What began as a meeting of a small group of SEO professionals at a pub eventually grew into the world’s largest search marketing event known as brightonSEO.
Recently, brightonSEO hosted its first U.S. destination city event in San Diego, and it was a resounding success!
brightonSEO founder Kelvin Newman took some time to chat with me about his event’s impressive growth for our Ignite Visibility University Podcast.
We discussed everything from brightonSEO’s humble beginnings to some tips for building the perfect event on par with brightonSEO’s big San Diego event.
brightonSEO San Diego
Kelvin Newman started brightonSEO in the late 2000s by simply getting together with some SEO enthusiasts, and renting a room above a pub. Like so many great events, it began with some excited pros who wanted to talk about their shared interests, with this particular event beginning in the English beachside resort town of Brighton.
Kelvin gave brightonSEO its name as a tribute to winning SEO strategies, simply naming it after the city where it’s based and what the event is all about. It really is perfect SEO!
The first big UK event started in 2010, with subsequent events often taking place in London and covering many topics in search marketing. brightonSEO would evolve into a one-day search marketing conference that takes place twice each year, typically in April and then in either September or October.
Early events attracted about 4,000 people per event from 15 different countries. Today, the event regularly attracts thousands of delegates from more than 40 countries, and Kelvin and his team recently brought it to America with great success, starting with San Diego.
San Diego is a great hub for marketing events, and brightonSEO San Diego saw great results. Kelvin noted that many of the attendees at this event came all the way from the UK, eager to meet with other professionals and learn and grow—and, of course, to enjoy all the exciting things that San Diego has to offer outside of the event.
This event marked brightonSEO’s first foray into international waters and effectively took the event to the next level.
Tips on Hosting an In-Person Event in a Destination City
I wanted to know more about how Kelvin could put together such a killer event, and he gave some great tips that everybody should follow if they want to achieve brightonSEO-level success.
Tip #1: Offer Free Tickets (With Limits)
One tip Kelvin gave was to offer a certain amount of free tickets with an application process, generating FOMO among potential attendees while attracting more of them.
For instance, give people a limited amount of time to apply for free tickets online, and only give tickets for one day if you’re hosting a multi-day event.
A free ticket offer is a great way for brightonSEO San Diego and other brightonSEO events to ensure more people are able to attend. After all, not everybody can afford a ticket but still want and need to learn.
Tip #2: Cover Multiple Niche Topics
Kelvin also recommends implementing a multi-track setup to cover a diverse array of niches. Many single-track events are appealing to plenty of people, but in areas like search marketing, there are many individual subtopics to cover attracting more people with narrower interests.
For example, in search marketing, Kelvin noted that some potential niche topics include budgeting for marketing and technical SEO.
Tip #3: Stay Concise With Your Topics
Keep your talks short and to the point if you can. This way, you can cover more ground with your speeches and avoid losing people’s interest. Kelvin suggests having each of your talks stay within 20 minutes.
What Makes a Good Speaker?
According to Kelvin, there are several items he looks for in the ideal speaker.
He tends to go for speakers who give their listeners something practical to take away, essentially encouraging them to complete a concrete to-do list after the talk ends.
Covering topics that others aren’t necessarily going into is another element that Kelvin looks for in a speaker. An example is giving audiences practical advice on how to use certain tools to help optimize content creation.
In addition, Kelvin recommends that speakers do their best to tailor their talks to their pitches. For instance, a speaker could go into their individual experience and credentials to lend some authority, separating them from less qualified speakers.
Hot Topics in SEO: 2024 and Beyond
We also talked about some of the big topics in SEO today that many speakers might want to pitch.
Some of these topics included:
- How to rank #1 in Google in 2024
- How to increase conversions with SEO-powered video marketing strategies
- AI and SEO: How to write more quality blogs with a new prompt
Ultimately, finding more specific, narrower topics is a great way to stand out with your event. Also, keep things actionable, harnessing the power of influential how-to guides and other practical topics.
Looking to the Future for brightonSEO
As the name suggests, the future of brightonSEO looks, well, bright.
This event continues to spread all over Europe and will make future appearances across the pond, with the next brightonSEO San Diego event scheduled for November 2024.
As Kelvin Newman demonstrates, appealing to as many attendees as possible, covering a variety of niche topics, and choosing the best speakers are key steps in putting together the perfect event. As such, brightonSEO shows no signs of slowing down as it makes waves all over the world among thousands of eager attendees.
