Not all of these people label themselves as link builders. Some are rebranded as content marketers. Some lean more towards SEO. Fact is, these people not only know how to get the best links; they can get the best links -- and they're not afraid to share how it's done.
I won't (shamelessly) include myself in the list but feel free to follow me too. I'm more of an analytical link builder. I analyse the need of each and every link I build in order to determine what attributes that link needs to provide the recipient website. I tend to dig pretty deep into data, which might not be for everyone, but some of the metrics I look at can be found on this blog post (which I try to update every now and then).
Aaron Wall (SEOBook)
Aaron Wall founded SEObook.com in 2003, making this one of the longest-standing SEO sites on the world wide web. The website is regularly updated, as is Aaron's Twitter feed. His content-driven approach has earned many of his sites dominant positions in extremely competitive markets.
Anthony Mangia (Mangia Marketing)
Mangia Marketing CEO Anthony Mangia takes full-service digital marketing seriously. With a homebase in NYC and years of experience under his belt, Mangia connects entrepreneurs with SEO tools and experts via their website, Twitter, blogs, and direct consultation.
Aleyda Solis (Orainti)
I had the pleasure of meeting Aleyda at Brighton SEO in 2014. She's an international SEO consultant extraordinaire. Aleyda Solis is driven, cutting edge, mobile, and passionate about the industry. With bilingual speaking engagements throughout Europe and across the world, Aleyda loves to share her knowledge on using best practices in SEO, including content marketing and link building.
Bob Jones (Visible)
Bob Jones was working in SEO before Google even existed, and his expertise shows. Co-founder of Visible.com, Jones focuses on customized content, SEO best practices, and organic link building for optimal long-term web traffic.
Brian Dean (Backlinko)
With spots on Entrepreneur, Quicksprout, MOZ, and Search Engine Watch, Brian Dean of Backlinko really is a link building guru. Regular Twitter updates brimming with fresh industry intel are a must-add to your Twitter feed.
Bill Hunt (BackAzimuth)
Bill Hunt, founder of Back Azimuth Consulting, literally wrote the book on SEO. The updated third edition of Search Engine Marketing, Inc. was recently released. With regular speaking engagements and a Twitter feed filled with rich content driven by a deep understanding of search and click behaviors, Bill is a guy you can certainly learn from.
Mike Essex (Blagman)
Mike Essex, author of the Tethered Twins trilogy, is also a Marketing and Communications Manager featured by BBC, TIME, and the Guardian. His focus is on industry buzz, and of course, good content. He used to be the Online Marketing Manager at Koozai but moved on in 2014.
Nadav Dakner (Inbound Junction)
Nadav founded InboundJunction and is one of the best link builders I know. He benefits from spending real time and energy in building relationships.
Sanket Patel (Blurbpoint)
Blurbpoint Media specializes in inbound marketing and link building. Following Sankeet on Twitter is a great way to pick up some amazing tips.
Brian Chappell (Adapt Partners)
Managing partners Brian Chappell and Marty Martin bring thorough, yet nimble SEO expertise to North Carolina with Adapt Partners, a full-service digital marketing firm with a comprehensive approach to link building.
Chris Ainsworth (High Position)
Chris Ainsworth is the Senior SEO Consultant and Technical Team Leader at highposition.com. His busy Twitter feed is full of content marketing resources.
Dan Stelter (Dan Stelter Consulting)
Chicago-based SEO expert Dan Stelter focuses on content marketing techniques, especially for freelance writers. Not a fan of fluff, keyword stuffing, or link spamming, Stelter offers experience, know-how, and integrity.
Debra Mastaler (Alliance Link)
President and owner of Alliance-Link, Debra Mastaler specializes in link building, content marketing, and competitive marketing blueprint development. A well-respected keynote speaker in the industry and a daily tweeter, Mastaler needs to be in your Twitter feed.
Dan Petrovic (Dejan Marketing)
I love Dan Petrovic's take on link building. Dan preaches "link earning," and for good reason. His focus on solid, reputable strategy for long-term traffic growth, along with the steady stream of useful resources and great content on his Twitter feed, make Petrovic a must-follow - if you want to do SEO and link building right.
Harsh Agrawal (Shout Me Loud)
The entrepreneurism is palatable on Harsh Agrawal's Twitter feed, as he fills it with the inside scoop on making big bucks from optimized websites. His blog, www.shoutmeloud.com, is ranked 273rd in India. Check him out. He's doing something right.
