MWUG is the acronym and also affectionate name (pronounced ’emmwug’) of the Manchester WordPress Users Group, a monthly gathering, as the name suggests of people who use WordPress, the World’s most popular content management system.
There are WordPress user groups all round the world, but Manchester’s group is a little special in that it’s hosted by none other than Mike Little, who many will know is the co-founder of WordPress itself.
I’ve been a regular attendee at MWUG for years and despite having picked up a thing or several, had never before stood at the front and given a talk myself. All that came to an end at the first MWUG of 2020 (January the 15th) when I delivered a talk on the subject of Basic SEO.
My SEO Basics Talk
Anyone who knows anything about SEO, knows that it’s a massive subject that is impossible to know fully, with rules that change daily.
While an almost infinitely complex topic, the basics of SEO aren’t really all that hard to grasp and a little best practice goes a long way.
My goal for the MWUG SEO talk was to give a fairly broad overview of what SEO is, what I view as essentials right from the point of setting up a new site. I then moved on to ‘On Page SEO’; what can be done on the site itself to help boost ranking in search engines. Finally I said a little about ‘Off Page SEO’ which, as the name suggests, covered some basics about what can be done off the site in order to boost it’s ranking position.
Speaking At MWUG
I have to say, my first speaking experience was an overwhelmingly positive one. There were people in the room who I know are, between them, far more knowledgeable than I about web development, copywriting and SEO itself. To receive compliments about what I had to say from people for whom I have a great deal of respect, made me glad that I had bitten the bullet and committed to speak. An overwhelmingly positive experience.
I’d certainly encourage anyone with anything to share to have a go at getting up and giving a talk. For ages I ‘d convinced myself that I didn’t really have anything to say that was worth anyone’s while listening to. Overwhelmingly, the response on the night made it clear I was wrong!
My Next Speaking ‘Gig’?
I’ve been very fortunate to have been invited to speak next at the Sheffield WordPress Users group and I’ll be there in May covering the same subject alongside another speaker who I believe is going through the topic of copywriting for SEO, so it seems our respective presentations will be complementary!
Who knows, maybe one day I’ll be taking to the stage at BrightonSEO!