsquo creditors understand

In practice my firm generally limits our recommendations to the big three of Face-book Twitter and Google+ placing other social networks into an ldquoadvisably optionalrdquo category Our clients have enough difficulty wrapping their heads around Facebook and Twitter without worrying about other net-works We include Google+ in the mix only because of the ldquorel=authorrdquo support and because we believe that Google actively favors websites associated with Google+ profiles

Training businesses to promote their ideas and images on Facebook and Google+ is relatively easy and teaching them Twit-ter behaviors and etiquette is only slightly harder Even though we limit our advice to

the big three we still end up chasing clients to convince them to monitor and maintain their social networks We do recommend secondary social networks such as LinkedIn Pinterest and Foursquare as they apply to clients and as clients can afford our training and application rates

We know that we are missing traffic but we balance this drawback by being practical In cases where we have to act as social media coordinators for our small to medium-sized business clients exposing them to only the big three limits our need to bill for out-of-control charges for allotted work time It also helps to ease clients into expanding their own social media participation and interaction

ConclusionDigital marketing professionals have to make a lot of choices as we steer clients along the

social media learning curve By sticking to the most trafficked social networks and deploying assets in secondary ones as neces-sary my company believes that wersquove found a balance our clients can live with

SES Toronto will provide a valuable forum for Canadian practitioners to dis-cuss the problems inherent in social media marketing

Jim Hedger is a founding part-

ner of the Toronto-based

search and social media mar-

keting agency Digital Always

Media He has an extensive

background in SEO dating to

the late 1990s He leads the SEO and content cre-

ation teams at Digital Always Media

Doing Forensics on Fruit Salad

continued from page 11

14 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus CONVERSIONamp ROI

Conversion optimization has been around for a while but its benefits are hard to ignore These include reduced cost of acquisition through

digital marketing increased customer satis-faction and retention increased average rev-enue per order and improved search engine rankings In order to reap the rewards of an optimization program you need to know where to start what to avoid and how to develop your program for long-term success

Getting StartedDo-it-yourself small business owners digital marketers and web analysts tend to inherit a lot of excess baggage so focusing on only one or two sore spots on a website is often difficult Consider these top five places to start

1 Optimize paid search landing pages Look-ing for big impact right away Optimize those paid search landing pages and start counting the money you save on search marketing immediately Vary your value proposition urgency pricing product mix and form length

2 Examine internal search results pages Searches performed on your website often yield the best (and cheapest) way to judge the voice of the customer These searchers are committed visi-tors who probably arenrsquot finding what they want intuitively Look at queries with no results top queries that should be satisfied through navigation and perhaps synonyms you didnrsquot consider when writing creative

3 Enhance your help sections Areas on a website dedicated to helping people are most often frequented by loyal custom-ers who would rather solve problems on their own than cost you money by calling or emailing support staff Help them help you by optimizing help docs downloads and public service messages

4 Test product and service recommendations The art of the upsell is best exhibited by e-commerce giants such as Apple Ama-zon GoDaddy and Dell If yoursquore able to measure cart abandonment on your site yoursquore ready to start testing product and service recommendations to increase your average revenue per order

5 Evaluate pathways from top entry pages Entry pages to your site are a bit harder to optimize because referred traffic through search or other websites isnrsquot always continuous or predictable but itrsquos usually free Measure common path-ways from entry pages to determine how content can be changed to reduce bounce rate you may just improve your search rankings at the same time

Growing the BaseOnce yoursquove started building quick wins in your conversion optimization program yoursquoll want to maintain that momentum and expand your effort to other areas of your site Unfortunately many marketers fall into the trap of overoptimizing based on bad advice so try to avoid or at least question the fol-lowing five optimization tips that can hurt conversion rates

1 Tip to avoid Keep your copy short sharp concise Itrsquos hard to argue that trimming the overall content on a landing page would be anything but successful for most campaigns as it reduces the prob-ability that a landing page will over-whelm a prospect However providing less information may hurt overall con-version rates over time or worse still lower average revenue per order

2 Tip to avoid Remove or de-emphasize primary and secondary navigation from the template of your landing page Fewer escape routes make prospects more likely to continue along your chosen path However a lack of consistency

across the rest of your site may com-promise new visitorsrsquo trust and result in higher abandonment

3 Tip to avoid Add trust marks to your land-ing pages While I certainly can attest to the conversion lift that trust marks can provide on an e-commerce site landing pages are somewhat different In most cases getting visitors to click on links deeper in your site to privacy statements and certificates can be a more powerful way to convert skeptical prospects

4 Tip to avoid Boost your brand with tes-timonials and client logos In B2B cam-paigns association with large-scale brands with which you do business can boost conversion especially for start-ups but do your due diligence by seek-ing written approval for logo usage and recommendations The last thing you want is conflict with a long-term lucra-tive client

5 Tip to avoid Incentivize your prospects with freebies calls for urgency and pro-motions While these tactics can elicit a strong positive reaction among first-time visitors they can have very unde-sirable effects on lead quality Many visitors are conditioned to perform microconversions such as lead forms without reading anything else on a landing page Donrsquot be afraid to lose a few cheapskates on your landing pages who would otherwise sacrifice your profitability

Planning for the FutureNow that yoursquore well on your way to optimi-zation nirvana yoursquoll want to expand your program beyond online impact and start leveraging your online success for dramatic cross-channel maturity Here are five things to consider when bridging conversion opti-mization to business process optimization

The Conversion Optimization Life CycleWhich Advice Should You Follow and Which Should You Avoid in Structuring Your Optimization Program

by Garry Przyklenk

sesconferencecom bull SES 15

focusCONVERSIONamp ROI

1 Relate online customer pain points to front-line personnel Some of the best online optimizations can result in a cultural shift or reimaging of the offline sales process and vice versa Keep your sales and support members in the loop of online optimizations because your cross-channel prospects are often very similar

2 Try some of your companyrsquos own products and services The importance of stepping into your customersrsquo shoes cannot be overemphasized Irsquove done it on numer-ous occasions with a high degree of success It helps to assume an angry persona and pretend that you have less than five minutes to do anything that you need to do

3 Build new products and services with optimization in mind Build a culture of

conversion testing by baking it into the product or client life cycle Letrsquos face itmdasha lot can go wrong from initial con-ceptualization of a product or service to delivery especially when development cycles are really wrong

4 Leverage web analytics information and customer relationship management sys-tems (CRMs) Integration of web ana-lytics data with CRMs is much more common these days because businesses usually have a significant portion of their operations or interactions with customers through nonline channels

5 Analyze the competition Sometimes the best original score is a remix Think yoursquore smarter than your competitor Prove it by testing their ideas with your audience to find out what they might be doing better or worse

Although no two websites are exactly the same in terms of customer experience and behavior similarly structured products and services likely attract similar prospects and customers

For more guidance on conversion optimiza-tion be sure to visit one of the many optimi-zation sessions at SES this year

Garry Przyklenk manager of

analytics implementation at

TD Bank Group is an expert in

lead generation search engine

marketing web analytics and

social media marketing He has

successfully championed creative marketing cam-

paigns and executed on actionable insights in

several vertical markets

learn more about a different aspect of the industry For example if yoursquore an in-house SEO you may find yourself responsible for your companyrsquos social media You already know about Facebook LinkedIn and Twitter but you may not know which is right for your industry and the ways in which success will be defined Since a social media program is not just about ldquolikesrdquo and ldquofollowersrdquo align-ing it with corporate objectives to generate revenue is not a simple matter

At the other end are large organizations rolling out training to their employees Some allocate specific courses to individuals and make completion compulsory while others give employees access to the library of con-tent and encourage self-study in the areas that would be the most beneficial Online training is perfect for companies who do not

have the budget or time to send everyone to a course and allows each employee to receive a tailored syllabus

This kind of program can be comple-mented by an in-house training sessionmdasha course tailored to meet the specific objec-tives of the organization and held at the com-panyrsquos offices By blending online and class-room courses ClickZ Academy makes sure that employees from different offices arrive at the in-house portion with the same basic understanding so that their time together is maximized

Catch That Missed Session with Conference RecordingsBecause several concurrent content tracks run at SES conferences you may find that you are not able to attend every session that you would like Therefore we now offer recorded sessions from some conferences

The recordings sync the PowerPoint presen-tations and the videos simulating the experi-ence of being at the sessions This is a conve-nient way to catch up on any session that you missed or to share sessions with colleagues Available for purchase on the ClickZAcad-emy website recordings cover a number of tracks Recordings from SES London are now available and consist of the Kick Start PPC and Accelerator tracks

To learn more stop by the ClickZ table at SES Toronto or visit ClickZacademycom

Paul Fegan is head of e-learn-

ing at Incisive Media and is re-

sponsible for creating on-line

training content for all of its

brands He co-founded his own

e-learning company and has

been delivering online professional and CPD train-

ing since 2000

How ClickZ Academy Can Work for You

continued from page 1

16 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

sessions SES Toronto | June 11ndash13 2012 | hosted by

Day 1mdashMonday June 11

1030ndash1130amTrack 2Driving Mobile Traffic PPC amp SEOJump-start your mobile presence with these fundamentals for pre-senting content thatrsquos both SEO- and mobile-friendly Not fully ready for a mobile site Learn inexpensive and easy options to get started the right way From desktop and mobile to tablets smart-phones and feature phones wersquoll dive into key mobile differences for SEO and PPC and the strategies to drive and convert more mobile traffic

Moderator Gregg Stewart President 15 Miles

Speaker Jeff Allen Account Manager Hanapin Marketing

Speaker Jeremy Evans Director of Strategic Accounts Marin Software

1145ndash1245pmTrack 2Developing a Video Optimization amp Marketing CampaignThis session will use real-world examples to help you understand and master the entire video process including what to create how to optimize your video how to market it with search and social media and how to measure its real business impact

Moderator Sage Lewis President SageRockcom

Speaker Jonathan Allen Director Search Engine Watch

Speaker Greg Jarboe President amp Co-founder SEO-PR

200ndash300pmTrack 2Made in Canada Marketing Online WorldwideThis session will focus on specific challenges facing Canadian Internet marketers It will cover

bull How to balance Canadian and American content challenges in a consistent meaningful way (domains architecture content keyphrases etc)

bull How to compete in the US market as a Canadian business and not lose your Canadian online presence

bull The different results on Googlecom and Googleca from a search engine perspective and which consumers prefer the search enginesrsquo growing preferences for local

Moderator Andrew Goodman SES Advisory Board President Page Zero Media

Speaker Anne F Kennedy SES Advisory Board International Search Strategist Author Beyond Ink USA

Speaker Ian McAnerin CEO McAnerin International Inc

Speaker Ezra Silverton President 9th sphere

330ndash430pmTrack 3Content Marketing OptimizationOnline marketing is increasingly competitive and brand marketers worldwide are seeking real advantages that will improve the effi-ciency and impact of their social media and SEO efforts This ses-sion will provide unique insight into content-based optimization strategies and processes as well as tactics for sourcing creating and promoting optimized content on the social web

Speaker Matt McGowan Managing Director Americas Incisive Media

Krista LaRiviere CoFounder amp CEO gShift Labs

Speaker Lee Odden SES Advisory Board CEO TopRank Online Marketing

Speaker Jennifer Slegg CEO JenSense

Sample SessionsDownload the app or visit wwwSESTorontocom for complete agenda and session descriptions

sesconferencecom bull SES 17

sessionsDownload the app or visit SESNewYorkcom

Day 2mdashTuesday June 12

900ndash1000amTrack 2Social Media Solutions on a BudgetGetting your company or organization started with social media doesnrsquot have to be a pricey proposition In this session yoursquoll learn how to

bull Take advantage of great free and low-cost tools that cover man-aging conversations measuring reach and engagement and developingpublishing great content

bull Leverage lesser-known social media channels to increase expo-sure and reach

bull Create great social media friendly content to build trust and authority inexpensively

Moderator Laura Roth Conference Program amp Training Manager SES Conference amp Expo

Speaker Danny Iny Co-Founder Firepole Marketing

Speaker Krista Neher CEO Boot Camp Digital

130ndash230pmTrack 3From Keywords to ldquoBuy Wordsrdquo Finding High-Value Paid Search Keywords

ldquoProfessorsrdquo Van Wagner and Goodman will take you beyond garden-variety keyword lists to delve deeper into how user queries signal different kinds of intent You will learn how to go beyond the blind reading of ldquoafter-the-factrdquo ROI statistics how to anticipate how your most valuable searchers will express themselves with search que-ries and even how to subtly mold their preferences as they progress from search queries to your ads landing pages and transactions

Moderator Greg Jarboe President amp Co-founder SEO-PR

Speaker Andrew Goodman SES Advisory Board President Page Zero Media

Speaker Matt Van Wagner President Find Me Faster

300ndash400pmTrack 2Conquering the Growing Canadian Affiliate Marketing IndustryIn this session you will learn the following and more

bull Affiliate marketing in Canada is a viable growing traffic channel bull Online retail merchants need to educate and form strategic

partnerships with web publishers in order to generate traffic bull Establishing a successful Canadian affiliate marketing channel

requires sophisticated software development strategic market-ing and stability

bull Retail merchants need to be prepared to accommodate Canadian affiliate partnerships with the right tools in order for all parties to succeed

Speaker Nicky Senyard President Share Results

415ndash515pmTrack 1Maximizing ROI in e-Commerce with SearchAll e-commerce websites and e-tailers should be on top of certain ROI trends and opportunities This session will show you how to maximize ROI in e-commerce by leveraging one e-marketing chan-nel to improve the performance of another You will hear a series of combined channel campaign strategies along with case studies that illustrate how to maximize the ROI of your campaigns by taking advantage of low-hanging fruit

Moderator Chris Boggs SES Advisory Board Director SEO Rosetta

Speaker Guillaume Bouchard President CEO NVI

Speaker Elazar Gabay Vice President Performance Marketing LeSiteca

515ndash615pmSEW Eliminator QuizJoin us for the inaugural SEW Eliminator Quiz a pub-trivia-style networking event where you and your fellow marketers will compete to see who is the savviest and most knowledgeable marketer in the room Afterward yoursquoll have a chance to network with your favorite drink in hand

New YorkMarch

ShanghaiApril

TorontoJune -

San FranciscoAugust -

Hong KongSeptember ndash

BerlinOctober ndash

ChicagoNovember -

SingaporeNovember ndash

San DiegoFebruary

LondonFebruary

SES Conference amp Expo is the leading global event series that educates professionals in search and social marketing putting a special focus on tactics and best practices SES Events provide instructions from the industryrsquos top experts including representatives from the Search Engines themselves

World Tour ndash

SESConferencecom

Page 6: SES Magazine Toronto 2012

4 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

sponsors ampexhibitors SES Toronto | June 11ndash13 2012

Marin SoftwareTable 1wwwmarinsoftwarecomMarin Software is a leading provider of online advertising man-agement solutions offering an integrated platform for managing search display and social marketing The company provides solu-tions for advertisers and agencies of all sizes enabling them to improve financial performance save time and make better deci-sions Marin Enterprise the companyrsquos flagship product addresses the needs of online marketers spending at least $100000 per month on biddable media Marin Professional delivers the same power and ease of use as Marin Enterprise through an application designed for marketers spending less than $100000 per month on paid search Headquartered in San Francisco with offices worldwide Marinrsquos technology powers marketing campaigns for over 850 cus-tomers managing more than $25 billion of annualized ad spend in more than 160 countries

9th sphereTrack Sponsorwww9thspherecom9th sphere is a full-service web design and Internet marketing solu-tions provider focused on delivering a strong ROI for our clients Since 1997 they have put their award-winning expertise to work earning recognition for effectiveness in design development and marketing resultsndashdriven websites 9th sphere is proud to offer top industry experts state-of-the-art technology and exceptional cus-tomer care that produces smart and powerful website solutions and real results for a wide variety of businesses This ultimately pro-vides a solid service value from which clients prosper Learn about the 9th sphere Advantage at httpwww9thspherecom

NVI SolutionsSponsored SessionwwwnvisolutionscomNVI is a full-service digital marketing agency We leverage our internal tools our broad and diversified experience and the larg-est bilingual staff of experts in the country to serve our customers NVI is known for its resourcefulness and business ability to execute strategic plans that are performance-centric

NVI relies on the ingenuity of its web marketing strategies and the collective energy of its employees to offer the best return on investment to its customers

Page Zero MediaReception SponsorwwwpagezerocomPage Zero Media is a full service digital marketing agency focus-ing especially on paid search (SEM) display advertising and other forms of effective audience targeting Led by founder and president Andrew Goodman the company is headquartered in Toronto Can-ada Clients include Postmedia Digital Canon Direct Energy Wave Accounting and Nutscom Page Zero is a Google AdWords Certified Agency

Reprise MediaTable 3wwwreprisemediacomReprise Media Canada is a full-service search marketing agency Our core business is based on search engine marketing (pay-per-click) search engine optimization (SEO) and social media market-ing Reprise Media Canada offers best-in-class search marketing strategies employed by a team of industry-recognized talents and applies an agenda of innovation to produce breakthrough results for our clients Come see us at Table 3 on June 1112

Search Engine People IncTable 2wwwsearchenginepeoplecomSearch Engine People Inc is one of Canadarsquos oldest and most respected search agencies Since 2001 SEP has helped a wide range of clients (from Fortune 500 to small and medium-size companies) secure business from the web SEP is a Google Adwords Qualified Company and Yahoo Search Marketing Ambassador and is Micro-soft adExcellence certified The company was also named one of the

ldquoTop 25 Up-and-Coming Canadian IT Companiesrdquo by the Branham Group in 2006

SEPrsquos services include search engine optimization (SEO) paid search management (PPC) social media marketing (SMM) online reputation management usability and more Whether yoursquore look-ing to compete in an ultra-competitive space or to dramatically increase your local presence SEP can help

Stop by our booth and talk to our knowledgeable expertsGet Foundtrade

SEMPO CanadaTable 8wwwsempocaSEMPO is the largest nonprofit trade organization in the world serving the search and digital marketing industry and marketing professionals engaged in it

Whether you are a search or social marketing professional or use search and social as part of your profession SEMPO provides the programs and resources to help you succeed

Our activities center on education networking and research To support our educational mission we provide a professional webi-nar series 101 webinar series and quarterly education programs Our local groups provide opportunities to network throughout the world and we also conduct the industryrsquos most respected research We provide members with discounts to training programs and industry events and a robust job board

Learn more at wwwSEMPOorg infoSEMPOorg

SEMRushBadge Booklet SponsorwwwsemrushcomSEMRush provides users with invaluable competitive intelligencemdashtracking the top 95 million keywords and 42 million domains SEMRush data currently includes 10 of the most popular regional

sesconferencecom bull SES 5

Table s on right

Affiliate amp Performance-Based Marketing SolutionsThe Search Agency 5Training Business Pros 6

Display Advertising Marin Software 1Page Zero Media Sponsor

General Search Engines Bing Sponsor

Interactive Marketing Agencies 9th sphere Sponsor

Interactive Marketing Associations amp Publications SEMPO Canada 8

Internet Associations Society of Internet

Professionals 9

Link Building Search Engine People Inc 2SEMRush Sponsor

Local Search Marketing Services amp Directories Bing Sponsor

Marketing Optimization Solutions Marin Software 1Training Business Pros 6

Mobile amp Rich Media Advertising Solutions AdLeads 4

Organic Search Marketing gShift Labs Web

Presence Optimizertrade 79th sphere SponsorNVI Solutions SponsorPage Zero Media SponsorReprise Media 3The Search Agency 5Search Engine People Inc 2

Pay-Per Click Networks amp Management Services NVI Solutions SponsorSearch Engine People Inc 2

Search Marketing Agencies 9th sphere SponsorNVI Solutions Sponsorpage Zero Media SponsorReprise Media 3The Search Agency 5

Search Marketing Software gShift Labs Web

Presence Optimizertrade 7Marin Software 1SEMRush Sponsor

Specialized Search Engines (Multimedia Mobile Shopping International etc) Bing Sponsor

Training Courses amp Certification in Search Marketing ClickZ Academy and

Recruitment 10Training Business Pros 6

Web Analytics gShift Labs Web

Presence Optimizertrade 7Reprise Media 3SEMRush Sponsor

product amp service guide

Google databases as well as US Bing and returns extensive met-rics relative to both organic and paid traffic (both AdWords and AdSense) as well as backlink info

SEMRush can reveal just what keywords your competitors are ranking for what campaigns theyrsquore running what their budget looks like and what kind of traffic they generate Thus it can pro-vide all the ammo one needs to effectively optimize run impactful campaigns and increase overall traffic and revenue

Society of Internet Professionals (SIP)Table 9wwwsipgrouporgThe Society of Internet Professionals (SIP) is an international not-for-profit association based in Canada Since 1997 SIP has upheld professional standards for Internet professionals Our ongoing activities include spearheading strategic partnerships offering edu-cational programs and running networking events

Becoming a professional member of SIP and abiding by our Professional Code of Ethics gives you instant credibility and com-petitive advantage in the marketplace You gain access to exclusive members-only information privileges and offers and you secure a place in a network of serious individuals and organizations focused on success through excellence

Take the first step today by signing up for a free SIP Associate Membership (no dues) Join 10000 SIP Associates who benefit from Affinity Programs and stay informed of upcoming events and valu-able offers via our monthly newsletter for FREE

As part of our 14th anniversary celebrations attendees of the SES Show who sign up at wwwsipgrouporg will be eligible to receive a discount of 50 for the first year of Professional Member-ship dues

For more information and to become a member visit www sipgrouporg

Contact Max Haroon President tel (416) 891-4937 (info sipgrouporg)

Training Business ProsTable 6wwwtrainingbusinessproscom

Training Business Pros is Canadarsquos leading internet market-ing training company offering over 100 intensive business train-ing opportunities throughout North America every year Our cli-ents have exploded their sales in the millions and trainees have increased their personal market value exponentially

Since 2007 Training Business Pros has helped over 22 thousand businesses adopt and adapt internet marketing and social media strategies Whether you are a start-up or a Fortune 500 company it is essential to get valuable information fast in order to get massive results within a short period of time

Visit Table 6 to claim your free introductory training Or learn live from our CEO Paul Tobey on stage June 12th at

235 pm to 255 pm You will learn how 20 minutes a day can dramatically boost your

rankings and how the social media wheel can be the secret sauce to your back-linking strategy

6 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus COVER STORY

Breaking Out of the ldquo+1rdquo MindsetCanada is Losing the Digital Innovation Race How Can It Become More Competitive

by Andrew Goodman

Canada has weathered the economic downturn better than any other G7 nation With a high level of eco-nomic cultural and technological

development and a favorable trading rela-tionship and cultural integration with the US it can hardly be described as hurting Since nothingrsquos terribly broken creating a sense of urgency around living up to our true poten-tial is hard

Some of us feel a constant urge to do bet-ter most of us do not The most likely way to propagate this feeling is to deliberately and systematically push onersquos peers to improve Thatrsquos how it is in organized sports Thatrsquos how it is at SES conferences And thatrsquos how Canadians ought to behave when it comes to technological innovation and business competitiveness

Caution Rather Than CompetitionCanadian caution is dangerously close to an insidious disease complacency For over a century wersquove contentedly enjoyed the ben-efits of our ldquo+1rdquo relationship with the pow-erful innovator to the south Wersquove sat back and waited while dynamic enterprises and innovations were created in the US Instead of competing our businesses have often dawdled watched and withered as compa-nies like Target Wal-Mart and Home Depot moved in and took over

In high technology the decline of a sin-gle leader like Research in Motion (RIM) is enough to throw the entire country into a panic Without the Blackberry what have we given the world Sidney Crosby and maple syrup (Ok a few other things like insulin and the telephone)

The situation isnrsquot that bad But it is a function of a complacent culture that othersrsquo successes (the successes of bold non-Cana-dian tall poppies) are claimed as onersquos own as long as itrsquos convenient with very little done to create an atmosphere that fosters innova-tionmdashuntil it becomes painfully obvious that a single flagship high-tech success story isnrsquot going to cut it

Unfortunately many of the traits that help entrepreneurs feel relatively accepted in the US arenrsquot baked into Canadian culture As a result itrsquos harder to develop a critical mass of digitally savvy companies tech tal-ent investors and other elements that cre-ate clusters of innovation and dynamism If you massage the data enough (as Richard Florida does) you can refer to the broader region around the Greater Toronto Area as a creative cluster However this region is punching well below its weight when it comes to the je ne sais quoi of creating great growth companies This ultimately causes relative backwardness in a whole range of interrelated realms from soft skills needed to staff up fast-growing startups to con-sumer expectations of online retailers The commonality is expectations and standards unless theyrsquore raised they stay too lowmdashif there are any at all

The e-Commerce LagWhere do Canadians shop when we do buy online One of our largest homegrown retailersmdashCanadian Tire which absorbed apparel and sporting-goods giant Forzani Group forming a retail empire of a decent sizemdashonly recently relaunched its website with the capacity to order items online The company had taken a two-year hiatus from e-commerce reverting to a website that offered information about products avail-able in physical stores and various episodic microsites (see article in The Globe and Mail ) Frankly management is living in the same time warp that many other top managers of large Canadian enterprises are in Slow growth in a high-growth area like e-commerce is unacceptable if Canadian-owned companies want to survive it opens up the playing field to US companies that are good at plugging in their existing highly optimized operations

Retail may not be the only measure of the health of a nation but online retail is surely the bellwether for the state of a digital nation Here again average Canadians couldnrsquot care

less and would dissent from this obvious point In their view because more of us have broadband use Facebook send text mes-sages etc wersquore more digitally savvy than other countries including the US Suremdashbut thatrsquos like saying that buying a cute new gym bag makes you a fashion pioneer Itrsquos nice to enjoy whatrsquos made available to you but it doesnrsquot compare at all with say investing in a company that grows into a global fashion label (On that note kudos to Lululemon a wildly successful Canadian brand that is one of the exceptions that prove the rule)

Canadians all too often like to partici-pate in the excitement of advanced trends and taste the fruits of othersrsquo innovation but wouldnrsquot have a clue how to spearhead anything Nor do they quite understand why you would need or want to Thatrsquos the kind of mindset that develops during a century and a half of living in a branch-plant economy

A November 11 article from IBM (cit-ing Forrester research) notes that Canada is behind the US in e-commerce spending and growing more slowly The percentagesmdash54 of total retail sales in Canada versus 60 in the USmdashmake the two countries seem fairly close but 6 of $32 trillion is immense com-pared to 54 of $370 billion Since ad spends website infrastructure and consulting time donrsquot make economic sense below a certain size a chicken-egg problem sets in custom-ers arenrsquot served as well research isnrsquot done ads and content arenrsquot crafted well check-outs donrsquot work as they should and so on The domestic Canadian e-commerce market poses a huge challenge for all but the largest players This makes it all the more frustrat-ing that those large players at least donrsquot recognize the need for urgency and invest-ment Instead of comparing themselves to their peers they should compare themselves to strong players around the globe

Weak Unprofitable Online Marketing Strategies Only a handful of Canadian retail web-site owners and managers know the key

sesconferencecom bull SES 7

focusCOVER STORY

to reaching the big leagues after testing and optimizing your model you can power your way into the top-grossing elite largely through an aggressive targeted online mar-keting spend Thatrsquos no sales pitch thatrsquos how the math works Many businesses appear to forget the enormous cost of the infrastruc-ture and overhead that get them to the table Once they are at that already expensive table the investment is wasted if the resulting revenue remains pitifully low because the method for actually getting new customers is ldquohope pray and DIY on-page SEOrdquo

Winning online businesses have grow-ing revenues (and to be sure marketing spends) that eventually reduce overhead and infrastructure costs to manageable (ide-ally trivial) proportions Losing ones build a large infrastructure and do nothing with it Since only a few companies are getting it right there is a very small pool of exemplars to show the way and wishful thinking sub-stitutes for action

We donrsquot find a Canadian company on the Internet Retailerrsquos Top 500 Guide (as of late April 2012) which ranks B2C retailers in the US and Canada based on online sales until number 152 The Shopping Channel owned by Rogers Media Lululemon Athletica is at 229 nowmdashfor them the skyrsquos the limit ALDO Group (shoes) and Mountain Equip-ment Co-Op (outdoor gear) deserve props at 390 and 395 respectively Unfortunately many Canadian entrepreneursmdashto say noth-ing of large retailersmdasharenrsquot aiming at mak-ing lists like this many havenrsquot even heard of them

Governmentrsquos Share of Blame Canada is falling behind in the global innova-tion race because ldquoCanadian business itself

hellip choose[s] deliberately not to pursue busi-ness strategies that rely on innovation as there [are] easier ways of making profitsrdquo So argue Marcel Cocircteacute founding partner of stra-tegic management consulting firm SECOR and Robert Miller engineer at Eacutecole Poly-technique de Montreacuteal in a recent report

(citing research by the Council of Canadian Academies)

Certainly government has played a role in allowing Canadian companies to be weakened largely through inaction and misappropriation of subsidy funds All gov-ernments sit on and distributemdashin the aggre-gatemdashlarge pools of business development capital and research funding and Canada is no exception Yet funds often trickle out to laggard players or subsidize the operations of established noninnovating companies Powerhouses like RIM return far more to the economy (in the form of jobs spinoffs RampD and tax revenues) than any breaks and incentives they receive A business colum-nist recently described the high-ROI govern-ment incentives that help create blockbust-ers like RIM as ldquofederal largesserdquo Largesse To Research in Motion I think we got our moneyrsquos worth

The lack of similar ldquolargesserdquo to identi-fiable very tall poppies has led to repeated missed opportunities and the lack of role models and good jobs in manufacturing RampD and software The denial of incentives to high-tech firm Mitel in the early 1980s is a salient example (see Donald J Savoiersquos 2009 book Irsquom from Bouctouche Me Roots Matter) the deal would have created thousands of

new telecommunications equipment jobs in Atlantic Canada This attitude has also resulted in the bankruptcy of companies (like Mitel) that could have become global leaders and precursors of other successful companies

What We Can DoIf government wonrsquot make the right moves how can Canadian companies improve on our own We must leave behind the old +1 instincts and the peer pressure to do just well enough Here are some suggestions

bull Avoid the grand narratives Coverage of traditional monopoly sectors such as financial mining and telecom-munications dominates the Canadian business media and only obvious successes are deemed noteworthy In terms of trends in advertising and digital culture little insight or encouragement is to be found in traditional media Look for validation elsewhere in your peer group at industry events among your customers and yes even in other countries

bull Quit scoffing at data Yes our clientsrsquo customers really do buy pecans switchplates furniture dishwasher parts soil remediation equipment and paella pans online Canadiansmdasheven those making digital marketing their career through formal certification coursesmdashhave a nasty habit of assuming that because people like them

ldquowould never click on thatrdquo or ldquowould never buy something like that onlinerdquo itrsquos helpful or insightful to share this preconceived notion The easy work is to hop onto the coattails of some large hip brand and recommend very gradual approaches to budgeting the marketing spend despite the millions in sunk costs (infrastructure office

Unfortunately many of the traits that help

entrepreneurs feel relatively accepted in

the US arenrsquot baked into Canadian culture As a result itrsquos harder to

develop a critical mass of digitally savvy companies

tech talent investors and other elements

that create clusters of innovation and dynamism

continues on page 8

Donrsquot miss these Sesssions at SES Toronto bull Made in Canada Marketing Online WorldwidemdashMonday June 11 200pmndash300pm bull Conquering the Growing Canadian Affiliate Marketing IndustrymdashTuesday June 12 300pmndash400pm

Register

8 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus COVER STORY

space website buildout etc) that make the operation wildly unprofitable on the whole (though seemingly cautious when only the variable costs are taken into account) Do the hard work and stop dismissing what is in fact real consumer behavior screaming for granular analysis

bull Know the role models Many young Canadians Irsquove encountered in formal business courses were not aware of Techcrunch Yelp Zappos and many other mainstays of digital business culture This is inexcusable The best students are the self-taught exceptions Therersquos no guarantee that these self-starters will get great jobs out of the gate but over time they usually prevail

bull Look for smart partners and communities Canada is full of half-baked digital companies that go nowhere fueled by family money and vanity investments Dumb money loses out to savvy skill and passion

bull Risk your own money Funding at the appropriate stage can be an important accelerator but the founders of companies like FreshBooks Acquisio PlentyofFish and HomeStars put in their own money perhaps with the support of family and friends before they did formal fundraising Itrsquos not always possible to bootstrap but companies like these prove that you donrsquot have to raise huge sums of money

to reach the next level You do have to have the entrepreneurial 24-7 mindset

bull Embrace digital jobs as normal If ordinary Canadians donrsquot become conversant with the leading edge of technology and digital enterprise the best minds will continue to drain away due to a lack of both opportunity and peers Our industry needs to be normalized and valued as simply a part of the economy Today wersquore still seen as representing either of two extremesmdashtaking insane risks and living in a cardboard box or lucking into lottery-like wealthmdashas if the profession is worth discussing only for its financial upside not for its substance Until people get it itrsquoll be up to us to evangelize the merits of things like search and display advertising (better targeting) online procurement (reducing friction in the economy) and all of that good stuff Yes it was obvious in 1999 but that doesnrsquot mean people are quite comfortable with it yet

ConclusionNot everyone is going to create the next Radian6 The Internet Retailerrsquos Top 500 is pretty rarefied territory and represents more success than the vast majority of startupsmdashlet alone well-known established retailersmdashcan attain However Canadians should at least be benchmarking themselves against these success stories rather than the semi-successful company down the street The real problem of course is that the comfort level of doing ldquojust so wellrdquo is tempting It may even seem irrational to want to reach a

levels of success far ahead of what is needed to maintain a great lifestyle

The driven minority though seek to have something more impressive than ldquo+1rdquo engraved on their tombstones If and when they do succeed you can bet that the aver-age Canadian and the creators of grand nar-ratives will be only too happy to take partial credit hellip not to mention taxing the bejeesus out of them

Andrew Goodman is founder

and President of Toronto-based

Page Zero Media a full-service

marketing agency founded in

2000 He is also co-founder of

Traffickcom an award-winning

industry commentary site and author of Winning Results with Google AdWords

Breaking Out of the ldquo+1rdquo Mindset

continued from page 7 Canadians should at least be benchmarking themselves against the Internet Retailerrsquos Top 500 rather than the

semi-successful company down the street The real problem of course is that the comfort level of doing ldquojust so wellrdquo is tempting

The driven minority though seek to have

something more impressive than ldquo+1rdquo engraved on

their tombstones

sesconferencecom bull SES 9

focusMARKETING INSIGHTS

If you live and work in Canada you may think of the Internet as a free space in which to share ideas sell products and interact with others with no restrictions

other than those imposed by the Canadian government for the protection of its people Itrsquos reasonable to believe that if you com-ply with these laws you will maintain the health of your website Unfortunately this isnrsquot entirely the case The United States gov-ernment has significant power over how the Internet functions right down to how you use your domain name and how the 1s and 0s on which your site travels are treated

Domain Name OwnershipMany people donrsquot realize that they donrsquot actu-ally own their own domain names they rent them Itrsquos a subtle difference but when com-bined with the fact that the US government owns and controls the com top-level domain (TLD) it brings up a whole new set of con-cerns as the owners of Bodogcom discovered

Bodogcom was a Canadian-owned online gambling site In February the US Depart-ment of Justice and Homeland Security Investigations seized the domain name while a US federal grand jury charged its four owners with conducting an illegal sports gambling site and conspiracy to commit money laundering The indictment alleges that Bodog moved at least $100 million from offshore accounts to bettors in Maryland

ldquoSports betting is illegal in Maryland and federal law prohibits bookmakers from flout-ing that law simply because they are located outside the countryrdquo stated US attorney Rod J Rosenstein (quoted by USA Today)

As this case shows the US government can seize any com site regardless of the loca-tion of the business operation or its hosting provider This principle of government own-ership is logical for country-based domains (such as ca) where the issuing government can take control of a domain rented by one of its citizens but com is the Internet go-to for countless non-US businesses You may think

ldquoThatrsquos OK I donrsquot run a poker siterdquo Just bear

in mind that since you donrsquot own your com domain the US government could confiscate it however unlikely that may be

SOPA and PIPAYoursquod be wrong to think that the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) would not affect your Canadian busi-ness If you use or provide resources (or letrsquos be honest are believed to provide resources) that are deemed unacceptable by the US gov-ernment your site could be blocked your search traffic eliminated and more Although neither bill has passed similar legislation probably will

ldquoIrsquom not worried I donrsquot run an illegal torrent siterdquo you may say The laws as they were drafted apply to any copyright infringe-ment and designate the website owner as the culpable party For example if you operate a forum and one of its members posts content from say a movie script your site could be blocked and search engine traffic eliminated This would be a big punishment for adding a forum to your site in hopes of engaging visi-tors While Irsquom not stating that the US gov-ernment would go to this extreme every time a law like SOPA or PIPA could make your site a target however innocent your intentions

Net Neutrality LegislationWhile I hold the unpopular opinion that ISPs have a right to charge what they like for their bandwidth and that the free market should sort out what this means there is no doubt that US rules and regulations regard-ing net neutrality would have a major impact on Canadian site owners The speed of your site is dependent on the speed of the Inter-net between your web host and the visitor If your visitors are in the US or if your site is hosted there you would be affected

You may point out ldquoMy site is hosted in Canada and my clients are in Canadardquo Unless your clients are in close proximity to your host your data is going to take various routes between the site and visitors Many tests I ran from my office in Victoria BC to

websites across Canada passed through the US at one point or another Net neutrality legislation would have an influence on these paths

Data SecurityMany of us collect data on our sites many of us store this data on our servers Under the law the US government can seize or review this data at any time if your site is hosted at a US hosting facility

You may ask ldquoBut Irsquom not storing any-thing illegal so who caresrdquo Your clients may If yoursquore a lawyer or doctor or if you store any other information on your server that may be deemed confidential you may be violating the law in hosting it in an environ-ment that is subject to seizure

What You Can DoThe purpose of this article isnrsquot to scare you Irsquove done business primarily in the US and hosted the Beanstalk site there since the company was formed and I havenrsquot had any issues stemming from these laws That said itrsquos extremely important to understand and monitor the direction that legislation is tak-ing and the potential impact and to safe-guard yourself against litigation embarrass-ment reduced or eliminated traffic slower speeds for your visitors etc Knowing whatrsquos happening and how it affects your website will help you react quickly

For example if network neutrality legis-lation fails and ISPs are given more freedom in how they charge for bandwidth ensuring that yoursquore hosted on a network with priority should be step one And you might as well buy that ca domain as a backup After all just because yoursquore being paranoid doesnrsquot mean yoursquore wrong

Dave Davies is CEO of Bean stalk

SEO Services an organic SEO

firm in Victoria BC He wrote the

second edition of SitePointrsquos s

Kit and hosts a weekly radio

show on Webmaster Radio

Beyond the BorderThe Impact of US Laws on Canadian Site Owners

by Dave Davies

10 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus MARKETING INSIGHTS

Searching for a new digital agency is a lot like searching for a mate you spend a lot of time seeing other peo-ple (the RFP process) you eventually

narrow it down to a handful of prospects (the short-list) and eventually you think yoursquove found ldquothe onerdquo (the winning agency) After much wooing and negotiation you agree to move in together (onboarding) and the real

ldquogetting to know each otherrdquo officially begins (the client-agency relationship)

The first couple of months are usu-ally pretty blissful both parties are filled with hope and positivity about the excit-ing adventures (programstactics) to come But you inevitably find out things that you didnrsquot know before and that you may not like Things get a bit bumpy and you start to become disenfranchised with your part-ner Gradually everything starts to unravel

mdashall of a sudden a year has gone by and yoursquore threatening to break up if your mate (agency) doesnrsquot get his or her act together

It doesnrsquot have to be this way There is a way to maintain the honeymoon period indefinitely It really starts with choosing the right partner in the first place Onboarding a new agency is a huge investment so make sure that the agency you choose is going to work out in the long term Ask the following questions about a prospective agency before making your decision

Do the Agencyrsquos Skills Closely Align to Your NeedsRelationship Buster While this may seem obvious often client-agency relationships fail due to mismatches between the cli-entsrsquo needs and the agenciesrsquo competen-cies Agencies do a good job of downplaying their weaknesses and selling their strengths sometimes giving clients distorted represen-tations of their capabilities Clients can also become enamored of specific strengths that arenrsquot even top priorities for the firms

Relationship Saver Have a clear understand-ing of what you need and what yoursquore looking

for in an agency and consistently apply that as a filter when evaluating potential part-ners It is critical that you choose an agency based on a realistic evaluation of your needs and whether their core competencies align with these If yoursquore looking for a digital agency that can offer innovative solutions to engage your audience donrsquot let yourself get wooed by a flashy creative presentation unless yoursquore sure that they have the chops to deliver on the technology side Alterna-tively if you already have a skilled IT team in house and really need a strong strategic and creative shop be sure that they can bring their creative A-game

Does the Agency Have the Proven Ability to DeliverRelationship Buster Clients sometimes under-estimate the importance of delivery in digi-tal programs It is easy to get distracted by cutting-edge solutions and fail to consider whether these programs can realistically be deployed on time on budget and at a high-quality level

Relationship Saver Verify agenciesrsquo track records in deploying similar solutions in a timely and efficient manner They should be able to provide case studies of similar work successfully delivered for other clients and clearly articulate their process for taking a high-level solutionstrategy to detailed tactical implementation plans Strong proj-ect management competence is critical to

ensure that projects are delivered within budget and timelines They should also be able to demonstrate that they have sufficient resources in place to deliver on multiple con-current work streams

Does the Agency Play Well with OthersRelationship Buster Most clients have mul-tiple agency partnersmdashtypically at least a creativeoffline agency and a media agency in addition to their digital agency Clients sometimes assume that all partners will work towards a common goal and that inte-gration will naturally take place However some agencies tend toward a protective or even combative nature when working with other agencies creating a host of problems when interdependencies are present between both agenciesrsquo initiatives

Relationship Saver Prospective partners need to be able to demonstrate the ability to get along with others Your agency should be able to point to specific examples of how they have worked with other agency partners in a harmonious and mutually beneficial way They should demonstrate the ability to take a leadership role in coordinating cross-agency collaboration and integration and have an established process for helping to define and document roles and responsibilities among agency partners

There are many other factors to take into consideration when choosing a new digital agency partner but avoiding the pitfalls above should increase your chances of a long and successful union Happy hunting

Julie Batten is VP strategy digital media at Klick Health focused on online media and digital She brings a wealth of experi-ence in search marketing

digital media and all facets of digital strat-egy to bear helping Klickrsquos clients develop innovative digital solutions

Make Your Client-Agency Relationship WorkThree Considerations When Choosing a Partner

by Julie Batten

Have a clear understanding of what you need and what yoursquore looking for in an agency and

consistently apply that as a filter when evaluating potential partners It is

critical that you choose an agency based on a realistic evaluation of your needs

sesconferencecom bull SES 11

focusSOCIALINTEGRATION

Social media is public relations Social media is inclusionary Social media is necessary to compete with your competitors Social media is todayrsquos

big thingSocial media is also tomorrowrsquos next big

thing More appropriately some form of social media application is tomorrowrsquos next big thing Yesterdayrsquos appears to have been Pinterest which is threatening to displace Foursquare as the mayor of forgotten places As digital marketing experts we are calling on our clients to invest increasing amounts of time staff and money in an area that is evolving too quickly for us to fully under-stand The benefits of increased traffic are obvious but the return on investment on a wide spread of social media profiles can be somewhat harder to quantify

The Changes in Social MediaWith over one-third of the adult population using Facebook Canadians constitute one of the largest national social media footprints in the world Being early adopters Canadian Internet users became amazingly social amazingly quickly Unfortunately many if not most Canadian businesses have not kept up This isnrsquot just because Canadian compa-nies donrsquot fully grasp the social part of the medium itrsquos also because the budgeting and planning necessary to create an effective social media presence is daunting on paper without a clear understanding of benefits

Social media applications have existed for almost as long as the commercial web Early social media applications such as Classmates and Friendster acted as basic connectors They werenrsquot great for commu-nication among users but they provided an ideal foundation on which all subsequent social media applications could build Web 20 which came on the scene in 2003 was a breakthrough that allowed users to inter-act with websites and with each other This was the dawn of the user-generated content (UGC) era Nearly ten years later wersquore just

beginning to understand the fuller implica-tions of UGC on search and the web

Many of the sessions at SES Toronto will address social media measurement engage-ment and techniques Each of the speakers addressing social media has developed his or her own techniques and tactics based on personal experience and shared knowledge Each of them will say that every social media experience is unique Each will maintain that the very best social media experience is one that promotes authenticity and earnest con-nection over marketing and promotion

As the digital marketing environment changes so must the priorities of digital marketers and the clients we serve While itrsquos always about driving good traffic the digital marketing landscape is transforming more rapidly than ever before Social media is continuously extending frontiers and new areas are expanding as rapidly as UGC can be created and user intent can be ascertained and harnessed

To say that social has had an impact on search would be an understatement for search marketers this shift has not been subtle Moving away from its fascination with search SEO has for the last two years focused on social From studying how Face-book alters user behaviors to finding cor-relations between social signals and search engine placements social media has domi-nated search marketing discourse by becom-ing a more popular form of public directory To say that you understand the impact of social media on search would be a vaguely worded lie Nobody understands exactly how social meshes with search Witness Google+

Getting Clients to Be SocialTrying to figure out how to integrate social into search is akin to integrating apples with oranges kiwis strawberries grapes cottage cheese and bananas Itrsquos easy to spot iden-tify and describe the effects of an apple itrsquos not as easy to do forensics on fruit salad This creates yet another problem for digital

marketers when trying to convince small businesses and corporate clients that bud-geting time and money for social media is important

To be authentic in the truest sense cli-ents would do the work in house However in-house SEOSMM is often impractical for the smaller businesses that make up the vast majority of clients This means that the service must be either outsourced to a third party or performed by a digital market-ing agency It is a huge challenge for digi-tal markers to help clients be authentic in a constantly evolving environment that none of us fully grasp

Digital marketers face a number of other issues when guiding clients in the social sphere It is really difficult to know whether the plethora of random information linking to clientsrsquo websites is beneficial or detrimen-tal We have to push our clients into actively participating in an arena that they donrsquot fully understand or we have to try to recre-ate their voices ourselves and authenticity is very hard to engender in the second- or third-party voice Lastly we have to quan-tify a return on investment that translates to

Doing Forensics on Fruit SaladThe Challenge of Developing Practical Client-Friendly Strategies in the Unpredictable Social Media Environment

by Jim Hedger

continues on page 13

From studying how Facebook alters user behaviors to finding

correlations between social signals and search engine placements social media

has dominated search marketing discourse by

becoming a more popular form of public directory

To say that you understand the impact of social

media on search would be a vaguely worded lie

12 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus SOCIALMEDIA

As the first birthday of Googlersquos latest baby draws near the organic search and paid advertising behemoth con- tinues to struggle to find their

niche in social A year ago Google+ was just a rumor Google would deny the existence of a social project until the very day it launched in late June

In that year theyrsquove launched expanded experimented and redesigned the service incurring the verbal wrath of competitors Facebook and Twitter on a number of occa-sions Itrsquos been a whirlwind for Google+ and all fifteen of its loyal users

I kid To be fair there is a small but dedi-cated group of core users in the Google+ net-work Larry Page Sergey Brin Vic Gundotra and the rest of the crew have become old pros at dodging questions about the num-ber of actual active users but we can safely assume that itrsquos nowhere near Facebookrsquos 850 million Does it need to be

Googlersquos Busy Year What Google has accomplished with Google+ in under a year is nothing short of amazing June 2011 saw the launch of Google+ as a social network Over the summer tech jour-nalists and analysts were positively wooed keeping a watchful eye on every indicator (precise or not) of increasing traffic and user activity on Google+ The Washington Post even announced in August that ldquoGoogle Plus could be the fastest-growing site in historyrdquo In all of history Well as long as wersquove had websites anyway (The original comScore report noted that it was the fast-est site to reach 25 million unique visits In what can only be described as a bizarre game of cyberjournalism this report morphed into Reutersrsquo claim that Google+ ldquoattracted 25 million usersrdquo and The Washington Postrsquos assertion that ldquoGoogle has 25 million usersrdquo)

Google+ launched business Pages on November 7 Pages were already popu-lar on Facebook and since Google+ hadnrsquot included them at the start there was a lot of

anticipation around the launch In the weeks following however Google+ would struggle to connect with brands their brands in turn would struggle to connect with a user base worth marketing to within the Google+ network

As Google began integrating brand Page results in seemingly dominant positions in the organic search listings other compa-nies began to cry foul Hot on the heels of that development Google made their latest foray into social search Google Search Plus Your World (SPY World anyone) in early January Twitter for one lost it quite pub-licly announcing ldquoWersquore concerned that as a result of Googlersquos changes finding this infor-mation will be much harder for everyone We think thatrsquos bad for people publishers news organizations and Twitter usersrdquo Their con-cern stemmed partly from the possibility that Google might have been abusing their dominance in their core industry search to excel in the realm of social largely Twitterrsquos and Facebookrsquos territory to that point The old grumblings of antitrust resurfaced only to peter out again within a few months

Later in January Google again stunned users and analysts with the announcement of an amalgamated privacy policy one that would bring user data from all 60+ of their

services under one umbrella They said that this would be better for users Many dis-agreed some agencies threatened to inves-tigate and users protested yet perhaps the widest-ranging and most important change in Googlersquos policies went off as planned on April 1

