My top 10 takeaways from Brighton SEO

I attended BrightonSEO conference earlier this month and listened to a multitude of different talks. So much information in two days, so here are 10 takeaways from the conference.

1. If you are going to do a content audit, start with a statement. Ask yourself, why are you doing a content audit in the first place? Is the site underperforming, behind the competition or has a poor conversion? Throughout the audit, keep that statement centralised, refer back and stay on track.
2. Redirects - avoid redirecting to the homepage. It will confuse the user. Choose the next best available option. 
3. Schema markup is underused on the internet and helps with accessibility. Do you have articles, authors or products to promote? If so, check out schema.org.
4. A brand's voice comes from what you are like as a brand, not just the brand's values. You have to pick a personality and then spread it across all comms, even down to Social Media and Customer Services. “It’s more than a sum of a lot of great copy” Bethany Joy, The nine immutable laws of brand voice. 
5. The internet is the 7th biggest polluter on the planet - so everyone with a website has the opportunity to reduce their carbon footprint. 
   1. Rethink all your images. Every image on your page will take up energy loading. So think, do you need it? 
   2. SEO markup is a must! It helps users to find what they are looking for much more quickly. 
6. If you have a large image gallery on a popular page, consider moving it to a separate page. Display a few images on the original page, with a CTA to view more (on a different page). This way, you will dramatically cut down your page load speed.
7. 21% of adults have a disability. Therefore, 1 in 5 adults may use a screen reader and need plain English or video captions. Focusing on accessibility can help thousands of people use your website more easily, whether purchasing products or reading about a company's services. Creating a better experience will build brand loyalty.
8. 61% of the top one million pages on the internet have missing alternative text. Get writing, folks! Search engines index this and, in turn, will rank your website more favourably.
9. “40% of organisations don’t have a content strategy.” Sam Colebrook, iCrossings. Crazy to think this when it’s all about content. Having some sort of written content plan about whether you are focusing on new articles, website pages, or editing underperforming blogs will keep your website current and fresh. Break down your content strategy into smaller chunks and dedicate a specific amount of weekly time to it. It will help your business in the long run.
10. Lastly, did you know that sending ten emails has the same carbon footprint as a plastic bag? Can you turn off email notifications and unsubscribe to unhelpful marketing emails?

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