Boston SEO .org’s Boston SEO Networking Event Recap

Writing by Nick Stamoulis Tweet

Boston SEO Meetup Meeting recap notes prepared by Brian, an assistant organizer of the Boston SEO Networking Event and affiliate marketing manager of www.Pingo.com

The Boston SEO networking event held its 38th meeting with about 45 attendees from its 460+ member list on meetup.com

Announcements were made about www.BostonSEO.org new site and a request for featured articles, job postings and reviews to post up on the new site.

Boston SEO Event Agenda:
6:30pm to 7pm: Open Networking with a business card buffet
7pm to 7:45: 1 Min Elevator Pitch:
Each attendee gave an introduction about there online business and shared a networking goal.
7:45pm to 8:30pm: Guest Speaker
Eric Lander: http://www.ericlander.com- Search engine optimization (SEO) professional with 9 years experience.
- Associate Editor at Search Engine Journal
- Organic Search Manager for ADP, Inc. (Number #247 of Fortune 300!)

Presentation on content development:
Eric provided an overview on content creation for onsite and offsite seo factors. Eric Lander works for ADP but doesn’t handle the HR check side of the business. He manages a niche that works with over 2.5k car dealerships websites.

Tips Provided & On Site SEO Tips: - Control file names to put keywords in the url string.
- Set up query strings to rewrite your file names

Example:
Fix the urls strings from Product?123 vs a target keyword phrase like Stainless-steel-toasters
- Help the spiders find your site with site maps
- Build out quality content to share as much as you can about “stainless steel toasters”
- Use title tags to help push your keywords. They do work
- Meta keyword tag, don’t waist your time. Alt tags and description help a little bit
- Meta description matters. Google will pull your description from the page or will use some of the meta description that you provide. If its well written and not stuffing your keywords
- No follow links debate: Google still see’s the links, like on Wikipedia site
Hand out given out about content creation
- How to set up a product category architecture of your site.

Example: Eric Lander talked about breaking down your site to the money keywords that are very targeted for your product and a person that is in a buying mode online. Example “toaster” to “brand name stanless steel toaster model #123”. This brings you a quality targeted visitor that is not just shopping for a toaster, but knows what they want and should be ready to buy.

Offsite SEO Tips:
- Pushing content on other sites.
Example of creating a YouTube video, this opens the door to comments and users to provide feedback that you can’t control.
- Local Search Rankings & Brand Reputation Management
You need to stay active to control negative reviews online.
- Push the customers that love you, to post and stand up for your business online.
- Speak up and try to reach out to these upset customers and try to resolve the issue and be genuine.
- Monitor your brand through Google alerts and twitter search.

Conclusion SEO Recommendations:
Experiment: Be the pioneer for social initiatives in every niche.
Be Consistent: with your messaging online
Be Proactive: Actively search for complaints & problems to resolve them quickly.
Take Ownership: Make good on your promise
Never Be Idle: Don’t assume everything is good about your site & brand. Always develop more content
Control: Try to control the conversation. Try to steer the conversation in the right direction.

Event Food Sponsor:
http://www.YourPreciousCar.com brought in a ton of food and drinks for all. Eric touched on this business model for how the web needs reliable niche reviews online and discussed some of the concerns with Yelp and other RipOffReport type review websites.

Event Feedback

Kiril founder of www.BigSkinny.net said:
“Another excellent meeting and discussion. The speaker was excellent and full of unique insights. The ensuing discussions resulted in some excellent knowledge sharing and fruitful interaction. the networking component was excellent with good exchange of contacts and information. The post meeting interactions at a neighboring pub were also very fruitful. As usual at these events, I am filled with new, impactful information that I am eager to incorporate into my business and share with others. A class organizing act once again– well-run and administered by the moderators. ”

Todd Greenwood said:
“Excellent speaker. Real world experience that relates to what I do on a daily basis. ”

Next Boston SEO meeting is on December 1st. Boston SEO .org is always looking for new attendees, food sponsors and guest speakers.