SEO Conferences Are Valuable Again
Forget the Drink Tickets, Conferences Are Back to Delivering Real ROI.
Thanks to this week's #SEOForLunch Sponsor: Semrush Spotlight Fresh off SMX Advanced, I’ve got a confession: I had nearly written off SEO conferences. Between the nonstop AI Chatter, the grim outlook on attribution, and the truth bomb that lazy SEOs will be automated out of a job, skipping conferences felt like a responsible cut, one that padded the savings account for the looming Google apocalypse.
Boy, was I wrong.
I’ve never been shy about admitting that, for me, conference value has always skewed 95% networking, 5% presentations.
For years, the speaker circuit felt like an echobot. Another rinse-and-repeat breakdown of the Helpful Content Update (that nobody recover from), another EEAT checklist, and of course, the required GA4 session, because we all hate GA4 but have finally accepted it's not going anywhere.
This isn’t a knock on the speakers; many of them I consider good friends. This is about the industry being stuck. But now? With AI Overviews live, LLMs threatening Google’s monopoly, and the stakes higher than ever, something’s shifted. There’s a renewed sense of curiosity. More testing. And yeah, even a little fear.
And it’s bringing out the best in our industry.
Conferences aren’t just free drinks and vendor-sponsored happy hours anymore. In 2025, they’re worth attending again.
This week’s #SEOForLunch is sponsored by Semrush
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How to Make Conferences Worth It Again
Let’s be real for a moment. 90% of what’s shared on stage at SEO conferences can be found online. If you know where to look and are willing to carve out time to actually process it, you’ll find the slides, articles, and Twitter threads.
But as much as I love reading about vector embeddings (eye roll), hearing Mike King and others break it down live is a different game entirely. Context, nuance, tone, this all hits harder in person.
The industry is at a crossroads. The tired white hat vs. black hat debate has (thankfully) been retired. Smart SEOs are rallying around a new reality: what I’m calling the SEO Impact Era, where the goal isn’t to check boxes, it’s to drive tangible results.
If you're bought in, awesome.
Now it’s time to stress test your readiness for what’s next:
SEO (Search Everywhere Optimization)
SGE (Search Generative Experience)
AI SEO
LLM SEO
Call it what you want, because let’s face it, what we call it will probably become the next black hat vs. white hat debate that drags on for a decade.
But let’s skip the semantics for now.
From my perspective, it’s starting to look a lot like NOSEO—No Organic SEO—at least for the foreseeable future. If there’s upside, it’ll be hard-earned and probably late.
What Matters Now (and What to Actually Pay Attention To at Conferences)
Back in the day, it was all about headers, content, and links. Those are table stakes now. We’ve all graduated from SEO 101, and the next era of search is going to demand way more from you.
If you’re serious about staying relevant, pay attention to these themes:
Combining Data for Smarter Insights
SEO + PPC + LLM data = the new trifecta. If your reporting still lives in silos, you’re already behind.Using AI to Automate and Scale
Not just prompts and ChatGPT gimmicks but real workflows. Think programmatic content, internal tools, and ops augmentation.Tracking and Reporting on AI/LLM Visibility
How is your content showing up in AI Overviews? Can you prove it? You’ll need to soon. (.. and I don’t think “impressions” will ever be the KPI as long as search falls in the performance marketing budget)Pivoting from “SEO” to Full-Funnel Organic
Organic strategy is bigger than Google blue links. TikTok, Reddit, YouTube, Podcasts, ChatGPT - Your content needs to go well beyond Google’s search bar.Link and Citation Building in 2025 (and Beyond)
It’s not only about volume and diversifying anchor text anymore. It’s about relevance. Shout-out to James Brockbank for introducing the idea of using vector embedding and cosine similarity within backlink profiles.
Final Thoughts
Look, conferences aren’t the only way to stay sharp. You can learn a ton from blogs, podcasts, newsletters (👋), and simply just getting your hands dirty, thinking outside the box, and running your own tests.
But for the first time in almost a decade, I walked away from an SEO conference genuinely fired up. Not just from the between-speaker chats and late-night beers, but from the sessions too. The quality of ideas. The urgency. The experimentation. The transparency. It’s different now. This is what makes this pivot in search exciting.
Whether you're attending in person, watching recordings, or just following the hashtags, definitely pay attention. The people pushing the boundaries are finally speaking up again. And this time, it’s worth listening.