BrightonSEO Oct 2022: Selected Talks for Beginners and Experts

October is a busy month for BrightonSEO. After a three-day in-person event at the beginning of the month, the online search conference will take place on October 19-21, 2022. With over 170 speakers, it can be hard to decide which talks to attend. I selected 26 talks covering diverse topics such as content strategy, technical search engine optimization (SEO), international SEO, and more. If any of these topics sounds interesting to you, read on!

Table of Contents

Content Strategy

To define a successful SEO strategy for your website or your clients, you need to (1) get to know your audience and (2) study your competitors. Although, with an existing website, the first step is always to (3) audit your content.

Once you have covered all the bases, you should (4) make sure you won’t run out of content ideas, but also that you (5) focus on the right topics to (6) create content that converts. A (7) cluster can be an effective method to do so.

Of course, the same strategy won’t work for every company — for instance, (8) B2B startups have specific needs.

1. How to use brand archetypes to discover and define content pillars to build out a search strategy by Tasha Antwi
2. Understanding your competitors’ business to be truly successful at SEO by Tom Vaughton
3. ’You want me to look at HOW MANY pages?’ How to do a content audit for thousands of URLs by Lucy Dodds
4. How to come up with content ideas without relying on search volume by Steph Naylor
5. Content prioritisation: approaching infinite opportunities with finite resources by Sam Colebrook
6. How to create content that actually brings in leads – not just traffic by Araminta Robertson
7. What the (cluster)f*ck? Convince Google you’re an expert and plan your content faster by Alice Rowan
8. To ’B’ or not to ’B’: B2B content strategy for startups by Yagmur Simsek

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

If your audience cares about your brand’s impact on communities and the environment, you need to (9) define a CSR strategy and communicate about your efforts. By showing what your brand is doing to improve its own practices and its industry, you can increase revenue, customer loyalty, and more.

This is especially important if your industry has been criticized for its unsustainable practices, like (10) the fashion industry. But every website is concerned, as (11) the Internet’s environmental footprint is significant. The good news is that SEO professionals can help reduce it.

9. How to put together a corporate social responsibility strategy and why it matters by Rebekah Conway
10. David vs Goliath: the rise of sustainable fashion against fast fashion giants by Monet Blake
11. How your website impacts the planet - and what you can do about it! by Stuart Davies

The environmental impact of our online activities is a topic close to my heart. I tend to think of SEO professionals (myself included) as part of the problem, which so many of us don’t ever talk about. I really look forward to Stuart’s talk and to the solutions he will offer.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI)

Another acronym you should pay attention to is DEI. If this topic is new to you, you should hear (12) what two community founders have learned about diversity and inclusion. And if you want to (13) help create a more inclusive web, you can start with some quick fixes.

As SEO professionals, how can we make the web a more diverse space? If you don’t have a clue, take a moment to (14) understand why the top positions in the SERPs lack diversity and learn how you can help.

12. What building a community can teach you about tackling diversity & inclusion issues by Wilhemina Gilbertson-Davis & Rejoice Ojiaku
13. Creating an inclusive web - quick and actionable fixes with a little cheat sheet by Miracle Inameti-Archibong
14. Where are all the Black owned companies in the SERPs? by Fabio Embalo

I hope some of the speakers will touch on inclusive language (e.g. using gender-neutral language or language that gives visibility to women and non-binary people, avoiding stereotypes, taking disabilities into account, etc.), especially since I just started an online training in gender-inclusive French.

International SEO

When you decide to go global with your content, you need an international SEO strategy. (15) How are you going to optimize your international website? (16) How can you properly localize your content and what are some common pitfalls you should avoid?

For instance, if you are targeting European customers, you should be aware that specific rules apply when it comes to cookies. (17) Discover how to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the ePrivacy directive.

15. Bridging the content divide: removing the language barrier for international success by Hinde Lamrani
16. How to produce great multilingual content, even when you can’t read it by Laura McInley
17. Cookie consent: mechanisms and practices for GDPR and ePrivacy compliance by Rowenna Fielding

As a translator specializing in data protection, I had to mention the third talk, but I’m especially interested in the first two. I hope Hinde and Laura will explain how they work with localization professionals — not only with intermediaries such as translation agencies.

SEO and Accessibility

A truly inclusive strategy should follow best practices and rely on well thought-out accessibility features. (18) Such features and practices can be good both for your website’s visitors and for SEO. (19) Is Schema one of them?

Most businesses actually fail to make their social media content accessible, keeping part of their audience at bay. (20) Discover what social media accessibility is, what challenges potential customers face on your channels, and how you can remove such barriers.

18. The intersection between SEO and accessibility by Jessica Mackereth
19. Accessibility, Strategy and Schema. Do they go hand in hand? by Beth Barnham
20. How to create accessible social media content by Ellen Cole

I’ve never looked into accessibility or taken the time to add Schema to my website, so I hope these talks will give me the push I need! In the meantime, I take an active interest in two other accessibility tools: plain language and legal design.

Technical Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Even the best content strategy won’t be effective if your website has technical issues. This is why technical knowledge is so important to SEO professionals. For instance, do you know (21) how JavaScript can affect website rendering and how to prevent or fix the most common issues?

To help define and implement your SEO strategy, you should equip yourself with the right tools. While many tools don’t require any programming skills, some people do amazing things with (22) Google Sheets, (23) APIs, and even (24) the command line.

21. A guided tour of JavaScript for SEOs by Martin Splitt
22. Spreadsheet sorcery: a Google Sheets guide for the aspiring wizard by Matt Greenwood
23. Using APIs and automation to resolve SEO challenges by Jérôme Salomon
24. Using command line to save time on common SEO tasks by Dino Kukic

I’m surprised there won’t be any talk about Python since it can be such a great tool for SEO! I’ve actually gathered a short list of resources on using Python for SEO — if you’re interested, feel free to reach out. Still, it will be nice to explore other ways to save time on technical SEO!

Business Development

If you are an SEO professional looking to further your career and grow your business, you should (25) look into networking, how it works, how other SEOs feel about it, and what it can do for you.

You should also (26) learn how to make sure that your SEO strategy gets implemented. Find out how to leverage psychology to understand your clients’ personal motives, take their business objectives into account, and communicate the impact and ROI of your SEO strategy to generate buy-in.

25. Networking for SEOs (and why it matters) by Greta Koivikko
26. How to get 10x better at SEO, without learning any more SEO by Daniel Cartland

The second talk should be especially useful for SEO professionals working with large companies where buy-in from many stakeholders is required. But smaller clients also need to be convinced of what SEO can bring them to make sure that it is worth the time and money investment.

Prices and Replays

Access to the event requires a ticket. While the live pass is free, it only gives you access to the live broadcasts. This is going to be a problem if you want to make the most of the event, since several talks will be happening at the same time.

To be able to watch replays, you will need to purchase a £205 ticket, which will give you access to all content for 365 days from purchase. You will also gain access to BrightonSEO’s Video Vault, which normally costs £330 for 6 months or £495 for a year.

If you want to share access to the replays with your team, you can also buy a £820 ticket. Any member of your team that wants to attend BrightonSEO live will need a free live pass.

If you plan to attend BrightonSEO, what other talks have you selected and why are they important to SEO professionals? Do you feel that any relevant topic is missing from the event? And is there any other SEO event you look forward to? Let me know on LinkedIn!