Just got back from the Digital Summit Los Angeles Conference. Digital Summit has conferences throughout the year across the country. It features keynote and breakout sessions on digital marketing, SEO, content creation, etc. If you’re thinking about attending a Digital Summit Conference in your area, here is a recap of my experience so you can get a better idea if it’s the right type of event for you.
Registration and Location
This year’s Digital Summit Los Angeles was held at the Hilton Universal Hotel, next to Universal Studios. It was the perfect location for the size of this conference with people getting back into the swing of live events.
Although the registration process was very easy and the staff was nice, this was the only real glitch or area where I would have liked more clarity. You see, I opted for the standard conference pass, which did not include the Day 1 Master Class sessions or lunch. That was fine with me. I thought I could just check in and hang out in the vendor or sponsor area until the afternoon. I was wrong.
When I got to the registration desk that morning, I was informed that I would have to leave and come back at noon to pick up my badge. While it wasn’t a huge deal, it would have been nice if I had been informed about this policy. Nowhere on the website, agenda, email confirmation, or anywhere else was it stated that Non-Premium Pass holders needed to check-in at a later time. Like I mentioned, it wasn’t a huge deal—I wasn’t really upset. But, if I’d known, I could have taken more time and not rushed to get there that early.
Anyway, I went to get lunch at the hotel and came back later to pick up my badge.
Digital Summit Breakout Sessions
The keynote speakers at Digital Summit Los Angeles were Jenny Haggard from Spotify, Ann Handley from MarketingProf, and Comedian, Writer & Producer Micheal Albanese. However, for me, I was really looking forward to the Digital Summit Breakout Sessions. And, I was not disappointed. They were great! Here is a recap of the session I attended.
Future-Proof Your Content Marketing – Robert Rose
First up for me was a session on future-proofing your content marketing by Robert Rose from The Content Marketing Institute. Robert stressed the need for website owners to have a content marketing plan. Because there is now a ton of content available online—and more appearing everyday, it’s not enough to just produce good content. You need a content plan that will help build trust with your audience.
5 Digital Hacks to Steal Your Competitor’s Traffic – Joey Lowery
Next up for me was a presentation by Joey Lowery from Media Shark on hacks you can use to steal your competitor’s traffic. Joey went over building an avatar of your customer to find out where they hang out online. He recommended using Russell Brunson’s Dream 100 technique to find the YouTube videos and channels you can hack by using video ads.
Quick SEO Content Hacks for Faster Rankings – Rachel Hernandez
I was definitely looking forward to my next session. As a long time customer of The HOTH (an SEO and PPC services company), I was eager to hear Rachel Hernandez, Director of Product Strategy, go over quick SEO content hacks you can use for faster rankings. Rachel gave an awesome presentation that included specific tasks and takeaways that could be implemented right away.
Rachel said that blogs are still the cornerstone of their SEO strategy. She covered how to find out what areas Google considers you have the best authority on and how to use that information to generate your content. Rachel recommended posting at least 16 pieces of content a month to move the needle. And, she stressed that your content articles should not be less than 2000 words.
The World’s Greatest SEO Audit – Matthew Capala
The Psychology of Web Content – Matthew Capala
On Day 2 of the conference, I got to attend two different sessions by Matthew Capala from Alphametic. Matt is an outstanding speaker and I got some great advice attending his talks.
In his first session on SEO auditing and strategies to future-proof your success, Matt provided both specific goals you should strive for in your auditing and how to create content that allows you to beat your competitors on expertise, authority, and trust. He recommended striving for an under 50% bounce rate and a time of over 3 minutes spent on your site.
In his second session, Matt focused on the psychology of a website and what you need to do for increased conversions. He went over how to remove objections from customers, how to utilize loss aversion bias, how to use both negative and positive anchoring, and how to gamify your conversion funnel.
Preparing Your SEO and Content Strategy for 2023 and Beyond – Taylor Kurtz
In between Matt’s two sessions, I was able to attend Taylor Kurtz’s session on preparing your SEO and content strategy for 2023 and beyond. I’m definitely glad I got to hear what Taylor had to say. He went over core web vitals extensively, and provided specific ways to measure and improve your CWV. Taylor also covered how to use SEMrush for keyword and topic research for creating the best type of content. And, for WordPress users, Taylor warned about cheap web hosting resulting in slower websites, and recommended using the WP Rocket plugin to improve your site speed.
Migrating to GA4 – Janet Driscoll Miller
While a lot of us have heard about the new Google Analytics 4 that will be replacing universal GA, you may be like me and have not yet started migrating to it. That’s why I was very interested to attend the Migrating to GA4 session by Janet Driscoll Miller of Marketing Mojo.
Janet stressed the importance of getting started with GA4, and also went over some of the major differences between Universal Analytics and GA4. She also went over a migration plan while pointing out what will need to be recreated or reconnected when you switch over to GA4.
Set Your Product Strategy and Product Vision – Drew Wilde
The next session in the afternoon for me was by GoDaddy’s Product Manager, Drew Wilde, who talked about setting your product strategy and vision. Drew related his own experiences working on the Managed WordPress Hosting project at GoDaddy.
A Proven Content Strategy for Ranking on Page One of Google – John Triplett
And, my last session featured John Triplett from Ignite Visibility. John went over his content strategy for ranking on page 1 of Google. He showed how to use SEMrush for keyword research and to identify the content you have that is performing the best. John recommended that you include transcripts of videos that you may embed in your articles—for indexing purposes.
I liked John’s advice for using Google search to improve your content and rankings. First, he suggested that when you do a Google search you should use the title tags that Google displays and incorporate them into your own content. And, he said to look at all of the additional features that appear on a search results page (photos, videos, lists, etc.) and add these features to your own webpage on a monthly basis.
Digital Summit Vendor Showcase
I definitely enjoyed spending time chatting with the sponsors at their booths in the vendor showcase. Among the companies at the conference were GoDaddy, Swell, Media Shark, Pantheon, SiteCore, and Basis Technologies.
I had a chance to chat with Drew Wilde, GoDaddy’s Product Manager, and it was great to hear about their Managed WordPress Hosting product that he worked on. It’s being promoted as the most secure WordPress hosting and looks like a winner.
I was also particularly interested in the micro-podcasting service by Swell. CEO and Co-Founder Sudha was there to explain the benefits of micro-podcasting and how everything works.
And, there was also some nice swag available in the sponsor area.
Summary and Recommendation
I really enjoyed Digital Summit and am definitely glad I made the decision to attend this year’s conference. The content was great and the people were great!
The breakout sessions were especially helpful. Initially, I was a bit concerned as the sessions were listed as a half hour in length. Normally, that screams sales pitches—but not in this case! Though there were a few presentations given by some of the vendors in attendance, they were not about pitching their products or services but rather relevant topics that were as described on the conference agenda. I do wish the breakout sessions were a bit longer, perhaps at least 45 minutes, as some of the presenters did have to wrap up quickly. However, I really liked that he speakers were available to chat after their sessions and during the networking events at the end of the day.
If you get a chance to attend a Digital Summit conference in your area, I would definitely recommend checking it out if you’re interested in digital marketing and SEO for your business.
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