Anyone who creates websites or online content should be familiar with search engine optimisation (SEO) and although it can be challenging in the ever-changing world of search engine algorithm adjustments, you must use effective SEO methods if you want your content to rank organically in online search engines and for your website to become more noticeable.
But that’s where the advice of top SEO influencers might come in handy. Certain individuals have demonstrated their skill in the field of search engine optimisation by precisely assessing changes and breaking them down into practical advice that you may use to get results. But who are these SEO experts? And how do you communicate with them?
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What is an SEO specialist?
SEO Specialists are highly experienced in using SEO techniques to ensure website pages and content pieces appear in appropriate search results, whilst also ensuring a great user experience, increasing website traffic, lead volume, and brand awareness.
An SEO Specialist can improve a website’s visibility in Google and other search engines by conducting keyword research and utilising SEO tools such as Google Analytics. This has significant benefits for any business. Some may collaborate with other members of a marketing team to develop new projects or improve the management of social media accounts in order to increase user engagement and traffic.
With that in mind, you may learn more about SEO by following the experts below and using their tactics to improve your results.
Top SEO experts and influencers
Aleyda Solis
Aleyda Solis is a prominent SEO influencer to follow as an international SEO consultant, speaker, and author. She is the founder of Orianti, a search engine optimisation consultancy, and Remoters, a resource centre for remote workers. She has almost 90K followers across all of her social media platforms. Aleyda can be found on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and her personal blog.
Andrew Shotland
Andrew Shotland, the founder of LocalSEOGuide, leads a team that delivers Local SEO services to businesses and agencies. Helping to establish Showtime Networks’ first website, joining NBC’s Internet division, creating some of the first TV to Web experiences on NBC.com and launching InsiderPages, which was bought by CitySearch in 2006, are just a few of his major accomplishments. You can follow Andrew on Twitter, LinkedIn, and his blog.
Andy Beal
Andy Beal, a pioneer in digital brand management and restoration, is the leader of Reputation Refinery’s experienced team. He is widely regarded as the world’s leading expert on all aspects of online reputation management. He’s even written a book on it (twice) and is one of the top SEO influencers on Twitter, where he regularly talks about the significance of keeping (or building) an online reputation, with 30,300 followers. You can also follow him on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and his blog.
Angie Schottmuller
Angie Schottmuller has been recognised as one of Forbes’ Top 10 Online Marketers and Entrepreneur’s Top Online Marketers to Follow, as a growth marketing expert. She’s also a well-known keynote speaker who speaks about SEO, conversion rate optimisation, and content marketing. Follow Angie on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and SlideShare.
Ann Smarty
In the field of SEO and marketing, Ann Smarty has a long list of accomplishments. She is a professional blogger, as well as the community manager for Internet Marketing Ninjas, SEOchat, and Threadwatch. She is also the co-founder of ViralContentBee, as well as the creator of MyBlogU. She’s also a columnist for Epoch Times, Search Engine People, MakeUseOf, Social Media Examiner, and MarketingProfs, as well as a regular contributor to Small Biz Trends, Business.com, and Chamber Of Commerce. She’s also had pieces featured on Mashable and Lifehack. Ann also speaks at the Pubcon Conference on a regular basis. Ann is a top SEO influencer to follow if you want some of the greatest SEO advice from a well-known industry professional. Follow Ann on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and her blog.
Barry Schwartz
Barry Schwartz a prolific writer, reporter, and SEO consultant, is one of the most knowledgeable people when it comes to Google updates and SEO. On Search Engine Roundtable, he reports on the most recent discussions in the SEO forums, and he contributes in-depth pieces to Search Engine Land and Search Engine Watch. He also runs his own SEO firm, Rusty Brick, and has been featured in Forbes, NBC Nightly News, and other publications. It’s no wonder that he’s a leading SEO influencer with over 160,000 followers across his social media platforms. Barry can be found on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and his blog.
Brian Clark
Brian Clark is the creator of CopyBlogger, dubbed the “Bible of Content Marketing” by some. He is also the CEO of Rainmaker Digital Marketing and the founder of Unemployable, a network of freelancers, solo entrepreneurs, and start-up founders. He has over 170K followers across his platforms, as a top SEO influencer. You can follow Brian on Twitter, LinkedIn, and his blog.
Brian Dean
Brian Dean is the man behind Backlinko, a site dedicated to advanced SEO training and link-building tactics. In terms of content marketing and search engine optimisation, he exhibited the concept of quality over quantity. Brian offers some of the best white hat link-building and SEO content in the industry. In total, he has roughly 600,00 followers. Brian’s social media accounts include Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and his personal blog.
