“Fishkin” For Ideas at MOZcon 2012
Wow so someone actually came up with the idea to let me write a blog post, which I was never expecting. So through nail biting pressure I decided to have a look at some of the important things that I thought were relevant at this year’s MOzcon, so here it is, hope you enjoy it everyone.
So between July 25th and 27th this year SEOmoz held their annual MOZcon event, this is a must see for all SEO Consultants as it’s a very useful event that is covered worldwide, allowing everyone within the industry to get together and talk about all things SEO related; from Google Updates like the elusive penguin to new exciting ideas and ventures in SEO. So, I thought I would do an overview on some of the main points that came up at this year.
Throughout the event there were a lot of seminars from some of the leading minds of SEO, some more interesting than others. One of the most interesting conferences was Greg Boser from BlueGrass, who shared his long-earned knowledge of the industry to show what works and what doesn’t. His techniques and ideas make you want to slap yourself on the forehead and yell “DUH!”, as he makes even the hardest of tasks seem so simple.This was a lengthy conference so I have split it down into 3 points that stood out more than others.
Penguin Isn’t about Spam.
We all know about penguin and the implications that it’s had on a number of our clients. What Greg said was that Penguin was Google’s way of telling Consultants and Webmasters to change their current behaviour and ways of doing things. Just like a slap on the hand from your parents after you put your finger in the plug socket (talking from personal experience, don’t do it, it hurts).
One Client, One Budget.
This was an interesting way of looking at budgets; basically Greg explained that there is no need for an SEO, PPC & Social Media Budget, this should be one simply managed budget so that Consultants are able to spend where they feel makes most sense. This would allow us to build more personal campaigns, as we all know that no two campaigns are the same.
Implement Open Ideation.
This wasn’t as interesting as other points but valid for staff morale. Here Greg explained that everyone has ideas, some useful some not so useful. But the main point was that everyone has one great idea. He also said, as quoted “If the Janitor has a great idea, we want to hear it”. So Ant, if you read this do you have any ideas?
Another key speaker at this year’s MOZcon was Cyrus Shepard, from Above The Fold. Here Cyrus looks to the future to find new practices, looking to higher quality content, ensuring that he is always one step ahead of Google and those dreaded updates. Now, this seminar in my eyes was in the top 3 of all the talks throughout MOZcon and definitely one of the most interesting.
Cyrus spoke about high ROI Content Strategies for SEO:
Being an SEO is More Unclear Today.
This is very true at the moment as Google and Bing are constantly working together to change algorithms. Cyrus explained that the SEO trade today is a constant learning process for all consultants and webmasters. Adding that the ways to combat this are for us to get more sophisticated and try to be one step ahead of the search engines, especially as Google is now looking at content more and more.
Popular Link Building Techniques.
These only usually last a year, as Black Hat SEOs overdo it which makes them redundant in Google’s eyes. Cyrus stated to combat this we need to always stay one step ahead, whilst trying to find new techniques before they become the norm. Furthermore, content is king and is a good source of link building, which we all know is becoming more and more beneficial today than ever before.
Google +.
Cyrus touched briefly on this but also said what we already know about Google +. Stating that Google + is not another form of social media as such, but more of a knowledge network. This could be more relevant to our clients than ever before, as it connected to everything Google.
The future is coming.
We all know the future is coming and that we need to be prepared. This caught my eye more than anything, as I’m really looking forward to the future of SEO and what it will bring. Let’s just hope it isn’t like some American budget movie based within the future.
Apart from the two I have spoken about there was a number of highly educational seminars on various areas of SEO at this year’s event, which all made for a rather interesting day.
It then seemed that the main point everyone was getting across. Was that to keep ahead in the rankings we would need to stay ahead of Google. This is more easily said than done but when done correctly should make for a much stronger campaign, that is benifical to the client.
