SphinnCon Israel – Event Summary

Well it’s now 23:09 and I just got back home… It has been a really long and exciting day for me.

SphinnCon Israel was an exciting event. I am not familiar with the final number of guests, but for my eyes it seemed very similar to ~200 SE’ enthusiasts mingling, networking, debating, eating, drinking etc.

In a way, it reminded me my first SES event I attended in Munich back in 2002 – Small, cozy – and most important – Getting the local industry together in one place, for the first time ever.

A lot of friends asked me whether we learned new techniques, got new knowledge and got benefit that way. Well, from my experience with events in general, and professional meetings like that specifically – I think this is not the goal of such event.

The opportunity to meet with colleagues, have a few hours of talks and basically to get to know everyone a little better, simply makes our professional life better.
Flickr Album (Thanks Tzvika)

It’s not all about acquiring new tricks, not all about learning new stuff – but mostly about getting to know the faces and persons behind the names & nicks.

SEO Panel:

The SEO panel was moderated by Barry Schwartz and included Branko, Sam, Gilad and myself.

seo panel sphinncon Israel 2008

The panel started with a very neat presentation by Branko from Tens, who discussed the link popularity issue in a very professional way, from its very beginning in the famous Page Rank concept which originated by Sergei Brin and Larry Page, and then discussed the different aspects of link development up to the latest controversial debate on whether Google can or cannot instruct us how to buy & sell our online real estate (e.g. Link Buying).

The audience asked quite a few very interesting questions such as:

  • – How to get links – Manual vs. Automatic?
  • – What should be done to win link farms & Spam in the local Israeli market?
  • – Do search engine measure the user’s behavior after they click?
  • – Is there a different value to fresh links?
  • – How does the new LSI algorithm influence on SEO?
  • – How does Universal Search influence SEO?
  • – My site has disappeared from the SERPS! What should I do now?
  • – Do we care who our client is? Whether their product Gives actual value?

Well, I can’t repeat all of the answers given – but here are a few:

  • How to get links – Manual vs. Automatic?
    • Sam: Automation works in a certain extent
    • Ophir: Segment your market and get links from related web sites based on your content
    • Sam, Gilad: Quality is important; however a few general links here and there never hurt and even help.
    • Branko: Link exchanges are less effective than they used to.
    • Branko: Link buying is still an option, needs to be handled carefully.
  • What should be done to win link farms & Spam in the local Israeli market?
    • Ophir: The spammy web sites will disappear with time
    • Branko: For long term international campaigns it is recommended to use best practices and less spam.
    • Ophir: it’s mostly about the user experience and less about looking at the spammers. They focus on spam hen you can focus on quality and content.
  • Do search engine measure the user’s behavior after they click?
    • Yes.
    • They do not admit it, yet.
    • They will admit it, in the future.
    • Next time you install Gmail, yahoo mail, MSN IM, Google toolbar, Google Analytics and so on… Read the license agreement where it strictly says that the information is being recorded.
      (All)
  • Is there a different value to fresh links?
    • Branko: There is a sort of a fluctuation in the first days which can sometimes boost a page up in the serp’s in minutes, however after a while it gets back to the ongoing indexing process.
  • How does the new LSI algorithm and languages influence on SEO?
    • Gilad: More keyword research and more LSI in the keyword research. Use Google Sets to find out more.
    • Gilad: Look at the SERP’s o Ask.com. They do it well.
  • How does Universal Search influence SEO?
    • Ophir: It changes a lot. The activities which got us top placements 2 years ago will not do the job in 2008. We must incorporate SMO/SMM techniques and leverage them into SEO.
  • My site has disappeared from the SERPS! What should I do now?
    • Branko: Do nothing to your web site, and wait a few days to few weeks. Could be a Google glitch.
    • Gilad: Think back and analyze your actions
    • Gilad: If you’ve done smth wrong, don’t hesitate to ask in Google Groups and ask for re-inclusion (of course fix it first).
    • Ophir: Use analytics, look at your log files and analyze the patterns.
  • Do we care who our client is? Whether their product Gives actual value?
    • Sam: How much are we talking about?
    • Ophir: It really depends on the type of company you are trying to build. If you‘re into establishing a long lasting firm, you might care more. We do 🙂

After the sessions we drove back to Tel Aviv, got to the office and answered some of the 100+ emails in my inbox. Then went to a cool party organized by eToro. had a beer, got back… going to sleep… bye bye… 🙂

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