Ahrefs Evolve is simply a wrap. And my favourite memory? All the radical I met astatine the event.

In fact,  I truly loved the diversity—being held successful Singapore, I was yet capable to conscionable SEOs and marketers from astir the region: Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, China, South Korea, and Japan. These are seldom radical you spot featured oregon mentioned successful planetary SEO conferences, but they are an important portion of our industry.

Networking aside, the speakers were unthinkable too. Their talks were highly actionable and galore attendees took location lessons they could instantly use to their enactment to win connected Google and different selling channels.

So did I.

Here are my takeaways from the event—new things I’ve learned, experiments I privation to conduct, and things I’m going to bash otherwise from now on:

The SEO strategy everyone was utilizing earlier the Helpful Content update was a sound one.

You could bash your keyword research, optimize contented via contented optimization tools, guarantee your on-page SEO is on-point, physique immoderate links, and voila, rank high.

But these were not contented searchers wanted to see.

If searchers wanted a recipe, they wanted the recipe. Not a past of pasta. If searchers wanted to get started with email marketing, they wanted a elemental guide. Not a 10,000-word article. If searchers wanted the champion moving shoe, they wanted an existent recommendation. Not scraped Amazon merchandise descriptions.

As SEOs, we deed our KPIs. But we didn’t assistance our readers and customers. And we surely didn’t assistance the Internet.

When was the past clip you Googled a query and recovered thing that changed your life? I couldn’t adjacent retrieve erstwhile that happened.

That’s why, similar Sam, I privation to interruption escaped from SEO brain.

Sam was referring to YouTube, but it’s applicable to written contented too.

I privation to unshackle myself from having to capable successful mindless “what is X” and “why is X important” contented templates. I privation to halt reasoning that the close mode to marque contented is to simply transcript what’s already ranking, but what’s close for users. I privation to workout the close broadside of my brain, the portion that helps america make things our readers privation to see, adjacent if they didn’t springiness america a hint done a hunt query.

I’m gladsome to accidental I’m already doing this for our blog, but Evolve showed maine it was the close mode going forward.

I don’t privation to accidental we should wholly wantonness SEO. We tin inactive usage keyword probe to pass america of what radical are looking for and usage hunt intent arsenic a proxy to spot what searchers want.

But ultimately, we don’t privation to marque contented that looks similar everyone else’s, due to the fact that contented besides helps to physique brand. And that’s why…

If determination was 1 connection to summarize astir of the talks astatine Evolve, it would beryllium “brand”.

Evidently, marque is becoming much important, adjacent successful SEO. As Ryan argues here, it’s the easiest mode for Google to combat AI spam.

How volition that manifest successful my work? I’m not precisely definite yet, but 1 thought we’re reasoning of is to adhd our marque much successful our content, campaigns, and communications. We’re already doing it by calling the lawsuit Ahrefs Evolve, our podcast Ahrefs podcast, and our YouTube transmission AhrefsTV, but we tin treble down connected the idea.

For example, if we shared a process for creating content, we should beryllium calling it the “Ahrefs contented instauration process.” That way, we tin perchance summation marque searches, which according to research, suggests that it whitethorn really beryllium a signal.

But you can’t instrumentality immoderate ol’ process and sanction it aft your brand. It has to beryllium peculiar and unique. And however does a process go unique? When you really bash the enactment and summation the acquisition to accidental thing different. Which leads to…

Both Google and searchers privation to spot contented that has expertise oregon first-person experience. But it isn’t capable to accidental that you’ve done it—anyone tin accidental that. You person to spell the other mile and show the enactment you’ve done.

For example, successful Cyrus’s talk, helium shared the website RunRepeat, a tract that literally cuts shoes successful fractional to trial them. If you cheque immoderate of their reviews, you’ll spot unsocial GIFs and videos of them really investigating the shoes.

This is contented Google wants to rank. You tin intelligibly spot it successful their integrated traffic:

After all, AI can’t chopped shoes successful half… yet. Plus, the contented itself is hard to replicate—not each niche website is consenting to spell the other mile to bargain a fewer pairs of shoes, get existent investigating instrumentality similar fume pumps and microscopes, plan a implicit investigating methodology, and get retired and tally some connected factual and in water.

Not lone does doing each of this springiness you first-hand experience, it besides gives you tons of grounds to beryllium that you’ve done the work. As Cyrus besides points out, Google Lens tin archer whether an representation is archetypal oregon not. Most affiliate websites simply usage the manufacturer’s photo, but RunRepeat doesn’t.

I’ve started to bash immoderate of this successful my work. For example, erstwhile I asked marketers to stock their favourite books with me, I didn’t conscionable inquire them for a quote. I besides asked them to nonstop successful their selfies:

But I could beryllium doing more. For example, I interviewed 8 SEOs for my post connected question SEO. I could person easy shared screenshots of america having a Zoom telephone oregon adjacent a selfie if it was in-person.

Likewise for my post connected SEO contented creation. I could person embedded a walkthrough video to amusement the full happening successful process.

Lots of things to amended connected successful this respect. And speaking of videos…

We’ve each heard astir however TikTok is the caller hunt motor for Gen Zs. (Ohgod, I’m old.) As Charlotte Ang pointed retired successful her talk, TikTok recognizes this inclination and has go progressively funny successful being an existent hunt engine.

I whitethorn beryllium a writer, but I bash person a niggling suspicion that text-based contented whitethorn not beryllium the preferred format moving forward. As Neville Medhora writes successful his newsletter:

The bulk of SEOs are inactive hyper-focused connected substance contented and optimizing the website, but arsenic Amanda King pointed retired (and arsenic did galore of the speakers), SEO moving guardant is nary longer conscionable astir the website.

It’s astir everything.

Google’s SERPs are progressively populated by tons of features—videos, tweets, cognition panels, images—and SEO present and successful the aboriginal volition beryllium astir optimizing each aspect: making videos (long and short), producing archetypal photos and images, publishing books, and more.

Essentially, SEO is yet returning to being portion of marketing.

Like it oregon not, TikTok, oregon short-form videos successful general, is and volition beryllium portion of the future.

While I’m not a TikTok user, Charlotte’s occurrence has fixed maine tons of inspiration astir however to bash amended connected the short-form video platform.

My workfellow Rebekah has experimented with the platform, truthful it’s not to accidental we’ve wholly avoided it.

Will I beryllium appearing successful videos connected our YouTube transmission soon? Will I commencement to make short-form videos and optimize for TikTok, Shorts, and Reels?

Let’s see

Final thoughts

Everyone’s circumstances are antithetic and truthful everyone volition person antithetic takeaways they tin apply. These are my biggest ones and the things I would similar to bash otherwise from now on.

If you’d similar to spot takeaways from different attendees, I urge checking retired these posts:

Or look for the #ahrefsevolve hashtag connected LinkedIn oregon X!