Presented in Partnership with
The top experts in Local Search under one roof with one goal... sharing everything.
Whether you run an agency that serves brick-and-mortar businesses, work in-house for a large brand or Internet Yellow Pages publisher, or are trying to find the hottest opportunity in the bloodiest of all bleeding edges in search marketing, you won’t want to miss Local U Advanced Training. All new content ipresented by thought leaders in the industry.
These sessions will be action-packed, presented at an advanced level and feature ALL of the most up-to-date information about what’s working and what’s not in Local Search Engine Optimization. Join Darren Shaw, Cindy Krum, Will Scott, Mary Bowling, Joy Hawkins, Mike Blumenthal, David Deering, Mike Ramsey, Aaron Weiche, Ed Reese and more for a great day.
The Hotel Indigo will be providing discounted room rates. Each guest must make your own reservations by calling the hotel at 504-522- 3650 and identifying yourself as members of the LocalU Advanced Conference prior to Sept. 19th.
Agenda
Time
Topic
Presenters
8:00 - 8:30
Registration, Check-in and Coffee
8:30 - 8:40
Kickoff and Conference Introduction
A few very brief housekeeping items before we dive headfirst into a full day of Local Search presentations and discussions!
LOCAL SEARCH
8:40 - 9:15
Cindy Krum Keynote - Digital Marketing & The Age of Artificial Intelligence, Learning Algorithms & APIs
Cindy Krum
Mobile Moxie
Cindy Krum is the CEO and Founder of MobileMoxie, and author of Mobile Marketing: Finding Your Customers No Matter Where They Are, which gets 4.5 out of 5 stars on Amazon. She is the leading Mobile SEO consultant, and is thought leader in the search industry. Cindy works with many top-notch, internationally recognized clients, assisting with mobile SEO, Responsive Design, mobile site migrations and site-speed optimization.
9:15 - 9:50
Inside the Professor's Laboratory
Mike Blumenthal
GetFiveStars
Semantic search, relevance and categories that influence local search.
9:50 - 10:20
Improving your Local Link Building with Data
Mike Ramsey
Nifty Marketing
The importance of links for local isn't going away anytime soon. What can you do to be more effective with your time? Mike Ramsey will walk you through some of the things Nifty has done to perfect certain types of tactics.
10:20 - 10:35
BREAK
ENTERPRISE TRACK
AGENCY TRACK
10:35 - 11:00
Solving Enterprise Data Problems
Agency Link Panel
Mo citations, mo problems. Massively parallel citations need massively accurate solutions.
Darren Shaw
Whitespark
A group discussion about tips and tactics around links and local.
Mike Ramsey
Mary Bowling
Mike Blumenthal
Will Scott
11:00 - 11:30
Advanced Schema Markup for Local Businesses
How Small Businesses Can Win Their Battle Against Big Brands
Learn how to influence local Knowledge Graph panels, attract more clicks and customers with rich snippets and use Schema Actions tied to other Google products to better promote your business online.
David Deering
Touchpoint Digital
Proven tactics for winning the war for more customers in your local market area.
Mary Bowling
Ignitor Digital
11:30 - 12:00
Enterprise Lo-Mo-SEO Awesomeness
Reporting and KPI's That Clients Actually Pay Attention To
Learn what you need to know to improve your brand’s mobile representation in your core locations. Understand what influences local mobile rankings, in and out of map results, and how you can make the most of your brand’s presence there.
Cindy Krum
Mobile Moxie
Mike and Ed will unpack high-level and detailed analysis techniques to help you really prove the value to your clients. Way more than just analytics, beyond ranking and traffic, this session is about THE PROOF.
Mike Ramsey
and Ed Reese
12:00 - 1:00
LUNCH: BIRDS OF A FEATHER ROUNDTABLES
12:05 -12:20 Google: Learn how the Google My Business team approaches the chains and agency experience, and the newest product improvements for people like you who manage listings in bulk.
We'll have lunch together and you'll have the ability to self-select among tables hosted by Local U faculty to help you troubleshoot and get advice on your most pressing local search issues.
1:00 - 1:20
Creating A Review Culture
Aaron Weiche
GetFiveStars
A look at the strategy, the tactics, but most importantly how to create the "review culture" your business or your clients need into today's world or ratings and reviews.
1:20 - 1:40
Troubleshooting Google My Business Problems
Joy Hawkins
Imprezzio
Joy will go over the steps she takes to troubleshoot GMB issues along with what you can do to fix them. She’ll cover things like how to discover and report duplicate listings, how to use Google MapMaker to troubleshoot ranking issues, how to handle tricky practitioner listings, and what items influence your listing's appearing and ranking that are not in the GMB dashboard.
1:40 - 2:20
Content Amplification Strategies for Local
Paula Keller + Will Scott
Search Influence
Who stole the cookies from the cookie jar? Facebook stole the cookies, that's who. Used to be building and engaging an audience through content was as simple as hitting the "Share" button. These days, however, as the social networks look for ways to monetize, you've gotta pay to play. Paula and Will demonstrate some of the best tactics to leverage reputable brands to dominate your local market.
2:20 - 2:30
BREAK
INTIMATE BREAKOUTS
Room 1
Room 2
Room 3
Breakout 1
2:30 - 3:00
GMB Problem Solving
Willys DeVoll, Mike Blumenthal + Joy Hawkins
Agency Issues
Mike Ramsey, Will Scott, Darren Shaw
Google Analytics & Attribution
Ed Reese
Breakout 2
3:00 - 3:30
GMB Problem Solving
Willys DeVoll, Mike Blumenthal + Joy Hawkins
Agency Citations + Links
Mike Ramsey, Will Scott, Darren Shaw
Google Analytics & Attribution
Ed Reese
Breakout 3
3:30 - 4:00
Schema Q&A
David Deering
Paid Local Media for Agencies
Mike Ramsey, Will Scott, Darren Shaw
Google Analytics & Attribution
Ed Reese
4:00 - 4:15
BEER O'CLOCK
Grab a beverage of your choice as we prepare to wind down the day with two highly interactive and informal sessions.
4:15 - 5:00
Competitive Analysis Panel Session
All
5:00 - 5:30
Open Q&A / Live Site Clinics
All