Must-See Speakers at Brighton SEO 2019

This year’s Brighton SEO event has hundreds of great speakers covering all things SEO. But with so much on offer, how can you pick and choose the right talks for you?

We’ve put together a list of must-see speakers at Brighton SEO, and asked them to give three reasons why you should attend their talk.

Restructuring Websites to Improve Indexability

Time: 12 April at 11:45am, Syndicate 1 & 2

Areej Abu Ali, Head of SEO at Verve Search

I’ll be speaking about restructuring websites and directing robot crawl to improve indexability.

Here are three great reasons why you should attend:

1. I’ll cover crawling and indexability issues;
2. The talk includes a detailed case study of a job aggregator website and shares the full methodology;
3. You’ll get tips on how to tackle the challenge of getting your recommendations implemented.

Harry and Lloyd’s Idiot-Proof Guide to GMB Optimization

Time: 12 April at 10:50 am, Meeting Room 1

Greg Gifford, Vice President of Search at DealerOn

My session will cover in-depth optimization tips for Google My Business, which is effectively the new home page for most businesses online. Most importantly, I’ll walk through the new Questions & Answers feature, explaining how it works and how to best use it to optimize your first impression with potential customers. I’ll also be walking through Google Posts – how to use them for optimal success, how each type works, and how to properly optimise images.

Why should you come along? Well:

1. You’ll learn how to beat competitors before customers even see any websites;
2. You’ll learn how to use the new features of GMB to your advantage while your competitors still don’t even know what they are;
3. You’ll learn how to start using GMB as your new home page, so users are already primed by the time they hit your site.

Simple Ways to Visualise Your Crawl Data with No Coding Knowledge Required

Time: 12 April at 12:10pm, Syndicate 1 & 2

Anders Riise Koch, SEO Director at Datawords

Crawl visualization has evolved a great deal over the past few years, with tools that allow users to visualize crawl data more easily. In this talk, I’ll help you discover the different tools available for crawl visualization, while also visually explaining ways to tell clients the way to structure websites.

Why should you attend? Well:

1. Learn how you can create better presentations using data visualization;
2. Find out how to visualize internal linking, keyword usage, and external link factors;
3. Convince your clients to implement the changes you need by showing them the impact in a visual format.

Things Your Boss Expects You Should Know About SEO

Time: 12 April at 2:55pm, Syndicate 1 & 2

Lukasz Zelezny, Former SEO Director for Zoopla/uSwitch

I’ll teach about the Snapshot method, and how GAP analysis works with jargon-free advice that also covers WordPress plugins that can help boost your website’s performance and reach the top of Google.

Why should you attend? Well:

1. I’ll show easy to implement tactics that your boss will like;
2. Present things that definitely work;
3. Teach you how to improve your SEO while doing less.

Small Biz Small Budget - 10 Do’s and 5 Don’t for Local SEO Success

Time: 12 April at 10:00 am, Meeting Room 1

Claire Carlile, Claire Carlile Marketing

Local SEO – so hot right now. The concept of ‘local search’ is more important (and talked about) than ever – mobile-first, entity first and the rise of the 0 click SERP are changing how people search and what results they’re served. In this talk, I’ll cover the changing search landscape and detail 10 key tactics for local SEO success for small businesses, and 5 that you really shouldn’t be using. Ever.

Three reasons why you should attend:

1. Learn how to take advantage of a load of new features in Google My Business;
2. Learn how to properly track and measure the value of clicks from GMB back to your website;
3. Be encouraged to don your SPAM fighting cape, fight spam, and rank higher!

Gamification: Link building in a Fortnite

Time: 12 April at 3:20 pm, Meeting Room 1

Becky Simms, CEO at Reflect Digital

My talk is all about how you can use gamification within your marketing to generate a tonne of links for your SEO strategy. In this quick-fire talk, I’ll give you the background on gamification and why it is so powerful for your audience with data collected from a survey conducted by Reflect Digital. The talk will then move on to the do’s and don’ts of gamification so the audience is super clear on how to win with this type of marketing. Then we’ll turn to what everyone is waiting for: demonstrating how to gain loads of links in a fortnight using gamification!

