Mihai Apergis (@mihaiaperghis), an SEO and Google product expert we sometimes refer to here, attended the Google Search Central Unconference last week. He wrote this blog post, and I'm posting it here as a very unusual guest post on this site. why? (1) Mihai Rock, (2) This site is about community, and product experts are the essence of the Google community. Personally, I (Barry) was unable to attend due to the conflict. Note: Mihai didn't ask for a link or mention, but I added this because it's clear he wrote this.
Last week, on a sunny April 4th in Bucharest, Romania's first official event dedicated to Google SEO, “Search Central Live Romania,'' took place. As a Search Central product expert based in Bucharest, this event was an exciting opportunity for his local SEO community to hear from and interact directly with Googlers.
John Mueller and Martin Splitt professionally shared a lot of knowledge about SEO in most of the sessions at the event. Additionally, several other Googlers provided insights within sessions focused on publisher-related topics such as elections, misinformation, and changing third-party cookies.
Like other Search Central Live events, this is a free, invitation-only opportunity for SEO professionals, digital marketers, and publishers to gain deeper insights and interact directly with Googlers themselves, with close to 100 attendees. did.
agenda
The official agenda includes eight SEO/search-focused sessions covering introductory to semi-intermediate topics (including a very fun Q&A), as well as others on other topics focused on the upcoming election season. Three sessions were included.
There are several breaks throughout the day for lunch, snacks, or coffee, as well as opportunities to network or have a quick chat with John, Martin, or other members of the Google team attending the event. it was done.
10:00 AM: Registration and Networking 11:00 AM: Opening 11:10 AM: Welcome 11:20 AM: How Search Works 11:40 AM: What's New in Search 12:00 PM: Search and AI 12:20 PM: Traffic Decline Analysis 1pm: Lunch and Networking 2pm: Debunking Myths 2:30pm: Video and Image SEO 2:50pm: E-Commerce Best Practices 3:10pm: Search Q&A 3pm 5:30 p.m.: Coffee Break 4:00 p.m.: Misinformation/Elections 5:30 p.m.: Ad Manager – Preparing for the End of Third-Party Cookies 5:45 p.m.: Elections, Misinformation, and Third-Party Cookies Q&A 6:00 p.m. Time: Closing and Photos 6:10pm: Networking
Session highlights
Although I wasn't able to attend all the sessions, I did attend most of them, especially the ones presented by John and Martin. One of the first sessions that comes to mind is “Search and AI.” In this session, Martin covered the basics of LLM opportunities and limitations, both in general and with a focus on Gemini and his Google search.
John's best practices were very well received in the next session, “Analyzing Traffic Drops,” which highlighted the use of Search Console and the various scenarios that can impact organic rankings and traffic.
Finally, one of the most awaited sessions was the Q&A session, where questions were asked from the live audience and pre-submitted sets. Some of the questions elicited quite a few laughs from everyone in the room.
Overall this was a great experience. It was made possible thanks to the great support of her Google colleagues in Romania, such as Elisabeta Moraru and Teodora Patrauceanu. I think John and Martin also had a good time and are considering coming back again soon. I'm really looking forward to holding an event like this again, both those who attended and those who couldn't.
Until next time!
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