Seattle DomainRoundtable Conference: SEO Sessions
The DomainRoundTable in Seattle August 12-15th will include 2 SEO sessions:
3:15pm - 4:15pm 2007-08-13 Monday SEO 101 AND BEYONDDescription:
Why you need to know SEO basics if you’re going to build and maintain a successful website. A mandatory session to attend for those who want to know the true secrets of Search Engine placement and how they help you win online. For SEO professionals, consultants and business services. This event is for the beginners and the best of the best in SEO secrets and information.
Speakers:
William Flaiz, VP, Avenue A | Razorfish; Aaron Wall, SEOBook.com; John Tompkins, Trellian.com; Dave Bascom , SEO.com; Dustin Woodard, AllRecipes.com; John Andrews
and:
10:00am - 10:45am 2007-08-15 Wednesday SEO AND DOMAINSDescription:
“Marriage Made in Heaven” How SEO techniques include domains, and how domains add power to SEO.
Speakers:
Todd Mintz, SEMPDX; Aaron Wall, SEObook.com; John Andrews
If you have anything you’d like to see addressed during these sessions, drop me a comment here. I have no idea if there are any Domain rountable $100 discount codes still available, but if you don’t get the $100 off email me and I’ll ask them to increase the availability.
What sessions are interesting to me? “Aftermarket Selling 101” is:
“When to Sell and Buy - Successful Techniques to Working In The Aftermarket” Should you aggressively try to contact end users, or list your domains on the domain listing services? Are auction services the best way to submit a domain for sale, or should you just list them for BIN offers? Aftermarket issues are discussed, including how to determine the value of a domain beyond its traffic revenue and what other indicators are important in buying an aftermarket domain.
and so is “Madison Avenue” because, well, I know people on Madison Avenue, and I pay end-user prices for domains:
“Friend or Foe” Do the top ad agencies really want their clients to buy your domains, which may accomplish much of what the ad agencies are charging their clients $millions to do? Who should domainers really be trying to reach for enduser sales?
Of course the auction will be fun, but the most interesting aspect for me is this statement from Stephen Douglas, the show producer and a 4000+ domainer himself:
As I’ve said before, the end user (business community) will eventually define the true value of our domains by creating a competitive demand. The key to raising domain values is right in front of our eyes: Show the business community what value domain names can bring their companies. Educate the marketing departments of Fortune 1000 companies. Get in depth articles on domain values written in every main business magazine. Get the Wall Street Journal to open up their eyes (and make sure they’re not green with envy).
That’s some of the smartest thinking I’ve heard about domaining. The PPC squeeze brought “Madison Avenue” to SEO, and the field has spiraled upwards as a result. The more Google charges for one-time, no-guarantee traffic, the higher the value companies place on free organic traffic earned by search engine optimization. I can verify that many Fortune 1000 companies have no idea of the importance of a domain name for SEO, let alone type-in traffic. Where could values go except up?
I’m also looking forward to Frank Schilling’s dinner keynote (Seven Mile blog). Frank is a “bg” domainer, but a very smart and competitive guy. Read this exceprt form a 2005 CNN Money article:
For Schilling, it was an epiphany. At the time, he had an offer on the table to sell his portfolio for more than $100 million; the potential purchaser, whom Schilling won’t disclose, was in the middle of auditing his business. The experience–a flood of people surging across the Internet and ending up at a page he controlled–made Schilling realize that the value of domain names would become exponentially greater over time. “A few keystrokes and look what I did,” says Schilling, flipping back his shoulder-length blond hair and typing into the air. “It was totally surreal.” Since the night of the debate, he’s added another 100,000 names to his portfolio, bringing his holdings to more than 300,000–cash-generating generic names that are again attracting well-financed suitors.
Defintely an exciting extension of SEO. If you’ve read this far, I was offered a $200 discount to the domain roundtable conference, and later told I could give it away if I wanted. So if you’re an SEO and you’re going to sign up, email me (see contact form on right) and I’ll hook you up with the $200 off code. if you’re not sure how good it will be, read this review and tell me what you think in the comments.
August 6th, 2007 at 3:03 pm
Wish I could make it, but with SES the following week, my wife would kill me if I were gone for 1/2 the month….I will be sending one of my employees though. Keep your eyes out for a webuildpages shirt.