Finding a skilled SEO expert is like discovering a key that unlocks online growth for your company. Businesses or site owners often receive advice they never considered and receive fantastic support that helps them build brands and engage their audiences.
But how do you know if the SEO company or person you’re dealing with is any good? Fortunately, SEO is more science than art, and people can find SEO help by looking for people with proven track records.
The results usually speak for themselves. The best SEO experts and their marketing agencies consistently demonstrate their worth to clients through higher conversions, better articles, and excellent design.
If you’re looking for Google SEO experts, local SEO, or National SEO experts to help your business or organization, knowing where to look and what each person specializes in can help you make the right choice.
Here are the 10 best SEO experts in their field in 2023.
Danny Sullivan
Danny Sullivan (@dannysullivan) / Twitter
Danny Sullivan | LinkedIn
Danny is a Google search engine expert and knows pretty much everything there is to know about organic and paid search.
He was previously a journalist covering search marketing for over ten years before switching to working in media to help clients build companies. Since retiring from media in 2017, Danny now runs a personal site and blog where he helps people understand some of the nuances of search and how to capitalize with engaging content and ad campaigns.
Ross Kernez
Ross Kernez (@rosskernez) / Twitter
Ross Kernez | LinkedIn
Ross Kernez is one of the world’s leading SEO experts. Based in the United States, he’s known for his expertise in digital marketing, as well as being an author, community builder, and mentor. He founded the NYC-based SEO Meetup group, a prominent community focused on industry trends and careers in SEO.
He has over a decade of experience working for several high-profile companies in IT, healthcare, and advertising. He was part of the team that built the Grace AI search engine powered by IBM.
Ross regularly publishes articles on industry best practices. He also has years of experience in digital marketing for startups. In addition, he runs seo conferences in New York City.
Matt Cutts
Matt Cutts (@mattcutts) / Twitter
Matt Cutts | LinkedIn
Matt Cutts is an American software engineer who, until recently, was the U.S.’s head of its Digital Service. Before that, Matt worked at Google on their search quality team to manage SEO issues and work to reduce spam.
His experience makes him one of the world’s foremost Google search engine experts. Since leaving the Digital Service, Matt has been active on social media and publishes regularly on his personal blog.
Barry Schwartz
Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) / Twitter
Barry Schwartz | LinkedIn
Barry Schwartz is a prolific writer who uses his online platforms to teach his audience about search engines and digital marketing. Currently, he is the CEO of RustyBrick, Inc., a leading web development company. He also is the editor of Search Engine Land.
Barry is also active in moderating several panels involving SEO experts from around the world. He’s been interviewed by NBC and other leading media outlets about search engine marketing and other digital marketing spheres.
Finally, Barry is the host of Search Pulse, an SEO-based podcast.
Rand Fishkin
Rand Fishkin (@randfish) / Twitter
Rand Fishkin | LinkedIn
Rand Fishkin is a noted entrepreneur with over a decade of digital marketing experience. He co-founded SEOMoz, a leading SEO platform that helps marketers and their clients. Currently, Rand leads a new venture SparkToro.
SparkToro seeks to help digital marketing teams find publications and influencers that engage audiences. Mostly, though, Rand is well-known for building one of the world’s best SEO management tools that people use daily.
Joost De Valk
Joost de Valk (@jdevalk) / Twitter
Joost de Valk | LinkedIn
Joost De Valk started his career consulting for firms like eBay, Disney, and The Guardian. In his free time, he began playing around with plugins and started a blog in 2003 about SEO. Based in the Netherlands, De Valk, founded Yoast, which is now one of the preeminent platforms for SEO experts. It’s a leading plugin on WordPress that helps businesses and marketers adjust content to meet specific SEO criteria.
He stepped down from the company in 2019 to work directly for WordPress in their marketing department.
Pete Meyers
Dr. Pete Meyers (@dr_pete) / Twitter
Peter “Dr. Pete” Meyers | LinkedIn
Dr. Pete Meyers works for Moz, where he is the Resident Marketing Scientist. His job is to make sense of search and other digital marketing data to help people improve the way they communicate.
He is a self-described lifelong coder and cognitive psychologist. He’s passionate about finding the right tools for people to help them work better.
Daniel Waisberg
Daniel Waisberg (@danielwaisberg) / Twitter
Daniel Waisberg | LinkedIn
Daniel Waisbeg has worked at Google since 2013. Currently, he is a search advocate but has also worked in analytics, where he spent time interpreting data and building visualization tools. He’s now on the search relations team, where he helps build Google Search’s ecosystem.
He is a regular on marketing podcasts as an SEO expert.
Neil Patel
Neil Patel (@neilpatel) / Twitter
Neil Patel | LinkedIn
Neil Patel started helping companies with SEO after founding multiple million-dollar enterprises. Now, he works with several leading brands like GM, Amazon, Viacom, and NBC to develop online marketing content.
He’s regularly placed among the web’s top 10 marketers and influencers. His audience spans 180 countries due to his ability to create SEO educational materials for people in different careers and at various skill levels.
Neil is one of the world’s top Google search experts and works with clients to increase their online presence with paid, social, and content marketing campaigns.
Gary Illyes
Gary 鯨理/경리 Illyes (@methode) / Twitter
Gary Illyes | LinkedIn
Gary Illyes is another Google search engine expert. He’s been an employee of the company since 2011 and is now an analyst there. At work, he focuses on webmaster trends and works to improve the search experience for Google’s customers. He frequently contributes to leading webmaster blogs and actively participates in forums to help people debug their websites.