Recently, our SEO and Social Media Marketing team attending the virtual Search Engine Journal (SEJ) Summit which had some great speakers, seminars, and Master Classes. Here is a quick glimpse at some of our takeaways that covered the areas of both beginner and advanced SEO (Search Engine Optimization).

Importance of Image Search + Branded SERPs
Beginner SEO vs Advanced SEO + Value of Backlinks
In SEJ’s SEO Master Class, Keith Goode, Sr. SEO Strategist at IBM, explained the difference between beginner SEO and advanced SEO. Beginner SEO answers the “What” around organic content such as keywords and URLs. Advanced SEO answers the “How and Why” and digs deeper into the user experience and why people may prefer competitors. In his session about external links, he emphasized the importance of preserving the links you have, educating PR to ask for external links, and building internal linking. He cited that the average value of a quality backlink being $500! Will Reynolds of Seer Interactive also brought up backlinks as a way to build credibility in the SEO to Growth Keynote. He offered ideas of talking to media about COVID resources and building yourself as a subject matter expert to earn the backlinks. ~ Jackie
Follow theses SEJ Speakers on Twitter: Keith Goode and Will Reynolds
Self-Serve Digital Ads
Facebook and Google introduced everyone to the concept of self-serve ads, but this next year we’ll see other social media platforms and television apps take it to a whole new level playing field. It was a small portion of their discussion in “The Biggest Digital Ad Shake Ups in 2020 & How To Set Yourself Up for Success in 2021“, but Gregg Finn, Jessica Budde, and Mark Saltarelli mentioned self-serve ads on Hulu, Tik Tok, Samsung, CBS and others. They really got me exploring new strategies for our clients who want to reach different demographics in fresh ways this next year. ~Beth
Follow theses SEJ Speakers on Twitter: Gregg Finn, Mark Saltarelli and Jessica Budde
E-A-T and the 2020 Social Media Cocktail
Follow this SEJ Speakers on Twitter: Lily Ray
SEO Authority
IBM Sr. SEO Strategist Keith Goode, highlighted in his SEO Master Class that we need to focus on 3 takeaways in regards to SEO authority, relevance, and usability in 2021. For Authority takeaways: Understand your audience’s language and intent; Align your content to the user’s journey, and don’t neglect the post-conversion funnel. Concerning relevance, focus on earning trustworthiness over time; understand the nature and value of link neighborhoods, and engage your PR team to tap into their established relationships. Lastly, takeaways for Usability: focus your attention on Core Web Vitals; understand how important JavaScript is to the future of SEO, and use Structured Data. ~ Jessica
Follow this SEJ Speakers on Twitter: Keith Goode
Want to learn more about beginner or advanced SEO, Google Ads, and Social Media? Search Engine Journal is a great resource, and the team at Vivid Image is always here too. Reach out or give us a call if you have questions or would like to discuss how to take your search engine marketing to the next level.