Im-mer-sion [i-mur-zhuh n, -shuh n]

-noun            State of being deeply engaged or involved; absorption.

-verb            Concentrating on one course of instruction, subject, or project to the exclusion of all others for several days or weeks; intensive 

For those of you who were unable to attend the SEOmoz Conference this week in Seattle, I thought I would share my experiences and thoughts about my first SEO immersion workshop put on by Rand Fishkin and company.

But first, a bit about me… 

Don’t You Know Who I Am?

My SEO begins as many SEO’s begin…by accident.  I’ve been in some form of technology for my entire career, mostly within the small to mid-sized sector.  While consulting and developing ecommerce websites, one of my clients engaged with a SEO company and asked me to manage the project.  Quickly I discovered a few things about this company: poor communication skills, poor follow-through, and average SEO skills.  I convinced the company I could do better and soon had my first SEO client.  I’m now 1 ½ years into my Orange County SEO career.  I’ve been successful enough that I haven’t even had time to finish my website (so don’t look, okay?).

Upon registering for the SEOmoz conference I had two main objectives:

• To network and start building a tribe to learn and grow with; and
• Learn the secrets of search engine optimization

Although you can easily find most of the content available online, I thought I’d highlight my thoughts:

Day 1 RecapThe Rand Soufflé

Now, while Rand will never be confused with Julia Child, when it comes to SEO he is a master chef and he started us off with his predominant theme: SEO is Nothing without Content.

I was excited to see Rand in person and he did not disappoint.  You could tell he was humbled by how many people were in attendance and excited at how far SEOmoz has come in the last few years.  He jumped right in with some great tips on building and designing content that will help “create an experience versus read and forget.

Throughout the rest of the day we were engaged by all the speakers and their insights into how to be a better SEO.  With tips too numerous to mention (you can find some of the highlights in Jennita’s post), suffice it to say I came away with pages of notes and strategies to execute upon my return back to California.

Hi, My Name is Erik and I’m a SEO

After a great first day it was on to the networking portion at the TapHouse Grill in downtown Seattle.  I was really looking forward to this because except for some forum posts, I have no “SEO Tribe” to learn, grow and share with and I knew this would be an excellent chance to start one.

And, I’m happy to report that I did meet a variety of SEOs, from in-house to agency to independents (like me) to business owners like Michael Anderson (www.diyhomecenter.com), who was simply there to understand more of the SEO world and to find out what else his SEO should be doing.   And although I did pick up a few pointers it was really just a great time to relax and get to know others who are in the SEO foxhole like me. 

Day 2 Recap

Day 2 started off even better than Day 1, instead of introducing myself I was saying hi to all the great people I met the previous night!

The day started off with a “heavyweight battle” of SEOs between Todd Friesen, Todd Malicoat and Rand Fishkin.  Ali vs. Frasier it wasn’t but it was a well fought battle and Rand easily won the audience over (unrelated side note: thanks Rand for the 2 free months off my Pro membership that you promised me just prior to your battle).

Once again, the Day 2 speakers didn’t disappoint.  Kudos to everyone! 

Some brief highlights:

Todd Mailicoat, Stuntdubl – SEO Game Changers and Social Media

My Key Takeaways:

• Todd = Neo of Social Media
• Pander to the Ego;
• Build a reputation monitoring dashboard: http://www.aimclearblog.com/2009/03/16/how-to-build-a-reputation-monitoring-dashboard/
• Okay, there was a big takeaway but he swore us all to secrecy…sorry.

As a side note, while having a beer with Todd later in the evening he mentioned how his charitable organization has managed to raise $150,000 for charities!  Nice to hear about SEOs giving back to those in need.

Ben Hendrickson, SEOmoz – Search Engine Algorithms

My Key Takeaway:

• Learn and study Ben’s slides: http://models.seomoz.org/slides.html

Seth Besmertnik, Conductor – SEO Budget and Influence

My Key Takeaways:

• SEO is still about sales and persuasion
• Define the market opportunity
• Sell what SEO is worth and how it touches EVERYTHING in the organization
• Sell on the opportunity as well as the fear
• Great worksheets: http://www.conductor.com/seomoz

Vanessa Fox, NinebyBlue – Staying Out of the Penalty Box

My Key Takeaways:

• Being truthful is easiest way to stay out of trouble
• What appears to be a penalty may not always be one
• Todd Friesen = Col. Hogan; Vanessa Fox = Sgt “I hear NOTHING” Schultz; 

Ben Jesson, Conversion Rate Experts – SEOmoz, a Case Study

My Key Takeaways:

• It’s not about the tools but what you do with them;
• Learn and implement: www.conversion-rate-experts.com/articles
• Although I despise it, long copy works.  Period.
• Always be testing and use split-testing ala Google Optimizer;
• They grew SEOmoz subscription conversion by 52%.  In fact, I now remember it is how they finally converted me with their $1 offer! 

Conrad Saam, Avvo – Killer In-House Marketing Teams

My Key Takeaways:

• Page Rank is SEO;
• Bell curves are a great way of explaining the long tail philosophy;
• Always listen to Matt Cutts in the same manner as you would a politician;
• Don’t be naïve in thinking your competitors are playing fair 

And the Secret is…?

The only secret to SEO is hard work.  I knew this before coming but it was validating to see that we’re all in the same boat, some of you are ahead of me and others maybe behind but everyone I met was willing to help me on my voyage of becoming an expert SEO.

Undoubtedly the networking is where the real payoff will be for me.  I now have some new friends that I confide in and share experiences with.  For those I didn’t meet, hopefully I will next year.  For those of you who were not able to attend I would do whatever possible to be there next year.

Thanks Rand and SEOmoz for a great seminar!

P.S. I highly recommend staying at the Edgewater Hotel next time you’re in Seattle…and it has nothing to do with the fact they display my initials on top of the building!