Last week, MarketingExperiments.com held their long awaited webinar on multivariable testing. I was invited to participate to bring some real expertise onto the call. It went well, with a couple of great questions. Unfortunately, I had a bit of a tough time because I had so little sleep after my quick trip to Chicago for the Search Engine Strategies Conference.

This past week was the 2005 Chicago Search Engine Strategies Conference. Once again, I was invited to speak on the Landing Page testing and tuning panel. I found out that the session achieved “4 Star Rated” status after the first ever production in San Jose, which was cool to hear. It showed because the room was pretty packed, probably with 400-500 people attending. We had a few techical glitches with the handheld voting devices, but overall the session went well. For my portion of the presentation, I gave the results from our Live Taguchi Optimization, along with a couple other case studies.

My main take away from Chicago was that it was so cold there. This actually was good for networking, because I don’t think anyone dared leave the building. I made a number of great contacts and got to meet a couple customers face to face for the first time. Not only that, but the Reverend Jesse Jackson was in the bar tuesday night! I could hardly beleive it, but there he was. WebmasterRadio.FM was there and got a great sound bit from him.

I would have liked to stick around for longer, but I was up at 5AM wednesday morning to get my flight back in time to participate in Marketing Experiments.com webinar on multivariate testing. Unfortunately, by the time I got on the call with them I was so exhausted by answers were not all that coherent. Oh well….

It’s been a while since I last blogged. I guess I needed to recharge my “blog batteries” for a little bit. Also, I got hit with some huge (personal) distractions which have kept me from getting to this. The good news is that I am through the worst of it, and should have more time to devote to this and a couple other projects I am working on. Coming up in a couple weeks, I will be speaking alongside Matt Roche and Tim Ash at the Search Engine Strategies Conference in Chicago. I have never been to the Chicago show before, so it should be interesting to see how many people come out. I am not expecting crowds quite as large as the San Jose show in August, but I suppose its possible.

Well I returned back to Salt Lake City last week, but I have been completely buried from spending 3 days outside the office. Now my folks are in town for a couple days, which is a further distraction from giving you guys the quality blog information you have come to expect. Thus, I have not posted an update to the blog. That will change, I am forcing myself to get with it here!

We have some exciting results to share on the “Blogged Taguchi Optimization.” I hope to add another posting today with some more information on that one. Also, I promised a special offer for the folks that attended the Landing Page Testing session at search engine strategies, and we still plan to make good on that offer. So keep posted.

I am still out here in sunny San Jose, at the 2005 Search Engine Strategies conference. So far its been a great show, with huge numbers of people here, and lots of great sessions. The landing page testing and optimization session was a huge success, with standing room only.

Last night at the Google Dance I got the opportunity to ask many folks that attended what their thoughts were, and all said it was by far the best session so far at the conference. I was thrilled to hear this, as we put a lot of work into it, both developing the content and practicing/ rehearsing. It sure paid off. Getting the remote voting devices made the session truly interactive, and kept people “in the conversation.”

Next week at this time, I will either be- testing the handheld voting devices we are using for the Landing Page Testing and Tuning session, hanging out at the Yahoo! party, or sitting by the pool in San Jose.

The operative word in that sentence of course is San Jose! Search Engine Strategies is almost here already, and I am pumped. We’re gonna put on a great session on Tuesday on landing page testing, and I can’t wait to meet some new faces. If you want to hook up for a handshake, beer, coffee or otherwise, shoot me an email at scott@vertster.com

Also, keep your eyes on the blog, as I will be posting live updates throughout the event, including a link to the powerpoint from the presentation.

I’ll be speaking at the Search Engine Strategies conference in San Jose on Landing Page Testing. This session is on August 9, although the whole conference goes from the 8th to the 11th. If you are going to be there, drop me a note.

Join certified Kowalick-Taguchi Blackbelt David Bullock and Vertster CEO Scott Miller as they discuss new techniques in scientific website optimization. This event has limited space, so please register soon to reserve your spot!

• You’ll learn the answers to these questions and more:
• What are the “hot areas” of your site where you can get a big bang for your testing buck?
• What is a True Taguchi optimization and is it really better than other methods?
• How will I know when my test is complete?
• Where can I go to learn more about testing?

REGISTER NOW

Date: May 18, 2005
Time: 1PM ET