Also in January a month marked by a flurry of announcements from the search giant Google changed the sign-up process for many of their services Those signing on for a Gmail or YouTube account were auto-matically assigned a Google+ account Prom-inent markers appeared in the navigation bar every time users visited a Google property urging them to check out their notifications on the social network

Why Engagement Is Incidental Only Google knows how effective this was at actually getting people to the site although I suspect that user engagement was only a secondary goal at best In response to a scathing WSJcom article ticking off the

ldquomounting minusesrdquo at Google+ I wrote an article explaining why low user counts and engagement might not matter to Google

Facebook has had to find outside partners nurture (and invest heavily in) the app envi-ronment and build out their ecosystem over a period of years in order to gain access to the type and depth of user data they need to power their advertisement business Google is transitioning the other way from an advertising and data powerhouse to a social platform They already have an incredible reach largely through their DoubleClick ad network and dozens of properties

They donrsquot need to seek out partners who offer services users might opt into to share data back and forth They already have the data theyrsquore collecting it from millions of websites and user actions often without the usersrsquo explicit knowledge that theyrsquore being tracked at the time Whereas Facebookrsquos data pool shows more intent on the part of usersmdashthey liked something they shared something elsemdashGoogle reigns supreme in

The State of Google+ One Year LaterGoogle Hasnrsquot Yet Carved Their Niche in Social but Do They Even Need To

by Miranda Miller

Google doesnrsquot need to seek out partners who offer

services users might opt into to share data back and

forth They already have the data theyrsquore collecting it from millions of websites

and user actions

Whereas Facebookrsquos data pool shows more intent

on the part of users Google reigns supreme in

the low-intent market

sesconferencecom bull SES 13

focusSOCIALMEDIA

the low-intent market They know when and where you check your email on your Android They know the types of videos you search for and watch on YouTube

This is a fantastic thing for advertisers For users hellip not so much Yet users sign up for Google accounts in droves opting into Google+ without a second thought Track-ing goes beyond the actions users take while signed in to a Google service interacting with a +1 button on a website for example could set a cookie allowing tracking over all Google properties for a period of time

The efforts of the W3C Tracking Protec-tion Working Group will have huge ramifi-cations for the online advertising industry especially for Google If users click a +1 social icon is that really an interaction with Google Have they really indicated the intent to share data with Google for the next 24 36 or 48 hours from every website they visit that might show Google ads These ques-tions have no answers right now but the

working group aims to define first and third parties Advertisers will not be satisfied with poorly targeted paid search and display ads so Google and other ad companies need the data However users need their privacy

ConclusionWhat we are seeing in the current online advertising environment is a precarious balancing act with Google perched square in the middle teetering from side to side Everyone in the industry and even in the mainstream media has their eyes on Google+ Google has certainly given us plenty to talk about Hangouts with Obama seemingly constant updates and new features and even a recent redesign complete with new naviga-tion and profile pages

We canrsquot forget though that Google+ is just one cog in the wheel that drives Googlersquos 44 stake in the $486 billion global adver-tising market (see report by ZenithOpti-media) While slick photos funny updates

and all manner of things are being shared or overshared on the front end of Google+ the real action occurs behind the scenes Google doesnrsquot really need you hanging out on the Google+ site all day long they just need you to have an account and do everything you would normally do on the web in the course of a daymdashand donrsquot mind if they tag along while you do it

Google VP Bradley Horowitz said it best in September when he proclaimed that

ldquoGoogle+ is Google itselfrdquo Indeed

A staff writer with Search En-

gine Watch Miranda Miller co-

ordinates the annual Translit-

eracy Conference for Ontario

educators manages a small

number of social media cam-

paigns through an agency and serves on the Ca-

nadian Hemophilia Societyrsquos Advisory Board for

their Code Rouge awareness project

common sense better than to the dollars and cents that our clientsrsquo creditors understand

In practice my firm generally limits our recommendations to the big three of Face-book Twitter and Google+ placing other social networks into an ldquoadvisably optionalrdquo category Our clients have enough difficulty wrapping their heads around Facebook and Twitter without worrying about other net-works We include Google+ in the mix only because of the ldquorel=authorrdquo support and because we believe that Google actively favors websites associated with Google+ profiles

Training businesses to promote their ideas and images on Facebook and Google+ is relatively easy and teaching them Twit-ter behaviors and etiquette is only slightly harder Even though we limit our advice to

the big three we still end up chasing clients to convince them to monitor and maintain their social networks We do recommend secondary social networks such as LinkedIn Pinterest and Foursquare as they apply to clients and as clients can afford our training and application rates

We know that we are missing traffic but we balance this drawback by being practical In cases where we have to act as social media coordinators for our small to medium-sized business clients exposing them to only the big three limits our need to bill for out-of-control charges for allotted work time It also helps to ease clients into expanding their own social media participation and interaction

ConclusionDigital marketing professionals have to make a lot of choices as we steer clients along the

social media learning curve By sticking to the most trafficked social networks and deploying assets in secondary ones as neces-sary my company believes that wersquove found a balance our clients can live with

SES Toronto will provide a valuable forum for Canadian practitioners to dis-cuss the problems inherent in social media marketing

Jim Hedger is a founding part-

ner of the Toronto-based

search and social media mar-

keting agency Digital Always

Media He has an extensive

background in SEO dating to

the late 1990s He leads the SEO and content cre-

ation teams at Digital Always Media

Doing Forensics on Fruit Salad

continued from page 11

14 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus CONVERSIONamp ROI

Conversion optimization has been around for a while but its benefits are hard to ignore These include reduced cost of acquisition through

digital marketing increased customer satis-faction and retention increased average rev-enue per order and improved search engine rankings In order to reap the rewards of an optimization program you need to know where to start what to avoid and how to develop your program for long-term success

Getting StartedDo-it-yourself small business owners digital marketers and web analysts tend to inherit a lot of excess baggage so focusing on only one or two sore spots on a website is often difficult Consider these top five places to start

1 Optimize paid search landing pages Look-ing for big impact right away Optimize those paid search landing pages and start counting the money you save on search marketing immediately Vary your value proposition urgency pricing product mix and form length

2 Examine internal search results pages Searches performed on your website often yield the best (and cheapest) way to judge the voice of the customer These searchers are committed visi-tors who probably arenrsquot finding what they want intuitively Look at queries with no results top queries that should be satisfied through navigation and perhaps synonyms you didnrsquot consider when writing creative

3 Enhance your help sections Areas on a website dedicated to helping people are most often frequented by loyal custom-ers who would rather solve problems on their own than cost you money by calling or emailing support staff Help them help you by optimizing help docs downloads and public service messages

4 Test product and service recommendations The art of the upsell is best exhibited by e-commerce giants such as Apple Ama-zon GoDaddy and Dell If yoursquore able to measure cart abandonment on your site yoursquore ready to start testing product and service recommendations to increase your average revenue per order

5 Evaluate pathways from top entry pages Entry pages to your site are a bit harder to optimize because referred traffic through search or other websites isnrsquot always continuous or predictable but itrsquos usually free Measure common path-ways from entry pages to determine how content can be changed to reduce bounce rate you may just improve your search rankings at the same time

Growing the BaseOnce yoursquove started building quick wins in your conversion optimization program yoursquoll want to maintain that momentum and expand your effort to other areas of your site Unfortunately many marketers fall into the trap of overoptimizing based on bad advice so try to avoid or at least question the fol-lowing five optimization tips that can hurt conversion rates

1 Tip to avoid Keep your copy short sharp concise Itrsquos hard to argue that trimming the overall content on a landing page would be anything but successful for most campaigns as it reduces the prob-ability that a landing page will over-whelm a prospect However providing less information may hurt overall con-version rates over time or worse still lower average revenue per order

2 Tip to avoid Remove or de-emphasize primary and secondary navigation from the template of your landing page Fewer escape routes make prospects more likely to continue along your chosen path However a lack of consistency

across the rest of your site may com-promise new visitorsrsquo trust and result in higher abandonment

3 Tip to avoid Add trust marks to your land-ing pages While I certainly can attest to the conversion lift that trust marks can provide on an e-commerce site landing pages are somewhat different In most cases getting visitors to click on links deeper in your site to privacy statements and certificates can be a more powerful way to convert skeptical prospects

4 Tip to avoid Boost your brand with tes-timonials and client logos In B2B cam-paigns association with large-scale brands with which you do business can boost conversion especially for start-ups but do your due diligence by seek-ing written approval for logo usage and recommendations The last thing you want is conflict with a long-term lucra-tive client

5 Tip to avoid Incentivize your prospects with freebies calls for urgency and pro-motions While these tactics can elicit a strong positive reaction among first-time visitors they can have very unde-sirable effects on lead quality Many visitors are conditioned to perform microconversions such as lead forms without reading anything else on a landing page Donrsquot be afraid to lose a few cheapskates on your landing pages who would otherwise sacrifice your profitability

Planning for the FutureNow that yoursquore well on your way to optimi-zation nirvana yoursquoll want to expand your program beyond online impact and start leveraging your online success for dramatic cross-channel maturity Here are five things to consider when bridging conversion opti-mization to business process optimization

The Conversion Optimization Life CycleWhich Advice Should You Follow and Which Should You Avoid in Structuring Your Optimization Program

by Garry Przyklenk

sesconferencecom bull SES 15

focusCONVERSIONamp ROI

1 Relate online customer pain points to front-line personnel Some of the best online optimizations can result in a cultural shift or reimaging of the offline sales process and vice versa Keep your sales and support members in the loop of online optimizations because your cross-channel prospects are often very similar

2 Try some of your companyrsquos own products and services The importance of stepping into your customersrsquo shoes cannot be overemphasized Irsquove done it on numer-ous occasions with a high degree of success It helps to assume an angry persona and pretend that you have less than five minutes to do anything that you need to do

3 Build new products and services with optimization in mind Build a culture of

conversion testing by baking it into the product or client life cycle Letrsquos face itmdasha lot can go wrong from initial con-ceptualization of a product or service to delivery especially when development cycles are really wrong

4 Leverage web analytics information and customer relationship management sys-tems (CRMs) Integration of web ana-lytics data with CRMs is much more common these days because businesses usually have a significant portion of their operations or interactions with customers through nonline channels

5 Analyze the competition Sometimes the best original score is a remix Think yoursquore smarter than your competitor Prove it by testing their ideas with your audience to find out what they might be doing better or worse

Although no two websites are exactly the same in terms of customer experience and behavior similarly structured products and services likely attract similar prospects and customers

For more guidance on conversion optimiza-tion be sure to visit one of the many optimi-zation sessions at SES this year

Garry Przyklenk manager of

analytics implementation at

TD Bank Group is an expert in

lead generation search engine

marketing web analytics and

social media marketing He has

successfully championed creative marketing cam-

paigns and executed on actionable insights in

several vertical markets

learn more about a different aspect of the industry For example if yoursquore an in-house SEO you may find yourself responsible for your companyrsquos social media You already know about Facebook LinkedIn and Twitter but you may not know which is right for your industry and the ways in which success will be defined Since a social media program is not just about ldquolikesrdquo and ldquofollowersrdquo align-ing it with corporate objectives to generate revenue is not a simple matter

At the other end are large organizations rolling out training to their employees Some allocate specific courses to individuals and make completion compulsory while others give employees access to the library of con-tent and encourage self-study in the areas that would be the most beneficial Online training is perfect for companies who do not

have the budget or time to send everyone to a course and allows each employee to receive a tailored syllabus

This kind of program can be comple-mented by an in-house training sessionmdasha course tailored to meet the specific objec-tives of the organization and held at the com-panyrsquos offices By blending online and class-room courses ClickZ Academy makes sure that employees from different offices arrive at the in-house portion with the same basic understanding so that their time together is maximized

Catch That Missed Session with Conference RecordingsBecause several concurrent content tracks run at SES conferences you may find that you are not able to attend every session that you would like Therefore we now offer recorded sessions from some conferences

The recordings sync the PowerPoint presen-tations and the videos simulating the experi-ence of being at the sessions This is a conve-nient way to catch up on any session that you missed or to share sessions with colleagues Available for purchase on the ClickZAcad-emy website recordings cover a number of tracks Recordings from SES London are now available and consist of the Kick Start PPC and Accelerator tracks

To learn more stop by the ClickZ table at SES Toronto or visit ClickZacademycom

Paul Fegan is head of e-learn-

ing at Incisive Media and is re-

sponsible for creating on-line

training content for all of its

brands He co-founded his own

e-learning company and has

been delivering online professional and CPD train-

ing since 2000

How ClickZ Academy Can Work for You

continued from page 1

16 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

sessions SES Toronto | June 11ndash13 2012 | hosted by

Day 1mdashMonday June 11

1030ndash1130amTrack 2Driving Mobile Traffic PPC amp SEOJump-start your mobile presence with these fundamentals for pre-senting content thatrsquos both SEO- and mobile-friendly Not fully ready for a mobile site Learn inexpensive and easy options to get started the right way From desktop and mobile to tablets smart-phones and feature phones wersquoll dive into key mobile differences for SEO and PPC and the strategies to drive and convert more mobile traffic

Moderator Gregg Stewart President 15 Miles

Speaker Jeff Allen Account Manager Hanapin Marketing

Speaker Jeremy Evans Director of Strategic Accounts Marin Software

1145ndash1245pmTrack 2Developing a Video Optimization amp Marketing CampaignThis session will use real-world examples to help you understand and master the entire video process including what to create how to optimize your video how to market it with search and social media and how to measure its real business impact

Moderator Sage Lewis President SageRockcom

Speaker Jonathan Allen Director Search Engine Watch

Speaker Greg Jarboe President amp Co-founder SEO-PR

200ndash300pmTrack 2Made in Canada Marketing Online WorldwideThis session will focus on specific challenges facing Canadian Internet marketers It will cover

bull How to balance Canadian and American content challenges in a consistent meaningful way (domains architecture content keyphrases etc)

bull How to compete in the US market as a Canadian business and not lose your Canadian online presence

bull The different results on Googlecom and Googleca from a search engine perspective and which consumers prefer the search enginesrsquo growing preferences for local

Moderator Andrew Goodman SES Advisory Board President Page Zero Media

Speaker Anne F Kennedy SES Advisory Board International Search Strategist Author Beyond Ink USA

Speaker Ian McAnerin CEO McAnerin International Inc

Speaker Ezra Silverton President 9th sphere

330ndash430pmTrack 3Content Marketing OptimizationOnline marketing is increasingly competitive and brand marketers worldwide are seeking real advantages that will improve the effi-ciency and impact of their social media and SEO efforts This ses-sion will provide unique insight into content-based optimization strategies and processes as well as tactics for sourcing creating and promoting optimized content on the social web

Speaker Matt McGowan Managing Director Americas Incisive Media

Krista LaRiviere CoFounder amp CEO gShift Labs

Speaker Lee Odden SES Advisory Board CEO TopRank Online Marketing

Speaker Jennifer Slegg CEO JenSense

Sample SessionsDownload the app or visit wwwSESTorontocom for complete agenda and session descriptions

sesconferencecom bull SES 17

sessionsDownload the app or visit SESNewYorkcom

Day 2mdashTuesday June 12

900ndash1000amTrack 2Social Media Solutions on a BudgetGetting your company or organization started with social media doesnrsquot have to be a pricey proposition In this session yoursquoll learn how to

bull Take advantage of great free and low-cost tools that cover man-aging conversations measuring reach and engagement and developingpublishing great content

bull Leverage lesser-known social media channels to increase expo-sure and reach

bull Create great social media friendly content to build trust and authority inexpensively

Moderator Laura Roth Conference Program amp Training Manager SES Conference amp Expo

Speaker Danny Iny Co-Founder Firepole Marketing

Speaker Krista Neher CEO Boot Camp Digital

130ndash230pmTrack 3From Keywords to ldquoBuy Wordsrdquo Finding High-Value Paid Search Keywords

ldquoProfessorsrdquo Van Wagner and Goodman will take you beyond garden-variety keyword lists to delve deeper into how user queries signal different kinds of intent You will learn how to go beyond the blind reading of ldquoafter-the-factrdquo ROI statistics how to anticipate how your most valuable searchers will express themselves with search que-ries and even how to subtly mold their preferences as they progress from search queries to your ads landing pages and transactions

Moderator Greg Jarboe President amp Co-founder SEO-PR

Speaker Andrew Goodman SES Advisory Board President Page Zero Media

Speaker Matt Van Wagner President Find Me Faster

300ndash400pmTrack 2Conquering the Growing Canadian Affiliate Marketing IndustryIn this session you will learn the following and more

bull Affiliate marketing in Canada is a viable growing traffic channel bull Online retail merchants need to educate and form strategic

partnerships with web publishers in order to generate traffic bull Establishing a successful Canadian affiliate marketing channel

requires sophisticated software development strategic market-ing and stability

bull Retail merchants need to be prepared to accommodate Canadian affiliate partnerships with the right tools in order for all parties to succeed

Speaker Nicky Senyard President Share Results

415ndash515pmTrack 1Maximizing ROI in e-Commerce with SearchAll e-commerce websites and e-tailers should be on top of certain ROI trends and opportunities This session will show you how to maximize ROI in e-commerce by leveraging one e-marketing chan-nel to improve the performance of another You will hear a series of combined channel campaign strategies along with case studies that illustrate how to maximize the ROI of your campaigns by taking advantage of low-hanging fruit

Moderator Chris Boggs SES Advisory Board Director SEO Rosetta

Speaker Guillaume Bouchard President CEO NVI

Speaker Elazar Gabay Vice President Performance Marketing LeSiteca

515ndash615pmSEW Eliminator QuizJoin us for the inaugural SEW Eliminator Quiz a pub-trivia-style networking event where you and your fellow marketers will compete to see who is the savviest and most knowledgeable marketer in the room Afterward yoursquoll have a chance to network with your favorite drink in hand

New YorkMarch

ShanghaiApril

TorontoJune -

San FranciscoAugust -

Hong KongSeptember ndash

BerlinOctober ndash

ChicagoNovember -

SingaporeNovember ndash

San DiegoFebruary

LondonFebruary

SES Conference amp Expo is the leading global event series that educates professionals in search and social marketing putting a special focus on tactics and best practices SES Events provide instructions from the industryrsquos top experts including representatives from the Search Engines themselves

World Tour ndash

SESConferencecom

Page 7: SES Magazine Toronto 2012

sesconferencecom bull SES 5

Table s on right

Affiliate amp Performance-Based Marketing SolutionsThe Search Agency 5Training Business Pros 6

Display Advertising Marin Software 1Page Zero Media Sponsor

General Search Engines Bing Sponsor

Interactive Marketing Agencies 9th sphere Sponsor

Interactive Marketing Associations amp Publications SEMPO Canada 8

Internet Associations Society of Internet

Professionals 9

Link Building Search Engine People Inc 2SEMRush Sponsor

Local Search Marketing Services amp Directories Bing Sponsor

Marketing Optimization Solutions Marin Software 1Training Business Pros 6

Mobile amp Rich Media Advertising Solutions AdLeads 4

Organic Search Marketing gShift Labs Web

Presence Optimizertrade 79th sphere SponsorNVI Solutions SponsorPage Zero Media SponsorReprise Media 3The Search Agency 5Search Engine People Inc 2

Pay-Per Click Networks amp Management Services NVI Solutions SponsorSearch Engine People Inc 2

Search Marketing Agencies 9th sphere SponsorNVI Solutions Sponsorpage Zero Media SponsorReprise Media 3The Search Agency 5

Search Marketing Software gShift Labs Web

Presence Optimizertrade 7Marin Software 1SEMRush Sponsor

Specialized Search Engines (Multimedia Mobile Shopping International etc) Bing Sponsor

Training Courses amp Certification in Search Marketing ClickZ Academy and

Recruitment 10Training Business Pros 6

Web Analytics gShift Labs Web

Presence Optimizertrade 7Reprise Media 3SEMRush Sponsor

product amp service guide

Google databases as well as US Bing and returns extensive met-rics relative to both organic and paid traffic (both AdWords and AdSense) as well as backlink info

SEMRush can reveal just what keywords your competitors are ranking for what campaigns theyrsquore running what their budget looks like and what kind of traffic they generate Thus it can pro-vide all the ammo one needs to effectively optimize run impactful campaigns and increase overall traffic and revenue

Society of Internet Professionals (SIP)Table 9wwwsipgrouporgThe Society of Internet Professionals (SIP) is an international not-for-profit association based in Canada Since 1997 SIP has upheld professional standards for Internet professionals Our ongoing activities include spearheading strategic partnerships offering edu-cational programs and running networking events

Becoming a professional member of SIP and abiding by our Professional Code of Ethics gives you instant credibility and com-petitive advantage in the marketplace You gain access to exclusive members-only information privileges and offers and you secure a place in a network of serious individuals and organizations focused on success through excellence

Take the first step today by signing up for a free SIP Associate Membership (no dues) Join 10000 SIP Associates who benefit from Affinity Programs and stay informed of upcoming events and valu-able offers via our monthly newsletter for FREE

As part of our 14th anniversary celebrations attendees of the SES Show who sign up at wwwsipgrouporg will be eligible to receive a discount of 50 for the first year of Professional Member-ship dues

For more information and to become a member visit www sipgrouporg

Contact Max Haroon President tel (416) 891-4937 (info sipgrouporg)

Training Business ProsTable 6wwwtrainingbusinessproscom

Training Business Pros is Canadarsquos leading internet market-ing training company offering over 100 intensive business train-ing opportunities throughout North America every year Our cli-ents have exploded their sales in the millions and trainees have increased their personal market value exponentially

Since 2007 Training Business Pros has helped over 22 thousand businesses adopt and adapt internet marketing and social media strategies Whether you are a start-up or a Fortune 500 company it is essential to get valuable information fast in order to get massive results within a short period of time

Visit Table 6 to claim your free introductory training Or learn live from our CEO Paul Tobey on stage June 12th at

235 pm to 255 pm You will learn how 20 minutes a day can dramatically boost your

rankings and how the social media wheel can be the secret sauce to your back-linking strategy

6 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus COVER STORY

Breaking Out of the ldquo+1rdquo MindsetCanada is Losing the Digital Innovation Race How Can It Become More Competitive

by Andrew Goodman

Canada has weathered the economic downturn better than any other G7 nation With a high level of eco-nomic cultural and technological

development and a favorable trading rela-tionship and cultural integration with the US it can hardly be described as hurting Since nothingrsquos terribly broken creating a sense of urgency around living up to our true poten-tial is hard

Some of us feel a constant urge to do bet-ter most of us do not The most likely way to propagate this feeling is to deliberately and systematically push onersquos peers to improve Thatrsquos how it is in organized sports Thatrsquos how it is at SES conferences And thatrsquos how Canadians ought to behave when it comes to technological innovation and business competitiveness

Caution Rather Than CompetitionCanadian caution is dangerously close to an insidious disease complacency For over a century wersquove contentedly enjoyed the ben-efits of our ldquo+1rdquo relationship with the pow-erful innovator to the south Wersquove sat back and waited while dynamic enterprises and innovations were created in the US Instead of competing our businesses have often dawdled watched and withered as compa-nies like Target Wal-Mart and Home Depot moved in and took over

In high technology the decline of a sin-gle leader like Research in Motion (RIM) is enough to throw the entire country into a panic Without the Blackberry what have we given the world Sidney Crosby and maple syrup (Ok a few other things like insulin and the telephone)

The situation isnrsquot that bad But it is a function of a complacent culture that othersrsquo successes (the successes of bold non-Cana-dian tall poppies) are claimed as onersquos own as long as itrsquos convenient with very little done to create an atmosphere that fosters innova-tionmdashuntil it becomes painfully obvious that a single flagship high-tech success story isnrsquot going to cut it

Unfortunately many of the traits that help entrepreneurs feel relatively accepted in the US arenrsquot baked into Canadian culture As a result itrsquos harder to develop a critical mass of digitally savvy companies tech tal-ent investors and other elements that cre-ate clusters of innovation and dynamism If you massage the data enough (as Richard Florida does) you can refer to the broader region around the Greater Toronto Area as a creative cluster However this region is punching well below its weight when it comes to the je ne sais quoi of creating great growth companies This ultimately causes relative backwardness in a whole range of interrelated realms from soft skills needed to staff up fast-growing startups to con-sumer expectations of online retailers The commonality is expectations and standards unless theyrsquore raised they stay too lowmdashif there are any at all

The e-Commerce LagWhere do Canadians shop when we do buy online One of our largest homegrown retailersmdashCanadian Tire which absorbed apparel and sporting-goods giant Forzani Group forming a retail empire of a decent sizemdashonly recently relaunched its website with the capacity to order items online The company had taken a two-year hiatus from e-commerce reverting to a website that offered information about products avail-able in physical stores and various episodic microsites (see article in The Globe and Mail ) Frankly management is living in the same time warp that many other top managers of large Canadian enterprises are in Slow growth in a high-growth area like e-commerce is unacceptable if Canadian-owned companies want to survive it opens up the playing field to US companies that are good at plugging in their existing highly optimized operations

Retail may not be the only measure of the health of a nation but online retail is surely the bellwether for the state of a digital nation Here again average Canadians couldnrsquot care

less and would dissent from this obvious point In their view because more of us have broadband use Facebook send text mes-sages etc wersquore more digitally savvy than other countries including the US Suremdashbut thatrsquos like saying that buying a cute new gym bag makes you a fashion pioneer Itrsquos nice to enjoy whatrsquos made available to you but it doesnrsquot compare at all with say investing in a company that grows into a global fashion label (On that note kudos to Lululemon a wildly successful Canadian brand that is one of the exceptions that prove the rule)

Canadians all too often like to partici-pate in the excitement of advanced trends and taste the fruits of othersrsquo innovation but wouldnrsquot have a clue how to spearhead anything Nor do they quite understand why you would need or want to Thatrsquos the kind of mindset that develops during a century and a half of living in a branch-plant economy

A November 11 article from IBM (cit-ing Forrester research) notes that Canada is behind the US in e-commerce spending and growing more slowly The percentagesmdash54 of total retail sales in Canada versus 60 in the USmdashmake the two countries seem fairly close but 6 of $32 trillion is immense com-pared to 54 of $370 billion Since ad spends website infrastructure and consulting time donrsquot make economic sense below a certain size a chicken-egg problem sets in custom-ers arenrsquot served as well research isnrsquot done ads and content arenrsquot crafted well check-outs donrsquot work as they should and so on The domestic Canadian e-commerce market poses a huge challenge for all but the largest players This makes it all the more frustrat-ing that those large players at least donrsquot recognize the need for urgency and invest-ment Instead of comparing themselves to their peers they should compare themselves to strong players around the globe

Weak Unprofitable Online Marketing Strategies Only a handful of Canadian retail web-site owners and managers know the key

sesconferencecom bull SES 7

focusCOVER STORY

to reaching the big leagues after testing and optimizing your model you can power your way into the top-grossing elite largely through an aggressive targeted online mar-keting spend Thatrsquos no sales pitch thatrsquos how the math works Many businesses appear to forget the enormous cost of the infrastruc-ture and overhead that get them to the table Once they are at that already expensive table the investment is wasted if the resulting revenue remains pitifully low because the method for actually getting new customers is ldquohope pray and DIY on-page SEOrdquo

Winning online businesses have grow-ing revenues (and to be sure marketing spends) that eventually reduce overhead and infrastructure costs to manageable (ide-ally trivial) proportions Losing ones build a large infrastructure and do nothing with it Since only a few companies are getting it right there is a very small pool of exemplars to show the way and wishful thinking sub-stitutes for action

We donrsquot find a Canadian company on the Internet Retailerrsquos Top 500 Guide (as of late April 2012) which ranks B2C retailers in the US and Canada based on online sales until number 152 The Shopping Channel owned by Rogers Media Lululemon Athletica is at 229 nowmdashfor them the skyrsquos the limit ALDO Group (shoes) and Mountain Equip-ment Co-Op (outdoor gear) deserve props at 390 and 395 respectively Unfortunately many Canadian entrepreneursmdashto say noth-ing of large retailersmdasharenrsquot aiming at mak-ing lists like this many havenrsquot even heard of them

Governmentrsquos Share of Blame Canada is falling behind in the global innova-tion race because ldquoCanadian business itself

hellip choose[s] deliberately not to pursue busi-ness strategies that rely on innovation as there [are] easier ways of making profitsrdquo So argue Marcel Cocircteacute founding partner of stra-tegic management consulting firm SECOR and Robert Miller engineer at Eacutecole Poly-technique de Montreacuteal in a recent report

(citing research by the Council of Canadian Academies)

Certainly government has played a role in allowing Canadian companies to be weakened largely through inaction and misappropriation of subsidy funds All gov-ernments sit on and distributemdashin the aggre-gatemdashlarge pools of business development capital and research funding and Canada is no exception Yet funds often trickle out to laggard players or subsidize the operations of established noninnovating companies Powerhouses like RIM return far more to the economy (in the form of jobs spinoffs RampD and tax revenues) than any breaks and incentives they receive A business colum-nist recently described the high-ROI govern-ment incentives that help create blockbust-ers like RIM as ldquofederal largesserdquo Largesse To Research in Motion I think we got our moneyrsquos worth

The lack of similar ldquolargesserdquo to identi-fiable very tall poppies has led to repeated missed opportunities and the lack of role models and good jobs in manufacturing RampD and software The denial of incentives to high-tech firm Mitel in the early 1980s is a salient example (see Donald J Savoiersquos 2009 book Irsquom from Bouctouche Me Roots Matter) the deal would have created thousands of

new telecommunications equipment jobs in Atlantic Canada This attitude has also resulted in the bankruptcy of companies (like Mitel) that could have become global leaders and precursors of other successful companies

What We Can DoIf government wonrsquot make the right moves how can Canadian companies improve on our own We must leave behind the old +1 instincts and the peer pressure to do just well enough Here are some suggestions

bull Avoid the grand narratives Coverage of traditional monopoly sectors such as financial mining and telecom-munications dominates the Canadian business media and only obvious successes are deemed noteworthy In terms of trends in advertising and digital culture little insight or encouragement is to be found in traditional media Look for validation elsewhere in your peer group at industry events among your customers and yes even in other countries

bull Quit scoffing at data Yes our clientsrsquo customers really do buy pecans switchplates furniture dishwasher parts soil remediation equipment and paella pans online Canadiansmdasheven those making digital marketing their career through formal certification coursesmdashhave a nasty habit of assuming that because people like them

ldquowould never click on thatrdquo or ldquowould never buy something like that onlinerdquo itrsquos helpful or insightful to share this preconceived notion The easy work is to hop onto the coattails of some large hip brand and recommend very gradual approaches to budgeting the marketing spend despite the millions in sunk costs (infrastructure office

Unfortunately many of the traits that help

entrepreneurs feel relatively accepted in

the US arenrsquot baked into Canadian culture As a result itrsquos harder to

develop a critical mass of digitally savvy companies

tech talent investors and other elements

that create clusters of innovation and dynamism

continues on page 8

Donrsquot miss these Sesssions at SES Toronto bull Made in Canada Marketing Online WorldwidemdashMonday June 11 200pmndash300pm bull Conquering the Growing Canadian Affiliate Marketing IndustrymdashTuesday June 12 300pmndash400pm

Register

8 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus COVER STORY

space website buildout etc) that make the operation wildly unprofitable on the whole (though seemingly cautious when only the variable costs are taken into account) Do the hard work and stop dismissing what is in fact real consumer behavior screaming for granular analysis

bull Know the role models Many young Canadians Irsquove encountered in formal business courses were not aware of Techcrunch Yelp Zappos and many other mainstays of digital business culture This is inexcusable The best students are the self-taught exceptions Therersquos no guarantee that these self-starters will get great jobs out of the gate but over time they usually prevail

bull Look for smart partners and communities Canada is full of half-baked digital companies that go nowhere fueled by family money and vanity investments Dumb money loses out to savvy skill and passion

bull Risk your own money Funding at the appropriate stage can be an important accelerator but the founders of companies like FreshBooks Acquisio PlentyofFish and HomeStars put in their own money perhaps with the support of family and friends before they did formal fundraising Itrsquos not always possible to bootstrap but companies like these prove that you donrsquot have to raise huge sums of money

to reach the next level You do have to have the entrepreneurial 24-7 mindset

bull Embrace digital jobs as normal If ordinary Canadians donrsquot become conversant with the leading edge of technology and digital enterprise the best minds will continue to drain away due to a lack of both opportunity and peers Our industry needs to be normalized and valued as simply a part of the economy Today wersquore still seen as representing either of two extremesmdashtaking insane risks and living in a cardboard box or lucking into lottery-like wealthmdashas if the profession is worth discussing only for its financial upside not for its substance Until people get it itrsquoll be up to us to evangelize the merits of things like search and display advertising (better targeting) online procurement (reducing friction in the economy) and all of that good stuff Yes it was obvious in 1999 but that doesnrsquot mean people are quite comfortable with it yet

ConclusionNot everyone is going to create the next Radian6 The Internet Retailerrsquos Top 500 is pretty rarefied territory and represents more success than the vast majority of startupsmdashlet alone well-known established retailersmdashcan attain However Canadians should at least be benchmarking themselves against these success stories rather than the semi-successful company down the street The real problem of course is that the comfort level of doing ldquojust so wellrdquo is tempting It may even seem irrational to want to reach a

levels of success far ahead of what is needed to maintain a great lifestyle

The driven minority though seek to have something more impressive than ldquo+1rdquo engraved on their tombstones If and when they do succeed you can bet that the aver-age Canadian and the creators of grand nar-ratives will be only too happy to take partial credit hellip not to mention taxing the bejeesus out of them

Andrew Goodman is founder

and President of Toronto-based

Page Zero Media a full-service

marketing agency founded in

2000 He is also co-founder of

Traffickcom an award-winning

industry commentary site and author of Winning Results with Google AdWords

Breaking Out of the ldquo+1rdquo Mindset

continued from page 7 Canadians should at least be benchmarking themselves against the Internet Retailerrsquos Top 500 rather than the

semi-successful company down the street The real problem of course is that the comfort level of doing ldquojust so wellrdquo is tempting

The driven minority though seek to have

something more impressive than ldquo+1rdquo engraved on

their tombstones

sesconferencecom bull SES 9

focusMARKETING INSIGHTS

If you live and work in Canada you may think of the Internet as a free space in which to share ideas sell products and interact with others with no restrictions

other than those imposed by the Canadian government for the protection of its people Itrsquos reasonable to believe that if you com-ply with these laws you will maintain the health of your website Unfortunately this isnrsquot entirely the case The United States gov-ernment has significant power over how the Internet functions right down to how you use your domain name and how the 1s and 0s on which your site travels are treated

Domain Name OwnershipMany people donrsquot realize that they donrsquot actu-ally own their own domain names they rent them Itrsquos a subtle difference but when com-bined with the fact that the US government owns and controls the com top-level domain (TLD) it brings up a whole new set of con-cerns as the owners of Bodogcom discovered

Bodogcom was a Canadian-owned online gambling site In February the US Depart-ment of Justice and Homeland Security Investigations seized the domain name while a US federal grand jury charged its four owners with conducting an illegal sports gambling site and conspiracy to commit money laundering The indictment alleges that Bodog moved at least $100 million from offshore accounts to bettors in Maryland

ldquoSports betting is illegal in Maryland and federal law prohibits bookmakers from flout-ing that law simply because they are located outside the countryrdquo stated US attorney Rod J Rosenstein (quoted by USA Today)

As this case shows the US government can seize any com site regardless of the loca-tion of the business operation or its hosting provider This principle of government own-ership is logical for country-based domains (such as ca) where the issuing government can take control of a domain rented by one of its citizens but com is the Internet go-to for countless non-US businesses You may think

ldquoThatrsquos OK I donrsquot run a poker siterdquo Just bear

in mind that since you donrsquot own your com domain the US government could confiscate it however unlikely that may be

SOPA and PIPAYoursquod be wrong to think that the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) would not affect your Canadian busi-ness If you use or provide resources (or letrsquos be honest are believed to provide resources) that are deemed unacceptable by the US gov-ernment your site could be blocked your search traffic eliminated and more Although neither bill has passed similar legislation probably will

ldquoIrsquom not worried I donrsquot run an illegal torrent siterdquo you may say The laws as they were drafted apply to any copyright infringe-ment and designate the website owner as the culpable party For example if you operate a forum and one of its members posts content from say a movie script your site could be blocked and search engine traffic eliminated This would be a big punishment for adding a forum to your site in hopes of engaging visi-tors While Irsquom not stating that the US gov-ernment would go to this extreme every time a law like SOPA or PIPA could make your site a target however innocent your intentions

Net Neutrality LegislationWhile I hold the unpopular opinion that ISPs have a right to charge what they like for their bandwidth and that the free market should sort out what this means there is no doubt that US rules and regulations regard-ing net neutrality would have a major impact on Canadian site owners The speed of your site is dependent on the speed of the Inter-net between your web host and the visitor If your visitors are in the US or if your site is hosted there you would be affected

You may point out ldquoMy site is hosted in Canada and my clients are in Canadardquo Unless your clients are in close proximity to your host your data is going to take various routes between the site and visitors Many tests I ran from my office in Victoria BC to

websites across Canada passed through the US at one point or another Net neutrality legislation would have an influence on these paths

Data SecurityMany of us collect data on our sites many of us store this data on our servers Under the law the US government can seize or review this data at any time if your site is hosted at a US hosting facility

You may ask ldquoBut Irsquom not storing any-thing illegal so who caresrdquo Your clients may If yoursquore a lawyer or doctor or if you store any other information on your server that may be deemed confidential you may be violating the law in hosting it in an environ-ment that is subject to seizure

What You Can DoThe purpose of this article isnrsquot to scare you Irsquove done business primarily in the US and hosted the Beanstalk site there since the company was formed and I havenrsquot had any issues stemming from these laws That said itrsquos extremely important to understand and monitor the direction that legislation is tak-ing and the potential impact and to safe-guard yourself against litigation embarrass-ment reduced or eliminated traffic slower speeds for your visitors etc Knowing whatrsquos happening and how it affects your website will help you react quickly

For example if network neutrality legis-lation fails and ISPs are given more freedom in how they charge for bandwidth ensuring that yoursquore hosted on a network with priority should be step one And you might as well buy that ca domain as a backup After all just because yoursquore being paranoid doesnrsquot mean yoursquore wrong

Dave Davies is CEO of Bean stalk

SEO Services an organic SEO

firm in Victoria BC He wrote the

second edition of SitePointrsquos s

Kit and hosts a weekly radio

show on Webmaster Radio

Beyond the BorderThe Impact of US Laws on Canadian Site Owners

by Dave Davies

10 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus MARKETING INSIGHTS

Searching for a new digital agency is a lot like searching for a mate you spend a lot of time seeing other peo-ple (the RFP process) you eventually

narrow it down to a handful of prospects (the short-list) and eventually you think yoursquove found ldquothe onerdquo (the winning agency) After much wooing and negotiation you agree to move in together (onboarding) and the real

ldquogetting to know each otherrdquo officially begins (the client-agency relationship)

The first couple of months are usu-ally pretty blissful both parties are filled with hope and positivity about the excit-ing adventures (programstactics) to come But you inevitably find out things that you didnrsquot know before and that you may not like Things get a bit bumpy and you start to become disenfranchised with your part-ner Gradually everything starts to unravel

mdashall of a sudden a year has gone by and yoursquore threatening to break up if your mate (agency) doesnrsquot get his or her act together

It doesnrsquot have to be this way There is a way to maintain the honeymoon period indefinitely It really starts with choosing the right partner in the first place Onboarding a new agency is a huge investment so make sure that the agency you choose is going to work out in the long term Ask the following questions about a prospective agency before making your decision

Do the Agencyrsquos Skills Closely Align to Your NeedsRelationship Buster While this may seem obvious often client-agency relationships fail due to mismatches between the cli-entsrsquo needs and the agenciesrsquo competen-cies Agencies do a good job of downplaying their weaknesses and selling their strengths sometimes giving clients distorted represen-tations of their capabilities Clients can also become enamored of specific strengths that arenrsquot even top priorities for the firms

Relationship Saver Have a clear understand-ing of what you need and what yoursquore looking

for in an agency and consistently apply that as a filter when evaluating potential part-ners It is critical that you choose an agency based on a realistic evaluation of your needs and whether their core competencies align with these If yoursquore looking for a digital agency that can offer innovative solutions to engage your audience donrsquot let yourself get wooed by a flashy creative presentation unless yoursquore sure that they have the chops to deliver on the technology side Alterna-tively if you already have a skilled IT team in house and really need a strong strategic and creative shop be sure that they can bring their creative A-game

Does the Agency Have the Proven Ability to DeliverRelationship Buster Clients sometimes under-estimate the importance of delivery in digi-tal programs It is easy to get distracted by cutting-edge solutions and fail to consider whether these programs can realistically be deployed on time on budget and at a high-quality level

Relationship Saver Verify agenciesrsquo track records in deploying similar solutions in a timely and efficient manner They should be able to provide case studies of similar work successfully delivered for other clients and clearly articulate their process for taking a high-level solutionstrategy to detailed tactical implementation plans Strong proj-ect management competence is critical to

ensure that projects are delivered within budget and timelines They should also be able to demonstrate that they have sufficient resources in place to deliver on multiple con-current work streams

Does the Agency Play Well with OthersRelationship Buster Most clients have mul-tiple agency partnersmdashtypically at least a creativeoffline agency and a media agency in addition to their digital agency Clients sometimes assume that all partners will work towards a common goal and that inte-gration will naturally take place However some agencies tend toward a protective or even combative nature when working with other agencies creating a host of problems when interdependencies are present between both agenciesrsquo initiatives

Relationship Saver Prospective partners need to be able to demonstrate the ability to get along with others Your agency should be able to point to specific examples of how they have worked with other agency partners in a harmonious and mutually beneficial way They should demonstrate the ability to take a leadership role in coordinating cross-agency collaboration and integration and have an established process for helping to define and document roles and responsibilities among agency partners

There are many other factors to take into consideration when choosing a new digital agency partner but avoiding the pitfalls above should increase your chances of a long and successful union Happy hunting

Julie Batten is VP strategy digital media at Klick Health focused on online media and digital She brings a wealth of experi-ence in search marketing

digital media and all facets of digital strat-egy to bear helping Klickrsquos clients develop innovative digital solutions

Make Your Client-Agency Relationship WorkThree Considerations When Choosing a Partner

by Julie Batten

Have a clear understanding of what you need and what yoursquore looking for in an agency and

consistently apply that as a filter when evaluating potential partners It is

critical that you choose an agency based on a realistic evaluation of your needs

sesconferencecom bull SES 11

focusSOCIALINTEGRATION

Social media is public relations Social media is inclusionary Social media is necessary to compete with your competitors Social media is todayrsquos

big thingSocial media is also tomorrowrsquos next big

thing More appropriately some form of social media application is tomorrowrsquos next big thing Yesterdayrsquos appears to have been Pinterest which is threatening to displace Foursquare as the mayor of forgotten places As digital marketing experts we are calling on our clients to invest increasing amounts of time staff and money in an area that is evolving too quickly for us to fully under-stand The benefits of increased traffic are obvious but the return on investment on a wide spread of social media profiles can be somewhat harder to quantify

The Changes in Social MediaWith over one-third of the adult population using Facebook Canadians constitute one of the largest national social media footprints in the world Being early adopters Canadian Internet users became amazingly social amazingly quickly Unfortunately many if not most Canadian businesses have not kept up This isnrsquot just because Canadian compa-nies donrsquot fully grasp the social part of the medium itrsquos also because the budgeting and planning necessary to create an effective social media presence is daunting on paper without a clear understanding of benefits

Social media applications have existed for almost as long as the commercial web Early social media applications such as Classmates and Friendster acted as basic connectors They werenrsquot great for commu-nication among users but they provided an ideal foundation on which all subsequent social media applications could build Web 20 which came on the scene in 2003 was a breakthrough that allowed users to inter-act with websites and with each other This was the dawn of the user-generated content (UGC) era Nearly ten years later wersquore just

beginning to understand the fuller implica-tions of UGC on search and the web

Many of the sessions at SES Toronto will address social media measurement engage-ment and techniques Each of the speakers addressing social media has developed his or her own techniques and tactics based on personal experience and shared knowledge Each of them will say that every social media experience is unique Each will maintain that the very best social media experience is one that promotes authenticity and earnest con-nection over marketing and promotion

As the digital marketing environment changes so must the priorities of digital marketers and the clients we serve While itrsquos always about driving good traffic the digital marketing landscape is transforming more rapidly than ever before Social media is continuously extending frontiers and new areas are expanding as rapidly as UGC can be created and user intent can be ascertained and harnessed

To say that social has had an impact on search would be an understatement for search marketers this shift has not been subtle Moving away from its fascination with search SEO has for the last two years focused on social From studying how Face-book alters user behaviors to finding cor-relations between social signals and search engine placements social media has domi-nated search marketing discourse by becom-ing a more popular form of public directory To say that you understand the impact of social media on search would be a vaguely worded lie Nobody understands exactly how social meshes with search Witness Google+

Getting Clients to Be SocialTrying to figure out how to integrate social into search is akin to integrating apples with oranges kiwis strawberries grapes cottage cheese and bananas Itrsquos easy to spot iden-tify and describe the effects of an apple itrsquos not as easy to do forensics on fruit salad This creates yet another problem for digital

marketers when trying to convince small businesses and corporate clients that bud-geting time and money for social media is important

To be authentic in the truest sense cli-ents would do the work in house However in-house SEOSMM is often impractical for the smaller businesses that make up the vast majority of clients This means that the service must be either outsourced to a third party or performed by a digital market-ing agency It is a huge challenge for digi-tal markers to help clients be authentic in a constantly evolving environment that none of us fully grasp

Digital marketers face a number of other issues when guiding clients in the social sphere It is really difficult to know whether the plethora of random information linking to clientsrsquo websites is beneficial or detrimen-tal We have to push our clients into actively participating in an arena that they donrsquot fully understand or we have to try to recre-ate their voices ourselves and authenticity is very hard to engender in the second- or third-party voice Lastly we have to quan-tify a return on investment that translates to

Doing Forensics on Fruit SaladThe Challenge of Developing Practical Client-Friendly Strategies in the Unpredictable Social Media Environment

by Jim Hedger

continues on page 13

From studying how Facebook alters user behaviors to finding

correlations between social signals and search engine placements social media

has dominated search marketing discourse by

becoming a more popular form of public directory

To say that you understand the impact of social

media on search would be a vaguely worded lie

12 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus SOCIALMEDIA

As the first birthday of Googlersquos latest baby draws near the organic search and paid advertising behemoth con- tinues to struggle to find their

niche in social A year ago Google+ was just a rumor Google would deny the existence of a social project until the very day it launched in late June

In that year theyrsquove launched expanded experimented and redesigned the service incurring the verbal wrath of competitors Facebook and Twitter on a number of occa-sions Itrsquos been a whirlwind for Google+ and all fifteen of its loyal users

I kid To be fair there is a small but dedi-cated group of core users in the Google+ net-work Larry Page Sergey Brin Vic Gundotra and the rest of the crew have become old pros at dodging questions about the num-ber of actual active users but we can safely assume that itrsquos nowhere near Facebookrsquos 850 million Does it need to be

Googlersquos Busy Year What Google has accomplished with Google+ in under a year is nothing short of amazing June 2011 saw the launch of Google+ as a social network Over the summer tech jour-nalists and analysts were positively wooed keeping a watchful eye on every indicator (precise or not) of increasing traffic and user activity on Google+ The Washington Post even announced in August that ldquoGoogle Plus could be the fastest-growing site in historyrdquo In all of history Well as long as wersquove had websites anyway (The original comScore report noted that it was the fast-est site to reach 25 million unique visits In what can only be described as a bizarre game of cyberjournalism this report morphed into Reutersrsquo claim that Google+ ldquoattracted 25 million usersrdquo and The Washington Postrsquos assertion that ldquoGoogle has 25 million usersrdquo)

Google+ launched business Pages on November 7 Pages were already popu-lar on Facebook and since Google+ hadnrsquot included them at the start there was a lot of

anticipation around the launch In the weeks following however Google+ would struggle to connect with brands their brands in turn would struggle to connect with a user base worth marketing to within the Google+ network

As Google began integrating brand Page results in seemingly dominant positions in the organic search listings other compa-nies began to cry foul Hot on the heels of that development Google made their latest foray into social search Google Search Plus Your World (SPY World anyone) in early January Twitter for one lost it quite pub-licly announcing ldquoWersquore concerned that as a result of Googlersquos changes finding this infor-mation will be much harder for everyone We think thatrsquos bad for people publishers news organizations and Twitter usersrdquo Their con-cern stemmed partly from the possibility that Google might have been abusing their dominance in their core industry search to excel in the realm of social largely Twitterrsquos and Facebookrsquos territory to that point The old grumblings of antitrust resurfaced only to peter out again within a few months

Later in January Google again stunned users and analysts with the announcement of an amalgamated privacy policy one that would bring user data from all 60+ of their

services under one umbrella They said that this would be better for users Many dis-agreed some agencies threatened to inves-tigate and users protested yet perhaps the widest-ranging and most important change in Googlersquos policies went off as planned on April 1

Also in January a month marked by a flurry of announcements from the search giant Google changed the sign-up process for many of their services Those signing on for a Gmail or YouTube account were auto-matically assigned a Google+ account Prom-inent markers appeared in the navigation bar every time users visited a Google property urging them to check out their notifications on the social network

