A Guide To European Search Conferences

If want to learn from other search marketers about your trade, one of the best ways (next to reading sites like Search Engine Land) is to attend search conferences. And there are many out there to choose from. Within the US you can probably pay a visit to a conference weekly if you wanted to.

In Europe, search marketers are eager to learn from one another. They want to move forward. Its not without reason that the British Prime Minister Cameron wants the next Silicon Valley to be in London.

When you visit US conferences, most speakers will be US natives or at least working in the US. Of course there are some speakers who fly across the ocean to speak at US conferences, but most European speakers stay in Europe. That means that in the US you are missing out on some great content and great speakers. So here’s the invitation: come and see a conference in Europe.

But with the many conferences here, which one would you choose? Here are a few suggestions for a trip around Europe attending several search events.

SMX: London, Munich, Paris and Stockholm.
If you are a regular Search Engine Land reader you will be aware of the SMX conferences. Danny Sullivan and Chris Sherman have done a great job building these conferences all around the world. And they haven’t forgotten about Europe. In no less than four different European cities you can attend an SMX conference: London, Munich, Paris and Stockholm.

The conferences are smaller than the US shows, but that gives you the opportunity to really get into the details. That is why the London one, which has the label “advanced” is especially interesting. The shows in Munich, Paris and Stockholm are very local with some sessions even being in the native languages of the countries in which they are held.

SES: London, Amsterdam, Berlin.
The SES circus opens its tents in London, Amsterdam and Berlin. As with SMX, the London show is the biggest one. Amsterdam and Berlin are very locally driven events where most speakers are speaking German (in Berlin) or Dutch (in Amsterdam).

International Search Summit: London, Berlin. A rapidly growing show organized by Searchengineland Multinational Search columnist Andy Atkins Kruger. He started the conference in London feeling there was a need to really have a conference about international search. The show has now expanded both in and outside Europe. In Europe, London and Munich (last year Berlin) are the places to be. There you will find many international speakers from around the globe. If you want to learn about multinational search (after thats what this column is all about) this is the place to be.

A4UExpo. Although A4UExpo actually is a conference which focuses on affiliate marketing, it is one of the best conferences to attend in Europe if you want to learn about search. The organizers tend to find the best European search speakers to fill the most important places in the agenda. The conference is held both in Munich and in London and is a must-visit for conference-junkies in Europe.

Sascon. A relatively new conference taking place in the north of England—Manchester, because the search people there believed there was more to search in Europe than London. And they managed to build a brand really fast. The next one, in May, is going to be two days of European search.

Think Visibility. Also in the north of England, Thinkvisibility is a conference which is mainly interesting if you are already into search. The conference has very high quality of speakers who all are giving very advanced talks. The show is held twice a year in Leeds and has a limited amount of visitors, which makes it even more interesting to go to if you are looking to exchange thoughts with other experts.

ProSEO. Back to London, the ProSEO conference also lives up to its high expectations. As with Thinkvisibility there are a lot of high quality, mostly English and US, speakers. The conference is organized by Distilled in close cooperation with SEOMoz which must give you an idea of what it is like.

SEOktoberFest. Finally, fly over to Munich just before the end of September. That is when Marcus Tandler organizes SEOktoberFest. A conference which is combined with the famous Oktoberfest parties in Munich. The partying of course is a lot of fun, but Marcus always manages to get the absolute best of the best together. There are no bad speakers at this conference and even every speaker is learning from what he is hearing from other speakers. One of the reasons of the success of this conferences lies in the high prices you have to pay to get in, but then again, you are sure of some absolutely fantastic content.

These are just a few of the conferences in Europe which are a huge success. If you plan a trip to Europe don’t forget to visit at least one of these and learn about international search from the experts.