October 23 and 24, 2025 · Dortmund

Know Your Brand

Brand Awareness

As SEO enthusiasts
& audience experts successfully navigating
the news universe

NRC 2024 has shown how great the need for a specialized conference for news SEO is. That’s why we’re going into the next round in 2025 and setting new standards with the News Reach Conference on October 23 and 24, 2025, in Dortmund—bigger, practical, and international! At NRC 25, we’ll explore how publishers can strengthen their brand in a fast-paced news environment—by sharpening their identity, building trust, and maximizing visibility in search and beyond. In an era of fleeting attention and constant updates, knowing your brand has never been more essential.

The event will kick off with an exclusive networking evening where you can get in touch with other industry experts and gain valuable new ideas. The conference day itself offers a mixture of specialist presentations and practical workshops to deepen your knowledge of key SEO strategies for news media.

New this year: NRC 2025 is opening up to an international audience. In addition to German-language slots, there will be sessions with English-speaking speakers for an even greater exchange of knowledge with the world’s leading SEO experts.

Take this opportunity to take your search engine optimization know-how to the next level. Be there when the most important minds in the industry talk about news SEO! We look forward to shaping the future of Google News SEO together with you!

Speakers at NRC 25

Jessie Willms (The Guardian US)

Why YMYL still matters: navigating news SEO in the age of AI (Englisch)

The web is where information lives. And the information people consume directly impact affects their lives (health, money, safety). In an AI world, it’s hard to know what to trust—and the brands/publications that can stand out on YMYL topics are best positioned to survive and thrive. This talk will cover the things writers and their brands need to do to build trust and demonstrate and improve the actual lives of their readers.

The web is where information lives. And the information people consume directly impact affects their lives (health, money, safety). In an AI world, it’s hard to know what to trust—and the brands/publications that can stand out on YMYL topics are best positioned to survive and thrive. This talk will cover the things writers and their brands need to do to build trust and demonstrate and improve the actual lives of their readers.

Jessie Willms is an SEO editor at The Guardian US, journalism teacher and co-founder of the WTF is SEO? newsletter. She specializes in search strategy for newsrooms, with extensive experience in using data to inform audience development.
Previously, she was the SEO editor at The Globe and Mail, Canada’s national newspaper, where she led initiatives to optimize content to grow search audiences. Jessie has honed her visual, programming, and teaching skills in some of Canada’s top newsrooms including CBC News and the Toronto Star.

Joy Johnston (Trisolute Software)

Beyond Clicks: Building News Brands that Algorithms Surface and Audiences Trust (English)

Think you know your brand? In this joint keynote address, we’ll explore branding trends and myths, then share our own brand wins to inspire and inform your brand identity strategy that will win in search and help develop meaningful, direct relationships with your audience.

Think you know your brand? In this joint keynote address, we’ll explore branding trends and myths, then share our own brand wins to inspire and inform your brand identity strategy that will win in search and help develop meaningful, direct relationships with your audience.

Joy Johnston is a News SEO Strategist for Trisolute News Dashboard. A former journalist with 25+ years of SEO experience, she began her career at About.com, learning SEO fundamentals before moving on to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Cox Media Group, where she made content quality and search visibility top priorities. She has weathered many Google core updates and pivots to the latest SEO trends and is ready for the challenges and opportunities that AI-powered search may present.

Barry Adams (Polemic Digital)

Common Technical SEO Issues for News Publishers (English)

Showing common technical SEO problems that news websites suffer from, based on Barry’s 15+ years of experience auditing news websites. Issues like crawl optimization, pagination, structured data, HTML optimization (yes, still relevant for news, and he’ll show why), internal linking, JavaScript, and more—and why this is also important for LLMs as they also crawl the web.

Showing common technical SEO problems that news websites suffer from, based on Barry’s 15+ years of experience auditing news websites. Issues like crawl optimization, pagination, structured data, HTML optimization (yes, still relevant for news, and he’ll show why), internal linking, JavaScript, and more—and why this is also important for LLMs as they also crawl the web.

Barry Adams is a 25-year veteran of the SEO industry. As a specialised SEO consultant for news publishers, he focuses on delivering technical and editorial SEO services to news publishers around the globe. Barry counts some of the biggest media brands among his clients including The New York Times, Daily Mail, The Guardian, Condé Nast, The Globe and Mail, Mediahuis, Reach, Euronews, and The Independent. He is a regular speaker at conferences and events across the world, delivers annual guest lectures for local universities, co-founded the News and Editorial SEO Summit, and writes an irregular newsletter on SEOforGoogleNews.com

Vivienne Goizet (Bild)

AI Overviews in Germany: Where are they popping up and who are they stealing traffic from? (English)

Since the start of AI Overviews in Germany, we have carried out an intensive study into which keywords are affected by AI Overviews. We have grouped these together and can now provide verified information on which keyword clusters are more and which are less affected by AI Overviews.

Since the start of AI Overviews in Germany, we have carried out an intensive study into which keywords are affected by AI Overviews. We have grouped these together and can now provide verified information on which keyword clusters are more and which are less affected by AI Overviews.

After completing her studies and initial internships in editorial offices, Vivienne Goizet started working as an SEO freelancer and editor. She has worked as an editor-in-chief and SEO consultant in print, online, and agencies. At Ippen Digital, she helped build the news portal 24hamburg.de and developed a unique SEO training concept. She then moved to BILD, initially as Editorial Lead SEO, where she was responsible for editorial SEO strategy and internal training. Today, her focus is on AI projects – at the intersection of journalism and technology.

