As SMX Sydney wound to a close on the north bank of Sydney harbor, I stood with new friends and old, eating shrimp off the barbie (no, really), drinking beer ,and staring at the incredible view of the Sydney Opera House & the Harbor Bridge. Was this the best conference I've ever attended? Quite possibly, yes (and that's saying a lot).
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The unbelievable view from the SMX Sydney "Under the Bridge" BBQ
Top SEO/M Related Things I Learned at SMX Sydney
- According to Marissa Mayer, this whole Yahoo! trying Google ads is actually Google testing Yahoo!, not the other way around. This brings a whole new perspective to the Microsoft/Yahoo! acquisition.
- Yahoo! offers URL simplification (I feel really dumb that I didn't know about this, since I've been clamoring for it for years) and, sadly, according to Adam Lasnik, Google says they don't think webmasters really want it.
- Even in Australia, savvy newspapers and offline media portals are building social media marketing and promotion positions to help get their content in front of linkerati. I was shocked by the level of sophistication, which, in some instances, exceeds that of their American counterparts. Note the 4,000+ Digg entries for newspaper The Age.
- Google's doing an eensy weensy bit of evil with their policy on "search inside." During our final panel, an audience member asked how their site could opt out of search inside, to which Adam Lasnik responded that Webmaster Tools and Google did not have a way to let folks opt out. However, his counterpart from the AdSense team, Frederick Vallaeys, noted that if you're a large advertiser, you can contact your AdWords representative, who can help get you on the removal list. Apparently, this is how companies like eBay and Amazon had their "search inside" features turned off.
- As I mentioned through Twitter, Kalena Jordan's Search Engine College offers course credit to students in the US, which is the first I've heard of university level credit for SEO training - bravo!
- Social Media is big in Australia - there's a Digg clone, Confer, popular blogs (like Lifehacker Australia), social media divisions inside many of the major publications, including The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald, and heavy use of LinkedIn for business networking. Social networking as a whole is exploding down under.
- Search market share in Australia - Google ~80%, Yahoo! ~10%, Microsoft ~10%.
- The Australian media world is a bit worried about the potential Microsoft/Yahoo! deal. Both MSN & Yahoo! have media relationships with large portals - Channel 7 for Yahoo! and Channel 9 for MSN. The media landscape could be vastly different with a combined Yahoo!/MSN.
- Twitter can drive huge traffic. Danny noted to me during our visit that he can Twitter and get 500+ visits in a few minutes to a post. Referring traffic to SEOmoz from Twitter has been rising - it was in the top 20 domain referrers last week. So much for ignoring the power of Twitter.
- High broadband speed in Australia is tough to find - ADSL is still the most popular connection speed.
- Viral video on the web is an incredibly inexpensive, powerful branding tool. I intend to write an entire post about this topic, as Ciaran's presentation and case studies on the subject were fascinating. His agency achieved 5million+ of views for an ad that cost a fraction of a traditional TV spot. Check out Do The Test - no wonder it was so successful; even I want to email that around.
- A couple awesome, secret things that I really wish I could talk about, but sadly can't...
People Met During SMX Sydney (in no specific order):
- Lucas Ng & his colleauge Mark Vazzo from Fairfax Digital. I still think Lucas is one of the sharpest minds in SEO, and hope that he'll contribute to SEOmoz again in the near future :)
- Frank Grasso from eChannel - whose brilliant long tail keyword research software crawls and analyzes sites for terms to bid on (his background was first in SEO, but he moved to PPC when he saw the more scalable opportunity).
- Tania Zanetti from Sensis - their booth's unlimited quantities of Krispy Kreme donuts kept us going throughout the show.
- Tim McDonald from Found Agency, who had a great presentation on PPC tactics
- Aidan Beanland from Yahoo!7 - Aidan's one of Yahoo!'s biggest SEO success stories, having helped optimize dozens of properties for Yahoo! (working in conjunction with Laura Lippay) worldwide and in Australia.
- Michael Motherwell - his ISOS blog was one of my favorites for years, and I've always loved seeing him on Cre8asite forums, too.
- Kalena Jordan, Chris Dimmock, Philip Shaw, Peter Newsome, Jason West, and many, many more... If only I had time to name them all.
A Photo Essay of Our Trip:
Sydney is almost certainly one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Clean, vibrant, architecturally stunning, and surrounded by water, it's hard not be amazed by a visit. To help share, I thought it would be fun to compile a roundup of some photos from the trip:
The first night of the conference, we visited Acquos restaurant near the Olympic Swimming Pool (where Jane's been many times before). From left to right, Rand, Mystery Guest, Ani Babian from Microsoft Live Search, and Jane.
Jacqui Jones from Netconcepts interviewed me on the boardwalk along Luna Park. I'll link to that video as soon as it's up.
Danny Sullivan and I had a short meeting on the pier - Luna Park, a functioning amusement park, is pictured in the background.
