SES China Coverage at SERoundtable

Fri, Mar 10, 2006

In the grand tradition of Search Engine Roundtable’s comprehensive coverage of Search Engine Strategies (SES) conferences, I will be providing detailed and immediate coverage of the sessions for next week’s SES China conference. Barry Schwartz was nice enough to take me up on my offer to be SERoundtable’s official correspondent for the conference. Thanks Barry!

If any of you guys will be at SES China, please walk up and say hi :)

Day 1 Agenda

Friday, March 17, 2006

7:30am–9:00am	Registration

9:00am–10:30am	Introductory Comments and Keynote(s)

10:30am–11:00am	Morning Coffee Break

11:00am–12:15pm	Attendees may choose to attend one of the 2-3 sessions offered during this time Fundamentals Track Introduction to Search Engine Marketing: A Global Perspective Who are the major search engines? How can their editorial listings send you “natural” or “organic” traffic for free through search engine public relations or search engine optimization efforts? How can you purchase top rankings or placement through search engine advertising opportunities? This must-attend session for beginners provides an overview of key concepts. Speaker: Chris Sherman, Executive Editor, Search Engine Watch

12:15pm–1:30pm	Networking Lunch

1:30pm–2:30pm	Fundamentals Track Search Engine Friendly Design How can you build a web site from the ground up that pleases both crawler-based search engines and your visitors? Discover how “search engine friendly design” can tap into free traffic from search engines. This session is especially suited for beginners who need an overview of important design issues to keep in mind. More technical design issues are covered in the Successful Site Architecture session later on Day 2. Moderator: Chris Sherman, Executive Editor, Search Engine Watch Speakers: Stephen M. Noton, Senior SEM/SEO Consultant, Adverted Advanced Track Perfecting Paid Listings Paid placement ad programs make it easy to rank well in search engines, but managing hundreds of listings by hand can be a time-consuming and expensive process. This session covers tools that help you close bid “gaps” and measure return on investment (ROI) from your paid listings. It also covers reasons to test different creative, to consider your “landing” pages carefully and other tips. NOTE: The session is designed for those who are already familiar with how paid placement works. Moderator: Speakers: ISAS Track RSS, Blogs & Search Marketing This session explores how search engines are dealing with blog and feed (RSS/Atom) content and why providing such syndicated content can drive new search-related traffic. Moderator: Speakers:

2:30pm–3:00pm	Afternoon Break

3:00pm–4:15pm	Fundamentals Track Meet The Search Engines Representatives from major crawler-based search engines discuss their services and take questions from attendees. This session will have a live Q&A between SEs and Agencies about pay listing program and reseller policy. Moderator: Speakers: Advanced Track Buying Search Engine Advertising Paid placement is a form of search engine advertising that provides a top ranking in return for payment. Every major search engine offers a paid placement program. Learn what’s available in this session that is especially geared toward beginners, with details on programs from major providers and advice from advertisers. Moderator: Speakers: ISAS Track Web 2.0 & Search Marketing Moderator: Speakers: Wang Jianshuo, CEO, kijiji.com.cn

4:15pm–4:30pm	Session Interval

4:30pm–5:45pm	Fundamentals Track Search Term Research & Targeting The bedrock to success with search engines is understanding which search terms to target. Fail in that and your audience may never find you. This session covers ways to undertake search term research that is crucial to succeeding with your search engine marketing efforts, whether that be via free or paid listings. Moderator: Speakers: Advanced Track Chinese Search Marketing Case Studies This session wraps up the first day with real-life examples firms that have deployed successful search marketing campaigns throughout China. Moderator: Speakers: Lawrence Wan, Business Manager,PCCW Directories Limited ISAS Track Rich Media and Video Ads Ads that move….Rich media and video are rapidly becoming the factor components for online campaigns of all types. In this session, agency experts will examine and illustrate with case studies what kind of campaigns benefit most from using video; how best to integrate video with other campaign elements; and discuss the creative, production, ad-serving and media challenges inherent to interactive video campaigns. Moderator: Speakers: Don Hsi, CEO, Henbang.com