Juliane Bettinga (SEOSOON)

Are you wasting crawling resources? Log file analysis without log files – with the Google Search Console (German)

Log file analyses are time-consuming and often doomed to failure at the data procurement stage. However, publishers with large, dynamic URL structures in particular need to keep an eye on their crawl budget to avoid wasting valuable crawling resources.

In her presentation, Juliane will introduce a “log file analysis light”—a method that can be used to analyze crawl behavior without any log files. Valuable insights can be gained by correctly evaluating the GSC crawl statistics. Using concrete examples, she shows how SEOs can identify crawl problems and derive optimization potential—efficiently and without complicated server access.

Log file analyses are time-consuming and often doomed to failure at the data procurement stage. However, publishers with large, dynamic URL structures in particular need to keep an eye on their crawl budget to avoid wasting valuable crawling resources.

In her presentation, Juliane will introduce a “log file analysis light”—a method that can be used to analyze crawl behavior without any log files. Valuable insights can be gained by correctly evaluating the GSC crawl statistics. Using concrete examples, she shows how SEOs can identify crawl problems and derive optimization potential—efficiently and without complicated server access.

Juliane Bettinga is Co-founder of the SEO agency SEOSOON in Jena and specialize in technical SEO. In recent years, she has advised major publishers and media companies in the public broadcasting sector—with a particular focus on crawling, indexing, and technical optimization.

Kjeld Stein (Tag24)

Beyond search: How publishers must rethink brand, SEO & community in 2025 (English)

The traditional SEO playbook is no longer enough. In 2025, successful publishers need to build trust-based brands, act as guides in a fragmented information landscape, and rethink SEO as a strategic consultant, not just a traffic driver. This session explores how the role of SEO, digital strategy, and content planning must evolve in the AI era.

The traditional SEO playbook is no longer enough. In 2025, successful publishers need to build trust-based brands, act as guides in a fragmented information landscape, and rethink SEO as a strategic consultant, not just a traffic driver. This session explores how the role of SEO, digital strategy, and content planning must evolve in the AI era.

Kjeld Stein brings over 15 years of experience in the digital media sector to the table—he has been working at TAG24 since 2018. As Lead Data & SEO, he focuses on how data analysis, user behavior, and search engine optimization can help to better control and scale content.

Valérie Glutz (Blue Entertainment AG)

Is AI going to take my job? How to remain relevant as an SEO expert: practical tips (German)

AI here, AI there: we are living in times of change. Publishers are worried about their traffic, stakeholders about their investments, and SEOs about their jobs. From whispered conversations at the coffee machine (“ChatGPT told me that…”) to direct confrontation in steering meetings (“Is SEO still worthwhile if we no longer get any traffic?”): the profession of “SEO expert” is increasingly being called into question by changes in the search engine world. Some may be quietly asking themselves: Are we now obsolete?
Spoiler alert: No, quite the opposite! In my (not always entirely serious) career advice, I’ll tell you why this is the case and how you can secure your position within the company in the long term.

AI here, AI there: we are living in times of change. Publishers are worried about their traffic, stakeholders about their investments, and SEOs about their jobs. From whispered conversations at the coffee machine (“ChatGPT told me that…”) to direct confrontation in steering meetings (“Is SEO still worthwhile if we no longer get any traffic?”): the profession of “SEO expert” is increasingly being called into question by changes in the search engine world. Some may be quietly asking themselves: Are we now obsolete?
Spoiler alert: No, quite the opposite! In my (not always entirely serious) career advice, I’ll tell you why this is the case and how you can secure your position within the company in the long term.

Valérie Glutz is part of the editorial team and Head of SEO, Analytics and Verticals at blue News.
She got a taste for search engine optimization many (many) moons ago at Blick. From the very beginning, she worked directly in and with the editorial team in the area of news optimization. After a detour into agency life for several years, focusing on SEO consulting for clients and managing internal and external communications, she was drawn back into the colorful world of media. At blue News, she is responsible for digital change management, sustainable SEO support for the trilingual newsroom, the integration of AI solutions for the editorial team and “keeping things running.” Other suitable job titles would also be number cruncher, juggler or translator.

Steffen Heringhaus (five elements digital)

Newspaper SEO Core-Updates (English)

What makes publishers resilient to Google’s ever-changing Core Updates? This session explores how a distinct editorial identity and brand can act as long-term stabilizers against volatility. Instead of chasing individual ranking factors, the focus is on aligning market and content fit—and on building proactive brand resilience in an era shaped by AI Overviews and shrinking CTRs.
Attendees will learn why a strong editorial identity and brand can translate into tangible ranking stability, why optimizing for fit matters more than optimizing for factors, and how to move from reactive traffic recovery to proactive resilience.

What makes publishers resilient to Google’s ever-changing Core Updates? This session explores how a distinct editorial identity and brand can act as long-term stabilizers against volatility. Instead of chasing individual ranking factors, the focus is on aligning market and content fit—and on building proactive brand resilience in an era shaped by AI Overviews and shrinking CTRs.
Attendees will learn why a strong editorial identity and brand can translate into tangible ranking stability, why optimizing for fit matters more than optimizing for factors, and how to move from reactive traffic recovery to proactive resilience.

Steffen Heringhaus is the founder of five elements digital, a boutique SEO and performance marketing agency specializing in publishers and classified websites. Working with search engines since 1999, he worked as Google Quality Rater during university years and later spent eight years at Ringier, where he grew from SEO to CDO at Ringier Romania, overseeing 2-4 national newspapers, 15 magazines, and 2+ classified websites. Since 2018, five elements digital has helped publishers navigate through Core-Updates and AI-Overviews.