Why Engagement Is Incidental Only Google knows how effective this was at actually getting people to the site although I suspect that user engagement was only a secondary goal at best In response to a scathing WSJcom article ticking off the

ldquomounting minusesrdquo at Google+ I wrote an article explaining why low user counts and engagement might not matter to Google

Facebook has had to find outside partners nurture (and invest heavily in) the app envi-ronment and build out their ecosystem over a period of years in order to gain access to the type and depth of user data they need to power their advertisement business Google is transitioning the other way from an advertising and data powerhouse to a social platform They already have an incredible reach largely through their DoubleClick ad network and dozens of properties

They donrsquot need to seek out partners who offer services users might opt into to share data back and forth They already have the data theyrsquore collecting it from millions of websites and user actions often without the usersrsquo explicit knowledge that theyrsquore being tracked at the time Whereas Facebookrsquos data pool shows more intent on the part of usersmdashthey liked something they shared something elsemdashGoogle reigns supreme in

The State of Google+ One Year LaterGoogle Hasnrsquot Yet Carved Their Niche in Social but Do They Even Need To

by Miranda Miller

Google doesnrsquot need to seek out partners who offer

services users might opt into to share data back and

forth They already have the data theyrsquore collecting it from millions of websites

and user actions

Whereas Facebookrsquos data pool shows more intent

on the part of users Google reigns supreme in

the low-intent market

sesconferencecom bull SES 13

focusSOCIALMEDIA

the low-intent market They know when and where you check your email on your Android They know the types of videos you search for and watch on YouTube

This is a fantastic thing for advertisers For users hellip not so much Yet users sign up for Google accounts in droves opting into Google+ without a second thought Track-ing goes beyond the actions users take while signed in to a Google service interacting with a +1 button on a website for example could set a cookie allowing tracking over all Google properties for a period of time

The efforts of the W3C Tracking Protec-tion Working Group will have huge ramifi-cations for the online advertising industry especially for Google If users click a +1 social icon is that really an interaction with Google Have they really indicated the intent to share data with Google for the next 24 36 or 48 hours from every website they visit that might show Google ads These ques-tions have no answers right now but the

working group aims to define first and third parties Advertisers will not be satisfied with poorly targeted paid search and display ads so Google and other ad companies need the data However users need their privacy

ConclusionWhat we are seeing in the current online advertising environment is a precarious balancing act with Google perched square in the middle teetering from side to side Everyone in the industry and even in the mainstream media has their eyes on Google+ Google has certainly given us plenty to talk about Hangouts with Obama seemingly constant updates and new features and even a recent redesign complete with new naviga-tion and profile pages

We canrsquot forget though that Google+ is just one cog in the wheel that drives Googlersquos 44 stake in the $486 billion global adver-tising market (see report by ZenithOpti-media) While slick photos funny updates

and all manner of things are being shared or overshared on the front end of Google+ the real action occurs behind the scenes Google doesnrsquot really need you hanging out on the Google+ site all day long they just need you to have an account and do everything you would normally do on the web in the course of a daymdashand donrsquot mind if they tag along while you do it

Google VP Bradley Horowitz said it best in September when he proclaimed that

ldquoGoogle+ is Google itselfrdquo Indeed

A staff writer with Search En-

gine Watch Miranda Miller co-

ordinates the annual Translit-

eracy Conference for Ontario

educators manages a small

number of social media cam-

paigns through an agency and serves on the Ca-

nadian Hemophilia Societyrsquos Advisory Board for

their Code Rouge awareness project

common sense better than to the dollars and cents that our clientsrsquo creditors understand

In practice my firm generally limits our recommendations to the big three of Face-book Twitter and Google+ placing other social networks into an ldquoadvisably optionalrdquo category Our clients have enough difficulty wrapping their heads around Facebook and Twitter without worrying about other net-works We include Google+ in the mix only because of the ldquorel=authorrdquo support and because we believe that Google actively favors websites associated with Google+ profiles

Training businesses to promote their ideas and images on Facebook and Google+ is relatively easy and teaching them Twit-ter behaviors and etiquette is only slightly harder Even though we limit our advice to

the big three we still end up chasing clients to convince them to monitor and maintain their social networks We do recommend secondary social networks such as LinkedIn Pinterest and Foursquare as they apply to clients and as clients can afford our training and application rates

We know that we are missing traffic but we balance this drawback by being practical In cases where we have to act as social media coordinators for our small to medium-sized business clients exposing them to only the big three limits our need to bill for out-of-control charges for allotted work time It also helps to ease clients into expanding their own social media participation and interaction

ConclusionDigital marketing professionals have to make a lot of choices as we steer clients along the

social media learning curve By sticking to the most trafficked social networks and deploying assets in secondary ones as neces-sary my company believes that wersquove found a balance our clients can live with

SES Toronto will provide a valuable forum for Canadian practitioners to dis-cuss the problems inherent in social media marketing

Jim Hedger is a founding part-

ner of the Toronto-based

search and social media mar-

keting agency Digital Always

Media He has an extensive

background in SEO dating to

the late 1990s He leads the SEO and content cre-

ation teams at Digital Always Media

Doing Forensics on Fruit Salad

continued from page 11

14 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus CONVERSIONamp ROI

Conversion optimization has been around for a while but its benefits are hard to ignore These include reduced cost of acquisition through

digital marketing increased customer satis-faction and retention increased average rev-enue per order and improved search engine rankings In order to reap the rewards of an optimization program you need to know where to start what to avoid and how to develop your program for long-term success

Getting StartedDo-it-yourself small business owners digital marketers and web analysts tend to inherit a lot of excess baggage so focusing on only one or two sore spots on a website is often difficult Consider these top five places to start

1 Optimize paid search landing pages Look-ing for big impact right away Optimize those paid search landing pages and start counting the money you save on search marketing immediately Vary your value proposition urgency pricing product mix and form length

2 Examine internal search results pages Searches performed on your website often yield the best (and cheapest) way to judge the voice of the customer These searchers are committed visi-tors who probably arenrsquot finding what they want intuitively Look at queries with no results top queries that should be satisfied through navigation and perhaps synonyms you didnrsquot consider when writing creative

3 Enhance your help sections Areas on a website dedicated to helping people are most often frequented by loyal custom-ers who would rather solve problems on their own than cost you money by calling or emailing support staff Help them help you by optimizing help docs downloads and public service messages

4 Test product and service recommendations The art of the upsell is best exhibited by e-commerce giants such as Apple Ama-zon GoDaddy and Dell If yoursquore able to measure cart abandonment on your site yoursquore ready to start testing product and service recommendations to increase your average revenue per order

5 Evaluate pathways from top entry pages Entry pages to your site are a bit harder to optimize because referred traffic through search or other websites isnrsquot always continuous or predictable but itrsquos usually free Measure common path-ways from entry pages to determine how content can be changed to reduce bounce rate you may just improve your search rankings at the same time

Growing the BaseOnce yoursquove started building quick wins in your conversion optimization program yoursquoll want to maintain that momentum and expand your effort to other areas of your site Unfortunately many marketers fall into the trap of overoptimizing based on bad advice so try to avoid or at least question the fol-lowing five optimization tips that can hurt conversion rates

1 Tip to avoid Keep your copy short sharp concise Itrsquos hard to argue that trimming the overall content on a landing page would be anything but successful for most campaigns as it reduces the prob-ability that a landing page will over-whelm a prospect However providing less information may hurt overall con-version rates over time or worse still lower average revenue per order

2 Tip to avoid Remove or de-emphasize primary and secondary navigation from the template of your landing page Fewer escape routes make prospects more likely to continue along your chosen path However a lack of consistency

across the rest of your site may com-promise new visitorsrsquo trust and result in higher abandonment

3 Tip to avoid Add trust marks to your land-ing pages While I certainly can attest to the conversion lift that trust marks can provide on an e-commerce site landing pages are somewhat different In most cases getting visitors to click on links deeper in your site to privacy statements and certificates can be a more powerful way to convert skeptical prospects

4 Tip to avoid Boost your brand with tes-timonials and client logos In B2B cam-paigns association with large-scale brands with which you do business can boost conversion especially for start-ups but do your due diligence by seek-ing written approval for logo usage and recommendations The last thing you want is conflict with a long-term lucra-tive client

5 Tip to avoid Incentivize your prospects with freebies calls for urgency and pro-motions While these tactics can elicit a strong positive reaction among first-time visitors they can have very unde-sirable effects on lead quality Many visitors are conditioned to perform microconversions such as lead forms without reading anything else on a landing page Donrsquot be afraid to lose a few cheapskates on your landing pages who would otherwise sacrifice your profitability

Planning for the FutureNow that yoursquore well on your way to optimi-zation nirvana yoursquoll want to expand your program beyond online impact and start leveraging your online success for dramatic cross-channel maturity Here are five things to consider when bridging conversion opti-mization to business process optimization

The Conversion Optimization Life CycleWhich Advice Should You Follow and Which Should You Avoid in Structuring Your Optimization Program

by Garry Przyklenk

sesconferencecom bull SES 15

focusCONVERSIONamp ROI

1 Relate online customer pain points to front-line personnel Some of the best online optimizations can result in a cultural shift or reimaging of the offline sales process and vice versa Keep your sales and support members in the loop of online optimizations because your cross-channel prospects are often very similar

2 Try some of your companyrsquos own products and services The importance of stepping into your customersrsquo shoes cannot be overemphasized Irsquove done it on numer-ous occasions with a high degree of success It helps to assume an angry persona and pretend that you have less than five minutes to do anything that you need to do

3 Build new products and services with optimization in mind Build a culture of

conversion testing by baking it into the product or client life cycle Letrsquos face itmdasha lot can go wrong from initial con-ceptualization of a product or service to delivery especially when development cycles are really wrong

4 Leverage web analytics information and customer relationship management sys-tems (CRMs) Integration of web ana-lytics data with CRMs is much more common these days because businesses usually have a significant portion of their operations or interactions with customers through nonline channels

5 Analyze the competition Sometimes the best original score is a remix Think yoursquore smarter than your competitor Prove it by testing their ideas with your audience to find out what they might be doing better or worse

Although no two websites are exactly the same in terms of customer experience and behavior similarly structured products and services likely attract similar prospects and customers

For more guidance on conversion optimiza-tion be sure to visit one of the many optimi-zation sessions at SES this year

Garry Przyklenk manager of

analytics implementation at

TD Bank Group is an expert in

lead generation search engine

marketing web analytics and

social media marketing He has

successfully championed creative marketing cam-

paigns and executed on actionable insights in

several vertical markets

learn more about a different aspect of the industry For example if yoursquore an in-house SEO you may find yourself responsible for your companyrsquos social media You already know about Facebook LinkedIn and Twitter but you may not know which is right for your industry and the ways in which success will be defined Since a social media program is not just about ldquolikesrdquo and ldquofollowersrdquo align-ing it with corporate objectives to generate revenue is not a simple matter

At the other end are large organizations rolling out training to their employees Some allocate specific courses to individuals and make completion compulsory while others give employees access to the library of con-tent and encourage self-study in the areas that would be the most beneficial Online training is perfect for companies who do not

have the budget or time to send everyone to a course and allows each employee to receive a tailored syllabus

This kind of program can be comple-mented by an in-house training sessionmdasha course tailored to meet the specific objec-tives of the organization and held at the com-panyrsquos offices By blending online and class-room courses ClickZ Academy makes sure that employees from different offices arrive at the in-house portion with the same basic understanding so that their time together is maximized

Catch That Missed Session with Conference RecordingsBecause several concurrent content tracks run at SES conferences you may find that you are not able to attend every session that you would like Therefore we now offer recorded sessions from some conferences

The recordings sync the PowerPoint presen-tations and the videos simulating the experi-ence of being at the sessions This is a conve-nient way to catch up on any session that you missed or to share sessions with colleagues Available for purchase on the ClickZAcad-emy website recordings cover a number of tracks Recordings from SES London are now available and consist of the Kick Start PPC and Accelerator tracks

To learn more stop by the ClickZ table at SES Toronto or visit ClickZacademycom

Paul Fegan is head of e-learn-

ing at Incisive Media and is re-

sponsible for creating on-line

training content for all of its

brands He co-founded his own

e-learning company and has

been delivering online professional and CPD train-

ing since 2000

How ClickZ Academy Can Work for You

continued from page 1

16 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

sessions SES Toronto | June 11ndash13 2012 | hosted by

Day 1mdashMonday June 11

1030ndash1130amTrack 2Driving Mobile Traffic PPC amp SEOJump-start your mobile presence with these fundamentals for pre-senting content thatrsquos both SEO- and mobile-friendly Not fully ready for a mobile site Learn inexpensive and easy options to get started the right way From desktop and mobile to tablets smart-phones and feature phones wersquoll dive into key mobile differences for SEO and PPC and the strategies to drive and convert more mobile traffic

Moderator Gregg Stewart President 15 Miles

Speaker Jeff Allen Account Manager Hanapin Marketing

Speaker Jeremy Evans Director of Strategic Accounts Marin Software

1145ndash1245pmTrack 2Developing a Video Optimization amp Marketing CampaignThis session will use real-world examples to help you understand and master the entire video process including what to create how to optimize your video how to market it with search and social media and how to measure its real business impact

Moderator Sage Lewis President SageRockcom

Speaker Jonathan Allen Director Search Engine Watch

Speaker Greg Jarboe President amp Co-founder SEO-PR

200ndash300pmTrack 2Made in Canada Marketing Online WorldwideThis session will focus on specific challenges facing Canadian Internet marketers It will cover

bull How to balance Canadian and American content challenges in a consistent meaningful way (domains architecture content keyphrases etc)

bull How to compete in the US market as a Canadian business and not lose your Canadian online presence

bull The different results on Googlecom and Googleca from a search engine perspective and which consumers prefer the search enginesrsquo growing preferences for local

Moderator Andrew Goodman SES Advisory Board President Page Zero Media

Speaker Anne F Kennedy SES Advisory Board International Search Strategist Author Beyond Ink USA

Speaker Ian McAnerin CEO McAnerin International Inc

Speaker Ezra Silverton President 9th sphere

330ndash430pmTrack 3Content Marketing OptimizationOnline marketing is increasingly competitive and brand marketers worldwide are seeking real advantages that will improve the effi-ciency and impact of their social media and SEO efforts This ses-sion will provide unique insight into content-based optimization strategies and processes as well as tactics for sourcing creating and promoting optimized content on the social web

Speaker Matt McGowan Managing Director Americas Incisive Media

Krista LaRiviere CoFounder amp CEO gShift Labs

Speaker Lee Odden SES Advisory Board CEO TopRank Online Marketing

Speaker Jennifer Slegg CEO JenSense

Sample SessionsDownload the app or visit wwwSESTorontocom for complete agenda and session descriptions

sesconferencecom bull SES 17

sessionsDownload the app or visit SESNewYorkcom

Day 2mdashTuesday June 12

900ndash1000amTrack 2Social Media Solutions on a BudgetGetting your company or organization started with social media doesnrsquot have to be a pricey proposition In this session yoursquoll learn how to

bull Take advantage of great free and low-cost tools that cover man-aging conversations measuring reach and engagement and developingpublishing great content

bull Leverage lesser-known social media channels to increase expo-sure and reach

bull Create great social media friendly content to build trust and authority inexpensively

Moderator Laura Roth Conference Program amp Training Manager SES Conference amp Expo

Speaker Danny Iny Co-Founder Firepole Marketing

Speaker Krista Neher CEO Boot Camp Digital

130ndash230pmTrack 3From Keywords to ldquoBuy Wordsrdquo Finding High-Value Paid Search Keywords

ldquoProfessorsrdquo Van Wagner and Goodman will take you beyond garden-variety keyword lists to delve deeper into how user queries signal different kinds of intent You will learn how to go beyond the blind reading of ldquoafter-the-factrdquo ROI statistics how to anticipate how your most valuable searchers will express themselves with search que-ries and even how to subtly mold their preferences as they progress from search queries to your ads landing pages and transactions

Moderator Greg Jarboe President amp Co-founder SEO-PR

Speaker Andrew Goodman SES Advisory Board President Page Zero Media

Speaker Matt Van Wagner President Find Me Faster

300ndash400pmTrack 2Conquering the Growing Canadian Affiliate Marketing IndustryIn this session you will learn the following and more

bull Affiliate marketing in Canada is a viable growing traffic channel bull Online retail merchants need to educate and form strategic

partnerships with web publishers in order to generate traffic bull Establishing a successful Canadian affiliate marketing channel

requires sophisticated software development strategic market-ing and stability

bull Retail merchants need to be prepared to accommodate Canadian affiliate partnerships with the right tools in order for all parties to succeed

Speaker Nicky Senyard President Share Results

415ndash515pmTrack 1Maximizing ROI in e-Commerce with SearchAll e-commerce websites and e-tailers should be on top of certain ROI trends and opportunities This session will show you how to maximize ROI in e-commerce by leveraging one e-marketing chan-nel to improve the performance of another You will hear a series of combined channel campaign strategies along with case studies that illustrate how to maximize the ROI of your campaigns by taking advantage of low-hanging fruit

Moderator Chris Boggs SES Advisory Board Director SEO Rosetta

Speaker Guillaume Bouchard President CEO NVI

Speaker Elazar Gabay Vice President Performance Marketing LeSiteca

515ndash615pmSEW Eliminator QuizJoin us for the inaugural SEW Eliminator Quiz a pub-trivia-style networking event where you and your fellow marketers will compete to see who is the savviest and most knowledgeable marketer in the room Afterward yoursquoll have a chance to network with your favorite drink in hand

New YorkMarch

ShanghaiApril

TorontoJune -

San FranciscoAugust -

Hong KongSeptember ndash

BerlinOctober ndash

ChicagoNovember -

SingaporeNovember ndash

San DiegoFebruary

LondonFebruary

SES Conference amp Expo is the leading global event series that educates professionals in search and social marketing putting a special focus on tactics and best practices SES Events provide instructions from the industryrsquos top experts including representatives from the Search Engines themselves

World Tour ndash

SESConferencecom

Page 8: SES Magazine Toronto 2012

6 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus COVER STORY

Breaking Out of the ldquo+1rdquo MindsetCanada is Losing the Digital Innovation Race How Can It Become More Competitive

by Andrew Goodman

Canada has weathered the economic downturn better than any other G7 nation With a high level of eco-nomic cultural and technological

development and a favorable trading rela-tionship and cultural integration with the US it can hardly be described as hurting Since nothingrsquos terribly broken creating a sense of urgency around living up to our true poten-tial is hard

Some of us feel a constant urge to do bet-ter most of us do not The most likely way to propagate this feeling is to deliberately and systematically push onersquos peers to improve Thatrsquos how it is in organized sports Thatrsquos how it is at SES conferences And thatrsquos how Canadians ought to behave when it comes to technological innovation and business competitiveness

Caution Rather Than CompetitionCanadian caution is dangerously close to an insidious disease complacency For over a century wersquove contentedly enjoyed the ben-efits of our ldquo+1rdquo relationship with the pow-erful innovator to the south Wersquove sat back and waited while dynamic enterprises and innovations were created in the US Instead of competing our businesses have often dawdled watched and withered as compa-nies like Target Wal-Mart and Home Depot moved in and took over

In high technology the decline of a sin-gle leader like Research in Motion (RIM) is enough to throw the entire country into a panic Without the Blackberry what have we given the world Sidney Crosby and maple syrup (Ok a few other things like insulin and the telephone)

The situation isnrsquot that bad But it is a function of a complacent culture that othersrsquo successes (the successes of bold non-Cana-dian tall poppies) are claimed as onersquos own as long as itrsquos convenient with very little done to create an atmosphere that fosters innova-tionmdashuntil it becomes painfully obvious that a single flagship high-tech success story isnrsquot going to cut it

Unfortunately many of the traits that help entrepreneurs feel relatively accepted in the US arenrsquot baked into Canadian culture As a result itrsquos harder to develop a critical mass of digitally savvy companies tech tal-ent investors and other elements that cre-ate clusters of innovation and dynamism If you massage the data enough (as Richard Florida does) you can refer to the broader region around the Greater Toronto Area as a creative cluster However this region is punching well below its weight when it comes to the je ne sais quoi of creating great growth companies This ultimately causes relative backwardness in a whole range of interrelated realms from soft skills needed to staff up fast-growing startups to con-sumer expectations of online retailers The commonality is expectations and standards unless theyrsquore raised they stay too lowmdashif there are any at all

The e-Commerce LagWhere do Canadians shop when we do buy online One of our largest homegrown retailersmdashCanadian Tire which absorbed apparel and sporting-goods giant Forzani Group forming a retail empire of a decent sizemdashonly recently relaunched its website with the capacity to order items online The company had taken a two-year hiatus from e-commerce reverting to a website that offered information about products avail-able in physical stores and various episodic microsites (see article in The Globe and Mail ) Frankly management is living in the same time warp that many other top managers of large Canadian enterprises are in Slow growth in a high-growth area like e-commerce is unacceptable if Canadian-owned companies want to survive it opens up the playing field to US companies that are good at plugging in their existing highly optimized operations

Retail may not be the only measure of the health of a nation but online retail is surely the bellwether for the state of a digital nation Here again average Canadians couldnrsquot care

less and would dissent from this obvious point In their view because more of us have broadband use Facebook send text mes-sages etc wersquore more digitally savvy than other countries including the US Suremdashbut thatrsquos like saying that buying a cute new gym bag makes you a fashion pioneer Itrsquos nice to enjoy whatrsquos made available to you but it doesnrsquot compare at all with say investing in a company that grows into a global fashion label (On that note kudos to Lululemon a wildly successful Canadian brand that is one of the exceptions that prove the rule)

Canadians all too often like to partici-pate in the excitement of advanced trends and taste the fruits of othersrsquo innovation but wouldnrsquot have a clue how to spearhead anything Nor do they quite understand why you would need or want to Thatrsquos the kind of mindset that develops during a century and a half of living in a branch-plant economy

A November 11 article from IBM (cit-ing Forrester research) notes that Canada is behind the US in e-commerce spending and growing more slowly The percentagesmdash54 of total retail sales in Canada versus 60 in the USmdashmake the two countries seem fairly close but 6 of $32 trillion is immense com-pared to 54 of $370 billion Since ad spends website infrastructure and consulting time donrsquot make economic sense below a certain size a chicken-egg problem sets in custom-ers arenrsquot served as well research isnrsquot done ads and content arenrsquot crafted well check-outs donrsquot work as they should and so on The domestic Canadian e-commerce market poses a huge challenge for all but the largest players This makes it all the more frustrat-ing that those large players at least donrsquot recognize the need for urgency and invest-ment Instead of comparing themselves to their peers they should compare themselves to strong players around the globe

Weak Unprofitable Online Marketing Strategies Only a handful of Canadian retail web-site owners and managers know the key

sesconferencecom bull SES 7

focusCOVER STORY

to reaching the big leagues after testing and optimizing your model you can power your way into the top-grossing elite largely through an aggressive targeted online mar-keting spend Thatrsquos no sales pitch thatrsquos how the math works Many businesses appear to forget the enormous cost of the infrastruc-ture and overhead that get them to the table Once they are at that already expensive table the investment is wasted if the resulting revenue remains pitifully low because the method for actually getting new customers is ldquohope pray and DIY on-page SEOrdquo

Winning online businesses have grow-ing revenues (and to be sure marketing spends) that eventually reduce overhead and infrastructure costs to manageable (ide-ally trivial) proportions Losing ones build a large infrastructure and do nothing with it Since only a few companies are getting it right there is a very small pool of exemplars to show the way and wishful thinking sub-stitutes for action

We donrsquot find a Canadian company on the Internet Retailerrsquos Top 500 Guide (as of late April 2012) which ranks B2C retailers in the US and Canada based on online sales until number 152 The Shopping Channel owned by Rogers Media Lululemon Athletica is at 229 nowmdashfor them the skyrsquos the limit ALDO Group (shoes) and Mountain Equip-ment Co-Op (outdoor gear) deserve props at 390 and 395 respectively Unfortunately many Canadian entrepreneursmdashto say noth-ing of large retailersmdasharenrsquot aiming at mak-ing lists like this many havenrsquot even heard of them

Governmentrsquos Share of Blame Canada is falling behind in the global innova-tion race because ldquoCanadian business itself

hellip choose[s] deliberately not to pursue busi-ness strategies that rely on innovation as there [are] easier ways of making profitsrdquo So argue Marcel Cocircteacute founding partner of stra-tegic management consulting firm SECOR and Robert Miller engineer at Eacutecole Poly-technique de Montreacuteal in a recent report

(citing research by the Council of Canadian Academies)

Certainly government has played a role in allowing Canadian companies to be weakened largely through inaction and misappropriation of subsidy funds All gov-ernments sit on and distributemdashin the aggre-gatemdashlarge pools of business development capital and research funding and Canada is no exception Yet funds often trickle out to laggard players or subsidize the operations of established noninnovating companies Powerhouses like RIM return far more to the economy (in the form of jobs spinoffs RampD and tax revenues) than any breaks and incentives they receive A business colum-nist recently described the high-ROI govern-ment incentives that help create blockbust-ers like RIM as ldquofederal largesserdquo Largesse To Research in Motion I think we got our moneyrsquos worth

The lack of similar ldquolargesserdquo to identi-fiable very tall poppies has led to repeated missed opportunities and the lack of role models and good jobs in manufacturing RampD and software The denial of incentives to high-tech firm Mitel in the early 1980s is a salient example (see Donald J Savoiersquos 2009 book Irsquom from Bouctouche Me Roots Matter) the deal would have created thousands of

new telecommunications equipment jobs in Atlantic Canada This attitude has also resulted in the bankruptcy of companies (like Mitel) that could have become global leaders and precursors of other successful companies

What We Can DoIf government wonrsquot make the right moves how can Canadian companies improve on our own We must leave behind the old +1 instincts and the peer pressure to do just well enough Here are some suggestions

bull Avoid the grand narratives Coverage of traditional monopoly sectors such as financial mining and telecom-munications dominates the Canadian business media and only obvious successes are deemed noteworthy In terms of trends in advertising and digital culture little insight or encouragement is to be found in traditional media Look for validation elsewhere in your peer group at industry events among your customers and yes even in other countries

bull Quit scoffing at data Yes our clientsrsquo customers really do buy pecans switchplates furniture dishwasher parts soil remediation equipment and paella pans online Canadiansmdasheven those making digital marketing their career through formal certification coursesmdashhave a nasty habit of assuming that because people like them

ldquowould never click on thatrdquo or ldquowould never buy something like that onlinerdquo itrsquos helpful or insightful to share this preconceived notion The easy work is to hop onto the coattails of some large hip brand and recommend very gradual approaches to budgeting the marketing spend despite the millions in sunk costs (infrastructure office

Unfortunately many of the traits that help

entrepreneurs feel relatively accepted in

the US arenrsquot baked into Canadian culture As a result itrsquos harder to

develop a critical mass of digitally savvy companies

tech talent investors and other elements

that create clusters of innovation and dynamism

continues on page 8

Donrsquot miss these Sesssions at SES Toronto bull Made in Canada Marketing Online WorldwidemdashMonday June 11 200pmndash300pm bull Conquering the Growing Canadian Affiliate Marketing IndustrymdashTuesday June 12 300pmndash400pm

Register

8 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus COVER STORY

space website buildout etc) that make the operation wildly unprofitable on the whole (though seemingly cautious when only the variable costs are taken into account) Do the hard work and stop dismissing what is in fact real consumer behavior screaming for granular analysis

bull Know the role models Many young Canadians Irsquove encountered in formal business courses were not aware of Techcrunch Yelp Zappos and many other mainstays of digital business culture This is inexcusable The best students are the self-taught exceptions Therersquos no guarantee that these self-starters will get great jobs out of the gate but over time they usually prevail

bull Look for smart partners and communities Canada is full of half-baked digital companies that go nowhere fueled by family money and vanity investments Dumb money loses out to savvy skill and passion

bull Risk your own money Funding at the appropriate stage can be an important accelerator but the founders of companies like FreshBooks Acquisio PlentyofFish and HomeStars put in their own money perhaps with the support of family and friends before they did formal fundraising Itrsquos not always possible to bootstrap but companies like these prove that you donrsquot have to raise huge sums of money

to reach the next level You do have to have the entrepreneurial 24-7 mindset

bull Embrace digital jobs as normal If ordinary Canadians donrsquot become conversant with the leading edge of technology and digital enterprise the best minds will continue to drain away due to a lack of both opportunity and peers Our industry needs to be normalized and valued as simply a part of the economy Today wersquore still seen as representing either of two extremesmdashtaking insane risks and living in a cardboard box or lucking into lottery-like wealthmdashas if the profession is worth discussing only for its financial upside not for its substance Until people get it itrsquoll be up to us to evangelize the merits of things like search and display advertising (better targeting) online procurement (reducing friction in the economy) and all of that good stuff Yes it was obvious in 1999 but that doesnrsquot mean people are quite comfortable with it yet

ConclusionNot everyone is going to create the next Radian6 The Internet Retailerrsquos Top 500 is pretty rarefied territory and represents more success than the vast majority of startupsmdashlet alone well-known established retailersmdashcan attain However Canadians should at least be benchmarking themselves against these success stories rather than the semi-successful company down the street The real problem of course is that the comfort level of doing ldquojust so wellrdquo is tempting It may even seem irrational to want to reach a

levels of success far ahead of what is needed to maintain a great lifestyle

The driven minority though seek to have something more impressive than ldquo+1rdquo engraved on their tombstones If and when they do succeed you can bet that the aver-age Canadian and the creators of grand nar-ratives will be only too happy to take partial credit hellip not to mention taxing the bejeesus out of them

Andrew Goodman is founder

and President of Toronto-based

Page Zero Media a full-service

marketing agency founded in

2000 He is also co-founder of

Traffickcom an award-winning

industry commentary site and author of Winning Results with Google AdWords

Breaking Out of the ldquo+1rdquo Mindset

continued from page 7 Canadians should at least be benchmarking themselves against the Internet Retailerrsquos Top 500 rather than the

semi-successful company down the street The real problem of course is that the comfort level of doing ldquojust so wellrdquo is tempting

The driven minority though seek to have

something more impressive than ldquo+1rdquo engraved on

their tombstones

sesconferencecom bull SES 9

focusMARKETING INSIGHTS

If you live and work in Canada you may think of the Internet as a free space in which to share ideas sell products and interact with others with no restrictions

other than those imposed by the Canadian government for the protection of its people Itrsquos reasonable to believe that if you com-ply with these laws you will maintain the health of your website Unfortunately this isnrsquot entirely the case The United States gov-ernment has significant power over how the Internet functions right down to how you use your domain name and how the 1s and 0s on which your site travels are treated

Domain Name OwnershipMany people donrsquot realize that they donrsquot actu-ally own their own domain names they rent them Itrsquos a subtle difference but when com-bined with the fact that the US government owns and controls the com top-level domain (TLD) it brings up a whole new set of con-cerns as the owners of Bodogcom discovered

Bodogcom was a Canadian-owned online gambling site In February the US Depart-ment of Justice and Homeland Security Investigations seized the domain name while a US federal grand jury charged its four owners with conducting an illegal sports gambling site and conspiracy to commit money laundering The indictment alleges that Bodog moved at least $100 million from offshore accounts to bettors in Maryland

ldquoSports betting is illegal in Maryland and federal law prohibits bookmakers from flout-ing that law simply because they are located outside the countryrdquo stated US attorney Rod J Rosenstein (quoted by USA Today)

As this case shows the US government can seize any com site regardless of the loca-tion of the business operation or its hosting provider This principle of government own-ership is logical for country-based domains (such as ca) where the issuing government can take control of a domain rented by one of its citizens but com is the Internet go-to for countless non-US businesses You may think

ldquoThatrsquos OK I donrsquot run a poker siterdquo Just bear

in mind that since you donrsquot own your com domain the US government could confiscate it however unlikely that may be

SOPA and PIPAYoursquod be wrong to think that the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) would not affect your Canadian busi-ness If you use or provide resources (or letrsquos be honest are believed to provide resources) that are deemed unacceptable by the US gov-ernment your site could be blocked your search traffic eliminated and more Although neither bill has passed similar legislation probably will

ldquoIrsquom not worried I donrsquot run an illegal torrent siterdquo you may say The laws as they were drafted apply to any copyright infringe-ment and designate the website owner as the culpable party For example if you operate a forum and one of its members posts content from say a movie script your site could be blocked and search engine traffic eliminated This would be a big punishment for adding a forum to your site in hopes of engaging visi-tors While Irsquom not stating that the US gov-ernment would go to this extreme every time a law like SOPA or PIPA could make your site a target however innocent your intentions

Net Neutrality LegislationWhile I hold the unpopular opinion that ISPs have a right to charge what they like for their bandwidth and that the free market should sort out what this means there is no doubt that US rules and regulations regard-ing net neutrality would have a major impact on Canadian site owners The speed of your site is dependent on the speed of the Inter-net between your web host and the visitor If your visitors are in the US or if your site is hosted there you would be affected

You may point out ldquoMy site is hosted in Canada and my clients are in Canadardquo Unless your clients are in close proximity to your host your data is going to take various routes between the site and visitors Many tests I ran from my office in Victoria BC to

websites across Canada passed through the US at one point or another Net neutrality legislation would have an influence on these paths

Data SecurityMany of us collect data on our sites many of us store this data on our servers Under the law the US government can seize or review this data at any time if your site is hosted at a US hosting facility

You may ask ldquoBut Irsquom not storing any-thing illegal so who caresrdquo Your clients may If yoursquore a lawyer or doctor or if you store any other information on your server that may be deemed confidential you may be violating the law in hosting it in an environ-ment that is subject to seizure

What You Can DoThe purpose of this article isnrsquot to scare you Irsquove done business primarily in the US and hosted the Beanstalk site there since the company was formed and I havenrsquot had any issues stemming from these laws That said itrsquos extremely important to understand and monitor the direction that legislation is tak-ing and the potential impact and to safe-guard yourself against litigation embarrass-ment reduced or eliminated traffic slower speeds for your visitors etc Knowing whatrsquos happening and how it affects your website will help you react quickly

For example if network neutrality legis-lation fails and ISPs are given more freedom in how they charge for bandwidth ensuring that yoursquore hosted on a network with priority should be step one And you might as well buy that ca domain as a backup After all just because yoursquore being paranoid doesnrsquot mean yoursquore wrong

Dave Davies is CEO of Bean stalk

SEO Services an organic SEO

firm in Victoria BC He wrote the

second edition of SitePointrsquos s

Kit and hosts a weekly radio

show on Webmaster Radio

Beyond the BorderThe Impact of US Laws on Canadian Site Owners

by Dave Davies

10 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus MARKETING INSIGHTS

Searching for a new digital agency is a lot like searching for a mate you spend a lot of time seeing other peo-ple (the RFP process) you eventually

narrow it down to a handful of prospects (the short-list) and eventually you think yoursquove found ldquothe onerdquo (the winning agency) After much wooing and negotiation you agree to move in together (onboarding) and the real

ldquogetting to know each otherrdquo officially begins (the client-agency relationship)

The first couple of months are usu-ally pretty blissful both parties are filled with hope and positivity about the excit-ing adventures (programstactics) to come But you inevitably find out things that you didnrsquot know before and that you may not like Things get a bit bumpy and you start to become disenfranchised with your part-ner Gradually everything starts to unravel

mdashall of a sudden a year has gone by and yoursquore threatening to break up if your mate (agency) doesnrsquot get his or her act together

It doesnrsquot have to be this way There is a way to maintain the honeymoon period indefinitely It really starts with choosing the right partner in the first place Onboarding a new agency is a huge investment so make sure that the agency you choose is going to work out in the long term Ask the following questions about a prospective agency before making your decision

Do the Agencyrsquos Skills Closely Align to Your NeedsRelationship Buster While this may seem obvious often client-agency relationships fail due to mismatches between the cli-entsrsquo needs and the agenciesrsquo competen-cies Agencies do a good job of downplaying their weaknesses and selling their strengths sometimes giving clients distorted represen-tations of their capabilities Clients can also become enamored of specific strengths that arenrsquot even top priorities for the firms

Relationship Saver Have a clear understand-ing of what you need and what yoursquore looking

for in an agency and consistently apply that as a filter when evaluating potential part-ners It is critical that you choose an agency based on a realistic evaluation of your needs and whether their core competencies align with these If yoursquore looking for a digital agency that can offer innovative solutions to engage your audience donrsquot let yourself get wooed by a flashy creative presentation unless yoursquore sure that they have the chops to deliver on the technology side Alterna-tively if you already have a skilled IT team in house and really need a strong strategic and creative shop be sure that they can bring their creative A-game

Does the Agency Have the Proven Ability to DeliverRelationship Buster Clients sometimes under-estimate the importance of delivery in digi-tal programs It is easy to get distracted by cutting-edge solutions and fail to consider whether these programs can realistically be deployed on time on budget and at a high-quality level

Relationship Saver Verify agenciesrsquo track records in deploying similar solutions in a timely and efficient manner They should be able to provide case studies of similar work successfully delivered for other clients and clearly articulate their process for taking a high-level solutionstrategy to detailed tactical implementation plans Strong proj-ect management competence is critical to

ensure that projects are delivered within budget and timelines They should also be able to demonstrate that they have sufficient resources in place to deliver on multiple con-current work streams

Does the Agency Play Well with OthersRelationship Buster Most clients have mul-tiple agency partnersmdashtypically at least a creativeoffline agency and a media agency in addition to their digital agency Clients sometimes assume that all partners will work towards a common goal and that inte-gration will naturally take place However some agencies tend toward a protective or even combative nature when working with other agencies creating a host of problems when interdependencies are present between both agenciesrsquo initiatives

Relationship Saver Prospective partners need to be able to demonstrate the ability to get along with others Your agency should be able to point to specific examples of how they have worked with other agency partners in a harmonious and mutually beneficial way They should demonstrate the ability to take a leadership role in coordinating cross-agency collaboration and integration and have an established process for helping to define and document roles and responsibilities among agency partners

There are many other factors to take into consideration when choosing a new digital agency partner but avoiding the pitfalls above should increase your chances of a long and successful union Happy hunting

Julie Batten is VP strategy digital media at Klick Health focused on online media and digital She brings a wealth of experi-ence in search marketing

digital media and all facets of digital strat-egy to bear helping Klickrsquos clients develop innovative digital solutions

Make Your Client-Agency Relationship WorkThree Considerations When Choosing a Partner

by Julie Batten

Have a clear understanding of what you need and what yoursquore looking for in an agency and

consistently apply that as a filter when evaluating potential partners It is

critical that you choose an agency based on a realistic evaluation of your needs

sesconferencecom bull SES 11

focusSOCIALINTEGRATION

Social media is public relations Social media is inclusionary Social media is necessary to compete with your competitors Social media is todayrsquos

big thingSocial media is also tomorrowrsquos next big

thing More appropriately some form of social media application is tomorrowrsquos next big thing Yesterdayrsquos appears to have been Pinterest which is threatening to displace Foursquare as the mayor of forgotten places As digital marketing experts we are calling on our clients to invest increasing amounts of time staff and money in an area that is evolving too quickly for us to fully under-stand The benefits of increased traffic are obvious but the return on investment on a wide spread of social media profiles can be somewhat harder to quantify

The Changes in Social MediaWith over one-third of the adult population using Facebook Canadians constitute one of the largest national social media footprints in the world Being early adopters Canadian Internet users became amazingly social amazingly quickly Unfortunately many if not most Canadian businesses have not kept up This isnrsquot just because Canadian compa-nies donrsquot fully grasp the social part of the medium itrsquos also because the budgeting and planning necessary to create an effective social media presence is daunting on paper without a clear understanding of benefits

Social media applications have existed for almost as long as the commercial web Early social media applications such as Classmates and Friendster acted as basic connectors They werenrsquot great for commu-nication among users but they provided an ideal foundation on which all subsequent social media applications could build Web 20 which came on the scene in 2003 was a breakthrough that allowed users to inter-act with websites and with each other This was the dawn of the user-generated content (UGC) era Nearly ten years later wersquore just

beginning to understand the fuller implica-tions of UGC on search and the web

Many of the sessions at SES Toronto will address social media measurement engage-ment and techniques Each of the speakers addressing social media has developed his or her own techniques and tactics based on personal experience and shared knowledge Each of them will say that every social media experience is unique Each will maintain that the very best social media experience is one that promotes authenticity and earnest con-nection over marketing and promotion

As the digital marketing environment changes so must the priorities of digital marketers and the clients we serve While itrsquos always about driving good traffic the digital marketing landscape is transforming more rapidly than ever before Social media is continuously extending frontiers and new areas are expanding as rapidly as UGC can be created and user intent can be ascertained and harnessed

To say that social has had an impact on search would be an understatement for search marketers this shift has not been subtle Moving away from its fascination with search SEO has for the last two years focused on social From studying how Face-book alters user behaviors to finding cor-relations between social signals and search engine placements social media has domi-nated search marketing discourse by becom-ing a more popular form of public directory To say that you understand the impact of social media on search would be a vaguely worded lie Nobody understands exactly how social meshes with search Witness Google+

Getting Clients to Be SocialTrying to figure out how to integrate social into search is akin to integrating apples with oranges kiwis strawberries grapes cottage cheese and bananas Itrsquos easy to spot iden-tify and describe the effects of an apple itrsquos not as easy to do forensics on fruit salad This creates yet another problem for digital

marketers when trying to convince small businesses and corporate clients that bud-geting time and money for social media is important

To be authentic in the truest sense cli-ents would do the work in house However in-house SEOSMM is often impractical for the smaller businesses that make up the vast majority of clients This means that the service must be either outsourced to a third party or performed by a digital market-ing agency It is a huge challenge for digi-tal markers to help clients be authentic in a constantly evolving environment that none of us fully grasp

Digital marketers face a number of other issues when guiding clients in the social sphere It is really difficult to know whether the plethora of random information linking to clientsrsquo websites is beneficial or detrimen-tal We have to push our clients into actively participating in an arena that they donrsquot fully understand or we have to try to recre-ate their voices ourselves and authenticity is very hard to engender in the second- or third-party voice Lastly we have to quan-tify a return on investment that translates to

Doing Forensics on Fruit SaladThe Challenge of Developing Practical Client-Friendly Strategies in the Unpredictable Social Media Environment

by Jim Hedger

continues on page 13

From studying how Facebook alters user behaviors to finding

correlations between social signals and search engine placements social media

has dominated search marketing discourse by

becoming a more popular form of public directory

To say that you understand the impact of social

media on search would be a vaguely worded lie

12 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus SOCIALMEDIA

As the first birthday of Googlersquos latest baby draws near the organic search and paid advertising behemoth con- tinues to struggle to find their

niche in social A year ago Google+ was just a rumor Google would deny the existence of a social project until the very day it launched in late June

In that year theyrsquove launched expanded experimented and redesigned the service incurring the verbal wrath of competitors Facebook and Twitter on a number of occa-sions Itrsquos been a whirlwind for Google+ and all fifteen of its loyal users

I kid To be fair there is a small but dedi-cated group of core users in the Google+ net-work Larry Page Sergey Brin Vic Gundotra and the rest of the crew have become old pros at dodging questions about the num-ber of actual active users but we can safely assume that itrsquos nowhere near Facebookrsquos 850 million Does it need to be

Googlersquos Busy Year What Google has accomplished with Google+ in under a year is nothing short of amazing June 2011 saw the launch of Google+ as a social network Over the summer tech jour-nalists and analysts were positively wooed keeping a watchful eye on every indicator (precise or not) of increasing traffic and user activity on Google+ The Washington Post even announced in August that ldquoGoogle Plus could be the fastest-growing site in historyrdquo In all of history Well as long as wersquove had websites anyway (The original comScore report noted that it was the fast-est site to reach 25 million unique visits In what can only be described as a bizarre game of cyberjournalism this report morphed into Reutersrsquo claim that Google+ ldquoattracted 25 million usersrdquo and The Washington Postrsquos assertion that ldquoGoogle has 25 million usersrdquo)

Google+ launched business Pages on November 7 Pages were already popu-lar on Facebook and since Google+ hadnrsquot included them at the start there was a lot of

anticipation around the launch In the weeks following however Google+ would struggle to connect with brands their brands in turn would struggle to connect with a user base worth marketing to within the Google+ network

As Google began integrating brand Page results in seemingly dominant positions in the organic search listings other compa-nies began to cry foul Hot on the heels of that development Google made their latest foray into social search Google Search Plus Your World (SPY World anyone) in early January Twitter for one lost it quite pub-licly announcing ldquoWersquore concerned that as a result of Googlersquos changes finding this infor-mation will be much harder for everyone We think thatrsquos bad for people publishers news organizations and Twitter usersrdquo Their con-cern stemmed partly from the possibility that Google might have been abusing their dominance in their core industry search to excel in the realm of social largely Twitterrsquos and Facebookrsquos territory to that point The old grumblings of antitrust resurfaced only to peter out again within a few months

Later in January Google again stunned users and analysts with the announcement of an amalgamated privacy policy one that would bring user data from all 60+ of their

services under one umbrella They said that this would be better for users Many dis-agreed some agencies threatened to inves-tigate and users protested yet perhaps the widest-ranging and most important change in Googlersquos policies went off as planned on April 1

Also in January a month marked by a flurry of announcements from the search giant Google changed the sign-up process for many of their services Those signing on for a Gmail or YouTube account were auto-matically assigned a Google+ account Prom-inent markers appeared in the navigation bar every time users visited a Google property urging them to check out their notifications on the social network

Why Engagement Is Incidental Only Google knows how effective this was at actually getting people to the site although I suspect that user engagement was only a secondary goal at best In response to a scathing WSJcom article ticking off the

ldquomounting minusesrdquo at Google+ I wrote an article explaining why low user counts and engagement might not matter to Google

Facebook has had to find outside partners nurture (and invest heavily in) the app envi-ronment and build out their ecosystem over a period of years in order to gain access to the type and depth of user data they need to power their advertisement business Google is transitioning the other way from an advertising and data powerhouse to a social platform They already have an incredible reach largely through their DoubleClick ad network and dozens of properties

They donrsquot need to seek out partners who offer services users might opt into to share data back and forth They already have the data theyrsquore collecting it from millions of websites and user actions often without the usersrsquo explicit knowledge that theyrsquore being tracked at the time Whereas Facebookrsquos data pool shows more intent on the part of usersmdashthey liked something they shared something elsemdashGoogle reigns supreme in

The State of Google+ One Year LaterGoogle Hasnrsquot Yet Carved Their Niche in Social but Do They Even Need To

by Miranda Miller

Google doesnrsquot need to seek out partners who offer

services users might opt into to share data back and

forth They already have the data theyrsquore collecting it from millions of websites

and user actions

Whereas Facebookrsquos data pool shows more intent

on the part of users Google reigns supreme in

the low-intent market

sesconferencecom bull SES 13

focusSOCIALMEDIA

the low-intent market They know when and where you check your email on your Android They know the types of videos you search for and watch on YouTube

This is a fantastic thing for advertisers For users hellip not so much Yet users sign up for Google accounts in droves opting into Google+ without a second thought Track-ing goes beyond the actions users take while signed in to a Google service interacting with a +1 button on a website for example could set a cookie allowing tracking over all Google properties for a period of time

The efforts of the W3C Tracking Protec-tion Working Group will have huge ramifi-cations for the online advertising industry especially for Google If users click a +1 social icon is that really an interaction with Google Have they really indicated the intent to share data with Google for the next 24 36 or 48 hours from every website they visit that might show Google ads These ques-tions have no answers right now but the

working group aims to define first and third parties Advertisers will not be satisfied with poorly targeted paid search and display ads so Google and other ad companies need the data However users need their privacy

ConclusionWhat we are seeing in the current online advertising environment is a precarious balancing act with Google perched square in the middle teetering from side to side Everyone in the industry and even in the mainstream media has their eyes on Google+ Google has certainly given us plenty to talk about Hangouts with Obama seemingly constant updates and new features and even a recent redesign complete with new naviga-tion and profile pages

We canrsquot forget though that Google+ is just one cog in the wheel that drives Googlersquos 44 stake in the $486 billion global adver-tising market (see report by ZenithOpti-media) While slick photos funny updates

and all manner of things are being shared or overshared on the front end of Google+ the real action occurs behind the scenes Google doesnrsquot really need you hanging out on the Google+ site all day long they just need you to have an account and do everything you would normally do on the web in the course of a daymdashand donrsquot mind if they tag along while you do it

Google VP Bradley Horowitz said it best in September when he proclaimed that

ldquoGoogle+ is Google itselfrdquo Indeed

A staff writer with Search En-

gine Watch Miranda Miller co-

ordinates the annual Translit-

eracy Conference for Ontario

educators manages a small

number of social media cam-

paigns through an agency and serves on the Ca-

nadian Hemophilia Societyrsquos Advisory Board for

their Code Rouge awareness project

common sense better than to the dollars and cents that our clientsrsquo creditors understand

In practice my firm generally limits our recommendations to the big three of Face-book Twitter and Google+ placing other social networks into an ldquoadvisably optionalrdquo category Our clients have enough difficulty wrapping their heads around Facebook and Twitter without worrying about other net-works We include Google+ in the mix only because of the ldquorel=authorrdquo support and because we believe that Google actively favors websites associated with Google+ profiles

