Jay Leary is a Search Engine Strategist specializing in web analytics and site usability. Jay employs his skill set to build organic site traffic through search optimization, in addition to promoting visitor retention and conversion behavior with usability testing and thorough log analysis.

Jay has worked at the agency level, providing optimization strategies to e-commerce, publishing and corporate internet properties. As a web analyst, he has tracked and reported on traffic data from a broad base of clients in a number of industries including: technology services, education, travel, hospitality and retail. His recommendations led to appreciable gains in search traffic, as well as increased ROI for paid campaigns through improved conversion rates and visitor loyalty.

Previous to his agency work, Jay was the Web Marketing Manager at Card Player Magazine. As manager he developed and executed promotional campaigns and search optimization strategies to grow traffic to the magazine’s online property, CardPlayer.com. In addition, Jay designed and oversaw the development of interactive, multimedia site features that helped improve visitor engagement and grow the site’s overall web presence.

Jay holds a Bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University.

As a Search/PR Strategist, Adam Sherk works with Define clients to develop and implement effective SEO and audience development strategies. Adam’s enterprise-level SEO experience is complimented by expertise in social media marketing and other forms of online outreach. He serves as an embedded strategist and trainer for Define clients including major publishers, content providers and e-commerce sites.

Adam brings an additional perspective to the Define team through his 10+ years of experience in online public relations. As SEO and audience development continue to evolve, many of the practices directly relate to the online awareness and community building activities that Adam has actively engaged in for years.

Prior to joining Define Search Strategies, Adam worked for enterprise search marketing firm Global Strategies, now part of Neo@Ogilvy. Adam’s primary role was managing organic search marketing campaigns for IBM across multiple business units. He also worked with Cisco, focusing on news search optimization and training Cisco’s corporate communications team on optimizing corporate blogs, RSS feeds, podcasts and videos.

Adam previously served as a vice president at Atomic Public Relations, where he launched a regional office for the technology-focused firm and helped establish its initial client base.

Earlier in his career, Adam was VP of Internet Public Relations at Multimedia Marketing Group, one of the first interactive marketing firms, now part of WPP. While there he built an online public relations department from scratch and managed accounts utilizing a wide range of online marketing tactics, including search engine optimization. During that time Adam was also one of the primary builders of Internet News Bureau, an e-mail press release service that was acquired by Internet.com, now part of Jupitermedia. He also created and moderated I-PR Digest, an e-mail discussion list on Internet public relations.

In addition, Adam worked for four years in Istanbul, Turkey where he was responsible for creating and managing corporate language training programs. His primary project was working with Siemens Business Services on an English-language call center for Toshiba notebook computers. He also developed special programs for Nestle, IBM and Coca Cola, as well as the largest national newspaper and several major banking institutions in Turkey.

As Director of Search Strategy for the New York Times Company since 2005, Matthew Brown continues to drive the research and technology side of the search marketing effort for the New York Times, the Boston Globe (Boston.com) and the International Herald Tribune. Matthew is responsible for the architecture and execution of solutions that deliver a more engaged audience to these online properties.

In addition to his role at the New York Times, in 2005 Matthew Co-Founded Define Search Strategies (www.DefineSearchStrategies.com). Define has served as an incubator of ideas on how best to incorporate audience development into the corporate DNA of enterprise-level companies. As search evolves, Define continues to refine its approach to crafting effective solutions. Matthew is currently focused on developing a comprehensive reporting system for large websites that brings focus to SEO performance. SearchCLU, Define’s flagship SEO application.

Matthew has been a featured speaker at the Search Marketing Expo, SEOmoz Pro Training Series, and InnoTech Oregon conferences. He is an active member of SEMPDX, the Search Engine Marketing Professionals of Portland.

Since 1996, Matthew has worked closely with dozens of U.S. and multinational companies including Hearst Digital Publications, Time Inc. Interactive, ToysRus.com, TV Guide, NHL.com, Newsweek.com, The Gerson Lehrman Group, ShopDirect/Littlewoods, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Consumer-Source/Apartment Guide, Reader’s Digest, TechTarget, Rainbow Media, Tyco, Gawker Media, Club Mom, Viacom/CBS TV, Boeing, National Geographic, The Pilot Group, Flextronics, AT&T Wireless, Xerox, Raytheon, Fujitsu, Lockheed Martin, and Hewlett-Packard.

Marshall D. Simmonds is a pioneer and leading expert in the search marketing industry. He speaks at conferences worldwide and specializes in educating organizations on bringing search marketing in-house and into the daily work flow.

Mr. Simmonds was responsible for building About.com into the most successful search engine optimized content network on the Internet.  Acquired in March, 2005 by The New York Times he was named chief search strategist and is responsible for strategic initiatives, maximizing traffic and search engine exposure for NYTimes.com, Boston.com, IHT.com and About.com.

In addition to his work with The Times, he co-founded DEFINE SEARCH STRATEGIES,www.DefineSS.com an enterprise search consulting business, funded by The New York Times Company. Most recently he created SearchCLU the network diagnostic and search engine optimization tool.

As a leader in the search industry since 1997, Mr. Simmonds has worked with a multitude of clients including; Hearst Digital Publications, Time Inc Interactive, Newsweek, ConsumerSearch, TV Guide, ToysRUs, ESPN International, NHL.com, Real Age, David’s Bridal, Beliefnet, Daily Candy, Oprah.com, Madison Square Garden, National Geographic, Rainbow Media, Littlewoods.co.uk, Consumer-Source/Apartment Guide, Hewlett-Packard, Gerson Lehrman Group, Lime.com, TechTarget, CBS, The Canadian Broadcast Company, The Pilot Group,  Readers Digest, Contours Express, Medialive, Gawker Media, Intel, Citigroup, Home Shopping Network, CitySearch, Yellow Pages, TicketMaster, Match.com, Entertainment.com, Hotwire.com, LendingTree, Hotels.com, Expedia, Evite, Ciao!com (.de).