Village Gamer

Toronto – Search Engine Strategies (SES) is offering search engine marketing (SEM) training workshops following next week’s conference and expo in Toronto. The largest search engine marketing conference and expo in Canada will be held at the Sheraton Centre Toronto June 8-10, 2009.

According to comScore, there were 3.5 billion expanded searches in Canada during March 2009. Google Sites had an 80.7 percent share, Microsoft Sites had 4.9 percent, and Yahoo! Sites 4.5 percent. During the same month, there were 21.0 billion expanded searches in the United States. Google Sites had a 58.8 percent share, Yahoo! Sites had a 14.7 percent share, and Microsoft Sites a 5.9 percent share.

Now in its sixth year, SES Toronto is considered the definitive digital event for marketers, corporate decision makers, webmasters and search engine marketers (SEMs), including pay per click (PPC) advertisers and search engine optimization (SEO) professionals. The event is organized and programmed in cooperation with the SES Advisory Board, Search Engine Watch and Andrew Goodman, the founder and president of Toronto-based Page Zero Media.

Goodman says, “These workshops provide the practices, applications, and hands-on exposure you need to become and remain a top performer in your field. This in-depth training in a small class setting ensures that your instructor is accessible for informal one-on-one or small group discussions. Regardless where you are in the SEO and SEM process, you will leave these intensive workshops with the necessary skills to improve your business results and take your search engine marketing to another level.”

The SEM training workshops will be held on Wednesday, June 10, 2009. They are:

Search Marketing Boot Camp (8:00am-5:00pm): This search engine marketing training workshop will be taught by Jennifer Evans Laycock and Matt Bailey, SiteLogic. With search engine marketing quickly expanding beyond the simple realm of keyword research, on-page optimization and traditional paid search campaigns, it’s becoming more and more difficult for businesses to know how and where to break into the mix with their own search related marketing efforts. If you are planning on attending Search Engine Strategies Toronto, but are not yet familiar with the nuances of search engine marketing, link building, viral marketing and online reputation management, this workshop will provide you with a crash-course in all things search marketing related.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Workshop (8:00am-12:00pm): This SEO training workshop will be taught by Shari Thurow, Omni Marketing Interactive. A search-engine friendly Web site is a user-friendly, search-friendly, and persuasive site that converts visitors into buyers. In order for a site to be search-engine friendly, it must meet the terms and conditions set forth by the search engines (Google, Yahoo, MSN Search, Ask, etc.) Additionally, the site must satisfy the needs of site visitors. Ultimately, the site must be profitable for the Web site owner. Can a single site satisfy all of these groups? This workshop will demonstrate that these skills are essential for building a user-friendly, search-friendly, and persuasive site that converts visitors into buyers.

Google AdWords Tactics to Improve Your ROI (1:00pm-5:00pm): This Google AdWords training workshop will be taught by Brad Geddes, bgTheory.com. Learn how to spice up your AdWords account by applying tactics learned in this session. You will first dive into the Psychology of Search that shows how consumers think and act throughout the search process. Next, you will learn how to choose the correct keywords to take control of when your ad is displayed. Then, you will study how effective ad copy can generate more clicks and increase your conversion rate. The landing page is fundamental to increasing conversions, and the session will cover usability and conversion optimization. Finally, you will learn everything you need to know about optimizing your account for Quality Score.

For more information about SES Toronto 2009, go to rates and registration details. Participants may register for training in addition to the SES Toronto conference or independently, as workshops take place on the Wednesday after the event. To follow news about SES Toronto 2009 on Twitter, go to http://twitter.com/SES_Toronto.