BrightonSEO provided so much valuable information on everything SEO, there is no way I could remember it all or write it all down, however I tried so this is my round up of the the most useful tips from BrightonSEO 2014.

Stacey Cavanagh - The habits that land you links

The first session I attended came from @Staceycav of Tecmark, the session was titled “The habits that land you links” and here are the key things that I picked up.

  1. Good habits for building links fall in three main categories - idea generation, asset generation and outreach. It’s important to include all three of these in your plan as without good outreach your amazing content might go to waste
  2. Links should not be the main focus, they should be something that happens alongside the other activities on your website
  3. Don’t publish content for the sake of content. Publish good quality, relevant content that will help to inform or entertain your readers
  4. Using images to build links is not new, but it is effective. Allow your images to be used as long as they reference back to your site
  5. Use good SEO practices not only on your sites but also on your images. Use informative titles and descriptions, not arty, made up ones
  6. Chase down your images, use reverse search to see who is using your images and check if they are referencing you correctly - if they’re not then tell them to!
  7. Don’t be afraid to combine online and offline marketing, a well publicised event can lead to lots of coverage and high quality links
  8. Be interesting. Being interesting and honest will create coverage and coverage creates links
  9. Data from surveys can be boring, so turn it into something more interesting that the audience can engage with; like a story
  10. Be disruptive. Do something different, hand written letters and phone calls are far more likely to have a positive response compared to emails

Vicke Cheung - Tips for designing great content 

Designer @VickeKaravan gave the second session of the day and focused on “Tips for designing great content.”

  1. It’s not just the designer’s job to find inspiration; anyone who is involved can add ideas. Collaborative boards on Pinterest can be really useful
  2. Think about brand restriction: is there anything you can’t do and is there anything you have to do.
  3. Ensure comprehensive testing is done across all browsers and devices but don’t be that guy who gathers everyone's phone from around the office, use tools like http://www.responsinator.com/ 
  4. Bad typography is exactly that. Bad. Invest in professional, ready for web fonts
  5. Many stock images look staged, unrealistic and sometimes just weird. By using sites like http://www.stocksy.com/ you can find images that your audience will naturally connect with  
  6. Be consistent with branding, use one style and stick with it. This was also mentioned many times throughout the day by anyone talking about writing copy. Use brand guidelines that go into detail about the style and what certain words mean for the brand

Dixon Jones - Do links still matter in 2014?

@Dixon_Jones gave his opinion on the much debated topic of links and if they still matter.

  1. Links will still be around for a few more years. The web is ordered by links and at the moment a search engine without them doesn’t really work
  2. 50 good quality links with similar semantics will be worth more than 50,000 links to unrelated content

Julia Ogden - How journalistic principles will shape the digital marketing of tomorrow

Julia Ogden used her former career as a journalist to give in-depth information on how to write relevant and useful content during her presentation.

  1. People are lazy, they want the key information as quickly as possible so give it to them in the first paragraph
  2. Who, what, where, when, how, why. This is what your readers want to know so don’t hide it from them, make sure it’s clear and easy to work out; there is nothing worse than having to reread content because it didn’t make sense
  3. Be different.  If there is a trending topic in your sector then don’t follow the crowd; write about in from a different angle. Variety is the spice of life
  4. If you use quotes, don’t manipulate them. People won’t appreciate it and you are more than likely to get a slap from Judi Dench
  5. Avoid jargon. Every industry has it, but most people won’t understand it so it’s best to just leave it out as you don’t want to alienate any of your potential audience
  6. Always get your work proof read by someone else. Most people struggle to notice their own mistakes and you don’t want to let a stupid error slip through 

Matt Evans - Stop blind marketing, start selling through content

@DigiMatt from Pancentric Digital gave his advice on how content can be used throughout the sales funnel

  1. Google will no longer reward you for filling your sites with keywords but will reward you for filling your site with content, which is good for both the creator and the audience
  2. Throughout the four stages of the sales funnel content should be used to sell
  3. If your content is designed for SEO, it won’t be any use in the sales funnel. A more informed audience is more likely to buy, so make sure your content informs them

 Mike Essex - The content marketing blueprint for boring industries

@Koozai_Mike from Koozai tackled a subject that often gets forgotten about - boring content. 

  1. Not all content needs to be mind blowing and exciting. It’s important to have content that tells the audience what they need to know about your product or service
  2. Technical data, statistics and figures may be boring but in the end, its these things that sell so make sure you publish them, and if you can make them look good and more interesting then that’s even better
  3. It’s not all about social shares, in some industries you won’t expect a large amount of shares and getting just a few is good if you are in a very niche market

As someone who is new to marketing and SEO - @BrightonSEO was so useful and informative - thank you everyone who shared their knowledge!