Last year, our CEO Josh Steimle created the post Top 100 Most Followed SEO Experts on Twitter for 2016. It’s time for a 2017 update!
I followed the same process he did so we can accurately compare the two lists. If you are looking to create something similar, he recommend the following tools:
Also, I found it extremely helpful to follow another article Josh wrote explaining, in detail, the full process.
Disclaimer:
Before we see the list, I want to mention the parameters used to decide who made the list both years, and a few disclaimers to better help us interpret the list.
- Most followers ≠ most qualified SEO expert. Some of the best SEO experts may not even be on Twitter, let alone have a lot of followers.
- I don’t know how these folks got their followers. There were a few cases I was 99% sure weren’t legit, so I removed them. The rest are for you to judge.
- I believe I was pretty thorough in building my list, but there may be some key people I missed. Let me know who they are so I can make sure to include them next year. Hint: If you want to show up on lists like this it helps to have “SEO” in your Twitter bio.
- I only included people, not agencies, and I only included people who were easy to identify as people. That means those using some sort of nickname on their Twitter profiles that prevented me from knowing who they were didn’t get included. Sure, I could have researched who “Asad SEO” was but I wanted to promote those who are more up front about who they are.
- In building my list, I only included those who had tweeted within the past 90 days.
- Follower stats as of 2 May, 2017.
What I found interesting:
- Top Ten Updates:
- Number 6, Nancy Badillo, and number 9, Steve Cartwright, are new to list.
- Rand Fishkin jumped 75,843 followers since last year ranking him 4th instead of 5th.
- You needed to have at least 14,220 to make the top 100.
- That number is considerably lower than last year’s 25,760. This was due to the lack of tweeting. Remember, I only included those who had tweeted within the past 90 days.
- Could this be foretelling of Twitter’s future? Comment and let me know your thoughts
- The top two have passed ½ million followers
- 3 of the top 100 mention Star Wars in their bios!
- Congrats to our CEO, Josh Steimle, for making the list
- If you notice anything else interesting, comment below.
Now, on to the list:
| Rank | Name | Twitter Profile | Bio | Followers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Matt Cutts | mattcutts | Former head of the webspam team at Google. Currently working with the US Digital Service in DC. Opinions are my own. |
536501 |
| 2 | Danny Sullivan | dannysullivan | Founding Editor, @MarketingLand & @SEngineLand, covering Google, Facebook, Twitter, SEO, SEM & all things digital marketing, search marketing and search. |
516769 |
| 3 | Susan Dolan | GoogleExpertUK | Google Expert – Public #Speaker @QueensLeaders Mentor #Google #SEO #SocialMedia #Twitter @ROCeteer_Inc susan@seowebmarketing.co.uk |
471268 |
| 4 | Rand Fishkin | randfish | Moz founder, author, feminist, husband to @everywhereist, Techstars & @backstage_cap investor. I tweet 30-40X/week about marketing, SEO, tech, & startups. |
373744 |
| 5 | Scott Levy | FuelOnline | CEO of Fuel Online Premier Digital Agency SocialMedia & SEO Best Selling Author, Actor, Investor Huge NFL FAN! #PATRIOTS -Tweet Naked https://t.co/BZtCKyZYyR |
