BrightLocal is making waves at BrightonSEO in April 2023

BrightonSEO in April this year was an amazing couple of days. Held in Brighton, BrightLocal’s headquarters, this search conference has grown year on year to become one of the most popular events for all search marketers.

This time, however, we wanted to do something a little different. So we hosted a booth in the exhibition area, complete with awesome swags to give away, a booth design that represented Brighton and our diverse local SEO community, and a game (Pin It to Win It) where you could compete for a chance to win £5,000 to play split between the winner and a charity of their choice).

Thank you to everyone who came out to see us and kudos to everyone who played Pin It to Win It and took home a piece of BrightLocal swag. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did!

So many conversations, so little time…

As always, BrightonSEO was packed with SEO experts giving talks on a variety of topics. Together we participated in a series of inspirational talks and emerged from the event having learned something new and practical that we could incorporate into our daily marketing efforts.

Here are some of our favorite talks, why we loved them and why we think you will too.

Cut the CRAPtions: How *real* subtitles can take your videos to the next level

Ahmed Khalifa, Digital Experience Manager and Owner, listen to me! [CC] (@IamAhmedKhalifa)

With genuine passion and humor, Ahmed spoke using real-world examples to show just how bad subtitles in videos can be. With 40% of Netflix users using subtitles voluntarily, he stressed the importance of accuracy.

You wouldn’t leave a spelling mistake or factual error on your social media posts or blog, so why not correct the errors generated in your captions? If you’re not careful, you could alienate your brand or even provide completely false information.

Not only that, when brands invest the right amount of time in their captions, they can make them really impactful. This gives everyone a better experience when interacting with your brand and content.

How to turn an unloved corporate YouTube channel into a traffic generation machine

Phil Nottingham, video strategist (@PhilNottingham)

Phil shared some house truths with everyone about their Unforgettable and Abandoned YouTube channels. What really stands out is the lack of time people invest in their video content. Not only that, but how they consolidate everything they create into one channel, no matter who they’re targeting.

He covered the use of Google’s EEAT but made it more relevant to YouTube than EEAATT; Expertise, Authority, Aesthetics, Trustworthiness and Thumbnail.

However, a lot of this boils down to not being afraid to connect additional channels to your business, each targeting a specific segment of your audience. Then, when you create that targeted content, do it in a way that really adds value. His presentation used specific examples showing how companies could do this and are worth checking out.

Where does equality fit into your marketing strategy?

Andi Jarvis, Founder, Eximo Marketing, (@ Andi Jarvis)

Andi’s talk on Equality in Marketing Strategy was equal parts inspirational, insightful, and entertaining. If you are looking for ways to get senior management support to invest in more diverse thinking for your business, this is the talk for you.

Starting by reminding the agency staff in the audience that they are all “crazy” by pointing out that they often aren’t like their target audience but often think they are, Andi went on to prove that we should all stop making assumptions about our markets and do some damn research instead.

Through stories from his time in the whiskey industry, Andi was able to show us all what the equality landscape looks like, where marketers make dangerous assumptions and most importantly, how we can prove the importance of equality and diversity in our industry marketing strategies.

Opportunity is Knocking: How to Spot Growth and Expansion Opportunities with Local SEO Data

Amanda Jordan, Director of Digital Strategy, RicketyRoo (@amandatjordan)

Amanda’s presentation was full of actionable advice. For anyone looking to expand their local business or that of their client, there are a number of things to consider and consider while building a business case for expansion.

Amanda designed a solid process for local SEOs to go through; from finding the right market to narrowing down location opportunities to acquiring your customers.

She shares the dos and don’ts for filtering locations, ways to spot growth opportunities, and what to look for in competitors.

Google’s Local Knowledge Panel – the CMS you never knew you had

Claire Carlile, Local Search Expert, BrightLocal (@clairecarlile)

Have you thought about how powerful Google’s Local Knowledge Panel is? Claire Carlile looked at the different ways the local knowledge panel shares information about your business with your customers, and how you can “opt in” to make important “changes” if Google decides to share the wrong information.

Depending on your business category, Google gets data and information about your business from multiple sources. In her talk, Claire will walk you through her experiences of trying to influence the local knowledge panel. Beginning with the New Merchant Experience (NMX), working closely with Google’s support team, and finally using schema knowledge to update information, Claire’s journey proves to be a fascinating glimpse into something we often look back on!

When Links Are Not Enough – shows the value of link acquisition beyond reach and links

Isa Lavahun, Freelance Digital Strategist, Digital PR Services (@IsaLavs_)

As someone who has a lot to learn about digital PR and link building, I really enjoyed how Isa broke down the different ways you can present results and relevant metrics to different stakeholders. Isa also stressed the importance of setting campaign goals, which may sound obvious, but in the digital world we can get very busy chasing links!

There were some great tips for building an outreach list, and the talk emphasized the importance of striving for variety of authority, variety, quality and relevance – essentially yes, you want to aim for authoritative and relevant links, but you should also make efforts to diversify and tap into potential new audiences.

Neuroscience of Search

Giulia Panozzo, neuroscientist, (@SequinsNsearch)

In her talk, Giulia used her fascinating background in neuroscience to bring a new perspective to SEO. Giulia delved into some of the core principles of human psychology and described the science behind our brain’s processing mechanisms to remind marketers who they’re optimizing for: users.

Emphasizing the importance of heuristics in decision making, social proof and the role of emotions, Giulia guided the audience through some of the key psychological principles to consider when optimizing your company’s website.

A passionate and knowledgeable speaker, Giulia presented a fascinating side of SEO in her talk in an accessible, easily digestible way and provided an insight into one of the key factors marketers should consider when optimizing – but often forget.