A conference built by practitioners who want to show the work.

Section 01 / Evidence first

Why start another SEO conference?

The founders say a previous SEO IRL experience fell short of what they expected and what they understood had been promised. They have described how that experience felt to them as a “complete sham.” That wording records their perspective; it is not an independently established finding about the other event or its organizers. The point for this conference is what they wanted to do next: create an event where a practical claim comes with enough context for an attendee to judge it.

That means an audience should not have to take a ranking screenshot, a dramatic traffic chart or a confident stage presentation on trust alone. A useful talk should make clear what site and market are being discussed, what work took place, when it happened, how the result was measured and which other explanations might matter. When the evidence cannot answer a question, the speaker should say so.

SEO CONFERENCE is a separate event and brand. Its purpose is not to settle every debate in search, or to promise that a single tactic works for every site. It is being built to give business owners, agencies, in-house teams and practitioners a more candid place to compare methods, evidence, risk and judgment.

Section 02 / Evidence first

More than 15 years across different SEO approaches

Martin and Khalid describe their combined experience as spanning more than 15 years across black-hat, grey-hat and white-hat SEO. These labels are shorthand used by practitioners; they are not three official Google certification levels. The labels can help start a discussion about intent and risk, but the actual technique, implementation and current policy matter more than the label a vendor gives it.

The founders want to draw on that range without turning past experience into a blanket recommendation. Knowing how an aggressive technique works is not the same as endorsing it. A clear account should explain the incentive that made it attractive, the conditions in which someone used it, the risks it created and what a team should consider before choosing a different path.

Section 03 / Evidence first

What “results proven” means here

A case study is strongest when it is specific enough to inspect. The starting point should be clear: the property, audience, country or market, device mix, period and baseline. The account should describe the intervention and timing, the outcomes measured and the source of the data. If the goal was commercial, the talk should distinguish search metrics from leads, revenue or another business outcome rather than treating them as interchangeable.

A chart can show that two measures moved during the same period. By itself, it usually cannot prove that one SEO change caused the movement. Search demand, seasonality, brand activity, technical changes, algorithm updates, measurement changes and competitor behaviour can all affect the picture. Speakers should identify the important alternatives they considered and the gaps they could not close.

The standard is not that every presentation needs a laboratory experiment or a perfect data set. Many real SEO decisions are made with incomplete information. The standard is to describe the evidence honestly: identify what is observed, what is inferred, what was tested, what remains uncertain and which next step would reduce uncertainty.

• •Show the time window, comparison and relevant market.
• •Name the change and avoid implying it was the only change.
• •Separate Search Console clicks and impressions from third-party estimates and business analytics.
• •Explain limitations, permission to share, and whether client or user information has been anonymized.

Section 04 / Evidence first

How we want attendees to learn

The aim is for attendees to leave with a way to evaluate future claims, not a memorized list of hacks. A reusable decision process begins with the problem a business is trying to solve, checks whether search is an appropriate channel, and then connects an intervention to a measurable outcome. It also asks who owns the work, what it costs to maintain and what would make the team stop or change direction.

We want people to be able to question a recommendation without being dismissive of experience. A useful question is not simply, “Did rankings go up?” It is, “Which pages changed, in which market, over what period, compared with what baseline, and what else happened?” Those details help a business decide whether a result transfers to its circumstances or whether it is only an interesting story.

The learning goal includes communication. SEO is often shared work: developers change templates, editorial teams improve information, analytics teams define measurement and leaders set investment priorities. Attendees should be able to explain the sequence, the trade-offs and the next test in language colleagues can act on.

Section 05 / Evidence first

A room for business owners and practitioners

Business owners and executives need to understand what they are buying, which outcomes are realistic and how to recognize a report that does not connect activity to a meaningful result. Agency leaders need ways to explain uncertainty, protect delivery quality and set expectations without relying on guaranteed rankings. In-house marketers need a shared vocabulary for planning with content, product, engineering and analytics colleagues.

Working practitioners need space to compare implementation details, measurement choices and lessons from work that did not go as planned. Developers and technical specialists can bring the crawl, rendering, performance and architecture questions that shape whether content is discoverable and usable. Newer practitioners can use the conference to build a foundation for asking better questions, while remembering that the eventual agenda and level of individual sessions are still being developed.

Section 06 / Evidence first

What the conference will not promise

SEO CONFERENCE will not promise a No. 1 ranking, a fixed increase in traffic, a sales outcome or a universal formula. Google’s own SEO Starter Guide says there are no secrets that automatically rank a site first. That is a useful boundary for an event whose name includes search: learning can improve decisions, but no presenter controls every factor that shapes a result.

The conference will not present a founder-reported historical result as an independent current measurement, and it will not treat press coverage as an endorsement. It will not publish speaker, sponsor, date, host-city, venue or ticket information until those details are confirmed. When an answer is not available, the site will say so instead of filling the gap with invented certainty.

Section 07 / Evidence first

A developing event with a clear standard

The host city, date, venue, ticket price, speaker lineup and detailed agenda have not been announced. The photo of the founders in Toronto is a photograph, not a location announcement. Speaker applications and event planning can evolve; public information will be updated when organizers have confirmed it.

Until then, visitors can read the conference’s speaker standards, explore the SEO approach guides, review the topic areas and join the priority list for confirmed updates. If you are weighing whether the event fits your work, read why attend alongside the conference story. Those pages explain the principles the organizers intend to use while the programme is being developed.

Good questions, clear answers

Frequently asked questions.

Primary sources

Read the source, not just the summary.