Laura Oelker (DIE ZEIT)

Exchange on the topic of brand awareness (German)

Instead of a traditional session, Laura would like to engage in a discussion with colleagues. The discussion will focus on whether and to what extent brand awareness plays a role in their work. What measures have already been taken and how brand awareness can be measured. She will provide concrete examples from our everyday work at ZEIT ONLINE.

Instead of a traditional session, Laura would like to engage in a discussion with colleagues. The discussion will focus on whether and to what extent brand awareness plays a role in their work. What measures have already been taken and how brand awareness can be measured. She will provide concrete examples from our everyday work at ZEIT ONLINE.

Laura Oelker has been working in the online editorial department of DIE ZEIT since 2015. She started as a search engine optimizer on the newsdesk and now heads the editorial SEO team. She and her team work closely with the editors. She trains new colleagues and keeps experienced colleagues up to date. She is constantly developing workflows, strategies and topics. Laura is a writer herself and knows how to combine an interest in search, journalistic standards and fun in what she does.

Konstantin Sarkar (AccScale)

SEO-Siteclinic (English)

Everyone looks at all participating sites and provides input for possible technical and content optimization. This allows everyone to gather input from different people in order to discover potential together and further deepen their own SEO knowledge.

Everyone looks at all participating sites and provides input for possible technical and content optimization. This allows everyone to gather input from different people in order to discover potential together and further deepen their own SEO knowledge.

Konstantin Sarkar is an SEO consultant with over 17 years of experience driving organic growth for global brands and high-traffic publishing platforms. Currently serving as Head of SEO at AccScale, he specializes in building data-driven and technical SEO strategies that deliver measurable results across Search, News, and Discover.

Sabine Langmann (Norddeutscher Rundfunk)

The State of Tagging And Our Best Practices (German)

Everyone has their own approach to dealing with tagging, and only few of us are completely happy with their solutions. In this interactive workshop, we will show each other what has proven successful in our newsrooms. We’ll discuss effective ways to tidy up our tags, rearrange them, and design the whole tagging process as thoughtfully as possible for the future.

Everyone has their own approach to dealing with tagging, and only few of us are completely happy with their solutions. In this interactive workshop, we will show each other what has proven successful in our newsrooms. We’ll discuss effective ways to tidy up our tags, rearrange them, and design the whole tagging process as thoughtfully as possible for the future.

Sabine Langmann is the SEO manager for tagesschau.de and also supports an ARD-wide digital transformation process for all things technical SEO. Sabine has been working in the industry for many years and loves to inspire others alongside her work – whether as a speaker, lecturer, or sparring partner.

Jens Fauldrath (Get:traction)

Optimizing formats instead of articles—reproducing successes & editorial efficiency (German)

The workshop is intended to show how formats for articles can be used to increase and secure reach. In a short keynote speech, a definition of the term format will be presented from an SEO perspective and differentiated from normal articles. Successful examples will be shown and the advantages highlighted.

The workshop is intended to show how formats for articles can be used to increase and secure reach. In a short keynote speech, a definition of the term format will be presented from an SEO perspective and differentiated from normal articles. Successful examples will be shown and the advantages highlighted.

Jens Fauldrath is the managing partner of get:traction GmbH and has extensive experience in building reach through SEO for publishers. He worked as a senior expert and SEO team leader at Deutsche Telekom and built up the SEO team for t-online.de from 2008 to 2012.
Since then, Jens has been working on the topic of building reach for publishers in Google. He got to grips with optimization for Google News early on and was one of the first to work intensively with Google Discover.
In addition to his work as managing director and consultant for publishers, he is chairman of the BVDW search focus group, on the expert advisory board of SMX Munich, as well as host of his podcast SEOHouse and a popular speaker at various conferences.

Ani Palyan & Kathrin Duphorn (Innovations- und Digitalagentur ida)

Google Discover & the For You Page: The best practice strategy for newspaper publishers on TikTok & Co (German)

What do the For You Page and Google Discover have in common? Exactly. Both present users with topics they haven’t actively searched for. And best of all, news publishers can strategically leverage this commonality to their advantage. How can an editorial team continuously increase the reach of its content, and how can users become followers? We want to answer all these questions in our presentation, because we all know that TikTok has recently become a search engine—and SEO can make all the difference here. We don’t want to give you standard optimization recommendations that many of you have heard countless times before, but rather real best practices and insights that work.
But let’s not kid ourselves: if you don’t have good content, even the best SEO strategy won’t get you very far. However, if you have content that suits your target audience, then our presentation is exactly what editorial teams need to use Google Discover and TikTok synergistically to increase their SEO traffic with little effort.

What do the For You Page and Google Discover have in common? Exactly. Both present users with topics they haven’t actively searched for. And best of all, news publishers can strategically leverage this commonality to their advantage. How can an editorial team continuously increase the reach of its content, and how can users become followers? We want to answer all these questions in our presentation, because we all know that TikTok has recently become a search engine—and SEO can make all the difference here. We don’t want to give you standard optimization recommendations that many of you have heard countless times before, but rather real best practices and insights that work.
But let’s not kid ourselves: if you don’t have good content, even the best SEO strategy won’t get you very far. However, if you have content that suits your target audience, then our presentation is exactly what editorial teams need to use Google Discover and TikTok synergistically to increase their SEO traffic with little effort.

Ani Palyan and Kathrin Duphorn are SEO experts at Innovations- und Digitalagentur ida. Here, they support various private and public publishers. In addition to providing SEO consulting for news, they also assist numerous editorial teams with distributing their content via YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. And what can you talk to them about when it’s not SEO? Travel. Because they both love to travel. And if it has to be about SEO, then preferably about how to think about SEO holistically, because SEO has long since ceased to mean SEO for Google, but rather SEO for all channels.

