The MozCon 2023 Final Agenda Has Touched Down!
Edited by Emilie Martin
It’s hard to believe that this year's MozCon is less than two months away, and we couldn't be more excited to dive into the future of search from our brand new venue, the Seattle Convention Center’s Summit building.
On August 7 and 8, join Roger Mozbot at MozCon for insights and tactical presentations from industry leaders, plus the opportunity to connect and network with fellow attendees!
Tickets are already 90% sold out, but there’s still a little bit of time to snag your spot before they’re gone. Night Owl pricing is on until June 30, and tickets are just $999 for Moz subscribers. Can’t make the in-person event? Grab yourself a Livestream pass + video bundle for $449 or just the Livestream pass as a standalone for $199.
We previously shared our Speaker lineup sneak peek in December, the Initial Agenda drop in April, and our Community Speaker reveal in May, but today, we’re ready to share the full and complete Final Agenda*. With our speakers putting the final polish on their presentations, here’s a look at the two action-packed days we have planned. (*exact start times subject to change)
Sunday, August 6
12:00pm–4:00pm – Optional early registration & badge pick up
Arriving in Seattle early and want to get a jump on picking up your badge? Drop by registration to check in and pick up your badge.
Monday, August 7
7:30am – Breakfast & Registration
9:00am – Opening remarks + state of the Industry
Cheryl Draper
Moz’s own Senior Growth Marketing Manager will be kicking things off early on the first day with a warm welcome, laying out all the pertinent details of the conference and setting the stage for what’s to come over the two days of MozCon.
9:15am – Google’s Just Not That Into You: Intent Switches During Core Updates
Lily Ray
If your website has been negatively impacted by a Google core update, it is common to immediately assume that there is something wrong with your site. However, there are many other factors that could explain why rankings changed during a core update, and understanding these are key to improving performance. You'll walk away from this session understanding how Google core updates work, how and why the results change, how to respond to being hit by an update, and how to future-proof your site.
9:45am – Why SEOs Need to Start Playing Offense Instead of Defense
Chris Long
In an industry overloaded with data, tools, algorithm changes, and a constantly evolving landscape, it's tough to know what to prioritize. Often, this leads SEO initiatives and strategies to be more reactive instead of proactive. In this session, Chris will show you how to shift to an offensive SEO mindset. This will help you better prioritize key initiatives, get stakeholder buy-in, and navigate a successful long-term SEO strategy. You'll leave this session understanding how to identify new markets to break into, leverage SEO data around key recommendations, utilize keyword segmentation to better inform your SEO strategy, and build a framework for setting up SEO experiments.
10:20am – A special announcement from Moz you’re not gonna want to miss!
10:25am – Morning networking break
10:40am – SEO Co-Conspirators: Navigating Complex Systems
Jackie Chu
SEOs have self-reported that the #1 challenge to their SEO program being successful is getting changes implemented. Additionally, we're often faced with constantly having to prove the value of SEO as a channel. In this talk, Jackie will focus on how you can source and uncover allies, enlist your coworkers, and successfully navigate the political landscape to get your project prioritized.
11:10am – Search Data at Scale
Daniel Waisberg
Are you using Search data effectively and at scale? In this presentation, Google Search Advocate Daniel Waisberg will present the data available today, and demonstrate the best methods of using Search Console bulk exports for scaling your SEO efforts. After this talk, you'll understand the challenges of using data to steer your strategy, and get the scoop on analyzing and visualizing this data to drive your product decisions!
11:45am – Community Speaker – Beyond the Written Word: Future-Proofing Your Content Strategy by Leveraging Multimedia Formats
Azeem Ahmad
In today's rapidly changing digital world, marketers must go beyond just written content to engage with their target audience in the right way. Consumers, including marketers themselves, now expect content that is visually appealing, easily digestible, and interactive. If you want to ensure the longevity of your content strategy and also be more adaptable to the changing landscape digitally, you'll need to leverage multimedia formats such as video, audio, and more. This talk will explore the benefits of incorporating these formats into your marketing strategy, including tips on how to create engaging content that resonates with your audience and boosts conversions/sales. By the end of this session, you'll have a clear understanding of how to future-proof your content strategy and stay ahead of the competition.
12:00pm – Birds of a Feather lunch discussion tables
1:30pm – From Fear to Forward Motion: Navigating the Future of Analytics with Confidence
Brie E. Anderson
What the heck even is GA4 and why are you being forced to use it? Get ready to explore the rapidly changing landscape of analytics! In this talk, we will explore the future of analytics and provide a step-by-step guide to adjusting to the big changes that lie ahead. We will discuss how to move from fear and resistance to embracing the transformation that is already taking place. You will leave with a blueprint for success that will help you future-proof your analytics strategy and unlock new possibilities for growth and innovation.