355160 |
| 6 | Nancy Badillo | NancyBadillo13 | Hi – I am Nancy Badillo. Blogger, Speaker, and Entrepreneur! Learn everything about digital #marketing at my #blog! Aspiring Millionaire! |
283619 |
| 7 | Neil Patel | neilpatel | Entrepreneur, investor & influencer. Columnist for Forbes, Inc, Entrepreneur, Huffington Post & more. Founded @CrazyEgg with @hnshah. |
252214 |
| 8 | Steve Cartwright | FX_Digital | I help businesses identify realistic online goals and then I help them achieve these goals using website design, content marketing, conversion rate optimization |
225869 |
| 9 | Deke Bridges | dekebridges | Social Media, Online Marketing, SEO, IT Geek STUFF, Great tips! Creative writing, Running, Entrepreneur, Breathe deep, Smile more! #GoDucks |
204689 |
| 10 | Avinash Kaushik | avinash | Author, Web Analytics 2.0 & Web Analytics: An Hour A Day | Digital Marketing Evangelist, Google | Co-Founder, Market Motive |
181820 |
| 11 | Sam Hurley | Sam___Hurley | The Guy Who Went From ‘Nobody’ to #1 Marketing Influencer in 15 Months (Without a Website) Featured in: @entrepreneur @inc @fastcompany @Forbes @TheNextWeb |
167600 |
| 12 | Kristopher B. Jones | krisjonescom | Internet Marketing Veteran, Best-Selling Author, SEO, Serial Entrepreneur, Angel Investor, FrenchGirls Cofounder, Public Speaker, Husband, Father, Tesla owner |
156406 |
| 13 | Kyle Gosselin | kylepractor | #CEO @marketingapes #digital #Marketer 10 + Years Experience. SEO, SEM, Affiliate & Social. Father of 2, husband #consultant, sports & life. |
154565 |
| 14 | Alexander Aranda | ThinkBusiness | Entrepreneur, investor, seo consultant, globetrotter. Stop reading this in your head and say HELLO! info@AlexanderAranda.com |
122882 |
| 15 | Aimee Beck | aimee_beck | Organic SEO, web writer, entrepreneur & speaker. Founder & CEO of Beck SEO Copywriting. Go, Be, Do! | 111209 |
| 16 | Charles Edgar | CharlesEdgar6 | Online specialist with over 12 years internet marketing experience. #socialmedia #seo #contentmarketing #affiliatemarketing #digitalmarketing #video #facebook | 108425 |
| 17 | Lee Odden | leeodden | CEO @TopRank Marketing. Author, Speaker & Consultant on B2B Content & Influencer Marketing, Social Media, PR & SEO. Proud Dad, World Traveler, Foodie, Beardie. |
100045 |
| 18 | Barry Schwartz | rustybrick | Search Geek | 89987 |
| 19 | John E. Lincoln | johnelincoln | CEO of @ignitev – MBA, expert marketing consultant, columnist for Inc., Huffpo, Entrepreneur, Search Engine Land, Forbes – I want to help you win. |
89190 |
| 20 | Joachim Rodriguez | IM_Coaching | Webmaster, Marketer and #SEO Samurai up for a tweet – Digging deep to get you the Nuggets out of all the Online Marketing Noise |
77988 |
| 21 | AJ Ghergich | SEO | SEO & Content Marketing Expert. I Tweet Industry News That Is Actually Worth Reading! | 69507 |
| 22 | Chris Makara | ChrisMakara | Digital Marketing Strategist & @Bulkly Founder [https://t.co/kcevSH1o8c] – Ambidextrous bowler skilled in #SEO, #SocialMedia, #Automation & #Analytics. |
66604 |
| 23 | Ann Smarty | seosmarty | Brand manager @NinjasMarketing | Founder https://t.co/6DrT01MtFU & https://t.co/YshfNPhNKg +If all you need is SEO, follow @annsmarty [I tweet a lot! |
62990 |
| 24 | Tim Kinser | tdkinser | Follow me for all things real estate, sales, SEO, marketing, lead generation, digital and social media. | 59248 |
