NESS 2022: How a news SEO conference shaped a community

This post is sponsored by NESS. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the sponsor.

“This has been a dream of mine for so many years, to make an SEO conference aimed exclusively at publishers.”

– NESS & NewzDash.com Founder John Shehata, Global Vice President of Audience Development at Condé Nast

Working in SEO is a constant learning experience – there’s always something new to discover, and when Shehata and Barry Adams founded the News and Editorial SEO Summit (NESS), they had that principle in mind.

“People who say they’ve really mastered SEO are probably lying or massively overestimating how good they really are.”

– Barry Adams, co-founder of NESS & SEO consultant, Polemic Digital

“No matter how long you’ve been doing it and how experienced you think you are, you’re always going to have those moments where you’re completely and utterly taken aback and you just have no idea what’s going on.

“We always continue to learn. There is never a dull moment in SEO. It’s a very fast-paced industry with search engines constantly evolving, user behavior constantly evolving, websites constantly evolving – so nobody knows everything.”

With NESS, Shehata and Adams are creating a special community in the SEO world for continued growth and discovery.

NESS Is A First-Of-Its-Kind SEO Conference

NESS is exclusively dedicated to news publishers who want to unite and share SEO knowledge.

Attendees of this online conference have the opportunity to learn from top experts in the news industry.

Whether you are a journalist or editor involved in the daily publication of news content, or an SEO professional looking to upgrade your knowledge in the field, NESS is a valuable online conference that you simply cannot miss!

NESS Is Creating A Community

When NESS was officially launched in 2021, it was a long-time dream come true.

Seeing how underserved the news SEO community was, Shehata sprung into action.

“I went to many event organizers and asked them to organize this conference, but they turned me down… And about two years ago, I decided that I was going to do it, and I was going to finance it myself, and I was just going to go with it. And if it’s a win, it’s a win – if it’s a loss, it’s a loss. But I thought there would be a good community out there that could attend this conference.”

The goal of the inaugural event was to sell 100 tickets; they ended up with more than 600 participants from around the world – more than 50% of which were from outside the US.

People from large global publishing organizations to micro news websites focused on small regional areas called in from different time zones to share their experiences, leave comments, give feedback and exchange information.

“I think that’s something that sets our conference apart,” Adams said. “It’s a niche within a niche conference.”

Shehata and Adams quickly realized that news SEO was a niche worth servicing and specializing in.

“What impressed me the most,” continued Adams, “was the generosity of the speakers and participants in sharing knowledge and learning with other people who may be their direct competitors. There seems to be a real sense of community that ‘we’re all in this together, we’re all doing the same things, we’re not each other’s enemies, we’re each other’s allies, we’re trying to do the same thing, which is to produce great journalism and make sure as large an audience as possible gets a chance to read it.’ And I hope we can continue that over the next few years and continue to serve that community to the best of our ability.”

NESS Is Serving The Community

NESS is presented specifically as a virtual conference so it can have a low cost to attend. Shehata’s top priorities when creating NESS were knowledge sharing and giving back.

“A publisher can send 30 people to attend, that would never happen with a traditional conference where they charge $2,000 [per ticket]… The other thing is that I really believe in giving back. Last year was a pandemic and it was a difficult time for many people, so we said, ‘How can we help?’ And last year we gave about 30 free tickets to every SEO who was fired or dismissed,” said Šehata.

“We also give free tickets to SEOs from developing countries who cannot afford the conference. That’s why we try to do good every year, and I think that’s the ultimate goal. Whether you’re an SEO or not, you have to give back to the community and do good.”

This year, NESS also ran a fundraising campaign for Red Cross relief efforts in Ukraine, encouraging participants to donate and match their donations up to $5,000.

NESS Pioneers Online Conference Community Engagement

Instead of a one-way stream with speakers simply speaking to the audience, NESS promotes two-way engagement, allowing attendees to participate in the conversation.

The live chat feed allows guests to comment, ask questions and vote during the presentation.

NESS also facilitates engagement through virtual tables of around eight people who can chat with the speaker, ask questions, network and more.

