Top Presentations at Pubcon Las Vegas 2013

Pubcon is one of the most amazing search conferences in the world, and we were so excited to be able to attend Pubcon Las Vegas 2013 this year! All of this year’s speakers were amazing and our entire team learned so much about local search, social, digital advertising, paid search, and more.

Below, I’ve listed our top picks from this year’s session presentations (with links to their slide decks where possible), including the three awesome keynote speeches by Jason Calacanis, Matt Cutts, and Scott Stratten.

The Keynotes:

“State of the Media” by Jason Calacanis
In a fiery opening for the entire three-day conference, Jason Calacanis outlined several statistics about where media stands today. Radio, television, and magazines are out—mobile gaming, online streaming, and social media are in.

“Moonshots, Machine Learning, and Mobile: The Future of Google” by Matt Cutts
In one of the most anticipated keynotes at Pubcon 2013, Matt Cutts took attendees through a brief history of Google search—where it has been, where it is now, and what’s projected for the future. Cutts emphasized the importance of mobile development, quality content, and authorship.

“QR Codes, Unmarketing of Logos, and Immediacy” by Scott Stratten
With spitfire humor, Scott Stratten led attendees through the highlights of his book, QR Codes Kill Kittens, complete with examples of well-intentioned marketing gone wrong. Creating content that people want to talk about was the message at the heart of his presentation.

Session Presentations Arranged by Category:

SEO

“Surviving the Keyword Apocalypse: Keyword Research Post-Keyword Tool,  -(Not Provided), and -Hummingbird” by Stoney deGeyter
Getting insight into accurate keyword data is now harder than ever thanks to recent changes by Google. But as Stoney deGeyter explains, keywords still play an important role in search tactics.

“How to Perform SEO Audits” by Alan Bleiweiss
An SEO audit can answer a lof of your marketing questions, including where you should be prioritizing your efforts. Alan Bleiweiss outlines several tactics you can use to audit your site for SEO effectiveness.

“Proactive Link Building Tactics” by David Wallace
With Google penalizing traditional link building practices, David Wallace thinks it might be time to rethink “link building” as “link earning.” Comes complete with data from a case study.

Local Search

“The 3 Dimensions of Local Search” by Greg Gifford
It doesn’t take a huge brain to succeed in local SEO, says Greg Gifford in his Day 3 presentation. He outlines and explains the three dimensions of local: onsite, citations, and Google+.

“How to Be the King in a Local Market” by Mike Ramsey
Mike Ramsey explains how to create an effective strategy for ranking well in local search results, including what to analyze, how to build landing pages, and how to perform a backlink audit.

Social Media

“Influencing Search with Social Signals” by Rob Garner
Social media is now more important than ever. As Rob Garner shows, social media signals, especially those coming from Google+, are dynamically influencing the ways in which content is ranked in search engines.

“Social & Competitive Intelligence Tools We Couldn’t Live Without” by Elisabeth Osmeloski
Elisabeth Osmeloski takes attendees through the tactics Search Engine Land and Marketing Land use to monitor their social engagement, including the tools the company uses for social listening and analytics.

“Social Integration is Brain Surgery, Not a Bandaid!” by Brent Csutoras
What value does social media hold for you, your brand, and your business? Learn the value of social signals to your content, as well as how to increase links and social signals across your social platforms.

“Convergence of Social & Search” by David Wallace
You can no longer rely on your website to carry you in search; now it’s time to build an engaged social network surrounding your brand, which starts by integrating your social media presence in everything you do.

“Competitive Intelligence: Social Media Tools & Tactics” by Matt Siltala
If you want to get ahead in the social media marketing game, it’s time to look into social media intelligence tools like the ones Matt Siltala outlines in this Pubcon deck.

Content Marketing

“Scaling Quality: How to Make Remarkable Content at Scale for Marketing Success” by Michael King
If content is king, how do you successfully create content at scale for your business or your clientS? Michael King advises thinking about your audience—their needs and wants.

“A Proverbial Guide to ‘Multi-Channel’ Marketing Success” by Mike Stewart
You already know that to be successful in digital marketing, you need to come at your strategy from all sides. Mike Stewart provides tips on how you can successfully build relationships and content that positively impacts your brand.

Web Development

“Planning for Responsive: Why Developers Hate You” by Steve Floyd
Responsive web design is the way of the future, but it’s not something you can just rush into. Learn how you can make your developers love you and your projects with tips from Steve Floyd.

Miscellaneous

“Google+, Google Glass, and Google Now” by Rob Garner
Three of Google’s most innovative web initiatives – Google+, Google Glass, and Google Now – are fundamentally changing the search and social landscape. Rob Garner looks at how these three products intersect in order to inform and influence search rankings and social media engagement.