| 25 | Mike Allton | mike_allton | Content Marketing Practitioner | CMO | Author | Award Winning Social Media Blogger | Fluent in Star Wars | 56592 |
| 26 | Brian Dean | Backlinko | Link Building. SEO. Content Marketing. | 50848 |
| 27 | Lukasz Zelezny | LukaszZelezny | Keynote Speaker, Head of Organic @uSwitchUK, Author. Helping People to increase organic traffic, conversion rate & return of investment. #SEO PPC & Social Media |
49502 |
| 28 | Chuck Aikens | chuckaikens | CEO @VolumeNine 16 Year Search Marketing Vet. Pretend Scratch Golfer. | 48617 |
| 29 | Dr. Pete Meyers | dr_pete | Marketing Scientist at Moz (http://t.co/5epTIby8ju). Mad Hatter of MozCast (http://t.co/csx1uSe3CQ). | 47693 |
| 30 | Elizabeth l Maness | ElizbethLManess | Relationship Expert Helping Singles and Businesses meet their perfect match using Social Media and SEO @divabusiness Mompreneur in Business online since 2003. |
45274 |
| 31 | Matt Sawyer | mattuk | London and Surrey based social media junkie. Part time blogger full time timewaster. Head of SEO and Digital Marketing at Datadial. |
44664 |
| 32 | Anthony Johnson | AnthonyJohns0n | Just a #Geek who has been doing Digital Marketing for over a decade, giving free #seo #socialmedia advice to #biz. Ask me, it’s free! Digital Influencer. #BNI |
44350 |
| 33 | Mike Glover | Inbound_Mike | Digital Marketing Strategist Tweeting about Inbound Marketing & SEO | Web, Content & #SocialMedia Mgr @ECPIUniversity | Hubspot #InboundMarketing Certified |
43026 |
| 34 | Ralf Schwoebel | orgaralf | Coding for a better web since 1995 – The truth about eCommerce, databases, SEO, StartUp, Apps and Javascript: German and English! |
42901 |
| 35 | Wil Reynolds | wilreynolds | I help people find stuff on the Internet. Serial Underdog @seerinteractive, I am whatever you say I am. | 42404 |
| 36 | Aleyda Solis | aleyda | International SEO & ASO Consultant & Speaker. @Orainti Founder. https://t.co/wVdjknSh15 Author. @sengineland & @Moz Blogger. Building @Remotersnet. |
41837 |
| 37 | David Rosam | writingforseo | The SEO Copy and Content Marketing Blog, written by SEO and copywriting veteran David Rosam. | 41798 |
| 38 | Marcus Tandler | mediadonis | Hello, I’m Marcus. Compulsive Entrepreneur from Munich / Germany. Keynote Speaker & TEDx Talker (http://t.co/LLufcCxxUI). Search Theorist in love with SEO. |
39993 |
| 39 | Cyrus Shepard | CyrusShepard | Follow to learn about SEO, higher rankings, increased conversions, and 10x content. Founder of Fazillion Media. Former Head of SEO & Content @Moz |
38546 |
| 40 | Matt McGee | mattmcgee | EIC @Martech_Today, @MarketingLand & @SEngineLand. Founder of @atu2. Author of @U2diary. Christian, husband, dad, etc. Smell the flowers while you can. |
37326 |
| 41 | Lisa Barone | LisaBarone | CMO at @Overit, a digital agency Redefining Creative through motion graphics, development, design, SEO/PPC, PR, content & social. lisa@overit.com |
36886 |
| 42 | Will Critchlow | willcritchlow | I run Distilled, enjoy cooking, playing basketball and drinking whisky (in nearly any order) | 36718 |
| 43 | Nick Stamoulis | NickStamoulis | Nick Stamoulis is President of SEO firm, https://t.co/iRoA3V7Op7 and Owner of https://t.co/sBfsFzu5Vc | 36686 |
