workshop: How to rank No. 1 on Google and other search engines

• Time: 4pm - 7pm
• Date: Wednesday 4 August 2010
• Location: Tomorrow Studio, Level 1, 193 Wakefield Street, Adelaide
• Cost: $99 inc GST per person
• Maximum participants: 6
• Workshop convenor: Clayton Wehner
• Prerequisites: Existing business website; a good understanding of the web
• What to bring: Wireless-enabled laptop computer

Enquiries about this workshop, including alternate payment methods, should be directed to Clayton Wehner at contact@bluetrainenterprises.com.au.

About the Workshop

Are you frustrated by the lack of business that your website brings in?  Not currently appearing in the top ten results in Google - but your major competitor is?

It's absolutely imperative that your business secures a prominent place in the search engine results pages.  Why?  Statistics show that:

• 93% of consumers’ worldwide use search engines to locate web sites. (Forrester Research)
• 85% of qualified web traffic is driven through search engines. (WWW User Survey)
• 75% of search engine traffic never scroll past the first page of results. (WWW User Survey)

You could have the best looking website in the world - but it may never be seen by anyone...unless it is optimised for the search engines.

This practical, hands-on workshop will teach you how to 'fine tune' your website in order to boost its visibility in the major search engines - Google, Yahoo! and Bing - so that your business can make more money.

Prerequisites

Participants should be familiar with the web, with internet connections and using web browsers.  Participants should have an existing web presence.

Workshop outline

The following topics will be covered in the workshop:

• Search engines and Google
  • What are search engines?
  • History of search engines
  • What are the big search engines in Australia
  • Why it is important to optimise your website
  • Organic versus paid search results
• Choosing the right keywords
  • How to choose the right keywords
  • Keyword advice
• On-site optimisation
  • Use of multimedia on websites
  • On-site navigation and navigation elements
  • TITLE tag
  • Metadata tags
  • Keywords in body text, URLs, heading tags, link anchor text, image ALT tags
  • Customer assurance factors
• Getting value from links
  • Inbound links
  • Outbound links
  • Caution with reciprocal and paid links
  • Directory listings
  • Clever ways to get inbound links
• Content is King
  • Textual content rules
  • Examples of great content
• Brief coverage of Web 2.0 content – blogs, social networking, etc.
• Brief coverage of Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
  • Google Adwords
• Other things to do and not do
  • Google Webmaster Tools, Alerts, Analytics
  • Technical things - sitemaps, robots.txt, 301 redirects
  • Things that you should never do – cloaking, keyword stuffing etc

The trainer - Clayton Wehner

Clayton has operated web-based businesses since 2003. His company Blue Train Enterprises Pty Ltd currently owns and operates several Web 2.0-enabled web brands, namely online bookstore Boomerang Books,  and Canberra-based online jobs board CapitalJobs.com.au. He has implemented blogs, wikis, social networking strategies and Web 2.0 enabled websites. Unlike some other consultants who train others in web-related disciplines, Clayton practices what he preaches.

Clayton has significant experience in training, leadership and management roles, having served as an Army Intelligence and Infantry Officer for 12 years. His grounding in leadership and management was received at the Australian Defence Force Academy and the Royal Military College, Duntroon. He has also worked as the Chief Executive Officer of an award-winning SME recruitment company; as an executive-level public servant with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade; and as a management consultant with ASX-listed company SMS Management and Technology.

Clayton holds a Bachelor of Arts with Honours and a Masters of Management Studies, majoring in Human Resource Management, both from the University of New South Wales. Among other qualifications, Clayton holds a Certificate IV in Workplace Assessment and Training which permits him to deliver accredited training.