The last SES Conference in San Jose took place in 2009, from August 10-14. This edition was held at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center, featuring training days (August 10 and 14), the main conference (August 11-13), and an expo hall (August 11-12). It covered core topics in search engine marketing, SEO, PPC, social media, link building, keyword research, usability, and more, with sessions reflecting the era’s focus on strategic and tactical search optimization.
After 2009, the SES series relocated the West Coast event to San Francisco starting in 2010 (August 16-20), and no further SES conferences returned to San Jose. The overall SES brand gradually phased out major in-person events in the early 2010s due to industry changes, ownership shifts, and evolving digital marketing.
SES Conference Topics in San Jose
Here are the main topics that were commonly featured at the SES (Search Engine Strategies) Digital Marketing Conferences in San Jose:
- PPC management, bidding tactics, and campaigns (including Google & Bing);
- Keyword research and optimization;
- Advanced SEO techniques and emerging tactics;
- Link building strategies;
- Social media promotion, integration, and strategies (including white hat vs. black hat approaches);
- Video optimization and strategies;
- Usability and conversion rate optimization;
- Local and mobile search/marketing;
- Duplicate content and multiple site issues;
- Analytics, web measurement, and attribution (e.g., beyond last-click models);
- Competitive intelligence and future of search trends;
- Content optimization and news search SEO;
- Black hat vs. white hat SEO debates;
- High-level strategy sessions (e.g., for C-suite executives like adaptive CMO tracks).