Attending conferences will help keep you up to date on the latest SEO strategies, trends, tips, and tools.
Plus, SEO conferences are a fantastic way to grow your professional network and connect with potential clients. All of this can happen between sessions, during official networking events, or sometimes even at a pub or restaurant after hours.
Whether you want to seek out help or inspiration from SEO experts, exchange ideas with peers, or discover some new tactics that you can implement once you’re back in the office, there are plenty of SEO conferences to choose from.
Here are the best conferences to learn more about SEO (and digital marketing) in 2018 and 2019.
2018
Digital Summit Series
Date: September 12-13
Location: Cobo Center Grand Ballroom / Detroit, Michigan
Topics: SEO and search, content, mobile, social
Tracks: 4
Speakers: John Doherty, Garrett Mehrguth, Garth O’Brien, Noelle Schuck, and more.
About: Digital Summit was founded in 2012. This series also will run shows in Chicago, Illinois (September 26-27); Charlotte, North Carolina (October 3-4); Raleigh, North Carolina (November 14-15); and Dallas, Texas (December 4-5). 2019:Phoenix, Arizona (February 11-12); Seattle, Washington (February 26-27); Salt Lake City, Utah (March 5-6); Los Angeles, California (April 10-11); Kansas City, Missouri (May 15-16); Atlanta, Georgia (May 21-22); Portland, Oregon (June 11-12); Denver, Colorado (June 25-26); Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (July 24-25); Minneapolis, Minnesota (August 14-15); Washington, D.C. (September 4-5); Tampa, Florida (September 11-12); Boston, Massachusetts (October 21-22).
Cost: $395 – $995
Confluence Conference
Dates: September 20-21
Location: The Tower Theatre / Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Topics: SEO, PPC, content, social, analytics
Number of tracks: 1
Speakers: Ruth Burr Reedy, Marcela De Vivo, Damon Gochneaur, Steve Hammer, Aurora Morales, and more.
About: Confluence Conference started in 2012 and has become one of the biggest digital marketing conferences in the region – designed for everyone from specialists, to marketing managers, digital entrepreneurs, and small business owners.
Cost: $175-$250
ohgmcon
Date: The day before BrightonSEO
Location: Secret.
Topics: Technical SEO.
Tracks: 1
Notable speakers: Secret (but you can read about the previous event here at which Google’s Gary Illyes gave a Q&A.)
About: All attendees give talks they have never given before to an audience of peers. Strict time and slide limits. Maximum ONE attendee per agency. No sponsor talks. No clients to impress. In a dark basement with no wifi, air conditioning, or connection to the outside world. Pub and train to #BrightonSEO afterwards.
Cost: Free
BrightonSEO
Date: September 27-28
Location: Brighton Centre / Brighton, England
Topics: SEO and search
Tracks: 6
Speakers: Barry Adams, Aleh Barysevich, Clark Boyd, Christoph Cemper, Rand Fishkin, Greg Gifford, Michael King, Sam Marsden, Stacey MacNaught, Patrick Reinhart, Hannah Thorpe, Fili Wiese, and more.
About: Brighton SEO consists of training courses and a one-day search marketing conference.
Cost: £0 – £600
State of Search
Date: October 10-11
Location: Gilley’s / Dallas, Texas
Topics: SEO, local SEO
Speakers: Dave Davies, Eric Enge, Duane Forrester, Greg Gifford, Jenny Halasz, Adam Riemer, Grant Simmons, Ashley Ward, Tony Wright, and more.
Topics: SEO, content, analytics, social
About: State of Search is presented by the Dallas/Fort Worth Search Engine Marketing Association.
Cost: $600 – $700
SearchLove
Date: October 15-16
Location: The Brewery / London, England
Topics: SEO, link building, local search, analytics
Tracks: 1
Speakers: Rob Bucci, Kirsty Hulse, John Mueller, Wil Reynolds, and more
About: The SearchLove conference is put on by online marketing agency Distilled. It is geared toward SEO professionals (in-house and agency), marketing managers, and business owners.
Cost: £829 – £1,129
Pubcon
Date: October 16-18
Location: Las Vegas Convention Center / Las Vegas, Nevada
Topics: SEO, international search, local SEO, link building, content, social
Tracks: 7
Speakers: Bill Hartzer, Chris Boggs, Michael Bonfils, Dave Davies, Duane Forrester, Keith Goode, Bill Hunt, Eric Enge, Gary Illyes (keynote), Kris Jones, Ryan Jones, Aleyda Solis, Rob Woods, and more.
About: Pubcon was founded in 2000 by Brett Tabke. It the longest running search industry conference. Pubcon bills itself a “super conference” (as in super-sized), and rightly so – excellent speakers, in-depth educational sessions, great keynotes, and amazing networking events and opportunities (both official and unofficial). The 6th Annual U.S. Search Awards will take place during the week of Pubcon.
Cost: $449 – $5,899
SMX East
Date: October 24-25
Location: Jacob K. Javits Center / New York City, New York
Topics: SEO and SEM
Tracks: 5
Speakers: Lisa Barone, Aleh Barysevich, Eric Enge, Paddy Moogan, Arsen Rabinovich, Alexis Sanders, Hannah Thorpe, Purna Virji, Fili Wiese, and more
About: The Search Marketing Expo (SMX) conference series was founded in 2007 and put on by Third Door Media, publisher of Search Engine Land. You won’t find any beginner-level content here – this agenda is designed for experienced search marketers.