NESS 2022 News SEO Conference Highlights

“John and I, when we started planning this, wanted conversations that we ourselves would like to have as experts in the field. So we chose topics and speakers based on: ‘What would we like to see? What could we learn in terms of SEO specifically for news publishers?'”

Here are some highlights from the NESS 2022 offering, along with key details from each segment.

How To Successfully Implement Paywalls Without Affecting SEO

Leonie Roderick, The Times, and Ben Dilks, Sunday Times, tackled the dilemma where readers expect news content to be read for free, but publishers still need to make money.

Top tips for implementing a successful payment strategy include:

Get all the tips in a recorded session.

Using Automated Articles Successfully: Is It Possible?

This segment of the conference was presented by Carolyn Shelby, Vice President of Growth at Dawn Patrol LLC.

Matt Southern, Senior News Writer at Search Engine Journal and NESS 2022 attendee, noted his key takeaways from this talk:

“As much as SEO can help with news distribution and visibility, it should not drive the direction of news coverage. Shelby talked at length about using SEO to help machines understand your stories better. She warned the participants not to let SEO change their journalistic standards. Covering a story because it presents a chance to rank for a popular keyword vs. covering a story because it is the most newsworthy is an example of SEO news writing. As a journalist, your top priority is covering the most relevant stories for your audience, while SEO is the tool that helps your audience find those stories.”

Top Stories: State Of The Union

This detailed presentation by Shehat included data from NewzDash, Google’s news tracking system and ranking tool specifically for news publishers.

“With all the tools that John has innovated,” Adams said, “he has this much data about what’s working in the top stories, what’s running in the top stories at any given time, and how things have changed.”

Career Growth Panel: What Is Your Next Move?

One of the top-rated sessions at the conference, this panel featured a variety of SEO professionals talking about their experiences in the industry, how they got to their positions, the skills needed, and more.

“The importance of being dedicated to a specific practice within SEO was a key item,” Southern said. “SEO is such a diverse field that aspiring to become an expert in every aspect of commerce is not as realistic as it was in the early days of search marketing. Moreover, the roles that companies are hiring for are becoming more specialized. If you are an SEO expert who is passionate about news, becoming an SEO news expert is a possible career option.”

Get access to the entire session, now!

Search Engine Journal’s NESS Experience

Members of our team participated in the conference; Here’s what they had to say:

“As a reporter covering industry news in SEO and digital marketing, NESS has been the intersection of disciplines in my career. It opened my eyes to the fact that there is a growing segment of SEO professionals who are solely focused on optimizing newspaper articles for search engines.”

– Matt Southern, Senior News Writer at Search Engine Journal and NESS 2022 participant.

“It was fantastic! NESS is one of the most valuable SEO conferences where experts share their practical experiences in publishing, which can be quickly turned into practice and applied. If you run a publication or a blog, you must visit.”

– Vahan Petrosyan, Director of IT and Infrastructure at Search Engine Journal and NESS 2022 participant.

Missed this year’s NESS event? You can access videos and presentations on their website.

How do I contact Google over the phone?

United States: +1-650-206-5555, +1-650-763-0461, +1-855-593-8213.

Can you call Google Phone? How to contact Google by phone. You can call Google customer support at 650-253-0000. The number leads to an operator service called “Googleplex” located at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, California.

Does Google have a 1 800 number customer service?

Other Customer Service Options – Toll Free Customer Service Number: 1-800-419-0157.

Can I call Google directly?

Google’s contact phone number is 1-866-246-6453 and their contact email address is adwords-support@google.com, but please note that you will likely not get an answer to your question through these channels.

How do I talk to a live person at Google?

How to reach a human in Google?

• Via Live Chat Support: You can contact Google Live Person Online Live Chat Support. …
• By phone: You can also call Google’s customer support number at 1-866-2-Google (1-866-246-6453) or 1-888-570-1575 and connect directly to the customer service team at Google.

Does Google Play have a 24 hour customer service number?

Online help and customer care. To speak with customer service, call us at 1-855-466-4438.