Jane gets interviewed by the Netconcepts team - she's keeping the topics a secret, so even I have to wait to find out what she said (crossing fingers no SEOmoz secrets were revealed).
The crystal ballroom was the largest of the presentation areas for the conference. Above is a shot of one of our final panels, a site review of domains like Seek.com.au and DiscoverTasmania.com.
From Left to Right: Frederick Vallaeys, Guy Wayland, Adam Lasnik, Michael Motherwell, Gord Hotchkiss, Ani Babian, Rand Fishkin, Ciaran Norris, Jane Copland, & Danny Sullivan. And yes, I did manage to Rickroll SMX Sydney with a little help from the A/V team :)
Gord Hotckiss on Manly Beach - just a 30 minute ferry ride from downtown.
Jane, Ciaran, Allison & Barry Smyth, Rand, & Mystery Guest in front of the Opera House on our final night in town.
For shame Flightcentre - cloaking with user agents is so 1990's :)
Why SMX Sydney was, quite possibly, the best conference I've attended:
- Location - Luna Park is just across Sydney Harbor from the Opera House, with tremendous views of the city and quick access by ferry to downtown and Circular Quay.
- People - Not only are folks friendly, they're also polite, great note takers and endlessly interested in the topic. There's a lot of companies here clearly making their way through competitive SEO.
- Content - It's not extremely rare that I walk away from a conference learning something new, but I was impressed that in 2 days, the show went from the basics to the advanced without anyone appearing to skip a beat.
- Speakers - The presenters were universally interested and focused on the audience, their material, and in providing the best content possible. Jane & I both put in significant effort on our presentations (I even created a whole new deck on link building), and from what I saw, the other speakers did as well.
- Good booths/expo hall - the expo hall was not only packed (every slot was filled), it had several cocktail and lunch events that made for a lot of value and chatting with those who had a booth. I was impressed with the level of interaction between all of the attendees with the sponsors - I think it really added something to the show, which can be tough to achieve.
- Great use of technology - Every seat had a handheld voting device that was used at the beginning of every session to do live audience polls far more scientifically and accurately than raising hands. The devices also doubled as microphones, so when an attendee wanted to ask a question, they could speak into their device and be heard by all. Finally, you could text in questions to the panelists with the devices during the sessions, which worked brilliantly, not only for getting good questions answered, but also for heckling anonymously and invisibly (to everyone but the panelists) :)
Am I coming back next year? Absolutely. Congrats to Barry Smyth - this was an incredible show by every measure.
I simply have to reiterate Rands comments .... SMX Sydney was aweseome... for a whole range of reasons.. and the International speakers provided us Aussies with a rare opportunity to get face to face with some of the top worldwide names in the Search Community.
Many thanks to the whole international panel - for an informative, interesting and entertaining (I'm sure Danny and Rand could do a doubel act on the Comedy Circuit), insight into the World of Search.
It was also very encouraging to get confirmation that many of the techniques we are using and the SEM campaigns and strategies we are followingt are actually world class.
I (and I'm pretty sure everyone esle who attended), am counting down the days to next years SMX Sydney - and are very much looking forward to having Rand, Danny, Adam, Arni, Ciaran, Jane, Gord, Frederick, Marissa... and the rest of the international team back again....
The handheld voting device and microphones had to be helpful.
Also the Yahoo Site Explorer Dynamic URL Rewriting Tool is just a bandaid to a bigger issue(s) with your website. I commend Google for not offering it.
I've just got back to the UK & am looking at all my photos which, along with Rand's excellent write-up, reminded me what a great show it was. Full props to Barry & all the SEOAussies who made us all feel so welcome.
wow sounds fun! I love Australia, espcially the Australians. :) One thing: Ohio State University offers a full credit SEM course which includes SEO: https://www.bizresearch.com/searchmarketingblog/?p=111 (LOL in fact rebecca whined about eh use of "THE" Ohio State University in the comments. I agree with her on this one but SHhhh don't tell my co-workers)
Pretentious universities aside, we interviewed a guy from (blank) Ohio State who actually took the SEO/SEM course, and he learned a lot from it.
we hired one. ;)
Pretentious universities nothing, let's have the pretentious stuff...
Do the test is excellent ! It could work for the web too, when you are really looking for something, you may pass over some URL that would point to a better site..
thanx for the report Randy! you did have a good time, we can tell on the pics !
Brilliant! One of the audience called him this in a Q&A as well...
Hands down the best part of the conference for me, Rand, was the dynamic that you and Danny had going on... such a great atmosphere, and really had the crowd going.
Particularly the argument about subdomains and inherited trust. And, on a slightly less serious not, the argument about the merits of "Knight's Tale", and "that gay cowboy movie... by the way Rand, you look absolutely gorgeous today".
Aah. Good times.
So apart from the memory of awkwardly barging my way into a conversation between Jane and Pete (sitemost), I can't wait until next year!
