Key Takeaways from BrightonSEO 2024
BrightonSEO 2024 brought together some of the brightest minds in the industry, delivering sessions packed with actionable insights and forward-thinking strategies. At 80 DAYS, we’re committed to applying these takeaways to enhance our SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) and digital marketing practices, ensuring our clients remain ahead of the curve.
Here are the key takeaways that stood out and will influence our approach going forward.
1. Embrace Advanced Consent Modes for Data Accuracy
Many businesses fail to leverage advanced consent modes, which can significantly improve data accuracy. By using advanced modes, businesses can recover up to 20% more data from users who opt out of cookie tracking. This is critical in today’s privacy-conscious landscape, where improper consent handling can lead to substantial fines under GDPR or CCPA.
Key takeaway: Advanced consent mode improves data recovery and helps businesses remain compliant while boosting conversion accuracy.
2. Data Privacy and Ownership: Why Matomo is the New Kid on the Block
In the context of growing concerns around data privacy, Matomo Analytics emerges as a strong alternative to Google Analytics. With a privacy-focused design, Matomo offers businesses full data ownership and compliance with GDPR, while avoiding the use of third-party cookies. It provides flexibility through both cloud-based and on-premise options, appealing to organisations that prioritise data control.
Key takeaway: Matomo's privacy-first approach is gaining traction as hospitality businesses seek alternatives that provide both functionality and compliance.
3. The Critical Importance of Site Speed Optimisation
The importance of site speed was emphasised, not just for user experience but also for SEO performance and conversion rates. Tools like Real User Monitoring (RUM) provide insights into how different user segments experience a website, allowing businesses to target optimisations. For instance, focusing on mobile optimisation can reduce bounce rates and improve engagement.
Key takeaway: Site speed impacts SEO, user retention, and revenue. Monitoring site performance through tools like RUM can help hoteliers make data-driven improvements.
4. Mitigating Bias in Data Visualisations
Bias in data visualisations is a hidden problem that can skew decision-making. Three common types of bias—data bias, cognitive bias, and visual bias—can distort the meaning and value of insights. Simplifying visual elements, using consistent scales, and adding accessibility features (like alt text) are crucial steps in making data more transparent and actionable.
Key takeaway: Data visualisations should be simplified and bias-free to ensure accurate decision-making. Including accessibility elements makes data clearer and more inclusive.
5. GA4 Debugging: Essential for Accurate Data Collection
With the transition to Google Analytics 4 (GA4), correctly configuring tags to avoid data loss is vital. Tools like Google Tag Assistant and Chrome DevTools are essential for identifying issues with tag firing, parameters, and triggers. Ensuring that GA4 setups are properly debugged helps hospitality businesses maintain accurate data tracking as they move away from Universal Analytics.
Key takeaway: Tag management and regular debugging are crucial for accurate GA4 data collection, ensuring no data is missed during the transition from Universal Analytics.
6. Experimentation and Innovation: SEO Split Testing
A notable trend at BrightonSEO was the emphasis on experimentation and split testing for SEO. By testing SEO elements like meta titles, descriptions, and schema markup, businesses can identify which configurations work best for different pages. Collaborating with data scientists to select elements to test and monitoring their performance is crucial for scaling successful results.
Key takeaway: SEO split testing is vital for identifying the most effective elements to optimise, helping to scale results with data-backed changes.
The growth of 'zero click' searches - almost 60% of users complete their search session or begin a new one without clicking on any results.
7. Google Algorithms and AI: Stay on Top of the Updates
Google’s algorithms undergo around 13 updates per day, making it essential to continuously monitor SEO performance. A key point from the conference was the rise of zero-click searches, now making up 60% of all searches. Google also relies heavily on platforms like Reddit to train its AI models, so understanding how these sources impact search behaviour is increasingly important.
Key takeaway: Frequent Google algorithm updates require constant monitoring. Understanding how AI models and new search behaviours (like zero-click searches) influence rankings is essential for staying competitive and understanding organic traffic performance.
8. User Experience and Conversion Optimisation
User experience (UX) continues to be a major driver of conversions. The session on UX optimisation discussed practical techniques like A/B testing, simplified navigation, and leveraging social proof to improve user interaction. Additionally, optimising semantic HTML ensures that search engines understand the structure and content of a webpage, improving accessibility and rankings.
Key takeaway: UX improvements directly affect both conversion rates and search rankings. Techniques like semantic HTML and clear, user-centred design are essential for driving user engagement and site performance.
9. Measure What Makes an Impact: Pragmatism Over Perfection
The focus should be on actionable insights rather than perfect data. While many metrics can be measured, only a few will truly matter to a business. A pragmatic approach allows companies to gain insights from imperfect data and make informed decisions without getting bogged down by the need for flawless data.
Key takeaway: Pragmatic data analysis prioritises spotting trends and making decisions, even when the data isn’t perfect. This approach allows businesses to make informed, actionable choices.
Final Thoughts
BrightonSEO 2024 underscored the increasing complexity of SEO and digital marketing, with key trends pointing toward privacy, data accuracy, and user experience. From advanced consent modes to site speed optimisation, split testing, and pragmatic data approaches, hospitality businesses must adopt a proactive, data-driven methodology to stay competitive.
At 80 DAYS, we’re excited to apply these insights to continue delivering exceptional results for our clients.
Would you like to discuss how these insights can be applied to your business? Contact us today to explore how we can help you optimise your hotel digital marketing strategies for the future.