Cost: Free – $2,845
UnGagged
Date: November 4-7
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
Speakers: Barry Adams, Dawn Anderson, Tom Anthony, Catfish Comstock, Dave Snyder, Ashley Ward, and more.
About: The team behind UnGagged promises an unconventional conference with uncensored and unrecorded sessions.
Cost: $599 – $1,190
MediaPost’s Search Insider Summit
Date: December 12-15
See Anyone’s Real-Time Analytics
What will you do when you can lift the curtain on the internet? Insights you were never meant to see. Data that will change marketing forever.
Location: Stein Eriksen Lodge / Park City, Utah
About: The Search Insider Summit is put together by the team behind MediaPost’s Search Marketing Daily and Search Insider. These events combine awesome locations, great presenters, and thought-provoking topics centered on search and digital marketing. Sessions are over by lunch, followed by afternoon fun activities like skiing, snowmobiling, and snowboarding.
More Info: TBA
2019
PeepCon
Info: Coming soon!
Topics: SEO, content, link building, local SEO, analytics
About: PeepCon is a nonprofit, Philippine-based conference that launched in 2015, produced by Glen Dimaandal of GDI. PeepCon (which stands for “The People’s Conference”) seeks to teach actionable SEO and digital marketing lessons.
C3
Info: Coming soon!
Topics: SEO, content
About: C3 is an event presented by enterprise SEO and content platform Conductor.
Engage Conference
Info: Coming soon!
Topics: SEO, social, content, UX/design
About: Engage is put on by nonprofit organization SEMpdx (Search Engine Marketing Professionals of Portland).
SMX West
Info: Coming soon!
Topics: SEO, SEM
About: The Search Marketing Expo (SMX) conference series was founded in 2007 and put on by Third Door Media, publisher of Search Engine Land.
Advanced Search Summit
Date: April 4-5
Location: Napa Valley, California
Topics: SEO, content, social, analytics
Tracks: 1
More info: Coming soon!
About: Advanced Search Summit is designed for advanced SEO professionals, digital marketers, and analysts at enterprise and mid-market sized companies who want advanced tactics and techniques.
Cost: $249 – $1,099
SearchLove
Location: San Diego, California
Info: Coming soon!
Topics: SEO, mobile search, analytics, content, PPC.
About: The SearchLove conference is put on by online marketing agency Distilled.
Pubcon Florida
Info: Coming soon!
Topics: SEO, link building, content marketing, social media marketing and advertising, analytics, and more.
About: Pubcon Florida is a regional conference that launched in 2013, produced by Brett Tabke and the team behind Pubcon, the longest running search marketing conference.
Zenith Conference
Info: Coming soon!
Location: Duluth, Minnesota
Topics: SEO, paid, social
About: Zenith conference is designed for marketing pros of all levels (including DIY, SMB, startups, and nonprofits). It is hosted by marketing agency Aimclear and the Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce.
Next10x: Mastering the Changing Digital Marketing Landscape
Info: Coming soon!
Topics: SEO, mobile, content, social media
About: Next10x, presented by Stone Temple, will explore the changes happening in the digital marketing industry with a focus on helping marketers take advantage of the new opportunities presented by those changes.
Search Marketing Summit
Info: Coming soon!
Topics: SEO, local, link building, content, social, analytics
About: Founded in 2006, Search Marketing Summit is the longest-running and largest search marketing conference in Australia for search marketing practitioners in Australia, New Zealand, and Asia Pacific. Also offers two pre- and post-conference advanced SEO & PPC workshops.
SearchLove
Info: Coming soon!
Topics: Search, analytics, content
About: The SearchLove conference is put on by online marketing agency Distilled.
SMX Advanced
Info: Coming soon!
Location: Bell Harbor International Conference Center / Seattle, Washington
Topics: Advanced SEO and SEM
About: The Search Marketing Expo (SMX) conference series was founded in 2007 and put on by Third Door Media, publisher of Search Engine Land. You won’t find any beginner-level content here – this agenda is designed for experienced search marketers.
UnGagged
Info: Coming soon!
Topics: SEO, mobile, local, content
About: The team behind UnGagged promises an unconventional conference with uncensored and unrecorded sessions.
MnSearch Summit
Info: Coming soon!
Topics: SEO, social, content, video, analytics
About: MnSearch is a regional one-day marketing conference put on by the Minnesota Search Engine Marketing Association, a nonprofit organization.
MozCon
Info: Coming soon!
Location: Seattle, Washington
Topics: SEO, mobile, analytics, social, content
About: MozCon has been a yearly conference since 2011, produced by the team behind SEO software provider Moz.
Inbound
Info: Coming soon!
Location: Boston, Massachusetts
About: Inbound is a massive annual event put on by SEO software provider HubSpot. The focus is on inbound marketing, which includes everything from SEO to social media. The agenda boasts tons of sessions, networking events, certification courses – as well as keynotes by well-known authors, celebrities, and athletes.
