May Boston SEO Meetup Recap
May 3, 2013 by Nick Stamoulis · Leave a Comment
The Boston SEO Meetup group met on May, 2nd 2013* at the Microsoft New England Research and Development Center in Cambridge, MA. This month the Meetup featured speaker Mike Tekula of Distilled NYC and his presentation was entitled Integration of Authorship & AuthorRank into Search.
*This was a rescheduled date as the April SEO Meetup had been originally scheduled for April 15th, however due to the bombings at the Boston Marathon the event was rescheduled. Please consider donating to the One Fund to help those affected.
Here is a brief overview of Mike Tekula’s presentation:
Links have always been the most basic component used to measure online authority; the more links a site had the more valued it would become to the search engines. For a while Google’s PageRank system worked really well and that it was made Google the search giant it is today. But spammers began to find and uncover the loopholes in Google’s PageRank system and used “black market” link building tactics like link directories and blog networks to build more and more links to their site as a way to build authority. Mike even admitted then when he started out in SEO his job was to comb the Internet for those directories and get sites listed.
Google, being no longer able to trust links as the sole source of authority, is turning to social signals to help create a more “pure” authority signal. And one of the ways they are doing is this with the rel=“author” tag.
As Mike pointed out, people are less likely to spam and engage in “under the table” link building activities when their name and identity is front and center. Anonymity makes it easy to get away with spam, so the rel=”author” tag incentivizes being upfront and “above board” with who you are online. By associating a face and name with the content Google rewards site owners and bloggers that produce high-quality content that is shared and promoted within Google+. The rel=”author” tag can also help writers “claim” their content, so if someone else republishes it they don’t steal away your authority. The rich snippet that the rel=”author” tag pulls also helps make your posts stand out in the SERPs. Even if other content outranks yours the rich snippet grabs the attention of searchers. Mike pointed out a study that showed 150% CTR boost for rich snippet links.
Google+ is the #2 social network by active users so site owners can’t afford to ignore it. And while AuthorRank is not yet influencing rank Mike predicted that it will soon, in some way shape or form. It’s important that you let the people in your organization become thought leaders because your website will benefit from their growing author authority. Mike pointed out that Google will most likely combine PageRank and AuthorRank in some way to determine a brand’s or blogger’s true online authority.
The next SEO Meetup has not yet been scheduled, so be sure to check out the Meetup page for updates!
Distilled will be hosting SearchLove, a two day single-track conference aimed at SEO practitioners wanting to advance their skills on May 20th and 21st at the Joseph B. Martin Conference Center. Distilled is offering our group an exclusive discount to their conference: $100 of the standard rate - only $699! (Usually $799) Simply use the link below and the discount will be automatically applied:
http://www.distilled.net/events/searchlove-boston/?code=CAMBRVIP13SLBOS04#buyTickets
Brick Marketing, food sponsor to the Boston SEO Meetups will be hosting a full day SEO workshop on May 22. Visit http://boston-internet-marketing.eventbrite.com for more information.
RESCHEDULED Event – Mike Tekula of Distilled on Authorship and AuthorRank
March 20, 2013 by davematson · Leave a Comment
Our next event is on May 2 at Microsoft Cambridge. (Rescheduled from 4/15 event that was cancelled)
We will have a presentation from Mike Tekula of Distilled NYC. The topic is “Integration of Authorship & AuthorRank into Search”. Read more
March Boston SEO Meetup Recap
March 6, 2013 by Nick Stamoulis · Leave a Comment
After taking a brief hiatus during the month of February, the Boston SEO Meetup group met on March 4, 2013 at the Robbins Library in Arlington, MA. A group of almost 40 individuals from a range of businesses and industries met to discuss the current state of Search Engine Optimization. The featured speaker of the evening was Lou Cimaglia, Public Relations and Social Media Expert at Grow Socially, an online marketing and social media agency out of Wilmington, MA.
After a round of introductions a couple of challenge questions were presented prior to the speaker’s presentation. Some of the questions presented to the group included: Read more
January Boston SEO Meetup Recap
January 29, 2013 by Nick Stamoulis · Leave a Comment
The first SEO Meetup event of 2013 was held on January 28 at the Robbins Library in Arlington, MA. It marked 7 years of the SEO Meetup group, as it was founded in February 2006.
Read more
November Boston SEO Meetup Recap
November 21, 2012 by Nick Stamoulis · Leave a Comment
On Monday night, the Boston SEO Meetup had its November 2012 gathering at the Robbins Library in Arlington, MA. Due to upcoming Thanksgiving Holiday, the group had a smaller turnout, which worked perfectly in the roundtable style setup. Attendees met Matt Williams, a Technical Evangelist from Yottaa, Inc., and the speaker of the evening. Yottaa is a Boston-based startup that provides an all-in-one web optimization solution for any website. Beverages and snacks were provided by the Boston SEO food sponsor, Brick Marketing. Read more
October Boston SEO Meetup Recap
October 24, 2012 by Nick Stamoulis · Leave a Comment
On Monday night, the Boston SEO Meetup group reconvened at the Microsoft New England Research and Development (NERD) center. A group of about forty local Boston SEO professionals, marketing professionals and local business owners enjoyed pizza provided by guest speaker Dave Evanson, Senior Sales & Brokerage Consultant for Sedo.com. Beverages and additional goodies were provided by the group’s food sponsor, Brick Marketing. Read more
October Meetup + Offer
October 12, 2012 by davematson · Leave a Comment
Our October event is less than two weeks away. Please join us on Monday, Oct 22 at at Microsoft Cambridge for a talk about Domain valuation and selection from a world- renowned expert on the subject, Dave Evanson of Sedo.com. Read more
September Boston SEO Meetup Recap
September 5, 2012 by Nick Stamoulis · Leave a Comment
After a month-long hiatus, the Boston SEO Meetup met last night at the Microsoft New England Research and Development (NERD) center. A group of around fifty attendees, including local Boston SEO professionals, marketing professionals and local business owners, met to mingle over refreshments provided by Brick Marketing before joining guest speaker, Tim Carter of AskTheBuilder.com in the conference room. Read more
Fall Meetup Events
August 30, 2012 by davematson · Leave a Comment
It’s been a slow summer, but the Boston/Cambridge SEO Meetup Group is back with a bunch of great events this fall. Read more
June Boston SEO Meetup Recap
June 12, 2012 by Nick Stamoulis · Leave a Comment
The June Boston SEO Meetup was held Monday June 11, 2012 and featured guest speaker Casie Gillette. Casie is the Online Marketing Manager at Grasshopper, a virtual phone system located in Needham, MA. She has been in the search industry for over seven years. Her presentation focused on how to get people connecting with and talking about your brand.
Read more