Training businesses to promote their ideas and images on Facebook and Google+ is relatively easy and teaching them Twit-ter behaviors and etiquette is only slightly harder Even though we limit our advice to

the big three we still end up chasing clients to convince them to monitor and maintain their social networks We do recommend secondary social networks such as LinkedIn Pinterest and Foursquare as they apply to clients and as clients can afford our training and application rates

We know that we are missing traffic but we balance this drawback by being practical In cases where we have to act as social media coordinators for our small to medium-sized business clients exposing them to only the big three limits our need to bill for out-of-control charges for allotted work time It also helps to ease clients into expanding their own social media participation and interaction

ConclusionDigital marketing professionals have to make a lot of choices as we steer clients along the

social media learning curve By sticking to the most trafficked social networks and deploying assets in secondary ones as neces-sary my company believes that wersquove found a balance our clients can live with

SES Toronto will provide a valuable forum for Canadian practitioners to dis-cuss the problems inherent in social media marketing

Jim Hedger is a founding part-

ner of the Toronto-based

search and social media mar-

keting agency Digital Always

Media He has an extensive

background in SEO dating to

the late 1990s He leads the SEO and content cre-

ation teams at Digital Always Media

Doing Forensics on Fruit Salad

continued from page 11

14 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus CONVERSIONamp ROI

Conversion optimization has been around for a while but its benefits are hard to ignore These include reduced cost of acquisition through

digital marketing increased customer satis-faction and retention increased average rev-enue per order and improved search engine rankings In order to reap the rewards of an optimization program you need to know where to start what to avoid and how to develop your program for long-term success

Getting StartedDo-it-yourself small business owners digital marketers and web analysts tend to inherit a lot of excess baggage so focusing on only one or two sore spots on a website is often difficult Consider these top five places to start

1 Optimize paid search landing pages Look-ing for big impact right away Optimize those paid search landing pages and start counting the money you save on search marketing immediately Vary your value proposition urgency pricing product mix and form length

2 Examine internal search results pages Searches performed on your website often yield the best (and cheapest) way to judge the voice of the customer These searchers are committed visi-tors who probably arenrsquot finding what they want intuitively Look at queries with no results top queries that should be satisfied through navigation and perhaps synonyms you didnrsquot consider when writing creative

3 Enhance your help sections Areas on a website dedicated to helping people are most often frequented by loyal custom-ers who would rather solve problems on their own than cost you money by calling or emailing support staff Help them help you by optimizing help docs downloads and public service messages

4 Test product and service recommendations The art of the upsell is best exhibited by e-commerce giants such as Apple Ama-zon GoDaddy and Dell If yoursquore able to measure cart abandonment on your site yoursquore ready to start testing product and service recommendations to increase your average revenue per order

5 Evaluate pathways from top entry pages Entry pages to your site are a bit harder to optimize because referred traffic through search or other websites isnrsquot always continuous or predictable but itrsquos usually free Measure common path-ways from entry pages to determine how content can be changed to reduce bounce rate you may just improve your search rankings at the same time

Growing the BaseOnce yoursquove started building quick wins in your conversion optimization program yoursquoll want to maintain that momentum and expand your effort to other areas of your site Unfortunately many marketers fall into the trap of overoptimizing based on bad advice so try to avoid or at least question the fol-lowing five optimization tips that can hurt conversion rates

1 Tip to avoid Keep your copy short sharp concise Itrsquos hard to argue that trimming the overall content on a landing page would be anything but successful for most campaigns as it reduces the prob-ability that a landing page will over-whelm a prospect However providing less information may hurt overall con-version rates over time or worse still lower average revenue per order

2 Tip to avoid Remove or de-emphasize primary and secondary navigation from the template of your landing page Fewer escape routes make prospects more likely to continue along your chosen path However a lack of consistency

across the rest of your site may com-promise new visitorsrsquo trust and result in higher abandonment

3 Tip to avoid Add trust marks to your land-ing pages While I certainly can attest to the conversion lift that trust marks can provide on an e-commerce site landing pages are somewhat different In most cases getting visitors to click on links deeper in your site to privacy statements and certificates can be a more powerful way to convert skeptical prospects

4 Tip to avoid Boost your brand with tes-timonials and client logos In B2B cam-paigns association with large-scale brands with which you do business can boost conversion especially for start-ups but do your due diligence by seek-ing written approval for logo usage and recommendations The last thing you want is conflict with a long-term lucra-tive client

5 Tip to avoid Incentivize your prospects with freebies calls for urgency and pro-motions While these tactics can elicit a strong positive reaction among first-time visitors they can have very unde-sirable effects on lead quality Many visitors are conditioned to perform microconversions such as lead forms without reading anything else on a landing page Donrsquot be afraid to lose a few cheapskates on your landing pages who would otherwise sacrifice your profitability

Planning for the FutureNow that yoursquore well on your way to optimi-zation nirvana yoursquoll want to expand your program beyond online impact and start leveraging your online success for dramatic cross-channel maturity Here are five things to consider when bridging conversion opti-mization to business process optimization

The Conversion Optimization Life CycleWhich Advice Should You Follow and Which Should You Avoid in Structuring Your Optimization Program

by Garry Przyklenk

sesconferencecom bull SES 15

focusCONVERSIONamp ROI

1 Relate online customer pain points to front-line personnel Some of the best online optimizations can result in a cultural shift or reimaging of the offline sales process and vice versa Keep your sales and support members in the loop of online optimizations because your cross-channel prospects are often very similar

2 Try some of your companyrsquos own products and services The importance of stepping into your customersrsquo shoes cannot be overemphasized Irsquove done it on numer-ous occasions with a high degree of success It helps to assume an angry persona and pretend that you have less than five minutes to do anything that you need to do

3 Build new products and services with optimization in mind Build a culture of

conversion testing by baking it into the product or client life cycle Letrsquos face itmdasha lot can go wrong from initial con-ceptualization of a product or service to delivery especially when development cycles are really wrong

4 Leverage web analytics information and customer relationship management sys-tems (CRMs) Integration of web ana-lytics data with CRMs is much more common these days because businesses usually have a significant portion of their operations or interactions with customers through nonline channels

5 Analyze the competition Sometimes the best original score is a remix Think yoursquore smarter than your competitor Prove it by testing their ideas with your audience to find out what they might be doing better or worse

Although no two websites are exactly the same in terms of customer experience and behavior similarly structured products and services likely attract similar prospects and customers

For more guidance on conversion optimiza-tion be sure to visit one of the many optimi-zation sessions at SES this year

Garry Przyklenk manager of

analytics implementation at

TD Bank Group is an expert in

lead generation search engine

marketing web analytics and

social media marketing He has

successfully championed creative marketing cam-

paigns and executed on actionable insights in

several vertical markets

learn more about a different aspect of the industry For example if yoursquore an in-house SEO you may find yourself responsible for your companyrsquos social media You already know about Facebook LinkedIn and Twitter but you may not know which is right for your industry and the ways in which success will be defined Since a social media program is not just about ldquolikesrdquo and ldquofollowersrdquo align-ing it with corporate objectives to generate revenue is not a simple matter

At the other end are large organizations rolling out training to their employees Some allocate specific courses to individuals and make completion compulsory while others give employees access to the library of con-tent and encourage self-study in the areas that would be the most beneficial Online training is perfect for companies who do not

have the budget or time to send everyone to a course and allows each employee to receive a tailored syllabus

This kind of program can be comple-mented by an in-house training sessionmdasha course tailored to meet the specific objec-tives of the organization and held at the com-panyrsquos offices By blending online and class-room courses ClickZ Academy makes sure that employees from different offices arrive at the in-house portion with the same basic understanding so that their time together is maximized

Catch That Missed Session with Conference RecordingsBecause several concurrent content tracks run at SES conferences you may find that you are not able to attend every session that you would like Therefore we now offer recorded sessions from some conferences

The recordings sync the PowerPoint presen-tations and the videos simulating the experi-ence of being at the sessions This is a conve-nient way to catch up on any session that you missed or to share sessions with colleagues Available for purchase on the ClickZAcad-emy website recordings cover a number of tracks Recordings from SES London are now available and consist of the Kick Start PPC and Accelerator tracks

To learn more stop by the ClickZ table at SES Toronto or visit ClickZacademycom

Paul Fegan is head of e-learn-

ing at Incisive Media and is re-

sponsible for creating on-line

training content for all of its

brands He co-founded his own

e-learning company and has

been delivering online professional and CPD train-

ing since 2000

How ClickZ Academy Can Work for You

continued from page 1

16 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

sessions SES Toronto | June 11ndash13 2012 | hosted by

Day 1mdashMonday June 11

1030ndash1130amTrack 2Driving Mobile Traffic PPC amp SEOJump-start your mobile presence with these fundamentals for pre-senting content thatrsquos both SEO- and mobile-friendly Not fully ready for a mobile site Learn inexpensive and easy options to get started the right way From desktop and mobile to tablets smart-phones and feature phones wersquoll dive into key mobile differences for SEO and PPC and the strategies to drive and convert more mobile traffic

Moderator Gregg Stewart President 15 Miles

Speaker Jeff Allen Account Manager Hanapin Marketing

Speaker Jeremy Evans Director of Strategic Accounts Marin Software

1145ndash1245pmTrack 2Developing a Video Optimization amp Marketing CampaignThis session will use real-world examples to help you understand and master the entire video process including what to create how to optimize your video how to market it with search and social media and how to measure its real business impact

Moderator Sage Lewis President SageRockcom

Speaker Jonathan Allen Director Search Engine Watch

Speaker Greg Jarboe President amp Co-founder SEO-PR

200ndash300pmTrack 2Made in Canada Marketing Online WorldwideThis session will focus on specific challenges facing Canadian Internet marketers It will cover

bull How to balance Canadian and American content challenges in a consistent meaningful way (domains architecture content keyphrases etc)

bull How to compete in the US market as a Canadian business and not lose your Canadian online presence

bull The different results on Googlecom and Googleca from a search engine perspective and which consumers prefer the search enginesrsquo growing preferences for local

Moderator Andrew Goodman SES Advisory Board President Page Zero Media

Speaker Anne F Kennedy SES Advisory Board International Search Strategist Author Beyond Ink USA

Speaker Ian McAnerin CEO McAnerin International Inc

Speaker Ezra Silverton President 9th sphere

330ndash430pmTrack 3Content Marketing OptimizationOnline marketing is increasingly competitive and brand marketers worldwide are seeking real advantages that will improve the effi-ciency and impact of their social media and SEO efforts This ses-sion will provide unique insight into content-based optimization strategies and processes as well as tactics for sourcing creating and promoting optimized content on the social web

Speaker Matt McGowan Managing Director Americas Incisive Media

Krista LaRiviere CoFounder amp CEO gShift Labs

Speaker Lee Odden SES Advisory Board CEO TopRank Online Marketing

Speaker Jennifer Slegg CEO JenSense

Sample SessionsDownload the app or visit wwwSESTorontocom for complete agenda and session descriptions

sesconferencecom bull SES 17

sessionsDownload the app or visit SESNewYorkcom

Day 2mdashTuesday June 12

900ndash1000amTrack 2Social Media Solutions on a BudgetGetting your company or organization started with social media doesnrsquot have to be a pricey proposition In this session yoursquoll learn how to

bull Take advantage of great free and low-cost tools that cover man-aging conversations measuring reach and engagement and developingpublishing great content

bull Leverage lesser-known social media channels to increase expo-sure and reach

bull Create great social media friendly content to build trust and authority inexpensively

Moderator Laura Roth Conference Program amp Training Manager SES Conference amp Expo

Speaker Danny Iny Co-Founder Firepole Marketing

Speaker Krista Neher CEO Boot Camp Digital

130ndash230pmTrack 3From Keywords to ldquoBuy Wordsrdquo Finding High-Value Paid Search Keywords

ldquoProfessorsrdquo Van Wagner and Goodman will take you beyond garden-variety keyword lists to delve deeper into how user queries signal different kinds of intent You will learn how to go beyond the blind reading of ldquoafter-the-factrdquo ROI statistics how to anticipate how your most valuable searchers will express themselves with search que-ries and even how to subtly mold their preferences as they progress from search queries to your ads landing pages and transactions

Moderator Greg Jarboe President amp Co-founder SEO-PR

Speaker Andrew Goodman SES Advisory Board President Page Zero Media

Speaker Matt Van Wagner President Find Me Faster

300ndash400pmTrack 2Conquering the Growing Canadian Affiliate Marketing IndustryIn this session you will learn the following and more

bull Affiliate marketing in Canada is a viable growing traffic channel bull Online retail merchants need to educate and form strategic

partnerships with web publishers in order to generate traffic bull Establishing a successful Canadian affiliate marketing channel

requires sophisticated software development strategic market-ing and stability

bull Retail merchants need to be prepared to accommodate Canadian affiliate partnerships with the right tools in order for all parties to succeed

Speaker Nicky Senyard President Share Results

415ndash515pmTrack 1Maximizing ROI in e-Commerce with SearchAll e-commerce websites and e-tailers should be on top of certain ROI trends and opportunities This session will show you how to maximize ROI in e-commerce by leveraging one e-marketing chan-nel to improve the performance of another You will hear a series of combined channel campaign strategies along with case studies that illustrate how to maximize the ROI of your campaigns by taking advantage of low-hanging fruit

Moderator Chris Boggs SES Advisory Board Director SEO Rosetta

Speaker Guillaume Bouchard President CEO NVI

Speaker Elazar Gabay Vice President Performance Marketing LeSiteca

515ndash615pmSEW Eliminator QuizJoin us for the inaugural SEW Eliminator Quiz a pub-trivia-style networking event where you and your fellow marketers will compete to see who is the savviest and most knowledgeable marketer in the room Afterward yoursquoll have a chance to network with your favorite drink in hand

New YorkMarch

ShanghaiApril

TorontoJune -

San FranciscoAugust -

Hong KongSeptember ndash

BerlinOctober ndash

ChicagoNovember -

SingaporeNovember ndash

San DiegoFebruary

LondonFebruary

SES Conference amp Expo is the leading global event series that educates professionals in search and social marketing putting a special focus on tactics and best practices SES Events provide instructions from the industryrsquos top experts including representatives from the Search Engines themselves

World Tour ndash

SESConferencecom

Page 9: SES Magazine Toronto 2012

sesconferencecom bull SES 7

focusCOVER STORY

to reaching the big leagues after testing and optimizing your model you can power your way into the top-grossing elite largely through an aggressive targeted online mar-keting spend Thatrsquos no sales pitch thatrsquos how the math works Many businesses appear to forget the enormous cost of the infrastruc-ture and overhead that get them to the table Once they are at that already expensive table the investment is wasted if the resulting revenue remains pitifully low because the method for actually getting new customers is ldquohope pray and DIY on-page SEOrdquo

Winning online businesses have grow-ing revenues (and to be sure marketing spends) that eventually reduce overhead and infrastructure costs to manageable (ide-ally trivial) proportions Losing ones build a large infrastructure and do nothing with it Since only a few companies are getting it right there is a very small pool of exemplars to show the way and wishful thinking sub-stitutes for action

We donrsquot find a Canadian company on the Internet Retailerrsquos Top 500 Guide (as of late April 2012) which ranks B2C retailers in the US and Canada based on online sales until number 152 The Shopping Channel owned by Rogers Media Lululemon Athletica is at 229 nowmdashfor them the skyrsquos the limit ALDO Group (shoes) and Mountain Equip-ment Co-Op (outdoor gear) deserve props at 390 and 395 respectively Unfortunately many Canadian entrepreneursmdashto say noth-ing of large retailersmdasharenrsquot aiming at mak-ing lists like this many havenrsquot even heard of them

Governmentrsquos Share of Blame Canada is falling behind in the global innova-tion race because ldquoCanadian business itself

hellip choose[s] deliberately not to pursue busi-ness strategies that rely on innovation as there [are] easier ways of making profitsrdquo So argue Marcel Cocircteacute founding partner of stra-tegic management consulting firm SECOR and Robert Miller engineer at Eacutecole Poly-technique de Montreacuteal in a recent report

(citing research by the Council of Canadian Academies)

Certainly government has played a role in allowing Canadian companies to be weakened largely through inaction and misappropriation of subsidy funds All gov-ernments sit on and distributemdashin the aggre-gatemdashlarge pools of business development capital and research funding and Canada is no exception Yet funds often trickle out to laggard players or subsidize the operations of established noninnovating companies Powerhouses like RIM return far more to the economy (in the form of jobs spinoffs RampD and tax revenues) than any breaks and incentives they receive A business colum-nist recently described the high-ROI govern-ment incentives that help create blockbust-ers like RIM as ldquofederal largesserdquo Largesse To Research in Motion I think we got our moneyrsquos worth

The lack of similar ldquolargesserdquo to identi-fiable very tall poppies has led to repeated missed opportunities and the lack of role models and good jobs in manufacturing RampD and software The denial of incentives to high-tech firm Mitel in the early 1980s is a salient example (see Donald J Savoiersquos 2009 book Irsquom from Bouctouche Me Roots Matter) the deal would have created thousands of

new telecommunications equipment jobs in Atlantic Canada This attitude has also resulted in the bankruptcy of companies (like Mitel) that could have become global leaders and precursors of other successful companies

What We Can DoIf government wonrsquot make the right moves how can Canadian companies improve on our own We must leave behind the old +1 instincts and the peer pressure to do just well enough Here are some suggestions

bull Avoid the grand narratives Coverage of traditional monopoly sectors such as financial mining and telecom-munications dominates the Canadian business media and only obvious successes are deemed noteworthy In terms of trends in advertising and digital culture little insight or encouragement is to be found in traditional media Look for validation elsewhere in your peer group at industry events among your customers and yes even in other countries

bull Quit scoffing at data Yes our clientsrsquo customers really do buy pecans switchplates furniture dishwasher parts soil remediation equipment and paella pans online Canadiansmdasheven those making digital marketing their career through formal certification coursesmdashhave a nasty habit of assuming that because people like them

ldquowould never click on thatrdquo or ldquowould never buy something like that onlinerdquo itrsquos helpful or insightful to share this preconceived notion The easy work is to hop onto the coattails of some large hip brand and recommend very gradual approaches to budgeting the marketing spend despite the millions in sunk costs (infrastructure office

Unfortunately many of the traits that help

entrepreneurs feel relatively accepted in

the US arenrsquot baked into Canadian culture As a result itrsquos harder to

develop a critical mass of digitally savvy companies

tech talent investors and other elements

that create clusters of innovation and dynamism

continues on page 8

Donrsquot miss these Sesssions at SES Toronto bull Made in Canada Marketing Online WorldwidemdashMonday June 11 200pmndash300pm bull Conquering the Growing Canadian Affiliate Marketing IndustrymdashTuesday June 12 300pmndash400pm

Register

8 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus COVER STORY

space website buildout etc) that make the operation wildly unprofitable on the whole (though seemingly cautious when only the variable costs are taken into account) Do the hard work and stop dismissing what is in fact real consumer behavior screaming for granular analysis

bull Know the role models Many young Canadians Irsquove encountered in formal business courses were not aware of Techcrunch Yelp Zappos and many other mainstays of digital business culture This is inexcusable The best students are the self-taught exceptions Therersquos no guarantee that these self-starters will get great jobs out of the gate but over time they usually prevail

bull Look for smart partners and communities Canada is full of half-baked digital companies that go nowhere fueled by family money and vanity investments Dumb money loses out to savvy skill and passion

bull Risk your own money Funding at the appropriate stage can be an important accelerator but the founders of companies like FreshBooks Acquisio PlentyofFish and HomeStars put in their own money perhaps with the support of family and friends before they did formal fundraising Itrsquos not always possible to bootstrap but companies like these prove that you donrsquot have to raise huge sums of money

to reach the next level You do have to have the entrepreneurial 24-7 mindset

bull Embrace digital jobs as normal If ordinary Canadians donrsquot become conversant with the leading edge of technology and digital enterprise the best minds will continue to drain away due to a lack of both opportunity and peers Our industry needs to be normalized and valued as simply a part of the economy Today wersquore still seen as representing either of two extremesmdashtaking insane risks and living in a cardboard box or lucking into lottery-like wealthmdashas if the profession is worth discussing only for its financial upside not for its substance Until people get it itrsquoll be up to us to evangelize the merits of things like search and display advertising (better targeting) online procurement (reducing friction in the economy) and all of that good stuff Yes it was obvious in 1999 but that doesnrsquot mean people are quite comfortable with it yet

ConclusionNot everyone is going to create the next Radian6 The Internet Retailerrsquos Top 500 is pretty rarefied territory and represents more success than the vast majority of startupsmdashlet alone well-known established retailersmdashcan attain However Canadians should at least be benchmarking themselves against these success stories rather than the semi-successful company down the street The real problem of course is that the comfort level of doing ldquojust so wellrdquo is tempting It may even seem irrational to want to reach a

levels of success far ahead of what is needed to maintain a great lifestyle

The driven minority though seek to have something more impressive than ldquo+1rdquo engraved on their tombstones If and when they do succeed you can bet that the aver-age Canadian and the creators of grand nar-ratives will be only too happy to take partial credit hellip not to mention taxing the bejeesus out of them

Andrew Goodman is founder

and President of Toronto-based

Page Zero Media a full-service

marketing agency founded in

2000 He is also co-founder of

Traffickcom an award-winning

industry commentary site and author of Winning Results with Google AdWords

Breaking Out of the ldquo+1rdquo Mindset

continued from page 7 Canadians should at least be benchmarking themselves against the Internet Retailerrsquos Top 500 rather than the

semi-successful company down the street The real problem of course is that the comfort level of doing ldquojust so wellrdquo is tempting

The driven minority though seek to have

something more impressive than ldquo+1rdquo engraved on

their tombstones

sesconferencecom bull SES 9

focusMARKETING INSIGHTS

If you live and work in Canada you may think of the Internet as a free space in which to share ideas sell products and interact with others with no restrictions

other than those imposed by the Canadian government for the protection of its people Itrsquos reasonable to believe that if you com-ply with these laws you will maintain the health of your website Unfortunately this isnrsquot entirely the case The United States gov-ernment has significant power over how the Internet functions right down to how you use your domain name and how the 1s and 0s on which your site travels are treated

Domain Name OwnershipMany people donrsquot realize that they donrsquot actu-ally own their own domain names they rent them Itrsquos a subtle difference but when com-bined with the fact that the US government owns and controls the com top-level domain (TLD) it brings up a whole new set of con-cerns as the owners of Bodogcom discovered

Bodogcom was a Canadian-owned online gambling site In February the US Depart-ment of Justice and Homeland Security Investigations seized the domain name while a US federal grand jury charged its four owners with conducting an illegal sports gambling site and conspiracy to commit money laundering The indictment alleges that Bodog moved at least $100 million from offshore accounts to bettors in Maryland

ldquoSports betting is illegal in Maryland and federal law prohibits bookmakers from flout-ing that law simply because they are located outside the countryrdquo stated US attorney Rod J Rosenstein (quoted by USA Today)

As this case shows the US government can seize any com site regardless of the loca-tion of the business operation or its hosting provider This principle of government own-ership is logical for country-based domains (such as ca) where the issuing government can take control of a domain rented by one of its citizens but com is the Internet go-to for countless non-US businesses You may think

ldquoThatrsquos OK I donrsquot run a poker siterdquo Just bear

in mind that since you donrsquot own your com domain the US government could confiscate it however unlikely that may be

SOPA and PIPAYoursquod be wrong to think that the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) would not affect your Canadian busi-ness If you use or provide resources (or letrsquos be honest are believed to provide resources) that are deemed unacceptable by the US gov-ernment your site could be blocked your search traffic eliminated and more Although neither bill has passed similar legislation probably will

ldquoIrsquom not worried I donrsquot run an illegal torrent siterdquo you may say The laws as they were drafted apply to any copyright infringe-ment and designate the website owner as the culpable party For example if you operate a forum and one of its members posts content from say a movie script your site could be blocked and search engine traffic eliminated This would be a big punishment for adding a forum to your site in hopes of engaging visi-tors While Irsquom not stating that the US gov-ernment would go to this extreme every time a law like SOPA or PIPA could make your site a target however innocent your intentions

Net Neutrality LegislationWhile I hold the unpopular opinion that ISPs have a right to charge what they like for their bandwidth and that the free market should sort out what this means there is no doubt that US rules and regulations regard-ing net neutrality would have a major impact on Canadian site owners The speed of your site is dependent on the speed of the Inter-net between your web host and the visitor If your visitors are in the US or if your site is hosted there you would be affected

You may point out ldquoMy site is hosted in Canada and my clients are in Canadardquo Unless your clients are in close proximity to your host your data is going to take various routes between the site and visitors Many tests I ran from my office in Victoria BC to

websites across Canada passed through the US at one point or another Net neutrality legislation would have an influence on these paths

Data SecurityMany of us collect data on our sites many of us store this data on our servers Under the law the US government can seize or review this data at any time if your site is hosted at a US hosting facility

You may ask ldquoBut Irsquom not storing any-thing illegal so who caresrdquo Your clients may If yoursquore a lawyer or doctor or if you store any other information on your server that may be deemed confidential you may be violating the law in hosting it in an environ-ment that is subject to seizure

What You Can DoThe purpose of this article isnrsquot to scare you Irsquove done business primarily in the US and hosted the Beanstalk site there since the company was formed and I havenrsquot had any issues stemming from these laws That said itrsquos extremely important to understand and monitor the direction that legislation is tak-ing and the potential impact and to safe-guard yourself against litigation embarrass-ment reduced or eliminated traffic slower speeds for your visitors etc Knowing whatrsquos happening and how it affects your website will help you react quickly

For example if network neutrality legis-lation fails and ISPs are given more freedom in how they charge for bandwidth ensuring that yoursquore hosted on a network with priority should be step one And you might as well buy that ca domain as a backup After all just because yoursquore being paranoid doesnrsquot mean yoursquore wrong

Dave Davies is CEO of Bean stalk

SEO Services an organic SEO

firm in Victoria BC He wrote the

second edition of SitePointrsquos s

Kit and hosts a weekly radio

show on Webmaster Radio

Beyond the BorderThe Impact of US Laws on Canadian Site Owners

by Dave Davies

10 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus MARKETING INSIGHTS

Searching for a new digital agency is a lot like searching for a mate you spend a lot of time seeing other peo-ple (the RFP process) you eventually

narrow it down to a handful of prospects (the short-list) and eventually you think yoursquove found ldquothe onerdquo (the winning agency) After much wooing and negotiation you agree to move in together (onboarding) and the real

ldquogetting to know each otherrdquo officially begins (the client-agency relationship)

The first couple of months are usu-ally pretty blissful both parties are filled with hope and positivity about the excit-ing adventures (programstactics) to come But you inevitably find out things that you didnrsquot know before and that you may not like Things get a bit bumpy and you start to become disenfranchised with your part-ner Gradually everything starts to unravel

mdashall of a sudden a year has gone by and yoursquore threatening to break up if your mate (agency) doesnrsquot get his or her act together

It doesnrsquot have to be this way There is a way to maintain the honeymoon period indefinitely It really starts with choosing the right partner in the first place Onboarding a new agency is a huge investment so make sure that the agency you choose is going to work out in the long term Ask the following questions about a prospective agency before making your decision

Do the Agencyrsquos Skills Closely Align to Your NeedsRelationship Buster While this may seem obvious often client-agency relationships fail due to mismatches between the cli-entsrsquo needs and the agenciesrsquo competen-cies Agencies do a good job of downplaying their weaknesses and selling their strengths sometimes giving clients distorted represen-tations of their capabilities Clients can also become enamored of specific strengths that arenrsquot even top priorities for the firms

Relationship Saver Have a clear understand-ing of what you need and what yoursquore looking

for in an agency and consistently apply that as a filter when evaluating potential part-ners It is critical that you choose an agency based on a realistic evaluation of your needs and whether their core competencies align with these If yoursquore looking for a digital agency that can offer innovative solutions to engage your audience donrsquot let yourself get wooed by a flashy creative presentation unless yoursquore sure that they have the chops to deliver on the technology side Alterna-tively if you already have a skilled IT team in house and really need a strong strategic and creative shop be sure that they can bring their creative A-game

Does the Agency Have the Proven Ability to DeliverRelationship Buster Clients sometimes under-estimate the importance of delivery in digi-tal programs It is easy to get distracted by cutting-edge solutions and fail to consider whether these programs can realistically be deployed on time on budget and at a high-quality level

Relationship Saver Verify agenciesrsquo track records in deploying similar solutions in a timely and efficient manner They should be able to provide case studies of similar work successfully delivered for other clients and clearly articulate their process for taking a high-level solutionstrategy to detailed tactical implementation plans Strong proj-ect management competence is critical to

ensure that projects are delivered within budget and timelines They should also be able to demonstrate that they have sufficient resources in place to deliver on multiple con-current work streams

Does the Agency Play Well with OthersRelationship Buster Most clients have mul-tiple agency partnersmdashtypically at least a creativeoffline agency and a media agency in addition to their digital agency Clients sometimes assume that all partners will work towards a common goal and that inte-gration will naturally take place However some agencies tend toward a protective or even combative nature when working with other agencies creating a host of problems when interdependencies are present between both agenciesrsquo initiatives

Relationship Saver Prospective partners need to be able to demonstrate the ability to get along with others Your agency should be able to point to specific examples of how they have worked with other agency partners in a harmonious and mutually beneficial way They should demonstrate the ability to take a leadership role in coordinating cross-agency collaboration and integration and have an established process for helping to define and document roles and responsibilities among agency partners

There are many other factors to take into consideration when choosing a new digital agency partner but avoiding the pitfalls above should increase your chances of a long and successful union Happy hunting

Julie Batten is VP strategy digital media at Klick Health focused on online media and digital She brings a wealth of experi-ence in search marketing

digital media and all facets of digital strat-egy to bear helping Klickrsquos clients develop innovative digital solutions

Make Your Client-Agency Relationship WorkThree Considerations When Choosing a Partner

by Julie Batten

Have a clear understanding of what you need and what yoursquore looking for in an agency and

consistently apply that as a filter when evaluating potential partners It is

critical that you choose an agency based on a realistic evaluation of your needs

sesconferencecom bull SES 11

focusSOCIALINTEGRATION

Social media is public relations Social media is inclusionary Social media is necessary to compete with your competitors Social media is todayrsquos

big thingSocial media is also tomorrowrsquos next big

thing More appropriately some form of social media application is tomorrowrsquos next big thing Yesterdayrsquos appears to have been Pinterest which is threatening to displace Foursquare as the mayor of forgotten places As digital marketing experts we are calling on our clients to invest increasing amounts of time staff and money in an area that is evolving too quickly for us to fully under-stand The benefits of increased traffic are obvious but the return on investment on a wide spread of social media profiles can be somewhat harder to quantify

The Changes in Social MediaWith over one-third of the adult population using Facebook Canadians constitute one of the largest national social media footprints in the world Being early adopters Canadian Internet users became amazingly social amazingly quickly Unfortunately many if not most Canadian businesses have not kept up This isnrsquot just because Canadian compa-nies donrsquot fully grasp the social part of the medium itrsquos also because the budgeting and planning necessary to create an effective social media presence is daunting on paper without a clear understanding of benefits

Social media applications have existed for almost as long as the commercial web Early social media applications such as Classmates and Friendster acted as basic connectors They werenrsquot great for commu-nication among users but they provided an ideal foundation on which all subsequent social media applications could build Web 20 which came on the scene in 2003 was a breakthrough that allowed users to inter-act with websites and with each other This was the dawn of the user-generated content (UGC) era Nearly ten years later wersquore just

beginning to understand the fuller implica-tions of UGC on search and the web

Many of the sessions at SES Toronto will address social media measurement engage-ment and techniques Each of the speakers addressing social media has developed his or her own techniques and tactics based on personal experience and shared knowledge Each of them will say that every social media experience is unique Each will maintain that the very best social media experience is one that promotes authenticity and earnest con-nection over marketing and promotion

As the digital marketing environment changes so must the priorities of digital marketers and the clients we serve While itrsquos always about driving good traffic the digital marketing landscape is transforming more rapidly than ever before Social media is continuously extending frontiers and new areas are expanding as rapidly as UGC can be created and user intent can be ascertained and harnessed

To say that social has had an impact on search would be an understatement for search marketers this shift has not been subtle Moving away from its fascination with search SEO has for the last two years focused on social From studying how Face-book alters user behaviors to finding cor-relations between social signals and search engine placements social media has domi-nated search marketing discourse by becom-ing a more popular form of public directory To say that you understand the impact of social media on search would be a vaguely worded lie Nobody understands exactly how social meshes with search Witness Google+

Getting Clients to Be SocialTrying to figure out how to integrate social into search is akin to integrating apples with oranges kiwis strawberries grapes cottage cheese and bananas Itrsquos easy to spot iden-tify and describe the effects of an apple itrsquos not as easy to do forensics on fruit salad This creates yet another problem for digital

marketers when trying to convince small businesses and corporate clients that bud-geting time and money for social media is important

To be authentic in the truest sense cli-ents would do the work in house However in-house SEOSMM is often impractical for the smaller businesses that make up the vast majority of clients This means that the service must be either outsourced to a third party or performed by a digital market-ing agency It is a huge challenge for digi-tal markers to help clients be authentic in a constantly evolving environment that none of us fully grasp

Digital marketers face a number of other issues when guiding clients in the social sphere It is really difficult to know whether the plethora of random information linking to clientsrsquo websites is beneficial or detrimen-tal We have to push our clients into actively participating in an arena that they donrsquot fully understand or we have to try to recre-ate their voices ourselves and authenticity is very hard to engender in the second- or third-party voice Lastly we have to quan-tify a return on investment that translates to

Doing Forensics on Fruit SaladThe Challenge of Developing Practical Client-Friendly Strategies in the Unpredictable Social Media Environment

by Jim Hedger

continues on page 13

From studying how Facebook alters user behaviors to finding

correlations between social signals and search engine placements social media

has dominated search marketing discourse by

becoming a more popular form of public directory

To say that you understand the impact of social

media on search would be a vaguely worded lie

12 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus SOCIALMEDIA

As the first birthday of Googlersquos latest baby draws near the organic search and paid advertising behemoth con- tinues to struggle to find their

niche in social A year ago Google+ was just a rumor Google would deny the existence of a social project until the very day it launched in late June

In that year theyrsquove launched expanded experimented and redesigned the service incurring the verbal wrath of competitors Facebook and Twitter on a number of occa-sions Itrsquos been a whirlwind for Google+ and all fifteen of its loyal users

I kid To be fair there is a small but dedi-cated group of core users in the Google+ net-work Larry Page Sergey Brin Vic Gundotra and the rest of the crew have become old pros at dodging questions about the num-ber of actual active users but we can safely assume that itrsquos nowhere near Facebookrsquos 850 million Does it need to be

Googlersquos Busy Year What Google has accomplished with Google+ in under a year is nothing short of amazing June 2011 saw the launch of Google+ as a social network Over the summer tech jour-nalists and analysts were positively wooed keeping a watchful eye on every indicator (precise or not) of increasing traffic and user activity on Google+ The Washington Post even announced in August that ldquoGoogle Plus could be the fastest-growing site in historyrdquo In all of history Well as long as wersquove had websites anyway (The original comScore report noted that it was the fast-est site to reach 25 million unique visits In what can only be described as a bizarre game of cyberjournalism this report morphed into Reutersrsquo claim that Google+ ldquoattracted 25 million usersrdquo and The Washington Postrsquos assertion that ldquoGoogle has 25 million usersrdquo)

Google+ launched business Pages on November 7 Pages were already popu-lar on Facebook and since Google+ hadnrsquot included them at the start there was a lot of

anticipation around the launch In the weeks following however Google+ would struggle to connect with brands their brands in turn would struggle to connect with a user base worth marketing to within the Google+ network

As Google began integrating brand Page results in seemingly dominant positions in the organic search listings other compa-nies began to cry foul Hot on the heels of that development Google made their latest foray into social search Google Search Plus Your World (SPY World anyone) in early January Twitter for one lost it quite pub-licly announcing ldquoWersquore concerned that as a result of Googlersquos changes finding this infor-mation will be much harder for everyone We think thatrsquos bad for people publishers news organizations and Twitter usersrdquo Their con-cern stemmed partly from the possibility that Google might have been abusing their dominance in their core industry search to excel in the realm of social largely Twitterrsquos and Facebookrsquos territory to that point The old grumblings of antitrust resurfaced only to peter out again within a few months

Later in January Google again stunned users and analysts with the announcement of an amalgamated privacy policy one that would bring user data from all 60+ of their

services under one umbrella They said that this would be better for users Many dis-agreed some agencies threatened to inves-tigate and users protested yet perhaps the widest-ranging and most important change in Googlersquos policies went off as planned on April 1

Also in January a month marked by a flurry of announcements from the search giant Google changed the sign-up process for many of their services Those signing on for a Gmail or YouTube account were auto-matically assigned a Google+ account Prom-inent markers appeared in the navigation bar every time users visited a Google property urging them to check out their notifications on the social network

Why Engagement Is Incidental Only Google knows how effective this was at actually getting people to the site although I suspect that user engagement was only a secondary goal at best In response to a scathing WSJcom article ticking off the

ldquomounting minusesrdquo at Google+ I wrote an article explaining why low user counts and engagement might not matter to Google

Facebook has had to find outside partners nurture (and invest heavily in) the app envi-ronment and build out their ecosystem over a period of years in order to gain access to the type and depth of user data they need to power their advertisement business Google is transitioning the other way from an advertising and data powerhouse to a social platform They already have an incredible reach largely through their DoubleClick ad network and dozens of properties

They donrsquot need to seek out partners who offer services users might opt into to share data back and forth They already have the data theyrsquore collecting it from millions of websites and user actions often without the usersrsquo explicit knowledge that theyrsquore being tracked at the time Whereas Facebookrsquos data pool shows more intent on the part of usersmdashthey liked something they shared something elsemdashGoogle reigns supreme in

The State of Google+ One Year LaterGoogle Hasnrsquot Yet Carved Their Niche in Social but Do They Even Need To

by Miranda Miller

Google doesnrsquot need to seek out partners who offer

services users might opt into to share data back and

forth They already have the data theyrsquore collecting it from millions of websites

and user actions

Whereas Facebookrsquos data pool shows more intent

on the part of users Google reigns supreme in

the low-intent market

sesconferencecom bull SES 13

focusSOCIALMEDIA

the low-intent market They know when and where you check your email on your Android They know the types of videos you search for and watch on YouTube

This is a fantastic thing for advertisers For users hellip not so much Yet users sign up for Google accounts in droves opting into Google+ without a second thought Track-ing goes beyond the actions users take while signed in to a Google service interacting with a +1 button on a website for example could set a cookie allowing tracking over all Google properties for a period of time

The efforts of the W3C Tracking Protec-tion Working Group will have huge ramifi-cations for the online advertising industry especially for Google If users click a +1 social icon is that really an interaction with Google Have they really indicated the intent to share data with Google for the next 24 36 or 48 hours from every website they visit that might show Google ads These ques-tions have no answers right now but the

working group aims to define first and third parties Advertisers will not be satisfied with poorly targeted paid search and display ads so Google and other ad companies need the data However users need their privacy

ConclusionWhat we are seeing in the current online advertising environment is a precarious balancing act with Google perched square in the middle teetering from side to side Everyone in the industry and even in the mainstream media has their eyes on Google+ Google has certainly given us plenty to talk about Hangouts with Obama seemingly constant updates and new features and even a recent redesign complete with new naviga-tion and profile pages

We canrsquot forget though that Google+ is just one cog in the wheel that drives Googlersquos 44 stake in the $486 billion global adver-tising market (see report by ZenithOpti-media) While slick photos funny updates

and all manner of things are being shared or overshared on the front end of Google+ the real action occurs behind the scenes Google doesnrsquot really need you hanging out on the Google+ site all day long they just need you to have an account and do everything you would normally do on the web in the course of a daymdashand donrsquot mind if they tag along while you do it

Google VP Bradley Horowitz said it best in September when he proclaimed that

ldquoGoogle+ is Google itselfrdquo Indeed

A staff writer with Search En-

gine Watch Miranda Miller co-

ordinates the annual Translit-

eracy Conference for Ontario

educators manages a small

number of social media cam-

paigns through an agency and serves on the Ca-

nadian Hemophilia Societyrsquos Advisory Board for

their Code Rouge awareness project

common sense better than to the dollars and cents that our clientsrsquo creditors understand

In practice my firm generally limits our recommendations to the big three of Face-book Twitter and Google+ placing other social networks into an ldquoadvisably optionalrdquo category Our clients have enough difficulty wrapping their heads around Facebook and Twitter without worrying about other net-works We include Google+ in the mix only because of the ldquorel=authorrdquo support and because we believe that Google actively favors websites associated with Google+ profiles

Training businesses to promote their ideas and images on Facebook and Google+ is relatively easy and teaching them Twit-ter behaviors and etiquette is only slightly harder Even though we limit our advice to

the big three we still end up chasing clients to convince them to monitor and maintain their social networks We do recommend secondary social networks such as LinkedIn Pinterest and Foursquare as they apply to clients and as clients can afford our training and application rates

We know that we are missing traffic but we balance this drawback by being practical In cases where we have to act as social media coordinators for our small to medium-sized business clients exposing them to only the big three limits our need to bill for out-of-control charges for allotted work time It also helps to ease clients into expanding their own social media participation and interaction

ConclusionDigital marketing professionals have to make a lot of choices as we steer clients along the

social media learning curve By sticking to the most trafficked social networks and deploying assets in secondary ones as neces-sary my company believes that wersquove found a balance our clients can live with

SES Toronto will provide a valuable forum for Canadian practitioners to dis-cuss the problems inherent in social media marketing

Jim Hedger is a founding part-

ner of the Toronto-based

search and social media mar-

keting agency Digital Always

Media He has an extensive

background in SEO dating to

the late 1990s He leads the SEO and content cre-

ation teams at Digital Always Media

Doing Forensics on Fruit Salad

continued from page 11

14 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus CONVERSIONamp ROI

Conversion optimization has been around for a while but its benefits are hard to ignore These include reduced cost of acquisition through

digital marketing increased customer satis-faction and retention increased average rev-enue per order and improved search engine rankings In order to reap the rewards of an optimization program you need to know where to start what to avoid and how to develop your program for long-term success

Getting StartedDo-it-yourself small business owners digital marketers and web analysts tend to inherit a lot of excess baggage so focusing on only one or two sore spots on a website is often difficult Consider these top five places to start

1 Optimize paid search landing pages Look-ing for big impact right away Optimize those paid search landing pages and start counting the money you save on search marketing immediately Vary your value proposition urgency pricing product mix and form length

2 Examine internal search results pages Searches performed on your website often yield the best (and cheapest) way to judge the voice of the customer These searchers are committed visi-tors who probably arenrsquot finding what they want intuitively Look at queries with no results top queries that should be satisfied through navigation and perhaps synonyms you didnrsquot consider when writing creative

3 Enhance your help sections Areas on a website dedicated to helping people are most often frequented by loyal custom-ers who would rather solve problems on their own than cost you money by calling or emailing support staff Help them help you by optimizing help docs downloads and public service messages

4 Test product and service recommendations The art of the upsell is best exhibited by e-commerce giants such as Apple Ama-zon GoDaddy and Dell If yoursquore able to measure cart abandonment on your site yoursquore ready to start testing product and service recommendations to increase your average revenue per order

5 Evaluate pathways from top entry pages Entry pages to your site are a bit harder to optimize because referred traffic through search or other websites isnrsquot always continuous or predictable but itrsquos usually free Measure common path-ways from entry pages to determine how content can be changed to reduce bounce rate you may just improve your search rankings at the same time

Growing the BaseOnce yoursquove started building quick wins in your conversion optimization program yoursquoll want to maintain that momentum and expand your effort to other areas of your site Unfortunately many marketers fall into the trap of overoptimizing based on bad advice so try to avoid or at least question the fol-lowing five optimization tips that can hurt conversion rates

1 Tip to avoid Keep your copy short sharp concise Itrsquos hard to argue that trimming the overall content on a landing page would be anything but successful for most campaigns as it reduces the prob-ability that a landing page will over-whelm a prospect However providing less information may hurt overall con-version rates over time or worse still lower average revenue per order

2 Tip to avoid Remove or de-emphasize primary and secondary navigation from the template of your landing page Fewer escape routes make prospects more likely to continue along your chosen path However a lack of consistency

across the rest of your site may com-promise new visitorsrsquo trust and result in higher abandonment

3 Tip to avoid Add trust marks to your land-ing pages While I certainly can attest to the conversion lift that trust marks can provide on an e-commerce site landing pages are somewhat different In most cases getting visitors to click on links deeper in your site to privacy statements and certificates can be a more powerful way to convert skeptical prospects

4 Tip to avoid Boost your brand with tes-timonials and client logos In B2B cam-paigns association with large-scale brands with which you do business can boost conversion especially for start-ups but do your due diligence by seek-ing written approval for logo usage and recommendations The last thing you want is conflict with a long-term lucra-tive client

5 Tip to avoid Incentivize your prospects with freebies calls for urgency and pro-motions While these tactics can elicit a strong positive reaction among first-time visitors they can have very unde-sirable effects on lead quality Many visitors are conditioned to perform microconversions such as lead forms without reading anything else on a landing page Donrsquot be afraid to lose a few cheapskates on your landing pages who would otherwise sacrifice your profitability

Planning for the FutureNow that yoursquore well on your way to optimi-zation nirvana yoursquoll want to expand your program beyond online impact and start leveraging your online success for dramatic cross-channel maturity Here are five things to consider when bridging conversion opti-mization to business process optimization

The Conversion Optimization Life CycleWhich Advice Should You Follow and Which Should You Avoid in Structuring Your Optimization Program

by Garry Przyklenk

sesconferencecom bull SES 15

focusCONVERSIONamp ROI

1 Relate online customer pain points to front-line personnel Some of the best online optimizations can result in a cultural shift or reimaging of the offline sales process and vice versa Keep your sales and support members in the loop of online optimizations because your cross-channel prospects are often very similar

2 Try some of your companyrsquos own products and services The importance of stepping into your customersrsquo shoes cannot be overemphasized Irsquove done it on numer-ous occasions with a high degree of success It helps to assume an angry persona and pretend that you have less than five minutes to do anything that you need to do

3 Build new products and services with optimization in mind Build a culture of

conversion testing by baking it into the product or client life cycle Letrsquos face itmdasha lot can go wrong from initial con-ceptualization of a product or service to delivery especially when development cycles are really wrong

4 Leverage web analytics information and customer relationship management sys-tems (CRMs) Integration of web ana-lytics data with CRMs is much more common these days because businesses usually have a significant portion of their operations or interactions with customers through nonline channels

5 Analyze the competition Sometimes the best original score is a remix Think yoursquore smarter than your competitor Prove it by testing their ideas with your audience to find out what they might be doing better or worse

Although no two websites are exactly the same in terms of customer experience and behavior similarly structured products and services likely attract similar prospects and customers

For more guidance on conversion optimiza-tion be sure to visit one of the many optimi-zation sessions at SES this year

Garry Przyklenk manager of

analytics implementation at

TD Bank Group is an expert in

lead generation search engine

marketing web analytics and

social media marketing He has

successfully championed creative marketing cam-

paigns and executed on actionable insights in

several vertical markets

learn more about a different aspect of the industry For example if yoursquore an in-house SEO you may find yourself responsible for your companyrsquos social media You already know about Facebook LinkedIn and Twitter but you may not know which is right for your industry and the ways in which success will be defined Since a social media program is not just about ldquolikesrdquo and ldquofollowersrdquo align-ing it with corporate objectives to generate revenue is not a simple matter

At the other end are large organizations rolling out training to their employees Some allocate specific courses to individuals and make completion compulsory while others give employees access to the library of con-tent and encourage self-study in the areas that would be the most beneficial Online training is perfect for companies who do not

have the budget or time to send everyone to a course and allows each employee to receive a tailored syllabus

This kind of program can be comple-mented by an in-house training sessionmdasha course tailored to meet the specific objec-tives of the organization and held at the com-panyrsquos offices By blending online and class-room courses ClickZ Academy makes sure that employees from different offices arrive at the in-house portion with the same basic understanding so that their time together is maximized

Catch That Missed Session with Conference RecordingsBecause several concurrent content tracks run at SES conferences you may find that you are not able to attend every session that you would like Therefore we now offer recorded sessions from some conferences

The recordings sync the PowerPoint presen-tations and the videos simulating the experi-ence of being at the sessions This is a conve-nient way to catch up on any session that you missed or to share sessions with colleagues Available for purchase on the ClickZAcad-emy website recordings cover a number of tracks Recordings from SES London are now available and consist of the Kick Start PPC and Accelerator tracks

To learn more stop by the ClickZ table at SES Toronto or visit ClickZacademycom

Paul Fegan is head of e-learn-

ing at Incisive Media and is re-

sponsible for creating on-line

training content for all of its

brands He co-founded his own

e-learning company and has

been delivering online professional and CPD train-

ing since 2000

How ClickZ Academy Can Work for You

continued from page 1

16 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

sessions SES Toronto | June 11ndash13 2012 | hosted by

Day 1mdashMonday June 11

1030ndash1130amTrack 2Driving Mobile Traffic PPC amp SEOJump-start your mobile presence with these fundamentals for pre-senting content thatrsquos both SEO- and mobile-friendly Not fully ready for a mobile site Learn inexpensive and easy options to get started the right way From desktop and mobile to tablets smart-phones and feature phones wersquoll dive into key mobile differences for SEO and PPC and the strategies to drive and convert more mobile traffic

