Last week I was in Las Vegas, NV attending the Pubcon search engine marketing (SEM) conference hosted by WebmasterWorld.com. I have attended Pubcon in Las Vegas for the last three years, and I can honestly say that each time it has been worth every dime.
Whether you are just beginning to learn about search engine marketing or you are a seasoned veteran in search marketing, I highly recommend attending Pubcon. It’s a great way to jump start a new career in search… and a great way to breathe life and excitement back into an old search related career.
Search Engine Marketing Education Tracks
For the last 3 years Pubcon has offered 3 full days of session on a variety of topics. Generally each day there consists of 5-6 education tracks. They are all related to SEM in one way or another. Each track is broken into 4-5 sessions. Regardless of whether your goal is learning about search engine optimization, learning about social media, or learning about PPC and affiliate campaigns, Pubcon has a lot to offer.
This year’s sessions included all day multi-session tracks on topics like:
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• Search Marketing (SEM)
• Affiliate Marketing
• Twitter
• Social Media Marketing
• Emerging Media
• Analytics and Metrics
• Social, Brand, & Reputation Management
• Link Building
• Interactive Site Reviews
And for the first time in three years, they even included one session on the final day on “Rogue SEO” or blackhat SEO. This session was my favorite single session hands-down for the entire 3 day conference. I learned more in this class than I have learned in a LONG time.
These types of extreme blackhat techniques are not something I, personally, would ever use on one of my sites or client sites, but knowing how it’s done is invaluable so that you can recognize when someone is using blackhat techniques to trash your site’s rankings.
Making Search Marketing Contacts After Hours at Pubcon
After 3 years at Pubcon, I have come to realize that though the sessions are great and more than worth the conference fee, the most valuable part of this SEO/SEM conference comes after hours through networking with attendees and speakers over dinner and/or drinks. It is in this setting where you learn what “real” search engine marketing is about.
Pubcon is not the typical “corporate” conference. Though there are some corporate types there, it is mostly filled with webmasters who work for themselves. These are people who own their own web site storefronts or affiliate sites and live off of what they do online. It is awesome to talk to these non-9-to-5ers and hear about what they are doing and the types of crazy money that “can” be made online if you know your stuff and put in the time.
Sharing experiences with other webmasters in drastically different verticals can often stimulate your thinking and open your mind to new opportunities in your own vertical. So I highly recommend including dollars in your SEM education budget each year so that you can attend Pubcon.
