In the world of search, conferences are proving to be industry musts. Anyone wanting to know more about the search industry, or is interested in learning about current or recent developments, can use these conferences to gain a lot of knowledge in a short amount of time.
In addition to the educational opportunities, search conferences provide a great chance to do some in-depth networking. Because most industry experts attend search conferences, they’re great occasions to both meet and introduce yourself to the forerunners in the field. Although it’s smart to attend the conferences that are held in your area, for networking purposes you should also attend those that are offered out of town. You’ll be able to spread the name of your business further and get to know search experts and industry insiders that you might not ordinarily get to meet.
Search marketing conferences have additional benefits other than just education and networking opportunities. Often, major industry leaders attend these conferences hoping to learn more about the world of search and maybe find a firm to represent their SEO interests. As an attendee, you’ll be able to meet these potential clients and pitch your business.
Moreover, because search is a global industry, conferences have become some of the best platforms to learn new and innovative techniques and discover what is happening worldwide in the world of search. As the goal of client satisfaction and meeting client deliverables in an efficient manner is paramount, being on the cutting edge of new SEO techniques can only improve your business.
Attending a search conference can be an overwhelming but exciting experience. So, before you go, take a moment to read these tips to make your search conference experience even better.
Before the Conference
Before you go to a conference, it’s a great idea to set both general and specific goals for yourself, and come up with a plan on how to follow them while you’re there. Most goals fall into the following categories:
- Finding better and newer ways to undergo search tasks and determining the best ways to accomplish these new techniques.
- Discovering the answers to certain problems or queries that you need to be solved.
- Learning about search topics that can help you perform better.
- Uncovering the ways that developing search marketing methods can help benefit you and your company.
After you’ve determined your goals, ascertain the sessions that are the most related to helping you accomplish them. Use the online agenda to plan your first and second choices for each available time slot. See if you can learn what the goals of each of the sessions are, (don’t forget to pay attention to whom the speaker is), and use that to help you make your decisions.
If you use advanced planning, you’ll be able to enter the conference less flustered and time-crunched, and thus have more time available for networking opportunities. And of course, don’t forget to bring your list of goals and your pre-determined agenda with you to the conference.
While at the Conference
Image courtesy of Manish Pandey SEO expert
The most important thing you can do at a search engine conference is to make the most of all available opportunities.
- Attend all of your conference sessions and make notes on the speakers’ presentations.
- Go to all of the networking events available. These events are often filled with other marketers and have a tendency to be very lively, so they’re definitely worth your time.
- Share your experiences and knowledge with your co-attendees. Hopefully, you’ll be able to develop your search marketing skills and confirm if you’re on the right path with your efforts.
After the Conference
After the conference is over, there are a few things you should do before you move on with your everyday life.
- Organize the notes you’ve taken, and extract any information that you deem to be important. Keep this knowledge handy so you don’t forget about it.
- If you’ve made any contacts that you clicked with at the conference, be sure to follow up with them so you don’t lose any of the progress made with your networking goals.
- Prioritize the information you’ve learned. It’s not always possible to implement all the new strategies you’ve learned immediately, so organize them according to your order of importance.
- Utilize the information that you’ve learned. If you’re working on a new marketing plan, consider how the things you’ve learned at the search conference can help you make your plan stronger and more effective.
Search engine conferences are becoming more and more important to the development and discovery of new search techniques and innovations. They’re great places do business, while learning about different global strategies, and, as a bonus, they also tend to be a lot of fun. And, most importantly, at the end of the day, the knowledge gained at search conferences can help you better satisfy the needs of your clients and customers.
Manish Pandey is an SEO specialist based out of India. Manish posts routinely at ManishPandey.com.
Manish is well qualified to speak on the subject of conferences as he is in the midst of putting together one of India’s largest search conferences (link may not be live at this time)
• If you're covering a conference as a live blogger, check out A Letter of Apology to my Wrists
Images courtesy of Piutus and SEO-Kolkata