Andrew Beckman and Alex Porter have been selected as prospective speakers at SXSW Interactive in March 2011. SXSW chooses speakers through a democratic PanelPicker process, whereby everyone and anyone can vote on the topics and speakers they’d like to see at the show. To help ensure that they both have the opportunity to speak, we need your help! Please vote for their panels. Following are descriptions and links to both sessions.
Universal Search: Is it Hurting your Site? — Andrew Beckman
The search engines are on a never-ending quest to provide the most-relevant experience for searchers, giving way to the rise of universal search, which populates the SERPs with images, news, maps, videos, tweets, etc., all relating to one keyword. These extra results leave less room for page 1 ranking for your website; however, universal search opens up numerous opportunities for ranking with other assets. I’ll explain how to optimize for universal search by creating a comprehensive online program, which must include paid, organic, maps, videos, social media, apps and more.
Attribution: Are You Giving Proper Credit? — Alex Porter
A potential customer Googles your product and clicks on your sponsored listing. The searcher browses your site, then exits without making a purchase. While visiting subsequent sites, they see your banner ad, click on it and finally make a purchase. Who gets credit for that sale—the search marketers or media buyers? Does it really matter as long as you get the sale? For companies that rely on a number of different individuals, departments or agencies to manage all of their online marketing efforts, it can be extremely difficult to determine which channel is responsible for results. Last click attribution was never accurate, but it was the best option at the time. Now, however, the industry has come a long way in figuring out attribution models.