| 44 | Bill Slawski | bill_slawski | Excited by #Search, #SemanticWeb, #environment, #patents, #music & #life. Director of Search at https://t.co/JIuH0IXEkt https://t.co/m1CkMTlJ2f Carlsbad |
31668 |
| 45 | Stone Slade | StoneInAustin | Modern Dad on A&E, Professional Parent, Web & Graphic Designer, Marketing, SEO & Social Media Manager, Actor, Public Figure, Promoter, Wise Ass. #BernieOrBust |
31449 |
| 46 | Ian Lurie | portentint | CEO of Portent. Speaker. Digital Marketer. I blog at https://t.co/7VjBULpV4f. I tweet digital marketing & news 5-8 times/day. Randomness, more often. |
31236 |
| 47 | Andy Beal | AndyBeal | The Original Online Reputation Expert, Speaker, author & CEO of @RepRefinery. Podcasting at https://t.co/EoWZJ5y12n |
30394 |
| 48 | Marc Fabregas | mfabregas0 | Digital Marketing Responsible at autopistas, an Abertis company https://t.co/WOk96jgAH1 | 29896 |
| 49 | Gianluca Fiorelli | gfiorelli1 | International SEO & Inbound Strategist, @Moz Associate & @stateofdigital blogger. Founder of @theinbounder, the actionable inbound conference ( May 2017) |
28982 |
| 50 | Dave Naylor | DaveNaylor | Head of Search Marketing and Speaker http://t.co/1qfEk9QOEP Bronco is a leading Digital Agency which I run with @BeckyNaylor |
28480 |
| 51 | Rabbi Jason Miller | RabbiJason | Rabbi, Blogger, Tech Entrepreneur, Journalist & Educator. Owner of Detroit based Technology Company. Proud Daddy. Owner: @accesscomputer & @koshermichigan. |
28331 |
| 52 | Tim Ash | tim_ash | Digital Marketing Keynote (https://t.co/hgjyBwROQn). CEO of https://t.co/6dG7jbtEv1, Author of Landing Page Optimization. Chair of https://t.co/7Y1Wtt5ceM |
28093 |
| 53 | Kevin Wood | keewood | Digital Project Manager at Zimmerman Advertising, Nissan Division. Passionate about digital strategy, UX, social media, design, SEO, & analytics. |
27202 |
| 54 | Richard Baxter | richardbaxter | Founder of Digital Agency Builtvisible // investor + incubator in several E-commerce companies – follow @Builtvisible or find me in the real world @richbRacing |
25958 |
| 55 | Tom Bourlet | tom_bourlet | Blogger on SpaghettiTraveller, Huffington Post & SuitYourLook, organise TakeItOffline, love the gym & D’n’B in Brighton. SEO, PPC Social Media Marketing Analyst |
25879 |
| 56 | Glen Allsopp | ViperChill | Founder of https://t.co/5a1dJYyy0k and https://t.co/q8PGS47AHx I also run a number of niche-focused marketing agencies. |
24936 |
| 57 | Dave Hazlehurst | googledave | Partner @PhCreative Author of Getting Goosebumps. Speaker on Digital Love: Inbound, SEO, Content, Social Media, LFC, Hate: Liver, Odd Socks,Crap T-Bags! |
24674 |
| 58 | Matt Antonino | mattantonino | Marketing consultant for all businesses. Blogger, aspiring author, & agency owner. #seo | 24071 |
| 59 | Benoit Arsenault | NebSEO | Founder of simpliciT marketing inc. a digital agency that helps business in getting better results in their digital strategies. Follow us : @simplimarketing |
23751 |
| 60 | Patrick Altoft | patrickaltoft | Entrepreneur, investor, golfer, cyclist & former co-owner of @Branded_3 | 23580 |
| 61 | John Hocking | 10minuteexpert | John Hocking loves to help people and create training videos on #AdWords, #Affiliate, #Marketing, #Blogging, #InternetMarketing, #SocialMedia and #SEO |
23365 |
| 62 | Ross Hudgens | RossHudgens | Founder and CEO of @siegemedia, a content marketing agency. I tweet SEO, entrepreneurship, technology, and startups. |
