I volunteered to live-blog the Geek Chat even though I knew, in advance, that any time you get geeks chatting, the conversation is NOT going to be linear (and thus a challenge to blog). Plus, I was harboring a bit of disappointment that there were not any female geeks (we exist!) on the panel.
So, let’s Meet the Geeks!
Justin Liles – SVP of Local Search
Since October 5th, 2014 Justin has played a direct part in helping 48,109 local businesses globally get better visibility in the major search engines.
Ryan Nielsen – SVP of Development
Ryan makes sure the servers are running and does his best to keep Advice’s development team on the cutting edge of design and development.
Jared Carrizales – Founder at Heroic Search
Jared uses his experience as a search marketer, content developer and manager to create campaigns for clients that improve ROI for their businesses.
Tony Cecala (moderator) – Digital Media Consultant / Licensed Avatar® Master
Tony is a digital executive and new-media strategist. He does content marketing, creative promotions, WordPress consulting and technology problem solving.
Quite a bit of Geek Cred there, folks!
The Chat
Mobile is changing the landscape of how we search, how is this impacting what you do?
Justin – Mobile search has taken over desktop. Not only does your website need to be mobile friendly, it’s important that you follow the guidelines to be mobile-savvy. You lose the trust factor with your clients/potential clients.
Jared – The user experience is really important. Mobile compatibility is important but you need to keep an eye on the entire user experience.
Ryan – The mobile experience is important and we’re having to learn to support responsive websites.
How does accessibility come into play?
Ryan – For search marketers it’s a big thing in the mobile space. You have to think about things that maybe you didn’t in the desktop setting, like the size of buttons, etc.
Jared – No one knows what’s going to happen with the market as it becomes more mainstream. There will be a lot more opportunities to market and have anticipatory search. (For instance, you have a problem with your car when you’re driving and your car will be connected to search and be able to tell you the closest, most reasonably priced mechanics, when they have openings, etc.)
Justin – You have to have an understanding of where this technology is heading and look for potential opportunities to utilize the platforms and available technology.
What are you seeing with things like Augmented Reality?
Justin – People need to think of things like “Why don’t I put a live webcam in our reception area?” And you will get that feed picked up by hundreds of other outlets.
Jared – Augmented reality will become more of a marketplace and provide opportunities to market to people.
Ryan – Google glass’s issue was primarily price point, but people become conservative and resistant to change. There are opportunities but there are going to be more laws and regulations about marketing and how “intuitive” marketing efforts can be.
Jared – We went to Disneyland and the wristbands track what rides you went on. This data could be used to target future travel ads based on that. Privacy will become an issue in marketing. Who owns the data? How can it be used?
Justin – If you aren’t doing anything illegal, why not let that data be used to help you out?
Jared – Anyone who really wants to know things about you probably already knows. Privacy will be it’s own industry in the future.
All of the big, successful companies break the rules. Any tips for breaking the rules?
Justin – How do you balance risk vs. rewards? If you make 125 million profit, what’s a 50 thousand dollar fine?
Jared – If a company like Exxon breaks the law and makes their tankers more cheaply by cutting corners does that make it right?
Ryan – If you are an activist, you don’t want a regulatory environment where information about your activism could be used against you. You need to be able to use the internet and not be “sold out” to the government.
In the end, I think the Geek Chat can be summarized by this gem dropped by one of the panelists:
“If you’re going to do illegal stuff, don’t use the Internet to do it”.
*Mic drop* That’s all you need to know. Great job, gentlemen!
