Skip to Content Skip to Footer

SEO for Marketers: Strategies, Tactics and Trends

Chicago, IL

If your SEO strategy looks the same as it did a few years ago, then it’s time for a reboot.  Take your organization’s SEO results to the next level by furthering your knowledge on the latest tactics, strategies and trends that will move your website up the list of search results. This intermediate level, two-day deep-dive training will cover case studies, best practices and hands-on exercises designed to help you gain momentum around ranking, clicks, traffic and conversions. You’ll leave with new insights and an actionable 6-12 month plan customized to your organization.


Pricing

Early-Bird (Before 08/11/19)Standard Price
AMA Member$1395$1495
Non-Member$1745$1869
For early-bird pricing, use the code “EARLYBIRD8” at checkout.

What You’ll Learn

  • Beyond simple, basic SEO tactics, what do you need to do to drive results in the competitive market and landscape today?
  • What are the top SEO tools—free and paid—that you should use to be more effective in your organization and get things done faster.
  • What are the biggest mistakes marketers make when it comes to SEO? You’ll learn the tactics and techniques are still effective, and which are obsolete that you can throw out the window.
  • How SEO integrates into the larger marketing mix, and how it complements and supports other channels like social media, content marketing, PR, inbound marketing and paid search.
  • How to measure and report on SEO results, and how to determine what metrics matter the most for your organization and leadership.
  • How to optimize content on-site and off-site across different platforms: your website pages and posts, your social media copy, images, videos and more.
  • When can you move into SEO maintenance, and what are the specific activities you need to do monthly to maintain your position?


Key Takeaways

  1. Identify what new habits you should build into your marketing routine to leverage and amplify SEO results.
  2. Learn how to measure results, report on KPIs and glean actionable insight from the data.
  3. Identify critical one-time and ongoing SEO tasks that will be meaningful to get results in your space.
  4. Gain competitive insight and intel into why your competition is ranking ahead of you (and what you need to do to out-rank them)
  5. Identify low-hanging fruit you can address immediately to gain you more visibility and traffic.

Who Should Attend

Marketers of all levels in all industries who understand the importance of improving their SEO knowledge and who need to drive more brand awareness and traffic. The marketers who will get the most out of this are those who:

  • Understand the foundational basics of SEO (concepts and terminology)
  • Have the authority to make decisions and changes (in real-time during the training) to their content, channels, CMS, and off-site channels
  • Will come prepared with laptops and account set-up and log-in information for: Google Analytics, Google Search Console, your website CMS, and (optional) your Google My Business account, any SEO tools you have (free or premium) and social media accounts

Why Attend

Google takes over 200 signals into account when it comes to ranking you against your competition. Do you know what it will take to gain more visibility and traffic in 2019? In a competitive landscape, it’s hard to gain momentum when you’re picking up and implementing SEO advice in small, fragmented doses. If you haven’t had a deep dive into modern SEO best practices and trends in the past few years, and you’re frustrated with your organization’s current visibility, rankings, and traffic, this Intermediate SEO training is just what you need.


Interview With the Instructor


AMA Event Policies

Tuesday, September 10

Registration and Hot Breakfast

We’ll kick off the day with a nice breakfast so you’ll have energy for the day. You’ll also be provided with lunch and breaks throughout the day.

SEO Foundations

  • Modern Consumer/Searcher Refresher
    • Are you meeting the most current habits, preferences, and desires of your market?
    • How current trends should influence your SEO and digital strategy
  • Review SEO best practices and foundations
    • What foundations are your website and content lacking?
    • How does SEO fits into your integrated marketing mix?

EXERCISE: SEO Performance Scorecard + Documentation

Keyword Strategy and Hands-On Keyword Research

  • Keyword Strategy 201
  • Keyword Research Best Practices and Tools

EXERCISE: Keyword Research Tools and Extensions

SERPS Analysis and Competitive Auditing

  • Learn how to do a simple and quick competitive audit
  • Identify what content formats Google is prioritizing and what opportunities exist for additional visibility on both mobile and desktop

EXERCISE: Perform a Competitive Audit

Wednesday, September 11

Hot Breakfast

Breakfast will be waiting for you when you arrive for day two. Lunch and breaks will be provided throughout the day.

On-Page SEO, On-Site and Off-Site Content Optimization

  • How is Google interpreting and evaluating your page?
  • What is in your direct control? What other factors do you need to be aware of?
  • Review on-page SEO and content creation strategies.
  • Learn and apply best practices and next-level techniques to optimize content on other platforms.
  • Be more findable and own your area of expertise across every channel.

