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Loading...Each year, the #DelanteTeam attends a variety of marketing conferences, both in Poland and abroad. For the past 7 years, BrightonSEO has been a must-attend event on our calendar. On our very first trip, 7 years ago, only our three founders went. The following year, it was just our CEO Mat, our Head of SEO Gosia, and our SEO Strategy Manager Milena. This year, however, we sent a team of 14! 🚀
We usually attend the fall editions, but last year our team made its debut at the spring event (you can read more about that here: BrightonSEO 2023). When our SEO R&D Specialist Wojciech Urban was selected as a speaker, we knew we had to go and cheer him on!
This was my fourth time attending the conference. Here’s my recap of BrightonSEO April 2024!
Let’s start with why it’s worth making the trip to BrightonSEO in the first place. Personally, I’ve been to quite a few SEO conferences with Delante (I even have a name for it: “SEO Tourism” 😎) – including twice at the International Search Summit in Barcelona, the Marketing Business Summit in Milan, SEO Vibes in Budapest, and many conferences in Poland. These events are definitely growing and improving in both organization and content. But BrightonSEO remains at the top of my list and a place I’ll definitely keep coming back to. Why?
This is an undeniable plus of the conference. You get to choose from five different panels happening simultaneously across six different rooms (Auditorium 1, Auditorium 2, Syndicate 1 & 2, Syndicate 3 & 4, Skyline, and Mass Media). Each room hosts five panels a day on a variety of topics:
Trust me, everyone will find something they like. However, if you’re expecting rocket science-level revelations and mind-blowing presentations at every turn, you might be disappointed.
Sure, there are moments like that (four years ago, for example, most sessions felt like that to me due to my less experienced background). But if you listen carefully and keep an open mind – even with extensive knowledge – you can find inspiration from almost every talk.
There is no one-size-fits-all recipe for marketing success, so each speaker brings their own insights, ideas, and case studies worth sharing and learning from 😊
an excerpt of Day 1 agenda, BrightonSEO, April 2024
BrightonSEO attracts some of the biggest names in the industry, but it’s not just about star power. The conference is dedicated to ensuring that speakers deliver valuable presentations. We saw this firsthand when Wojciech was set to speak. The organizers go the extra mile, hosting special workshops in London where speakers can fine-tune their delivery skills.
Additionally, speakers exchange ideas and experiences, helping each other out along the way. This collaborative atmosphere is truly remarkable! 🙂
Wojciech at the Public Speaking Workshops for BrightonSEO, February 2024
It might sound like a cliché to rave about the “great atmosphere,” but this SEO conference really lives up to it. BrightonSEO is a haven for SEO enthusiasts and digital marketing professionals – it’s like being surrounded by a crowd of dedicated geeks, and I absolutely love it! 😀 With nearly 4,000 attendees this year, finding such a dense gathering of industry experts is hard to beat.
The attendees are friendly and open, always ready to exchange ideas and experiences. If you’re more of an introvert, that’s totally fine – you can stick to your own group if you prefer.
There are also various organized side events to check out. These include meet-and-greets for first-time attendees (a great way to learn how to make the most of the conference), Women in Tech SEO events, beach cleanups, panel discussions, masterminds, group runs, walks, and even yoga sessions.
After the talks, you can unwind with a drink and chat with others in one of the two bars within the venue. Brighton itself embraces a welcoming and inclusive atmosphere. The conference and venue are accessible to people with disabilities, and this year there was even a special meet-and-greet for neurodivergent individuals in SEO.
The town of Brighton adds to the charm with its picturesque pebble beach, iconic pier, and a variety of bars, quirky shops (like those selling vinyl records, books, and posters), street art (including some pieces by Banksy!), and beautiful landmarks like the Royal Pavilion. It all contributes to making BrightonSEO a fantastic experience.
Palace Pier
Royal Pavilion
The seagull is one of Brighton’s iconic symbols, and you can see it featured prominently in the conference merchandise as well.
Throughout the Brighton Centre, a wide range of companies set up booths to present their tools and services. But these aren’t your typical trade show setups! There are fun contests, arcade games, GeoGuessr challenges, and prize machines to keep the energy high.
