Posted by EricaMcGillivray
*drumroll* The MozCon Local 2016 agenda is here! For all your local marketing and SEO needs, we’re pleased to present a fabulous lineup of speakers and topics for your enjoyment. MozCon Local is Thursday and Friday, February 18–19 2016 in Seattle. On Thursday, our friends LocalU will present a half-day of intensive workshops, and on Friday we’ll be having an entire day of keynote-style conference fun. (You do need to purchase the workshop ticket separately from the conference ticket.)
If you’ve just remembered that you need to purchase your ticket, do so now:
Buy your MozCon Local 2016 ticket!
Otherwise, let’s dig into that agenda!
MozCon Local 2016
Thursday workshops
12:00–12:30pm
Registration
12:30–12:35pm
Introduction and Housekeeping
12:35–12:55pm
The State of Local Search with David Mihm
Already one of the most complex areas in all of search marketing, local has never been more fragmented than it is today. Following a brief summary of the Local Search Ranking Factors, David will give you his perspective on which strategies and tactics are worth paying attention to, and which ones are simply “nice to have.”
David Mihm is one of the world’s leading practitioners of local search engine marketing. He has created and promoted search-friendly websites for clients of all sizes since the early 2000s. David co-founded GetListed.org, which he sold to Moz in November 2012.
12:55–1:35pm
Local Search Processes with Aaron Weiche, Darren Shaw, Mike Ramsey, and Paula Keller
Panel discussion and Q&A on the best processes to use in marketing local businesses online.
1:35–2:35pm
How to do Competitive Analysis for Local Search with Aaron Weiche, Darren Shaw, David Mihm, Ed Reese, Mary Bowling, Mike Ramsey
Each panelist will demonstrate their methods and the tools they use to audit a specific area of the online presence of a single local business. The end result will be a complete picture of how a thorough competitive analysis for a local business can be done.
2:35–2:50pm
Break
During this time period, each attendee will choose any three 30-minute workshops to attend. Some workshops are offered in all time slots, while others are only offered at specific times. Present your challenges, discuss solutions, and get your burning questions answered in these small groups.
2:50–3:20pm
- Tracking and Conversions with Ed Reese
- Solving Problems at Google My Business with Willys DeVoll and Mary Bowling
- Ask Me Anything About Local Search with David Mihm
- Local Targeting of Paid Advertising with Paula Keller
- Using Reviews to Build Your Business with Aaron Weiche
- Local Links with Mike Ramsey
- Citations: Everything You Need to Know with Darren Shaw
3:20–3:50pm
- Tracking and Conversions with Ed Reese
- Solving Problems at Google My Business with Willys DeVoll and Mary Bowling
- Ask Me Anything About Local Search with David Mihm
- Local Targeting of Paid Advertising with Paula Keller
- Using Reviews to Build Your Business with Aaron Weiche
- Agency Issues with Mike Ramsey
- Local Links with Darren Shaw
3:50–4:20pm
- Tracking and Conversions with Ed Reese
- Solving Problems at Google My Business with Willys DeVoll and Mary Bowling
- Ask Me Anything About Local Search with David Mihm
- Local Targeting of Paid Advertising with Paula Keller
- Using Reviews to Build Your Business with Aaron Weiche
- Local Links with Mike Ramsey
- Citations: Everything You Need to Know with Darren Shaw
4:20–5:00pm
Live Site Reviews
The group will come back together for live site reviews!
5:00–6:00pm
Happy Hour!
Friday conference
8:00–9:00am
Breakfast
9:00–9:05am
Welcome to MozCon Local 2016! with David Mihm
David Mihm is one of the world’s leading practitioners of Local search engine marketing. He has created and promoted search-friendly websites for clients of all sizes since the early 2000s. David co-founded GetListed.org, which he sold to Moz in November 2012.
9:05–9:35am
Feeding the Beast: Local Content for RankBrain with Mary Bowling
We now know searcher behavior and continual testing via machine learning indeed affects Google rankings and algorithm refinements. Learn how to create local content to satisfy both Google and our human visitors.
Mary Bowling‘s been in SEO since 2003 and has specialized in local SEO since 2006. When she’s not writing about, teaching, consulting, and doing internet marketing, you’ll find her rafting, biking, and skiing/snowboarding in the mountains and deserts of Colorado and Utah.
9:35–10:05am
Local Links: Tests, Tools, and Tactics with Mike Ramsey
Going beyond the map pack, links can bring you qualified traffic, organic rankings, penalties, or filters. Mike will walk through lessons, examples, and ideas for you to utilize to your heart’s content.
Mike Ramsey is the president of Nifty Marketing and a founding faculty member of Local University. He is a lover of search and social with a heavy focus in local marketing and enjoys the chess game of entrepreneurship and business management. Mike loves to travel and loves his home state of Idaho.
10:05–10:35am
Citation Investigation! with Darren Shaw
Darren investigates how citations travel across the web and shares new insights into how to better utilize the local search ecosystem for your brands.
Darren Shaw is the president and founder of Whitespark, a company that builds software and provides services to help businesses with local search. He’s widely regarded in the local SEO community as an innovator, one whose years of experience working with massive local data sets have given him uncommon insights into the inner workings of the world of citation-building and local search marketing. Darren has been working on the web for over 16 years and loves everything about local SEO.
10:35–10:55am
AM Break
10:55–11:20am
Technical Site Audits for Local SEO with Lindsay Wassell
Onsite SEO success lies in the technical details, but extensive SEO audits can be too expensive and impractical. Lindsay shows you the most important onsite elements for local search optimization and outlines an efficient path for improved performance.