Here’s three excellent reasons to come along:

1. Actionable insights – leave feeling like you know how to assess whether a game could work for your brand;
2. Data – with data to back everything up, you won’t have a doubt in your mind about this talk;
3. Tracking – you will understand what you can track and what you should expect from your gamification campaign!

Become a Local Hero: PPC Tips to Boss Your Neighbourhood

Time: 12 April at 12:10 pm, The Restaurant

Oliver Ewbank, Biddable Media Consultant

Over 20% of Google searches are for local products, services or places.

In the last year Google Ads have released plenty of new ways to capitalise on search queries with local intent. This talk will delve into all the different ad formats available to grow your business.

Why should you attend? Well:

1. Learn about tracking store visits and sales;
2. The latest local search ad formats;
3. Innovative geo-targeting tips.

Screaming Frog + Xpath: A Guide to Analyse the Pants Off Your Competition

Time: 12 April at 4:10pm, Syndicate 3 & 4

Sabine Langmann, SEO & Digital Marketing

To all hands-on SEOs: This talk is for you. If you’re using Screaming Frog but haven’t really dug into the custom extraction, I’ll help you learn it in no time! You’ll be leaving with actionable advice which you can implement right away. See you there!

Three reasons why you should come by:

1. Actionable advice you can implement directly after the session.
2. Finally be able to analyse site parts that you really need.
3. Get a full hour of site extraction pro tips from me and my stage partners – Xpath, Regex & Python in one comprehensive session!

The Art of Content Necromancy: How to Resurrect a Dead Campaign

Time: 12 April at 10:50am, Syndicate 3 & 4

Kat Kynes, Content & Outreach Consultant at Pole Star Digital

The better the content, the more links you generate…right? But what happens when you fall in love with your content, get buy-in from the client, only to find your campaign dead in the water when you start the outreach? It’s a situation that happens to all content marketers at some point during their career. At BrightonSEO, I’ll be sharing my experience of managing a content marketing campaign that failed to generate links, and what I did to turn the campaign around.

During the talk I’ll cover:

1. How to identify why a content marketing campaign is failing;
2. Reviving a content marketing campaign;
3. The importance of working with internal PR teams.

Driving meaningful clicks with enriched SERPs

Time: 12 April at 10:00 am, Auditorium 1

Izzi Smith, SEO Manager at Sixt rent a car

It’s no news that the Google SERPs are richer than ever; we’re competing with a myriad of space-consuming features that make our job of bringing users to our sites harder than ever. But don’t worry! My brand new BrightonSEO talk is covering plenty of topics on how you can use holistic, future-proof strategies that enrich your site’s search appearance in a way that drives more (and more relevant!) visitors to your landing pages.

You should come watch my talk because:

1. I will cover why Search Engines provide so many features, and I’ll be digging into Searcher intents; how Google aims to cater to those and how you can use that data to get inspiration for creating satisfying content;
2. I’ll be giving plenty of fiery tips you can implement right away, on how to enrich your search snippets in a way that entice clicks;
3. As the very first main stage speaker of the day, I’ll be waking you up with my SEO excitement and cheesy jokes.

Standing out online with a unique and compelling brand voice

Time: 12 April at 2:55 pm, Auditorium 2

Bethany Joy, Freelance brand voice crafter and wordsmith extraordinaire

This talk is important because while SEO savvy is great, we’ve also got to know how to create content that human beings will actually be keen to read and respond to once Google shows them it exists! And it’s not about writing generically ‘good’ copy – it’s about using language to showcase your organization’s unique personality and connect emotionally with potential customers.