Gabriella Iannetta (Realtor)

Stop Fighting the Algorithm — Start Aligning the Team (English)

SEO and audience development professionals often face the challenge of balancing competing priorities. They must decide when to diversify traffic, when to focus on a single topic, and when to take risks with new stories. They also spend time working with reporters and editors to uncover fresh angles and break out new stories. Building strong connections across teams including marketing, custom content, editorial, and leadership is crucial to fostering an audience-first brand. Small wins help build trust, and effectively navigating conflict ensures teams stay aligned on shared goals.

SEO and audience development professionals often face the challenge of balancing competing priorities. They must decide when to diversify traffic, when to focus on a single topic, and when to take risks with new stories. They also spend time working with reporters and editors to uncover fresh angles and break out new stories. Building strong connections across teams including marketing, custom content, editorial, and leadership is crucial to fostering an audience-first brand. Small wins help build trust, and effectively navigating conflict ensures teams stay aligned on shared goals.

Gabriella Iannetta is Audience Development Senior Editor for the News & Insights team at Realtor.com. She is responsible for trend analysis, developing and implementing content strategies, refining SEO best practices, collaborating on growth projects, and most recently, leveraging AI in the RDC newsroom to grow readership. Gabriella previously worked for Glamour, Crain’s New York, The US Sun, and NBC. During her time at Glamour, she worked with the team on the national campaign to introduce paid vacation for all families in the US. Gabriella has written articles on millennial investors for American Banker and Financial Planning, including Microinvestor steps into neobanking clique and Are big banks too big to robo? Gabriella is a graduate of Drexel University in Philadelphia.

Tobias Willmann (Ringier Medien Schweiz)

From “only Blick” to Ringier Media Schweiz: Transformation in the SEO team after the merger to become probably the largest media company in Switzerland (German)

At the beginning of 2024, the Blick Group and the 20 RASCH brands (Beobachter, Handelszeitung, Bilanz, cash.ch, Tele, Schweizer Illustrierte, …) became one company: Ringier Media Schweiz. The presentation will show this transformation from an SEO perspective. It is about potentials and challenges that arise from many different brands. And about learnings after approx. 1.5 years of Ringier Media Schweiz.

At the beginning of 2024, the Blick Group and the 20 RASCH brands (Beobachter, Handelszeitung, Bilanz, cash.ch, Tele, Schweizer Illustrierte, …) became one company: Ringier Media Schweiz. The presentation will show this transformation from an SEO perspective. It is about potentials and challenges that arise from many different brands. And about learnings after approx. 1.5 years of Ringier Media Schweiz.

Tobias Willmann is Lead SEO at Ringier Media Schweiz and an accomplished expert in the field of search engine optimization. Tobias has a technical background and also takes care of everything to do with SEO data and tech SEO at RMS. He has been working in SEO since 2012.

Freya Dombach (Trisolute Software)

Relevance, Rules, Rankings: News-SEO in times of global conflicts (English)

SEO and journalism are both dynamic fields that require specialized and flexible strategies in combination. In 2024, global conflicts such as the Gaza war dominated the news cycles. Based on German Google SERP data and a customized keyword set, Freya shows how political conflicts are mapped in Google searches—and what role news SEO plays in this.

SEO and journalism are both dynamic fields that require specialized and flexible strategies in combination. In 2024, global conflicts such as the Gaza war dominated the news cycles. Based on German Google SERP data and a customized keyword set, Freya shows how political conflicts are mapped in Google searches—and what role news SEO plays in this.

Freya Dombach has been working in News SEO for around eight years. As a Customer Success Manager at the Trisolute News Dashboard, she supports publishers worldwide in planning and implementing data-driven strategies — both for fast-paced news situations and long-term topic planning. Her insights not only shape her day-to-day work but also contribute to published data analyses on current SEO trends — because for her, good SEO is based not just on instinct, but on real facts. With a background in Oriental and Asian Studies and crisis management, she brings a sharp sensitivity to cultural nuances — a skill often underestimated in the global SEO landscape.

Program (All times in CEST)

Thursday, October 23, 2025

Networking evening: Cocktails & Conversations at the Castle

Dortmund is not only famous for its soccer; networking is also a tradition here! That’s why we’re kicking off NRC 2025 with a relaxed evening at Hörder Burg (castle Hörde). You can look forward to delicious snacks, good conversation, and perhaps the best news SEO insider information of the year.

Our tip: After an initial exchange in the castle, it’s worth taking a night stroll around the Phoenixsee—the perfect opportunity to have in-depth conversations and enjoy the illuminated skyline.

The event starts at 20:00 here: Hörder Burgplatz 1, 44263 Dortmund. The conference day will also take place there on Friday.

Friday, October 24, 2025

News Reach Con: Successfully navigating the Google universe

NRC 2025 stands for knowledge transfer on the highest level. Exciting presentations, practical workshops, and in-depth panels on the latest developments in news SEO await you in a varied program. Special this year: international speakers and bilingual sessions!

From Google News to AI-supported SEO to monetization, NRC 2025 provides you with the latest trends, strategies, and best practices for successful news SEO.

09:00–09:15

Welcome

09:15–09:55

Keynote

Beyond Clicks: Building News Brands that Algorithms Surface and Audiences Trust (English)

Joy Johnston & Jessie Willms

Joy Johnston & Jessie Willms

Think you know your brand? In this joint keynote address, we’ll explore branding trends and myths, then share our own brand wins to inspire and inform your brand identity strategy that will win in search and help develop meaningful, direct relationships with your audience.