Cyrus Shepard
Between 2012 and 2015, Cyrus Shepard was the Lead of SEO at Moz. He now owns and operates Zyppy, an SEO firm. He enjoys teaching people about SEO and connecting them with skilled experts who can help them with their needs. He’s a frequent Twitter user and one of the most respected voices in the search industry. Follow Cyrus on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, SlideShare, and his blog.
Danny Sullivan
Danny Sullivan is a well-known SEO expert. He was a co-founder of Third Door Media, which produces the SMX: Search Marketing Expo and MarTech events and publishes Search Engine Land, Marketing Land, and MarTech Today. In June 2017, he left journalism and Third Door Media to become Google’s public search liaison. You can follow Danny on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and his blog.
Dharmesh Shah
Dharmesh Shah is the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of HubSpot, an inbound marketing powerhouse. He also founded OnStartups.com, a top-ranking start-up blog and community with over 700,000 members and writes for it. Dharmesh’s career was further enhanced when he was nominated to Inc.com’s Founders 40 list in 2016. Follow Dharmesh on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, SlideShare, and his personal blog.
Douglas Karr
Douglas Karr is a well-known SEO influencer with a long list of achievements in the field of Internet marketing. He has become a popular keynote speaker, consultant, and trainer as the founder of MarTech Zone and a recognised authority on digital transformation at DK New Media. He is the vice president and co-founder of Highbridge, a firm that helps large firms digitally transform and maximise their IT investments by leveraging Salesforce technologies. Douglas is also the co-author of The Better Business Book and the author of Corporate Blogging for Dummies. Douglas’s social accounts include Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and his blog.
Glenn Gabe
Glenn Gabe works for G-Squared Interactive as an SEO expert. He focuses on recovering from Google algorithm updates, technical SEO audits, and SEO training. Glenn is also a columnist for Search Engine Land and a major SEO influencer. You can follow Gary on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and his blog.
John Mueller
John Mueller is Google’s Senior Webmaster Trends Analyst. He’s been at Google since September 2007, and he’s become the public face of information distribution to SEOs. He collaborates with Google’s Webmaster Central, Sitemaps, and Search Quality teams to ensure that information is shared openly between webmasters and Google developers. John can be found on Twitter and LinkedIn.
John Rampton
John Rampton is best recognised as an entrepreneur and connector, and he was recently rated #2 on Entrepreneur Magazine’s Top 50 Online Influencers in the World, as well as a blogging expert by Forbes. Calendar, a calendar app, and Due, an invoicing software, are both founded by him. John is also a well-known public speaker and a business coach. With over 1 million followers, he has an established track record of providing professional SEO and Internet marketing guidance. You can follow John on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and his blog.
Joost de Valk
Joost de Valk is a fast-growing SEO influencer. He is the creator and CPO of Yoast, an SEO firm that has also developed a WordPress plug-in that makes it simple to meet the highest technical SEO standards. He’s also a consultant for WordProof, a start-up that makes tools to assist you to prove ownership of your writing using timestamping. Follow Joost on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and his personal blog.
Julie Joyce
Julie Joyce is the founder of Link Fish Media, a firm that specialises in link building and SEO services. She’s also a monthly columnist for Search Engine Journal and a top SEO influencer. You can follow Julie on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
Kyle Roof
Kyle Roof is a pioneer in the field of SEO that is based on science. He has conducted over 350 scientific tests on Google’s algorithm to determine which keyword ranking tactics genuinely work. Kyle is also a co-creator of PageOptimiser Pro an on-page optimisation tool. He is also a co-founder of Internet Marketing Gold (IMG), an online community for SEO science and co-founder of the High Voltage SEO firm. Kyle is one of the most well-known SEO influencers in the industry, and he is the go-to person for reliable SEO advice. You can follow Kyle on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and his personal blog.
Lisa Paasche
Lisa Paasche is the founder and CEO of Verve Search, a search engine optimisation agency. She is, however, much more than a top SEO influencer. Lisa is also a conference speaker, mentor, and angel investor. You can follow Lisa on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and her blog.
Marie Haynes
Marie Haynes is the founder of Marie Haynes Consulting. In terms of studying Google algorithm upgrades, auditing link profiles, and recovering from Google penalties, she is a market leader. She also publishes “Search News You Can Use,” a weekly newsletter. Marie is a reliable source in the SEO industry and an SEO influencer worth following. Follow Marie on Twitter, LinkedIn, and her blog.
