VA Search Engine Marketing Meetup
Thanks to Li Evans, Bill Slawski, Debra Mastaler, Simon Heseltine, and a local small business owner for coming out to the Union Street Public House for lunch and search engine chatter. Topics of discussion this month included the AdWords Professional test and its requirements, the big names of the search engine industry, and some discussion over local portals.
My recap: Those who had taken the test seemed to indicate the AdWords Professional test is harder than most people let on, and while it’s not necessarily difficult to pass, it will require some studying of the Learning Center. Most of us did not know the requirements to becoming an AdWords qualified company, but a couple of us were familiar with the requirements for an individual.
The big names of the search engine industry discussion focused primarily on two people, the undisputed “winner” would be Danny Sullivan, who several of those attending the meetup had personally met. It sounded to me like he was not only nice, but a good businessman who could recognize trends and put a good face on the industry through mainstream media interviews.
The discussion over local portals centered around the difficulties faced in buiding community and infrastructure without busting through a budget. Those attending liked the idea of portals, but expressed concern that no portal had necessarily cornered the market in local search.
If you’re interested in future SEM meetups, check out the VA meetup page. See you next month!
