In our latest study, we crunched the data to determine the top SEO experts available for consulting, speaking, or interviews in 2023. By comparing SEO experts on the basis of their experience, publications, speaking experience, citations on Google, and social media influence, we came up with the 8 experts that appear to understand modern SEO better than the rest.
In the table below, we list these 8 SEO experts along with the criteria we used to compare them. Afterwards, we describe each expert in greater detail, sharing their area of expertise within the field of SEO, the recognition they’ve received for their talent, and their availability for collaboration.
The Top SEO Experts of 2023, Compared
| Name | Length of Time in SEO Industry | SEO Books | SEO Keynote Speeches | Google Citations | Social Media Followers | Active SEO Blog | Available for Hire? |
| Evan Bailyn | 18 years | 3 | ~240 | 9,500 | 148,900 | Yes | Yes |
| Barry Schwartz | 17 years | 0 | ~60 | 18,100 | 156,400 | Yes | Yes |
| AJ Ghergich | 17 years | 0 | ~15 | 62 | 102,300 | Yes | Yes |
| Vanessa Fox | 14 years | 1 | ~30 | 7,700 | 35,800 | No | No |
| Aleyda Solis | 12 years | 1 | ~120 | 665 | 95,000 | Yes | Yes |
| Cyrus Shepard | 12 years | 0 | ~90 | 289 | 76,500 | Yes | No |
| Marie Haynes | 11 years | 2 | ~30 | 447 | 32,300 | Yes | Yes |
| Brian Dean | 11 years | 0 | ~25 | 2,290 | 125,100 | Yes | No |
| Pete Meyers | 10 years | 0 | ~70 | 6,900 | 80,000 | No | No |
| Danny Sullivan | 16 years | 0 | ~100 | 104,000 | 533,000 | No | No |
| Jono Alderson | 14 years | 0 | ~100 | 10,400 | 14,000 | Yes | Yes |
The Top SEO Experts: Breakdown and Contact Info
Evan Bailyn
Evan Bailyn was one of the early pioneers of modern SEO, taking up study of Google’s search algorithm before the company went public in 2004. He currently runs the largest SEO agency in the U.S., and has been profiled in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and Forbes.
His expertise is in the confluence of thought leadership content and SEO, which his company translates into a lead generation service.
- Expertise: Thought Leadership & SEO
- Contact for: Lead generation services, interviews, speaking
- Social media: Twitter (41,900); Facebook (107,000)
- How to reach: For services, interview requests, or speaking inquiries, use this Contact Form
Brian Dean
[mk_circle_image src=”https://firstpagesage.com/wp-content/uploads/Brian_Dean-e1623944055279.png” image_diameter=”200″]Brian Dean founded the popular online marketing blog Backlinko, which specializes in backlink building strategies. He also runs a popular YouTube channel. He has been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur.com, and TechCrunch, and currently offers SEO training for professional marketers.
- Expertise: Link building and SEO strategy
- Contact for: Training your internal SEO team, interviews
- Social media: Twitter (117,500); Facebook (7,600)
- How to reach: Contact directly through Backlinko.
Barry Schwartz
[mk_circle_image src=”https://firstpagesage.com/wp-content/uploads/bd1c9146e1cd44340a17331405af70ea-e1623862647918.jpeg” image_diameter=”200″]Barry Schwartz runs the popular SEO news website Search Engine Land. He is also the CEO of Rusty Brick, a web design and development firm and has received awards from US Search Awards and Search Engine Land. He maintains an active Twitter account that reports on the latest Google updates and industry happenings.
- Expertise: The latest news on Google’s updates and current practices
- Contact for: Interviews, web design
- Social media: Twitter (146,300); Facebook (1,100)
- How to reach: Use the Rusty Brick contact form for web design services or the Search Engine Roundtable form for news tips.
AJ Ghergich
[mk_circle_image src=”https://firstpagesage.com/wp-content/uploads/t-3vZqYL_400x400-1.jpg” image_diameter=”200″]AJ is the holder of the coveted @SEO Twitter handle, which if nothing else shows he knows the value of keywords. A serial entrepreneur-marketer, he ran his own agency for 6 years and is currently the Chief Digital Officer at marketing agency Brado.
