As SEOs, my belief is that there are two fool proof ways to learn. The first and, of course, most important is by doing SEO on an on going basis. The second is by attending industry events, where you can mingle with other industry professionals, hear great speakers and most importantly share information with your peers.
Some of the biggest and best SEO industry events include the likes of SES, SMX and Pubcon. Having been fortunate enough to attend some of those myself I can absolutely believe that they’re a worthy investment. Aside from the quality of the speakers, the people you get to meet there can offer as much insight as some of the talks.
But not everyone has a big enough budget to visit such huge conferences. For freelancers in particular and those who don’t have the financial backing of a large employer, getting out to these big events can be out of budget and totally unfeasible.
So where do you find SEO events for the lower (or even non existent) budgets?
Eventbrite
Your new best friend is Eventbrite. This is a global events website, allowing people to upload (free of chare) information about their own events. Users can search by keyword, category and location to find events close to them. You’ll find lots of SEO and digital marketing industry events close to you (or at the very least in your nearest big city). Many of these are free to attend events or are low cost events.
This still affords you the opportunity to network and share information with other digital marketers without having to pay travel, accommodation and expensive conference tickets for the major events.
Join a Meet Up (or Start Your Own)
Meetup.com is another great website for finding events and meetup groups. It’s less likely to be conference format, but what you can find here is groups of likeminded people. This lets you take advantage of the networking elements of such conferences.
Some of the greatest Meetups I’ve attended have been groups of a dozen or so SEOs meeting for lunch. This is a great opportunity to share tips, data and find out about your peers.
If there isn’t already a group in existence near to where you live, Meetup will also let you start your own. So why not just do it?
Webinars
If you can’t make it to an event, then why not try Webinars? SEOMoz, Distilled and a host of other big search names hold Webinars (many of which are free to attend). Even Google holds Webinars!
Although not quite the same as getting out and meeting people in person, this is a really cost effective way to get the benefits of talks from respected industry experts without having to travel.
Google Hangouts
If a local Meetup is too restrictive for you or there simply aren’t enough interested SEOs in your area, then Google Plus Hangouts let you have a webcam based meetup with people from all over the world. This lets you hold meetups with likeminded industry professionals from your own home with no cost at all involved.
Events really have a number of benefits for SEOs. Ours in an industry that relies so heavily upon a community sharing information and conferences and events are perfect for this. But that’s not to say you have to spend the Earth to get those benefits.
Our guest author here is Lyndsey Adams, a freelance SEO and copywriter currently living in the UK. She writes for dozens of websites, including Doubleknot, a site specialising in event registration software, as well as other sites in the technology and business niches. She lives with her husband, son and daughter and is a dog lover!
This is a unique article published on SEO Desk with exclusivity.
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