This post was sponsored by News and Editorial SEO Summit (NESS). The opinions expressed in this article are the sponsor’s own.
When it comes to SEO, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution—especially for news publishers.
That’s why the News & Editorial SEO Summit (NESS) is a game-changer.
Created by industry leaders John Shehata and Barry Adams, NESS is the first event dedicated exclusively to the unique SEO challenges faced by news organizations.
On October 29 & 30, NESS will bring together some of the top experts in news SEO to share strategies on:
Technical news SEO
Google Discover
Topics, entities, and knowledge graphs
Google algorithm updates & recoveries
Local news SEO
And much, much more!
Whether you’re looking to grow your organic traffic or elevate your SEO career, NESS has something for you.
Brought to you by NewsSEO.io, one of the most engaged news SEO communities on the web, this event provides you with crucial information about organic search strategies that will help maximize your traffic.
In This Roundup
1. What Is The News & Editorial SEO Summit?2. Meet The Professionals Behind NESS3. NESS 2024 Speakers4. NESS 2024 Sessions5. Ask Your News SEO Questions: Entirely Online & Live
What Is The News & Editorial SEO Summit?
Even though there are many SEO communities and summits, there hasn’t been an event dedicated to news publishers or SEO professionals who work with news sites.
Visibility in Google’s ecosystem is a crucial source of readers for all online publishers, and information about how to maximize this can be hard to find.
The News and Editorial SEO Summit (NESS) is here to address the unique challenges that the news industry faces regarding SEO.
This fourth annual, live online event will provide expert insights, direction, and priceless networking opportunities with the best minds in publishing and SEO.
From Google News to Discover, from Top Stories to news apps, you will learn what it takes to grow your presence in all organic locations where news is shown.
The conference expands beyond 2 days into a NEWS SEO slack community where 1000+ members help each other and discuss the latest News SEO updates.
A Summit Made For News Publishers
NESS is perfect for:
Journalists and editors involved with the day-to-day writing and publishing of news content, who want to make sure their stories get the best chance of ranking in Top Stories and Google News.
Web developers who want to make sure their websites adhere to Google’s latest technical requirements and follow best SEO practices for crawling and indexing.
SEO professionals working with publishers who want to upgrade their knowledge and learn from experts in the field.
Audience growth strategists looking for ways to maximize traffic and find new avenues for organic search visits.
Get your ticket to the fourth annual NESS summit today! (Use code “SEJ24” for 20% off!)
Meet The Professionals Behind NESS
We recently sat down with John Shehata (CEO & Founder of NewzDash, and former Global VP of Audience Development Strategies at Conde Nast) and Barry Adams (Independent SEO Consultant, and founder of Polemic Digital), the founders of NESS, to discuss this must-attend event and what news SEO and publishing attendees can expect to see this year (and in the future) at NESS.
It’s the fourth year for NESS. What’s your favorite part of the journey so far?
John: When Barry and I started NESS (News & Editorial SEO Summit) four years ago, we had no idea it would grow to this level. We thought if we could get 50 attendees, it would be a success. Fast-forward to today, and we see 600 to 800 attendees from 55 countries each year.
The feedback we receive afterward is incredibly rewarding, especially when people share how the conference has helped their careers—whether in content, technical SEO, or newsroom optimization.
Another highlight for us is the opportunity to give back. Over the past three years, we’ve focused on supporting the community by offering free tickets to people who lost their jobs during COVID, providing access to students from developing countries, and contributing to humanitarian efforts, such as in Ukraine.
This is a core value of ours, and it’s something we take seriously.
Lastly, the end-of-day panels are always a hit. They provide a unique opportunity for attendees to ask in-depth questions to the speakers. Some of these panels have lasted an hour and a half, with discussions ranging from specific SEO topics to career growth.
These moments of connection and learning are some of the most memorable for both us and the attendees.
Barry: Yes, the success of NESS really caught us off-guard. We just wanted an event that we’d both like to attend. There are plenty of SEO conferences around the world, and if you work in SEO for ecommerce or brochure sites you’d definitely get value from these.
But if you do SEO for news, none of the existing events would offer many worthwhile talks. That’s why we started NESS, and the immediate positive response we got from the news SEO community has been amazing.
Almost every potential speaker we’ve approached has said yes straight away, and the amount of people supporting us has made it clear there was definitely a big gap in the SEO events space that NESS has managed to fill.
What’s new this year? Any must-see sessions?
John: This year, we’ve expanded in several exciting ways. We have 13 speakers, which is the most we’ve ever had. We’re particularly thrilled to welcome Martin Splitt from Google, who will dive deep into some of the technical aspects of SEO.
We’re also hosting a session on semantic SEO, which I believe is crucial for the future of the field. For the first time, we’re covering local news SEO optimization—a topic many attendees requested in previous years.
Additionally, we’ve brought in more international speakers, especially from Europe, to ensure a broader range of perspectives. It’s shaping up to be our most diverse and comprehensive lineup yet.
Barry: In all honesty, the publishing industry and Google are not great friends, so getting a Googler on board as a speaker is a big deal for NESS. Martin is an amazing guy and fantastic speaker. We’ve seen him at many events and he always delivers great insights and advice. I can’t wait for his talk.
What do you think attendees will be most excited about?
Barry: We want people to feel they get direct value from NESS and learn things they can apply for themselves. NESS should help SEOs in newsrooms be better, so that’s what we focus on with our topic and speaker selection.
John: Based on the past three years, attendees are always excited about the tactical and strategic takeaways they can immediately apply in their newsrooms or workflows. We make it a point to ask all our speakers to ensure their sessions include actionable insights, not just theory.