In this exciting episode of The SEO Show, we kick off our week in Chiang Mai, Thailand, where we are attending the highly anticipated Chiang Mai SEO Conference 2023. I'm your host, Michael Costin, and I'm joined by my co-host Arthur Fabik and our special guest Robert Huang from the LD SEO team.
We start the episode with a light-hearted introduction, sharing our caffeine-fueled state after a long 15-hour journey to get here. Despite the challenges of travelling and our villa being located under a flight path, our excitement for the conference is palpable. We discuss the significance of this event, which hasn't taken place since 2019 due to the pandemic, and how it brings together a thousand SEO enthusiasts from around the globe.
As we delve into the details, we highlight the importance of networking at conferences like this one. While the scheduled sessions will be valuable, we believe that the real magic happens in the informal meetups and conversations with fellow SEO professionals. We mention some of the notable speakers and friends of the show who will be attending, including Kevin Indig, Carl Roof, and Matt Diggity, and express our eagerness to connect with them.
Throughout the episode, we emphasise our plans to record six podcast sessions during our time in Chiang Mai, featuring insights from conference speakers and other industry experts. We also touch on the exciting opportunities for learning and collaboration that lie ahead, especially for Robert, who is visiting Thailand for the first time in years.
As we wrap up this introductory episode, we share our anticipation for the delicious Thai food we plan to enjoy and outline our commitment to providing recaps of each conference day. We aim to bring our listeners the latest trends and insights from the forefront of the SEO world, ensuring that you stay informed and inspired in your own SEO journey.
Join us as we embark on this adventure, and stay tuned for our upcoming episodes filled with valuable takeaways and expert interviews. Happy SEOing!
00:00:00 - Introduction to The SEO Show
Michael introduces the podcast and invites listeners to seek a second opinion on their SEO.
00:00:17 - Meet the Hosts
Michael and Arthur introduce themselves and their guest, Robert Huang, as they prepare for the week in Chiang Mai.
00:00:43 - Arrival in Chiang Mai
Discussion about their journey to Chiang Mai and the challenges of settling into their accommodation.
00:01:30 - Chiang Mai SEO Conference 2023
Overview of the conference, its history, and the excitement surrounding it after a long hiatus.
00:02:05 - Networking Opportunities
Arthur shares his anticipation for networking and meeting other SEO professionals at the conference.
00:03:13 - Podcast Plans
Details about the podcast sessions lined up during the conference and potential future guests.
00:04:06 - Rob's First Time in Thailand
Robert shares his excitement about being in Thailand for the first time and the joy of travelling again.
00:04:21 - Wrap-Up and Future Episodes
The hosts conclude the intro episode and outline plans for recaps and future content from the conference.
MICHAEL:
Hi guys, Michael here. Do you want a second opinion on your SEO? Head to theseoshow.co and hit the link in the header. We'll take a look under the hood at your SEO, your competitors and your market and tell you how you can improve. All right, let's get into the show.
INTRO: It's time for the SEO show where a couple of nerds talk search engine optimization so you can learn to compete in Google and grow your business online. Now here's your hosts, Michael and Arthur.
ARTHUR: Hello, good morning, Chiang Mai. Good morning, Chiang Mai. I'm Michael Costin.
MICHAEL: I'm Arthur Fabik. And we are joined by Robert Huang. Robert Huang, we've got the gang, the LD SEO team are in town in Chiang Mai to do the SEO show this week. And we're going to do all sorts of SEO stuff this week. But, um, this is the first, the SEO show intro episode to the week in Chiang Mai.
ARTHUR: I'm excited. I know I don't sound excited, but I am excited.
MICHAEL: It's because you've had about four shots of Red Bull, Thai Red Bull and coffee. Like two hours sleep. Yeah. You look a little rattled.
ROB: I feel rattled. Super caffeinated.
MICHAEL: Yeah, not gonna lie. We flew over yesterday. It was a long, arduous journey to get here.
ARTHUR: It was like a 15-hour journey.
MICHAEL: Then we've learnt that our little villa we're staying in is underneath the flight path. So it was hard to get some Zs last night.
ARTHUR: It was. But we'll be ready. We'll be ready for the conference. We'll be ready for the guests.
MICHAEL: Yes. So let's talk about it. Why are we here? We're in Chiang Mai. It's in the very north of Thailand. It's a long way from Sydney. Why are we here?
ARTHUR: For the conference. The Chiang Mai SEO conference 2023.
MICHAEL: Yup. Yup. So this conference was running back in like the late. 2019. The late teens. What do you call the teens? Teenies?
ARTHUR: No.
MICHAEL: No, like the twenties, thirties, forties or the teenies? 2010s. The tens.
ARTHUR: Yeah, the 2010s. The tens. Okay. Well, anyway. The last one was in 2019, right? Right before COVID.
MICHAEL: Yeah. And we'd always wanted to go and we're all like geared up to go for the 2020 and then it hasn't happened until now, 2023. And we're here. We're here about a thousand other SEO nerds from around the world will be here attending this conference. So as we record this at Sunday, the conference is actually Thursday and Friday, but all week there's all sorts of meetups and events and stuff going on with SEO geeks from around the world, which would be cool. Unlike all of these sorts of conferences, all the good stuff is probably going to be away from the actual conference. You know, it's going to be the networking, the meeting up with people, chatting to randoms and learning new things and making new friends of the show to join us on the SEO show. But Arthur, what are you looking forward to?
ARTHUR: Networking. Like you said, I think it's going to be fun meeting new people and chatting SEO. The conference, I think will be good as well. We'll have a lot of past friends of the show. Kevin Indig, Carl Roof, Matt Diggity, who runs it, Craig Campbell. That's a good list right there.
MICHAEL: That's four friends and plenty of friends to be. We've got six podcast sessions lined up while we're over here. We've tried to get people that are speaking at the conference. So there's a bunch of them. There's a few other people. And then while this conference is on, we're already starting to make connections with all sorts of people that we'll be bringing on the show in the coming months. So like 2024, we're going to have a lot of interesting guests lined up. So as Arthur said, The networking will be off the hook. We'll find like some affiliate that's running an epic site doing AI whiz-bang link building or something and hopefully be able to talk with them about it on the show. We are here in this villa. So we brought all our gear over. We're set up in an echoey kitchen type area with planes flying overhead. So hey, it's Thailand. It might be a bit noisy, but we're going to be bringing you the good stuff. So Rob, what are you looking forward to this week in Thailand?
ROB: There's a lot to learn. It's my first time in Thailand as well. So I haven't traveled in ages. So it's very exciting. When was the last time you traveled? Feels like six, seven, eight years ago. So really? Yeah, it's been a while. Yeah, it's nice. It's nice.
MICHAEL: Yeah, so we've had some good food so far. We're about to go get some more good food. We're hungry, aren't we? I'm starving. We'll probably wrap this episode up. This is just a little intro to the week ahead. We will do, after each day of the conference, a recap, the three of us. What did we learn? What did we like? What didn't we like? Our takeaways, that sort of stuff. Yeah, the sessions we do with the guests will be dripped out in the coming months, but we are in Thailand. We are here soaking up the SEO at the forefront of the SEO world and bringing it back to you guys listening. So I hope you appreciate that and we'll see you in the next episode. In the meantime, happy SEOing.
ROB: Bye. Bye.
INTRO: Thanks for listening to The SEO Show. If you like what you heard, don't forget to subscribe and leave a review wherever you get your podcasts. It will really help the show. We'll see you in the next episode.
