7:30 am — Registration & breakfast
9:00 am — Introductory remarks + State of the industry
Ethan Hayes
Moz’s new CEO will kick things off early on day one with a warm welcome, introducing all relevant conference details and setting the stage for what’s to come over the two days of MozCon.
9:15 am — Optimize the forest, not the trees: Move beyond SEO checklists
Lily Rae
It can be tempting to approach SEO like checking off a list of regular items from a checklist. Our industry produces checklists for all kinds of SEO processes — all of which are useful and very useful — but they often lead to the site losing sight of the most important questions of all: why am I doing this work, why does it matter to the client, and what will it impact overall performance? After 10+ years of overseeing agency SEO teams, Lily will share what she sees as a common tendency to miss the SEO forest for the trees and how to ensure your priorities align with the results your clients (or the your boss).
9:45 am — SEO Mind Games: Decoding Search Bias for Content Success
Garrett Sussman
Explore the untapped influence of searcher bias on the dynamic evolution of SEO. While the industry often dissects search engine bias, Garrett will delve into the psyche of researchers, unraveling the threads of confirmation bias and its profound impact on content strategy. From basic questions like “Is coffee good for you?” on the self-guided nuances of conversational search, will examine how biases shape our interactions with Google’s Creative Search Experience and the search ecosystem at large. This presentation goes beyond the surface, implying various other biases that affect the browsing experience. At the end, Garrett will connect these ideas into a coherent framework, revealing strategic implications for content creation. Join him on this journey through the searcher’s mind and gain strategies that can become the content your audience is looking for.
10:15 am — A special announcement from Moz you won’t want to miss!
Ethan Hayes
10:25 am — Morning networking break
10:55 am —Trust and Quality in the New Age of Content Discovery
Andy Crestonina
After decades in digital technology, we are entering a new era where artificial intelligence has changed everything… or maybe not. Our audience hasn’t changed. Their needs have not changed. Their perception of quality has not changed. In fact, the most important things haven’t changed at all. In this session, you’ll learn how AI can make us better at classic challenges: how to be discovered, connect through content, and stay top of mind with the people who matter most. We will use timely tools to rebuild timeless foundations. We will do better at basics but with more advanced techniques. Andy will share a set of frameworks, prompts and techniques for better digital fundamentals using today’s latest tools. And at the end, Andy will look at – at a glance – what could be the biggest change of all and how to increase your footprint in the new landscape.
11:25 am — Build local dominance through your digital ecosystem
Amanda Jordan
Explore the power of local business authority with Amanda! In this presentation, you’ll gain insights into boosting your brand visibility by leveraging local landmarks, events, and culture, and discover strategies for dominating the SERPs with advanced SEO tactics. Learn to seamlessly integrate social and online strategies and discover the keys to making your brand synonymous with your city for a credible and impressive digital presence. You’ll leave MozCon armed with a practical plan that will transform your local business game.
11:55 am — The Power of Emotion: How to Create Content That (Actually) Converts
Talia Wolf
All the AI tools, automation, and other technologies in the world will never help you create high-converting content if you fail to tap into the one element that matters more than anything else in marketing: Emotion. During this session, Talia will show you how to leverage emotion-based marketing to drive significant ROI from your content with proven and tested tactics. You’ll discover how to get into the minds (and hearts) of your audience so you can create content that leads to conversions. Talia will walk you through the emotional marketing framework she uses to create high-converting pages (with case studies to learn from). You’ll walk away with the tools to optimize your copy and design with emotion to increase ROI from your content.
12:25 p.m. — Lunch + Birds of a Feather peer discussion tables
1:55 p.m. — It’s not right, but it’s okay: The future of Analytics
Dana DiTomaso
Welcome to our future of analytics, where embracing imperfection is key. Our ability to collect data is changing rapidly — how can we navigate these changes and what do they mean for our best-designed analytics plans? In this session, you will discover strategies for making informed decisions in a landscape full of uncertainties. Through practical examples and techniques, learn how to make decisions based on imperfect data and leave with a clear understanding of how to adapt your mindset to a future where analytics perfection is not just unrealistic. it’s secondary.
2:25 p.m. — Community Speaker — Breaking Silos To Make Bank: Getting Search + Social to Work Together
Nava Hopkins
Beyond the well-known SEO and PPC divide, discover the hidden barriers that prevent marketers from truly excelling for their clients – the divide between search and social. Discover invaluable data-backed insights in this action-packed session where you’ll learn the secrets to identifying profits through overlapping opportunities in search and social and using factors such as auction price, content cost, historical customer journey patterns and internal functional elements. After this session, you’ll master the art of channel testing and establish foolproof brand sensitivity safeguards, ensuring your strategies evolve seamlessly with the dynamic digital landscape.
2:40 p.m. — Brand or bust: Can you compete?
Dr. Pete Myers
Google’s job is to shape the world, and the world is built on brands. As Google Gemini evolves and the machine trains on our collective knowledge, brands will only get stronger. The brand advantage may seem unfair, but branding isn’t just about big brands. Learn how to harness the power of branding and why it’s essential to driving search traffic in 2024 and beyond.
15:10 — Afternoon networking break
3:40 p.m. — From followers to loyalists: Create a personal brand that commands trust
Chima Mmeje
Do you suffer from imposter syndrome, self-doubt, or worry that your voice will be lost in a sea of others? These are common obstacles that can prevent even the most talented individuals from building a personal brand. However, these challenges should not hold you back. Chima Mmeje conquers these fears head-on with a personal brand of over 35,000 social media followers and features in top publications like Entrepreneur and HubSpot. In this talk, Chima shares the blueprint for creating a memorable brand, aligning your personal brand with the voice and tone of an organization, and using your brand to attract organic customers. Whether you’re a C-suite executive or a junior SEO looking to make your mark, you’ll learn how to cultivate a personal brand that works as a top-generation machine.
4:10 p.m. — Connect the Uncommon Dots: Use “SEO” Skills to Stay Ahead and Lead Marketing in an AI-Created World
Will Reynolds
With 25 years of searching, I invite you to travel back to the time when new search engines appeared almost daily, each with unique features (Go “Google” Snap, iWon, Infoseek). It was the Wild Wild West… did you know? Genetic AI, through LLMs, are excellent predictors of what words are likely to follow. So, in the future, your job will be to develop unexpected ideas and approaches to solve customer problems. Search will be earned on margin. The small informal insights of the 1% add up and make an impact, but how do you get those unusual insights? By doing what humans have always searched for: hypothesize and test, question best practices. Whether it’s ChatGPT or Google doesn’t matter — it’s just another context for customers to ask a question in search of an answer, and the search industry is better than most at testing and turning that information into value. It’s in your DNA, and this presentation will just remind you that you’re already prepared with the skills to navigate the holidays ahead. I will share my book, based on “SEO thinking” in this new world. You’ll learn how to staff for a world where people are moving away from search engines, how to time those bets on when your customers will make the switch, how to prepare for shifting KPIs, and what you can do today to start retraining your instrument from Search KPIs to Generative AI KPIs.
16:45 — Day 1 — Closing remarks
5:00 p.m. — Welcome to the reception happy hour
Join us on the Summit’s private rooftop garden terrace. Meet other attendees and speakers with light refreshments, music and stunning views of the city skyline. We look forward to bringing our community together to kick off MozCon 2024. See you there!
