Fred’s Favourites from the BrightonSEO Conference
It has been yet another fabulous year of quality conferences for the WebMarketing Group and this month, we sent our esteemed colleague Fred Gray, to the aptly named BrightonSEO conference. No prizes for guessing that this event involves SEOs from around the country gathering for a free one-day search marketing conference in Brighton. Through a series of intensive training workshops and interesting talks, SEOs can immerse themselves in the latest industry discussions. So what did our Account Manager Fred think of the BrightonSEO conference?
Fred Gray Technical Account Manager @FreddGray
What did you take away from the day?
I love a good thought-provoking conference as much as the next man, but BrightonSEO really inspired me to think about search marketing from different angles.
How did it change the way you thought about SEO?
Dave Trott’s (@davetrott) talk on Predatory Thinking was inspiring. He spoke about how SEO and marketing continue to merge with increasedBrighton SEO Conference investment being transferred into the digital SEO space. It really put things into perspective for me about what we can and can’t control. To succeed in SEO, you don’t necessarily have to be in complete control. He used the analogy of two men in a jungle hearing a tiger approach, one man stops and puts his running shoes on, the other looks at him and says “don’t be ridiculous, you can’t outrun a tiger.” The other replies “I don’t need to outrun the tiger, I just need to outrun you.” Alluding to the fact that SEO is not necessarily about trying to control the uncontrollable like Google’s algorithm, Trott explained that the focus should be on outrunning the competition. He really made me think about the importance of turning an unsolvable problem into a solvable one.
Following Dave Trott’s talk, his book Creative Mischief has completely sold out online. For those of you who have yet to read it, put it on your Christmas wish list!
What was your favourite part of the conference?
The best bit of the day for me had to be the lightening talks. The intensive 7 minute sessions were thoroughly informative and succinct. Where other speakers had focused on broadening your thought process in the long term, these punchy sessions by various speakers contained action points you could implement now, with a strong focus on SEO.
Brighton SEO HallWhich speaker surprised you the most?
Richard Baxter (@richardbaxter) from SEO Gadget. I have always enjoyed his talks which are usually very much focused on tools and SEO resources. Instead, this time he surprised us all with a comprehensive check list on how to be a better SEO. I think everyone took something valuable away from this discussion.
Were you inspired to make changes to your current business practices?
It definitely reminded me that there is always room for improvement. The generation and implementation of new ideas and tools especially in the social arena. However, Tony King (@toastedteacake) from Semetrical spoke of their “Read, Debate & Innovate” strategy. They spend the morning reading something new, lunch time debating it and the afternoon is all about innovation. I thought it was a fantastic method for delivering actionable results.
Did you discover any new tools or resources?
I was already well aware of these particular tools; however the conference shed new light on the true value of tools like Social Crawlytics and Tynt. They are definitely worth utilising and recommending to our clients.