23336 |
| 63 | Aloysius Carl | aldigital | Digital – Inbound Marketer – Interaction Specialist – E-commerce, Social Media, Mobile, SEO, SEM, & PPC – Available for Consulting and Speaking Engagements |
23149 |
| 64 | Eric Enge | stonetemple | Digital Marketing Excellence Practitioner | 23093 |
| 65 | Jon Cooper | PointBlankSEO | Digital nomad & entrepreneur. Link builder. Audiobook addict. Anchorman fanboy. | 22433 |
| 66 | Will Newland | Newlandw | Founder and Director of @SoboldLtd. Digital Marketing enthusiast and proud member of the Doombar Beach Club owning Desert Sensation |
22351 |
| 67 | Megan Smith | smithmegan | 3rd U.S. CTO, Entrepreneur, Engineer | 22186 |
| 68 | Julian Connors | JConnorsSEO | Experienced Search Marketing Director – Author of Mastering The Art of Social SEO | 21881 |
| 69 | Rhea Drysdale | Rhea | CEO, Outspoken Media. 40 Under 40. Nocturnal tea lover. 50% SEO / 50% Reputation Marketing. 100% driven. | 21162 |
| 70 | Daron Babin | SEORockstars | Learn SEO from the Rockstars who helped build the industry. Daron’s been doing SEO since 1996 & is joined by Chris Boggs. |
20780 |
| 71 | Joe Williams | zenoptimise | Founder of Zen Optimise. Sharer of SEO, Content Marketing and Social Media. | 20712 |
| 72 | Giancarlo D’Urso | giancarlodurso | Computer Scientist. Semantic web specialist: #microformats, #RDFa, #SEO, #SMO. Other Interests: #cryptography, #quantum #computing, numerical applications |
19868 |
| 73 | Aaron Agius | IAmAaronAgius | Speaker, #SEO & #contentmarketer. Co-founder @IAmLouderOnline and help some of the world’s largest brands build their online presence. |
18728 |
| 74 | Steve Morozumi | SFenthusiast | Strategic Social Branding – Enthusiastic hi-value content, influencer engagement & #CompassionateAI @marvinminsky #AI | #TwitterSmarter CMGR |
18390 |
| 75 | Angie Schottmuller | aschottmuller | Growth Marketing Advisor & Keynote Speaker. Forbes & Entrepreneur Top-Rated Online Marketer. #StarWars Rebel. Conversion Optimist #CRO #SEO #CONTENT #UX |
18373 |
| 76 | Jordan Kasteler | JordanKasteler | Digital Marketing Consultant / Entrepreneur, Content and Social Media Marketer / Author / Speaker / Activist / Passionately innovating status quo |
18085 |
| 77 | William Harris | wmharris101 | Growth Marketer and Founder @ https://t.co/bpOXwlo5wX | Contributor @ https://t.co/US58h9yarD, https://t.co/AZs6NV3s58, https://t.co/eGWAOkTlk1 | Speaker @ IRCE |
17937 |
| 78 | Debra Mastaler | debramastaler | Digital Marketing | Link Building | Media Outreach | Reviewer | Speaker | Loves Trees| #SEO #linkbuilding #publicity #Fairfax #DC #NorthernVirginia |
17916 |
| 79 | Fernando Macia | fernandomacia | Director y SEO @humanlevel. Autor de libros sobre posicionamiento web y marketing online. International speaker. |
17329 |
| 80 | Andy Drinkwater | iqseo | UK based Freelance #SEO & #UX consultant & part-time gym goer. 17 year SEO vet and 20 years UX. I live and breathe Internet marketing https://t.co/wK3EYJ3iSZ |
17205 |
| 81 | Duane Forrester | DuaneForrester | VP, Industry Insights @Yext, former SEO @MSN & Bing Webmaster Tools launcher. Author: How To Make Money With Your Blog & Turn Clicks Into Customers. |
17198 |
| 82 | Nate Dame | seonate | SEO advocate/strategist, emphasis in SaaS & B2B, tweets about results-driven #SEO and #content mkt. CEO @propecta, husband, dad, love God love people! |
