After four days packed with brilliant sessions, wonderful conversations, and free drinks, TBEX North America has wrapped for another year – and we’re left with a sweet sadness we can only soothe by remembering Québec and thinking of all of you!
So join us as we revisit the highlights from this year’s TBEX and the amazing insights we heard while we were there.
A partnership made in the heavens ✈️
For the second year running, Travelpayouts was the event’s sole Emerald sponsor. It’s a big responsibility, but it’s also something we were looking forward to for months. Here’s what we cooked up this time:
A talk from Sante J. Achille called “Crack Google’s Code in 30 Days: How AI Can Transform Your Travel Blog’s Search Performance.”
A stand where we got to know the beautiful partners we usually work with at a distance. We handed out custom Travelpayouts stickers, which we hope are now adorning laptops and streetlamps around the world!
A bar with free non-alcoholic and alcoholic cocktails (and a strict what-happens-at-the-bar-stays-at-the-bar policy – don’t worry).
A lounge zone where TBEXers could chill and recharge.
A private party at L’Atelier to experience Québec outside the convention center. It was so much fun that we’re still recovering. (See more pics here!)
The work it took to organize all this was so worth it. Thanks to TBEX for trusting us and to all the partners who spent time with us!
TIL, TBEX edition
Of course, these conferences are about becoming better professionals, not just having fun. One of our favorite sessions was Ty Kilgore’s “Regaining Traffic from Declining Posts with SEO,” where Ty made the following points:
- Good SEO decisions are based on data. You’ve got to do your research and understand what the numbers are saying.
- Most people earn from only 1% of their posts. Don’t worry that not every one is a star.
- Harsh, but true: if you want to rank, you have to give readers what they want. They’re looking for things THEY resonate with, not ones you find interesting.
- Your content should be authentic, but it also has to be entertaining. That means good hooks, good writing, good formatting, and everything else you’d want as a reader.
Overall, if Google updates were the main topic of discussion last year, this time it was AI (though there was still plenty of talk about Google updates). On this score, Ty made the interesting point that Google tends to introduce big changes, then roll them back partially. We’ll have to wait and see if that’s what happens with AI overviews.
Until then, though (and after, too), keep on keeping on – just write informative, entertaining posts based on solid SEO research.
Were you at TBEX? We’d love to hear about your favorite moments and biggest takeaways! Feel free to comment.