So pop along to this session if you’re ready to learn what the heck a brand voice is (and isn’t), why it’s important, and how your business can go about getting one, so that more people are inspired by your content and compelled to say yes to what you’re offering.

Why my talk will be both awesome for your business and super fun to listen to:

1. Because spoiler alert, you actually already have a brand voice – and if you haven’t given it any thought then chances are it’s a bit crap and could even be putting people off your business, so it’s pretty important to fix that;
2. Because I’ll be using real-life examples and analyzing real brands – and let’s be honest, it’s always fun to pick apart what other companies are doing;
3. Because it’s going to be practical – I’ll be ending with ‘5 steps to finding your brand voice’ to make sure you’re ready to put the ideas into action once you leave the room.

The Content Comeback: 5 Steps for Bouncing Back When Your Campaign Fails

Time: 12 April at 3:20 pm, Auditorium 2

Shannon McGuirk, Head of PR at Aira

Any content marketer, digital PR or link builder has been there: you’ve plowed blood sweat and tears into a creative campaign and launched it, only to be disappointed when the coverage and links don’t come rolling in.

You have to have awkward conversations about the failing campaign and there’s pressure to make it perform and yield a good return on investment for stakeholders. Sounds familiar, right?

My talk explains how to reapproach things and I promise by the end of the session you will:

1. Be familiar with real-world examples of campaign fails (including my own) to show that you’re not the only one that’s suffered one;
2. Know how to evaluate your failing content campaign and find out where it went wrong by using a framework;
3. Be armed with a 5-step plan for bouncing back and breathing life into the campaign again.

You’ll also have a good laugh at a story of when I got grilled by a journalist!

It’s very easy to stand on stage and talk about how great some campaigns have been and their amazing success, but you should come to this talk because it’ll help you get over one of the biggest real-world content marketing challenges. Through sharing my own failures and learnings, I hope to help others find the grit and determination to dig in deep and bounce back when campaign work gets tough.

Speed & Performance Optimisation: How to Meet Users' High Expectations

Time: 12 April at 10:00 am, Auditorium 2

Rachel Costello, Technical SEO & Content Manager at DeepCrawl

This talk aims to change mindsets from focusing on traditional speed metrics, to thinking about how users actually perceive page load. It looks at what their priorities are in order to have positive user experience, and what we can do as SEOs and marketers to optimise for those crucial aspects.

Here’s some reasons why you should attend my talk:

1. Understand what users expect from websites in terms of load speed;
2. Learn how to tailor optimisation efforts around the user and their perception of load time;
3. Explore the future of web performance, speed, and some of the latest technologies.

Efficiency in the workplace: Mindset mastery and meditation

Time: 12 April at 3:20 pm, The Restaurant

Briony Gunson, Operations Director at Pole Star Digital

Aristotle once said: “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” We spend so much time and energy looking to understand our clients, our target audience, our competitors… but turning that attention around and focusing on ourselves, to get a better understanding of who we are, is one of the most productive things you can do.

This talk is all about SEO in the workplace – or Self Optimisation – I’ll be drawing upon my experience as both Operations Director at Pole Star Digital but also a meditation teacher with beanddo. If you fancy something a bit left field, that touches upon the human condition and drawing on neuroscience and psychology, to shine a light on the decision-making process, then this talk is for you. In fact, this talk is for anyone who has a brain and wants to learn about how to use it better.

Why should you attend? Well…

1. You can discover more about our decision-making process and the huge influence our mindset has on our productivity and efficiency;
2. Learn how you can master your mindset with meditation;
3. See what the likes of Steve Jobs and David Lynch have to say on the topic of meditation.

Along with beanddo founder, Mick, I will be running guided meditation taster sessions during the morning and afternoon break at BrightonSEO, so do join those sessions if you can – everyone is welcome, no previous meditation experience necessary.

If you know a talk at BrightonSEO which you think should be featured on our list of must-see speakers, then message us on social media or comment below and we’ll add them to the list!