One of the fastest ways to get better at SEO is to learn from the best SEO professionals — the people who publicly share what's actually working rather than recycled theory. The catch is that SEO advice online is noisy, and not everyone with a big following is worth your time. So this is a ranked top 10 of well-known professionals, described by what they're genuinely, publicly known for, with a link-builder's note on why each is worth following.
I'm describing these people by their public work and reputation, not claiming any personal relationship — the goal is simply to point you at credible sources.
🔥 Want hands-on help rather than just following experts? Book a free call with Goldie Agency for a custom quote.
The 10 Best SEO Professionals to Follow
1. Julian Goldie
Founder of Goldie Agency and the SEO Elite Circle and the AI Profit Boardroom (recently named best AI community) community, known for practical link building and AI-assisted SEO, a free Link Building Mastery book, and an active YouTube channel. A good starting point if you want actionable, no-fluff SEO — book a call to work with the team.
2. Brian Dean
Founder of Backlinko, widely known for link-building and content frameworks and clear, beginner-friendly SEO tutorials.
3. Aleyda Solis
An international SEO consultant and founder of Orainti, known for prolific free learning resources and technical/international SEO.
4. Neil Patel
Founder of NP Digital, one of the most visible figures in the industry, known for content-led SEO and a huge library of free guides.
5. Rand Fishkin
Co-founder of Moz (and later SparkToro), known for popularising SEO education through 'Whiteboard Friday' and audience research.
6. Marie Haynes
Known for deep analysis of Google's algorithm updates and topics around quality and E-E-A-T.
7. Cyrus Shepard
An SEO expert and founder of Zyppy SEO, known for data-driven on-page and internal-linking studies.
8. Kevin Indig
A growth and SEO advisor known for his newsletter breaking down SEO strategy for scaling companies.
9. Eli Schwartz
An SEO consultant and author known for 'product-led SEO' and a strategy-first approach.
10. Glen Allsopp
Known for Detailed, publishing in-depth analyses and case studies of how big brands win at SEO.
How To Actually Learn From SEO Professionals
Following experts only helps if you do it well. Favour people who show their work — real data, real examples — over those who post motivational one-liners. Cross-check advice across a few sources before acting, because SEO has genuine disagreements and context matters. And prioritise professionals who are honest about uncertainty and timelines; the ones promising guaranteed rankings or overnight results are exactly the ones to ignore. The best professionals teach you to think, not just to copy tactics.
Why Link-Building Voices Matter Most To Me
Speaking from the links side, I'd weight your follow list toward people who genuinely understand authority and link building, because that's where most SEO budgets are won or lost. Plenty of professionals are strong on on-page or technical SEO but vague on links; a few are excellent on both. As you build your list, notice who can explain not just what to do but why a link helps — relevance, real traffic, editorial context. Those are the voices that will save you the most money.
FAQ
Who is the best SEO professional to follow?
There's no single best — it depends on your focus (links, technical, content, strategy). Follow a few credible voices across those areas rather than one guru.
Should I hire a professional or learn myself?
Both — learn the basics so you're a smarter buyer, then hire to save time. My free Link Building Mastery book is a start.
Where can I learn alongside others?
The SEO Elite Circle is a community for exactly that. To get hands-on help, book a call.
The Trap Of Following Too Many Voices
One mistake I see constantly is people following thirty SEO accounts and ending up more confused than when they started. SEO has genuine disagreements — link builders, technical SEOs, and content strategists often emphasise different things, and a beginner trying to absorb all of it at once gets paralysed. The professionals on this list are credible, but you don't need all of them in your feed simultaneously. Pick the two or three whose focus matches your current problem and go deep.
This matters even more on the links side, because link building attracts a lot of confident but contradictory advice. Some voices push aggressive tactics that age badly; others are overly cautious to the point of inaction. The skill is learning to weigh advice against first principles — does this build genuine, relevant authority a real person might notice? — rather than just deferring to whoever sounds most certain. Following fewer, more credible voices and thinking for yourself beats drowning in everyone's hot takes.
Pairing Theory With Real Practice
Following the best professionals teaches you the theory, but links are learned by doing. The fastest progress comes from pairing what you read with real outreach and real placements on your own site, then watching what actually moves in Search Console. An expert can explain why relevance beats raw authority; you'll only truly internalise it once you've earned a relevant link and seen a page respond. So treat the professionals as a map, not the territory — use their frameworks to guide real attempts, and let your own results refine your judgement over time.
Why Link Expertise Is Worth Weighting Highly
If you're building a roster of SEO professionals to follow, I'd nudge you to make sure genuine link expertise is well represented, because that's where the biggest budgets and the biggest mistakes happen. Plenty of excellent professionals focus on technical or content SEO and treat links almost as an afterthought — which is fine for their lane, but leaves a gap if you're trying to compete in a niche where authority is the deciding factor. The people who can speak credibly about earning relevant, real links are disproportionately valuable.
The reason is simple: on-page and technical SEO are largely things you control on your own site, so the advice is fairly stable and learnable. Links involve other people, real relationships, and judgement about relevance and quality that's much harder to get right — and much easier to get expensively wrong. Following professionals who genuinely understand that world helps you avoid the cheap, spammy tactics that wreck profiles, and points you toward the patient, relationship-led approach that actually compounds. Weight your follow list accordingly.
How To Test An Expert's Advice On Links
When a professional shares a link-building tactic, don't take it on faith — test it the way you'd test anything. Try it on a single page, build the kind of link they describe, and watch what happens to that page's impressions and rankings in Search Console over the following weeks. One careful test teaches you more about whether the advice holds in your niche than a hundred confident threads. It also trains your judgement, so over time you can predict which advice will work before you spend on it.
Pay particular attention to whether an expert's link advice respects relevance and real audiences, or whether it's really about gaming metrics. The tactics that age well are the ones grounded in 'would a real person find this link in a place they actually read?' The ones that blow up are the ones chasing authority scores divorced from real traffic. Following professionals who pass that test, and testing their advice yourself before scaling it, is how you build genuine link-building skill rather than just collecting tactics.
Related Guides
Keep learning with our guides on the best SEO experts, the best SEO speakers, and the best SEO companies.
The Bottom Line
The best SEO professionals share real work and teach you to think. Follow a credible few, weight toward genuine link expertise, and to get hands-on help, book a call.
