Sometimes, it may seem like SEO is a man’s world. And, sure, there are a lot of really talented men in the industry and I am happy to say I work with many of them. But, let’s not forget about all the ladies of SEO. This industry is perfect for anyone (male or female) with an analytical mind and a burning desire to reside at the top of their game, or the search engines. Just know, that it’s not for the faint of heart, and no one knows that better than me and the women on this list.

So, without any further ado, let’s see what we can learn about SEO from some of the best SEO women in the industry:

Anna Lewis

Anna has an obvious affinity for analytics. In-depth research and analysis are extremely important for any good SEO campaign, and in my opinion, Lewis may very well be one of the best around.

TIP: Know where your best customers are located.

“…in order to be successful, having your website found by people in the areas you serve is essential…you can use Google Analytics to really fine tune and boost your local SEO activity,” wrote Anna Lewis in her blog post, Using Google Analytics to Improve Your Local SEO Campaign.

In this informative post, Anna goes on to explain how to use Google Analytics to drill down to the demographics of your audience, and then segment organic vs. paid search traffic. A snapshot like this will highlight any areas of weakness or unexpected strengths you may have, and help you determine where to focus your SEO efforts.

Vanessa Fox

Have you ever heard of Google’s Webmaster Central? Of course you have. It tops out the list of useful and free SEO tools. Well, guess what? Vanessa created that very tool. Yeah, she’s an SEO force to be reckoned with, but she’s also a great source of advice on the subject of SEO Strategy.

TIP: Always start with a strategy.

“Even with highly technical components, having a strategy can help ensure that you’re tackling the more impactful issues first and that you’re laying groundwork to ensure that any new infrastructure elements are search-friendly from the start. That prevents you from spending all of your time fixing issues that just pop right up again.” – Excerpt from a TopRank Blog interview

Nichola Stott

Nichola earned her online communications chops at major organizations, such as PRNewswire and Yahoo! before founding her own boutique marketing agency, Media Flow. Nichola gives back to the SEO community in the form of insightful blogs; she contributes to the likes of Search Engine Watch, SEO Chicks and State of Search.

TIP: Get your USP (Unique Selling Proposition) on your website.

“Don’t chase the algorithm by trying to work out what symptoms the “most relevant” page evinces; just be the most relevant.” – Excerpt from a PCR blog post

Donna Fontenot

Donna is a regular contributor at Search Engine People and a moderator at Search Engine Roundtable, in addition to founding her own company SEO Scoop. Yes, Donna is a busy lady, but she never seems too busy to offer some sound SEO advice.

TIP: Use Grammarly to help prevent Google Panda problems.

In a recent post on her own blog, Donna goes into great detail about how Grammarly can help ensure your content is unique and high-quality. In addition to its popular grammar checker (which can help improve the quality of posts), Grammarly also offers citation audits that will let you know how original your content seems. If it is posted elsewhere, a citation or two might be warranted.

Jill Whalen

Jill is one of the pioneers of SEO, and she has been in the industry since the 90s. That’s right; the days of floppy disks, dial up and “You’ve Got Mail.” The world was a different place in the 90s, but the online world? That was more like a different galaxy. Few people who made their way back then can still claim to be an expert today, but Jill Whalen isn’t just anyone. She is currently the CEO of High Rankings, one of the longest standing SEO firms in existence, and she has many amazing tips (and probably even more great stories) about SEO.

TIP: Great copywriting is still the number 1 thing you can do for a website.

In her interview with Laura Crest of Success Works, Jill says, “I found that the hard part of SEO was finding great writers. But once you found them, it was simple enough for them to understand the whole process of making sure they used keywords within their great writing.” Instead of looking for an “SEO Writer,” find a great writer and teach him or her how to use the right keywords.

Other Resources

Barry Schwartz says that “Women are the Building Block of SEO.” And by no means is this an exhaustive list of the most powerful women in SEO (that would be too lengthy), but these women are a few of the ones I follow. It should give you a good idea of how important women have been to the industry throughout the years.

UpCity has put together a list of 25 Female SEO experts worth reading. These exceptional women on their list are not ranked in order of importance and they all offer equal value to the industry. These ladies will inform, inspire and entertain you. If you’re not familiar with them I strongly recommend that you check them out.

I also encourage you to click the links in this post to read more advice from each SEO expert mentioned here in my post, and let me know if I’ve missed one of your favorites in the comment section. Don’t forget to nominate them for Top SEO Women of the Year Award!