Jessie Willms is an SEO editor at The Guardian US, journalism teacher and co-founder of the WTF is SEO? newsletter. She specializes in search strategy for newsrooms, with extensive experience in using data to inform audience development.<br>Previously, she was the SEO editor at The Globe and Mail, Canada’s national newspaper, where she led initiatives to optimize content to grow search audiences. Jessie has honed her visual, programming, and teaching skills in some of Canada’s top newsrooms including CBC News and the Toronto Star.
Joy Johnston is a News SEO Strategist for Trisolute News Dashboard. A former journalist with 25+ years of SEO experience, she began her career at About.com, learning SEO fundamentals before moving on to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Cox Media Group, where she made content quality and search visibility top priorities. She has weathered many Google core updates and pivots to the latest SEO trends and is ready for the challenges and opportunities that AI-powered search may present.

09:55–10:10

Break

10:10–10:50

English Session Room

Newspaper SEO Core-Updates (English)

Steffen Heringhaus (five elements digital)

Steffen Heringhaus (five elements digital)

What makes publishers resilient to Google’s ever-changing Core Updates?
This session explores how a distinct editorial identity and brand can act as long-term stabilizers against volatility. Instead of chasing individual ranking factors, the focus is on aligning market and content fit—and on building proactive brand resilience in an era shaped by AI Overviews and shrinking CTRs. Attendees will learn why a strong editorial identity and brand can translate into tangible ranking stability, why optimizing for fit matters more than optimizing for factors, and how to move from reactive traffic recovery to proactive resilience.

Steffen Heringhaus is the founder of five elements digital, a boutique SEO and performance marketing agency specializing in publishers and classified websites. Working with search engines since 1999, he worked as Google Quality Rater during university years and later spent eight years at Ringier, where he grew from SEO to CDO at Ringier Romania, overseeing 2-4 national newspapers, 15 magazines, and 2+ classified websites. Since 2018, five elements digital has helped publishers navigate through Core-Updates and AI-Overviews.

German Session Room

From “only Blick” to Ringier Media Schweiz: Transformation in the SEO team after the merger to become probably the largest media company in Switzerland (German)

Tobias Willmann (Ringier Medien Schweiz)

Tobias Willmann (Ringier Medien Schweiz)

At the beginning of 2024, the Blick Group and the 20 RASCH brands (Beobachter, Handelszeitung, Bilanz, cash.ch, Tele, Schweizer Illustrierte, …) became one company: Ringier Media Schweiz. The presentation will show this transformation from an SEO perspective. It is about potentials and challenges that arise from many different brands. And about learnings after approx. 1.5 years of Ringier Media Schweiz.

Tobias Willmann is Lead SEO at Ringier Media Schweiz and an accomplished expert in the field of search engine optimization. Tobias has a technical background and also takes care of everything to do with SEO data and tech SEO at RMS. He has been working in SEO since 2012.

10:50–11:10

Break

11:10–11:50

English Session Room

Relevance, Rules, Rankings: News-SEO in times of global conflicts (English)

Freya Dombach (Trisolute Software)

Freya Dombach (Trisolute Software)

SEO and journalism are both dynamic fields that require specialized and flexible strategies when combined. In recent years, global conflicts such as the Gaza War dominated the news cycles. Based on Google SERP data from 2024 and 2025 and a customized keyword set, Freya will show how political conflicts are reflected in Google searches—and what role news SEO plays in this.

Freya Dombach has been working in News SEO for around eight years. As a Customer Success Manager at the Trisolute News Dashboard, she supports publishers worldwide in planning and implementing data-driven strategies — both for fast-paced news situations and long-term topic planning. Her insights not only shape her day-to-day work but also contribute to published data analyses on current SEO trends — because for her, good SEO is based not just on instinct, but on real facts. With a background in Oriental and Asian Studies and crisis management, she brings a sharp sensitivity to cultural nuances — a skill often underestimated in the global SEO landscape.

German Session Room

Are you wasting crawling resources? Log file analysis without log files – with the Google Search Console (German)

Juliane Bettinga (SEOSOON)

Juliane Bettinga (SEOSOON)

Log file analyses are time-consuming and often doomed to failure at the data procurement stage. However, publishers with large, dynamic URL structures in particular need to keep an eye on their crawl budget to avoid wasting valuable crawling resources.
In her presentation, Juliane will introduce a “log file analysis light”—a method that can be used to analyze crawl behavior without any log files. Valuable insights can be gained by correctly evaluating the GSC crawl statistics. Using concrete examples, she shows how SEOs can identify crawl problems and derive optimization potential—efficiently and without complicated server access.

Juliane Bettinga is Co-founder of the SEO agency SEOSOON in Jena and specialize in technical SEO. In recent years, she has advised major publishers and media companies in the public broadcasting sector—with a particular focus on crawling, indexing, and technical optimization.

Workshop Room

Optimizing formats instead of articles—reproducing successes & editorial efficiency (German)

Jens Fauldrath (Get:traction)

Jens Fauldrath (Get:traction)

The workshop is intended to show how formats for articles can be used to increase and secure reach. In a short keynote speech, a definition of the term format will be presented from an SEO perspective and differentiated from normal articles. Successful examples will be shown and the advantages highlighted.

Jens Fauldrath is the managing partner of get:traction GmbH and has extensive experience in building reach through SEO for publishers. He worked as a senior expert and SEO team leader at Deutsche Telekom and built up the SEO team for t-online.de from 2008 to 2012.
Since then, Jens has been working on the topic of building reach for publishers in Google. He got to grips with optimization for Google News early on and was one of the first to work intensively with Google Discover.
In addition to his work as managing director and consultant for publishers, he is chairman of the BVDW search focus group, on the expert advisory board of SMX Munich, as well as host of his podcast SEOHouse and a popular speaker at various conferences.

