White Hatters – SEO Done Right

Tuesday March 27, 2012 – Tuesday March 27, 2012

Map and Directions | Register

Description:

Elevator Pitches:

Last time you heard what we had to say about SEO – this time we’d like to hear one or two of your thoughts. This is a great opportunity for you to get some of your knowledge out there and share some of your own ideas and opinions about search with South Africa’s leading SEO brands and gurus.

Our Short Introduction section will give you the opportunity to introduce yourself and briefly summarize one or two topics. During this slot you can talk about your company, yourself, can talk about your latest SEO news or challenges, and can even talk about your other online innovations (though try keep it as search related as possible). We’ll be selecting eight of the best entrants to pitch at the event – please bear in mind that your pitches must only be one minute long. [ Apply to pitch]

Guest Presentations:

If you feel that you have something to offer the South African SEO industry, we’d like you to nominate yourself as a guest speaker for the event. This is an exciting opportunity which will allow you to introduce yourself to leading SEO companies and gurus. You’ll be given a presentation slot in which you’ll be able to take the podium for a ten minute period and present your ideas and SEO knowledge to the floor. We’d like this slot to be as informative as possible – please don’t be tempted to advertise your team’s skills and expertise.

If you would like to talk at our event, either by giving a short introduction about yourself, thoughts and company or would like to take the podium for a ten minute presentation of your ideas and latest SEO endeavours, please click here to complete the form.[ Apply to be a guest speaker]

Event:

We’re incredibly excited about our second White Hatters event, which will take place on the 27th of March at the Atlantic Imbizo Conference Centre at the V&A Waterfront.
After the success of our first event which took place in November last year, we have huge hopes for this upcoming meeting. This time we’ll be focusing on what you have to say about SEO and are inviting you to pitch your own SEO and online initiatives and ideas to us.

This event is an exciting opportunity for all South Africans involved in the SEO industry – not only as you’ll have the chance to hear the latest news and be a part of the forefront of search, but as you’ll be able to network and share business ideas with others, as well as learn one of two secrets which your industry competitors swear by.
[ Apply to attend event]

White Hatters Event : March 27 – 2012 . Register if you love SEO!
Venue:      Atlantic Imbizo Conference Centre at the V&A Waterfront

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What do you get when you take the two top SEO companies in the country, place all their tech junkie geniuses in a room and leave them alone for a few hours? As it turns out, what you get is a SEO powerhouse authority geared towards ethical digital marketing practices – otherwise known as the White Hatters!

This is bigger news for digital marketing in South Africa than some people might have realised as, until R.O.I. Media and Synergize heads, Allen Jaffe and Shaune Jordaan respectively, sat down together for coffee (and probably a game of Twister, though we’ll never tell) – there was simply no official authoritative body watching the industry. SEO was pretty slow to catch on in South Africa since internet usage was relatively low, but over the last 10 years we’ve caught up at a remarkable pace.

Of course, once people started noting the massive new surge for PageRank, every second gunman jumped off the grassy knoll and proclaimed themselves legendary experts in the field of search engine optimisation. When you don’t actually know much in the way of real, effective digital tactics the only thing you can do is temporarily cheat the system, and so began the surge of SA Black Hat fly-by-nighters. The problem is that the Big G (Google to you non-believers) always catches on to spamdexers, and then heavily penalises the poor unaware clients.

Fully aware that SA companies and the SEO industry as a whole required immediate protection, Allen and Shaune set aside their competitive rivalry to protect the industry that they hold as their greatest passion. On the 30th of November, more than 120 of the top minds in SEO and digital marketing met at the Two Oceans Aquarium to, for the first time in SA history, share their ideas, discoveries and opinions. Although industry rivals on any other average day, R.O.I. Media and Synergize staff hit it off immediately having so many interests in common (like the desire to harass dozens more people with tweets).

After spending some time getting to know one another socially, the meeting kicked off with R.O.I. founder Allen Jaffe going into some history on the company and the industry, giving us the general lay of the land. Shaune was up next with a detailed talk on where the industry is now and the challenges facing it, as well as giving us the lowdown on how the White Hatters group was formed. We all came to understand how seriously SEO is taken in the international community and the standards to which it is held, making the need for local quality supervision very clear.

As industry insiders in the business community, it was essential for us to gain a more academic assessment of both the SEO industry and the mandate we’d given ourselves, which is why the crowd was delighted to hear from one of the only professors of SEO in the world today – Professor Melius Weideman. The Prof showed us some hard research on how the various aspects of digital marketing tied into one another and how solid, lasting White Hat techniques differed from those employed by Black Hat tricksters. After that, we went into a Mexican wave of a Q&A session, resulting in our three speakers deftly combining their expertise to clarify key issues for both their staff and the many external interested parties who were invited to attend.

In the end, what we wound up with was a solid coalition of like minded industry experts all clear on their mission – to protect, develop and expand the digital marketing trade in South Africa. The White Hatters group has big plans to bring other reputable SEO vendors into the association, forming a united front and providing vital quality standards and supervision for the industry. With more and more SA businesses discovering the unparalleled benefit that superior SEO provides and the initiative taken by the White Hatters – it’s clear that 2012 is going to be a great year to be a nerd.

Thanks to all those who attended the launch. We were at 100% capacity with an additional waiting list.

Pictures from the launch can be seen @ http://www.whitehatters.co.za/gallery

Thanks,

White Hatters Team