Change and challenges are inevitable in SEO - with Sarah McDowell

David and Alex discuss the importance of not letting AI take over your content strategy.Talking points include:What is a good use of AI?How do you know if you’re using AI too much?How do you measure the impact of creative, helpful and unique storytelling?Why will this always shine through?Why won’t AI ever take over creative, helpful and unique storytelling??How do you use AI tools most effectively?

David and Josh discuss the impact of updating your information on Wikipedia/Wikidata.Talking points include:What is Wikidata for the uninitiated?How does Wikipedia and Wikidata impact search results?How does the new AI world use Wikipedia and Wikidata?What information do you need to update to take advantage of this?Should you update your Wikipedia listing by yourself?How often should you update or refresh your listings?How do you think AI will continue to evolve to make use of Wikipedia and Wikidata?Are there any other Wiki sites that SEOs should be aware of?

David and Sarah discuss how change and challenges are inevitable in SEO, and what to do about this.Talking points include:How often is it changing?How often do rankings change?What trends do we need to look for?Should we bother with chasing algorithms?What is Google changing about the SERP?What do we do when Google takes something away?AI – challenge, people worried about taking jobs - what are the solutions?What do SEOs need to get familiar with when it comes to AI?

David and Adriana discuss how 2024 will be the marketing era of “do more with less” and the way to do that with SEO is have air tight people operations.Talking points include:Why “do more with less”?Is this because of AI?In-house or agency side?What are the pros and cons?Can you get as much done?What is the ultimate team size?

David and Luis discuss elevating the value of SEO by developing internal capabilities - agency vs in-house.Talking points include:Is in-house best?What should be done in-house vs agency-side?How do you identify what is best for you , benefits or downsides .What is more efficient?Importance of teams feeling familiar across organizations - is automation diluting learning opportunities for new SEOs?

Dave Cousin believes that SEOs like to think Paid Search is easy, they get all the data they need in black and white; so why then don't we SEOs use paid search's data to make things a bit easier for us? Discussion points include:Why should SEOs be working more closely with paid search?How can paid search make the SEO’s life easier?What can SEOs learn from paid?What can paid learn from SEOs?Why is this particularly relevant for 2024?

David and Sara discuss the importance of staying ahead in International SEO: embrace and keep track of market-relevant events.Talking points include:How do you ensure that you’re aware of every event?I can understand how an event can impact traffic and impressions, but how can an event impact rankings?Understanding user behaviour and intent - why is this particularly unique for international SEO?Spike in impressions but not followed by clicks - why was this and what can you do about it?Leveraging seasonal trends and opportunities - how do you plan?

David and Claire discuss why businesses should get clued up on how to manage and influence their Local Knowledge Panel.Talking points include:What is Google’s New Merchant Experience?Why has Google done this?What do you have to do to sign-up?What is the upside?Is there any downside?How do you influence your Local Knowledge Panel BEYOND the functionality provided in the NMX?Why is this important?How do you measure the impact of this?

David and Greg discuss the importance of optimising your use of Google Business Profile.Talking points include:What are the key changes in Google Business Profile over the past year?How has the verification process changed?Google will restrict content or access if there's a violation of their policies - what are these policies?There are Clearer standards on who can own and manage business profiles - why is this and what are the changes?What are the new guidelines on user contributions?Businesses should have only one profile to avoid discrepancies on Google Maps and Search - what happens if you have 2 profiles?Specific instructions for appointment-based businesses and those with varying operational hours - what are these?What are the current best practices for content posting?What are the current best practices for getting found?Will a business without a physical address ever have an opportunity with Google Business Profile?

David and Si discuss the importance of using generative AI to supercharge your productivity and business outcomes.Talking points include:Why?What software and systems are you referring to?How do you set them up?How do you integrate this with the rest of your business and your clients?Are there any downsides?