BrightonSEO April 2025 Key Takeaways

TAKING THE STAGE

On Thursday morning, Carl Poxon, SEO Director at Reflect Digital, presented his talk to a packed Auditorium 1. 

He delved into how content clusters structured around a central pillar topic, with interlinked expanded clusters and subtopics, can improve user experience and drive human-centric conversions. By aligning content with user intent, addressing pain points, and balancing rational and emotional decision-making, marketers can reduce user frustration, increase page consumption, and ultimately drive more conversions.

Although clusters require time and cross-functional collaboration, they build interconnected ecosystems that support SEO and guide users more effectively throughout their journey.

A standout moment from his talk was his conclusion: “What if we were able to map this information into our website? It would keep users on your site. It would reduce user frustration. It would improve brand perception. It would help guide your campaign towards making the right purchase, not just any purchase. Ultimately, it would help the site make more money. And it would probably look like a content cluster.” 

For those who couldn't attend Carl's talk in person or want to see it again, on Thursday, the 15th of May, Carl will be hosting a Brunch & Learn. You can reserve your spot here. Alternatively, you can download the slides today. 

During the same afternoon, Lottie Namakando, our Director of Behavioural Science and Innovation, delivered a compelling talk on why optimising for click-through rate (CTR) can damage overall performance. 

She explored how CTR, while useful as a metric, is often mistaken for a KPI despite not aligning with wider business objectives. Through behavioural science principles and real-world examples, Lottie demonstrated that focusing solely on CTR can lead to misleading insights, wasted spend, and missed opportunities to understand true user engagement and conversion quality. 

As she explained, “This is why CTR can’t be a KPI because it can’t reliably inform action.” 

Lottie’s talk is already available to download today.

MODERATING THE CONVERSATION

Becky Simms, our CEO, moderated five sessions in Auditorium 1, from "Architecture, structure, and linking" to "the human side of SEO". 

Becky is no stranger to moderating or speaking at brightonSEO, this is her 10th time on the stage. She even went on to describe her experience of the April edition of the famous seaside SEO conference as her “favourite yet”! She captivated the main stage attendees with her well-crafted summaries of each talk, seamlessly weaving in relevant background and intriguing "fun facts." This thoughtful approach also provided reassurance to the speakers before they took to the stage.

On Friday afternoon, Ellie Hale, Partnerships Director at Reflect Digital & Founder of AgencyLand, hosted the "Demonstrating Value" and "GA4" sessions in Syndicate 1&2. For Ellie, this was the first time she moderated, and she did us proud. In Ellie’s own words, she “saw great talks, met brilliant people, and felt awesome to be a part of it by moderating a stage”.

TALKS THAT MADE ME THINK

Giulia Panozzo - Man vs Machine: Can We Actually Tell the Difference?

Giulia Panozzo, Neuromarketing Consultant and Trainer at Neuroscientive, delivered a compelling talk.

Sharing insights from her own neurophysiological study, Giulia explored how our brains respond differently to AI-generated and human-driven stimuli. Her research showed that participants displayed more activation when viewing human faces, yet hyper-realistic AI content was often mistaken for human in discrimination tasks, highlighting how familiarity, emotion, and trust influence perception. She challenged marketers to think critically about the ethics of persuasive AI and the long-term impact of exposure. 

As she noted, “Even if now we do react to something that’s more human, we don’t know how long it has lasted for because maybe, in the near future, we’re so exposed to AI that this will become our new normal.”

Emina Demiri-Watson - Scaling AI on a Budget - Responsibly!

Emina Demiri-Watson, Head of Digital Marketing at Vixen Digital, delivered a practical and thought-provoking talk titled “Scaling AI on a Budget - Responsibly!” 

Drawing on her full-stack experience, she explored how SEOs can use large language models (LLMs) to scale efforts without compromising on quality, ethics, or the environment. From automated market research workflows and topic mining with Reddit APIs to client-friendly custom GPTs and lightweight agents, Emina shared cost-effective tactics backed by real results. She also emphasised the importance of transparency, governance, and environmental impact. 

As she concluded, “I think you can scale with LLMs responsibly, even on a small budget.” 

Lily Ray - KEYNOTED: The SEO Lifecycle: Lessons from the Past, Strategies for the Future.

Lily Ray, VP of SEO Strategy and Research at Amsive Digital, closed the conference with a retrospective talk.

Reflecting on 25 years of industry evolution, she outlined how SEO has consistently moved in cycles where once-successful tactics eventually become spam in the eyes of Google. From the early days of directory submissions to the rise of E-E-A-T and the current AI-led era, Lily emphasised the importance of adapting to change and resisting shortcuts. She urged SEOs to invest in authenticity, branding, and user value rather than chasing exploits. 

As she concluded, “Don’t get stuck in the cat and mouse game, because more likely than not, you’ll eventually get caught.”

These three talks made it clear that the future of search lies in human-centric, multi-channel strategies grounded in trust, adaptability, and responsible AI use. As the landscape evolves, long-term success will come from aligning with user intent and not chasing quick wins.

We cannot wait to return to brightonSEO in October! If you’re curious about how we at Reflect Digital leverage human behavioural insights to create impactful marketing campaigns, take a look at our services or get in contact today!