Update: Our Top SEO Women badges for 2010 and 2011 are finally out! As well, we’re accepting nominations for the 2012 year, so be sure to nominate your favorite.
2011 is here, and I know many of you have been trying to get your budgets, online presence and campaigns off the ground. I’d love to tell you it’s easy, but I’d be lying to you. Rather than pour a whole bunch of information out today, I decided I’d add to our list of Top SEO Women instead.
Articles throughout 2010 have been written about women and how they contribute to our community. Our post on Top SEO Women for 2010, for example, got a lot of hits and is still being linked to today.
As you peruse this list, I encourage you to take the time and search these women out. Connect with them. Not only are they beautiful people, but they are also movers, shakers and just plain intelligent.
One of the best articles out there that has touched on women online is Kikolni’s (aka Kristi Hines) Kikolani – 125 Fearless Women Bloggers. Within this list are entrepreneurs, experts, CEOs and published authors, among others. It’s an article well worth reading.
Another place to find a list of fantastic women bloggers is the SOB A-Z Directory. For years, Liz Strauss has had awards for Successful Outstanding Blogger (SOB), and handed them out to many men and women.
Although these two places have excellent links to inspirational writers, I’d like to focus on women just in the SEO community. I hope that we can continue to add some amazing women in our industry – women you can come to know and respect.
Who Are They?
Lyena Solomon
Also known as @lyena on Twitter, she’s a wonderful woman I’ve personally met. I was blown away by how such a petite woman had so much dynamite information, especially when it comes to Google Analytics and PPC. She is also bilingual, with a strong command of Russian and English – she speaks both fluently I might add.
Kim Krause Berg
Also known as @kim_cre8pc on Twitter, you’ll find Kim’s footprints in several blogs, forums and social feed. Organic SEO, information architecture, usability, search engine marketing practices – the woman knows more about search and usability than one person has any right to remember.
Melissa Fach
Also known as @SEOAware on Twitter, Melissa is the owner of SEO Aware, LLC. I’ve been following her wonderful, information Twitter feed regarding SEO. She has a no nonsense approach and is always there for a good laugh or an even greater link.
Michèle Ménard
Also known as @michele_menard on Twitter, I’ve noticed she’s one of the few women in Italy keeping up with what’s going on in search. She’s a bilingual Italian/French online communications specialist, as well as a Web 2.0, SEO & social media expert.
Nichola Stott
Also known as @NicholaStott on Twitter, this young woman was introduced to me in the SEO Dojo, a place where the real SEO’s hang out. Making her global mark in SEO and social media as the owner of The Media Flow, she’s also a speaker/blogger for State of Search, Search Engine Watch and SEO Chicks.
Jill Whalen
Also known as @jillwhalen on Twitter. I’ve been reading her posts everywhere, and as one of our comments on the last post stated, we didn’t include her. We’re amending the oversight this year. Jill has been in search since search engine optimization began in the early 1990s. She’s CEO of High Rankings, the company she founded in 1995.
Rebekah May
Rebekah is a fellow SEO warrior from the SEO Dojo and is also known as @rebekah_am. She’s an entrepreneur, SEO and marketing consultant. As well, she founded Whole-SEO, which helps small businesses leverage the power of the Internet to increase their exposure.
Debra Mastaler
Debra is a regular on the Dojo and goes by @debramastaler on Twitter. She’s one of those people I like to think of as the backbone of all SEO efforts. She’s known as the link-building powerhouse. Debra creates strategies and tactics focused on increasing link popularity and brand exposure through creative link marketing.
Aleyda Solis
Aleyda is a newcomer but this list would not be complete without this power house from Latin America. You can follow her on Twitter @aleyda
The list from 2010 and today are just a few of the women out there in the world of search. Many work behind the scenes and aren’t known online. You may know someone like this, working next to you every day – the unsung feminine heroine who always gets the job done on time, without fail: the intelligent woman whose brain you pick whenever you have a question about search.
If you do, we’d like to hear about her. If you know someone we haven’t mentioned, tell us whom you think should be added to the list! I look forward to hearing from all of you and again, thanks for all your input.
30 Responses
Stephanie we are all cheering for you 🙂
This isn´t the newest but dahm it was useful and looks like some really sharp womans. I feel inspired 🙂 Will for sure keep reading blogs post here. Thanks
It is very rare that we receive applications from women within SEO at our agency here in Copenhagen.
Has been like this since we opened our doors in 2011. However I can see this change over the next few years as SEO is also changing.
It’s great to see women getting recognition in the SEO industry! Well done, ladies!
I been working with SEO on a daily basis and very rarely see women working with SEO, and not quite understanding why there are so few women in the SEO Business. Women often seem to have some very interesting ideas working with online marketing.
In AW Media, we’re currently looking to hire a new SEO Manager. Sadly, there haven’t been one single female application. There are too few girls in SEO!
Hey Mark hopefully you’ll find someone soon. 🙂
Thanks – hope so! Have a nice weekend 🙂
thanks for a great list of very interessting persons.
Some of them im going to follow on G+ now 🙂
Definitely all new faces to me… I loved Kristi’s list, by the way – she introduced a lot of us!
Hope I’ll make your 2012 list. lol
2012 is gone my dear Ana 😉 we’re going to get our list for 2013 ready. As a matter of fact I’ll be sending you an email regarding this “other” project I have going that I think you would be PERFECT for. Stay tuned, let me catch up with this week (to think it’s only Monday) work then I will be contacting you. Are you in California too? Where?
Ayayay – what am I thinking! this post is 2011, not 2012! lol
Just moved to San Francisco; isn’t it where you are as well?
Yes, been here for almost 17 years, left for over 6 years and now I’m back! We should have coffee soon 😉
I’m glad that women can also perform all work, congratulations to these smart girls, especially aleyda Solis.
Thanks for listing me Gabriella – I see a lot of names I respect on this list and its an honor that you thought to include me among them 🙂
How about Ms. Pittman?
Also Heather Lloyd of SEO Copywriting
Anne Handley at Marketing Profs
Ken, as much as I would love to add our Ms. Pittman to the fray, we cannot. But around here she’s our number one! 🙂 We are taking nominations for our 2012 Top SEO Women Plus giving away badges. We will eventually add 10 new names and let the people decide. Cheers, have an awesome week.
Yes I should have been more prolific! Good to see the girls doing the seo business for 2011 though, go for it.
lol Thanks for the input, but if the picture on the forum is Micallef, she has a bit of facial hair… not judging, of course, but ya know… it IS top SEO women 😉
I am so glad to see this many women out there in the field making their names… very nice and wonderful.
Great list with some (new for me) interesting people to follow on Twitter. Thank you very much.
I would definitely add @sugarrae and @melanienathan to the list to just name a few extra 😉
Is this is? My list would have Rae Hoffman, Vanessa Fox, Lisa Barone, and tons more.
Thank you for listing me 🙂 It is an honor to be with such a great group of SEOs!
Some of my favorites, too. I’m just going to say “dittos!”
Nice background about each, learned some tidbits. Well done!
This pleasant shock absolutely made my day! What an honor 🙂 Thank you so much for including me with these amazing women.
Good list, some I already follow but I’ve picked up some new experts from this post. Thanks!
Gabriella – what a nice way to start my day, thank you very much for including me on your list along with these other great women. Women of SEO rock! 🙂
Thank you John 🙂
I am beyond honored to be included in this article and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. You have made my day. 🙂