2:00pm – Down the Mountain
Noah Learner
Struggling to find your place in SEO? Want to break through to the next level, but feel like you’ve hit the wall? Join Noah Learner on the journey “Down the Mountain”, as he shares his evergreen framework for optimizing your career in any market. This framework - built on craft, people, critical thinking skills, and synthesizing data - will help you now and in the future, as you look for what’s next. You’ll learn a repeatable process and specific skills that will help you accelerate your career and make you impossible to ignore.
2:30pm – The SERP Is Dead, Long Live the SERP
Tom Capper
SEOs have complained for many years now, that the SERP just isn't what it used to be. We yearn for the simpler days of 10 blue links. But Google is changing for a reason, and SEOs have reason to be invested in its survival. Besides, not all SERP features are bad news. In this talk, Tom will look at Google's direction and the strategic imperatives that are forcing its hand. You'll walk away with a plan to unearth happiness (and organic revenue) in the brave new world.
3:05pm – Afternoon networking break
3:25pm – Headless SEO: I’m Sorry, But This Is Happening
Lidia Infante
Headless CMSes are on the rise, and headless SEO is quickly becoming an essential skill for SEOs. In this talk, Lidia will explain the concept of content modeling with RAL examples, which lies at the core of headless CMSes. By the end of this presentation, you will have a firm grasp of the limitations and advantages of headless SEO, and possess a checklist of 7 implementations you need to request from your development team.
4:00pm – Views on Views of Video SEO
Crystal Carter
Fifty-four percent of consumers report that they'd like to see more videos from brands, and video SERPs account for an average of 20% of untapped keyword opportunities. There's never been a better time to improve your video SEO! From on-page embeds to SERP visibility, and even in your backlink profile, video is an unrivaled tool for adding value to your content and improving your website's SEO outcomes. In this talk, Crystal explores what matters on the Google SERP, and what leads to success when optimizing the videos on your site.
4:30pm – The Evolution of Content & the Future of Our Industry
Ross Simmonds
Is it all over? Is the world as we knew it a wrap? With the rise of AI - is it realistic to assume that the world of SEO and content will stay the same? Or should we all start dusting off our resumes to try something new? In this presentation, Ross is going to share a blend of both the realities of how AI can be incorporated into our work (maybe to give us additional runway) and answer the question as to whether or not AI is actually coming for our jobs and what we can do to ensure that we're ahead of the curve when it comes to using these tools, embracing the technology and finding edges amidst rapid change.
5:00pm – Day 1 – Closing address
5:15pm–7:00pm – Welcome reception happy hour brought to you by Moz + Kickbox
Join us at the Summit private rooftop garden terrace. Meet with fellow attendees and speakers over light refreshments and snacks, music, and stunning views of the city skyline. We look forward to bringing our community together to kick off MozCon 2023. See you there!
Tuesday, August 8
7:30am – Breakfast & Registration
9:00am – Back to the Future: What Lessons From Marketing History Can Tell Us About the Future
Andi Jarvis
"Marketing has changed more in the last decade than at any time in history.” There’s a blog published that features a version of this line roughly every 0.5 seconds* - but does anyone stop to consider if it’s accurate? Andi will demonstrate how marketing and audiences aren't really changing, and that the future of marketing is much the same as the past. Why is this important? Because people, not robots, sit at the heart of marketing. By the end of this talk, you'll understand how you get your customers back to the center of what you do, and how that will turbocharge your marketing efforts. Strap yourself into the MozCon time machine for a journey Back to the Future. *Stats entirely made up… much like the results used in most content marketing efforts.
9:30am - Lower Your Shields: The Borg Are Here* (* Written By ChapGPT)
Dr. Pete Meyers
From ChatGPT to Bing's Prometheus to Google's Bard, AI (specifically, Large Language Models) is disrupting search as we know it. We can fight the inevitable, or we can put these tools to work. Learn where AI chat excels, where it fails (sometimes spectacularly), and how to use these tools to not only keep your SEO job but also level up your SEO career.
10:00am – How to Use Brand SEO to Future-Proof Your Online Visibility
Miracle Inameti-Archibong
With digital ad spending projected to reach $701 billion in 2023, generic CTR dropping by 12% between position 1 and 2, the increase in no-click searches (+60%), and the constant rolling out of updates, it's more important than ever to build a sustainable online brand presence to algorithm-proof your traffic. This talk will explore how SEOs can contribute to brand building, and how it can help future-proof your online visibility.