Moderator Gregg Stewart President 15 Miles

Speaker Jeff Allen Account Manager Hanapin Marketing

Speaker Jeremy Evans Director of Strategic Accounts Marin Software

1145ndash1245pmTrack 2Developing a Video Optimization amp Marketing CampaignThis session will use real-world examples to help you understand and master the entire video process including what to create how to optimize your video how to market it with search and social media and how to measure its real business impact

Moderator Sage Lewis President SageRockcom

Speaker Jonathan Allen Director Search Engine Watch

Speaker Greg Jarboe President amp Co-founder SEO-PR

200ndash300pmTrack 2Made in Canada Marketing Online WorldwideThis session will focus on specific challenges facing Canadian Internet marketers It will cover

bull How to balance Canadian and American content challenges in a consistent meaningful way (domains architecture content keyphrases etc)

bull How to compete in the US market as a Canadian business and not lose your Canadian online presence

bull The different results on Googlecom and Googleca from a search engine perspective and which consumers prefer the search enginesrsquo growing preferences for local

Moderator Andrew Goodman SES Advisory Board President Page Zero Media

Speaker Anne F Kennedy SES Advisory Board International Search Strategist Author Beyond Ink USA

Speaker Ian McAnerin CEO McAnerin International Inc

Speaker Ezra Silverton President 9th sphere

330ndash430pmTrack 3Content Marketing OptimizationOnline marketing is increasingly competitive and brand marketers worldwide are seeking real advantages that will improve the effi-ciency and impact of their social media and SEO efforts This ses-sion will provide unique insight into content-based optimization strategies and processes as well as tactics for sourcing creating and promoting optimized content on the social web

Speaker Matt McGowan Managing Director Americas Incisive Media

Krista LaRiviere CoFounder amp CEO gShift Labs

Speaker Lee Odden SES Advisory Board CEO TopRank Online Marketing

Speaker Jennifer Slegg CEO JenSense

Sample SessionsDownload the app or visit wwwSESTorontocom for complete agenda and session descriptions

sesconferencecom bull SES 17

sessionsDownload the app or visit SESNewYorkcom

Day 2mdashTuesday June 12

900ndash1000amTrack 2Social Media Solutions on a BudgetGetting your company or organization started with social media doesnrsquot have to be a pricey proposition In this session yoursquoll learn how to

bull Take advantage of great free and low-cost tools that cover man-aging conversations measuring reach and engagement and developingpublishing great content

bull Leverage lesser-known social media channels to increase expo-sure and reach

bull Create great social media friendly content to build trust and authority inexpensively

Moderator Laura Roth Conference Program amp Training Manager SES Conference amp Expo

Speaker Danny Iny Co-Founder Firepole Marketing

Speaker Krista Neher CEO Boot Camp Digital

130ndash230pmTrack 3From Keywords to ldquoBuy Wordsrdquo Finding High-Value Paid Search Keywords

ldquoProfessorsrdquo Van Wagner and Goodman will take you beyond garden-variety keyword lists to delve deeper into how user queries signal different kinds of intent You will learn how to go beyond the blind reading of ldquoafter-the-factrdquo ROI statistics how to anticipate how your most valuable searchers will express themselves with search que-ries and even how to subtly mold their preferences as they progress from search queries to your ads landing pages and transactions

Moderator Greg Jarboe President amp Co-founder SEO-PR

Speaker Andrew Goodman SES Advisory Board President Page Zero Media

Speaker Matt Van Wagner President Find Me Faster

300ndash400pmTrack 2Conquering the Growing Canadian Affiliate Marketing IndustryIn this session you will learn the following and more

bull Affiliate marketing in Canada is a viable growing traffic channel bull Online retail merchants need to educate and form strategic

partnerships with web publishers in order to generate traffic bull Establishing a successful Canadian affiliate marketing channel

requires sophisticated software development strategic market-ing and stability

bull Retail merchants need to be prepared to accommodate Canadian affiliate partnerships with the right tools in order for all parties to succeed

Speaker Nicky Senyard President Share Results

415ndash515pmTrack 1Maximizing ROI in e-Commerce with SearchAll e-commerce websites and e-tailers should be on top of certain ROI trends and opportunities This session will show you how to maximize ROI in e-commerce by leveraging one e-marketing chan-nel to improve the performance of another You will hear a series of combined channel campaign strategies along with case studies that illustrate how to maximize the ROI of your campaigns by taking advantage of low-hanging fruit

Moderator Chris Boggs SES Advisory Board Director SEO Rosetta

Speaker Guillaume Bouchard President CEO NVI

Speaker Elazar Gabay Vice President Performance Marketing LeSiteca

515ndash615pmSEW Eliminator QuizJoin us for the inaugural SEW Eliminator Quiz a pub-trivia-style networking event where you and your fellow marketers will compete to see who is the savviest and most knowledgeable marketer in the room Afterward yoursquoll have a chance to network with your favorite drink in hand

New YorkMarch

ShanghaiApril

TorontoJune -

San FranciscoAugust -

Hong KongSeptember ndash

BerlinOctober ndash

ChicagoNovember -

SingaporeNovember ndash

San DiegoFebruary

LondonFebruary

SES Conference amp Expo is the leading global event series that educates professionals in search and social marketing putting a special focus on tactics and best practices SES Events provide instructions from the industryrsquos top experts including representatives from the Search Engines themselves

World Tour ndash

SESConferencecom

Page 10: SES Magazine Toronto 2012

Donrsquot miss these Sesssions at SES Toronto bull Made in Canada Marketing Online WorldwidemdashMonday June 11 200pmndash300pm bull Conquering the Growing Canadian Affiliate Marketing IndustrymdashTuesday June 12 300pmndash400pm

Register

8 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus COVER STORY

space website buildout etc) that make the operation wildly unprofitable on the whole (though seemingly cautious when only the variable costs are taken into account) Do the hard work and stop dismissing what is in fact real consumer behavior screaming for granular analysis

bull Know the role models Many young Canadians Irsquove encountered in formal business courses were not aware of Techcrunch Yelp Zappos and many other mainstays of digital business culture This is inexcusable The best students are the self-taught exceptions Therersquos no guarantee that these self-starters will get great jobs out of the gate but over time they usually prevail

bull Look for smart partners and communities Canada is full of half-baked digital companies that go nowhere fueled by family money and vanity investments Dumb money loses out to savvy skill and passion

bull Risk your own money Funding at the appropriate stage can be an important accelerator but the founders of companies like FreshBooks Acquisio PlentyofFish and HomeStars put in their own money perhaps with the support of family and friends before they did formal fundraising Itrsquos not always possible to bootstrap but companies like these prove that you donrsquot have to raise huge sums of money

to reach the next level You do have to have the entrepreneurial 24-7 mindset

bull Embrace digital jobs as normal If ordinary Canadians donrsquot become conversant with the leading edge of technology and digital enterprise the best minds will continue to drain away due to a lack of both opportunity and peers Our industry needs to be normalized and valued as simply a part of the economy Today wersquore still seen as representing either of two extremesmdashtaking insane risks and living in a cardboard box or lucking into lottery-like wealthmdashas if the profession is worth discussing only for its financial upside not for its substance Until people get it itrsquoll be up to us to evangelize the merits of things like search and display advertising (better targeting) online procurement (reducing friction in the economy) and all of that good stuff Yes it was obvious in 1999 but that doesnrsquot mean people are quite comfortable with it yet

ConclusionNot everyone is going to create the next Radian6 The Internet Retailerrsquos Top 500 is pretty rarefied territory and represents more success than the vast majority of startupsmdashlet alone well-known established retailersmdashcan attain However Canadians should at least be benchmarking themselves against these success stories rather than the semi-successful company down the street The real problem of course is that the comfort level of doing ldquojust so wellrdquo is tempting It may even seem irrational to want to reach a

levels of success far ahead of what is needed to maintain a great lifestyle

The driven minority though seek to have something more impressive than ldquo+1rdquo engraved on their tombstones If and when they do succeed you can bet that the aver-age Canadian and the creators of grand nar-ratives will be only too happy to take partial credit hellip not to mention taxing the bejeesus out of them

Andrew Goodman is founder

and President of Toronto-based

Page Zero Media a full-service

marketing agency founded in

2000 He is also co-founder of

Traffickcom an award-winning

industry commentary site and author of Winning Results with Google AdWords

Breaking Out of the ldquo+1rdquo Mindset

continued from page 7 Canadians should at least be benchmarking themselves against the Internet Retailerrsquos Top 500 rather than the

semi-successful company down the street The real problem of course is that the comfort level of doing ldquojust so wellrdquo is tempting

The driven minority though seek to have

something more impressive than ldquo+1rdquo engraved on

their tombstones

sesconferencecom bull SES 9

focusMARKETING INSIGHTS

If you live and work in Canada you may think of the Internet as a free space in which to share ideas sell products and interact with others with no restrictions

other than those imposed by the Canadian government for the protection of its people Itrsquos reasonable to believe that if you com-ply with these laws you will maintain the health of your website Unfortunately this isnrsquot entirely the case The United States gov-ernment has significant power over how the Internet functions right down to how you use your domain name and how the 1s and 0s on which your site travels are treated

Domain Name OwnershipMany people donrsquot realize that they donrsquot actu-ally own their own domain names they rent them Itrsquos a subtle difference but when com-bined with the fact that the US government owns and controls the com top-level domain (TLD) it brings up a whole new set of con-cerns as the owners of Bodogcom discovered

Bodogcom was a Canadian-owned online gambling site In February the US Depart-ment of Justice and Homeland Security Investigations seized the domain name while a US federal grand jury charged its four owners with conducting an illegal sports gambling site and conspiracy to commit money laundering The indictment alleges that Bodog moved at least $100 million from offshore accounts to bettors in Maryland

ldquoSports betting is illegal in Maryland and federal law prohibits bookmakers from flout-ing that law simply because they are located outside the countryrdquo stated US attorney Rod J Rosenstein (quoted by USA Today)

As this case shows the US government can seize any com site regardless of the loca-tion of the business operation or its hosting provider This principle of government own-ership is logical for country-based domains (such as ca) where the issuing government can take control of a domain rented by one of its citizens but com is the Internet go-to for countless non-US businesses You may think

ldquoThatrsquos OK I donrsquot run a poker siterdquo Just bear

in mind that since you donrsquot own your com domain the US government could confiscate it however unlikely that may be

SOPA and PIPAYoursquod be wrong to think that the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) would not affect your Canadian busi-ness If you use or provide resources (or letrsquos be honest are believed to provide resources) that are deemed unacceptable by the US gov-ernment your site could be blocked your search traffic eliminated and more Although neither bill has passed similar legislation probably will

ldquoIrsquom not worried I donrsquot run an illegal torrent siterdquo you may say The laws as they were drafted apply to any copyright infringe-ment and designate the website owner as the culpable party For example if you operate a forum and one of its members posts content from say a movie script your site could be blocked and search engine traffic eliminated This would be a big punishment for adding a forum to your site in hopes of engaging visi-tors While Irsquom not stating that the US gov-ernment would go to this extreme every time a law like SOPA or PIPA could make your site a target however innocent your intentions

Net Neutrality LegislationWhile I hold the unpopular opinion that ISPs have a right to charge what they like for their bandwidth and that the free market should sort out what this means there is no doubt that US rules and regulations regard-ing net neutrality would have a major impact on Canadian site owners The speed of your site is dependent on the speed of the Inter-net between your web host and the visitor If your visitors are in the US or if your site is hosted there you would be affected

You may point out ldquoMy site is hosted in Canada and my clients are in Canadardquo Unless your clients are in close proximity to your host your data is going to take various routes between the site and visitors Many tests I ran from my office in Victoria BC to

websites across Canada passed through the US at one point or another Net neutrality legislation would have an influence on these paths

Data SecurityMany of us collect data on our sites many of us store this data on our servers Under the law the US government can seize or review this data at any time if your site is hosted at a US hosting facility

You may ask ldquoBut Irsquom not storing any-thing illegal so who caresrdquo Your clients may If yoursquore a lawyer or doctor or if you store any other information on your server that may be deemed confidential you may be violating the law in hosting it in an environ-ment that is subject to seizure

What You Can DoThe purpose of this article isnrsquot to scare you Irsquove done business primarily in the US and hosted the Beanstalk site there since the company was formed and I havenrsquot had any issues stemming from these laws That said itrsquos extremely important to understand and monitor the direction that legislation is tak-ing and the potential impact and to safe-guard yourself against litigation embarrass-ment reduced or eliminated traffic slower speeds for your visitors etc Knowing whatrsquos happening and how it affects your website will help you react quickly

For example if network neutrality legis-lation fails and ISPs are given more freedom in how they charge for bandwidth ensuring that yoursquore hosted on a network with priority should be step one And you might as well buy that ca domain as a backup After all just because yoursquore being paranoid doesnrsquot mean yoursquore wrong

Dave Davies is CEO of Bean stalk

SEO Services an organic SEO

firm in Victoria BC He wrote the

second edition of SitePointrsquos s

Kit and hosts a weekly radio

show on Webmaster Radio

Beyond the BorderThe Impact of US Laws on Canadian Site Owners

by Dave Davies

10 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus MARKETING INSIGHTS

Searching for a new digital agency is a lot like searching for a mate you spend a lot of time seeing other peo-ple (the RFP process) you eventually

narrow it down to a handful of prospects (the short-list) and eventually you think yoursquove found ldquothe onerdquo (the winning agency) After much wooing and negotiation you agree to move in together (onboarding) and the real

ldquogetting to know each otherrdquo officially begins (the client-agency relationship)

The first couple of months are usu-ally pretty blissful both parties are filled with hope and positivity about the excit-ing adventures (programstactics) to come But you inevitably find out things that you didnrsquot know before and that you may not like Things get a bit bumpy and you start to become disenfranchised with your part-ner Gradually everything starts to unravel

mdashall of a sudden a year has gone by and yoursquore threatening to break up if your mate (agency) doesnrsquot get his or her act together

It doesnrsquot have to be this way There is a way to maintain the honeymoon period indefinitely It really starts with choosing the right partner in the first place Onboarding a new agency is a huge investment so make sure that the agency you choose is going to work out in the long term Ask the following questions about a prospective agency before making your decision

Do the Agencyrsquos Skills Closely Align to Your NeedsRelationship Buster While this may seem obvious often client-agency relationships fail due to mismatches between the cli-entsrsquo needs and the agenciesrsquo competen-cies Agencies do a good job of downplaying their weaknesses and selling their strengths sometimes giving clients distorted represen-tations of their capabilities Clients can also become enamored of specific strengths that arenrsquot even top priorities for the firms

Relationship Saver Have a clear understand-ing of what you need and what yoursquore looking

for in an agency and consistently apply that as a filter when evaluating potential part-ners It is critical that you choose an agency based on a realistic evaluation of your needs and whether their core competencies align with these If yoursquore looking for a digital agency that can offer innovative solutions to engage your audience donrsquot let yourself get wooed by a flashy creative presentation unless yoursquore sure that they have the chops to deliver on the technology side Alterna-tively if you already have a skilled IT team in house and really need a strong strategic and creative shop be sure that they can bring their creative A-game

Does the Agency Have the Proven Ability to DeliverRelationship Buster Clients sometimes under-estimate the importance of delivery in digi-tal programs It is easy to get distracted by cutting-edge solutions and fail to consider whether these programs can realistically be deployed on time on budget and at a high-quality level

Relationship Saver Verify agenciesrsquo track records in deploying similar solutions in a timely and efficient manner They should be able to provide case studies of similar work successfully delivered for other clients and clearly articulate their process for taking a high-level solutionstrategy to detailed tactical implementation plans Strong proj-ect management competence is critical to

ensure that projects are delivered within budget and timelines They should also be able to demonstrate that they have sufficient resources in place to deliver on multiple con-current work streams

Does the Agency Play Well with OthersRelationship Buster Most clients have mul-tiple agency partnersmdashtypically at least a creativeoffline agency and a media agency in addition to their digital agency Clients sometimes assume that all partners will work towards a common goal and that inte-gration will naturally take place However some agencies tend toward a protective or even combative nature when working with other agencies creating a host of problems when interdependencies are present between both agenciesrsquo initiatives

Relationship Saver Prospective partners need to be able to demonstrate the ability to get along with others Your agency should be able to point to specific examples of how they have worked with other agency partners in a harmonious and mutually beneficial way They should demonstrate the ability to take a leadership role in coordinating cross-agency collaboration and integration and have an established process for helping to define and document roles and responsibilities among agency partners

There are many other factors to take into consideration when choosing a new digital agency partner but avoiding the pitfalls above should increase your chances of a long and successful union Happy hunting

Julie Batten is VP strategy digital media at Klick Health focused on online media and digital She brings a wealth of experi-ence in search marketing

digital media and all facets of digital strat-egy to bear helping Klickrsquos clients develop innovative digital solutions

Make Your Client-Agency Relationship WorkThree Considerations When Choosing a Partner

by Julie Batten

Have a clear understanding of what you need and what yoursquore looking for in an agency and

consistently apply that as a filter when evaluating potential partners It is

critical that you choose an agency based on a realistic evaluation of your needs

sesconferencecom bull SES 11

focusSOCIALINTEGRATION

Social media is public relations Social media is inclusionary Social media is necessary to compete with your competitors Social media is todayrsquos

big thingSocial media is also tomorrowrsquos next big

thing More appropriately some form of social media application is tomorrowrsquos next big thing Yesterdayrsquos appears to have been Pinterest which is threatening to displace Foursquare as the mayor of forgotten places As digital marketing experts we are calling on our clients to invest increasing amounts of time staff and money in an area that is evolving too quickly for us to fully under-stand The benefits of increased traffic are obvious but the return on investment on a wide spread of social media profiles can be somewhat harder to quantify

The Changes in Social MediaWith over one-third of the adult population using Facebook Canadians constitute one of the largest national social media footprints in the world Being early adopters Canadian Internet users became amazingly social amazingly quickly Unfortunately many if not most Canadian businesses have not kept up This isnrsquot just because Canadian compa-nies donrsquot fully grasp the social part of the medium itrsquos also because the budgeting and planning necessary to create an effective social media presence is daunting on paper without a clear understanding of benefits

Social media applications have existed for almost as long as the commercial web Early social media applications such as Classmates and Friendster acted as basic connectors They werenrsquot great for commu-nication among users but they provided an ideal foundation on which all subsequent social media applications could build Web 20 which came on the scene in 2003 was a breakthrough that allowed users to inter-act with websites and with each other This was the dawn of the user-generated content (UGC) era Nearly ten years later wersquore just

beginning to understand the fuller implica-tions of UGC on search and the web

Many of the sessions at SES Toronto will address social media measurement engage-ment and techniques Each of the speakers addressing social media has developed his or her own techniques and tactics based on personal experience and shared knowledge Each of them will say that every social media experience is unique Each will maintain that the very best social media experience is one that promotes authenticity and earnest con-nection over marketing and promotion

As the digital marketing environment changes so must the priorities of digital marketers and the clients we serve While itrsquos always about driving good traffic the digital marketing landscape is transforming more rapidly than ever before Social media is continuously extending frontiers and new areas are expanding as rapidly as UGC can be created and user intent can be ascertained and harnessed

To say that social has had an impact on search would be an understatement for search marketers this shift has not been subtle Moving away from its fascination with search SEO has for the last two years focused on social From studying how Face-book alters user behaviors to finding cor-relations between social signals and search engine placements social media has domi-nated search marketing discourse by becom-ing a more popular form of public directory To say that you understand the impact of social media on search would be a vaguely worded lie Nobody understands exactly how social meshes with search Witness Google+

Getting Clients to Be SocialTrying to figure out how to integrate social into search is akin to integrating apples with oranges kiwis strawberries grapes cottage cheese and bananas Itrsquos easy to spot iden-tify and describe the effects of an apple itrsquos not as easy to do forensics on fruit salad This creates yet another problem for digital

marketers when trying to convince small businesses and corporate clients that bud-geting time and money for social media is important

To be authentic in the truest sense cli-ents would do the work in house However in-house SEOSMM is often impractical for the smaller businesses that make up the vast majority of clients This means that the service must be either outsourced to a third party or performed by a digital market-ing agency It is a huge challenge for digi-tal markers to help clients be authentic in a constantly evolving environment that none of us fully grasp

Digital marketers face a number of other issues when guiding clients in the social sphere It is really difficult to know whether the plethora of random information linking to clientsrsquo websites is beneficial or detrimen-tal We have to push our clients into actively participating in an arena that they donrsquot fully understand or we have to try to recre-ate their voices ourselves and authenticity is very hard to engender in the second- or third-party voice Lastly we have to quan-tify a return on investment that translates to

Doing Forensics on Fruit SaladThe Challenge of Developing Practical Client-Friendly Strategies in the Unpredictable Social Media Environment

by Jim Hedger

continues on page 13

From studying how Facebook alters user behaviors to finding

correlations between social signals and search engine placements social media

has dominated search marketing discourse by

becoming a more popular form of public directory

To say that you understand the impact of social

media on search would be a vaguely worded lie

12 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus SOCIALMEDIA

As the first birthday of Googlersquos latest baby draws near the organic search and paid advertising behemoth con- tinues to struggle to find their

niche in social A year ago Google+ was just a rumor Google would deny the existence of a social project until the very day it launched in late June

In that year theyrsquove launched expanded experimented and redesigned the service incurring the verbal wrath of competitors Facebook and Twitter on a number of occa-sions Itrsquos been a whirlwind for Google+ and all fifteen of its loyal users

I kid To be fair there is a small but dedi-cated group of core users in the Google+ net-work Larry Page Sergey Brin Vic Gundotra and the rest of the crew have become old pros at dodging questions about the num-ber of actual active users but we can safely assume that itrsquos nowhere near Facebookrsquos 850 million Does it need to be

Googlersquos Busy Year What Google has accomplished with Google+ in under a year is nothing short of amazing June 2011 saw the launch of Google+ as a social network Over the summer tech jour-nalists and analysts were positively wooed keeping a watchful eye on every indicator (precise or not) of increasing traffic and user activity on Google+ The Washington Post even announced in August that ldquoGoogle Plus could be the fastest-growing site in historyrdquo In all of history Well as long as wersquove had websites anyway (The original comScore report noted that it was the fast-est site to reach 25 million unique visits In what can only be described as a bizarre game of cyberjournalism this report morphed into Reutersrsquo claim that Google+ ldquoattracted 25 million usersrdquo and The Washington Postrsquos assertion that ldquoGoogle has 25 million usersrdquo)

Google+ launched business Pages on November 7 Pages were already popu-lar on Facebook and since Google+ hadnrsquot included them at the start there was a lot of

anticipation around the launch In the weeks following however Google+ would struggle to connect with brands their brands in turn would struggle to connect with a user base worth marketing to within the Google+ network

As Google began integrating brand Page results in seemingly dominant positions in the organic search listings other compa-nies began to cry foul Hot on the heels of that development Google made their latest foray into social search Google Search Plus Your World (SPY World anyone) in early January Twitter for one lost it quite pub-licly announcing ldquoWersquore concerned that as a result of Googlersquos changes finding this infor-mation will be much harder for everyone We think thatrsquos bad for people publishers news organizations and Twitter usersrdquo Their con-cern stemmed partly from the possibility that Google might have been abusing their dominance in their core industry search to excel in the realm of social largely Twitterrsquos and Facebookrsquos territory to that point The old grumblings of antitrust resurfaced only to peter out again within a few months

Later in January Google again stunned users and analysts with the announcement of an amalgamated privacy policy one that would bring user data from all 60+ of their

services under one umbrella They said that this would be better for users Many dis-agreed some agencies threatened to inves-tigate and users protested yet perhaps the widest-ranging and most important change in Googlersquos policies went off as planned on April 1

Also in January a month marked by a flurry of announcements from the search giant Google changed the sign-up process for many of their services Those signing on for a Gmail or YouTube account were auto-matically assigned a Google+ account Prom-inent markers appeared in the navigation bar every time users visited a Google property urging them to check out their notifications on the social network

Why Engagement Is Incidental Only Google knows how effective this was at actually getting people to the site although I suspect that user engagement was only a secondary goal at best In response to a scathing WSJcom article ticking off the

ldquomounting minusesrdquo at Google+ I wrote an article explaining why low user counts and engagement might not matter to Google

Facebook has had to find outside partners nurture (and invest heavily in) the app envi-ronment and build out their ecosystem over a period of years in order to gain access to the type and depth of user data they need to power their advertisement business Google is transitioning the other way from an advertising and data powerhouse to a social platform They already have an incredible reach largely through their DoubleClick ad network and dozens of properties

They donrsquot need to seek out partners who offer services users might opt into to share data back and forth They already have the data theyrsquore collecting it from millions of websites and user actions often without the usersrsquo explicit knowledge that theyrsquore being tracked at the time Whereas Facebookrsquos data pool shows more intent on the part of usersmdashthey liked something they shared something elsemdashGoogle reigns supreme in

The State of Google+ One Year LaterGoogle Hasnrsquot Yet Carved Their Niche in Social but Do They Even Need To

by Miranda Miller

Google doesnrsquot need to seek out partners who offer

services users might opt into to share data back and

forth They already have the data theyrsquore collecting it from millions of websites

and user actions

Whereas Facebookrsquos data pool shows more intent

on the part of users Google reigns supreme in

the low-intent market

sesconferencecom bull SES 13

focusSOCIALMEDIA

the low-intent market They know when and where you check your email on your Android They know the types of videos you search for and watch on YouTube

This is a fantastic thing for advertisers For users hellip not so much Yet users sign up for Google accounts in droves opting into Google+ without a second thought Track-ing goes beyond the actions users take while signed in to a Google service interacting with a +1 button on a website for example could set a cookie allowing tracking over all Google properties for a period of time

The efforts of the W3C Tracking Protec-tion Working Group will have huge ramifi-cations for the online advertising industry especially for Google If users click a +1 social icon is that really an interaction with Google Have they really indicated the intent to share data with Google for the next 24 36 or 48 hours from every website they visit that might show Google ads These ques-tions have no answers right now but the

working group aims to define first and third parties Advertisers will not be satisfied with poorly targeted paid search and display ads so Google and other ad companies need the data However users need their privacy

ConclusionWhat we are seeing in the current online advertising environment is a precarious balancing act with Google perched square in the middle teetering from side to side Everyone in the industry and even in the mainstream media has their eyes on Google+ Google has certainly given us plenty to talk about Hangouts with Obama seemingly constant updates and new features and even a recent redesign complete with new naviga-tion and profile pages

We canrsquot forget though that Google+ is just one cog in the wheel that drives Googlersquos 44 stake in the $486 billion global adver-tising market (see report by ZenithOpti-media) While slick photos funny updates

and all manner of things are being shared or overshared on the front end of Google+ the real action occurs behind the scenes Google doesnrsquot really need you hanging out on the Google+ site all day long they just need you to have an account and do everything you would normally do on the web in the course of a daymdashand donrsquot mind if they tag along while you do it

Google VP Bradley Horowitz said it best in September when he proclaimed that

ldquoGoogle+ is Google itselfrdquo Indeed

A staff writer with Search En-

gine Watch Miranda Miller co-

ordinates the annual Translit-

eracy Conference for Ontario

educators manages a small

number of social media cam-

paigns through an agency and serves on the Ca-

nadian Hemophilia Societyrsquos Advisory Board for

their Code Rouge awareness project

common sense better than to the dollars and cents that our clientsrsquo creditors understand

In practice my firm generally limits our recommendations to the big three of Face-book Twitter and Google+ placing other social networks into an ldquoadvisably optionalrdquo category Our clients have enough difficulty wrapping their heads around Facebook and Twitter without worrying about other net-works We include Google+ in the mix only because of the ldquorel=authorrdquo support and because we believe that Google actively favors websites associated with Google+ profiles

Training businesses to promote their ideas and images on Facebook and Google+ is relatively easy and teaching them Twit-ter behaviors and etiquette is only slightly harder Even though we limit our advice to

the big three we still end up chasing clients to convince them to monitor and maintain their social networks We do recommend secondary social networks such as LinkedIn Pinterest and Foursquare as they apply to clients and as clients can afford our training and application rates

We know that we are missing traffic but we balance this drawback by being practical In cases where we have to act as social media coordinators for our small to medium-sized business clients exposing them to only the big three limits our need to bill for out-of-control charges for allotted work time It also helps to ease clients into expanding their own social media participation and interaction

ConclusionDigital marketing professionals have to make a lot of choices as we steer clients along the

social media learning curve By sticking to the most trafficked social networks and deploying assets in secondary ones as neces-sary my company believes that wersquove found a balance our clients can live with

SES Toronto will provide a valuable forum for Canadian practitioners to dis-cuss the problems inherent in social media marketing

Jim Hedger is a founding part-

ner of the Toronto-based

search and social media mar-

keting agency Digital Always

Media He has an extensive

background in SEO dating to

the late 1990s He leads the SEO and content cre-

ation teams at Digital Always Media

Doing Forensics on Fruit Salad

continued from page 11

14 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus CONVERSIONamp ROI

Conversion optimization has been around for a while but its benefits are hard to ignore These include reduced cost of acquisition through

digital marketing increased customer satis-faction and retention increased average rev-enue per order and improved search engine rankings In order to reap the rewards of an optimization program you need to know where to start what to avoid and how to develop your program for long-term success

Getting StartedDo-it-yourself small business owners digital marketers and web analysts tend to inherit a lot of excess baggage so focusing on only one or two sore spots on a website is often difficult Consider these top five places to start

1 Optimize paid search landing pages Look-ing for big impact right away Optimize those paid search landing pages and start counting the money you save on search marketing immediately Vary your value proposition urgency pricing product mix and form length

2 Examine internal search results pages Searches performed on your website often yield the best (and cheapest) way to judge the voice of the customer These searchers are committed visi-tors who probably arenrsquot finding what they want intuitively Look at queries with no results top queries that should be satisfied through navigation and perhaps synonyms you didnrsquot consider when writing creative

3 Enhance your help sections Areas on a website dedicated to helping people are most often frequented by loyal custom-ers who would rather solve problems on their own than cost you money by calling or emailing support staff Help them help you by optimizing help docs downloads and public service messages

4 Test product and service recommendations The art of the upsell is best exhibited by e-commerce giants such as Apple Ama-zon GoDaddy and Dell If yoursquore able to measure cart abandonment on your site yoursquore ready to start testing product and service recommendations to increase your average revenue per order

5 Evaluate pathways from top entry pages Entry pages to your site are a bit harder to optimize because referred traffic through search or other websites isnrsquot always continuous or predictable but itrsquos usually free Measure common path-ways from entry pages to determine how content can be changed to reduce bounce rate you may just improve your search rankings at the same time

Growing the BaseOnce yoursquove started building quick wins in your conversion optimization program yoursquoll want to maintain that momentum and expand your effort to other areas of your site Unfortunately many marketers fall into the trap of overoptimizing based on bad advice so try to avoid or at least question the fol-lowing five optimization tips that can hurt conversion rates

1 Tip to avoid Keep your copy short sharp concise Itrsquos hard to argue that trimming the overall content on a landing page would be anything but successful for most campaigns as it reduces the prob-ability that a landing page will over-whelm a prospect However providing less information may hurt overall con-version rates over time or worse still lower average revenue per order

2 Tip to avoid Remove or de-emphasize primary and secondary navigation from the template of your landing page Fewer escape routes make prospects more likely to continue along your chosen path However a lack of consistency

across the rest of your site may com-promise new visitorsrsquo trust and result in higher abandonment

3 Tip to avoid Add trust marks to your land-ing pages While I certainly can attest to the conversion lift that trust marks can provide on an e-commerce site landing pages are somewhat different In most cases getting visitors to click on links deeper in your site to privacy statements and certificates can be a more powerful way to convert skeptical prospects

4 Tip to avoid Boost your brand with tes-timonials and client logos In B2B cam-paigns association with large-scale brands with which you do business can boost conversion especially for start-ups but do your due diligence by seek-ing written approval for logo usage and recommendations The last thing you want is conflict with a long-term lucra-tive client

5 Tip to avoid Incentivize your prospects with freebies calls for urgency and pro-motions While these tactics can elicit a strong positive reaction among first-time visitors they can have very unde-sirable effects on lead quality Many visitors are conditioned to perform microconversions such as lead forms without reading anything else on a landing page Donrsquot be afraid to lose a few cheapskates on your landing pages who would otherwise sacrifice your profitability

Planning for the FutureNow that yoursquore well on your way to optimi-zation nirvana yoursquoll want to expand your program beyond online impact and start leveraging your online success for dramatic cross-channel maturity Here are five things to consider when bridging conversion opti-mization to business process optimization

The Conversion Optimization Life CycleWhich Advice Should You Follow and Which Should You Avoid in Structuring Your Optimization Program

by Garry Przyklenk

sesconferencecom bull SES 15

focusCONVERSIONamp ROI

1 Relate online customer pain points to front-line personnel Some of the best online optimizations can result in a cultural shift or reimaging of the offline sales process and vice versa Keep your sales and support members in the loop of online optimizations because your cross-channel prospects are often very similar

2 Try some of your companyrsquos own products and services The importance of stepping into your customersrsquo shoes cannot be overemphasized Irsquove done it on numer-ous occasions with a high degree of success It helps to assume an angry persona and pretend that you have less than five minutes to do anything that you need to do

3 Build new products and services with optimization in mind Build a culture of

conversion testing by baking it into the product or client life cycle Letrsquos face itmdasha lot can go wrong from initial con-ceptualization of a product or service to delivery especially when development cycles are really wrong

4 Leverage web analytics information and customer relationship management sys-tems (CRMs) Integration of web ana-lytics data with CRMs is much more common these days because businesses usually have a significant portion of their operations or interactions with customers through nonline channels

5 Analyze the competition Sometimes the best original score is a remix Think yoursquore smarter than your competitor Prove it by testing their ideas with your audience to find out what they might be doing better or worse

Although no two websites are exactly the same in terms of customer experience and behavior similarly structured products and services likely attract similar prospects and customers

For more guidance on conversion optimiza-tion be sure to visit one of the many optimi-zation sessions at SES this year

Garry Przyklenk manager of

analytics implementation at

TD Bank Group is an expert in

lead generation search engine

marketing web analytics and

social media marketing He has

successfully championed creative marketing cam-

paigns and executed on actionable insights in

several vertical markets

learn more about a different aspect of the industry For example if yoursquore an in-house SEO you may find yourself responsible for your companyrsquos social media You already know about Facebook LinkedIn and Twitter but you may not know which is right for your industry and the ways in which success will be defined Since a social media program is not just about ldquolikesrdquo and ldquofollowersrdquo align-ing it with corporate objectives to generate revenue is not a simple matter

At the other end are large organizations rolling out training to their employees Some allocate specific courses to individuals and make completion compulsory while others give employees access to the library of con-tent and encourage self-study in the areas that would be the most beneficial Online training is perfect for companies who do not

have the budget or time to send everyone to a course and allows each employee to receive a tailored syllabus

This kind of program can be comple-mented by an in-house training sessionmdasha course tailored to meet the specific objec-tives of the organization and held at the com-panyrsquos offices By blending online and class-room courses ClickZ Academy makes sure that employees from different offices arrive at the in-house portion with the same basic understanding so that their time together is maximized

Catch That Missed Session with Conference RecordingsBecause several concurrent content tracks run at SES conferences you may find that you are not able to attend every session that you would like Therefore we now offer recorded sessions from some conferences

The recordings sync the PowerPoint presen-tations and the videos simulating the experi-ence of being at the sessions This is a conve-nient way to catch up on any session that you missed or to share sessions with colleagues Available for purchase on the ClickZAcad-emy website recordings cover a number of tracks Recordings from SES London are now available and consist of the Kick Start PPC and Accelerator tracks

To learn more stop by the ClickZ table at SES Toronto or visit ClickZacademycom

Paul Fegan is head of e-learn-

ing at Incisive Media and is re-

sponsible for creating on-line

training content for all of its

brands He co-founded his own

e-learning company and has

been delivering online professional and CPD train-

ing since 2000

How ClickZ Academy Can Work for You

continued from page 1

16 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

sessions SES Toronto | June 11ndash13 2012 | hosted by

Day 1mdashMonday June 11

1030ndash1130amTrack 2Driving Mobile Traffic PPC amp SEOJump-start your mobile presence with these fundamentals for pre-senting content thatrsquos both SEO- and mobile-friendly Not fully ready for a mobile site Learn inexpensive and easy options to get started the right way From desktop and mobile to tablets smart-phones and feature phones wersquoll dive into key mobile differences for SEO and PPC and the strategies to drive and convert more mobile traffic

Moderator Gregg Stewart President 15 Miles

Speaker Jeff Allen Account Manager Hanapin Marketing

Speaker Jeremy Evans Director of Strategic Accounts Marin Software

1145ndash1245pmTrack 2Developing a Video Optimization amp Marketing CampaignThis session will use real-world examples to help you understand and master the entire video process including what to create how to optimize your video how to market it with search and social media and how to measure its real business impact

Moderator Sage Lewis President SageRockcom

Speaker Jonathan Allen Director Search Engine Watch

Speaker Greg Jarboe President amp Co-founder SEO-PR

200ndash300pmTrack 2Made in Canada Marketing Online WorldwideThis session will focus on specific challenges facing Canadian Internet marketers It will cover

bull How to balance Canadian and American content challenges in a consistent meaningful way (domains architecture content keyphrases etc)

bull How to compete in the US market as a Canadian business and not lose your Canadian online presence

bull The different results on Googlecom and Googleca from a search engine perspective and which consumers prefer the search enginesrsquo growing preferences for local

Moderator Andrew Goodman SES Advisory Board President Page Zero Media

Speaker Anne F Kennedy SES Advisory Board International Search Strategist Author Beyond Ink USA

Speaker Ian McAnerin CEO McAnerin International Inc

Speaker Ezra Silverton President 9th sphere

330ndash430pmTrack 3Content Marketing OptimizationOnline marketing is increasingly competitive and brand marketers worldwide are seeking real advantages that will improve the effi-ciency and impact of their social media and SEO efforts This ses-sion will provide unique insight into content-based optimization strategies and processes as well as tactics for sourcing creating and promoting optimized content on the social web

Speaker Matt McGowan Managing Director Americas Incisive Media

Krista LaRiviere CoFounder amp CEO gShift Labs

Speaker Lee Odden SES Advisory Board CEO TopRank Online Marketing

Speaker Jennifer Slegg CEO JenSense

Sample SessionsDownload the app or visit wwwSESTorontocom for complete agenda and session descriptions

sesconferencecom bull SES 17

sessionsDownload the app or visit SESNewYorkcom

Day 2mdashTuesday June 12

900ndash1000amTrack 2Social Media Solutions on a BudgetGetting your company or organization started with social media doesnrsquot have to be a pricey proposition In this session yoursquoll learn how to

bull Take advantage of great free and low-cost tools that cover man-aging conversations measuring reach and engagement and developingpublishing great content

bull Leverage lesser-known social media channels to increase expo-sure and reach

bull Create great social media friendly content to build trust and authority inexpensively

Moderator Laura Roth Conference Program amp Training Manager SES Conference amp Expo

Speaker Danny Iny Co-Founder Firepole Marketing

Speaker Krista Neher CEO Boot Camp Digital

130ndash230pmTrack 3From Keywords to ldquoBuy Wordsrdquo Finding High-Value Paid Search Keywords

ldquoProfessorsrdquo Van Wagner and Goodman will take you beyond garden-variety keyword lists to delve deeper into how user queries signal different kinds of intent You will learn how to go beyond the blind reading of ldquoafter-the-factrdquo ROI statistics how to anticipate how your most valuable searchers will express themselves with search que-ries and even how to subtly mold their preferences as they progress from search queries to your ads landing pages and transactions

Moderator Greg Jarboe President amp Co-founder SEO-PR

Speaker Andrew Goodman SES Advisory Board President Page Zero Media

Speaker Matt Van Wagner President Find Me Faster

300ndash400pmTrack 2Conquering the Growing Canadian Affiliate Marketing IndustryIn this session you will learn the following and more

bull Affiliate marketing in Canada is a viable growing traffic channel bull Online retail merchants need to educate and form strategic

partnerships with web publishers in order to generate traffic bull Establishing a successful Canadian affiliate marketing channel

requires sophisticated software development strategic market-ing and stability

bull Retail merchants need to be prepared to accommodate Canadian affiliate partnerships with the right tools in order for all parties to succeed

Speaker Nicky Senyard President Share Results

415ndash515pmTrack 1Maximizing ROI in e-Commerce with SearchAll e-commerce websites and e-tailers should be on top of certain ROI trends and opportunities This session will show you how to maximize ROI in e-commerce by leveraging one e-marketing chan-nel to improve the performance of another You will hear a series of combined channel campaign strategies along with case studies that illustrate how to maximize the ROI of your campaigns by taking advantage of low-hanging fruit

Moderator Chris Boggs SES Advisory Board Director SEO Rosetta

Speaker Guillaume Bouchard President CEO NVI

Speaker Elazar Gabay Vice President Performance Marketing LeSiteca

515ndash615pmSEW Eliminator QuizJoin us for the inaugural SEW Eliminator Quiz a pub-trivia-style networking event where you and your fellow marketers will compete to see who is the savviest and most knowledgeable marketer in the room Afterward yoursquoll have a chance to network with your favorite drink in hand

New YorkMarch

ShanghaiApril

TorontoJune -

San FranciscoAugust -

Hong KongSeptember ndash

BerlinOctober ndash

ChicagoNovember -

SingaporeNovember ndash

San DiegoFebruary

LondonFebruary

SES Conference amp Expo is the leading global event series that educates professionals in search and social marketing putting a special focus on tactics and best practices SES Events provide instructions from the industryrsquos top experts including representatives from the Search Engines themselves

World Tour ndash

SESConferencecom

Page 11: SES Magazine Toronto 2012

sesconferencecom bull SES 9

focusMARKETING INSIGHTS

If you live and work in Canada you may think of the Internet as a free space in which to share ideas sell products and interact with others with no restrictions

other than those imposed by the Canadian government for the protection of its people Itrsquos reasonable to believe that if you com-ply with these laws you will maintain the health of your website Unfortunately this isnrsquot entirely the case The United States gov-ernment has significant power over how the Internet functions right down to how you use your domain name and how the 1s and 0s on which your site travels are treated

Domain Name OwnershipMany people donrsquot realize that they donrsquot actu-ally own their own domain names they rent them Itrsquos a subtle difference but when com-bined with the fact that the US government owns and controls the com top-level domain (TLD) it brings up a whole new set of con-cerns as the owners of Bodogcom discovered

Bodogcom was a Canadian-owned online gambling site In February the US Depart-ment of Justice and Homeland Security Investigations seized the domain name while a US federal grand jury charged its four owners with conducting an illegal sports gambling site and conspiracy to commit money laundering The indictment alleges that Bodog moved at least $100 million from offshore accounts to bettors in Maryland

ldquoSports betting is illegal in Maryland and federal law prohibits bookmakers from flout-ing that law simply because they are located outside the countryrdquo stated US attorney Rod J Rosenstein (quoted by USA Today)

As this case shows the US government can seize any com site regardless of the loca-tion of the business operation or its hosting provider This principle of government own-ership is logical for country-based domains (such as ca) where the issuing government can take control of a domain rented by one of its citizens but com is the Internet go-to for countless non-US businesses You may think

ldquoThatrsquos OK I donrsquot run a poker siterdquo Just bear

in mind that since you donrsquot own your com domain the US government could confiscate it however unlikely that may be

SOPA and PIPAYoursquod be wrong to think that the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) would not affect your Canadian busi-ness If you use or provide resources (or letrsquos be honest are believed to provide resources) that are deemed unacceptable by the US gov-ernment your site could be blocked your search traffic eliminated and more Although neither bill has passed similar legislation probably will

ldquoIrsquom not worried I donrsquot run an illegal torrent siterdquo you may say The laws as they were drafted apply to any copyright infringe-ment and designate the website owner as the culpable party For example if you operate a forum and one of its members posts content from say a movie script your site could be blocked and search engine traffic eliminated This would be a big punishment for adding a forum to your site in hopes of engaging visi-tors While Irsquom not stating that the US gov-ernment would go to this extreme every time a law like SOPA or PIPA could make your site a target however innocent your intentions

Net Neutrality LegislationWhile I hold the unpopular opinion that ISPs have a right to charge what they like for their bandwidth and that the free market should sort out what this means there is no doubt that US rules and regulations regard-ing net neutrality would have a major impact on Canadian site owners The speed of your site is dependent on the speed of the Inter-net between your web host and the visitor If your visitors are in the US or if your site is hosted there you would be affected

You may point out ldquoMy site is hosted in Canada and my clients are in Canadardquo Unless your clients are in close proximity to your host your data is going to take various routes between the site and visitors Many tests I ran from my office in Victoria BC to

websites across Canada passed through the US at one point or another Net neutrality legislation would have an influence on these paths

Data SecurityMany of us collect data on our sites many of us store this data on our servers Under the law the US government can seize or review this data at any time if your site is hosted at a US hosting facility

You may ask ldquoBut Irsquom not storing any-thing illegal so who caresrdquo Your clients may If yoursquore a lawyer or doctor or if you store any other information on your server that may be deemed confidential you may be violating the law in hosting it in an environ-ment that is subject to seizure

What You Can DoThe purpose of this article isnrsquot to scare you Irsquove done business primarily in the US and hosted the Beanstalk site there since the company was formed and I havenrsquot had any issues stemming from these laws That said itrsquos extremely important to understand and monitor the direction that legislation is tak-ing and the potential impact and to safe-guard yourself against litigation embarrass-ment reduced or eliminated traffic slower speeds for your visitors etc Knowing whatrsquos happening and how it affects your website will help you react quickly

For example if network neutrality legis-lation fails and ISPs are given more freedom in how they charge for bandwidth ensuring that yoursquore hosted on a network with priority should be step one And you might as well buy that ca domain as a backup After all just because yoursquore being paranoid doesnrsquot mean yoursquore wrong

Dave Davies is CEO of Bean stalk

SEO Services an organic SEO

firm in Victoria BC He wrote the

second edition of SitePointrsquos s

Kit and hosts a weekly radio

show on Webmaster Radio

Beyond the BorderThe Impact of US Laws on Canadian Site Owners

by Dave Davies

10 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus MARKETING INSIGHTS

Searching for a new digital agency is a lot like searching for a mate you spend a lot of time seeing other peo-ple (the RFP process) you eventually

narrow it down to a handful of prospects (the short-list) and eventually you think yoursquove found ldquothe onerdquo (the winning agency) After much wooing and negotiation you agree to move in together (onboarding) and the real

ldquogetting to know each otherrdquo officially begins (the client-agency relationship)

The first couple of months are usu-ally pretty blissful both parties are filled with hope and positivity about the excit-ing adventures (programstactics) to come But you inevitably find out things that you didnrsquot know before and that you may not like Things get a bit bumpy and you start to become disenfranchised with your part-ner Gradually everything starts to unravel

mdashall of a sudden a year has gone by and yoursquore threatening to break up if your mate (agency) doesnrsquot get his or her act together

It doesnrsquot have to be this way There is a way to maintain the honeymoon period indefinitely It really starts with choosing the right partner in the first place Onboarding a new agency is a huge investment so make sure that the agency you choose is going to work out in the long term Ask the following questions about a prospective agency before making your decision

Do the Agencyrsquos Skills Closely Align to Your NeedsRelationship Buster While this may seem obvious often client-agency relationships fail due to mismatches between the cli-entsrsquo needs and the agenciesrsquo competen-cies Agencies do a good job of downplaying their weaknesses and selling their strengths sometimes giving clients distorted represen-tations of their capabilities Clients can also become enamored of specific strengths that arenrsquot even top priorities for the firms

Relationship Saver Have a clear understand-ing of what you need and what yoursquore looking

for in an agency and consistently apply that as a filter when evaluating potential part-ners It is critical that you choose an agency based on a realistic evaluation of your needs and whether their core competencies align with these If yoursquore looking for a digital agency that can offer innovative solutions to engage your audience donrsquot let yourself get wooed by a flashy creative presentation unless yoursquore sure that they have the chops to deliver on the technology side Alterna-tively if you already have a skilled IT team in house and really need a strong strategic and creative shop be sure that they can bring their creative A-game

Does the Agency Have the Proven Ability to DeliverRelationship Buster Clients sometimes under-estimate the importance of delivery in digi-tal programs It is easy to get distracted by cutting-edge solutions and fail to consider whether these programs can realistically be deployed on time on budget and at a high-quality level

Relationship Saver Verify agenciesrsquo track records in deploying similar solutions in a timely and efficient manner They should be able to provide case studies of similar work successfully delivered for other clients and clearly articulate their process for taking a high-level solutionstrategy to detailed tactical implementation plans Strong proj-ect management competence is critical to

ensure that projects are delivered within budget and timelines They should also be able to demonstrate that they have sufficient resources in place to deliver on multiple con-current work streams

Does the Agency Play Well with OthersRelationship Buster Most clients have mul-tiple agency partnersmdashtypically at least a creativeoffline agency and a media agency in addition to their digital agency Clients sometimes assume that all partners will work towards a common goal and that inte-gration will naturally take place However some agencies tend toward a protective or even combative nature when working with other agencies creating a host of problems when interdependencies are present between both agenciesrsquo initiatives

Relationship Saver Prospective partners need to be able to demonstrate the ability to get along with others Your agency should be able to point to specific examples of how they have worked with other agency partners in a harmonious and mutually beneficial way They should demonstrate the ability to take a leadership role in coordinating cross-agency collaboration and integration and have an established process for helping to define and document roles and responsibilities among agency partners