11:50–12:05

Break

12:05–12:45

English Session Room

Why YMYL still matters: navigating news SEO in the age of AI (Englisch)

Jessie Willms (The Guardian US)

Jessie Willms (The Guardian US)

The web is where information lives. And the information people consume directly impact affects their lives (health, money, safety). In an AI world, it’s hard to know what to trust—and the brands/publications that can stand out on YMYL topics are best positioned to survive and thrive. This talk will cover the things writers and their brands need to do to build trust and demonstrate and improve the actual lives of their readers.

Jessie Willms is an SEO editor at The Guardian US, journalism teacher and co-founder of the WTF is SEO? newsletter. She specializes in search strategy for newsrooms, with extensive experience in using data to inform audience development.Previously, she was the SEO editor at The Globe and Mail, Canada’s national newspaper, where she led initiatives to optimize content to grow search audiences. Jessie has honed her visual, programming, and teaching skills in some of Canada’s top newsrooms including CBC News and the Toronto Star.

German Session Room

Is AI going to take my job? How to remain relevant as an SEO expert: practical tips (German)

Valérie Glutz (Blue Entertainment AG)

Valérie Glutz (Blue Entertainment AG)

AI here, AI there: we are living in times of change. Publishers are worried about their traffic, stakeholders about their investments, and SEOs about their jobs. From whispered conversations at the coffee machine (“ChatGPT told me that…”) to direct confrontation in steering meetings (“Is SEO still worthwhile if we no longer get any traffic?”): the profession of “SEO expert” is increasingly being called into question by changes in the search engine world. Some may be quietly asking themselves: Are we now obsolete?
Spoiler alert: No, quite the opposite! In my (not always entirely serious) career advice, I’ll tell you why this is the case and how you can secure your position within the company in the long term.

Valérie Glutz is part of the editorial team and Head of SEO, Analytics and Verticals at blue News.
She got a taste for search engine optimization many (many) moons ago at Blick. From the very beginning, she worked directly in and with the editorial team in the area of news optimization. After a detour into agency life for several years, focusing on SEO consulting for clients and managing internal and external communications, she was drawn back into the colorful world of media. At blue News, she is responsible for digital change management, sustainable SEO support for the trilingual newsroom, the integration of AI solutions for the editorial team and “keeping things running.” Other suitable job titles would also be number cruncher, juggler or translator.

Workshop Room

Exchange on the topic of brand awareness (German)

Laura Oelker (DIE ZEIT)

Laura Oelker (DIE ZEIT)

Instead of a traditional session, Laura would like to engage in a discussion with colleagues. The discussion will focus on whether and to what extent brand awareness plays a role in their work. What measures have already been taken and how brand awareness can be measured. She will provide concrete examples from our everyday work at ZEIT ONLINE.

Laura Oelker has been working in the online editorial department of DIE ZEIT since 2015. She started as a search engine optimizer on the newsdesk and now heads the editorial SEO team. She and her team work closely with the editors. She trains new colleagues and keeps experienced colleagues up to date. She is constantly developing workflows, strategies and topics. Laura is a writer herself and knows how to combine an interest in search, journalistic standards and fun in what she does.

12:45–14:00

Lunch break

14:00–14:40

English Session Room

Beyond search: How publishers must rethink brand, SEO & community in 2025 (English)

Kjeld Stein (TAG24)

Kjeld Stein (TAG24)

The traditional SEO playbook is no longer enough. In 2025, successful publishers need to build trust-based brands, act as guides in a fragmented information landscape, and rethink SEO as a strategic consultant, not just a traffic driver. This session explores how the role of SEO, digital strategy, and content planning must evolve in the AI era.

Kjeld Stein brings over 15 years of experience in the digital media sector to the table—he has been working at TAG24 since 2018. As Lead Data & SEO, he focuses on how data analysis, user behavior, and search engine optimization can help to better control and scale content.

Workshop Room

SEO Site Clinic (English)

Konstantin Sarkar (AccScale)

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Konstantin Sarkar (AccScale)

Everyone looks at all participating sites and provides input for possible technical and content optimization. This allows everyone to gather input from different people in order to discover potential together and further deepen their own SEO knowledge.

Konstantin Sarkar is an SEO consultant with over 17 years of experience driving organic growth for global brands and high-traffic publishing platforms. Currently serving as Head of SEO at AccScale, he specializes in building data-driven and technical SEO strategies that deliver measurable results across Search, News, and Discover.

14:40–14:55

Break

14:55–15:35

English Session Room

Common Technical SEO Issues for News Publishers (English)

Barry Adams (Polemic Digital)

Barry Adams (Polemic Digital)

Showing common technical SEO problems that news websites suffer from, based on Barry’s 15+ years of experience auditing news websites. Issues like crawl optimization, pagination, structured data, HTML optimization (yes, still relevant for news, and he’ll show why), internal linking, JavaScript, and more—and why this is also important for LLMs as they also crawl the web.

Barry Adams is a 25-year veteran of the SEO industry. As a specialised SEO consultant for news publishers, he focuses on delivering technical and editorial SEO services to news publishers around the globe. Barry counts some of the biggest media brands among his clients including The New York Times, Daily Mail, The Guardian, Condé Nast, The Globe and Mail, Mediahuis, Reach, Euronews, and The Independent. He is a regular speaker at conferences and events across the world, delivers annual guest lectures for local universities, co-founded the News and Editorial SEO Summit, and writes an irregular newsletter on SEOforGoogleNews.com

German Session Room

Google Discover & the For You Page: The best practice strategy for News Publishers on TikTok & Co. (German)

Ani Palyan & Kathrin Duphorn (ida – Innovations- und Digital Agentur)

Ani Palyan & Kathrin Duphorn (ida – Innovations- und Digital Agentur)

What do the For You Page and Google Discover have in common? Exactly. Both present users with topics they haven’t actively searched for. And best of all, news publishers can strategically leverage this commonality to their advantage. How can an editorial team continuously increase the reach of its content, and how can users become followers? We want to answer all these questions in our presentation, because we all know that TikTok has recently become a search engine—and SEO can make all the difference here. We don’t want to give you standard optimization recommendations that many of you have heard countless times before, but rather real best practices and insights that work.
But let’s not kid ourselves: if you don’t have good content, even the best SEO strategy won’t get you very far. However, if you have content that suits your target audience, then our presentation is exactly what editorial teams need to use Google Discover and TikTok synergistically to increase their SEO traffic with little effort.

