SearchNorwich #1: A Major Success

Choose Bruce - Thoughts - SearchNorwich #1: A Major Success

Search Norwich invites marketing aficionados to meet up and chat about all things SEO. It’s a free event, with an emphasis on learning and sharing no matter your familiarity with the industry. Last night was its first meetup, held by the riverside at St. George’s Works. It was a fascinating, inclusive and thoroughly enjoyable evening, with plenty of scope of the future.

Hellos & Handshakes

First was the networking, where I met a number of enthused business owners and marketers. Some were familiar, others new, and it was a pleasure to chat with them all. I’ve said before that Norwich is a “Goldilocks city”: neither too big that everyone seems a stranger, nor too small that competition feels cramped. The openness of fellow marketers and developers makes for a highly encouraging atmosphere, and a great reminder that there are others out there who indulge in SERP geekery! [col1]

Fantastic evening at @SearchNorwich‘s opening event. Eye opening presentations from @SeanClark and Jon Falgate, not sure if I should embrace or fear the Google brain!

Great added insight into the work @CharityTBF do too, well organised @thetafferboy! — Callum Coombes (@callum_c) 5 July 2018

 

@thetafferboy thanks for inviting me to speak at the first @SearchNorwich was a great night, good turnout

— Sean Clark (@SeanClark) 5 July 2018

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Really blown away by how nice and supportive the #Norwich tech community were for the first @SearchNorwich event, it was a thoroughly friendly atmosphere. Everyone did themselves proud and hope we can organise many more events in the future. #SEO #PPC pic.twitter.com/KePaxW7HUx

— Mark Cook (@thetafferboy) 5 July 2018

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Charity Spotlight: The Benjamin Foundation

The talks began with an introduction to The Benjamin Foundation, led by its Marketing Manager Chris Elliott. Chris described the plight of the charity and how, through community outreach and activities, the foundation supports young people experiencing hardship. We watched an inspiring case study of one of its service users, and we learned about the annual sleep out that educates the public about homelessness.

Sean Clark: Leveraging The Google Brain

Next up was Sean Clark of Clark St James who spoke about machine learning and AdWords ROI. Sean described the great leaps being made by Google Brain and how AI can infer meaning from your data. Propelled by searcher intent and a website’s content, the future has Google writing ads for you, with interchangeable straplines and photos for a varied, consistent user experience. I’m more of a grass-fed, organic SEOer; while I’ve dabbled in AdWords, I still see it as uncharted waters. Sean’s talk gave me pause to revisit PPC and enjoy a newer, smarter way to advertise online.

Jon Falgate: Taking Keyword Research Further

Last on the bill was Jon Falgate from Further. Jon’s presentation focused around keyword research, specifically the results gleaned after a post goes live. This is so important. In an age of fluid, ever-changing SERPs, it seems archaic to call it a day the moment an article is published. Jon demonstrated how careful tracking and analysis can unearth crucial improvements to your content. Pieces should be modified over time as they attract niche keyphrases relevant to the original topic. This makes for a larger, more informed article, and therefore a more useful experience for the reader. So all in all, the event was a resounding success. I’m delighted to have attended, especially as this was the first of its kind. Massive thanks to Mark Cook of Candour for organising, and to St George’s Works for hosting. I look forward to many more!