EXERCISE: Apply keywords, internal linking campaign, analyze off-site platforms and social media accounts.

Backlinks and Social SEO

  • Off-page SEO is non-negotiable.
  • Review modern backlink strategies and techniques.
  • Amplification and optimization techniques
    • Improve discovery, backlinks and engagement metrics

EXERCISE: Backlink Analysis

SEO Trends

  • Rich Snippets (what are they and why should you care?)
  • Schema
  • Voice Search
  • Optimizing for Digital Assistants and Home Devices
  • Latest in Technical SEO and Mobile SEO.
  • E-commerce to Local businesses to Enterprise to B2B to B2C

EXERCISE: SEO Calendar and Action Plan, SERPs Analysis Part II, Activity Analysis and Insights

Measurement, Reporting and Data-Driven Insight

  • What are you measuring, why, and where to look
  • Google Analytics
  • Google Search Console
  • Data export and analysis

EXERCISE: Google Analytics, Google Search Console Analytics, Dashboard Creation and Reporting

Review and Wrap-Up

  • Next Steps
    • Short-term
    • Long-term
    • Documentation

EXERCISE: SEO Calendars and Action Plan

Jenny Munn

SEO Consultant, The Munn Group

Jenny Munn is a digital marketer with a deep specialty in search engine optimization strategy, training and implementation. She has trained in-house marketers for years and has provided SEO services for B2B, B2C, e-commerce and nonprofit organizations in a variety of industries. Munn has taught SEO workshops across the country for eigh years to help agencies, web designers, in-house marketers and businesses of every size maximize their return on SEO. She is currently an SEO consultant for the K-12 education market.

Training Series Location

AMA Support Center
130 E. Randolph St., 22nd Floor
Chicago, IL 60601
Phone: 312.542.9000

The AMA Support Center is right in the heart of Chicago. We’re nestled between Millenium Park and the Chicago River meaning you are just steps away from premiere hotels, shopping and world-class dining. While you’re at our office, you’ll have access to work cubbies in case you need to step out and take care of something back at your office.

Recommended Hotels

Hyatt Regency Chicago
151 E. Wacker Drive
Chicago, IL 60601
Phone: 312.565.1234
Walking Distance to AMA Support Center (5 minutes)

Swissôtel Chicago 
323 E. Wacker Drive
Chicago, IL 60601
Phone: 312.565.0565
Walking Distance to AMA Support Center (8 minutes)

Fairmont Chicago 
200 North Columbus Drive
Chicago, IL 60601
Phone: 312.565.8000
Walking Distance to AMA Support Center (5 minutes)

Club Quarters
75 East Wacker Drive
Chicago, IL 60601
Phone: 312.601.3400
Walking Distance to AMA Support Center (8 Minutes)

theWit Chicago – a DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel
201 N. State Street
Chicago, IL 60601
Phone: 312.467.0200
Walking Distance to AMA Support Center (7 minutes)

Homewood Suites Downtown Chicago
40 E. Grand Avenue
Chicago, IL  60611
Hotel Direct: 312-644-2222
Reserve a room now and receive a 10% discount 
Walking Distance to AMA Support Center (15 minutes)

Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile
540 North Michigan Avenue, (Driveway Entrance on 541 North Rush Street)
Chicago, IL 60611
Phone: 312.836.0100
Walking Distance to AMA Support Center (14 minutes)

Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel Chicago
221 North Columbus Drive
Chicago, IL 60601
Phone: 312.565.5BLU (5258)
Walking Distance to AMA Support Center (5 minutes)

Virgin Hotels
203 N. Wabash
Chicago, IL 60601
Phone: 312.940.4400
Walking Distance to AMA Support Center (5 minutes)

Kimpton Hotel Monaco Chicago
225 N. Wabash Ave.
Chicago, IL 60601
Phone: 312.960.8500
Walking Distance to AMA Support Center (6 minutes)

LondonHouse Chicago
85 East Wacker Drive at North Michigan Avenue
Chicago, IL 60601
Phone: 312.357.1200
Walking Distance to AMA Support Center (9 minutes)

Area Attractions and Events

Please visit Choose Chicago for additional city information.

ADA

The AMA is committed to providing equal access to our meetings for all attendees. If you are an attendee with a disability and require program accommodations, please contact the AMA Support Center, and a member of our staff will ensure that appropriate access arrangements are made. If you have specific disability-related needs for your hotel sleeping room, please be sure to communicate those directly to the hotel when you make your reservation. In an effort to provide the highest quality of service to all attendees, we require that details of all access requests be communicated to our office at least 14 days in advance of the beginning of the meeting.

SEO for Marketers: Strategies, Tactics and Trends