Lindsay Wassell’s been herding bots and wrangling SERPs since 2001. She has a zeal for helping small businesses grow with improved digital presence. Lindsay is the CEO and founder of Keyphraseology.
11:20–11:45am
Optimizing and Hacking Email for Mobile with Justine Jordan
Email may be an old dog, but it has learned some new mobile tricks. From device-a-palooza and preview text to tables and triggers, Justine will break down the subscriber experience so you (and your audience) get the most from your next campaign.
In addition to being an email critic, cat lover, and explain-a-holic, Justine Jordan also heads up marketing for Litmus, an email testing and analytics platform. She’s strangely passionate about email, hates being called a spammer, and still codes like it’s 1999.
11:45am–12:10pm
Understanding App-Web Convergence and the Impending App Tsunami with Emily Grossman
People no longer distinguish between app and web content; both compete for the same space in local search results. Learn how to keep your local brand presence afloat as apps and deep links flood into the top of search results.
Emily Grossman is a Mobile Marketing Specialist at MobileMoxie, and she has been working with mobile apps since the early days of the app stores in 2010. She specializes in app search marketing, with a focus on strategic deep linking, app indexing, app launch strategy, and app store optimization (ASO).
12:10–12:35pm
Building Customer Love and Loyalty in a Mobile World with Robi Ganguly
How the best companies in the world relate to customers, create a personal touch, and foster customer loyalty at scale.
Robi Ganguly is the co-founder and CEO of Apptentive, the easiest way for every company to communicate with their mobile app customers. A native Seattleite, Robi enjoys building relationships, running, reading, and cooking.
12:35–1:35pm
Lunch
1:35–2:05pm
The Past, Present, and Future of Local Listings with Luther Lowe and Willys Devol
Two of the biggest kids on the local search block, Google and Yelp, share their views on the changing world of local listings, their place in the broader world of local search, and what you can do to keep up, in this Q&A moderated by David Mihm.
Luther Lowe is VP of Public Policy at Yelp.
Willys Devol is the content strategist for Google My Business, and he spends his time designing and writing online content to help business owners enhance their presence online. He’s also a major proponent of broccoli and gorillas.
2:05–2:35pm
Fake It Til You Make It: Brand Building for Local Businesses with Paula Keller
Explore real-world examples of how your local business can establish a brand that both customers and Google will recognize and reward.
As Director of Account Management at Search Influence, Paula Keller strategizes with businesses on improving their search, social, and online ads results, and she works to scale those tactics for her team’s 800+ local business clients. Paula views online marketing the same way she views cooking (her favorite way to spend her free time): trends come and go, but classic tactics are always the foundation of success!
2:35–3:05pm
Your Marketing Team is Larger Than You Think with Dana DiTomaso
Imagine doing such a great job with your branding that you become a part of your customer’s life. They trust your brand as part of their community. This magic doesn’t happen by dictating the corporate voice from a head office, but from empowering your locations to build customer community.
Whether at a conference, on the radio, or in a meeting, Dana DiTomaso likes to impart wisdom to help you turn a lot of marketing bullshit into real strategies to grow your business. After 10+ years, she’s (almost) seen it all. It’s true, Dana will meet with you and teach you the ways of the digital world, but she is also a fan of the random fact. Kick Point often celebrates “Watershed Wednesday” because of Dana’s diverse work and education background. In her spare time, Dana drinks tea and yells at the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
3:05–3:25pm
PM Break
3:25–3:55pm
Mo’ Listings, Mo’ Problems: Managing Enterprise-Level Local Search with Cori Shirk
Listings are everyone’s favorite local search task…not. Cori takes you through how to tackle them at large scale, keep up, and not burn out.
Cori Shirk is a member of the SEO team at Seer Interactive, where she specializes in managing enterprise local search accounts and guiding strategy across all of Seer’s local search clients. When she’s not sitting in front of a computer, you can usually find her out at a concert enjoying a local craft beer.
3:55–4:10pm
The Enterprise Perspective on Local Search with Matthew Moore
Learn how the person responsible for local visibility across a portfolio of nearly 1,000 locations tackles this space on a daily basis. Matthew from Sears Home Services shares his experiences and advice in this Q&A moderated by David Mihm.
Matthew Moore is Senior Director, Marketing Analytics at Sears Holdings Corporation.
4:10–4:40pm
How to Approach Social Media Like Big Brands with Adria Saracino
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, Snapchat, Periscope…the seemingly never-ending world of social media can leave even the most seasoned marketer flailing among too many tasks and not enough results. Adria will help you cut through the noise and share actionable secrets that big brands use to succeed with social media.
Adria Saracino is a digital strategist whose marketing experience spans mid-stage startups, agency life, and speaking engagements at conferences like SearchLove and Lavacon. When not marketing things, you can see her cooking elaborate meals and posting them on her Instagram, @emeraldpalate.
4:40–5:10pm
Analytics for Local Marketers: The Big Picture and the Right Details with Rand Fishkin
Are your marketing efforts taking your organization where it needs to go, or are they just boosting your vanity metrics? Rand explains how to avoid being misled by the wrong metrics and how to focus on the ones that will keep you moving forward. Learn how to determine what to measure, as well as how to tie it to objectives with clear, concise, and useful data points.
Rand Fishkin uses the ludicrous title “Wizard of Moz.” He’s the founder and former CEO of Moz, co-author of a pair of books on SEO, and co-founder of Inbound.org.
6:00–10:00pm
MozCon Local Networking Afterparty, location TBA
Join your fellow attendees and Moz and LocalU staff for a networking party after the conference. Light appetizers and drinks included. See you there!
Buy your MozCon Local 2016 ticket!
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