Topic: Getting SEO Advantages from Social Media
Chris Silver Smith is the founder of Argent Media (argentmedia.com), a search marketing agency specializing in SEO, Local SEO, Social Media, and Online Reputation Management. Chris has provided consulting for many Fortune 500 and Internet Retailer 500 companies including Pottery Barn, LL Bean, Orbitz, Zappos, and Time Inc. Chris has served on the board of advisors for Universal Business Listing, the SEO Board of Advisors for Thomson-Reuters FindLaw, and on the board of the DFW Search Engine Marketing Association. Chris occasionally serves as an expert witness for court cases involving online trademark infringement, defamation, and search engines. As an expert witness he has served in cases involving PODS Enterprises, U-Haul, Google, The Academy Awards, GoDaddy, Fox News, and more. Chris is also a long-time columnist at Search Engine Land and Marketing Land.
How did you get involved in WordPress?
I got involved in WordPress right around 2005 when my good friend, Stephan Spencer invited me to be a writer along with him on his Natural Search Blog.
What do you do with WordPress?
I came to learn how well search engines treat WordPress-based websites after I began writing and using it on that first blog. Since then, I have recommended it as the content management system of choice for many different clients, and my team and I have launched a great number of websites for our clients, built upon WordPress.
What has your experience with the WordPress community been like?
The WordPress community has always been fantastic from my perspective! I love the enthusiasm of WordPress devotees, and am frequently impressed with the development and community support of the system itself. Whenever I have a question about implementing or modifying some part of WordPress code, it’s always been pretty easy to find the answers provided by the community.
Why did you want to speak at WordCamp DFW?
I love bloggers and I love helping to empower people to have success with their website projects! I’ve long provided free recommendations via articles I write as well as speaking in various forums and answering questions. It’s been a long while since I participated with a WordCamp, and I’m looking forward to this one!
Why did you decide to speak on SEO advantages of social media?
I’m always interested in focusing on areas that others may dismiss, or which are newer topics for many. There has long been something of a divide between social media marketers and search engine marketers, but the overlaps in what the disciplines affect have been largely converging. I wanted to help connect the dots between social media and SEO, so I developed this presentation.
What do you hope the audience gets from your talk?
I’m hoping that those who feel lackluster about social media will discover that there’s value in including social media activities in their promotions, and I’m hoping that those who feel intimidated or out of touch with the technical aspects of search engine optimization will learn that doing it is not at all out of their reach.
Tickets are now on sale for this year’s WordCamp DFW held on Nov. 11-12. There are also plenty of opportunities to sponsor the event or help run it. We hope to see you there!