What made you decide to attend brightonSEO?

Before last summer, I hadn’t heard of brightonSEO. My background is in content marketing, and I attended after winning a trip through the Semrush Ambassador program. The timing was perfect because it aligned with new initiatives at Hill Country Tech Guys, and I knew it would challenge me to grow.

What was your biggest takeaway or favorite part of the event?

One of my biggest takeaways was seeing audience understanding through a new lens. I have always known that listening to users is key, but brightonSEO helped me understand how to translate that insight into action. Celeste Gonzales’ session on turning traffic into intent was a major aha moment. She broke down how to use behavior data and tools like Microsoft Clarity to see what users are actually trying to do—where they want to click versus where we assumed they would. When she walked through real examples, it felt like a lightbulb moment. It put words and process around instincts I had been following for years. That shifted my perspective from simply collecting analytics to truly interpreting them.

How has attending benefited you or your work?

Talking with other attendees between sessions reinforced how many of us are navigating similar challenges, just at different scales. It made the industry feel smaller and more supportive than I expected. I came away with a clearer view of how to connect data to action and how to communicate those insights to stakeholders in a way that builds understanding and alignment.

Have you seen any specific results or wins since attending?

brightonSEO also opened up an entirely new side of marketing for me. I returned home motivated to grow my technical SEO skills, work more closely with our web developer, and bridge creativity with technical performance. Since then, we have seen measurable improvements, including an increase in ranking keywords, stronger visibility, and about a 5 percent improvement in average rank. 

What would you say to someone thinking about coming to brightonSEO for the first time?

For first-time attendees, come ready to learn, connect, and apply what you discover right away. The sessions were practical, the conversations were genuine, and the community felt truly welcoming. brightonSEO left me inspired, more confident, and better equipped to take our marketing strategy to the next level.

Natalie Murphy is the Client Experience Manager at Hill Country Tech Guys