There are many other factors to take into consideration when choosing a new digital agency partner but avoiding the pitfalls above should increase your chances of a long and successful union Happy hunting

Julie Batten is VP strategy digital media at Klick Health focused on online media and digital She brings a wealth of experi-ence in search marketing

digital media and all facets of digital strat-egy to bear helping Klickrsquos clients develop innovative digital solutions

Make Your Client-Agency Relationship WorkThree Considerations When Choosing a Partner

by Julie Batten

Have a clear understanding of what you need and what yoursquore looking for in an agency and

consistently apply that as a filter when evaluating potential partners It is

critical that you choose an agency based on a realistic evaluation of your needs

sesconferencecom bull SES 11

focusSOCIALINTEGRATION

Social media is public relations Social media is inclusionary Social media is necessary to compete with your competitors Social media is todayrsquos

big thingSocial media is also tomorrowrsquos next big

thing More appropriately some form of social media application is tomorrowrsquos next big thing Yesterdayrsquos appears to have been Pinterest which is threatening to displace Foursquare as the mayor of forgotten places As digital marketing experts we are calling on our clients to invest increasing amounts of time staff and money in an area that is evolving too quickly for us to fully under-stand The benefits of increased traffic are obvious but the return on investment on a wide spread of social media profiles can be somewhat harder to quantify

The Changes in Social MediaWith over one-third of the adult population using Facebook Canadians constitute one of the largest national social media footprints in the world Being early adopters Canadian Internet users became amazingly social amazingly quickly Unfortunately many if not most Canadian businesses have not kept up This isnrsquot just because Canadian compa-nies donrsquot fully grasp the social part of the medium itrsquos also because the budgeting and planning necessary to create an effective social media presence is daunting on paper without a clear understanding of benefits

Social media applications have existed for almost as long as the commercial web Early social media applications such as Classmates and Friendster acted as basic connectors They werenrsquot great for commu-nication among users but they provided an ideal foundation on which all subsequent social media applications could build Web 20 which came on the scene in 2003 was a breakthrough that allowed users to inter-act with websites and with each other This was the dawn of the user-generated content (UGC) era Nearly ten years later wersquore just

beginning to understand the fuller implica-tions of UGC on search and the web

Many of the sessions at SES Toronto will address social media measurement engage-ment and techniques Each of the speakers addressing social media has developed his or her own techniques and tactics based on personal experience and shared knowledge Each of them will say that every social media experience is unique Each will maintain that the very best social media experience is one that promotes authenticity and earnest con-nection over marketing and promotion

As the digital marketing environment changes so must the priorities of digital marketers and the clients we serve While itrsquos always about driving good traffic the digital marketing landscape is transforming more rapidly than ever before Social media is continuously extending frontiers and new areas are expanding as rapidly as UGC can be created and user intent can be ascertained and harnessed

To say that social has had an impact on search would be an understatement for search marketers this shift has not been subtle Moving away from its fascination with search SEO has for the last two years focused on social From studying how Face-book alters user behaviors to finding cor-relations between social signals and search engine placements social media has domi-nated search marketing discourse by becom-ing a more popular form of public directory To say that you understand the impact of social media on search would be a vaguely worded lie Nobody understands exactly how social meshes with search Witness Google+

Getting Clients to Be SocialTrying to figure out how to integrate social into search is akin to integrating apples with oranges kiwis strawberries grapes cottage cheese and bananas Itrsquos easy to spot iden-tify and describe the effects of an apple itrsquos not as easy to do forensics on fruit salad This creates yet another problem for digital

marketers when trying to convince small businesses and corporate clients that bud-geting time and money for social media is important

To be authentic in the truest sense cli-ents would do the work in house However in-house SEOSMM is often impractical for the smaller businesses that make up the vast majority of clients This means that the service must be either outsourced to a third party or performed by a digital market-ing agency It is a huge challenge for digi-tal markers to help clients be authentic in a constantly evolving environment that none of us fully grasp

Digital marketers face a number of other issues when guiding clients in the social sphere It is really difficult to know whether the plethora of random information linking to clientsrsquo websites is beneficial or detrimen-tal We have to push our clients into actively participating in an arena that they donrsquot fully understand or we have to try to recre-ate their voices ourselves and authenticity is very hard to engender in the second- or third-party voice Lastly we have to quan-tify a return on investment that translates to

Doing Forensics on Fruit SaladThe Challenge of Developing Practical Client-Friendly Strategies in the Unpredictable Social Media Environment

by Jim Hedger

continues on page 13

From studying how Facebook alters user behaviors to finding

correlations between social signals and search engine placements social media

has dominated search marketing discourse by

becoming a more popular form of public directory

To say that you understand the impact of social

media on search would be a vaguely worded lie

12 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus SOCIALMEDIA

As the first birthday of Googlersquos latest baby draws near the organic search and paid advertising behemoth con- tinues to struggle to find their

niche in social A year ago Google+ was just a rumor Google would deny the existence of a social project until the very day it launched in late June

In that year theyrsquove launched expanded experimented and redesigned the service incurring the verbal wrath of competitors Facebook and Twitter on a number of occa-sions Itrsquos been a whirlwind for Google+ and all fifteen of its loyal users

I kid To be fair there is a small but dedi-cated group of core users in the Google+ net-work Larry Page Sergey Brin Vic Gundotra and the rest of the crew have become old pros at dodging questions about the num-ber of actual active users but we can safely assume that itrsquos nowhere near Facebookrsquos 850 million Does it need to be

Googlersquos Busy Year What Google has accomplished with Google+ in under a year is nothing short of amazing June 2011 saw the launch of Google+ as a social network Over the summer tech jour-nalists and analysts were positively wooed keeping a watchful eye on every indicator (precise or not) of increasing traffic and user activity on Google+ The Washington Post even announced in August that ldquoGoogle Plus could be the fastest-growing site in historyrdquo In all of history Well as long as wersquove had websites anyway (The original comScore report noted that it was the fast-est site to reach 25 million unique visits In what can only be described as a bizarre game of cyberjournalism this report morphed into Reutersrsquo claim that Google+ ldquoattracted 25 million usersrdquo and The Washington Postrsquos assertion that ldquoGoogle has 25 million usersrdquo)

Google+ launched business Pages on November 7 Pages were already popu-lar on Facebook and since Google+ hadnrsquot included them at the start there was a lot of

anticipation around the launch In the weeks following however Google+ would struggle to connect with brands their brands in turn would struggle to connect with a user base worth marketing to within the Google+ network

As Google began integrating brand Page results in seemingly dominant positions in the organic search listings other compa-nies began to cry foul Hot on the heels of that development Google made their latest foray into social search Google Search Plus Your World (SPY World anyone) in early January Twitter for one lost it quite pub-licly announcing ldquoWersquore concerned that as a result of Googlersquos changes finding this infor-mation will be much harder for everyone We think thatrsquos bad for people publishers news organizations and Twitter usersrdquo Their con-cern stemmed partly from the possibility that Google might have been abusing their dominance in their core industry search to excel in the realm of social largely Twitterrsquos and Facebookrsquos territory to that point The old grumblings of antitrust resurfaced only to peter out again within a few months

Later in January Google again stunned users and analysts with the announcement of an amalgamated privacy policy one that would bring user data from all 60+ of their

services under one umbrella They said that this would be better for users Many dis-agreed some agencies threatened to inves-tigate and users protested yet perhaps the widest-ranging and most important change in Googlersquos policies went off as planned on April 1

Also in January a month marked by a flurry of announcements from the search giant Google changed the sign-up process for many of their services Those signing on for a Gmail or YouTube account were auto-matically assigned a Google+ account Prom-inent markers appeared in the navigation bar every time users visited a Google property urging them to check out their notifications on the social network

Why Engagement Is Incidental Only Google knows how effective this was at actually getting people to the site although I suspect that user engagement was only a secondary goal at best In response to a scathing WSJcom article ticking off the

ldquomounting minusesrdquo at Google+ I wrote an article explaining why low user counts and engagement might not matter to Google

Facebook has had to find outside partners nurture (and invest heavily in) the app envi-ronment and build out their ecosystem over a period of years in order to gain access to the type and depth of user data they need to power their advertisement business Google is transitioning the other way from an advertising and data powerhouse to a social platform They already have an incredible reach largely through their DoubleClick ad network and dozens of properties

They donrsquot need to seek out partners who offer services users might opt into to share data back and forth They already have the data theyrsquore collecting it from millions of websites and user actions often without the usersrsquo explicit knowledge that theyrsquore being tracked at the time Whereas Facebookrsquos data pool shows more intent on the part of usersmdashthey liked something they shared something elsemdashGoogle reigns supreme in

The State of Google+ One Year LaterGoogle Hasnrsquot Yet Carved Their Niche in Social but Do They Even Need To

by Miranda Miller

Google doesnrsquot need to seek out partners who offer

services users might opt into to share data back and

forth They already have the data theyrsquore collecting it from millions of websites

and user actions

Whereas Facebookrsquos data pool shows more intent

on the part of users Google reigns supreme in

the low-intent market

sesconferencecom bull SES 13

focusSOCIALMEDIA

the low-intent market They know when and where you check your email on your Android They know the types of videos you search for and watch on YouTube

This is a fantastic thing for advertisers For users hellip not so much Yet users sign up for Google accounts in droves opting into Google+ without a second thought Track-ing goes beyond the actions users take while signed in to a Google service interacting with a +1 button on a website for example could set a cookie allowing tracking over all Google properties for a period of time

The efforts of the W3C Tracking Protec-tion Working Group will have huge ramifi-cations for the online advertising industry especially for Google If users click a +1 social icon is that really an interaction with Google Have they really indicated the intent to share data with Google for the next 24 36 or 48 hours from every website they visit that might show Google ads These ques-tions have no answers right now but the

working group aims to define first and third parties Advertisers will not be satisfied with poorly targeted paid search and display ads so Google and other ad companies need the data However users need their privacy

ConclusionWhat we are seeing in the current online advertising environment is a precarious balancing act with Google perched square in the middle teetering from side to side Everyone in the industry and even in the mainstream media has their eyes on Google+ Google has certainly given us plenty to talk about Hangouts with Obama seemingly constant updates and new features and even a recent redesign complete with new naviga-tion and profile pages

We canrsquot forget though that Google+ is just one cog in the wheel that drives Googlersquos 44 stake in the $486 billion global adver-tising market (see report by ZenithOpti-media) While slick photos funny updates

and all manner of things are being shared or overshared on the front end of Google+ the real action occurs behind the scenes Google doesnrsquot really need you hanging out on the Google+ site all day long they just need you to have an account and do everything you would normally do on the web in the course of a daymdashand donrsquot mind if they tag along while you do it

Google VP Bradley Horowitz said it best in September when he proclaimed that

ldquoGoogle+ is Google itselfrdquo Indeed

A staff writer with Search En-

gine Watch Miranda Miller co-

ordinates the annual Translit-

eracy Conference for Ontario

educators manages a small

number of social media cam-

paigns through an agency and serves on the Ca-

nadian Hemophilia Societyrsquos Advisory Board for

their Code Rouge awareness project

common sense better than to the dollars and cents that our clientsrsquo creditors understand

In practice my firm generally limits our recommendations to the big three of Face-book Twitter and Google+ placing other social networks into an ldquoadvisably optionalrdquo category Our clients have enough difficulty wrapping their heads around Facebook and Twitter without worrying about other net-works We include Google+ in the mix only because of the ldquorel=authorrdquo support and because we believe that Google actively favors websites associated with Google+ profiles

Training businesses to promote their ideas and images on Facebook and Google+ is relatively easy and teaching them Twit-ter behaviors and etiquette is only slightly harder Even though we limit our advice to

the big three we still end up chasing clients to convince them to monitor and maintain their social networks We do recommend secondary social networks such as LinkedIn Pinterest and Foursquare as they apply to clients and as clients can afford our training and application rates

We know that we are missing traffic but we balance this drawback by being practical In cases where we have to act as social media coordinators for our small to medium-sized business clients exposing them to only the big three limits our need to bill for out-of-control charges for allotted work time It also helps to ease clients into expanding their own social media participation and interaction

ConclusionDigital marketing professionals have to make a lot of choices as we steer clients along the

social media learning curve By sticking to the most trafficked social networks and deploying assets in secondary ones as neces-sary my company believes that wersquove found a balance our clients can live with

SES Toronto will provide a valuable forum for Canadian practitioners to dis-cuss the problems inherent in social media marketing

Jim Hedger is a founding part-

ner of the Toronto-based

search and social media mar-

keting agency Digital Always

Media He has an extensive

background in SEO dating to

the late 1990s He leads the SEO and content cre-

ation teams at Digital Always Media

Doing Forensics on Fruit Salad

continued from page 11

14 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus CONVERSIONamp ROI

Conversion optimization has been around for a while but its benefits are hard to ignore These include reduced cost of acquisition through

digital marketing increased customer satis-faction and retention increased average rev-enue per order and improved search engine rankings In order to reap the rewards of an optimization program you need to know where to start what to avoid and how to develop your program for long-term success

Getting StartedDo-it-yourself small business owners digital marketers and web analysts tend to inherit a lot of excess baggage so focusing on only one or two sore spots on a website is often difficult Consider these top five places to start

1 Optimize paid search landing pages Look-ing for big impact right away Optimize those paid search landing pages and start counting the money you save on search marketing immediately Vary your value proposition urgency pricing product mix and form length

2 Examine internal search results pages Searches performed on your website often yield the best (and cheapest) way to judge the voice of the customer These searchers are committed visi-tors who probably arenrsquot finding what they want intuitively Look at queries with no results top queries that should be satisfied through navigation and perhaps synonyms you didnrsquot consider when writing creative

3 Enhance your help sections Areas on a website dedicated to helping people are most often frequented by loyal custom-ers who would rather solve problems on their own than cost you money by calling or emailing support staff Help them help you by optimizing help docs downloads and public service messages

4 Test product and service recommendations The art of the upsell is best exhibited by e-commerce giants such as Apple Ama-zon GoDaddy and Dell If yoursquore able to measure cart abandonment on your site yoursquore ready to start testing product and service recommendations to increase your average revenue per order

5 Evaluate pathways from top entry pages Entry pages to your site are a bit harder to optimize because referred traffic through search or other websites isnrsquot always continuous or predictable but itrsquos usually free Measure common path-ways from entry pages to determine how content can be changed to reduce bounce rate you may just improve your search rankings at the same time

Growing the BaseOnce yoursquove started building quick wins in your conversion optimization program yoursquoll want to maintain that momentum and expand your effort to other areas of your site Unfortunately many marketers fall into the trap of overoptimizing based on bad advice so try to avoid or at least question the fol-lowing five optimization tips that can hurt conversion rates

1 Tip to avoid Keep your copy short sharp concise Itrsquos hard to argue that trimming the overall content on a landing page would be anything but successful for most campaigns as it reduces the prob-ability that a landing page will over-whelm a prospect However providing less information may hurt overall con-version rates over time or worse still lower average revenue per order

2 Tip to avoid Remove or de-emphasize primary and secondary navigation from the template of your landing page Fewer escape routes make prospects more likely to continue along your chosen path However a lack of consistency

across the rest of your site may com-promise new visitorsrsquo trust and result in higher abandonment

3 Tip to avoid Add trust marks to your land-ing pages While I certainly can attest to the conversion lift that trust marks can provide on an e-commerce site landing pages are somewhat different In most cases getting visitors to click on links deeper in your site to privacy statements and certificates can be a more powerful way to convert skeptical prospects

4 Tip to avoid Boost your brand with tes-timonials and client logos In B2B cam-paigns association with large-scale brands with which you do business can boost conversion especially for start-ups but do your due diligence by seek-ing written approval for logo usage and recommendations The last thing you want is conflict with a long-term lucra-tive client

5 Tip to avoid Incentivize your prospects with freebies calls for urgency and pro-motions While these tactics can elicit a strong positive reaction among first-time visitors they can have very unde-sirable effects on lead quality Many visitors are conditioned to perform microconversions such as lead forms without reading anything else on a landing page Donrsquot be afraid to lose a few cheapskates on your landing pages who would otherwise sacrifice your profitability

Planning for the FutureNow that yoursquore well on your way to optimi-zation nirvana yoursquoll want to expand your program beyond online impact and start leveraging your online success for dramatic cross-channel maturity Here are five things to consider when bridging conversion opti-mization to business process optimization

The Conversion Optimization Life CycleWhich Advice Should You Follow and Which Should You Avoid in Structuring Your Optimization Program

by Garry Przyklenk

sesconferencecom bull SES 15

focusCONVERSIONamp ROI

1 Relate online customer pain points to front-line personnel Some of the best online optimizations can result in a cultural shift or reimaging of the offline sales process and vice versa Keep your sales and support members in the loop of online optimizations because your cross-channel prospects are often very similar

2 Try some of your companyrsquos own products and services The importance of stepping into your customersrsquo shoes cannot be overemphasized Irsquove done it on numer-ous occasions with a high degree of success It helps to assume an angry persona and pretend that you have less than five minutes to do anything that you need to do

3 Build new products and services with optimization in mind Build a culture of

conversion testing by baking it into the product or client life cycle Letrsquos face itmdasha lot can go wrong from initial con-ceptualization of a product or service to delivery especially when development cycles are really wrong

4 Leverage web analytics information and customer relationship management sys-tems (CRMs) Integration of web ana-lytics data with CRMs is much more common these days because businesses usually have a significant portion of their operations or interactions with customers through nonline channels

5 Analyze the competition Sometimes the best original score is a remix Think yoursquore smarter than your competitor Prove it by testing their ideas with your audience to find out what they might be doing better or worse

Although no two websites are exactly the same in terms of customer experience and behavior similarly structured products and services likely attract similar prospects and customers

For more guidance on conversion optimiza-tion be sure to visit one of the many optimi-zation sessions at SES this year

Garry Przyklenk manager of

analytics implementation at

TD Bank Group is an expert in

lead generation search engine

marketing web analytics and

social media marketing He has

successfully championed creative marketing cam-

paigns and executed on actionable insights in

several vertical markets

learn more about a different aspect of the industry For example if yoursquore an in-house SEO you may find yourself responsible for your companyrsquos social media You already know about Facebook LinkedIn and Twitter but you may not know which is right for your industry and the ways in which success will be defined Since a social media program is not just about ldquolikesrdquo and ldquofollowersrdquo align-ing it with corporate objectives to generate revenue is not a simple matter

At the other end are large organizations rolling out training to their employees Some allocate specific courses to individuals and make completion compulsory while others give employees access to the library of con-tent and encourage self-study in the areas that would be the most beneficial Online training is perfect for companies who do not

have the budget or time to send everyone to a course and allows each employee to receive a tailored syllabus

This kind of program can be comple-mented by an in-house training sessionmdasha course tailored to meet the specific objec-tives of the organization and held at the com-panyrsquos offices By blending online and class-room courses ClickZ Academy makes sure that employees from different offices arrive at the in-house portion with the same basic understanding so that their time together is maximized

Catch That Missed Session with Conference RecordingsBecause several concurrent content tracks run at SES conferences you may find that you are not able to attend every session that you would like Therefore we now offer recorded sessions from some conferences

The recordings sync the PowerPoint presen-tations and the videos simulating the experi-ence of being at the sessions This is a conve-nient way to catch up on any session that you missed or to share sessions with colleagues Available for purchase on the ClickZAcad-emy website recordings cover a number of tracks Recordings from SES London are now available and consist of the Kick Start PPC and Accelerator tracks

To learn more stop by the ClickZ table at SES Toronto or visit ClickZacademycom

Paul Fegan is head of e-learn-

ing at Incisive Media and is re-

sponsible for creating on-line

training content for all of its

brands He co-founded his own

e-learning company and has

been delivering online professional and CPD train-

ing since 2000

How ClickZ Academy Can Work for You

continued from page 1

16 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

sessions SES Toronto | June 11ndash13 2012 | hosted by

Day 1mdashMonday June 11

1030ndash1130amTrack 2Driving Mobile Traffic PPC amp SEOJump-start your mobile presence with these fundamentals for pre-senting content thatrsquos both SEO- and mobile-friendly Not fully ready for a mobile site Learn inexpensive and easy options to get started the right way From desktop and mobile to tablets smart-phones and feature phones wersquoll dive into key mobile differences for SEO and PPC and the strategies to drive and convert more mobile traffic

Moderator Gregg Stewart President 15 Miles

Speaker Jeff Allen Account Manager Hanapin Marketing

Speaker Jeremy Evans Director of Strategic Accounts Marin Software

1145ndash1245pmTrack 2Developing a Video Optimization amp Marketing CampaignThis session will use real-world examples to help you understand and master the entire video process including what to create how to optimize your video how to market it with search and social media and how to measure its real business impact

Moderator Sage Lewis President SageRockcom

Speaker Jonathan Allen Director Search Engine Watch

Speaker Greg Jarboe President amp Co-founder SEO-PR

200ndash300pmTrack 2Made in Canada Marketing Online WorldwideThis session will focus on specific challenges facing Canadian Internet marketers It will cover

bull How to balance Canadian and American content challenges in a consistent meaningful way (domains architecture content keyphrases etc)

bull How to compete in the US market as a Canadian business and not lose your Canadian online presence

bull The different results on Googlecom and Googleca from a search engine perspective and which consumers prefer the search enginesrsquo growing preferences for local

Moderator Andrew Goodman SES Advisory Board President Page Zero Media

Speaker Anne F Kennedy SES Advisory Board International Search Strategist Author Beyond Ink USA

Speaker Ian McAnerin CEO McAnerin International Inc

Speaker Ezra Silverton President 9th sphere

330ndash430pmTrack 3Content Marketing OptimizationOnline marketing is increasingly competitive and brand marketers worldwide are seeking real advantages that will improve the effi-ciency and impact of their social media and SEO efforts This ses-sion will provide unique insight into content-based optimization strategies and processes as well as tactics for sourcing creating and promoting optimized content on the social web

Speaker Matt McGowan Managing Director Americas Incisive Media

Krista LaRiviere CoFounder amp CEO gShift Labs

Speaker Lee Odden SES Advisory Board CEO TopRank Online Marketing

Speaker Jennifer Slegg CEO JenSense

Sample SessionsDownload the app or visit wwwSESTorontocom for complete agenda and session descriptions

sesconferencecom bull SES 17

sessionsDownload the app or visit SESNewYorkcom

Day 2mdashTuesday June 12

900ndash1000amTrack 2Social Media Solutions on a BudgetGetting your company or organization started with social media doesnrsquot have to be a pricey proposition In this session yoursquoll learn how to

bull Take advantage of great free and low-cost tools that cover man-aging conversations measuring reach and engagement and developingpublishing great content

bull Leverage lesser-known social media channels to increase expo-sure and reach

bull Create great social media friendly content to build trust and authority inexpensively

Moderator Laura Roth Conference Program amp Training Manager SES Conference amp Expo

Speaker Danny Iny Co-Founder Firepole Marketing

Speaker Krista Neher CEO Boot Camp Digital

130ndash230pmTrack 3From Keywords to ldquoBuy Wordsrdquo Finding High-Value Paid Search Keywords

ldquoProfessorsrdquo Van Wagner and Goodman will take you beyond garden-variety keyword lists to delve deeper into how user queries signal different kinds of intent You will learn how to go beyond the blind reading of ldquoafter-the-factrdquo ROI statistics how to anticipate how your most valuable searchers will express themselves with search que-ries and even how to subtly mold their preferences as they progress from search queries to your ads landing pages and transactions

Moderator Greg Jarboe President amp Co-founder SEO-PR

Speaker Andrew Goodman SES Advisory Board President Page Zero Media

Speaker Matt Van Wagner President Find Me Faster

300ndash400pmTrack 2Conquering the Growing Canadian Affiliate Marketing IndustryIn this session you will learn the following and more

bull Affiliate marketing in Canada is a viable growing traffic channel bull Online retail merchants need to educate and form strategic

partnerships with web publishers in order to generate traffic bull Establishing a successful Canadian affiliate marketing channel

requires sophisticated software development strategic market-ing and stability

bull Retail merchants need to be prepared to accommodate Canadian affiliate partnerships with the right tools in order for all parties to succeed

Speaker Nicky Senyard President Share Results

415ndash515pmTrack 1Maximizing ROI in e-Commerce with SearchAll e-commerce websites and e-tailers should be on top of certain ROI trends and opportunities This session will show you how to maximize ROI in e-commerce by leveraging one e-marketing chan-nel to improve the performance of another You will hear a series of combined channel campaign strategies along with case studies that illustrate how to maximize the ROI of your campaigns by taking advantage of low-hanging fruit

Moderator Chris Boggs SES Advisory Board Director SEO Rosetta

Speaker Guillaume Bouchard President CEO NVI

Speaker Elazar Gabay Vice President Performance Marketing LeSiteca

515ndash615pmSEW Eliminator QuizJoin us for the inaugural SEW Eliminator Quiz a pub-trivia-style networking event where you and your fellow marketers will compete to see who is the savviest and most knowledgeable marketer in the room Afterward yoursquoll have a chance to network with your favorite drink in hand

New YorkMarch

ShanghaiApril

TorontoJune -

San FranciscoAugust -

Hong KongSeptember ndash

BerlinOctober ndash

ChicagoNovember -

SingaporeNovember ndash

San DiegoFebruary

LondonFebruary

SES Conference amp Expo is the leading global event series that educates professionals in search and social marketing putting a special focus on tactics and best practices SES Events provide instructions from the industryrsquos top experts including representatives from the Search Engines themselves

World Tour ndash

SESConferencecom

Page 12: SES Magazine Toronto 2012

10 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus MARKETING INSIGHTS

Searching for a new digital agency is a lot like searching for a mate you spend a lot of time seeing other peo-ple (the RFP process) you eventually

narrow it down to a handful of prospects (the short-list) and eventually you think yoursquove found ldquothe onerdquo (the winning agency) After much wooing and negotiation you agree to move in together (onboarding) and the real

ldquogetting to know each otherrdquo officially begins (the client-agency relationship)

The first couple of months are usu-ally pretty blissful both parties are filled with hope and positivity about the excit-ing adventures (programstactics) to come But you inevitably find out things that you didnrsquot know before and that you may not like Things get a bit bumpy and you start to become disenfranchised with your part-ner Gradually everything starts to unravel

mdashall of a sudden a year has gone by and yoursquore threatening to break up if your mate (agency) doesnrsquot get his or her act together

It doesnrsquot have to be this way There is a way to maintain the honeymoon period indefinitely It really starts with choosing the right partner in the first place Onboarding a new agency is a huge investment so make sure that the agency you choose is going to work out in the long term Ask the following questions about a prospective agency before making your decision

Do the Agencyrsquos Skills Closely Align to Your NeedsRelationship Buster While this may seem obvious often client-agency relationships fail due to mismatches between the cli-entsrsquo needs and the agenciesrsquo competen-cies Agencies do a good job of downplaying their weaknesses and selling their strengths sometimes giving clients distorted represen-tations of their capabilities Clients can also become enamored of specific strengths that arenrsquot even top priorities for the firms

Relationship Saver Have a clear understand-ing of what you need and what yoursquore looking

for in an agency and consistently apply that as a filter when evaluating potential part-ners It is critical that you choose an agency based on a realistic evaluation of your needs and whether their core competencies align with these If yoursquore looking for a digital agency that can offer innovative solutions to engage your audience donrsquot let yourself get wooed by a flashy creative presentation unless yoursquore sure that they have the chops to deliver on the technology side Alterna-tively if you already have a skilled IT team in house and really need a strong strategic and creative shop be sure that they can bring their creative A-game

Does the Agency Have the Proven Ability to DeliverRelationship Buster Clients sometimes under-estimate the importance of delivery in digi-tal programs It is easy to get distracted by cutting-edge solutions and fail to consider whether these programs can realistically be deployed on time on budget and at a high-quality level

Relationship Saver Verify agenciesrsquo track records in deploying similar solutions in a timely and efficient manner They should be able to provide case studies of similar work successfully delivered for other clients and clearly articulate their process for taking a high-level solutionstrategy to detailed tactical implementation plans Strong proj-ect management competence is critical to

ensure that projects are delivered within budget and timelines They should also be able to demonstrate that they have sufficient resources in place to deliver on multiple con-current work streams

Does the Agency Play Well with OthersRelationship Buster Most clients have mul-tiple agency partnersmdashtypically at least a creativeoffline agency and a media agency in addition to their digital agency Clients sometimes assume that all partners will work towards a common goal and that inte-gration will naturally take place However some agencies tend toward a protective or even combative nature when working with other agencies creating a host of problems when interdependencies are present between both agenciesrsquo initiatives

Relationship Saver Prospective partners need to be able to demonstrate the ability to get along with others Your agency should be able to point to specific examples of how they have worked with other agency partners in a harmonious and mutually beneficial way They should demonstrate the ability to take a leadership role in coordinating cross-agency collaboration and integration and have an established process for helping to define and document roles and responsibilities among agency partners

There are many other factors to take into consideration when choosing a new digital agency partner but avoiding the pitfalls above should increase your chances of a long and successful union Happy hunting

Julie Batten is VP strategy digital media at Klick Health focused on online media and digital She brings a wealth of experi-ence in search marketing

digital media and all facets of digital strat-egy to bear helping Klickrsquos clients develop innovative digital solutions

Make Your Client-Agency Relationship WorkThree Considerations When Choosing a Partner

by Julie Batten

Have a clear understanding of what you need and what yoursquore looking for in an agency and

consistently apply that as a filter when evaluating potential partners It is

critical that you choose an agency based on a realistic evaluation of your needs

sesconferencecom bull SES 11

focusSOCIALINTEGRATION

Social media is public relations Social media is inclusionary Social media is necessary to compete with your competitors Social media is todayrsquos

big thingSocial media is also tomorrowrsquos next big

thing More appropriately some form of social media application is tomorrowrsquos next big thing Yesterdayrsquos appears to have been Pinterest which is threatening to displace Foursquare as the mayor of forgotten places As digital marketing experts we are calling on our clients to invest increasing amounts of time staff and money in an area that is evolving too quickly for us to fully under-stand The benefits of increased traffic are obvious but the return on investment on a wide spread of social media profiles can be somewhat harder to quantify

The Changes in Social MediaWith over one-third of the adult population using Facebook Canadians constitute one of the largest national social media footprints in the world Being early adopters Canadian Internet users became amazingly social amazingly quickly Unfortunately many if not most Canadian businesses have not kept up This isnrsquot just because Canadian compa-nies donrsquot fully grasp the social part of the medium itrsquos also because the budgeting and planning necessary to create an effective social media presence is daunting on paper without a clear understanding of benefits

Social media applications have existed for almost as long as the commercial web Early social media applications such as Classmates and Friendster acted as basic connectors They werenrsquot great for commu-nication among users but they provided an ideal foundation on which all subsequent social media applications could build Web 20 which came on the scene in 2003 was a breakthrough that allowed users to inter-act with websites and with each other This was the dawn of the user-generated content (UGC) era Nearly ten years later wersquore just

beginning to understand the fuller implica-tions of UGC on search and the web

Many of the sessions at SES Toronto will address social media measurement engage-ment and techniques Each of the speakers addressing social media has developed his or her own techniques and tactics based on personal experience and shared knowledge Each of them will say that every social media experience is unique Each will maintain that the very best social media experience is one that promotes authenticity and earnest con-nection over marketing and promotion

As the digital marketing environment changes so must the priorities of digital marketers and the clients we serve While itrsquos always about driving good traffic the digital marketing landscape is transforming more rapidly than ever before Social media is continuously extending frontiers and new areas are expanding as rapidly as UGC can be created and user intent can be ascertained and harnessed

To say that social has had an impact on search would be an understatement for search marketers this shift has not been subtle Moving away from its fascination with search SEO has for the last two years focused on social From studying how Face-book alters user behaviors to finding cor-relations between social signals and search engine placements social media has domi-nated search marketing discourse by becom-ing a more popular form of public directory To say that you understand the impact of social media on search would be a vaguely worded lie Nobody understands exactly how social meshes with search Witness Google+

Getting Clients to Be SocialTrying to figure out how to integrate social into search is akin to integrating apples with oranges kiwis strawberries grapes cottage cheese and bananas Itrsquos easy to spot iden-tify and describe the effects of an apple itrsquos not as easy to do forensics on fruit salad This creates yet another problem for digital

marketers when trying to convince small businesses and corporate clients that bud-geting time and money for social media is important

To be authentic in the truest sense cli-ents would do the work in house However in-house SEOSMM is often impractical for the smaller businesses that make up the vast majority of clients This means that the service must be either outsourced to a third party or performed by a digital market-ing agency It is a huge challenge for digi-tal markers to help clients be authentic in a constantly evolving environment that none of us fully grasp

Digital marketers face a number of other issues when guiding clients in the social sphere It is really difficult to know whether the plethora of random information linking to clientsrsquo websites is beneficial or detrimen-tal We have to push our clients into actively participating in an arena that they donrsquot fully understand or we have to try to recre-ate their voices ourselves and authenticity is very hard to engender in the second- or third-party voice Lastly we have to quan-tify a return on investment that translates to

Doing Forensics on Fruit SaladThe Challenge of Developing Practical Client-Friendly Strategies in the Unpredictable Social Media Environment

by Jim Hedger

continues on page 13

From studying how Facebook alters user behaviors to finding

correlations between social signals and search engine placements social media

has dominated search marketing discourse by

becoming a more popular form of public directory

To say that you understand the impact of social

media on search would be a vaguely worded lie

12 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus SOCIALMEDIA

As the first birthday of Googlersquos latest baby draws near the organic search and paid advertising behemoth con- tinues to struggle to find their

niche in social A year ago Google+ was just a rumor Google would deny the existence of a social project until the very day it launched in late June

In that year theyrsquove launched expanded experimented and redesigned the service incurring the verbal wrath of competitors Facebook and Twitter on a number of occa-sions Itrsquos been a whirlwind for Google+ and all fifteen of its loyal users

I kid To be fair there is a small but dedi-cated group of core users in the Google+ net-work Larry Page Sergey Brin Vic Gundotra and the rest of the crew have become old pros at dodging questions about the num-ber of actual active users but we can safely assume that itrsquos nowhere near Facebookrsquos 850 million Does it need to be

Googlersquos Busy Year What Google has accomplished with Google+ in under a year is nothing short of amazing June 2011 saw the launch of Google+ as a social network Over the summer tech jour-nalists and analysts were positively wooed keeping a watchful eye on every indicator (precise or not) of increasing traffic and user activity on Google+ The Washington Post even announced in August that ldquoGoogle Plus could be the fastest-growing site in historyrdquo In all of history Well as long as wersquove had websites anyway (The original comScore report noted that it was the fast-est site to reach 25 million unique visits In what can only be described as a bizarre game of cyberjournalism this report morphed into Reutersrsquo claim that Google+ ldquoattracted 25 million usersrdquo and The Washington Postrsquos assertion that ldquoGoogle has 25 million usersrdquo)

Google+ launched business Pages on November 7 Pages were already popu-lar on Facebook and since Google+ hadnrsquot included them at the start there was a lot of

anticipation around the launch In the weeks following however Google+ would struggle to connect with brands their brands in turn would struggle to connect with a user base worth marketing to within the Google+ network

As Google began integrating brand Page results in seemingly dominant positions in the organic search listings other compa-nies began to cry foul Hot on the heels of that development Google made their latest foray into social search Google Search Plus Your World (SPY World anyone) in early January Twitter for one lost it quite pub-licly announcing ldquoWersquore concerned that as a result of Googlersquos changes finding this infor-mation will be much harder for everyone We think thatrsquos bad for people publishers news organizations and Twitter usersrdquo Their con-cern stemmed partly from the possibility that Google might have been abusing their dominance in their core industry search to excel in the realm of social largely Twitterrsquos and Facebookrsquos territory to that point The old grumblings of antitrust resurfaced only to peter out again within a few months

Later in January Google again stunned users and analysts with the announcement of an amalgamated privacy policy one that would bring user data from all 60+ of their

services under one umbrella They said that this would be better for users Many dis-agreed some agencies threatened to inves-tigate and users protested yet perhaps the widest-ranging and most important change in Googlersquos policies went off as planned on April 1

Also in January a month marked by a flurry of announcements from the search giant Google changed the sign-up process for many of their services Those signing on for a Gmail or YouTube account were auto-matically assigned a Google+ account Prom-inent markers appeared in the navigation bar every time users visited a Google property urging them to check out their notifications on the social network

Why Engagement Is Incidental Only Google knows how effective this was at actually getting people to the site although I suspect that user engagement was only a secondary goal at best In response to a scathing WSJcom article ticking off the

ldquomounting minusesrdquo at Google+ I wrote an article explaining why low user counts and engagement might not matter to Google

Facebook has had to find outside partners nurture (and invest heavily in) the app envi-ronment and build out their ecosystem over a period of years in order to gain access to the type and depth of user data they need to power their advertisement business Google is transitioning the other way from an advertising and data powerhouse to a social platform They already have an incredible reach largely through their DoubleClick ad network and dozens of properties

They donrsquot need to seek out partners who offer services users might opt into to share data back and forth They already have the data theyrsquore collecting it from millions of websites and user actions often without the usersrsquo explicit knowledge that theyrsquore being tracked at the time Whereas Facebookrsquos data pool shows more intent on the part of usersmdashthey liked something they shared something elsemdashGoogle reigns supreme in

The State of Google+ One Year LaterGoogle Hasnrsquot Yet Carved Their Niche in Social but Do They Even Need To

by Miranda Miller

Google doesnrsquot need to seek out partners who offer

services users might opt into to share data back and

forth They already have the data theyrsquore collecting it from millions of websites

and user actions

Whereas Facebookrsquos data pool shows more intent

on the part of users Google reigns supreme in

the low-intent market

sesconferencecom bull SES 13

focusSOCIALMEDIA

the low-intent market They know when and where you check your email on your Android They know the types of videos you search for and watch on YouTube

This is a fantastic thing for advertisers For users hellip not so much Yet users sign up for Google accounts in droves opting into Google+ without a second thought Track-ing goes beyond the actions users take while signed in to a Google service interacting with a +1 button on a website for example could set a cookie allowing tracking over all Google properties for a period of time

The efforts of the W3C Tracking Protec-tion Working Group will have huge ramifi-cations for the online advertising industry especially for Google If users click a +1 social icon is that really an interaction with Google Have they really indicated the intent to share data with Google for the next 24 36 or 48 hours from every website they visit that might show Google ads These ques-tions have no answers right now but the

working group aims to define first and third parties Advertisers will not be satisfied with poorly targeted paid search and display ads so Google and other ad companies need the data However users need their privacy

ConclusionWhat we are seeing in the current online advertising environment is a precarious balancing act with Google perched square in the middle teetering from side to side Everyone in the industry and even in the mainstream media has their eyes on Google+ Google has certainly given us plenty to talk about Hangouts with Obama seemingly constant updates and new features and even a recent redesign complete with new naviga-tion and profile pages

We canrsquot forget though that Google+ is just one cog in the wheel that drives Googlersquos 44 stake in the $486 billion global adver-tising market (see report by ZenithOpti-media) While slick photos funny updates

and all manner of things are being shared or overshared on the front end of Google+ the real action occurs behind the scenes Google doesnrsquot really need you hanging out on the Google+ site all day long they just need you to have an account and do everything you would normally do on the web in the course of a daymdashand donrsquot mind if they tag along while you do it

Google VP Bradley Horowitz said it best in September when he proclaimed that

ldquoGoogle+ is Google itselfrdquo Indeed

A staff writer with Search En-

gine Watch Miranda Miller co-

ordinates the annual Translit-

eracy Conference for Ontario

educators manages a small

number of social media cam-

paigns through an agency and serves on the Ca-

nadian Hemophilia Societyrsquos Advisory Board for

their Code Rouge awareness project

common sense better than to the dollars and cents that our clientsrsquo creditors understand

In practice my firm generally limits our recommendations to the big three of Face-book Twitter and Google+ placing other social networks into an ldquoadvisably optionalrdquo category Our clients have enough difficulty wrapping their heads around Facebook and Twitter without worrying about other net-works We include Google+ in the mix only because of the ldquorel=authorrdquo support and because we believe that Google actively favors websites associated with Google+ profiles

Training businesses to promote their ideas and images on Facebook and Google+ is relatively easy and teaching them Twit-ter behaviors and etiquette is only slightly harder Even though we limit our advice to

the big three we still end up chasing clients to convince them to monitor and maintain their social networks We do recommend secondary social networks such as LinkedIn Pinterest and Foursquare as they apply to clients and as clients can afford our training and application rates

We know that we are missing traffic but we balance this drawback by being practical In cases where we have to act as social media coordinators for our small to medium-sized business clients exposing them to only the big three limits our need to bill for out-of-control charges for allotted work time It also helps to ease clients into expanding their own social media participation and interaction

ConclusionDigital marketing professionals have to make a lot of choices as we steer clients along the

social media learning curve By sticking to the most trafficked social networks and deploying assets in secondary ones as neces-sary my company believes that wersquove found a balance our clients can live with

SES Toronto will provide a valuable forum for Canadian practitioners to dis-cuss the problems inherent in social media marketing

Jim Hedger is a founding part-

ner of the Toronto-based

search and social media mar-

keting agency Digital Always

Media He has an extensive

background in SEO dating to

the late 1990s He leads the SEO and content cre-

ation teams at Digital Always Media

Doing Forensics on Fruit Salad

continued from page 11

14 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus CONVERSIONamp ROI

Conversion optimization has been around for a while but its benefits are hard to ignore These include reduced cost of acquisition through

digital marketing increased customer satis-faction and retention increased average rev-enue per order and improved search engine rankings In order to reap the rewards of an optimization program you need to know where to start what to avoid and how to develop your program for long-term success

Getting StartedDo-it-yourself small business owners digital marketers and web analysts tend to inherit a lot of excess baggage so focusing on only one or two sore spots on a website is often difficult Consider these top five places to start

1 Optimize paid search landing pages Look-ing for big impact right away Optimize those paid search landing pages and start counting the money you save on search marketing immediately Vary your value proposition urgency pricing product mix and form length

2 Examine internal search results pages Searches performed on your website often yield the best (and cheapest) way to judge the voice of the customer These searchers are committed visi-tors who probably arenrsquot finding what they want intuitively Look at queries with no results top queries that should be satisfied through navigation and perhaps synonyms you didnrsquot consider when writing creative

3 Enhance your help sections Areas on a website dedicated to helping people are most often frequented by loyal custom-ers who would rather solve problems on their own than cost you money by calling or emailing support staff Help them help you by optimizing help docs downloads and public service messages

4 Test product and service recommendations The art of the upsell is best exhibited by e-commerce giants such as Apple Ama-zon GoDaddy and Dell If yoursquore able to measure cart abandonment on your site yoursquore ready to start testing product and service recommendations to increase your average revenue per order

5 Evaluate pathways from top entry pages Entry pages to your site are a bit harder to optimize because referred traffic through search or other websites isnrsquot always continuous or predictable but itrsquos usually free Measure common path-ways from entry pages to determine how content can be changed to reduce bounce rate you may just improve your search rankings at the same time

Growing the BaseOnce yoursquove started building quick wins in your conversion optimization program yoursquoll want to maintain that momentum and expand your effort to other areas of your site Unfortunately many marketers fall into the trap of overoptimizing based on bad advice so try to avoid or at least question the fol-lowing five optimization tips that can hurt conversion rates

1 Tip to avoid Keep your copy short sharp concise Itrsquos hard to argue that trimming the overall content on a landing page would be anything but successful for most campaigns as it reduces the prob-ability that a landing page will over-whelm a prospect However providing less information may hurt overall con-version rates over time or worse still lower average revenue per order

2 Tip to avoid Remove or de-emphasize primary and secondary navigation from the template of your landing page Fewer escape routes make prospects more likely to continue along your chosen path However a lack of consistency

across the rest of your site may com-promise new visitorsrsquo trust and result in higher abandonment

3 Tip to avoid Add trust marks to your land-ing pages While I certainly can attest to the conversion lift that trust marks can provide on an e-commerce site landing pages are somewhat different In most cases getting visitors to click on links deeper in your site to privacy statements and certificates can be a more powerful way to convert skeptical prospects

4 Tip to avoid Boost your brand with tes-timonials and client logos In B2B cam-paigns association with large-scale brands with which you do business can boost conversion especially for start-ups but do your due diligence by seek-ing written approval for logo usage and recommendations The last thing you want is conflict with a long-term lucra-tive client

5 Tip to avoid Incentivize your prospects with freebies calls for urgency and pro-motions While these tactics can elicit a strong positive reaction among first-time visitors they can have very unde-sirable effects on lead quality Many visitors are conditioned to perform microconversions such as lead forms without reading anything else on a landing page Donrsquot be afraid to lose a few cheapskates on your landing pages who would otherwise sacrifice your profitability

Planning for the FutureNow that yoursquore well on your way to optimi-zation nirvana yoursquoll want to expand your program beyond online impact and start leveraging your online success for dramatic cross-channel maturity Here are five things to consider when bridging conversion opti-mization to business process optimization

The Conversion Optimization Life CycleWhich Advice Should You Follow and Which Should You Avoid in Structuring Your Optimization Program

by Garry Przyklenk

sesconferencecom bull SES 15

focusCONVERSIONamp ROI

1 Relate online customer pain points to front-line personnel Some of the best online optimizations can result in a cultural shift or reimaging of the offline sales process and vice versa Keep your sales and support members in the loop of online optimizations because your cross-channel prospects are often very similar

2 Try some of your companyrsquos own products and services The importance of stepping into your customersrsquo shoes cannot be overemphasized Irsquove done it on numer-ous occasions with a high degree of success It helps to assume an angry persona and pretend that you have less than five minutes to do anything that you need to do

3 Build new products and services with optimization in mind Build a culture of

conversion testing by baking it into the product or client life cycle Letrsquos face itmdasha lot can go wrong from initial con-ceptualization of a product or service to delivery especially when development cycles are really wrong

4 Leverage web analytics information and customer relationship management sys-tems (CRMs) Integration of web ana-lytics data with CRMs is much more common these days because businesses usually have a significant portion of their operations or interactions with customers through nonline channels

5 Analyze the competition Sometimes the best original score is a remix Think yoursquore smarter than your competitor Prove it by testing their ideas with your audience to find out what they might be doing better or worse

Although no two websites are exactly the same in terms of customer experience and behavior similarly structured products and services likely attract similar prospects and customers

For more guidance on conversion optimiza-tion be sure to visit one of the many optimi-zation sessions at SES this year

Garry Przyklenk manager of

analytics implementation at

TD Bank Group is an expert in

lead generation search engine

marketing web analytics and

social media marketing He has

successfully championed creative marketing cam-

paigns and executed on actionable insights in

several vertical markets

learn more about a different aspect of the industry For example if yoursquore an in-house SEO you may find yourself responsible for your companyrsquos social media You already know about Facebook LinkedIn and Twitter but you may not know which is right for your industry and the ways in which success will be defined Since a social media program is not just about ldquolikesrdquo and ldquofollowersrdquo align-ing it with corporate objectives to generate revenue is not a simple matter

At the other end are large organizations rolling out training to their employees Some allocate specific courses to individuals and make completion compulsory while others give employees access to the library of con-tent and encourage self-study in the areas that would be the most beneficial Online training is perfect for companies who do not

have the budget or time to send everyone to a course and allows each employee to receive a tailored syllabus

This kind of program can be comple-mented by an in-house training sessionmdasha course tailored to meet the specific objec-tives of the organization and held at the com-panyrsquos offices By blending online and class-room courses ClickZ Academy makes sure that employees from different offices arrive at the in-house portion with the same basic understanding so that their time together is maximized

Catch That Missed Session with Conference RecordingsBecause several concurrent content tracks run at SES conferences you may find that you are not able to attend every session that you would like Therefore we now offer recorded sessions from some conferences

The recordings sync the PowerPoint presen-tations and the videos simulating the experi-ence of being at the sessions This is a conve-nient way to catch up on any session that you missed or to share sessions with colleagues Available for purchase on the ClickZAcad-emy website recordings cover a number of tracks Recordings from SES London are now available and consist of the Kick Start PPC and Accelerator tracks

To learn more stop by the ClickZ table at SES Toronto or visit ClickZacademycom

Paul Fegan is head of e-learn-

ing at Incisive Media and is re-

sponsible for creating on-line

training content for all of its

brands He co-founded his own

e-learning company and has

been delivering online professional and CPD train-

ing since 2000

How ClickZ Academy Can Work for You

continued from page 1

16 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

sessions SES Toronto | June 11ndash13 2012 | hosted by

Day 1mdashMonday June 11

1030ndash1130amTrack 2Driving Mobile Traffic PPC amp SEOJump-start your mobile presence with these fundamentals for pre-senting content thatrsquos both SEO- and mobile-friendly Not fully ready for a mobile site Learn inexpensive and easy options to get started the right way From desktop and mobile to tablets smart-phones and feature phones wersquoll dive into key mobile differences for SEO and PPC and the strategies to drive and convert more mobile traffic

Moderator Gregg Stewart President 15 Miles

Speaker Jeff Allen Account Manager Hanapin Marketing

Speaker Jeremy Evans Director of Strategic Accounts Marin Software

1145ndash1245pmTrack 2Developing a Video Optimization amp Marketing CampaignThis session will use real-world examples to help you understand and master the entire video process including what to create how to optimize your video how to market it with search and social media and how to measure its real business impact