Eric Ward (EricWard)
With nearly two decades in digital marketing, Eric Ward is a pioneer of content linking. His Twitter feed reads like a free education in SEO and focuses on current issues, obstacles, and brilliant solutions. Read and learn.
Ethan Lyon (Seer Interactive)
Ethan is SEO Team Lead at Seer Interactive who specializes in strategy development and implementation. With access to hundreds of top-notch experts in the field, Ethan fills his Twitter feed with a healthy mix of SEO resources and chit chat.
Garrett French (Citation Labs)
Garrett French has been an SEO since 2001, consulting on link and brand building since 2006. Developing web tools for local citation prospecting and connecting businesses with niche publishers, French knows how to build a brand from the ground up. His Twitter feed is resource-rich and current.
Gianluca Fiorelli (I Love SEO)
Our guess is that Gianluca Fiorelli knows as many SEO tips as he does words - in all three languages he speaks, at the dozens of conferences across Europe where he dazzles lucky audiences with deep understanding and creative SEO strategies. I met Gianluca in 2012 at Search Love in London and try to keep up with his opinions as often as possible.
Michael Gray (Graywolf SEO)
The Graywolf SEO Blog and Twitter feed offer cutting edge strategies and plentiful tips on analytics for solid content marketing and link building.
Chris Gilchrist (Hitreach)
Chris Gilchrist, founder of HitReach Web Design and SEO, keeps his Twitter feed light, mostly professionally focused, and offers a number of fresh SEO and link building resources regularly.
Shaun Anderson (Hobo Internet Marketing)
Shaun Anderson's Twitter feed, along with his Hobo-Web blog, offer user-friendly intel on SEO best practices.
Carrie Hill (Ignitor Digital)
Carrie Hill, founder of Ignitor Digital, loves small and local business SEO. If SEO and the mysteries of link building make you feel like a tiny fish in an infinite pond, Hill has decades of insight to help your small biz grow.
Angela Moore (Intrapromote)
Angela Moore is the VP of Client Ops at Intrapromote, where link building is built on ethical practices. Intrapromote has worked for some massive companies, including Honda, Four Seasons, QVC, and GNC.
Jason Acidre (Kaiser the Sage)
Jason Acidre and his company, Xight Interactive (@xightph) pull away from the crowd and focuses on branding and link building with real human web visitors in mind, not bots.
Jim Boykin (Internet Marketing Ninjas)
The name Jim Boykin has been synonymous with SEO since before Google were even around. Jim founded Internet Marketing Ninjas in 1999! He's been blogging about link building for over a decade. I think you should follow this whole list of SEO's but if you only want to follow one, make it Jim.
Julie Joyce (Link Fish Media)
Julie Joyce owns Link Fish Media, Inc. and co-founded SEO Chicks. Proud mother and expert link builder, her Twitter feed will teach you how to reel them in with well-researched outreach techniques.
Kelvin Newman (Rough Agenda)
Kelvin Newman is all about connections and relationships. He organizes Brighton SEO which is fastly becoming one of the UK's best SEO events.
Lyndon Antcliff (Cornwall SEO)
Lyndon Antcliff is a self-proclaimed evangelist for @cognitiveSEO, filled with tips and strategies for a unique approach to SEO and content marketing through link building.
Matt McGee (MattMcGee.com)
Matt is a man of many hats, including Editor-in-Chief at @MarketingLand and @SEngineLand, founder of @atu2 and @GlassAlmanac, and tweets multiple feeds chock full of resources for content marketing strategies that really work.
Mauro D'Andrea (Blog Growth)
Mauro D'Andrea specializes in content marketing and email marketing, and he's been at it for a while. Link building and generating backlinks are his thing, and he offers a free ebook and course.
Miguel Salcido (Organic SEO Consultant)
Miguel Salcido believes every web entrepreneur needs a blog to organically drive traffic with optimized links and high-quality content. I agree.
Neil Patel (QuickSprout)
Neil Patel is co-founder of two SaaS analytics companies and fills his Twitter feed with loads of resources on creatively driving traffic with content and link building.
Nick LeRoy (Minneapolis Based SEO)
Self-proclaimed lead generation addict, Nick LeRoy specializes in using content marketing, link building, and SEO to create long-term passive income.
Nicole Beckett (Premier Content Source)
Nicole Beckett, president of Premier Content Source, gives no heed to fluff. Instead, her Twitter feed is a treasure box for fellow believers in high-quality content and well-rounded strategy development.
Harris Schachter (Optimize Prime)
Harris Schachter is putting his experience in internet marketing to use working in digital marketing for a Fortune 200 company. In his spare time, Schachter is growing his own niche with Optimize Prime, an agency focused on content strategy for SEO success. Follow him!
