The Knitting SEO – Search Exchange 2011

I have spent the last three days at Search Exchange here in Charlotte, NC where I shared a room with some of the most interesting and thought-provoking SEO & Social Media specialist in the industry. The web development company I work for was there as an exhibitor this year so we got 2 tickets to attend the conference. And guess what… I wasn’t the only knitter there!

As you can see it has inspired me in more ways than one. Almost one full year later, I’m back at this blogging thing.

Now last year, I actually took some knitting with me to Search Exchange. I had found a pattern for the Om symbol which I had planned to incorporate into a yoga bag. Unfortunately I didn’t have as much scrap yarn as I thought, so that project is in a holding pattern until I frog it with better plans for the wool.

Do you, fellow knitters in the blogosphere, find that it sometimes helps you to focus, stay alert, and listen when you have a mindless knitting project in your hands? I do. I didn’t end up knitting much because I felt like it was being mistaken as disinterest in the presenters. In truth it was exactly the opposite! I decided it would be best if I left the needles at home this year.

The 2010 conference was truly fabulous, all failed knitting projects aside, and Search Exchange 2011 was no exception. If you are involved in SEO, PPC, or Social Media in any way then I highly recommend that you look into coming to Charlotte for this conference next year.

The lineup this year was outstanding.

Day 1
All about PPC and Mobile marketing. Now personally, I have to force myself to pay attention to the paid discussions. I’m not a fan of numbers, never have been and I’ve come to accept that I probably never will be. PPC lacks the social aspect needed to hold my attention. That aside, it’s definitely part of my world and I’m thankful for (and made sure to take advantage of) the opportunity to learn from some of the best in the industry.

Day 2
Day two of Search Exchange was my favorite topic: Social Media. The gang at SearchEx didn’t disappoint. I know what you are thinking. “Wait, social media? At a “Search” conference?” You bet. You can’t hide from it anymore my optimizing friends. Social media and SEO are getting to be like peas and carrots.

At this point with hardly any down time to digest the content, all I can say is WOW. Lately I had started to feel like all the social media discussions were sounding the same.

“Be engaging.”

“Be authentic.”

“It’s about connecting with people.”

All these things still hold true but the speakers at Search Exchange did such a fantastic job of providing honest and insightful information above and beyond the standard social media conference babble. And there was a great amount of insight into all the recent changes and additions to the world of social marketing.

I think my favorite part of Search Exchange was when Ravelry got a shout out from search and social rock star, Joe Hall. Yessir! I’ve been saying for AGES that Facebook needs to take a leaf out of our pages over at Rav and step up with the Agree / Disagree system. Or at the very least, can we please have a “Dislike” option, Facebook?! All these fancy new things and I still can’t tell someone to ‘shut it’ while hiding behind the protection of the herd mentality.

Day 3
Getting down to brass tacks, the third day was all about search engine optimization with some slam-dunk presentations. This included when the Wizard of Moz, Rand Fishkin was climbing over furniture in order to point to things in his slideshow. Awesome – accept my mothering instincts had me ready to run up there and act as his spotter! I was so scared he would fall off those horrible chairs and break his neck.

Then where would we be?
We’d be that “they had so much promise” conference that accidentally killed Rand Fishkin!
FYI – He survived his presentation to walk out of the Charlotte Chamber alive and well with a new found love for sweet tea. No spotter needed. Bless his heart.

I walked away from day three’s presentations with a list a mile long of tips, tricks, tools, and ideas that I can’t wait to start testing out!

I’m still processing and working through my notes and ideas. Once I finish I’ll be able to put together a list of take-aways that I’ll post for you fiber-fanatic SEOs to chew on.

In the mean time I take great pride in knowing that I’m not the only knitting SEO and Social Media marketer out there.