Moderator Sage Lewis President SageRockcom

Speaker Jonathan Allen Director Search Engine Watch

Speaker Greg Jarboe President amp Co-founder SEO-PR

200ndash300pmTrack 2Made in Canada Marketing Online WorldwideThis session will focus on specific challenges facing Canadian Internet marketers It will cover

bull How to balance Canadian and American content challenges in a consistent meaningful way (domains architecture content keyphrases etc)

bull How to compete in the US market as a Canadian business and not lose your Canadian online presence

bull The different results on Googlecom and Googleca from a search engine perspective and which consumers prefer the search enginesrsquo growing preferences for local

Moderator Andrew Goodman SES Advisory Board President Page Zero Media

Speaker Anne F Kennedy SES Advisory Board International Search Strategist Author Beyond Ink USA

Speaker Ian McAnerin CEO McAnerin International Inc

Speaker Ezra Silverton President 9th sphere

330ndash430pmTrack 3Content Marketing OptimizationOnline marketing is increasingly competitive and brand marketers worldwide are seeking real advantages that will improve the effi-ciency and impact of their social media and SEO efforts This ses-sion will provide unique insight into content-based optimization strategies and processes as well as tactics for sourcing creating and promoting optimized content on the social web

Speaker Matt McGowan Managing Director Americas Incisive Media

Krista LaRiviere CoFounder amp CEO gShift Labs

Speaker Lee Odden SES Advisory Board CEO TopRank Online Marketing

Speaker Jennifer Slegg CEO JenSense

Sample SessionsDownload the app or visit wwwSESTorontocom for complete agenda and session descriptions

sesconferencecom bull SES 17

sessionsDownload the app or visit SESNewYorkcom

Day 2mdashTuesday June 12

900ndash1000amTrack 2Social Media Solutions on a BudgetGetting your company or organization started with social media doesnrsquot have to be a pricey proposition In this session yoursquoll learn how to

bull Take advantage of great free and low-cost tools that cover man-aging conversations measuring reach and engagement and developingpublishing great content

bull Leverage lesser-known social media channels to increase expo-sure and reach

bull Create great social media friendly content to build trust and authority inexpensively

Moderator Laura Roth Conference Program amp Training Manager SES Conference amp Expo

Speaker Danny Iny Co-Founder Firepole Marketing

Speaker Krista Neher CEO Boot Camp Digital

130ndash230pmTrack 3From Keywords to ldquoBuy Wordsrdquo Finding High-Value Paid Search Keywords

ldquoProfessorsrdquo Van Wagner and Goodman will take you beyond garden-variety keyword lists to delve deeper into how user queries signal different kinds of intent You will learn how to go beyond the blind reading of ldquoafter-the-factrdquo ROI statistics how to anticipate how your most valuable searchers will express themselves with search que-ries and even how to subtly mold their preferences as they progress from search queries to your ads landing pages and transactions

Moderator Greg Jarboe President amp Co-founder SEO-PR

Speaker Andrew Goodman SES Advisory Board President Page Zero Media

Speaker Matt Van Wagner President Find Me Faster

300ndash400pmTrack 2Conquering the Growing Canadian Affiliate Marketing IndustryIn this session you will learn the following and more

bull Affiliate marketing in Canada is a viable growing traffic channel bull Online retail merchants need to educate and form strategic

partnerships with web publishers in order to generate traffic bull Establishing a successful Canadian affiliate marketing channel

requires sophisticated software development strategic market-ing and stability

bull Retail merchants need to be prepared to accommodate Canadian affiliate partnerships with the right tools in order for all parties to succeed

Speaker Nicky Senyard President Share Results

415ndash515pmTrack 1Maximizing ROI in e-Commerce with SearchAll e-commerce websites and e-tailers should be on top of certain ROI trends and opportunities This session will show you how to maximize ROI in e-commerce by leveraging one e-marketing chan-nel to improve the performance of another You will hear a series of combined channel campaign strategies along with case studies that illustrate how to maximize the ROI of your campaigns by taking advantage of low-hanging fruit

Moderator Chris Boggs SES Advisory Board Director SEO Rosetta

Speaker Guillaume Bouchard President CEO NVI

Speaker Elazar Gabay Vice President Performance Marketing LeSiteca

515ndash615pmSEW Eliminator QuizJoin us for the inaugural SEW Eliminator Quiz a pub-trivia-style networking event where you and your fellow marketers will compete to see who is the savviest and most knowledgeable marketer in the room Afterward yoursquoll have a chance to network with your favorite drink in hand

New YorkMarch

ShanghaiApril

TorontoJune -

San FranciscoAugust -

Hong KongSeptember ndash

BerlinOctober ndash

ChicagoNovember -

SingaporeNovember ndash

San DiegoFebruary

LondonFebruary

SES Conference amp Expo is the leading global event series that educates professionals in search and social marketing putting a special focus on tactics and best practices SES Events provide instructions from the industryrsquos top experts including representatives from the Search Engines themselves

World Tour ndash

SESConferencecom

Page 13: SES Magazine Toronto 2012

sesconferencecom bull SES 11

focusSOCIALINTEGRATION

Social media is public relations Social media is inclusionary Social media is necessary to compete with your competitors Social media is todayrsquos

big thingSocial media is also tomorrowrsquos next big

thing More appropriately some form of social media application is tomorrowrsquos next big thing Yesterdayrsquos appears to have been Pinterest which is threatening to displace Foursquare as the mayor of forgotten places As digital marketing experts we are calling on our clients to invest increasing amounts of time staff and money in an area that is evolving too quickly for us to fully under-stand The benefits of increased traffic are obvious but the return on investment on a wide spread of social media profiles can be somewhat harder to quantify

The Changes in Social MediaWith over one-third of the adult population using Facebook Canadians constitute one of the largest national social media footprints in the world Being early adopters Canadian Internet users became amazingly social amazingly quickly Unfortunately many if not most Canadian businesses have not kept up This isnrsquot just because Canadian compa-nies donrsquot fully grasp the social part of the medium itrsquos also because the budgeting and planning necessary to create an effective social media presence is daunting on paper without a clear understanding of benefits

Social media applications have existed for almost as long as the commercial web Early social media applications such as Classmates and Friendster acted as basic connectors They werenrsquot great for commu-nication among users but they provided an ideal foundation on which all subsequent social media applications could build Web 20 which came on the scene in 2003 was a breakthrough that allowed users to inter-act with websites and with each other This was the dawn of the user-generated content (UGC) era Nearly ten years later wersquore just

beginning to understand the fuller implica-tions of UGC on search and the web

Many of the sessions at SES Toronto will address social media measurement engage-ment and techniques Each of the speakers addressing social media has developed his or her own techniques and tactics based on personal experience and shared knowledge Each of them will say that every social media experience is unique Each will maintain that the very best social media experience is one that promotes authenticity and earnest con-nection over marketing and promotion

As the digital marketing environment changes so must the priorities of digital marketers and the clients we serve While itrsquos always about driving good traffic the digital marketing landscape is transforming more rapidly than ever before Social media is continuously extending frontiers and new areas are expanding as rapidly as UGC can be created and user intent can be ascertained and harnessed

To say that social has had an impact on search would be an understatement for search marketers this shift has not been subtle Moving away from its fascination with search SEO has for the last two years focused on social From studying how Face-book alters user behaviors to finding cor-relations between social signals and search engine placements social media has domi-nated search marketing discourse by becom-ing a more popular form of public directory To say that you understand the impact of social media on search would be a vaguely worded lie Nobody understands exactly how social meshes with search Witness Google+

Getting Clients to Be SocialTrying to figure out how to integrate social into search is akin to integrating apples with oranges kiwis strawberries grapes cottage cheese and bananas Itrsquos easy to spot iden-tify and describe the effects of an apple itrsquos not as easy to do forensics on fruit salad This creates yet another problem for digital

marketers when trying to convince small businesses and corporate clients that bud-geting time and money for social media is important

To be authentic in the truest sense cli-ents would do the work in house However in-house SEOSMM is often impractical for the smaller businesses that make up the vast majority of clients This means that the service must be either outsourced to a third party or performed by a digital market-ing agency It is a huge challenge for digi-tal markers to help clients be authentic in a constantly evolving environment that none of us fully grasp

Digital marketers face a number of other issues when guiding clients in the social sphere It is really difficult to know whether the plethora of random information linking to clientsrsquo websites is beneficial or detrimen-tal We have to push our clients into actively participating in an arena that they donrsquot fully understand or we have to try to recre-ate their voices ourselves and authenticity is very hard to engender in the second- or third-party voice Lastly we have to quan-tify a return on investment that translates to

Doing Forensics on Fruit SaladThe Challenge of Developing Practical Client-Friendly Strategies in the Unpredictable Social Media Environment

by Jim Hedger

continues on page 13

From studying how Facebook alters user behaviors to finding

correlations between social signals and search engine placements social media

has dominated search marketing discourse by

becoming a more popular form of public directory

To say that you understand the impact of social

media on search would be a vaguely worded lie

12 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus SOCIALMEDIA

As the first birthday of Googlersquos latest baby draws near the organic search and paid advertising behemoth con- tinues to struggle to find their

niche in social A year ago Google+ was just a rumor Google would deny the existence of a social project until the very day it launched in late June

In that year theyrsquove launched expanded experimented and redesigned the service incurring the verbal wrath of competitors Facebook and Twitter on a number of occa-sions Itrsquos been a whirlwind for Google+ and all fifteen of its loyal users

I kid To be fair there is a small but dedi-cated group of core users in the Google+ net-work Larry Page Sergey Brin Vic Gundotra and the rest of the crew have become old pros at dodging questions about the num-ber of actual active users but we can safely assume that itrsquos nowhere near Facebookrsquos 850 million Does it need to be

Googlersquos Busy Year What Google has accomplished with Google+ in under a year is nothing short of amazing June 2011 saw the launch of Google+ as a social network Over the summer tech jour-nalists and analysts were positively wooed keeping a watchful eye on every indicator (precise or not) of increasing traffic and user activity on Google+ The Washington Post even announced in August that ldquoGoogle Plus could be the fastest-growing site in historyrdquo In all of history Well as long as wersquove had websites anyway (The original comScore report noted that it was the fast-est site to reach 25 million unique visits In what can only be described as a bizarre game of cyberjournalism this report morphed into Reutersrsquo claim that Google+ ldquoattracted 25 million usersrdquo and The Washington Postrsquos assertion that ldquoGoogle has 25 million usersrdquo)

Google+ launched business Pages on November 7 Pages were already popu-lar on Facebook and since Google+ hadnrsquot included them at the start there was a lot of

anticipation around the launch In the weeks following however Google+ would struggle to connect with brands their brands in turn would struggle to connect with a user base worth marketing to within the Google+ network

As Google began integrating brand Page results in seemingly dominant positions in the organic search listings other compa-nies began to cry foul Hot on the heels of that development Google made their latest foray into social search Google Search Plus Your World (SPY World anyone) in early January Twitter for one lost it quite pub-licly announcing ldquoWersquore concerned that as a result of Googlersquos changes finding this infor-mation will be much harder for everyone We think thatrsquos bad for people publishers news organizations and Twitter usersrdquo Their con-cern stemmed partly from the possibility that Google might have been abusing their dominance in their core industry search to excel in the realm of social largely Twitterrsquos and Facebookrsquos territory to that point The old grumblings of antitrust resurfaced only to peter out again within a few months

Later in January Google again stunned users and analysts with the announcement of an amalgamated privacy policy one that would bring user data from all 60+ of their

services under one umbrella They said that this would be better for users Many dis-agreed some agencies threatened to inves-tigate and users protested yet perhaps the widest-ranging and most important change in Googlersquos policies went off as planned on April 1

Also in January a month marked by a flurry of announcements from the search giant Google changed the sign-up process for many of their services Those signing on for a Gmail or YouTube account were auto-matically assigned a Google+ account Prom-inent markers appeared in the navigation bar every time users visited a Google property urging them to check out their notifications on the social network

Why Engagement Is Incidental Only Google knows how effective this was at actually getting people to the site although I suspect that user engagement was only a secondary goal at best In response to a scathing WSJcom article ticking off the

ldquomounting minusesrdquo at Google+ I wrote an article explaining why low user counts and engagement might not matter to Google

Facebook has had to find outside partners nurture (and invest heavily in) the app envi-ronment and build out their ecosystem over a period of years in order to gain access to the type and depth of user data they need to power their advertisement business Google is transitioning the other way from an advertising and data powerhouse to a social platform They already have an incredible reach largely through their DoubleClick ad network and dozens of properties

They donrsquot need to seek out partners who offer services users might opt into to share data back and forth They already have the data theyrsquore collecting it from millions of websites and user actions often without the usersrsquo explicit knowledge that theyrsquore being tracked at the time Whereas Facebookrsquos data pool shows more intent on the part of usersmdashthey liked something they shared something elsemdashGoogle reigns supreme in

The State of Google+ One Year LaterGoogle Hasnrsquot Yet Carved Their Niche in Social but Do They Even Need To

by Miranda Miller

Google doesnrsquot need to seek out partners who offer

services users might opt into to share data back and

forth They already have the data theyrsquore collecting it from millions of websites

and user actions

Whereas Facebookrsquos data pool shows more intent

on the part of users Google reigns supreme in

the low-intent market

sesconferencecom bull SES 13

focusSOCIALMEDIA

the low-intent market They know when and where you check your email on your Android They know the types of videos you search for and watch on YouTube

This is a fantastic thing for advertisers For users hellip not so much Yet users sign up for Google accounts in droves opting into Google+ without a second thought Track-ing goes beyond the actions users take while signed in to a Google service interacting with a +1 button on a website for example could set a cookie allowing tracking over all Google properties for a period of time

The efforts of the W3C Tracking Protec-tion Working Group will have huge ramifi-cations for the online advertising industry especially for Google If users click a +1 social icon is that really an interaction with Google Have they really indicated the intent to share data with Google for the next 24 36 or 48 hours from every website they visit that might show Google ads These ques-tions have no answers right now but the

working group aims to define first and third parties Advertisers will not be satisfied with poorly targeted paid search and display ads so Google and other ad companies need the data However users need their privacy

ConclusionWhat we are seeing in the current online advertising environment is a precarious balancing act with Google perched square in the middle teetering from side to side Everyone in the industry and even in the mainstream media has their eyes on Google+ Google has certainly given us plenty to talk about Hangouts with Obama seemingly constant updates and new features and even a recent redesign complete with new naviga-tion and profile pages

We canrsquot forget though that Google+ is just one cog in the wheel that drives Googlersquos 44 stake in the $486 billion global adver-tising market (see report by ZenithOpti-media) While slick photos funny updates

and all manner of things are being shared or overshared on the front end of Google+ the real action occurs behind the scenes Google doesnrsquot really need you hanging out on the Google+ site all day long they just need you to have an account and do everything you would normally do on the web in the course of a daymdashand donrsquot mind if they tag along while you do it

Google VP Bradley Horowitz said it best in September when he proclaimed that

ldquoGoogle+ is Google itselfrdquo Indeed

A staff writer with Search En-

gine Watch Miranda Miller co-

ordinates the annual Translit-

eracy Conference for Ontario

educators manages a small

number of social media cam-

paigns through an agency and serves on the Ca-

nadian Hemophilia Societyrsquos Advisory Board for

their Code Rouge awareness project

common sense better than to the dollars and cents that our clientsrsquo creditors understand

In practice my firm generally limits our recommendations to the big three of Face-book Twitter and Google+ placing other social networks into an ldquoadvisably optionalrdquo category Our clients have enough difficulty wrapping their heads around Facebook and Twitter without worrying about other net-works We include Google+ in the mix only because of the ldquorel=authorrdquo support and because we believe that Google actively favors websites associated with Google+ profiles

Training businesses to promote their ideas and images on Facebook and Google+ is relatively easy and teaching them Twit-ter behaviors and etiquette is only slightly harder Even though we limit our advice to

the big three we still end up chasing clients to convince them to monitor and maintain their social networks We do recommend secondary social networks such as LinkedIn Pinterest and Foursquare as they apply to clients and as clients can afford our training and application rates

We know that we are missing traffic but we balance this drawback by being practical In cases where we have to act as social media coordinators for our small to medium-sized business clients exposing them to only the big three limits our need to bill for out-of-control charges for allotted work time It also helps to ease clients into expanding their own social media participation and interaction

ConclusionDigital marketing professionals have to make a lot of choices as we steer clients along the

social media learning curve By sticking to the most trafficked social networks and deploying assets in secondary ones as neces-sary my company believes that wersquove found a balance our clients can live with

SES Toronto will provide a valuable forum for Canadian practitioners to dis-cuss the problems inherent in social media marketing

Jim Hedger is a founding part-

ner of the Toronto-based

search and social media mar-

keting agency Digital Always

Media He has an extensive

background in SEO dating to

the late 1990s He leads the SEO and content cre-

ation teams at Digital Always Media

Doing Forensics on Fruit Salad

continued from page 11

14 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus CONVERSIONamp ROI

Conversion optimization has been around for a while but its benefits are hard to ignore These include reduced cost of acquisition through

digital marketing increased customer satis-faction and retention increased average rev-enue per order and improved search engine rankings In order to reap the rewards of an optimization program you need to know where to start what to avoid and how to develop your program for long-term success

Getting StartedDo-it-yourself small business owners digital marketers and web analysts tend to inherit a lot of excess baggage so focusing on only one or two sore spots on a website is often difficult Consider these top five places to start

1 Optimize paid search landing pages Look-ing for big impact right away Optimize those paid search landing pages and start counting the money you save on search marketing immediately Vary your value proposition urgency pricing product mix and form length

2 Examine internal search results pages Searches performed on your website often yield the best (and cheapest) way to judge the voice of the customer These searchers are committed visi-tors who probably arenrsquot finding what they want intuitively Look at queries with no results top queries that should be satisfied through navigation and perhaps synonyms you didnrsquot consider when writing creative

3 Enhance your help sections Areas on a website dedicated to helping people are most often frequented by loyal custom-ers who would rather solve problems on their own than cost you money by calling or emailing support staff Help them help you by optimizing help docs downloads and public service messages

4 Test product and service recommendations The art of the upsell is best exhibited by e-commerce giants such as Apple Ama-zon GoDaddy and Dell If yoursquore able to measure cart abandonment on your site yoursquore ready to start testing product and service recommendations to increase your average revenue per order

5 Evaluate pathways from top entry pages Entry pages to your site are a bit harder to optimize because referred traffic through search or other websites isnrsquot always continuous or predictable but itrsquos usually free Measure common path-ways from entry pages to determine how content can be changed to reduce bounce rate you may just improve your search rankings at the same time

Growing the BaseOnce yoursquove started building quick wins in your conversion optimization program yoursquoll want to maintain that momentum and expand your effort to other areas of your site Unfortunately many marketers fall into the trap of overoptimizing based on bad advice so try to avoid or at least question the fol-lowing five optimization tips that can hurt conversion rates

1 Tip to avoid Keep your copy short sharp concise Itrsquos hard to argue that trimming the overall content on a landing page would be anything but successful for most campaigns as it reduces the prob-ability that a landing page will over-whelm a prospect However providing less information may hurt overall con-version rates over time or worse still lower average revenue per order

2 Tip to avoid Remove or de-emphasize primary and secondary navigation from the template of your landing page Fewer escape routes make prospects more likely to continue along your chosen path However a lack of consistency

across the rest of your site may com-promise new visitorsrsquo trust and result in higher abandonment

3 Tip to avoid Add trust marks to your land-ing pages While I certainly can attest to the conversion lift that trust marks can provide on an e-commerce site landing pages are somewhat different In most cases getting visitors to click on links deeper in your site to privacy statements and certificates can be a more powerful way to convert skeptical prospects

4 Tip to avoid Boost your brand with tes-timonials and client logos In B2B cam-paigns association with large-scale brands with which you do business can boost conversion especially for start-ups but do your due diligence by seek-ing written approval for logo usage and recommendations The last thing you want is conflict with a long-term lucra-tive client

5 Tip to avoid Incentivize your prospects with freebies calls for urgency and pro-motions While these tactics can elicit a strong positive reaction among first-time visitors they can have very unde-sirable effects on lead quality Many visitors are conditioned to perform microconversions such as lead forms without reading anything else on a landing page Donrsquot be afraid to lose a few cheapskates on your landing pages who would otherwise sacrifice your profitability

Planning for the FutureNow that yoursquore well on your way to optimi-zation nirvana yoursquoll want to expand your program beyond online impact and start leveraging your online success for dramatic cross-channel maturity Here are five things to consider when bridging conversion opti-mization to business process optimization

The Conversion Optimization Life CycleWhich Advice Should You Follow and Which Should You Avoid in Structuring Your Optimization Program

by Garry Przyklenk

sesconferencecom bull SES 15

focusCONVERSIONamp ROI

1 Relate online customer pain points to front-line personnel Some of the best online optimizations can result in a cultural shift or reimaging of the offline sales process and vice versa Keep your sales and support members in the loop of online optimizations because your cross-channel prospects are often very similar

2 Try some of your companyrsquos own products and services The importance of stepping into your customersrsquo shoes cannot be overemphasized Irsquove done it on numer-ous occasions with a high degree of success It helps to assume an angry persona and pretend that you have less than five minutes to do anything that you need to do

3 Build new products and services with optimization in mind Build a culture of

conversion testing by baking it into the product or client life cycle Letrsquos face itmdasha lot can go wrong from initial con-ceptualization of a product or service to delivery especially when development cycles are really wrong

4 Leverage web analytics information and customer relationship management sys-tems (CRMs) Integration of web ana-lytics data with CRMs is much more common these days because businesses usually have a significant portion of their operations or interactions with customers through nonline channels

5 Analyze the competition Sometimes the best original score is a remix Think yoursquore smarter than your competitor Prove it by testing their ideas with your audience to find out what they might be doing better or worse

Although no two websites are exactly the same in terms of customer experience and behavior similarly structured products and services likely attract similar prospects and customers

For more guidance on conversion optimiza-tion be sure to visit one of the many optimi-zation sessions at SES this year

Garry Przyklenk manager of

analytics implementation at

TD Bank Group is an expert in

lead generation search engine

marketing web analytics and

social media marketing He has

successfully championed creative marketing cam-

paigns and executed on actionable insights in

several vertical markets

learn more about a different aspect of the industry For example if yoursquore an in-house SEO you may find yourself responsible for your companyrsquos social media You already know about Facebook LinkedIn and Twitter but you may not know which is right for your industry and the ways in which success will be defined Since a social media program is not just about ldquolikesrdquo and ldquofollowersrdquo align-ing it with corporate objectives to generate revenue is not a simple matter

At the other end are large organizations rolling out training to their employees Some allocate specific courses to individuals and make completion compulsory while others give employees access to the library of con-tent and encourage self-study in the areas that would be the most beneficial Online training is perfect for companies who do not

have the budget or time to send everyone to a course and allows each employee to receive a tailored syllabus

This kind of program can be comple-mented by an in-house training sessionmdasha course tailored to meet the specific objec-tives of the organization and held at the com-panyrsquos offices By blending online and class-room courses ClickZ Academy makes sure that employees from different offices arrive at the in-house portion with the same basic understanding so that their time together is maximized

Catch That Missed Session with Conference RecordingsBecause several concurrent content tracks run at SES conferences you may find that you are not able to attend every session that you would like Therefore we now offer recorded sessions from some conferences

The recordings sync the PowerPoint presen-tations and the videos simulating the experi-ence of being at the sessions This is a conve-nient way to catch up on any session that you missed or to share sessions with colleagues Available for purchase on the ClickZAcad-emy website recordings cover a number of tracks Recordings from SES London are now available and consist of the Kick Start PPC and Accelerator tracks

To learn more stop by the ClickZ table at SES Toronto or visit ClickZacademycom

Paul Fegan is head of e-learn-

ing at Incisive Media and is re-

sponsible for creating on-line

training content for all of its

brands He co-founded his own

e-learning company and has

been delivering online professional and CPD train-

ing since 2000

How ClickZ Academy Can Work for You

continued from page 1

16 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

sessions SES Toronto | June 11ndash13 2012 | hosted by

Day 1mdashMonday June 11

1030ndash1130amTrack 2Driving Mobile Traffic PPC amp SEOJump-start your mobile presence with these fundamentals for pre-senting content thatrsquos both SEO- and mobile-friendly Not fully ready for a mobile site Learn inexpensive and easy options to get started the right way From desktop and mobile to tablets smart-phones and feature phones wersquoll dive into key mobile differences for SEO and PPC and the strategies to drive and convert more mobile traffic

Moderator Gregg Stewart President 15 Miles

Speaker Jeff Allen Account Manager Hanapin Marketing

Speaker Jeremy Evans Director of Strategic Accounts Marin Software

1145ndash1245pmTrack 2Developing a Video Optimization amp Marketing CampaignThis session will use real-world examples to help you understand and master the entire video process including what to create how to optimize your video how to market it with search and social media and how to measure its real business impact

Moderator Sage Lewis President SageRockcom

Speaker Jonathan Allen Director Search Engine Watch

Speaker Greg Jarboe President amp Co-founder SEO-PR

200ndash300pmTrack 2Made in Canada Marketing Online WorldwideThis session will focus on specific challenges facing Canadian Internet marketers It will cover

bull How to balance Canadian and American content challenges in a consistent meaningful way (domains architecture content keyphrases etc)

bull How to compete in the US market as a Canadian business and not lose your Canadian online presence

bull The different results on Googlecom and Googleca from a search engine perspective and which consumers prefer the search enginesrsquo growing preferences for local

Moderator Andrew Goodman SES Advisory Board President Page Zero Media

Speaker Anne F Kennedy SES Advisory Board International Search Strategist Author Beyond Ink USA

Speaker Ian McAnerin CEO McAnerin International Inc

Speaker Ezra Silverton President 9th sphere

330ndash430pmTrack 3Content Marketing OptimizationOnline marketing is increasingly competitive and brand marketers worldwide are seeking real advantages that will improve the effi-ciency and impact of their social media and SEO efforts This ses-sion will provide unique insight into content-based optimization strategies and processes as well as tactics for sourcing creating and promoting optimized content on the social web

Speaker Matt McGowan Managing Director Americas Incisive Media

Krista LaRiviere CoFounder amp CEO gShift Labs

Speaker Lee Odden SES Advisory Board CEO TopRank Online Marketing

Speaker Jennifer Slegg CEO JenSense

Sample SessionsDownload the app or visit wwwSESTorontocom for complete agenda and session descriptions

sesconferencecom bull SES 17

sessionsDownload the app or visit SESNewYorkcom

Day 2mdashTuesday June 12

900ndash1000amTrack 2Social Media Solutions on a BudgetGetting your company or organization started with social media doesnrsquot have to be a pricey proposition In this session yoursquoll learn how to

bull Take advantage of great free and low-cost tools that cover man-aging conversations measuring reach and engagement and developingpublishing great content

bull Leverage lesser-known social media channels to increase expo-sure and reach

bull Create great social media friendly content to build trust and authority inexpensively

Moderator Laura Roth Conference Program amp Training Manager SES Conference amp Expo

Speaker Danny Iny Co-Founder Firepole Marketing

Speaker Krista Neher CEO Boot Camp Digital

130ndash230pmTrack 3From Keywords to ldquoBuy Wordsrdquo Finding High-Value Paid Search Keywords

ldquoProfessorsrdquo Van Wagner and Goodman will take you beyond garden-variety keyword lists to delve deeper into how user queries signal different kinds of intent You will learn how to go beyond the blind reading of ldquoafter-the-factrdquo ROI statistics how to anticipate how your most valuable searchers will express themselves with search que-ries and even how to subtly mold their preferences as they progress from search queries to your ads landing pages and transactions

Moderator Greg Jarboe President amp Co-founder SEO-PR

Speaker Andrew Goodman SES Advisory Board President Page Zero Media

Speaker Matt Van Wagner President Find Me Faster

300ndash400pmTrack 2Conquering the Growing Canadian Affiliate Marketing IndustryIn this session you will learn the following and more

bull Affiliate marketing in Canada is a viable growing traffic channel bull Online retail merchants need to educate and form strategic

partnerships with web publishers in order to generate traffic bull Establishing a successful Canadian affiliate marketing channel

requires sophisticated software development strategic market-ing and stability

bull Retail merchants need to be prepared to accommodate Canadian affiliate partnerships with the right tools in order for all parties to succeed

Speaker Nicky Senyard President Share Results

415ndash515pmTrack 1Maximizing ROI in e-Commerce with SearchAll e-commerce websites and e-tailers should be on top of certain ROI trends and opportunities This session will show you how to maximize ROI in e-commerce by leveraging one e-marketing chan-nel to improve the performance of another You will hear a series of combined channel campaign strategies along with case studies that illustrate how to maximize the ROI of your campaigns by taking advantage of low-hanging fruit

Moderator Chris Boggs SES Advisory Board Director SEO Rosetta

Speaker Guillaume Bouchard President CEO NVI

Speaker Elazar Gabay Vice President Performance Marketing LeSiteca

515ndash615pmSEW Eliminator QuizJoin us for the inaugural SEW Eliminator Quiz a pub-trivia-style networking event where you and your fellow marketers will compete to see who is the savviest and most knowledgeable marketer in the room Afterward yoursquoll have a chance to network with your favorite drink in hand

New YorkMarch

ShanghaiApril

TorontoJune -

San FranciscoAugust -

Hong KongSeptember ndash

BerlinOctober ndash

ChicagoNovember -

SingaporeNovember ndash

San DiegoFebruary

LondonFebruary

SES Conference amp Expo is the leading global event series that educates professionals in search and social marketing putting a special focus on tactics and best practices SES Events provide instructions from the industryrsquos top experts including representatives from the Search Engines themselves

World Tour ndash

SESConferencecom

Page 14: SES Magazine Toronto 2012

12 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus SOCIALMEDIA

As the first birthday of Googlersquos latest baby draws near the organic search and paid advertising behemoth con- tinues to struggle to find their

niche in social A year ago Google+ was just a rumor Google would deny the existence of a social project until the very day it launched in late June

In that year theyrsquove launched expanded experimented and redesigned the service incurring the verbal wrath of competitors Facebook and Twitter on a number of occa-sions Itrsquos been a whirlwind for Google+ and all fifteen of its loyal users

I kid To be fair there is a small but dedi-cated group of core users in the Google+ net-work Larry Page Sergey Brin Vic Gundotra and the rest of the crew have become old pros at dodging questions about the num-ber of actual active users but we can safely assume that itrsquos nowhere near Facebookrsquos 850 million Does it need to be

Googlersquos Busy Year What Google has accomplished with Google+ in under a year is nothing short of amazing June 2011 saw the launch of Google+ as a social network Over the summer tech jour-nalists and analysts were positively wooed keeping a watchful eye on every indicator (precise or not) of increasing traffic and user activity on Google+ The Washington Post even announced in August that ldquoGoogle Plus could be the fastest-growing site in historyrdquo In all of history Well as long as wersquove had websites anyway (The original comScore report noted that it was the fast-est site to reach 25 million unique visits In what can only be described as a bizarre game of cyberjournalism this report morphed into Reutersrsquo claim that Google+ ldquoattracted 25 million usersrdquo and The Washington Postrsquos assertion that ldquoGoogle has 25 million usersrdquo)

Google+ launched business Pages on November 7 Pages were already popu-lar on Facebook and since Google+ hadnrsquot included them at the start there was a lot of

anticipation around the launch In the weeks following however Google+ would struggle to connect with brands their brands in turn would struggle to connect with a user base worth marketing to within the Google+ network

As Google began integrating brand Page results in seemingly dominant positions in the organic search listings other compa-nies began to cry foul Hot on the heels of that development Google made their latest foray into social search Google Search Plus Your World (SPY World anyone) in early January Twitter for one lost it quite pub-licly announcing ldquoWersquore concerned that as a result of Googlersquos changes finding this infor-mation will be much harder for everyone We think thatrsquos bad for people publishers news organizations and Twitter usersrdquo Their con-cern stemmed partly from the possibility that Google might have been abusing their dominance in their core industry search to excel in the realm of social largely Twitterrsquos and Facebookrsquos territory to that point The old grumblings of antitrust resurfaced only to peter out again within a few months

Later in January Google again stunned users and analysts with the announcement of an amalgamated privacy policy one that would bring user data from all 60+ of their

services under one umbrella They said that this would be better for users Many dis-agreed some agencies threatened to inves-tigate and users protested yet perhaps the widest-ranging and most important change in Googlersquos policies went off as planned on April 1

Also in January a month marked by a flurry of announcements from the search giant Google changed the sign-up process for many of their services Those signing on for a Gmail or YouTube account were auto-matically assigned a Google+ account Prom-inent markers appeared in the navigation bar every time users visited a Google property urging them to check out their notifications on the social network

Why Engagement Is Incidental Only Google knows how effective this was at actually getting people to the site although I suspect that user engagement was only a secondary goal at best In response to a scathing WSJcom article ticking off the

ldquomounting minusesrdquo at Google+ I wrote an article explaining why low user counts and engagement might not matter to Google

Facebook has had to find outside partners nurture (and invest heavily in) the app envi-ronment and build out their ecosystem over a period of years in order to gain access to the type and depth of user data they need to power their advertisement business Google is transitioning the other way from an advertising and data powerhouse to a social platform They already have an incredible reach largely through their DoubleClick ad network and dozens of properties

They donrsquot need to seek out partners who offer services users might opt into to share data back and forth They already have the data theyrsquore collecting it from millions of websites and user actions often without the usersrsquo explicit knowledge that theyrsquore being tracked at the time Whereas Facebookrsquos data pool shows more intent on the part of usersmdashthey liked something they shared something elsemdashGoogle reigns supreme in

The State of Google+ One Year LaterGoogle Hasnrsquot Yet Carved Their Niche in Social but Do They Even Need To

by Miranda Miller

Google doesnrsquot need to seek out partners who offer

services users might opt into to share data back and

forth They already have the data theyrsquore collecting it from millions of websites

and user actions

Whereas Facebookrsquos data pool shows more intent

on the part of users Google reigns supreme in

the low-intent market

sesconferencecom bull SES 13

focusSOCIALMEDIA

the low-intent market They know when and where you check your email on your Android They know the types of videos you search for and watch on YouTube

This is a fantastic thing for advertisers For users hellip not so much Yet users sign up for Google accounts in droves opting into Google+ without a second thought Track-ing goes beyond the actions users take while signed in to a Google service interacting with a +1 button on a website for example could set a cookie allowing tracking over all Google properties for a period of time

The efforts of the W3C Tracking Protec-tion Working Group will have huge ramifi-cations for the online advertising industry especially for Google If users click a +1 social icon is that really an interaction with Google Have they really indicated the intent to share data with Google for the next 24 36 or 48 hours from every website they visit that might show Google ads These ques-tions have no answers right now but the

working group aims to define first and third parties Advertisers will not be satisfied with poorly targeted paid search and display ads so Google and other ad companies need the data However users need their privacy

ConclusionWhat we are seeing in the current online advertising environment is a precarious balancing act with Google perched square in the middle teetering from side to side Everyone in the industry and even in the mainstream media has their eyes on Google+ Google has certainly given us plenty to talk about Hangouts with Obama seemingly constant updates and new features and even a recent redesign complete with new naviga-tion and profile pages

We canrsquot forget though that Google+ is just one cog in the wheel that drives Googlersquos 44 stake in the $486 billion global adver-tising market (see report by ZenithOpti-media) While slick photos funny updates

and all manner of things are being shared or overshared on the front end of Google+ the real action occurs behind the scenes Google doesnrsquot really need you hanging out on the Google+ site all day long they just need you to have an account and do everything you would normally do on the web in the course of a daymdashand donrsquot mind if they tag along while you do it

Google VP Bradley Horowitz said it best in September when he proclaimed that

ldquoGoogle+ is Google itselfrdquo Indeed

A staff writer with Search En-

gine Watch Miranda Miller co-

ordinates the annual Translit-

eracy Conference for Ontario

educators manages a small

number of social media cam-

paigns through an agency and serves on the Ca-

nadian Hemophilia Societyrsquos Advisory Board for

their Code Rouge awareness project

common sense better than to the dollars and cents that our clientsrsquo creditors understand

In practice my firm generally limits our recommendations to the big three of Face-book Twitter and Google+ placing other social networks into an ldquoadvisably optionalrdquo category Our clients have enough difficulty wrapping their heads around Facebook and Twitter without worrying about other net-works We include Google+ in the mix only because of the ldquorel=authorrdquo support and because we believe that Google actively favors websites associated with Google+ profiles

Training businesses to promote their ideas and images on Facebook and Google+ is relatively easy and teaching them Twit-ter behaviors and etiquette is only slightly harder Even though we limit our advice to

the big three we still end up chasing clients to convince them to monitor and maintain their social networks We do recommend secondary social networks such as LinkedIn Pinterest and Foursquare as they apply to clients and as clients can afford our training and application rates

We know that we are missing traffic but we balance this drawback by being practical In cases where we have to act as social media coordinators for our small to medium-sized business clients exposing them to only the big three limits our need to bill for out-of-control charges for allotted work time It also helps to ease clients into expanding their own social media participation and interaction

ConclusionDigital marketing professionals have to make a lot of choices as we steer clients along the

social media learning curve By sticking to the most trafficked social networks and deploying assets in secondary ones as neces-sary my company believes that wersquove found a balance our clients can live with

SES Toronto will provide a valuable forum for Canadian practitioners to dis-cuss the problems inherent in social media marketing

Jim Hedger is a founding part-

ner of the Toronto-based

search and social media mar-

keting agency Digital Always

Media He has an extensive

background in SEO dating to

the late 1990s He leads the SEO and content cre-

ation teams at Digital Always Media

Doing Forensics on Fruit Salad

continued from page 11

14 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus CONVERSIONamp ROI

Conversion optimization has been around for a while but its benefits are hard to ignore These include reduced cost of acquisition through

digital marketing increased customer satis-faction and retention increased average rev-enue per order and improved search engine rankings In order to reap the rewards of an optimization program you need to know where to start what to avoid and how to develop your program for long-term success

Getting StartedDo-it-yourself small business owners digital marketers and web analysts tend to inherit a lot of excess baggage so focusing on only one or two sore spots on a website is often difficult Consider these top five places to start

1 Optimize paid search landing pages Look-ing for big impact right away Optimize those paid search landing pages and start counting the money you save on search marketing immediately Vary your value proposition urgency pricing product mix and form length

2 Examine internal search results pages Searches performed on your website often yield the best (and cheapest) way to judge the voice of the customer These searchers are committed visi-tors who probably arenrsquot finding what they want intuitively Look at queries with no results top queries that should be satisfied through navigation and perhaps synonyms you didnrsquot consider when writing creative

3 Enhance your help sections Areas on a website dedicated to helping people are most often frequented by loyal custom-ers who would rather solve problems on their own than cost you money by calling or emailing support staff Help them help you by optimizing help docs downloads and public service messages

4 Test product and service recommendations The art of the upsell is best exhibited by e-commerce giants such as Apple Ama-zon GoDaddy and Dell If yoursquore able to measure cart abandonment on your site yoursquore ready to start testing product and service recommendations to increase your average revenue per order

5 Evaluate pathways from top entry pages Entry pages to your site are a bit harder to optimize because referred traffic through search or other websites isnrsquot always continuous or predictable but itrsquos usually free Measure common path-ways from entry pages to determine how content can be changed to reduce bounce rate you may just improve your search rankings at the same time

Growing the BaseOnce yoursquove started building quick wins in your conversion optimization program yoursquoll want to maintain that momentum and expand your effort to other areas of your site Unfortunately many marketers fall into the trap of overoptimizing based on bad advice so try to avoid or at least question the fol-lowing five optimization tips that can hurt conversion rates

1 Tip to avoid Keep your copy short sharp concise Itrsquos hard to argue that trimming the overall content on a landing page would be anything but successful for most campaigns as it reduces the prob-ability that a landing page will over-whelm a prospect However providing less information may hurt overall con-version rates over time or worse still lower average revenue per order

2 Tip to avoid Remove or de-emphasize primary and secondary navigation from the template of your landing page Fewer escape routes make prospects more likely to continue along your chosen path However a lack of consistency

across the rest of your site may com-promise new visitorsrsquo trust and result in higher abandonment

3 Tip to avoid Add trust marks to your land-ing pages While I certainly can attest to the conversion lift that trust marks can provide on an e-commerce site landing pages are somewhat different In most cases getting visitors to click on links deeper in your site to privacy statements and certificates can be a more powerful way to convert skeptical prospects

4 Tip to avoid Boost your brand with tes-timonials and client logos In B2B cam-paigns association with large-scale brands with which you do business can boost conversion especially for start-ups but do your due diligence by seek-ing written approval for logo usage and recommendations The last thing you want is conflict with a long-term lucra-tive client

5 Tip to avoid Incentivize your prospects with freebies calls for urgency and pro-motions While these tactics can elicit a strong positive reaction among first-time visitors they can have very unde-sirable effects on lead quality Many visitors are conditioned to perform microconversions such as lead forms without reading anything else on a landing page Donrsquot be afraid to lose a few cheapskates on your landing pages who would otherwise sacrifice your profitability

Planning for the FutureNow that yoursquore well on your way to optimi-zation nirvana yoursquoll want to expand your program beyond online impact and start leveraging your online success for dramatic cross-channel maturity Here are five things to consider when bridging conversion opti-mization to business process optimization

The Conversion Optimization Life CycleWhich Advice Should You Follow and Which Should You Avoid in Structuring Your Optimization Program

by Garry Przyklenk

sesconferencecom bull SES 15

focusCONVERSIONamp ROI

1 Relate online customer pain points to front-line personnel Some of the best online optimizations can result in a cultural shift or reimaging of the offline sales process and vice versa Keep your sales and support members in the loop of online optimizations because your cross-channel prospects are often very similar

2 Try some of your companyrsquos own products and services The importance of stepping into your customersrsquo shoes cannot be overemphasized Irsquove done it on numer-ous occasions with a high degree of success It helps to assume an angry persona and pretend that you have less than five minutes to do anything that you need to do

3 Build new products and services with optimization in mind Build a culture of

conversion testing by baking it into the product or client life cycle Letrsquos face itmdasha lot can go wrong from initial con-ceptualization of a product or service to delivery especially when development cycles are really wrong

4 Leverage web analytics information and customer relationship management sys-tems (CRMs) Integration of web ana-lytics data with CRMs is much more common these days because businesses usually have a significant portion of their operations or interactions with customers through nonline channels

5 Analyze the competition Sometimes the best original score is a remix Think yoursquore smarter than your competitor Prove it by testing their ideas with your audience to find out what they might be doing better or worse

Although no two websites are exactly the same in terms of customer experience and behavior similarly structured products and services likely attract similar prospects and customers

For more guidance on conversion optimiza-tion be sure to visit one of the many optimi-zation sessions at SES this year

Garry Przyklenk manager of

analytics implementation at

TD Bank Group is an expert in

lead generation search engine

marketing web analytics and

social media marketing He has

successfully championed creative marketing cam-

paigns and executed on actionable insights in

several vertical markets

learn more about a different aspect of the industry For example if yoursquore an in-house SEO you may find yourself responsible for your companyrsquos social media You already know about Facebook LinkedIn and Twitter but you may not know which is right for your industry and the ways in which success will be defined Since a social media program is not just about ldquolikesrdquo and ldquofollowersrdquo align-ing it with corporate objectives to generate revenue is not a simple matter

At the other end are large organizations rolling out training to their employees Some allocate specific courses to individuals and make completion compulsory while others give employees access to the library of con-tent and encourage self-study in the areas that would be the most beneficial Online training is perfect for companies who do not

have the budget or time to send everyone to a course and allows each employee to receive a tailored syllabus

This kind of program can be comple-mented by an in-house training sessionmdasha course tailored to meet the specific objec-tives of the organization and held at the com-panyrsquos offices By blending online and class-room courses ClickZ Academy makes sure that employees from different offices arrive at the in-house portion with the same basic understanding so that their time together is maximized

Catch That Missed Session with Conference RecordingsBecause several concurrent content tracks run at SES conferences you may find that you are not able to attend every session that you would like Therefore we now offer recorded sessions from some conferences

The recordings sync the PowerPoint presen-tations and the videos simulating the experi-ence of being at the sessions This is a conve-nient way to catch up on any session that you missed or to share sessions with colleagues Available for purchase on the ClickZAcad-emy website recordings cover a number of tracks Recordings from SES London are now available and consist of the Kick Start PPC and Accelerator tracks

To learn more stop by the ClickZ table at SES Toronto or visit ClickZacademycom

Paul Fegan is head of e-learn-

ing at Incisive Media and is re-

sponsible for creating on-line

training content for all of its

brands He co-founded his own

e-learning company and has

been delivering online professional and CPD train-

ing since 2000

How ClickZ Academy Can Work for You

continued from page 1

16 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

sessions SES Toronto | June 11ndash13 2012 | hosted by

Day 1mdashMonday June 11

1030ndash1130amTrack 2Driving Mobile Traffic PPC amp SEOJump-start your mobile presence with these fundamentals for pre-senting content thatrsquos both SEO- and mobile-friendly Not fully ready for a mobile site Learn inexpensive and easy options to get started the right way From desktop and mobile to tablets smart-phones and feature phones wersquoll dive into key mobile differences for SEO and PPC and the strategies to drive and convert more mobile traffic

Moderator Gregg Stewart President 15 Miles

Speaker Jeff Allen Account Manager Hanapin Marketing

Speaker Jeremy Evans Director of Strategic Accounts Marin Software

1145ndash1245pmTrack 2Developing a Video Optimization amp Marketing CampaignThis session will use real-world examples to help you understand and master the entire video process including what to create how to optimize your video how to market it with search and social media and how to measure its real business impact

Moderator Sage Lewis President SageRockcom

Speaker Jonathan Allen Director Search Engine Watch

Speaker Greg Jarboe President amp Co-founder SEO-PR

200ndash300pmTrack 2Made in Canada Marketing Online WorldwideThis session will focus on specific challenges facing Canadian Internet marketers It will cover

bull How to balance Canadian and American content challenges in a consistent meaningful way (domains architecture content keyphrases etc)

bull How to compete in the US market as a Canadian business and not lose your Canadian online presence

bull The different results on Googlecom and Googleca from a search engine perspective and which consumers prefer the search enginesrsquo growing preferences for local

Moderator Andrew Goodman SES Advisory Board President Page Zero Media

Speaker Anne F Kennedy SES Advisory Board International Search Strategist Author Beyond Ink USA

Speaker Ian McAnerin CEO McAnerin International Inc

Speaker Ezra Silverton President 9th sphere

330ndash430pmTrack 3Content Marketing OptimizationOnline marketing is increasingly competitive and brand marketers worldwide are seeking real advantages that will improve the effi-ciency and impact of their social media and SEO efforts This ses-sion will provide unique insight into content-based optimization strategies and processes as well as tactics for sourcing creating and promoting optimized content on the social web

Speaker Matt McGowan Managing Director Americas Incisive Media

Krista LaRiviere CoFounder amp CEO gShift Labs

Speaker Lee Odden SES Advisory Board CEO TopRank Online Marketing

Speaker Jennifer Slegg CEO JenSense

Sample SessionsDownload the app or visit wwwSESTorontocom for complete agenda and session descriptions

sesconferencecom bull SES 17

sessionsDownload the app or visit SESNewYorkcom

Day 2mdashTuesday June 12

900ndash1000amTrack 2Social Media Solutions on a BudgetGetting your company or organization started with social media doesnrsquot have to be a pricey proposition In this session yoursquoll learn how to

bull Take advantage of great free and low-cost tools that cover man-aging conversations measuring reach and engagement and developingpublishing great content

bull Leverage lesser-known social media channels to increase expo-sure and reach

bull Create great social media friendly content to build trust and authority inexpensively

Moderator Laura Roth Conference Program amp Training Manager SES Conference amp Expo

Speaker Danny Iny Co-Founder Firepole Marketing

Speaker Krista Neher CEO Boot Camp Digital

130ndash230pmTrack 3From Keywords to ldquoBuy Wordsrdquo Finding High-Value Paid Search Keywords

ldquoProfessorsrdquo Van Wagner and Goodman will take you beyond garden-variety keyword lists to delve deeper into how user queries signal different kinds of intent You will learn how to go beyond the blind reading of ldquoafter-the-factrdquo ROI statistics how to anticipate how your most valuable searchers will express themselves with search que-ries and even how to subtly mold their preferences as they progress from search queries to your ads landing pages and transactions

Moderator Greg Jarboe President amp Co-founder SEO-PR

Speaker Andrew Goodman SES Advisory Board President Page Zero Media

Speaker Matt Van Wagner President Find Me Faster

300ndash400pmTrack 2Conquering the Growing Canadian Affiliate Marketing IndustryIn this session you will learn the following and more

bull Affiliate marketing in Canada is a viable growing traffic channel bull Online retail merchants need to educate and form strategic

partnerships with web publishers in order to generate traffic bull Establishing a successful Canadian affiliate marketing channel

requires sophisticated software development strategic market-ing and stability

bull Retail merchants need to be prepared to accommodate Canadian affiliate partnerships with the right tools in order for all parties to succeed