- Expertise: Technical SEO, Paid Search, Content Marketing
- Contact for: Agency services, guest articles, interviews
- Social media: Twitter (102,300)
- How to reach: Use the Brado Contact Form for service inquiries or Twitter for any other request
Aleyda Solis
[mk_circle_image src=”https://firstpagesage.com/wp-content/uploads/image7.jpg” image_diameter=”200″]Aleyda Solis specializes in international SEO, particularly in European, American, and Latin-American markets. She was the European Search Award’s Personality of the Year in 2018, and she is a prolific speaker at European SEO conferences.
- Expertise:International SEO
- Contact for: International seo services, consulting, speaking
- Social media: Twitter (90,900); Facebook (4,100)
- How to reach: Reach out through her website’s contact form for consulting or speaking, and through Orainti for SEO services
Cyrus Shepard
[mk_circle_image src=”https://firstpagesage.com/wp-content/uploads/Cyrus-Shepard-357-ml-e1623944689616.jpg” image_diameter=”200″]Cyrus Shepard led the SEO and content team at Moz before founding his own SEO consulting agency in Zyppy. He specializes in on-page SEO, technical SEO, site architecture, and internal linking, but is currently unavailable for new consulting projects.
- Expertise:Technical SEO and internal linking
- Contact for: Keynote speaking
- Social media: Twitter (76,500)
- How to reach: Check his contact page at Zyppy for current availability, and e-mail him directly at cyrus@zyppy.com
Marie Haynes
[mk_circle_image src=”https://firstpagesage.com/wp-content/uploads/image8-e1623942380409.jpg” image_diameter=”200″]Marie Haynes is a specialist: her expertise lies in website quality, backlink audits, and manual action removals. She has published two books, Unnatural Links: A Guide to Removal and Dr. Marie Haynes’ Google’s Quality Raters’ Guidelines Book. She blogs about how Google’s updates affect the role of link building in SERPs, and hosts a weekly podcast about SEO.
- Expertise: Link auditing and manual action removal
- Contact for: Consulting, link-related SEO services
- Social media: Twitter (32,300)
- How to reach: Reach her through the contact form at Marie Haynes Consulting for SEO services
Vanessa Fox
[mk_circle_image src=”https://firstpagesage.com/wp-content/uploads/IMG_5472_11-scaled.jpg” image_diameter=”200″]Vanessa Fox worked on Google Webmaster Central, an early educational resource Google created for website owners and administrators. She was named as one of Seattle’s 40 under 40, and one of the top 100 women in Seattle Tech. Since her time with Google, she has focused on search analytics software and platforms, and is the founder of Keylime Toolbox, an SEO metrics platform.
- Expertise: SEO analytics and education
- Contact for: Speaking, interviews, and training your team
- Social media: Twitter (35,800)
- How to reach: Reach out to her through her website’s contact form for speaking, or Keylime Toolbox if you’re interested in her SEO metrics platform
Pete Meyers
[mk_circle_image src=”https://redesign.fpsclients.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/dr-pete.jpg” image_diameter=”200″]Pete “Dr. Pete” Meyers is a marketing scientist at Moz and created the MozCast tool for tracking and visualizing “turbulence” in Google’s algorithm. He also maintains Moz’s Google algorithm history tracker, and focuses on data science and analytics.
- Expertise: Data science and analytics
- Contact for: Speaking and interviews
- Social media: Twitter (75,000)
- How to reach: Reach out via LinkedIn if you’d like to discuss speaking opportunities or interviews
Danny Sullivan
[mk_circle_image src=”https://redesign.fpsclients.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/danny-sullivan.jpg” image_diameter=”200″]Danny Sullivan is a former journalist and cofounder of Search Engine Land who joined Google as a public liaison in 2017. He strives to help the public better understand Google search, as well as help Google address public feedback.
- Expertise: Google algorithm and education
- Contact for: Speaking and interviews
- Social media: Twitter (533,000)
Jono Alderson
[mk_circle_image src=”https://redesign.fpsclients.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/jono-alderson.jpg” image_diameter=”200″]Jono Alderson is the head of SEO at Yoast, the leading SEO plugin for WordPress. He focuses on the technical side of SEO and web development, offering consulting support on technical site audits and website performance optimization.
- Expertise: Technical SEO and web development
- Contact for: Speaking, interviews, and consulting
- Social media: Twitter (12,800)
- How to reach: Reach out to him through email at me@jonoanderson.com