SMX Sydney was a great 2 days at Luna Park. All the speakers displayed fantasitc content and keept all the delegates on their toes. It was so nice meeting all the International guys and I have to say that every one loved the SMX BBQ bash under the bridge. I hope to see you all very soon.
There are some great photos on Flickr >>
https://www.flickr.com/photos/smxsydney/
Geez, rub salt in the wound, why don't you. You and Jane get to have an incredible time in Australia while we're picking up the slack over here in gray and cold Seattle. :( I'm so pitching to speak next year. No fairsies!
Dont worry Rebecca, no pitch required, more than happy to have more Mozzers in Sydney.
Holy crap, for real? I'm clearing my calendar this time next year! Thanks!
Is that an engagement ring I see on Mystery Guest's finger?
:).
Probably. They got engaged over a year ago.
It was great to have an “A†list of Search Thought leaders in Australia. Thank Rand for making the trip. Good to see you like to have a little fun too. Please come back next year.
Well i did get on the list and have now been to one SMX in sydney, one mobile marketing seminar and am planning to go again this year to both (back to back). Brilliant event and I highly recommend it.
Wow - i didn't even know this was on - i really wish I had, I'd have been there like a shot. SOunds like you had a great time - and I'm now going to put myself on the list to get notification of the next one!
I wish this kind of event can be held at Malaysia.In fact Malaysia has a big market,number of internet marketer increases tremendously this few years.
Barry Smyth (organiser of SMX Sydney) is holding a search marketing conference in Singapore laster this year. I can get him to send you the details, as I'm not sure about the specifics myself. If the Sydney show is anything to go by, it should be good!
For anyone who's interested in my slides on Viral Marketing, you may want to check out my write-up of the similar presentation I gave at SMX London. The Sydney version was an update, but not so much that I'm likely to write it all out again. Failing that email me & I'll be happy to send it over.
Thanks for sharing the trip with us! Great read.
btw... last name of the girl from Windows Live Search is Babaian, not Babian.
Yeah thanks for making the trip down under Rand/Jane and crew. It really was an amazing conference and I felt that I learnt so much from you guys.
It was a pleasure to actually meet you as well Rand and chat to you about PDFs and their relationship with generating and parsing link juice. I look forward to seeing you back next year!
p.s I'm still waiting for the fallout to continue for FlightCentre.com.au hahaha
Wow, looks like fun. How was the plane ride? Time in the air? I've always wanted to visit Australia. Maybe next year I can convince the powers that be that Slingshot needs to foot the bill for such a trip. Rand, all I need you to do is blog about the Internet marketing secrets that can only be found down under.
Great pictures! Do you have any openings for a roadie position?
You were right, "Do The Test" was very cool...
- Chris
Hi Rand
It was great to meet and chat with everyone both the local SEO crowd and overseas guests like yourself
Being the only person blogging SMX Sydney in detail was a big advantage cause it got me links from You and Danny that generated a lot of traffic and publicity for my blog
Rand: great post thanks. I Sphunn the link to Search Engine College. I'm curious what SEO's will think about that. Personally I think it's a great idea so long as the curriculum stays timely and adjusts based on current conditions. We are looking at moving in to video so now I'm going to follow your other link to "do the test"
Wow Rand, did you just say best conference eva? Barry is going to be stoked. But it was fantastic wasn't it? I'm sorry I missed you guys at the Aquos dinner - didn't know about it until I'd already made other plans, but there's always next year. Oh and the Twitter verdict is in - definite spikes within 3 hours and then again the next day. Plus I must've had about 10 people come up to me at the booth to say you'd mentioned us in your link baiting session - sorry I missed it. Thanks for everything and I hope you and MG enjoy beautiful NZ.
Thanks for feeding back on the trip Rand, it looks amazing. It's really interesting what you say about ADSL still being the defacto net speed there - I'd really love to see a map of the world with net speeds, just out of curiosity really.
I'm curious about these 'couple of awesome, secret things' that you can't tell us... :)
I hope you got to try some kangaroo or emu while you were there. Hmmm.... good stuff.
Great round up. It sure was an excellent conference. It was great to meet everyone from the Australia / New Zealand market!
Love the pictures! Makes it all 'come to live' far more than just words. Looks like you had a blast Rand :)
Yeah, the conference was great... although there was this one weird annoying guy that kept bugging the mozzer's and other speakers...
oh, wait a minute... that was me
Can't wait to do it all again next year :)
And then there was the guy who awkwardly barged in on a conversation between you and Jane in a desperate attempt to meet a mozzer...
... oh wait, that was me :)
We do make quite a team ;)
At least you both weren't as awful as that girl who spilled a shot of Baileys and schnapps all over her jacket and shirt. Who, of course, was me.
PS Just finished my giant SMX Sydney Day 2 recap
I encourage you to sphinn it
Over and out
Neerav