Ani Palyan and Kathrin Duphorn are SEO experts at Innovations- und Digitalagentur ida. Here, they support various private and public publishers. In addition to providing SEO consulting for news, they also assist numerous editorial teams with distributing their content via YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. And what can you talk to them about when it’s not SEO? Travel. Because they both love to travel. And if it has to be about SEO, then preferably about how to think about SEO holistically, because SEO has long since ceased to mean SEO for Google, but rather SEO for all channels.

Workshop Room

Stop Fighting the Algorithm — Start Aligning the Team (English)

Gabriella Iannetta (Realtor)

Gabriella Iannetta (Realtor)

SEO and audience development professionals often face the challenge of balancing competing priorities. They must decide when to diversify traffic, when to focus on a single topic, and when to take risks with new stories. They also spend time working with reporters and editors to uncover fresh angles and break out new stories. Building strong connections across teams including marketing, custom content, editorial, and leadership is crucial to fostering an audience-first brand. Small wins help build trust, and effectively navigating conflict ensures teams stay aligned on shared goals.

Gabriella Iannetta is Audience Development Senior Editor for the News & Insights team at Realtor.com. She is responsible for trend analysis, developing and implementing content strategies, refining SEO best practices, collaborating on growth projects, and most recently, leveraging AI in the RDC newsroom to grow readership. Gabriella previously worked for Glamour, Crain’s New York, The US Sun, and NBC. During her time at Glamour, she worked with the team on the national campaign to introduce paid vacation for all families in the US. Gabriella has written articles on millennial investors for American Banker and Financial Planning, including Microinvestor steps into neobanking clique and Are big banks too big to robo? Gabriella is a graduate of Drexel University in Philadelphia.

15:35–15:50

Break

15:50–16:30

English Session Room

AI Overviews in Germany: Where are they popping up and who are they stealing traffic from? (English)

Vivienne Goizet (Bild)

Vivienne Goizet (Bild)

Since the start of AI Overviews in Germany, we have carried out an intensive study into which keywords are affected by AI Overviews. We have grouped these together and can now provide verified information on which keyword clusters are more and which are less affected by AI Overviews.

After completing her studies and initial internships in editorial offices, Vivienne Goizet started working as an SEO freelancer and editor. She has worked as an editor-in-chief and SEO consultant in print, online, and agencies. At Ippen Digital, she helped build the news portal 24hamburg.de and developed a unique SEO training concept. She then moved to BILD, initially as Editorial Lead SEO, where she was responsible for editorial SEO strategy and internal training. Today, her focus is on AI projects – at the intersection of journalism and technology.

Workshop Room

The State of Tagging And Our Best Practices (German)

Sabine Langmann (Norddeutscher Rundfunk)

Sabine Langmann (Norddeutscher Rundfunk)

Everyone has their own approach to dealing with tagging, and only few of us are completely happy with their solutions. In this interactive workshop, we will show each other what has proven successful in our newsrooms. We’ll discuss effective ways to tidy up our tags, rearrange them, and design the whole tagging process as thoughtfully as possible for the future.

Sabine Langmann is the SEO manager for tagesschau.de and also supports an ARD-wide digital transformation process for all things technical SEO. Sabine has been working in the industry for many years and loves to inspire others alongside her work – whether as a speaker, lecturer, or sparring partner.

16:30–16:35

Break

16:35–17:00

Finale and Goodbye

Tickets

All inclusive

Networking evening
and conference participation

Admission to the networking evening before the conference
1-day access to the News Reach Con
Food & drinks

Crew Member 545 €

Networking only

Only the networking evening
on October 23, 2025

Admission to the networking evening before the conference
Food & drinks

Crew Member 105 €

Conference only

Only conference participation
on October 24, 2025

1-day access to the News Reach Con
Food & drinks
Discounted student ticket available for 245 €

Crew Member 495€

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FAQ

When will the conference take place?

The second News Reach Con will take place from October 23, 2025, to October 24, 2025, in Dortmund. On Thursday the networking evening starts at 8 p.m. and on Friday the conference day starts at 9 a.m. Make sure to invite all of your colleagues and friends so that we can offer the format again in 2026!

Where will the conference take place?

The conference will take place at the Sparkassenakademie Nordrhein-Westfalen at Hörder Burgplatz 1, 44263 Dortmund. Find more information on the location here.

How do I get to the conference?

The conference venue is easy to reach by all means of transportation. You can take the train directly to Dortmund-Hörde station (Bahnhof Dortmund-Hörde) or take the U41 line (underground) at Dortmund main station (Hauptbahnhof Dortmund) in the direction of Hörde/Clarenburg and get off at Hörde. Additionally, buses and night buses run regularly day and night from all directions to Dortmund-Hörde station. Then it is about 500 meters on foot, either through the city center of Dortmund Hörde or in an easterly direction to the REWE supermarket and then left down the street until you see Hörder Burg (castle Hörde) on the right-hand side.

