Want to Strengthen Your SEO Skills? Look to These 12 Experts - Search Engine Journal

• Updated on: 2017-09-03
• Read original article here

Search Engine Optimization. Three words that often intimidate new marketers and small business owners.

SEO can seem like a storming sea of uncertainty. Because it’s always changing, today’s best SEO practices could very well be out of date a few short months from now. To make things even more challenging, no one knows the results of their SEO efforts right away. It takes time, commitment, and a lot of patience. No one SEO template can be applied to all companies, and there are certainly no shortcuts.

However, SEO is important. When it’s done right, it works. Ranking #1 on Google (or better yet, ranking #0,) will give you advantages over your competitors. Ask any business who’s benefiting from their SEO efforts, and they’re sure to tell you that their blood, sweat, and tears were all worth it.

Editor Note: to learn more about how to use SEO for growth, check out this Marketing Nerds episode with John Jantsch and Kelsey Jones:

If you’re a marketer or business owner looking for SEO guidance, don’t worry. Trustworthy experts are out there, and yes, they’re willing to share their tips for success.

The following list (in no any particular order) contains 12 of today’s highly-successful SEO practitioners. Included are their Twitter accounts and blogs so you can frequently check out any advice they’re sharing.

Susan Dolan is a UK-based Google Expert and owner of SEO Web Marketing. She works with clients worldwide to secure page 1 SERPs, and helps them develop effective social media campaigns for various business industry models. Susan is a member of the Cruise Lecturers Association, and delivers guest lectures on cruise ships throughout the world.

Rand Fishkin (a.k.a. the Wizard of Moz) is an author and the founder of Moz – one of the most highly-regarded SEO and marketing websites on the planet. An “unsaveable addict of all things content, search, and social on the web,” Rand is sought after for speaking engagements at world-renown corporations and numerous marketing events. He’s delivered presentations at companies such as Facebook, Microsoft, and Google.

The founder of Beck SEO Copywriting, Aimee and her team provide clients with organic SEO and copywriting services. She gained her SEO writing skills early on as an editor and freelance feature writer for dozens of publications, including the SEM Post, Smart Computing, and TechNews. For the past 15 years, she’s been sharpening her digital marketing skills and focusing primarily on organic SEO and web copywriting.

Nadav is the CEO and co-founder of Tel Aviv-based content marketing firm InboundJunction and a veteran online marketer with a focus on performance-driven SEO. He’s sought-after for his knowledge of advanced SEO techniques to obtain measurable results. Through his firm, Nadav and his team of marketing professionals help boost the visibility and SEO performance of their diverse client portfolio. Nadav likes to share his knowledge and experience by frequently contributing to top marketing sites.

Matthew is the head of growth and SEO at HubSpot. He’s a regular columnist for leading marketing sites like Marketing Land, Moz, and Search Engine Journal. Matthew is well known for his speaking and lecturing for the Digital Marketing Institute. As a trusted digital marketing consultant, he has worked with many well-known brands to help them create content-focused inbound marketing and SEO campaigns.

Not only is Ann Smarty the brand Ninja at Internet Marketing Ninjas, but she’s also the founder of several startups – including MyBlogU, TwChat, and ViralContentBee. An SEO and content marketing guru, her ideas have been featured in Mashable, the New York Times, Search Engine Land, Entrepreneur, and many others. She’s known for her insightful reviews of online tools, practical content marketing advice, and actionable digital marketing ideas.

Matt is an innovative SEO expert and founder of UK digital marketing agency Marketing Labs. According to Matt, “My digital marketing philosophy is based around creating fantastic content and building a natural link profile. No cheating, no shortcuts, no hacking, no spamming. I only ever use proven techniques and believe it is important to constantly evaluate your data.” He’s also a contributor to the Google Webmasters Forum and to Moz.

Annie “makes data sexy and teaches marketers how to do the same.” She founded Annielytics, where she leverages more than 20 years of experience to provide consulting services in SEO, analytics, and marketing. For any business or marketer with analytics-related questions, Annie invites anybody to message her on Twitter.

Neil Patel is the inspiring co-founder of Crazy Egg, Kissmetrics, Hello Bar, and Quick Sprout. His clients include world-renown brands such as NBC, Amazon, HP, GM, and Viacom. The Wall Street Journal named him a top influencer, and Forbes listed him as a top-ten online marketer. He was named a Top 100 Entrepreneur Under 30 by President Barack Obama. Neil often shares valuable advice on top marketing websites and writes on SEO topics in his blogs.

Mandy is the founder of Mod Girl Marketing, a full-service inbound marketing firm. She and her team help forward-thinking companies increase their revenues and modernize their brands online. A part of the digital marketing scene for almost a decade, her knowledge and experience is diverse. She’s known for helping her clients generate results and achieve maximum ROIs.

Bruce founded Bruce Clay, Inc., an international marketing firm specializing in SEO, PPC, social media marketing, and SEO-friendly web design. He’s known for contributing to the invention of the internet marketing industry. A seasoned educator and author, Bruce is a frequent speaker at numerous marketing conferences. He’s been featured in USA Today, PC Week, Wall Street Journal, Smart Money, Wired Magazine, among many others.

Bill Slawski is president & founder at SEO by the Sea. He has a blog that takes information from search engines, such as patent filings or whitepapers. Bill and his team then use that information to share their assumptions, and they even include the processes they use to find this information via search engines. He watches the search engines closely and writes about the potential future of search engines. His educated perspective is used for planning a pro-active approach to search by many SEOs everywhere.

Obviously, this list isn’t exhaustive. Many more names could be added, and you’re sure to discover some for yourself as you keep learning and growing in the SEO field.

So keep this list handy, watch these experts’ blogs and Twitter feeds, and add more names to the list as you find them! The more experts you learn from, the more skilled you’ll become in the ever-changing landscape of SEO.