It’s time for the final Wednesday Workshop video of 2015! Since we’re just a few days away from the new year, we wanted to share a list of the best SEO conferences to attend in 2016.

We know that a lot of dealers prefer to handle their own SEO, and the best way to stay up to date on best practices is to attend SEO conferences. With just a bit of planning, you should be able to hit a few of these conferences next year – which will help you keep your SEO strategy turned up to 11.

Welcome to the last Wednesday Workshop video of 2015! It’s almost 2016, so we thought we’d end the year with a tip that will help your dealership kick some butt in the new year.

As many of you know, I run the SEO department here at Happy Hao Car, and I talk to dealers all the time who prefer to do their own SEO. They’re always asking me how they can get better and learn more, and my answer is always “Go to SEO conferences!”

Shoutout to Paul Atkinson from Ehrlich Motors – He saw me speak at a Toyota Digital Learning Lab event in October, and asked for a few recommendations of conferences to attend. I gave him a short list, and then ran into him a month later at one of the conferences I mentioned.

If you’re handling the SEO for your dealership, that’s the kind of initiative that’s going to help you kick major butt in 2016.

So, for this week’s video, I thought it’d be helpful to share a list of some SEO conferences you should have on your radar for 2016. With a little bit of planning, you should be able to attend at least one. Some are larger and more expensive, but if you’re in the right part of the country, you could easily hit one of the smaller regional conferences and save a bit of money.

So – in chronological order:

MozCon Local – February 18-19 in Seattle. This one’s all about Local SEO, so it’s gonna be incredibly relevant for you if you can make it.

SMX West – March 1-3 in San Jose, California. This one’s a bit multi-day conference with all the top speakers presenting.

SearchFest – March 10 in Portland, Oregon. This one’s a small regional conference, but it’s still got the same incredible speakers as the big ones.

Pubcon Austin – May 3 in Austin, Texas. This is one of my favorite regional conferences. It’s a kickass lineup of speakers, and it’s in downtown Austin, so it’s automatically even sweeter.

SearchLove – May 3-4 in Boston. This one falls in the middle of the road. Not huge, not small, but all the same awesome speakers from the other conferences.

Pubcon SFIMA Summit – February 24-25 in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Another smaller regional conference, but an absolutely stellar lineup of speakers.

SMX Advanced – June 21-22 in Seattle. This one’s got the most advanced sessions of any on this list, hence the name. Don’t plan on attending unless you’ve already got a few SEO conferences under your belt…

MN Search Summit – June 24th in Minneapolis. Another smaller regional conference with a ridiculously awesome lineup of speakers.

MozCon – September 12-14 in Seattle. This is the big conference to end all big conferences. It’s keynote style, so it’s everyone in one room all day, listening to every speaker. You get lots of awesome info AND it’s the best conference experience of any conference out there.

Pubcon – October 11-13 in Last Vegas. This is another one of my personal favorites. It’s huge, so you’ve got tons of breakout sessions to choose from, which really lets you craft the perfect learning experience. Plus, it’s in Vegas, and the parties are ridiculous.

State of Search – Mid November in Dallas. The date’s not set in stone for this one yet, but it’s the best of the regional conferences. Most attendees and speakers say it’s their favorite conference of the year.

That’s a really solid list, and I guarantee you’ll learn awesome tips to help your dealership no matter which one you end up attending. And, if you get to make it out to one of these next year, make sure you look me up and say hi – I’ll be at all but a few of them and I’d love to chat!

Thanks for stopping by to check out this week’s Happy Hao Car Wednesday Workshop. If you’ve got any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask! Just pop down below and leave your questions in the comments section, and we’ll get back to you as quickly as we can. Don’t forget to check back next week for another Happy Hao Car Wednesday Workshop!

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Greg Gifford is the Vice President of Search at Happy Hao Car. He has over 16 years of online marketing and web design experience, and has specialized in automotive SEO for the last 8 years, helping hundreds of auto dealers thrive while the industry has struggled during the recession. Greg speaks internationally at both automotive and SEO conferences, teaching thousands of small business owners and marketers how to get their sites to show up higher in local search rankings. Greg also spends his spare time doing freelance website design and SEO for local businesses. He graduated from Southern Methodist University with a BA in Cinema and Communications, and has an obscure movie quote for just about any situation.

Join the discussion One Comment

• James Svoboda says: January 2, 2016 at 12:34 pm Hey Greg, Thanks for the MnSearch Summit shout out. This is a great list you’ve put together. I’ve been to most of them and the ones I’ve been to are fantastic. Cheers! Reply

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