SEO Poland 2022. An account of the largest event of the year in the field

The main conference, which took place in Krakow on 16th September 2022, was preceded by sixteen ‘barcamps’ held in various spots around Poland. I had the pleasure of taking part in two of them. One was in Łódź, where I was a member of the audience, and the other was in Opole, where I was a speaker. That, though, was just the starter!

The SEO Poland 2022 conference programme offered seven hours of talks given by top experts in the sector. It would be difficult to go into the details of all of them, so I have decided to select the ones which have stayed in my memory the longest. Keeping to my gastronomic metaphor, what I present in the following is a subjectively curated tasting menu of the most toothsome morsels from a veritable SEO feast!

Michał Suski’s talk saw to it that the topic of artificial intelligence was raised at the very start of the event. It contained a vital message, namely, that artificial intelligence is not an absolute replacement for people, but merely the automatisation of areas where human error is the most likely to occur. As a result, boring, repetitive activities will be eliminated, with the weight of responsibilities being transferred to more creative tasks.

The talk also included a brief presentation of the capabilities of the Surfer SEO tool, which makes it possible to select key phrases as you go. It fits perfectly with the notion that artificial intelligence is intended solely to help people with repetitive tasks, creating space for activities which primarily stimulate the right brain.

The focus of Sebastian Heymann’s presentation was Link Planner, a new tool on the Linkhouse platform. It can streamline link building to a considerable degree by generating automatic lists of domains via the proprietary Link Score metric, which is intended to be much more reliable than the tired, work-worn Ahref Domain Rating.

The presentation of Link Planner’s potential and examples of the growth obtained with its use captured our interest to such an extent that we decided to see for ourselves how it works out in practice. We have barely begun, but from the outset we could see that using it can, indeed, help us to streamline our link building work for our clients. Time will tell!

Indexing or, more to the point, its lack, is one of the problems which most frustrate SEO experts. Is there anyone at all in our field who has never gone through moments of doubting whether scrupulously obtained external links leading to domains positioned for Google actually exist? In this case, the fight is an unequal one, but when an ambitious ‘SEOer’ looks at a solution and sees even the shadow of hope for a better tomorrow for a website they support, then they grasp at every straw.

Szymon Słowik presented a range of tips for all those who have no fear of meeting the mighty Google halfway. They involve: 

• making regular use of indexing tools;
• staying up to date with link analyses and, at the same time, verifying the indexing;
• periodically refreshing the articles published on your site; 
• maintaining a certain reserve in your attitude towards indicators like domain rating.

This talk was addressed to people who are interested in big fish, big ponds and big accounts… client and bank alike!

However, let me return to the essence of the presentation. Sławek Borowy shared several interesting observations which crystalised for him during collaborations with large companies. In line with his experience, capturing the interest of that kind of enterprise, it is necessary to:

• build a strong brand, both as a company and as an agency;
• nurture your business relationships and keep building your network of contacts;
• develop your portfolio with the presentation of selected case studies;
• make your presence felt at trade fairs and exhibitions.

The icing on the cake was Robert Niechciał’s talk on one of the hottest topics, and not only in the SEO context, either. That, of course, is artificial intelligence, which is an integral part of the reality around us these days, with its impact spreading to encompass more and more aspects of people’s lives.

One convincing example of its potential cropped up in September this year, when the digital arts category of the Colorado State Fair’s annual art competition was won by Jason Allen for his Théâtre D'opéra Spatial. There would be nothing strange about that were it not for the fact that the work was completely generated with software that uses artificial intelligence. Yes, we are living in times when an algorithm is capable of transforming text into graphic form, be it an image or be it video, facilitated by the DALL-E and Make-A-Video systems, respectively!

What, then, of artificial intelligence and our services? As Robert Niechciał noted, from the standpoint of content and SEO, artificial intelligence will be a pivotal aspect of our field in the none-too-distant future. So, with our finger on the pulse, when the moment comes, we will be leaping onto the wagon and surging ahead of the trend, leaving the competition behind with the dust we stir up in our wake!

The SEO Poland 2022 conference made an outstanding impression on the six hundred or so attendees. It featured fascinating speakers, some of whom were making their debuts, not to mention impeccable organisation, a brilliant atmosphere, a cornucopia of attractions, including the Polish SEO Championship, and the support of international partners like Ahrefs, to name but one. Everything about it suggests that it will become a permanent fixture on the calendar of SEO events.

The range of topics was fairly wide. Even so, to a greater or lesser degree, the majority of the talks tackled questions of artificial intelligence, clearly indicating that this technology is already knocking at the door of digital agencies and that, any moment now, it will be settling into a desk chair and starting to work its way up through the hierarchy. The process is unavoidable and, while it presents us with a towering heap of challenges, it simultaneously opens up a gateway to massive potential and a multitude of opportunities.

Finally, it is worth adding that the event ended with an epic afterparty that went on into the small hours… but that is definitely another story for another occasion…

Translated from the Polish by Caryl Swift.