Each booth also offers a variety of cool gadgets. I’m always impressed by the WIX booth – their marketing team really knows how to catch the attention of passersby 😀 This year, Linkhouse also made a splash with their Kahoot! quizzes, drawing big crowds. They had awesome LEGO awards, and we even managed to score a few ourselves. A big thanks and shoutout to the Linkhouse team! 😄
a signature gadget: the LEGO figure
SurferSEO’s Booth at BrightonSEO
The Delante team exploring the Brighton Centre Lobby
BrightonSEO isn’t just about networking and learning because it’s also a great opportunity for some team building. Bringing your team to the conference can strengthen bonds, spark new ideas, and make for a memorable experience together. It’s a great way to mix work with a bit of fun and adventure!
Delante team at BrightonSEO 2024 April’s Edition
Alright, it’s time for my personal ranking of the best speeches. Of course, I only caught a small fraction of the talks (I was juggling presentations across 6 rooms simultaneously – unfortunately, bilocation remains beyond my grasp). Later, I’ll also share some favorites from my fellow Delante team members.
Okay, call me biased, but I genuinely believe Wojciech’s presentation was one of the best speeches this year. Not only did he teach the entire room of international attendees how to pronounce his name correctly 😀, but he also showed how to create your own SEO tools using Looker and Google Search Console. In an era where process optimization and – let’s face it – often pricey SEO tools are crucial, this topic is incredibly relevant.
Wojciech started with tips on extracting more data from Google Search Console using APIs, BigQuery, and Looker. He then demonstrated the tools you can build with this data.
Wojciech talking about the Looker Studio keyword position monitoring dashboard
One of these tools has already been shared on our blog and social channels (check it out here: SEO Report Looker Studio – Free Tool for Monitoring Average Keyword Positions). The second tool, the Google Update Checker, has also made waves in Poland. The third tool helps in generating content ideas.
Want to know more about these tools? Or do you have other ideas you’d like to discuss with our SEO R&D Specialist? Get in touch with us!
Greg Gifford, Chief Operating Officer at SearchLab, delivered another great presentation this year – my second time seeing him speak (I also caught him at Brighton last year). He’s a remarkable speaker: charismatic, energetic, and humorously straightforward. His presentations are always packed with actionable insights. Plus, Greg shares my passion for cinema, so each slide features a scene from a different movie or TV show. At the end, he lists all the films, giving you a great watchlist. This year’s theme was Science Fiction. 🎬
Greg introduced their SEO auditing tool called the Matrix. This tool evaluates potential clients’ websites on a 100-point scale. It’s important to note that the Matrix doesn’t assess SEO strategy or suggest ways to improve results. Instead, it focuses on current SEO tactics – practical, on-the-ground practices.
For clients who commit to a longer-term process, the Matrix provides a follow-up evaluation after a few months. SearchLab specializes in local SEO, and the Matrix assesses various website elements for both technical SEO and conversion optimization.
This presentation was insightful not just for SEO professionals but also for salespeople interested in how a simple audit can lead to significant improvements.
I had the pleasure of seeing Damien Robert speak for the second time at BrightonSEO 2024. I previously saw him at the International Search Summit in Barcelona last year, where he also talked about website accessibility. This is an incredibly important social issue that digital marketing professionals cannot afford to overlook, and it’s great to see it being addressed more frequently at conferences.
Damien, who is the Web Accessibility & Search Marketing Manager at Convatec, kicked off his talk by debunking three major myths about accessibility:
MYTH #1: It’s Optional According to Damien, it’s no longer optional. With the European Accessibility Act (EAA) set to take effect on June 28, 2025, websites must be made accessible. Failure to comply could result in lawsuits from private individuals.
MYTH #2: It’s Just About Alt Text for Images Accessibility involves much more than just providing alternative text for images. It encompasses a broad range of considerations beyond just website content.
MYTH #3: An Accessibility Overlay/Toolbar/Widget is Enough While these tools can help users with partial sight, they don’t fully address the needs of blind users.