10:35am – Morning networking break
10:55am – Build Better Backlinks for Local Brands
Amanda Jordan
As with everything in local SEO, backlinks are just a little different. What do local pack rankers typically have in common? To answer that question, we’ve collected backlink data across several home services businesses across the USA and categorized them. We’ll share our findings, and how you can build better backlinks for local clients! By the end of this session, you'll be able to list the different types of backlinks local businesses typically have, identify which link types correlate with stronger rankings, and most importantly, how to apply this to your clients!
11:25am – Community Speaker – Rethink Your Industry Pages - They’re Not What You Think
Jason Dodge
B2B marketers, and SEOs alike, are all too quick to create industry-specific landing pages for every single vertical we serve. In reality, these pages have very little relevance to what your customers are actually searching for, or what it is that you actually do in that space - limiting the reach and missing out on potential customers who would benefit from your solutions. Are you ready to reimagine your entire industry vertical proposition? Jason will explain the ins and outs of industry pages, their role in content marketing, and - more importantly - how optimizing content around the pain points and direct needs of your customers is more relevant now in B2B marketing than ever before.
11:40am – Hiring the Perfect Agency: How to Avoid Getting Burned
Duane Brown
A 2022 Upwork study shows that 39% of the U.S. workforce freelances. Just think about how many more ad agencies exist today, as compared to 2019. You’d think that hiring would be easier with all of these options, but nothing could be further from the truth. Hiring is a valuable skill, and we are going to give you the skills to hire that next agency. By the end of this session, you'll be able to identify agencies that are the best fit for your brand, effectively interview prospects, avoid pricing ambiguity and pitfalls, partake in productive onboarding, and look for meaningful results and metrics. Let's get you the skills to hire better next time!
12:15pm – Birds of a Feather lunch discussion tables
1:45pm – Own Search: Work Outside of the Google Box
Carrie Rose
As search volumes rapidly change and users migrate to new platforms for search, how should SEOs respond? Carrie will share her process of dominating all SERPS - not just Google! Discover how search fits within the user journey, and the role content can play for both offsite and onsite content, generating search demand. You'll learn how advertising and SEO overlap, and what we can learn from award-winning advertising as part of search strategies. Shared media might be your new area of focus!
2:15pm – Entities Are the Past: Search Is Going Multidimensional
Tom Anthony
For years, "keywords" were everything in search, and then came the rise of 'the entity'. Tom believes that the time of the entity will soon be over, and will explain how Deep Learning 'latent spaces' are highlighting that entities were 1-dimensional thinking. The future of search is going to be about context, and it isn't far off. You'll walk away from this session with a new technique that will replace keyword research so that you can prepare, and ideally, get ahead of the competition.
2:50pm – Mind the Gap: Bridging Generational Differences in SEO
Jes Scholz
To keep up with the ever-evolving needs of users, Google is transforming from being a search engine to an ecosystem of experiences that often reach people before they need to search. Discover, Google Lens, YouTube Shorts, and Bard are just a few examples of this shift towards richer, more engaging surfaces. By the end of this talk, you'll be able to leverage these new visibility platforms to improve organic performance and future-proof your brand.
3:20pm – Afternoon networking break
3:40pm – Drive Execution & Growth: SEO Audits in 2023 ... and Beyond
Aleyda Solis
From a lack of resources to bureaucracy, it's only getting harder to get SEO tasks executed, and achieve the expected results in the projected timeline. In this session, Aleyda will cover the primary causes of an SEO audit failure, the top challenges across common scenarios, how to rethink your SEO auditing process, and recommendations to maximize success.
4:15pm – The Great Reset
Wil Reynolds
What can we learn about this transformational period we're in from the early days of search? Yes, the value of ranking will diminish, but SEO was just a means to an end. Our job was to help people find what they were looking for and now there's a new approach. It's game time and the game has been reset. We'll talk about timing, the role data and silos play in helping you to get the most out of AI, and where you should focus your time. By the end of this presentation, you'll gain 3 advanced approaches to get your brain going on what is possible, and how to lead.
5:00pm – Closing remarks: Farewell & thank You
7:00pm–10:00pm – MozCon bash at MoPOP brought to you by Moz + CopyPress
Karaoke: check! Photo booth: check! DJL check! Join us for one last hurrah as we take over MoPOP. You won't want to miss our legendary closing night bash — we'll have plenty of games, food, and fun as we mix and mingle, say "see ya soon" to friends new and old, and reminisce over our favorite lessons from the past 2 days.
See you there?
Chatting with speakers, connecting with peers and potential partners at a Birds of a Feather lunch table, absorbing all the knowledge for another fruitful year of marketing... we can't wait to share it with you! Get your ticket now and we'll see you in August!
We hope you're as excited as we are for August 7th and 8th to hurry up and get here. And again, if you haven't grabbed your ticket yet and need help making a case we have a handy template to convince your boss!