Of course, it is also possible to arrive by plane. Düsseldorf Airport (DUS) is a little further away. From there, you only need just under an hour by train to Dortmund-Hörde. Or you can fly directly to Dortmund (DTM). There you have the option of taking a cab or a shuttle (BusAirpo) to Holzwickede station or to Dortmund main station to continue to Dortmund-Hörde by regional train or subway. The public transport fares do not apply to the shuttle bus. You can also take bus 490 (direction Aplerbeck) to Dortmund Aplerbeck and then bus 440 (direction Germania S-Bahnhof) to Hörde Bahnhof and walk to the location.

Are there any restrictions on participation?

No. Anyone that’s interested in news SEO is welcome to take part in the News Reach Con. However, tickets are only available while stocks last. So secure your participation now!

Are there any discounts?

We offered discounts, but starting August 1, we will return to standard pricing. We also offer a discounted student ticket for €189 for the conference-day.

Please contact us if you would like to become a sponsor. We look forward to receiving your inquiry at service@newsreachcon.com. 

Are there going to be recordings of the sessions?

It’s all about being there! We value the familiar setting of our events and are therefore not offering any recordings this year. However, you can find special insights and regular news SEO on our blog. However, photos will be taken at the event. These will be used for public relations (including in social media) and will also serve as permanent documentation of the News Reach Conference (offline and online) and can therefore also be accessed outside Europe.

Is there a dress code?

No. It’s best to come as you feel comfortable. Experience has shown that at similar conferences you can see everything from t-shirts/hoodies/jeans to shirts/jackets/blazers, depending on individual preference.

Is the conference accessible?

The Sparkassenakademie is wheelchair accessible. Unfortunately, there are currently no orientation aids for blind or hearing-impaired people in the building.

Does the conference offer special assistance?

As a small conference, we certainly can’t do justice to everyone. However, we will do our best, so please contact us at service@newsreachcon.com or get in touch with our team on site. We will surely find a solution!

Further questions? If you have a burning question, feedback for us or need our help, simply contact us via service@newsreachcon.com or +49 231 584499731, if it’s very urgent. 

The location: Historic exclusivity with a view of Phoenix-See

Sparkassenakademie NRW — Foto: Sparkassenakademie Nordrhein-Westfalen

In the 12th century, a castle was built in the then independent town of Hörde. In the Middle Ages, it was only surrounded by a small river, but after the creation of Phoenix-See, it captivated visitors not only with its chivalrous appearance but also with its unique view. Freshly renovated and impossible to miss, it has been showing its best side since 2017 and is no longer home to nobles, but to the Tagungszentrum der Sparkassenakademie NRW uand this summer to us! With its old charm and modern facilities in what is probably Dortmund’s most beautiful location, it offers the perfect space for innovative get-togethers against the most elegant backdrop.

Getting there

The address of the Sparkassenakademie Nordrhein-Westfahlen is:
Hörder Burgplatz 1, 44263 Dortmund.

You can find detailed travel instructions for car and train on the Sparkassenakademie website.

Plan your route via Google Maps

Accommodation

The Hampton by Hilton Dortmund Phoenix See (Faßstraße 3, 44263 Dortmund) is located right next to the Sparkassenakademie NRW. A limited number of conference rooms are available there. All you have to do is enter “News Reach Con 2025” as the subject of your booking request by calling +49 231 9479 900 or sending an email to reservation@hamptndortmund.de.

Parking

Overnight guests at the Hamptons by Hilton can use the hotel parking lots, which are located directly next to the conference venue. Day guests and guests from other accommodations can use the parking garage at Phoenix-See (Phoenixseestraße 3, 44263 Dortmund). There is a terminal in the reception area of the Sparkassenakademie where you can discount your parking ticket. This means you can park for just €6 a day.

News Reach Conference 2025

Successfully navigating the Google universe

October 23-24, 2025 · Dortmund

Any questions?

You can contact us at service@newsreachcon.com

Know Your Brand

As SEO enthusiasts & audience experts successfully navigating the news universe

Secure your ticket!

Speakers at NRC 25

Jessie Willms (The Guardian US)

Joy Johnston (Trisolute Software)

Barry Adams (Polemic Digital)

Vivienne Goizet (Bild)

Juliane Bettinga (SEOSOON)

Kjeld Stein (Tag24)

Valérie Glutz (Blue Entertainment AG)

Steffen Heringhaus (five elements digital)

Laura Oelker (DIE ZEIT)

Konstantin Sarkar (AccScale)

Sabine Langmann (Norddeutscher Rundfunk)

Jens Fauldrath (Get:traction)

Ani Palyan & Kathrin Duphorn (Innovations- und Digitalagentur ida)

Gabriella Iannetta (Realtor)

Tobias Willmann (Ringier Medien Schweiz)

Freya Dombach (Trisolute Software)

Program (All times in CEST)

Networking evening: Cocktails & Conversations at the Castle

News Reach Con: Successfully navigating the Google universe

Welcome

Keynote

Break

Break

Break

Lunch break

Break

Break

Break

Finale and Goodbye

Tickets

All inclusive

Networking only

Conference only

FAQ

When will the conference take place?

Where will the conference take place?

How do I get to the conference?

Are there any restrictions on participation?

Are there any discounts?

(How) can I become a sponsor?

Are there going to be recordings of the sessions?

Is there a dress code?

Is the conference accessible?

Does the conference offer special assistance?

The location: Historic exclusivity with a view of Phoenix-See

Getting there

Plan your route via Google Maps

Accommodation

Parking

Secure your ticket!

News Reach Conference 2025

As SEO enthusiasts
& audience experts successfully navigating
the news universe