17049 |
| 83 | AJ Kohn | ajkohn | Owner, Blind Five Year Old. Digital Marketer, Start-Up Advisor, Speaker and Curator. Tweet about SEO, Marketing, Technology, Social Media and UX. |
16762 |
| 84 | Brian Jackson | brianleejackson | Director of Inbound Marketing @Kinsta High-Performance #WordPress hosting. Obsessed with #SEO, SaaS, #webperf, WP, SMM & growth hacking. Blogger @mywoorkup |
16672 |
| 85 | Justin Briggs | justinrbriggs | CEO of Briggsby, a boutique marketing agency, and full time film student. | 16585 |
| 86 | JulieJoyce | JulieJoyce | Owner of and Director of Operations for the link building company Link Fish Media, Inc. and co-founder of SEO Chicks. Monthly columnist for Search Engine Land. |
16355 |
| 87 | Josh Steimle | joshsteimle | Agency CEO, @TEDx speaker, author Chief Marketing Officers at Work, 200+ articles on Mashable, TechCrunch, Forbes, Time. I turn people into influencers |
16082 |
| 88 | Mark Traphagen | marktraphagen | Senior Director of Brand Evangelism for Stone Temple – Speaker & Author – Digital Marketing | SEO | Content Marketing | Social Media | Tweets represent me alone |
16022 |
| 89 | Melissa Fach | SEOAware | Social Media & Marketing Consultant Wife to @Paulfach, Writer, Editor, Geek, Non-Cook, Star Wars Fan & Cat Slave |
15920 |
| 90 | Lisa Myers | LisaDMyers | CEO & Founder of Award Winning SEO Agency @VerveSearch. Founder of @WomenInSearch SEO Lover. Conference Speaker. Business Mentor. Mum. Original. |
15642 |
| 91 | Glenn Gabe | glenngabe | Digital Marketing Consultant at G-Squared Interactive, focused heavily on SEO, SEM, and Social Advertising. Columnist at Search Engine Land. |
15618 |
| 92 | Arnie Kuenn | ArnieK | CEO of Vertical Measures a PPC, SEO & Content Marketing agency. International speaker. Co-author of Content Marketing Works. Hiking, travel & most sports. |
15569 |
| 93 | Charles Friedo Frize | Charlesfrize | #CEO & #Founder Of #FrizeMedia 3 #Content Rich Sites. Advertise With Us #ThoughtLeader, #InfluencerMarketing #DigitalMarketing, #GrowthHacking #BrandAdvocacy |
15462 |
| 94 | Gregg Thorpe | greggthorpe | We quickly uncover & solve what is keeping your website from TOP Google rankings. Call for a review of your site’s SEO & let’s get you RANKED! |
15413 |
| 95 | Ben Wynkoop | benwynkoop1 | SEO specialist focused on local search and link building. @USMC veteran interested in traveling, caffeine, cats and mixed martial arts. |
15365 |
| 96 | Tom Pick | TomPick | Independent B2B digital marketing consultant – I help clients improve online visibility and results through SEO, social, PPC, content, and #martech strategy. |
15103 |
| 97 | Mike Pedersen | mikepedersen | Dental Marketing Agency Founder, Entrepreneur. Fitness Nut. Coffee Lover. SEO and Website Design Expert | Podcaster | https://t.co/e3bxFnCFTH |
14775 |
| 98 | Kate Morris | katemorris | A Texan Liberal. Married to @dallasnchains, 4 fur babies, lifter. Director, SEO at Craftsy (opinions are my own). |
14606 |
| 99 | Jon Rognerud | jonrognerud | Business Growth Expert For Agencies and Services Firms. Waiting list: https://t.co/7PQJcpVtrx | 14318 |
| 100 | Martin MacDonald | searchmartin | Head of SEO & Content for @orbitz & @cheaptickets. Blogs @forbes, @huffpost 40+ global conferences & keynotes | 14220 |
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