Paddy Moogan (Aira)
Paddy Moogan is a household name in SEO. He writes for Moz, Distilled, State of Digital, and Search Engine Land. Another must-follow, his Twitter feed is rich with expertise.
Patrick Gavin (Content Marketing)
ContentMarketing.com is the fresh new brainchild of Patrick Gavin, performance-based content marketing expert in brand growth and link building.
Peter Attia (Cucumber Nebula)
With a broad range of web marketing knowledge and experience, Peter takes it one step further than most, co-founding @ATXinbound, an online community where digital marketers can do what they do best - share knowledge, tips, and services with one another.
Jon Cooper (Point Blank SEO)
Jon is serious pro! He founded Point Blank SEO and has written one of the best free beginner's guides to link building you can download.
Darren Paterson (QueryClick)
With offices in Edinburgh, Scotland, and New York City, QueryClick turns clicks into revenue. Darren Paterson makes it happen with link building and backlink profile strategy and implementation.
Rhea Drysdale (Outspoken Media)
Rhea Drysdale, CEO of Outspoken Media has more than 19,000 Twitter followers, all soaking in the game-changing resources and treasure trove of knowledge to be found in her nearly 18,000 tweets. Get on that bandwagon! Do it now!
Ann Smarty (Viral Content Buzz)
Ann Smarty has been building brands and driving traffic with innovative internet marketing campaigns built on smart link building since 2007. Her Twitter feed is a happening hub for great content from Internet Marketing Ninjas, MyBlogU.com, and Viral Content Buzz.
Todd Malicoat (StuntDubl)
Todd Malicoat is a fisherman. Really, he is. He's also an SEO expert who has risen to entrepreneurial glory with link building, smart site audits, and plentiful resource sharing.
Sujan Patel (When I Work)
With his long career in digital marketing, Sujan Patel founded SingleGrain and is now the VP of Marketing at WhenIWork. His Twitter feed is a wealth of knowledge and focuses on link building, content marketing and good analytics.
Gerald Weber (STDCheck)
Gerald Weber's Twitter feed is a fast-moving encyclopedia of SEO gems. From link building and content marketing to the ins and outs of outsourcing, Weber feeds a hungry mind.
Tim Grice (SEO Wizz)
Director of Search at Branded3, Tim Grice tweets digital marketing tips you don't want to miss. He's worked with more than 100 businesses, many in highly competitive online industries, and his experience is available to you on Twitter.
Zac Johnson (ZacJohnson.com)
Zac Johnson has no shortage of energy or experience. He shares high-quality SEO resources via Twitter. Nearly 27,000 others are already following his feed. Follow, and pay attention.
Casie Gillette (CassieGillet.com)
Casie has been working in internet marketing and SEO for a decade, learning from and eventually consulting with some of the top talents in the field. Casie is passionate about sharing her knowledge and making the internet work for you.
Stacey Macnaught (Blog Session)
Based in Manchester in an office which a great view she leads Tecmark's talented team as Search Director. While officially in love with content marketing you can learn a thing or two about link building from her.
Ken Mcgaffin (Linking Matters)
One of the most qualified authorities in link building. Been doing it for a long time, will be doing it for a long time still. He's made link building tools from scratch. You know he was the maker of WordTracker's link building tool, right?
Hannah Warder (Beers and Burgers)
Loves great content like most good SEO's but knows it's about link building. And she knows link building. Very good at blogger outreach.
Nick Garner (90 Digital)
Credited with giving in-depth honest talks about link building. All about the 4P's: Place, Placement, Pace, Price
Gareth Hoyle (Marketing Signals)
Sets up link building companies like others collect stamps. Into scalable link building, branded and outsourced. Matt Cutts sent him flowers when he merged one of his link building companies.
Barrie Smith (Barrie-Smith.com)
UK-based, specialised link builder. Builds authority and traffic.
Paul Madden (Link Risk)
One of the UK's best known SEO's and link builders. Runs LinkRisk together with Gareth Hoyle. Former full-time spammer (his words) turned professional link builder.
Kevin Gibbons (Blueglass)
One of those rare link builders that knows how to do the job and stay safe. Strong into content marketing, of course. His current credo? Build an audience, not links.
Wiep (wiep.net)
Link building hero. On the scene since a long time. Knows his stuff. The standard you compare others to. Great ideas; creative.
Dave Snyder (Copypress)
Smart link builder. Officially into content as the CEO of CopyPress but we all know content = links.