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The 10 Online Experts I'm Following In 2015

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This article is more than 9 years old.

Online marketers know how to get the word out about themselves because that’s their job. This makes it hard to know who to pay attention to, and who to ignore. Last year I posted the Top 10 Online Marketing Experts To Follow In 2014. Those individuals are still highly relevant, but one of the rules for this list is that you only get on it once. The objective with this list is to introduced you to top experts, both those who are well known and those who may not yet be widely recognized.

The following individuals are presented in alphabetical order by last name. If you want to learn about online marketing and stay informed read their books, follow them on social media, and subscribe to their newsletters.

Amy Africa

The CEO of Eight by Eight, a digital marketing agency, Amy Africa has been studying web design, usability, navigation, and sales conversion since the 1990s and applying her skills to work with clients like American Express, Dell, Microsoft, and Coca Cola. She is a sought-after speaker on Internet marketing topics. But here’s what I love about Amy--she writes and speaks like a normal person. Well, mostly normal. What I mean is, she’s authentic, including anecdotes on her blog about her son destroying a Toys-R-Us and meeting old men with ketchup bottles in hotels. Check out her writing, you’ll see what I mean, and you’ll like it. Connect with her on Twitter at @amyafrica.

Tim Ash

Last year I saw Tim Ash, CEO of SiteTuners, present live at Clearlink’s Confluence event in Park City, Utah, and he puts on quite a show. Nobody was dozing off. Ash is known as the go-to expert on all things related to conversion rate optimization (CRO) and is a popular speaker at events like Search Marketing Expo (SMX) and PubCon. He’s worked with Google, Yahoo!, Intuit, Nestle, eHarmony, and more than 1,200 other organizations. His book, Landing Page Optimization: The Definitive Guide to Testing and Tuning for Conversions, 2nd ed., is the definitive guide on improving conversion rates. Ash is also the founder of the Conversion Conference series. Connect with him at @tim_ash.

Andy Crestodina

If you’re into content marketing then Andy Crestodina’s book,Content Chemistry: An Illustrated Handbook for Content Marketing, should be at the top of your to-read list. In addition to being an author of what is perhaps the best content marketing book available, Crestodina is co-founder and strategic director at Chicago-based Orbit Media Studios. Crestodina has presented at Content Marketing Institute and the Social Media Success Summit, and he’s active on social media. Connect with him at @crestodina.

Ann Handley

Ann Handley is chief content officer at MarketingProfs, author of Content Rules: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos, Ebooks, Webinars (and more) that Engage Customers and Ignite Your Business and Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content (just released and a Wall Street Journal bestseller), and she has 280,000 Twitter followers and 45,000+ LinkedIn connections. Before MarketingProfs she co-founded ClickZ, a pioneer in interactive marketing news and commentary. Forbes has called her “the most influential woman in social media.” Follow her at @marketingprofs.

Arnie Kuenn

Arnie Kuenn’s first startup, Media Choice, was sold to Nielsen Media before he became CEO of Vertical Measures. Kuenn is the author of Accelerate! Move Your Business Forward Through The Convergence of Search, Social, and Content Marketing and the recently-released Content Marketing Works: 8 Steps to Transform Your Business. Kuenn is an instructor for the Online Marketing Institute and the Content Marketing Institute. @arniek is where you’ll find him.

Dr. Pete Meyers

Peter Meyers, PhD – aka Dr. Pete – is all about the data. His mission, he says, is to make data cool. With a bachelor’s degree in computer science and a PhD in cognitive psychology, Dr. Pete is the “marketing scientist” at Moz. He built the MozCast and curates the Google Algorithm History, a journal of Google updates from 2002 to the present. Find him and his thoughts at @dr_pete.

Anita Perez

A self-described “data geek,” Anita Perez is co-founder and VP of operations at TopSpot Internet Marketing. She was one of the first 100 people to become a Google Adwords Professional, and Perez has spoken SMX and Conversion Conference. Note: Anita hasn't been active on Twitter lately, but she's a rising star you'll want to keep an eye on. If enough of us follow her @arpvaldez maybe we can coax her into sharing more of her thoughts online.

Joe Pulizzi

Due to his founding theContent Marketing Institute and writing the best introduction to content marketing in his book Epic Content Marketing: How to Tell a Different Story, Break Through the Clutter, and Win More Customers by Marketing Less, there is perhaps no name more synonymous with content marketing than that of Joe Pulizzi. Pulizzi also produces Content Marketing World, a live event, publishes Chief Content Officer magazine, a bi-monthly resource for content marketing folks, and has an active podcast, “This Old Marketing”. You’ll find him at @JoePulizzi.

Angie Schottmuller

Angie Schottmuller is director of interactive strategy and optimization at Three Deep Marketing, a columnist at Search Engine Watch, and has spoken at search engine conferences like SES, SMX, and OMS, in cities like London and Texel, Netherlands, as well as being a regular in Chicago and New York. She’s also the author of The Art Institutes’ curriculum for their online marketing major. Connect with her on Twitter at @aschottmuller.

Aleyda Solis

Trilingual (Spanish/English/French), international SEO consultant Aleyda Solis works with European, Latin American, and U.S.-based companies through her company, Orainti. Based in Madrid, Solis travels the globe sharing her in-depth technical SEO. She has been to France, Germany, Chile, Israel, Turkey, Malta, and the U.S. recently, speaking at conferences such as MozCon, BrightonSEO, SMX, SES, OmWeek, and SearchLove. When she’s not consulting or speaking, she’s writing. Solis has contributed to Econsultancy’s Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Best Practice Guide and LinkDex’s SEO Now. 2014 eBook. She also tweets constantly in English and Spanish. Connect with her on Twitter at @aleyda.

Last year a lot of comments were posted asking why a certain person or another was left on the list. It’s because it’s only a list of 10 people, and there are hundreds, if not thousands, who could be included. But the comments were appreciated, and this year please give me your suggestions again. Who knows, you might bring someone to my attention I don’t already know about, and as a result they might be on the list next year.

Joshua Steimle is the CEO of MWI, a digital marketing agency.