Does Google have a 24 hour customer service line?

One of the best ways to contact a customer care specialist at the Google Help Center is to call their phone number at 1-866-2-Google (1-866-246-6453)/1-650-955-7853. Google’s customer service line is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, so an automated system will help you initially when you contact them.

How do I chat with Google support team?

How can I talk to Google?

• Go to the official Google Support page through your browser at 1-650-206-5555 or 1-650-955-6653.
• Select the product you need help with.
• Select your query or problem from the given list.
• You can select the Chat option from the contact option.

Can I contact Google support by phone?

Google’s contact phone number is 1-866-246-6453 and their contact email address is adwords-support@google.com, but please note that you will likely not get an answer to your question through these channels.

Can Google call my phone?

Say "Hey Google, find my phone" or “ring my phone” and your Google Assistant should ring your phone, even if it’s set to Do Not Disturb.

Can Google Home call someone? With Google-powered calling on Google Nest and Home speakers and displays, you can call friends, family and businesses with just your voice. This feature is available in the US and Canada (excluding territories). Additional calling methods may also be available in your area.

Can Google make a phone call for you?

You can ask Google Assistant to make phone calls to your friends, family and businesses on your speaker or smart display. You cannot receive incoming phone calls.

How do I get Google to make phone calls for me?

Start and end calls with your voice. To start a call, say “Hey Google,” then say the command: “Call [contact name].” “Call [company name].” “What’s the nearest [job]?” then “Call them.”

Can Google call a number?

Your Google Voice number lets you make and receive calls on voice.google.com or in the Google Voice app. You can also associate phone numbers to forward calls to if you don’t want to answer via Google Voice. When call forwarding is set up, calls to your Google Voice number will ring on your connected phones.

Can Gmail make phone calls?

Call someone directly from Chat or Gmail You can start a voice or video call from Chat or Gmail.

How do you put your news on Google?

You can submit some of your website content to Google News…. Update your website

• Open the Publisher Center.
• Select your publication.
• Click on Google News.
• Press Edit. Content settings.
• Under the website you want to update, click More. Edit.
• Enter the new URL in the pop-up window.
• Press Save.

How do I get my news to appear on Google? You can use the Publisher Center tool to share your content with Google News by submitting RSS feeds, website URLs, or videos. Even if you don’t place a publication in the Publisher Center, Google can find your site through our normal web crawling.

How do I contact Google News?

You can call Google customer support at 650-253-0000.

Is Google support 24 hours?

Chrome browser support: 24/7 (including holidays). P1 and P2: 24/7 (including holidays). P3 and P4: During working hours. Chrome browser support: 24/7 (including holidays).

How do I contact Google customer service?

If you cannot find guidance on your concern on these resources, you can reach out to the Complaints Resolution Mechanism by emailing support-in@google.com.

How do I contact Google by phone?

The Google customer service phone number 1-866-2-Google (1-866-246-6453) or 1-888-570-1575 is available for customer assistance 24 hours a day. So, you can connect with Google support representatives at any time and solve the various problems you are facing.

Does Google Play have a 24 hour customer service number? Online help and customer care. To speak with customer service, call us at 1-855-466-4438.

Is there a phone number to contact Google?

For help with other Google products, call (650) 253-0000.

How do I contact Google over the phone?

United States: 1-650-206-5555, 1-650-763-0461, 1-855-593-8213.

Does Google have a 24 hour customer service number?

One of the best ways to contact a customer care specialist at the Google Help Center is to call their phone number at 1-866-2-Google (1-866-246-6453)/1-650-955-7853. Google’s customer service line is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, so an automated system will help you initially when you contact them.

Does Google have a 1 800 number customer service?

Other Customer Service Options – Toll Free Customer Service Number: 1-800-419-0157.

Can I call Google directly?

Google’s contact phone number is 1-866-246-6453 and their contact email address is adwords-support@google.com, but please note that you will likely not get an answer to your question through these channels.

How do I call Google customer service?

United States: 1-650-206-5555, 1-650-763-0461, 1-855-593-8213.