Speaker Nicky Senyard President Share Results

415ndash515pmTrack 1Maximizing ROI in e-Commerce with SearchAll e-commerce websites and e-tailers should be on top of certain ROI trends and opportunities This session will show you how to maximize ROI in e-commerce by leveraging one e-marketing chan-nel to improve the performance of another You will hear a series of combined channel campaign strategies along with case studies that illustrate how to maximize the ROI of your campaigns by taking advantage of low-hanging fruit

Moderator Chris Boggs SES Advisory Board Director SEO Rosetta

Speaker Guillaume Bouchard President CEO NVI

Speaker Elazar Gabay Vice President Performance Marketing LeSiteca

515ndash615pmSEW Eliminator QuizJoin us for the inaugural SEW Eliminator Quiz a pub-trivia-style networking event where you and your fellow marketers will compete to see who is the savviest and most knowledgeable marketer in the room Afterward yoursquoll have a chance to network with your favorite drink in hand

New YorkMarch

ShanghaiApril

TorontoJune -

San FranciscoAugust -

Hong KongSeptember ndash

BerlinOctober ndash

ChicagoNovember -

SingaporeNovember ndash

San DiegoFebruary

LondonFebruary

SES Conference amp Expo is the leading global event series that educates professionals in search and social marketing putting a special focus on tactics and best practices SES Events provide instructions from the industryrsquos top experts including representatives from the Search Engines themselves

World Tour ndash

SESConferencecom

Page 15: SES Magazine Toronto 2012

sesconferencecom bull SES 13

focusSOCIALMEDIA

the low-intent market They know when and where you check your email on your Android They know the types of videos you search for and watch on YouTube

This is a fantastic thing for advertisers For users hellip not so much Yet users sign up for Google accounts in droves opting into Google+ without a second thought Track-ing goes beyond the actions users take while signed in to a Google service interacting with a +1 button on a website for example could set a cookie allowing tracking over all Google properties for a period of time

The efforts of the W3C Tracking Protec-tion Working Group will have huge ramifi-cations for the online advertising industry especially for Google If users click a +1 social icon is that really an interaction with Google Have they really indicated the intent to share data with Google for the next 24 36 or 48 hours from every website they visit that might show Google ads These ques-tions have no answers right now but the

working group aims to define first and third parties Advertisers will not be satisfied with poorly targeted paid search and display ads so Google and other ad companies need the data However users need their privacy

ConclusionWhat we are seeing in the current online advertising environment is a precarious balancing act with Google perched square in the middle teetering from side to side Everyone in the industry and even in the mainstream media has their eyes on Google+ Google has certainly given us plenty to talk about Hangouts with Obama seemingly constant updates and new features and even a recent redesign complete with new naviga-tion and profile pages

We canrsquot forget though that Google+ is just one cog in the wheel that drives Googlersquos 44 stake in the $486 billion global adver-tising market (see report by ZenithOpti-media) While slick photos funny updates

and all manner of things are being shared or overshared on the front end of Google+ the real action occurs behind the scenes Google doesnrsquot really need you hanging out on the Google+ site all day long they just need you to have an account and do everything you would normally do on the web in the course of a daymdashand donrsquot mind if they tag along while you do it

Google VP Bradley Horowitz said it best in September when he proclaimed that

ldquoGoogle+ is Google itselfrdquo Indeed

A staff writer with Search En-

gine Watch Miranda Miller co-

ordinates the annual Translit-

eracy Conference for Ontario

educators manages a small

number of social media cam-

paigns through an agency and serves on the Ca-

nadian Hemophilia Societyrsquos Advisory Board for

their Code Rouge awareness project

common sense better than to the dollars and cents that our clientsrsquo creditors understand

In practice my firm generally limits our recommendations to the big three of Face-book Twitter and Google+ placing other social networks into an ldquoadvisably optionalrdquo category Our clients have enough difficulty wrapping their heads around Facebook and Twitter without worrying about other net-works We include Google+ in the mix only because of the ldquorel=authorrdquo support and because we believe that Google actively favors websites associated with Google+ profiles

Training businesses to promote their ideas and images on Facebook and Google+ is relatively easy and teaching them Twit-ter behaviors and etiquette is only slightly harder Even though we limit our advice to

the big three we still end up chasing clients to convince them to monitor and maintain their social networks We do recommend secondary social networks such as LinkedIn Pinterest and Foursquare as they apply to clients and as clients can afford our training and application rates

We know that we are missing traffic but we balance this drawback by being practical In cases where we have to act as social media coordinators for our small to medium-sized business clients exposing them to only the big three limits our need to bill for out-of-control charges for allotted work time It also helps to ease clients into expanding their own social media participation and interaction

ConclusionDigital marketing professionals have to make a lot of choices as we steer clients along the

social media learning curve By sticking to the most trafficked social networks and deploying assets in secondary ones as neces-sary my company believes that wersquove found a balance our clients can live with

SES Toronto will provide a valuable forum for Canadian practitioners to dis-cuss the problems inherent in social media marketing

Jim Hedger is a founding part-

ner of the Toronto-based

search and social media mar-

keting agency Digital Always

Media He has an extensive

background in SEO dating to

the late 1990s He leads the SEO and content cre-

ation teams at Digital Always Media

Doing Forensics on Fruit Salad

continued from page 11

14 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus CONVERSIONamp ROI

Conversion optimization has been around for a while but its benefits are hard to ignore These include reduced cost of acquisition through

digital marketing increased customer satis-faction and retention increased average rev-enue per order and improved search engine rankings In order to reap the rewards of an optimization program you need to know where to start what to avoid and how to develop your program for long-term success

Getting StartedDo-it-yourself small business owners digital marketers and web analysts tend to inherit a lot of excess baggage so focusing on only one or two sore spots on a website is often difficult Consider these top five places to start

1 Optimize paid search landing pages Look-ing for big impact right away Optimize those paid search landing pages and start counting the money you save on search marketing immediately Vary your value proposition urgency pricing product mix and form length

2 Examine internal search results pages Searches performed on your website often yield the best (and cheapest) way to judge the voice of the customer These searchers are committed visi-tors who probably arenrsquot finding what they want intuitively Look at queries with no results top queries that should be satisfied through navigation and perhaps synonyms you didnrsquot consider when writing creative

3 Enhance your help sections Areas on a website dedicated to helping people are most often frequented by loyal custom-ers who would rather solve problems on their own than cost you money by calling or emailing support staff Help them help you by optimizing help docs downloads and public service messages

4 Test product and service recommendations The art of the upsell is best exhibited by e-commerce giants such as Apple Ama-zon GoDaddy and Dell If yoursquore able to measure cart abandonment on your site yoursquore ready to start testing product and service recommendations to increase your average revenue per order

5 Evaluate pathways from top entry pages Entry pages to your site are a bit harder to optimize because referred traffic through search or other websites isnrsquot always continuous or predictable but itrsquos usually free Measure common path-ways from entry pages to determine how content can be changed to reduce bounce rate you may just improve your search rankings at the same time

Growing the BaseOnce yoursquove started building quick wins in your conversion optimization program yoursquoll want to maintain that momentum and expand your effort to other areas of your site Unfortunately many marketers fall into the trap of overoptimizing based on bad advice so try to avoid or at least question the fol-lowing five optimization tips that can hurt conversion rates

1 Tip to avoid Keep your copy short sharp concise Itrsquos hard to argue that trimming the overall content on a landing page would be anything but successful for most campaigns as it reduces the prob-ability that a landing page will over-whelm a prospect However providing less information may hurt overall con-version rates over time or worse still lower average revenue per order

2 Tip to avoid Remove or de-emphasize primary and secondary navigation from the template of your landing page Fewer escape routes make prospects more likely to continue along your chosen path However a lack of consistency

across the rest of your site may com-promise new visitorsrsquo trust and result in higher abandonment

3 Tip to avoid Add trust marks to your land-ing pages While I certainly can attest to the conversion lift that trust marks can provide on an e-commerce site landing pages are somewhat different In most cases getting visitors to click on links deeper in your site to privacy statements and certificates can be a more powerful way to convert skeptical prospects

4 Tip to avoid Boost your brand with tes-timonials and client logos In B2B cam-paigns association with large-scale brands with which you do business can boost conversion especially for start-ups but do your due diligence by seek-ing written approval for logo usage and recommendations The last thing you want is conflict with a long-term lucra-tive client

5 Tip to avoid Incentivize your prospects with freebies calls for urgency and pro-motions While these tactics can elicit a strong positive reaction among first-time visitors they can have very unde-sirable effects on lead quality Many visitors are conditioned to perform microconversions such as lead forms without reading anything else on a landing page Donrsquot be afraid to lose a few cheapskates on your landing pages who would otherwise sacrifice your profitability

Planning for the FutureNow that yoursquore well on your way to optimi-zation nirvana yoursquoll want to expand your program beyond online impact and start leveraging your online success for dramatic cross-channel maturity Here are five things to consider when bridging conversion opti-mization to business process optimization

The Conversion Optimization Life CycleWhich Advice Should You Follow and Which Should You Avoid in Structuring Your Optimization Program

by Garry Przyklenk

sesconferencecom bull SES 15

focusCONVERSIONamp ROI

1 Relate online customer pain points to front-line personnel Some of the best online optimizations can result in a cultural shift or reimaging of the offline sales process and vice versa Keep your sales and support members in the loop of online optimizations because your cross-channel prospects are often very similar

2 Try some of your companyrsquos own products and services The importance of stepping into your customersrsquo shoes cannot be overemphasized Irsquove done it on numer-ous occasions with a high degree of success It helps to assume an angry persona and pretend that you have less than five minutes to do anything that you need to do

3 Build new products and services with optimization in mind Build a culture of

conversion testing by baking it into the product or client life cycle Letrsquos face itmdasha lot can go wrong from initial con-ceptualization of a product or service to delivery especially when development cycles are really wrong

4 Leverage web analytics information and customer relationship management sys-tems (CRMs) Integration of web ana-lytics data with CRMs is much more common these days because businesses usually have a significant portion of their operations or interactions with customers through nonline channels

5 Analyze the competition Sometimes the best original score is a remix Think yoursquore smarter than your competitor Prove it by testing their ideas with your audience to find out what they might be doing better or worse

Although no two websites are exactly the same in terms of customer experience and behavior similarly structured products and services likely attract similar prospects and customers

For more guidance on conversion optimiza-tion be sure to visit one of the many optimi-zation sessions at SES this year

Garry Przyklenk manager of

analytics implementation at

TD Bank Group is an expert in

lead generation search engine

marketing web analytics and

social media marketing He has

successfully championed creative marketing cam-

paigns and executed on actionable insights in

several vertical markets

learn more about a different aspect of the industry For example if yoursquore an in-house SEO you may find yourself responsible for your companyrsquos social media You already know about Facebook LinkedIn and Twitter but you may not know which is right for your industry and the ways in which success will be defined Since a social media program is not just about ldquolikesrdquo and ldquofollowersrdquo align-ing it with corporate objectives to generate revenue is not a simple matter

At the other end are large organizations rolling out training to their employees Some allocate specific courses to individuals and make completion compulsory while others give employees access to the library of con-tent and encourage self-study in the areas that would be the most beneficial Online training is perfect for companies who do not

have the budget or time to send everyone to a course and allows each employee to receive a tailored syllabus

This kind of program can be comple-mented by an in-house training sessionmdasha course tailored to meet the specific objec-tives of the organization and held at the com-panyrsquos offices By blending online and class-room courses ClickZ Academy makes sure that employees from different offices arrive at the in-house portion with the same basic understanding so that their time together is maximized

Catch That Missed Session with Conference RecordingsBecause several concurrent content tracks run at SES conferences you may find that you are not able to attend every session that you would like Therefore we now offer recorded sessions from some conferences

The recordings sync the PowerPoint presen-tations and the videos simulating the experi-ence of being at the sessions This is a conve-nient way to catch up on any session that you missed or to share sessions with colleagues Available for purchase on the ClickZAcad-emy website recordings cover a number of tracks Recordings from SES London are now available and consist of the Kick Start PPC and Accelerator tracks

To learn more stop by the ClickZ table at SES Toronto or visit ClickZacademycom

Paul Fegan is head of e-learn-

ing at Incisive Media and is re-

sponsible for creating on-line

training content for all of its

brands He co-founded his own

e-learning company and has

been delivering online professional and CPD train-

ing since 2000

How ClickZ Academy Can Work for You

continued from page 1

16 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

sessions SES Toronto | June 11ndash13 2012 | hosted by

Day 1mdashMonday June 11

1030ndash1130amTrack 2Driving Mobile Traffic PPC amp SEOJump-start your mobile presence with these fundamentals for pre-senting content thatrsquos both SEO- and mobile-friendly Not fully ready for a mobile site Learn inexpensive and easy options to get started the right way From desktop and mobile to tablets smart-phones and feature phones wersquoll dive into key mobile differences for SEO and PPC and the strategies to drive and convert more mobile traffic

Moderator Gregg Stewart President 15 Miles

Speaker Jeff Allen Account Manager Hanapin Marketing

Speaker Jeremy Evans Director of Strategic Accounts Marin Software

1145ndash1245pmTrack 2Developing a Video Optimization amp Marketing CampaignThis session will use real-world examples to help you understand and master the entire video process including what to create how to optimize your video how to market it with search and social media and how to measure its real business impact

Moderator Sage Lewis President SageRockcom

Speaker Jonathan Allen Director Search Engine Watch

Speaker Greg Jarboe President amp Co-founder SEO-PR

200ndash300pmTrack 2Made in Canada Marketing Online WorldwideThis session will focus on specific challenges facing Canadian Internet marketers It will cover

bull How to balance Canadian and American content challenges in a consistent meaningful way (domains architecture content keyphrases etc)

bull How to compete in the US market as a Canadian business and not lose your Canadian online presence

bull The different results on Googlecom and Googleca from a search engine perspective and which consumers prefer the search enginesrsquo growing preferences for local

Moderator Andrew Goodman SES Advisory Board President Page Zero Media

Speaker Anne F Kennedy SES Advisory Board International Search Strategist Author Beyond Ink USA

Speaker Ian McAnerin CEO McAnerin International Inc

Speaker Ezra Silverton President 9th sphere

330ndash430pmTrack 3Content Marketing OptimizationOnline marketing is increasingly competitive and brand marketers worldwide are seeking real advantages that will improve the effi-ciency and impact of their social media and SEO efforts This ses-sion will provide unique insight into content-based optimization strategies and processes as well as tactics for sourcing creating and promoting optimized content on the social web

Speaker Matt McGowan Managing Director Americas Incisive Media

Krista LaRiviere CoFounder amp CEO gShift Labs

Speaker Lee Odden SES Advisory Board CEO TopRank Online Marketing

Speaker Jennifer Slegg CEO JenSense

Sample SessionsDownload the app or visit wwwSESTorontocom for complete agenda and session descriptions

sesconferencecom bull SES 17

sessionsDownload the app or visit SESNewYorkcom

Day 2mdashTuesday June 12

900ndash1000amTrack 2Social Media Solutions on a BudgetGetting your company or organization started with social media doesnrsquot have to be a pricey proposition In this session yoursquoll learn how to

bull Take advantage of great free and low-cost tools that cover man-aging conversations measuring reach and engagement and developingpublishing great content

bull Leverage lesser-known social media channels to increase expo-sure and reach

bull Create great social media friendly content to build trust and authority inexpensively

Moderator Laura Roth Conference Program amp Training Manager SES Conference amp Expo

Speaker Danny Iny Co-Founder Firepole Marketing

Speaker Krista Neher CEO Boot Camp Digital

130ndash230pmTrack 3From Keywords to ldquoBuy Wordsrdquo Finding High-Value Paid Search Keywords

ldquoProfessorsrdquo Van Wagner and Goodman will take you beyond garden-variety keyword lists to delve deeper into how user queries signal different kinds of intent You will learn how to go beyond the blind reading of ldquoafter-the-factrdquo ROI statistics how to anticipate how your most valuable searchers will express themselves with search que-ries and even how to subtly mold their preferences as they progress from search queries to your ads landing pages and transactions

Moderator Greg Jarboe President amp Co-founder SEO-PR

Speaker Andrew Goodman SES Advisory Board President Page Zero Media

Speaker Matt Van Wagner President Find Me Faster

300ndash400pmTrack 2Conquering the Growing Canadian Affiliate Marketing IndustryIn this session you will learn the following and more

bull Affiliate marketing in Canada is a viable growing traffic channel bull Online retail merchants need to educate and form strategic

partnerships with web publishers in order to generate traffic bull Establishing a successful Canadian affiliate marketing channel

requires sophisticated software development strategic market-ing and stability

bull Retail merchants need to be prepared to accommodate Canadian affiliate partnerships with the right tools in order for all parties to succeed

Speaker Nicky Senyard President Share Results

415ndash515pmTrack 1Maximizing ROI in e-Commerce with SearchAll e-commerce websites and e-tailers should be on top of certain ROI trends and opportunities This session will show you how to maximize ROI in e-commerce by leveraging one e-marketing chan-nel to improve the performance of another You will hear a series of combined channel campaign strategies along with case studies that illustrate how to maximize the ROI of your campaigns by taking advantage of low-hanging fruit

Moderator Chris Boggs SES Advisory Board Director SEO Rosetta

Speaker Guillaume Bouchard President CEO NVI

Speaker Elazar Gabay Vice President Performance Marketing LeSiteca

515ndash615pmSEW Eliminator QuizJoin us for the inaugural SEW Eliminator Quiz a pub-trivia-style networking event where you and your fellow marketers will compete to see who is the savviest and most knowledgeable marketer in the room Afterward yoursquoll have a chance to network with your favorite drink in hand

New YorkMarch

ShanghaiApril

TorontoJune -

San FranciscoAugust -

Hong KongSeptember ndash

BerlinOctober ndash

ChicagoNovember -

SingaporeNovember ndash

San DiegoFebruary

LondonFebruary

SES Conference amp Expo is the leading global event series that educates professionals in search and social marketing putting a special focus on tactics and best practices SES Events provide instructions from the industryrsquos top experts including representatives from the Search Engines themselves

World Tour ndash

SESConferencecom

Page 16: SES Magazine Toronto 2012

14 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

focus CONVERSIONamp ROI

Conversion optimization has been around for a while but its benefits are hard to ignore These include reduced cost of acquisition through

digital marketing increased customer satis-faction and retention increased average rev-enue per order and improved search engine rankings In order to reap the rewards of an optimization program you need to know where to start what to avoid and how to develop your program for long-term success

Getting StartedDo-it-yourself small business owners digital marketers and web analysts tend to inherit a lot of excess baggage so focusing on only one or two sore spots on a website is often difficult Consider these top five places to start

1 Optimize paid search landing pages Look-ing for big impact right away Optimize those paid search landing pages and start counting the money you save on search marketing immediately Vary your value proposition urgency pricing product mix and form length

2 Examine internal search results pages Searches performed on your website often yield the best (and cheapest) way to judge the voice of the customer These searchers are committed visi-tors who probably arenrsquot finding what they want intuitively Look at queries with no results top queries that should be satisfied through navigation and perhaps synonyms you didnrsquot consider when writing creative

3 Enhance your help sections Areas on a website dedicated to helping people are most often frequented by loyal custom-ers who would rather solve problems on their own than cost you money by calling or emailing support staff Help them help you by optimizing help docs downloads and public service messages

4 Test product and service recommendations The art of the upsell is best exhibited by e-commerce giants such as Apple Ama-zon GoDaddy and Dell If yoursquore able to measure cart abandonment on your site yoursquore ready to start testing product and service recommendations to increase your average revenue per order

5 Evaluate pathways from top entry pages Entry pages to your site are a bit harder to optimize because referred traffic through search or other websites isnrsquot always continuous or predictable but itrsquos usually free Measure common path-ways from entry pages to determine how content can be changed to reduce bounce rate you may just improve your search rankings at the same time

Growing the BaseOnce yoursquove started building quick wins in your conversion optimization program yoursquoll want to maintain that momentum and expand your effort to other areas of your site Unfortunately many marketers fall into the trap of overoptimizing based on bad advice so try to avoid or at least question the fol-lowing five optimization tips that can hurt conversion rates

1 Tip to avoid Keep your copy short sharp concise Itrsquos hard to argue that trimming the overall content on a landing page would be anything but successful for most campaigns as it reduces the prob-ability that a landing page will over-whelm a prospect However providing less information may hurt overall con-version rates over time or worse still lower average revenue per order

2 Tip to avoid Remove or de-emphasize primary and secondary navigation from the template of your landing page Fewer escape routes make prospects more likely to continue along your chosen path However a lack of consistency

across the rest of your site may com-promise new visitorsrsquo trust and result in higher abandonment

3 Tip to avoid Add trust marks to your land-ing pages While I certainly can attest to the conversion lift that trust marks can provide on an e-commerce site landing pages are somewhat different In most cases getting visitors to click on links deeper in your site to privacy statements and certificates can be a more powerful way to convert skeptical prospects

4 Tip to avoid Boost your brand with tes-timonials and client logos In B2B cam-paigns association with large-scale brands with which you do business can boost conversion especially for start-ups but do your due diligence by seek-ing written approval for logo usage and recommendations The last thing you want is conflict with a long-term lucra-tive client

5 Tip to avoid Incentivize your prospects with freebies calls for urgency and pro-motions While these tactics can elicit a strong positive reaction among first-time visitors they can have very unde-sirable effects on lead quality Many visitors are conditioned to perform microconversions such as lead forms without reading anything else on a landing page Donrsquot be afraid to lose a few cheapskates on your landing pages who would otherwise sacrifice your profitability

Planning for the FutureNow that yoursquore well on your way to optimi-zation nirvana yoursquoll want to expand your program beyond online impact and start leveraging your online success for dramatic cross-channel maturity Here are five things to consider when bridging conversion opti-mization to business process optimization

The Conversion Optimization Life CycleWhich Advice Should You Follow and Which Should You Avoid in Structuring Your Optimization Program

by Garry Przyklenk

sesconferencecom bull SES 15

focusCONVERSIONamp ROI

1 Relate online customer pain points to front-line personnel Some of the best online optimizations can result in a cultural shift or reimaging of the offline sales process and vice versa Keep your sales and support members in the loop of online optimizations because your cross-channel prospects are often very similar

2 Try some of your companyrsquos own products and services The importance of stepping into your customersrsquo shoes cannot be overemphasized Irsquove done it on numer-ous occasions with a high degree of success It helps to assume an angry persona and pretend that you have less than five minutes to do anything that you need to do

3 Build new products and services with optimization in mind Build a culture of

conversion testing by baking it into the product or client life cycle Letrsquos face itmdasha lot can go wrong from initial con-ceptualization of a product or service to delivery especially when development cycles are really wrong

4 Leverage web analytics information and customer relationship management sys-tems (CRMs) Integration of web ana-lytics data with CRMs is much more common these days because businesses usually have a significant portion of their operations or interactions with customers through nonline channels

5 Analyze the competition Sometimes the best original score is a remix Think yoursquore smarter than your competitor Prove it by testing their ideas with your audience to find out what they might be doing better or worse

Although no two websites are exactly the same in terms of customer experience and behavior similarly structured products and services likely attract similar prospects and customers

For more guidance on conversion optimiza-tion be sure to visit one of the many optimi-zation sessions at SES this year

Garry Przyklenk manager of

analytics implementation at

TD Bank Group is an expert in

lead generation search engine

marketing web analytics and

social media marketing He has

successfully championed creative marketing cam-

paigns and executed on actionable insights in

several vertical markets

learn more about a different aspect of the industry For example if yoursquore an in-house SEO you may find yourself responsible for your companyrsquos social media You already know about Facebook LinkedIn and Twitter but you may not know which is right for your industry and the ways in which success will be defined Since a social media program is not just about ldquolikesrdquo and ldquofollowersrdquo align-ing it with corporate objectives to generate revenue is not a simple matter

At the other end are large organizations rolling out training to their employees Some allocate specific courses to individuals and make completion compulsory while others give employees access to the library of con-tent and encourage self-study in the areas that would be the most beneficial Online training is perfect for companies who do not

have the budget or time to send everyone to a course and allows each employee to receive a tailored syllabus

This kind of program can be comple-mented by an in-house training sessionmdasha course tailored to meet the specific objec-tives of the organization and held at the com-panyrsquos offices By blending online and class-room courses ClickZ Academy makes sure that employees from different offices arrive at the in-house portion with the same basic understanding so that their time together is maximized

Catch That Missed Session with Conference RecordingsBecause several concurrent content tracks run at SES conferences you may find that you are not able to attend every session that you would like Therefore we now offer recorded sessions from some conferences

The recordings sync the PowerPoint presen-tations and the videos simulating the experi-ence of being at the sessions This is a conve-nient way to catch up on any session that you missed or to share sessions with colleagues Available for purchase on the ClickZAcad-emy website recordings cover a number of tracks Recordings from SES London are now available and consist of the Kick Start PPC and Accelerator tracks

To learn more stop by the ClickZ table at SES Toronto or visit ClickZacademycom

Paul Fegan is head of e-learn-

ing at Incisive Media and is re-

sponsible for creating on-line

training content for all of its

brands He co-founded his own

e-learning company and has

been delivering online professional and CPD train-

ing since 2000

How ClickZ Academy Can Work for You

continued from page 1

16 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

sessions SES Toronto | June 11ndash13 2012 | hosted by

Day 1mdashMonday June 11

1030ndash1130amTrack 2Driving Mobile Traffic PPC amp SEOJump-start your mobile presence with these fundamentals for pre-senting content thatrsquos both SEO- and mobile-friendly Not fully ready for a mobile site Learn inexpensive and easy options to get started the right way From desktop and mobile to tablets smart-phones and feature phones wersquoll dive into key mobile differences for SEO and PPC and the strategies to drive and convert more mobile traffic

Moderator Gregg Stewart President 15 Miles

Speaker Jeff Allen Account Manager Hanapin Marketing

Speaker Jeremy Evans Director of Strategic Accounts Marin Software

1145ndash1245pmTrack 2Developing a Video Optimization amp Marketing CampaignThis session will use real-world examples to help you understand and master the entire video process including what to create how to optimize your video how to market it with search and social media and how to measure its real business impact

Moderator Sage Lewis President SageRockcom

Speaker Jonathan Allen Director Search Engine Watch

Speaker Greg Jarboe President amp Co-founder SEO-PR

200ndash300pmTrack 2Made in Canada Marketing Online WorldwideThis session will focus on specific challenges facing Canadian Internet marketers It will cover

bull How to balance Canadian and American content challenges in a consistent meaningful way (domains architecture content keyphrases etc)

bull How to compete in the US market as a Canadian business and not lose your Canadian online presence

bull The different results on Googlecom and Googleca from a search engine perspective and which consumers prefer the search enginesrsquo growing preferences for local

Moderator Andrew Goodman SES Advisory Board President Page Zero Media

Speaker Anne F Kennedy SES Advisory Board International Search Strategist Author Beyond Ink USA

Speaker Ian McAnerin CEO McAnerin International Inc

Speaker Ezra Silverton President 9th sphere

330ndash430pmTrack 3Content Marketing OptimizationOnline marketing is increasingly competitive and brand marketers worldwide are seeking real advantages that will improve the effi-ciency and impact of their social media and SEO efforts This ses-sion will provide unique insight into content-based optimization strategies and processes as well as tactics for sourcing creating and promoting optimized content on the social web

Speaker Matt McGowan Managing Director Americas Incisive Media

Krista LaRiviere CoFounder amp CEO gShift Labs

Speaker Lee Odden SES Advisory Board CEO TopRank Online Marketing

Speaker Jennifer Slegg CEO JenSense

Sample SessionsDownload the app or visit wwwSESTorontocom for complete agenda and session descriptions

sesconferencecom bull SES 17

sessionsDownload the app or visit SESNewYorkcom

Day 2mdashTuesday June 12

900ndash1000amTrack 2Social Media Solutions on a BudgetGetting your company or organization started with social media doesnrsquot have to be a pricey proposition In this session yoursquoll learn how to

bull Take advantage of great free and low-cost tools that cover man-aging conversations measuring reach and engagement and developingpublishing great content

bull Leverage lesser-known social media channels to increase expo-sure and reach

bull Create great social media friendly content to build trust and authority inexpensively

Moderator Laura Roth Conference Program amp Training Manager SES Conference amp Expo

Speaker Danny Iny Co-Founder Firepole Marketing

Speaker Krista Neher CEO Boot Camp Digital

130ndash230pmTrack 3From Keywords to ldquoBuy Wordsrdquo Finding High-Value Paid Search Keywords

ldquoProfessorsrdquo Van Wagner and Goodman will take you beyond garden-variety keyword lists to delve deeper into how user queries signal different kinds of intent You will learn how to go beyond the blind reading of ldquoafter-the-factrdquo ROI statistics how to anticipate how your most valuable searchers will express themselves with search que-ries and even how to subtly mold their preferences as they progress from search queries to your ads landing pages and transactions

Moderator Greg Jarboe President amp Co-founder SEO-PR

Speaker Andrew Goodman SES Advisory Board President Page Zero Media

Speaker Matt Van Wagner President Find Me Faster

300ndash400pmTrack 2Conquering the Growing Canadian Affiliate Marketing IndustryIn this session you will learn the following and more

bull Affiliate marketing in Canada is a viable growing traffic channel bull Online retail merchants need to educate and form strategic

partnerships with web publishers in order to generate traffic bull Establishing a successful Canadian affiliate marketing channel

requires sophisticated software development strategic market-ing and stability

bull Retail merchants need to be prepared to accommodate Canadian affiliate partnerships with the right tools in order for all parties to succeed

Speaker Nicky Senyard President Share Results

415ndash515pmTrack 1Maximizing ROI in e-Commerce with SearchAll e-commerce websites and e-tailers should be on top of certain ROI trends and opportunities This session will show you how to maximize ROI in e-commerce by leveraging one e-marketing chan-nel to improve the performance of another You will hear a series of combined channel campaign strategies along with case studies that illustrate how to maximize the ROI of your campaigns by taking advantage of low-hanging fruit

Moderator Chris Boggs SES Advisory Board Director SEO Rosetta

Speaker Guillaume Bouchard President CEO NVI

Speaker Elazar Gabay Vice President Performance Marketing LeSiteca

515ndash615pmSEW Eliminator QuizJoin us for the inaugural SEW Eliminator Quiz a pub-trivia-style networking event where you and your fellow marketers will compete to see who is the savviest and most knowledgeable marketer in the room Afterward yoursquoll have a chance to network with your favorite drink in hand

New YorkMarch

ShanghaiApril

TorontoJune -

San FranciscoAugust -

Hong KongSeptember ndash

BerlinOctober ndash

ChicagoNovember -

SingaporeNovember ndash

San DiegoFebruary

LondonFebruary

SES Conference amp Expo is the leading global event series that educates professionals in search and social marketing putting a special focus on tactics and best practices SES Events provide instructions from the industryrsquos top experts including representatives from the Search Engines themselves

World Tour ndash

SESConferencecom

Page 17: SES Magazine Toronto 2012

sesconferencecom bull SES 15

focusCONVERSIONamp ROI

1 Relate online customer pain points to front-line personnel Some of the best online optimizations can result in a cultural shift or reimaging of the offline sales process and vice versa Keep your sales and support members in the loop of online optimizations because your cross-channel prospects are often very similar

2 Try some of your companyrsquos own products and services The importance of stepping into your customersrsquo shoes cannot be overemphasized Irsquove done it on numer-ous occasions with a high degree of success It helps to assume an angry persona and pretend that you have less than five minutes to do anything that you need to do

3 Build new products and services with optimization in mind Build a culture of

conversion testing by baking it into the product or client life cycle Letrsquos face itmdasha lot can go wrong from initial con-ceptualization of a product or service to delivery especially when development cycles are really wrong

4 Leverage web analytics information and customer relationship management sys-tems (CRMs) Integration of web ana-lytics data with CRMs is much more common these days because businesses usually have a significant portion of their operations or interactions with customers through nonline channels

5 Analyze the competition Sometimes the best original score is a remix Think yoursquore smarter than your competitor Prove it by testing their ideas with your audience to find out what they might be doing better or worse

Although no two websites are exactly the same in terms of customer experience and behavior similarly structured products and services likely attract similar prospects and customers

For more guidance on conversion optimiza-tion be sure to visit one of the many optimi-zation sessions at SES this year

Garry Przyklenk manager of

analytics implementation at

TD Bank Group is an expert in

lead generation search engine

marketing web analytics and

social media marketing He has

successfully championed creative marketing cam-

paigns and executed on actionable insights in

several vertical markets

learn more about a different aspect of the industry For example if yoursquore an in-house SEO you may find yourself responsible for your companyrsquos social media You already know about Facebook LinkedIn and Twitter but you may not know which is right for your industry and the ways in which success will be defined Since a social media program is not just about ldquolikesrdquo and ldquofollowersrdquo align-ing it with corporate objectives to generate revenue is not a simple matter

At the other end are large organizations rolling out training to their employees Some allocate specific courses to individuals and make completion compulsory while others give employees access to the library of con-tent and encourage self-study in the areas that would be the most beneficial Online training is perfect for companies who do not

have the budget or time to send everyone to a course and allows each employee to receive a tailored syllabus

This kind of program can be comple-mented by an in-house training sessionmdasha course tailored to meet the specific objec-tives of the organization and held at the com-panyrsquos offices By blending online and class-room courses ClickZ Academy makes sure that employees from different offices arrive at the in-house portion with the same basic understanding so that their time together is maximized

Catch That Missed Session with Conference RecordingsBecause several concurrent content tracks run at SES conferences you may find that you are not able to attend every session that you would like Therefore we now offer recorded sessions from some conferences

The recordings sync the PowerPoint presen-tations and the videos simulating the experi-ence of being at the sessions This is a conve-nient way to catch up on any session that you missed or to share sessions with colleagues Available for purchase on the ClickZAcad-emy website recordings cover a number of tracks Recordings from SES London are now available and consist of the Kick Start PPC and Accelerator tracks

To learn more stop by the ClickZ table at SES Toronto or visit ClickZacademycom

Paul Fegan is head of e-learn-

ing at Incisive Media and is re-

sponsible for creating on-line

training content for all of its

brands He co-founded his own

e-learning company and has

been delivering online professional and CPD train-

ing since 2000

How ClickZ Academy Can Work for You

continued from page 1

16 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

sessions SES Toronto | June 11ndash13 2012 | hosted by

Day 1mdashMonday June 11

1030ndash1130amTrack 2Driving Mobile Traffic PPC amp SEOJump-start your mobile presence with these fundamentals for pre-senting content thatrsquos both SEO- and mobile-friendly Not fully ready for a mobile site Learn inexpensive and easy options to get started the right way From desktop and mobile to tablets smart-phones and feature phones wersquoll dive into key mobile differences for SEO and PPC and the strategies to drive and convert more mobile traffic

Moderator Gregg Stewart President 15 Miles

Speaker Jeff Allen Account Manager Hanapin Marketing

Speaker Jeremy Evans Director of Strategic Accounts Marin Software

1145ndash1245pmTrack 2Developing a Video Optimization amp Marketing CampaignThis session will use real-world examples to help you understand and master the entire video process including what to create how to optimize your video how to market it with search and social media and how to measure its real business impact

Moderator Sage Lewis President SageRockcom

Speaker Jonathan Allen Director Search Engine Watch

Speaker Greg Jarboe President amp Co-founder SEO-PR

200ndash300pmTrack 2Made in Canada Marketing Online WorldwideThis session will focus on specific challenges facing Canadian Internet marketers It will cover

bull How to balance Canadian and American content challenges in a consistent meaningful way (domains architecture content keyphrases etc)

bull How to compete in the US market as a Canadian business and not lose your Canadian online presence

bull The different results on Googlecom and Googleca from a search engine perspective and which consumers prefer the search enginesrsquo growing preferences for local

Moderator Andrew Goodman SES Advisory Board President Page Zero Media

Speaker Anne F Kennedy SES Advisory Board International Search Strategist Author Beyond Ink USA

Speaker Ian McAnerin CEO McAnerin International Inc

Speaker Ezra Silverton President 9th sphere

330ndash430pmTrack 3Content Marketing OptimizationOnline marketing is increasingly competitive and brand marketers worldwide are seeking real advantages that will improve the effi-ciency and impact of their social media and SEO efforts This ses-sion will provide unique insight into content-based optimization strategies and processes as well as tactics for sourcing creating and promoting optimized content on the social web

Speaker Matt McGowan Managing Director Americas Incisive Media

Krista LaRiviere CoFounder amp CEO gShift Labs

Speaker Lee Odden SES Advisory Board CEO TopRank Online Marketing

Speaker Jennifer Slegg CEO JenSense

Sample SessionsDownload the app or visit wwwSESTorontocom for complete agenda and session descriptions

sesconferencecom bull SES 17

sessionsDownload the app or visit SESNewYorkcom

Day 2mdashTuesday June 12

900ndash1000amTrack 2Social Media Solutions on a BudgetGetting your company or organization started with social media doesnrsquot have to be a pricey proposition In this session yoursquoll learn how to

bull Take advantage of great free and low-cost tools that cover man-aging conversations measuring reach and engagement and developingpublishing great content

bull Leverage lesser-known social media channels to increase expo-sure and reach

bull Create great social media friendly content to build trust and authority inexpensively

Moderator Laura Roth Conference Program amp Training Manager SES Conference amp Expo

Speaker Danny Iny Co-Founder Firepole Marketing

Speaker Krista Neher CEO Boot Camp Digital

130ndash230pmTrack 3From Keywords to ldquoBuy Wordsrdquo Finding High-Value Paid Search Keywords

ldquoProfessorsrdquo Van Wagner and Goodman will take you beyond garden-variety keyword lists to delve deeper into how user queries signal different kinds of intent You will learn how to go beyond the blind reading of ldquoafter-the-factrdquo ROI statistics how to anticipate how your most valuable searchers will express themselves with search que-ries and even how to subtly mold their preferences as they progress from search queries to your ads landing pages and transactions

Moderator Greg Jarboe President amp Co-founder SEO-PR

Speaker Andrew Goodman SES Advisory Board President Page Zero Media

Speaker Matt Van Wagner President Find Me Faster

300ndash400pmTrack 2Conquering the Growing Canadian Affiliate Marketing IndustryIn this session you will learn the following and more

bull Affiliate marketing in Canada is a viable growing traffic channel bull Online retail merchants need to educate and form strategic

partnerships with web publishers in order to generate traffic bull Establishing a successful Canadian affiliate marketing channel

requires sophisticated software development strategic market-ing and stability

bull Retail merchants need to be prepared to accommodate Canadian affiliate partnerships with the right tools in order for all parties to succeed

Speaker Nicky Senyard President Share Results

415ndash515pmTrack 1Maximizing ROI in e-Commerce with SearchAll e-commerce websites and e-tailers should be on top of certain ROI trends and opportunities This session will show you how to maximize ROI in e-commerce by leveraging one e-marketing chan-nel to improve the performance of another You will hear a series of combined channel campaign strategies along with case studies that illustrate how to maximize the ROI of your campaigns by taking advantage of low-hanging fruit

Moderator Chris Boggs SES Advisory Board Director SEO Rosetta

Speaker Guillaume Bouchard President CEO NVI

Speaker Elazar Gabay Vice President Performance Marketing LeSiteca

515ndash615pmSEW Eliminator QuizJoin us for the inaugural SEW Eliminator Quiz a pub-trivia-style networking event where you and your fellow marketers will compete to see who is the savviest and most knowledgeable marketer in the room Afterward yoursquoll have a chance to network with your favorite drink in hand

New YorkMarch

ShanghaiApril

TorontoJune -

San FranciscoAugust -

Hong KongSeptember ndash

BerlinOctober ndash

ChicagoNovember -

SingaporeNovember ndash

San DiegoFebruary

LondonFebruary

SES Conference amp Expo is the leading global event series that educates professionals in search and social marketing putting a special focus on tactics and best practices SES Events provide instructions from the industryrsquos top experts including representatives from the Search Engines themselves

World Tour ndash

SESConferencecom

Page 18: SES Magazine Toronto 2012

16 SES bull June 2012 Toronto

sessions SES Toronto | June 11ndash13 2012 | hosted by

Day 1mdashMonday June 11

1030ndash1130amTrack 2Driving Mobile Traffic PPC amp SEOJump-start your mobile presence with these fundamentals for pre-senting content thatrsquos both SEO- and mobile-friendly Not fully ready for a mobile site Learn inexpensive and easy options to get started the right way From desktop and mobile to tablets smart-phones and feature phones wersquoll dive into key mobile differences for SEO and PPC and the strategies to drive and convert more mobile traffic

Moderator Gregg Stewart President 15 Miles

Speaker Jeff Allen Account Manager Hanapin Marketing

Speaker Jeremy Evans Director of Strategic Accounts Marin Software

1145ndash1245pmTrack 2Developing a Video Optimization amp Marketing CampaignThis session will use real-world examples to help you understand and master the entire video process including what to create how to optimize your video how to market it with search and social media and how to measure its real business impact

Moderator Sage Lewis President SageRockcom

Speaker Jonathan Allen Director Search Engine Watch

Speaker Greg Jarboe President amp Co-founder SEO-PR

200ndash300pmTrack 2Made in Canada Marketing Online WorldwideThis session will focus on specific challenges facing Canadian Internet marketers It will cover

bull How to balance Canadian and American content challenges in a consistent meaningful way (domains architecture content keyphrases etc)

bull How to compete in the US market as a Canadian business and not lose your Canadian online presence

bull The different results on Googlecom and Googleca from a search engine perspective and which consumers prefer the search enginesrsquo growing preferences for local

Moderator Andrew Goodman SES Advisory Board President Page Zero Media

Speaker Anne F Kennedy SES Advisory Board International Search Strategist Author Beyond Ink USA

Speaker Ian McAnerin CEO McAnerin International Inc

Speaker Ezra Silverton President 9th sphere

330ndash430pmTrack 3Content Marketing OptimizationOnline marketing is increasingly competitive and brand marketers worldwide are seeking real advantages that will improve the effi-ciency and impact of their social media and SEO efforts This ses-sion will provide unique insight into content-based optimization strategies and processes as well as tactics for sourcing creating and promoting optimized content on the social web

Speaker Matt McGowan Managing Director Americas Incisive Media

Krista LaRiviere CoFounder amp CEO gShift Labs

Speaker Lee Odden SES Advisory Board CEO TopRank Online Marketing

Speaker Jennifer Slegg CEO JenSense

Sample SessionsDownload the app or visit wwwSESTorontocom for complete agenda and session descriptions

sesconferencecom bull SES 17

sessionsDownload the app or visit SESNewYorkcom

Day 2mdashTuesday June 12

900ndash1000amTrack 2Social Media Solutions on a BudgetGetting your company or organization started with social media doesnrsquot have to be a pricey proposition In this session yoursquoll learn how to

bull Take advantage of great free and low-cost tools that cover man-aging conversations measuring reach and engagement and developingpublishing great content

bull Leverage lesser-known social media channels to increase expo-sure and reach

bull Create great social media friendly content to build trust and authority inexpensively

Moderator Laura Roth Conference Program amp Training Manager SES Conference amp Expo

Speaker Danny Iny Co-Founder Firepole Marketing

Speaker Krista Neher CEO Boot Camp Digital

130ndash230pmTrack 3From Keywords to ldquoBuy Wordsrdquo Finding High-Value Paid Search Keywords

ldquoProfessorsrdquo Van Wagner and Goodman will take you beyond garden-variety keyword lists to delve deeper into how user queries signal different kinds of intent You will learn how to go beyond the blind reading of ldquoafter-the-factrdquo ROI statistics how to anticipate how your most valuable searchers will express themselves with search que-ries and even how to subtly mold their preferences as they progress from search queries to your ads landing pages and transactions

Moderator Greg Jarboe President amp Co-founder SEO-PR

Speaker Andrew Goodman SES Advisory Board President Page Zero Media

Speaker Matt Van Wagner President Find Me Faster

300ndash400pmTrack 2Conquering the Growing Canadian Affiliate Marketing IndustryIn this session you will learn the following and more

bull Affiliate marketing in Canada is a viable growing traffic channel bull Online retail merchants need to educate and form strategic

partnerships with web publishers in order to generate traffic bull Establishing a successful Canadian affiliate marketing channel

requires sophisticated software development strategic market-ing and stability

bull Retail merchants need to be prepared to accommodate Canadian affiliate partnerships with the right tools in order for all parties to succeed

Speaker Nicky Senyard President Share Results

415ndash515pmTrack 1Maximizing ROI in e-Commerce with SearchAll e-commerce websites and e-tailers should be on top of certain ROI trends and opportunities This session will show you how to maximize ROI in e-commerce by leveraging one e-marketing chan-nel to improve the performance of another You will hear a series of combined channel campaign strategies along with case studies that illustrate how to maximize the ROI of your campaigns by taking advantage of low-hanging fruit

Moderator Chris Boggs SES Advisory Board Director SEO Rosetta

Speaker Guillaume Bouchard President CEO NVI

Speaker Elazar Gabay Vice President Performance Marketing LeSiteca

515ndash615pmSEW Eliminator QuizJoin us for the inaugural SEW Eliminator Quiz a pub-trivia-style networking event where you and your fellow marketers will compete to see who is the savviest and most knowledgeable marketer in the room Afterward yoursquoll have a chance to network with your favorite drink in hand

New YorkMarch

ShanghaiApril

TorontoJune -

San FranciscoAugust -

Hong KongSeptember ndash

BerlinOctober ndash

ChicagoNovember -

SingaporeNovember ndash

San DiegoFebruary

LondonFebruary

SES Conference amp Expo is the leading global event series that educates professionals in search and social marketing putting a special focus on tactics and best practices SES Events provide instructions from the industryrsquos top experts including representatives from the Search Engines themselves

World Tour ndash

SESConferencecom

Page 19: SES Magazine Toronto 2012

sesconferencecom bull SES 17

sessionsDownload the app or visit SESNewYorkcom

Day 2mdashTuesday June 12

900ndash1000amTrack 2Social Media Solutions on a BudgetGetting your company or organization started with social media doesnrsquot have to be a pricey proposition In this session yoursquoll learn how to

bull Take advantage of great free and low-cost tools that cover man-aging conversations measuring reach and engagement and developingpublishing great content

bull Leverage lesser-known social media channels to increase expo-sure and reach

bull Create great social media friendly content to build trust and authority inexpensively

Moderator Laura Roth Conference Program amp Training Manager SES Conference amp Expo

Speaker Danny Iny Co-Founder Firepole Marketing

Speaker Krista Neher CEO Boot Camp Digital

130ndash230pmTrack 3From Keywords to ldquoBuy Wordsrdquo Finding High-Value Paid Search Keywords

ldquoProfessorsrdquo Van Wagner and Goodman will take you beyond garden-variety keyword lists to delve deeper into how user queries signal different kinds of intent You will learn how to go beyond the blind reading of ldquoafter-the-factrdquo ROI statistics how to anticipate how your most valuable searchers will express themselves with search que-ries and even how to subtly mold their preferences as they progress from search queries to your ads landing pages and transactions

Moderator Greg Jarboe President amp Co-founder SEO-PR

Speaker Andrew Goodman SES Advisory Board President Page Zero Media

Speaker Matt Van Wagner President Find Me Faster

300ndash400pmTrack 2Conquering the Growing Canadian Affiliate Marketing IndustryIn this session you will learn the following and more

bull Affiliate marketing in Canada is a viable growing traffic channel bull Online retail merchants need to educate and form strategic

partnerships with web publishers in order to generate traffic bull Establishing a successful Canadian affiliate marketing channel

requires sophisticated software development strategic market-ing and stability

bull Retail merchants need to be prepared to accommodate Canadian affiliate partnerships with the right tools in order for all parties to succeed

Speaker Nicky Senyard President Share Results

415ndash515pmTrack 1Maximizing ROI in e-Commerce with SearchAll e-commerce websites and e-tailers should be on top of certain ROI trends and opportunities This session will show you how to maximize ROI in e-commerce by leveraging one e-marketing chan-nel to improve the performance of another You will hear a series of combined channel campaign strategies along with case studies that illustrate how to maximize the ROI of your campaigns by taking advantage of low-hanging fruit

Moderator Chris Boggs SES Advisory Board Director SEO Rosetta

Speaker Guillaume Bouchard President CEO NVI

Speaker Elazar Gabay Vice President Performance Marketing LeSiteca

515ndash615pmSEW Eliminator QuizJoin us for the inaugural SEW Eliminator Quiz a pub-trivia-style networking event where you and your fellow marketers will compete to see who is the savviest and most knowledgeable marketer in the room Afterward yoursquoll have a chance to network with your favorite drink in hand

New YorkMarch

ShanghaiApril

TorontoJune -

San FranciscoAugust -

Hong KongSeptember ndash

BerlinOctober ndash

ChicagoNovember -

SingaporeNovember ndash

San DiegoFebruary

LondonFebruary

SES Conference amp Expo is the leading global event series that educates professionals in search and social marketing putting a special focus on tactics and best practices SES Events provide instructions from the industryrsquos top experts including representatives from the Search Engines themselves

World Tour ndash

SESConferencecom

Page 20: SES Magazine Toronto 2012

New YorkMarch

ShanghaiApril

TorontoJune -

San FranciscoAugust -

Hong KongSeptember ndash

BerlinOctober ndash

ChicagoNovember -

SingaporeNovember ndash

San DiegoFebruary

LondonFebruary

SES Conference amp Expo is the leading global event series that educates professionals in search and social marketing putting a special focus on tactics and best practices SES Events provide instructions from the industryrsquos top experts including representatives from the Search Engines themselves

World Tour ndash

SESConferencecom