Didn't get a chance to attend UnGagged in London or missed some of the best speakers?
Don't worry - we've rounded up the key takeaways from the best speakers at UnGagged London 2018.
Here are the key takeaways from the top 10 speakers at UnGagged London:
Technical SEO in 2018: Embracing the Chaos
Bartosz Góralewicz , CEO - Elephate
Technical SEO is accelerating not just because of the unpredictable nature of search engines like Google, but because of all the players in the market. Bartosz gave an honest and in-depth overview of the current state of Technical SEO and the aspects of Technical SEO that can make or break you in 2018.
One of the funniest examples was... Google itself. Even Google spain telephone number data can't get it right sometimes! Google flights content doesn't appear on Google... If you copy the content and then search for it - Google can't find it! How ridiculous is that?
Now things get even more complicated. Bartosz walked us through 2 waves of JavaScript indexing and partial indexing issues when Google didn’t have the resources or the Javascript was built in a way that Google couldn’t handle properly.
He also took a look at Chrome 41 — it may work on desktop but not on mobile because it won't be indexed in Google. Bartosz discussed whether this is a Javascript or mobile-first issue.
Html is like a cake ready to eat. Javascript is like the ingredients of the cake, so it's much more complex.
Black Hat Analytics - When Your Data Works Against You
Mad Scientist by Jono Alderson - Yoast.com
Jono told us some scary things. Things you shouldn't try to do: Bad things one can do to one's competitors... Very fun but bad ways to mess with your competitors. Of course you shouldn't do that!
You can do much more than just manipulate the URL. You can batch hits. You can simulate browser behavior. You can create fake conversion paths. Many businesses rely on JavaScript-based tracking solutions (like Google Analytics or Adobe Analytics). These are extremely vulnerable to attacks...
So can you tell if your data has been compromised?
No, not really. And that's scary!
You can still try… by checking your analytics for strangely inflated goal conversions or page views, strange-looking channel metrics, and visits with strange characteristics.
GDPR Is Here, Is This The End Of Marketing?
Jenna Tiffany , Founder and Strategy Director - Let'sTalk Strategy
90% of consumers want more control over their data.
90% of the world's data was produced in the last 2 years!
Companies should have treated GDPR as a campaign and marketing plan. Instead, we all saw the last minute panic. More emails were sent the day before the GDPR deadline than Black Friday! GDPR was also trending bigger than Beyonce the day before implementation.
Cambridge Analytica even made people delete their Facebook data. After a week or two of the scandal, trust was broken and people were not willing to share as much data. Brands also wanted to cut ties with Facebook. The only good example of a GDPR campaign came from Manchester United, who gave consumers full control over the data they shared. This is a great example because they did it on time (the campaign started in December 2017) and it was a multi-channel campaign, not just email.
Companies - be aware! It's easy to report an ICO... just 2 clicks and you're caught!
Nice and practical tips from Jenna:
Make sure you are not tracking IP addresses.
The privacy policy should be in plain English, without jargon, and it should be clear why you are tracking consumers and what you do with that data.
Trust and transparency are very important.
SEO and Content Optimization in 2018 - How to Win the Game!
Lukasz Zelezny , Head of SEO - uSwitch.com, zelezny.uk
Lukasz explained how to make the most of your content. He also reviewed the Snapshot approach to keyword research and explained how to calculate traffic index potential.
You can find low-hanging fruit (keywords that could rank higher with a little effort) on AccuRanker.
Lukasz showed you how to find some quick wins and low hanging fruit. He explained step by step how you can use AccuRanker to get detailed data about your keywords and how you can use AccuRanker and get results in less than a few minutes. He explained how to add domains to AccuRanker and how to add keywords from Search Console.
Lukasz also explained how he uses Google Search Console, social media to conduct topic research, and hashtag tracking to find new PR opportunities.
Big Ern's Tips for Becoming a Local SEO Champion
Greg Gifford , Vice President of Search, DealerOn, Inc.
Local search is one of the most trending and important topics for all SEO experts. There is no magic pill for local search success, but Greg has shared tips that will help you become more visible.
Any business with a physical location definitely needs Local SEO.
Google continues to change the game, which is why SEO is a tough thing to master. Greg explained the factors that affect local visibility beyond proximity and showed you exactly how to optimize your website to appear in local searches. He talked about the most common mistakes made in local search and how to fix them.
Greg also explained how to gain corporate buy-in for Local SEO and how to better sell your agency to potential clients.
Speed Up: Page Speed Optimization Tips
Fili Wiese , SEO Expert - SearchBrothers.com
Fili explained why page speed is important. Because of conversion rates!
Pages need to be created quickly and visible content needs to be prioritized.
Great tip from Fili - optimize web font loading with font-display. If the connection is slow, it will skip the font loading and thus make the website much faster.
You can also optimize images with smart compression. This way you can make images better and smaller.
Fili provided great insight into how to improve page speed for mobile first and how to actually measure success.
Killer Digital Strategy Hacks for Your Business
Judith Lewis , Founder - deCabbit Consulting
Judith explained how to put together a great presentation and proposal for potential clients that won’t take more than half a day. It’s all about understanding the client’s needs but not letting them drive the strategy too much. What they think they need may be different from what they need. You really need to take a step back and think about who you’re selling to and what their needs are.
Judith suggested using the usability audit in Google Analytics to see where your customers fall...
Look for keywords that have a lot of search volume and not much competition. Go after them!
On the subject of link building, Judith made a point of establishing the link in the first paragraph and making it ‘clickable.’ She also suggested reaching out to bloggers in Facebook groups.
He also explained how to catch cheaters while doing outreach.
Judith reviewed a list of free and affordable tools she uses to present to clients.
Winning in the World of Mobile-First Search
Aleyda Solis , Founder - Orainti
The primary use of mobile devices brings with it a new world of search opportunities. More than half of all web traffic now comes from smartphones and tablets, and more than 40% of online transactions are now made on mobile devices. To better connect with them, you need to understand the behavior of your mobile audience. Aleyda noted that mobile users expect instant answers wherever they go. She explained the search behavior, which is called “micro moments” and consists of “want to know/go/do/buy moments.” Aleyda reminded us of the increasing need for localization, as approximately 30% of all mobile searches are location-related. Voice search is also on the rise, with 20% of mobile queries now being voice searches.
You need to maximize your mobile SERP visibility for the queries you’re targeting. Did you know that the CTR for mobile search results is very different? The main difference is that there are a lot more “no click” searches compared to desktop. As Aleyda explains, the SERP features on mobile results can be blamed on wanting to provide all the final answers (especially when it comes to local packs and instant answers). For this reason, Aleyda recommends focusing on increasing your mobile SERP visibility through Featured Snippets, as they appear at the top of mobile SERPs and have higher visibility than other features.
It is very important to note that mobile-enabled snippets are mostly shown in the top 5 positions, so it is important to keep an eye on your mobile keyword rankings.
Google’s Mobile First Index is here, and that means Google will now crawl and index the mobile versions of our websites first to rank them. So make sure your website is moved to the Mobile First Index.