So, what should we do to improve web accessibility?
And if that doesn’t convince you, consider this pragmatically:
Andrew Holland, Director of SEO at JBH, kicked things off by acknowledging that while we can’t predict exactly what the future holds – whether it’s Rabbit R1, SGE, or AI – one thing is clear: as SEO and PR professionals, our job is to minimize financial risks for our brands and clients. We shouldn’t sacrifice this for the sake of organic traffic, as it could backfire and lead to issues like website de-indexing from poor SEO practices.
So, buying links at scale? Definitely a no-go! 😉 Andrew pointed out that many of Google’s algorithm updates, like Spambrain and Link Spam/HCU, are designed to fight against spammy link practices. Instead, we should focus on building high-quality links that enhance semantic SEO (Entities).
His solution? Merging SEO with Digital PR. He shared a case study showing how media mentions significantly boosted search rankings. One of the key takeaways was the importance of the context around a link – not just the anchor text but also the surrounding words and the full sentence.
So, what does this mean for us? We need to carefully plan our outreach and ensure that the context of our links is solid. Andrew left us with an inspiring thought:
Brand mentions are the new backlinks.
Overall, this presentation underscored how crucial link building remains in SEO.
BrightonSEO was packed with great talks, so it’s tough to list them all. However, take a look at a few really amazing sessions that our Delante team members found noteworthy:
Milena, our SEO Strategy Manager (attending her 5th BrightonSEO), was particularly impressed by Ana’s session. Ana offered practical advice on optimizing YouTube videos – not just to rank well in YouTube searches, but to also appear as recommended content or even in Google search results. Some key tips included adding videos to top-performing blog posts and conducting thorough research before recording. Ana emphasized that videos need to perform strongly within the first 24 hours to gain traction.
Wojtek, our SEO & R&D Specialist (his 4th BrightonSEO), found Ewelina’s talk very insightful. She examined job postings for SEO specialists and found that 72% lack experience in data analysis, while 81% haven’t had any formal training. Even more surprising, 20% can’t distinguish between reports and dashboards. Ewelina stressed that handling data effectively requires proper methodology, tools, and experience.
Daniel, our Junior SEO Specialist (his first BrightonSEO), was drawn to Beth’s speech about the value of server log files. Beth explained what server logs are and debunked common myths surrounding them. She encouraged using even a standard laptop to analyze these logs, as they provide accurate data on on-site issues, reveal obstacles for Google, and help optimize your crawl budget. Beth showed that analyzing logs is practical and highly useful.
Przemek, our Senior SEO Specialist (his 4th BrightonSEO), highlighted Filipa’s presentation on creating new industry segments. Filipa suggested exploring new categories to uncover untapped potential, regardless of industry size or competition. She noted that building awareness for a new category can take 12-16 months and emphasized focusing on user needs rather than just search volumes. Tools like Reddit, Google Trends, and X can help assess potential.
Jakub, our SEO Specialist, pointed out Emily’s talk on changing consumer behavior. Emily observed that users are increasingly turning to alternatives like Reddit, Amazon, Pinterest, and TikTok, rather than relying solely on Google. To leverage this shift, she stressed the importance of creating experiences that truly meet customer needs and search intent, and conducting a thorough analysis of your target audience and competitors.
Lastly, Gus’s speech on writing effective SEO tickets for developers was a hit with many of us. During our internal discussion, we noticed differing views from Junior Developer Filip (attending his first BrightonSEO) and Head of SEO Gosia (her 5th time at the conference). Gus advised providing detailed task information, including objectives, deadlines, and necessary access. He also recommended building strong relationships with developers to understand their workload and perspective better.
These presentations offered valuable insights and practical advice, making BrightonSEO a highly informative and engaging event.
As we wrap up, here are some insights from the conference that I think are worth noting. Hopefully, these takeaways will inspire you to improve your SEO strategies!
That’s it for now! If you’ve made it this far, drop a comment and let me know if you’re hyped up to join us at the next BrightonSEO. Hope to see you there! 😊
