Barry Schwartz, Ophir Cohen and Olivier Amar (L2R)

Today Compucall had the pleasure of hosting a nice SEO get together. With the arrival of Barry Schwartz to Israel, we got a chance to meet and also host some of brighter SEO minds and agencies in Israel for a few hours. In attendance was, of course, Barry of Rustybrick.com, Itai Levitan of Easynet.co.il, Mayer Reich of Rankabove.com, Gilad Sasson of Nekuda.co.il and the Compucall Staff including Ophir Cohen and myself, Olivier Amar, amongst others. There was also a great presentation by the founders of articlesbase.com and bukisa.com.

Barry Schwartz, Meyer Reich and Gilad Sasson

Itai Levitan of Easynet

Firstly, I need to thank Barry for taking some precious time out of his 7 day trip. As part of a very organized Blogger Delegation to Israel with lots of stops along the way, I’m sure it wasn’t easy.

Simon Gelfand and Eyal Halimi ArticlesBase and Bukisa Founders

The meeting started with two short presentations by Simon Gelfand. One on Articlesbase.com and the other on Bukisa.com. He explained to us his huge rise in growth, from zero to one of the main sites in each of their markets, in little to no time. He went over the business models and solid SEO infrastructures of either site. It’s nice to see such a huge website spawn from just an idea with the efforts of just a couple of people and no venture captial whatsoever.

Paid Search in Israel

Barry Schwartz then asked some interesting questions that veered towards paid search in Israel. The general consensus seemed to be that although some of the quality on certain verticals might sometimes be better in Microsoft and Yahoo, the combination of terrible platforms on both Yahoo and MSN and the lack of local offices for either of them, made their offerings here less than ideal. With the Israeli paid search market so much bigger than its population as a result of the number of Israeli companies dealing with foreign markets, both Yahoo and MSN would probably be in a much better position with local offices (as long as they ditched their present platforms and did something that more or less mimicked Googles, I mean why reinvent the wheel right?).

Google Analytics – The Future is Now!

We also touched upon how important Analytics had become in today’s companies and how no matter how far companies had managed to take their in-house analytics, then they never had the resources to go deep enough and get it right. Since both Easynet and Compucall are Google Analtyics Authorized Consultants (GAAC) we both felt that we had not yet come upon a company that had managed to get there alone. As a result it has represented a very viable avenue for both our companies to explore.

The meeting ended with some great smiles and some good catching up. Again, thank you Barry. We’ll get together again soon

Then something happened. I came across a post on Outspoken Media written by Lisa Barone that talked about personal branding in SEO and the race to  follow the SEO Stars. I suggest you read it and read the comments too. Very worthwhile. I even learned a new word: Scoble. In any case, where it took me was what I took back from SMX West 2009 in Santa Clara and how it turned out to be much more rewarding than I thought because of the personal branding.

So when I flew off to SMX my expectations were mixed and completely unclear. I’d read about SES, SMX, PubCon, Adtech and to tell you the truth, I couldn’t tell you which one I could take more from. Then something unexpected happened, my pitch to be a speak on Up Close with Google Maps & Local was accepted and I found myself booking a 22 hours flight to Santa Clara.

My time at the convention was great, the panels were strong (most of them), I got to meet some great people and finally introduce myself after I’d been sending them various comments on Twitter. Before I knew it I was back in Tel-Aviv at work playing catch-up.

I didn’t bring back any clients, I didn’t brink back any big contacts (although I did make some relatively strong connections with some affiliates vendors). I did get to speak to Matt Cutts about a problem which mysteriously worked itself out 2 weeks later (If it was you Matt then thank you).

So what did I come away with? Great contacts in the SEO field. David Mihm, of getlisted.org, held a little local networking get together followed by burgers at In-&-Out Burgers (Yes Matt they were really good) and later on we crashed in the bar area of the Hyatt hotel (The permanent fixtures were Lisa Barone, David Mihm, Matt McGee and Eric Lander a bunch more just rotated in and out) . In that space of time between the get together and the Hyatt bar, I literally reached out and managed to finally introduce myself properly to all the people that make the SEO/SEM information bubble flow. We laughed, we drank, we smuggled beer out of the lame radio party and we laughed some more. That was the best quality time I had “branding” myself in the entire 3 days that SMX was held.

So yeah, I learned great things at the panels and I really enjoyed speaking at SMX as a first timer, but what really did it for me was the ability to connect with the people that really have been keeping me in the loop about what’s going on 7-10 hours back in the SEO world. The people who still keep me in the loop and magically respoond now when I message them on Twitter .

Should you go to one of the shows? Absolutely! If only to mingle and mix it up a little and get a feel for who and what your peers are about, it’s worth it. It also helps that they can finally see who you are.

Props go to Barry Schwartz of Rusty Brick for the picture. Thanks Barry.

To make a long story short, I realized that in order to properly SEO Wordpress, then what you really need to do is keep it simple. Have a sound platform or theme, research and write great content, and share it with the community relationships you’ve developed and are actively developing.

Here’s the presentation I gave, Wordpress & SEO, slides only. If you have any questions, please share them with me. I’ll be uploading the video later on when tech gets it done.

Daniel and Zipi under the Chuppa

Compucall Web Marketing is proud to announce that another one of their own, Daniel Katz (Our very own Business Development Manager), tied the knot last night to the beautiful Zipi Weinreich. The wedding included an incredible mix of Israelis and South Americans that came together to celebrate the joyous event. The ceremony was heartwarming, as both bride and groom were each accompanied by their parents to a beautifully designed Jewish “Chuppah.” The walk down the aisle was exciting as the up tempo Latin music had the crowd clapping and the Bride dancing her way down the aisle. The ceremony ended with a bang – confetti and water dispersing in the background.

Daniel Katz

Later, we dined like kings and queens to a fine feast, and danced our hearts out until the end of the night. We even had a wonderful band that sang and rocked the crowd to all the popular local and international tunes (Michael Jackson would be proud). As always, Compucall did not disappoint and surprised Daniel and Zipi with a fantastic and secret video clip that took many hours of discrete preparation to put together.

Zipi Katz

We wish Daniel and Zipi all the best and hope to take part in many more of their celebrations as they build their bright future together.

Here’s the secret video we put together for him and Zipi.

Walking down the isle

Our very own SEO specialist and content writer got married last night to his beautiful fiance Ilona.  The entire (save for one frolicking abroad) staff was on hand to witness the beautiful ceremony followed by a great meal and party!

The Compucall staff, I must say, did a great job of keeping the party going till basically being told it was time to let the newly married couple get on with their night. They outlasted the parents and the rest of the guests. It was really a fantastic night for everyone. Even the minister of defence for Israel (I’m not kidding), Ehud Barak, showed up to say congratulations and pose with the couple for a few pictures.

So again, let’s congratulate the newly married couple and wish them all the best. We also want to thank them for putting on a fantastic party.

Pictures will follow shortly, here on the Compucall Facebook group.