Matt Cutts
For many years, Matt Cutts was the well-known chief of Google’s web spam division. He was well-known for explaining Google Search adjustments to the rest of the IT community in a straightforward manner. Matt’s time with Google came to an end on December 31, 2016. He’s now working for the United States Digital Service. Matt’s social accounts include Twitter, LinkedIn, and his personal blog.
Matt Diggity
Matt Diggity is a digital marketing specialist and one of the world’s top SEO influencers. He is the creator of several Internet marketing courses and leads a growing team of SEO experts. He has a sizable following and is one of the few influencers who openly shares his bulletproof SEO testing strategies to help remove the guessing out of SEO. Follow Matt on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to learn more about SEO and his own personal blog.
Mike Volpe
Mike Volpe was HubSpot’s first CMO and second employee. He is now the CEO of Lola.com, a SaaS platform for business travel. Mike is still a top SEO influencer, with more than 75,000 followers. Mike can be found on Twitter, LinkedIn and via his personal blog.
Neil Patel
Neil Patel is one of the most well-known SEO influencers of all time. If you’ve done any kind of search engine optimisation or Internet marketing, you’ve probably come across his name. People come to Neil seeking advice on how to increase their website’s SEO and traffic. He created Ubersuggest, a free SEO tool that allows you to come up with new content ideas, research your competition, and get keyword suggestions for your content. Neil is also the founder of several businesses, including CrazyEgg and Quicksprout.
Neil is also a New York Times bestselling author, was declared a major web influencer by The Wall Street Journal, one of the top 10 marketers alive by Forbes, and was selected one of the 100 most ingenious companies by Entrepreneur Magazine. As you can see, Neil has a great deal of knowledge and influence in the SEO sector. Across all of his social platforms, he has accumulated over 1 million followers. You can follow Neil on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and his blog.
Pam Moore
Pam Moore, the CEO of Marketing Nutz, was recently named one of Forbes’ top 10 social media power influencers. She was also a guest on SEMrush’s weekly Twitter Chat as a contributor. Pam is one of the top SEO influencers, so it’s no surprise she’s on our list. Follow Pam on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and her personal blog.
Dr. Pete Myers
Dr Pete Myer is the keeper of the Google Algorithm Change History timeline and a marketing scientist at Moz, an all-in-one suite of SEO tools. He’s also the brains of the MozCast Project and basically, the Google watchdog, making him one of the most important SEO influencers to follow. You can follow Dr Pete on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Rand Fishkin
In 2004, Rand Fishkin co-founded Moz. It was known as SEOmoz at the time, and it was a popular blog and online community where some of the first SEO specialists around the globe shared their research and ideas. He is now the CEO and co-founder of SparkToro, a market research and “audience intelligence” platform that helps you better understand your audience’s interests, behaviour, and demographics. He has more than 475,000 loyal followers as one of the top SEO Influencers for over 15 years. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and his blog.
Shama Hyder
Shama Hyder is the CEO and creator of Zen Media, a digital marketing and public relations agency that pinpoints and capitalises on brands’ crucial moments to increase demand and revenue. You can follow Shama on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and her personal blog.
Shane Barker
Shane Barker is a digital marketing consultant, speaker, and influencer who uses tailored digital marketing solutions to help businesses develop faster. He has received numerous awards and has advised Fortune 500 organisations as well as a number of A-List celebrities. Shane is a prolific content marketer and an SEO and Internet marketing thought leader. He contributes to well-known publications such as HuffPost, Inc.com, Search Engine Examiner, and Forbes on a regular basis. Shane can be found on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and his blog.
Wil Reynolds
Wil Reynolds is the co-founder and Vice President of Innovation of SEER Interactive, a digital marketing business. This top SEO influencer is fairly active on social media and has a lot to say about SEO and Internet marketing in general. Wil may be found on Twitter, LinkedIn, and his personal blog.
These SEO influencers are the top thought leaders in the field, and if you own a website or manage digital marketing for customers, LOCALiQ strongly advises you to follow them to stay up to date on the ever-changing search sector. It’s not always simple to stay on top of what’s going on with Google and its search algorithm as business owners. But these SEO influencers can help you stay on top of never-ending trends while also providing actionable advice on how to boost your site’s ranks.
Prepare for SEO take off 🚀
Take the first step to ranking higher with our free SEO audit.
Get a complete overview of optimisation opportunities and uncover the actions you need to take to scale the SERPs.
