The Best SEO Conferences You Didn't Know Existed

Author: Eric ‘ERock’ Christopher / Source: Entrepreneur

Digital marketers and ecommerce specialists have one question on their minds: Is Search Engine Optimization (SEO) still relevant? Recent debate around whether SEO plays an essential role in marketing efforts has prompted some SEO experts to make dire predictions. If it isn’t dead now, they’ve said, it will be extinct in the near future.

Other SEO consultants and researchers disagree. They believe search engines are evolving to focus more on quality content, social signals and user intent. Simply put, this means that marketers who produce engaging content will have better long-term odds of higher rankings. At the same time, those who rely on keyword-stuffing, low-quality content and spammy backlinks will see their rankings drop. Altogether, traditional SEO strategies such as backlinks and a well-optimized websites remain valuable tools in a marketer’s kit. But to compete for top rankings, savvy professionals must integrate all the components.

Google’s algorithm updates are a key driver. Because most of the world uses Google to search for anything, its algorithm significantly influences SEO best practices. Throughout the years, Google has updated its algorithm to generate the most useful and accurate search results. The development of RankBrain has the SEO community bracing for more frequent algo changes. Here are just a few of the updates in the past year:

HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) pages are getting a boost on Google’s SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages).
Fake news is receiving penalties.
Google improved its search to introduce a feature called People Also Ask.
Google announced a possible interstitial penalty for mobile SERPs
Google searches on mobile devices now are tracked through a separate index.
Blog Search got a new look.
The Possum update drastically affected Local SEO results.

With Google’s constant changes and updates, adapting to implement the best SEO practices can be quite a challenge. But it’s a must for any marketer who doesn’t want to incur the dreaded Google slap.

Popular SEO conferences.

SEO conferences offer an interactive way to stay current on developments in a continuously changing industry. You’ll learn valuable information about what’s hot, what’s trending, what’s new and what’s still relevant. Seeing (and possibly meeting) cognoscenti and gurus in person can energize you in ways that reading e-books and watching webinars never can replicate.

Here are a few of the most popular SEO conferences running today.

1. MozCon

A three-day conference known for its dynamic content, idea-filled sessions, actionable tips and deep insights delivered by industry leaders, MozCon features topics beyond SEO. Additional tracks include brand development, conversion-rate optimization, the mobile landscape, analytics, customer experience, social media and content marketing. Speakers include the “Wizard of Moz” himself (Rand Fishkin), award-winning digital-marketing consultant Matthew Barby, CEO of STAT Search Analytics Rob Bucci and Google Analytics Team Advocate Krista Seiden.