Troy, Mich., June 29, 2016 – Blue Wheel Media Director of Marketing Zach Riegle and digital strategist Alex Singer recently attended the SMX Advanced conference held in Seattle. This two-day event for search engine marketing (SEM) professionals offered panels of industry leaders sharing valuable research and insights into the world of SEO and SEM, revealing new technologies that digital marketing companies like Blue Wheel Media can utilize for their clients.
“The fun of digital media is that there is no leader, there is no person who has done this for a hundred years,” said Zach. “Every day there’s a new idea, a new platform, a new app, a new technology. The only thing that limits you is your imagination and your team of engineers. There is no other business like that.”
Zach and Alex learned how RankBrain now makes it easier for Google to create connections beyond the search terms that people use. Another interesting Google feature that was highlighted is AMP, which gives companies the ability to improve their sites’ mobile speeds by rendering pages exponentially faster than before.
They also learned how “mentions” have become more important with today’s boost of interest in social media. “If you tweet something or post on Facebook, the mention through that social media channel now plays a much bigger factor in ranking,” explained Alex. “We have found that each specific channel is becoming part of SEO.”
Outside of the main event, SMX allowed Zach and Alex to meet professionals within the industry who work at companies like Google and Bing. This open and collaborative environment gave both of them the opportunity to learn a great deal just by sitting at the lunch table. “We were discussing trends and things that we were seeing on our end, and we were able to confirm that [other companies] were seeing it on their end, too,” said Zach.
Both Zach and Alex plan to take everything they learned from SMX and apply it to Blue Wheel Media’s current roster of clients. While they both were encouraged to find that Blue Wheel Media is already enforcing a lot of the practices that SMX taught, they also came back with many opportunities and new insights to work with.
About SMX Advanced
SMX Advanced is the only conference designed exclusively for experienced search marketers. Sessions are fast-paced, Q&A-packed, always informative and don’t stop to cover the basics. Their workshops cover the advanced skills and current strategies of the industry and allow a space where you’ll engage with others who speak your native language.