5:45pm–7:00pm	Networking Cocktail Reception

Day 2 Agenda

Saturday, March 18, 2006

7:30am–9:00am	Registration

9:00am–10:15am	Attendees may choose to attend one of the 2-3 sessions offered during this time Fundamentals Track Successful Site Architecture Learn to successfully architect your site for search engines and how specific page elements and design technologies may impact your ability to gain good organic listings. Covers topics such as directory and file structure, server-side includes (SSIs), 404 error trapping, JavaScript, robots.txt use, frames, secure area usage, and much more. Toward the end of the session, volunteers from the audience will have their sites examined to see how changes could be made to their site architecture and design to increase search engine traffic, as time allows It’s highly recommended for those new to search engine marketing to have previously attended the “Search Engine Friendly Design” session on Day 1. Moderator: Speakers: Stephen M. Noton, Senior SEM/SEO Consultant, Adverted David Temple, SEO Manager, TopRank Online Marketing Tactics Track The Search Landscape What’s the most popular search engine? The most used search engine? What vertical areas of search are growing? Are people using search toolbars more or less? Representatives from ratings and traffic analysis services share stats and info on topics such as these, in this session. Moderator: Speakers: Lv Weigang, Senior Analyst, China Internet Network Information Center ISAS Track SES World Tour This session will show all the attendees, especially chinese and other asian attendees, how SES serve the search industry abround the world! Moderator: Speakers:

10:15am–10:45am	Morning Coffee Break

10:45am–12:00pm	Issue Track Link Strategies Discover how search engines rely on link analysis as an important component for rank web pages. Learn also how to increase traffic to your site by building quality links in an appropriate manner. Moderator: Speakers: Mike Grehan, CEO, Smart Interactive Marc Macalua, Founder, SEO Philippines. Tactics Track Creating Compelling Ads & Landing Pages Getting clicks on your paid listings can be a challenge. You need to compel the consumer to click through, yet your ad must also comply with editorial standards controlling what you can say and even the punctuation you can use. You also want the RIGHT type of click. Choose your words poorly, and the wrong audience will come, costing you money and offering no hope of conversion. Assuming you do get the right audience, the landing pages you display are an essential component to help you convert browsers into buyers. This session looks at ways to get the right clicks and convert them. NOTE: The session is designed for those who are already familiar with how paid placement works. If you are new, be sure to have attended Buying Search Engine Advertising on Day 1. Moderator: Speakers: Dale Hursh, CEO, Smart Search Marketing Isas Track Vertical Search Opportunies in China How many kinds of vertical search in china? How about their services and market opportunies. The session will include book search, video search and media search. Moderator: Speakers:

12:00am-1:15pm	Network Lunch

1:15pm–2:30pm	Issue Track Asian Diverse language SEM & Local SEM Asian search marketers face unique challenges dealing with diverse language, not only the contents, but also the domain issues. What are the search engine issues with country-specific domain names vs. .com or others? Learn more about gaining domain names, dealing with local business policy and deploying SEM for countries where you are not based and how search engines deal with multi-language, multi-domain web sites. Korea, Japan, Philipine and India SEs and SEMs will have more details. Moderator: Speakers: Tactics Track Working With Partners & Agencies Effective search marketing requires a variety of skills, and often search marketers will have to work with other people or organizations in a team effort. How best to work together? How do you choose the best partner or agency to work with? These and other quesions about working together are explored in this panel. Moderator: Speakers: Qing Xian, Sr. Marketing Analyst, Capital One Robert Rollinger, WW Online Media Manager, Intel ISAS Track Meet The B2B Search Engines This session features representatives from B2B search engines sharing briefly how they operate and answering questions. Moderator: Speakers:

2:30pm–3:00pm	Afternoon Break

3:00pm–4:15pm	Issue Track Multi-Country Campaign Management Planning a search engine marketing campaign that covers Asia or other countries throughout the world requires different strategies than doing SEM for a single-country. Get tips and advice on how to proceed in an efficient, effective manner. Moderator: Speakers: Bill Hunt, CEO, Global Strategies Intenational Robert Rollinger, WW Online Media Manager, Intel Lawrence Wan, Business Manager,PCCW Directories Limited Tactics Track Converting Visitors Into Buyers Getting visitors to your web site is only half the battle. To be victorious, you need them to convert into customers by making purchases, signing up for services or fulfilling whatever are your goals. Learn about making this conversion. The latter part of the session takes volunteers from the audience and examines their web sites live to provide general feedback about changing them to improve visitor conversion. Moderator: Speakers: Qing Xian, Sr. Marketing Analyst, Capital One ISAS Track B2B Tactics Forget consumers…You want only the business-to-business audience! This session explores options and issues in targeting B2B. Moderator: Speakers:

4:15pm–4:30pm	Session Interval

4:30pm–5:45pm	Issue Track Global Search Marketing Case Studies This session wraps up the conference with real-life examples firms that have deployed successful search marketing campaigns not just in China but throughout the world. Moderator: Speakers: Bill Hunt, CEO, Global Strategies Intenational Ian McAnerin, CEO, McAnerin Network Tactic Track Site Clinic This interactive session takes volunteers from the audience and examines their web sites live to provide general feedback about improving them to gain more traffic from search engines. It repeats at different times during the show. Attend whatever session is most convenient! Moderator: Speakers: