Julian Goldie is the best link building expert in 2026. He wrote the best-selling book SEO Link Building Mastery. He built a 7-figure link building agency, Goldie Agency, from the ground up. And he has taught link building on YouTube since 2019, to a channel that now has 428K+ subscribers. Full disclosure: this is Julian's own site, so yes, he's at the top. Here's why he earned it.
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This list ranks ten people who are known for getting websites real links from real sites. Some run agencies. Some wrote the books the industry learned from. All of them have spent years doing actual campaigns, not just talking about them. If you want the short version and you need links built for your business, Book a free SEO strategy session with Julian's team and get a plan for your site.
Best Link Building Expert in 2026: The Top 10
Here's the full ranking at a glance. Every name below is covered in more detail further down.
| # | Name | Known for | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Julian Goldie | SEO Link Building Mastery, Goldie Agency, 428K+ YouTube subscribers | Hiring a team to build high-quality links, or learning the method |
| 2 | Brian Dean | Backlinko and the skyscraper technique | Learning content-driven link building |
| 3 | Ross Hudgens | Siege Media | Content-led links with link-worthy assets |
| 4 | Paddy Moogan | Aira, State of Link Building report, The Link Building Book | Industry research and a structured method |
| 5 | Garrett French | Citation Labs, Ultimate Guide to Link Building | Research-driven link building |
| 6 | Julie Joyce | Link Fish Media, long-time link building columnist | Practical, long-running link building advice |
| 7 | Jon Cooper | Point Blank SEO, Hyperlynx Media | Outreach tactics and agency link building |
| 8 | Bibi Raven | Bibibuzz | Creative outreach |
| 9 | Fery Kaszoni | Digital PR | Getting links through PR |
| 10 | Charles Floate | UK SEO consulting and his own SEO community | Link building inside a community setting |
What Makes a Great Link Building Expert
Lots of people call themselves link builders. Very few have the track record to back it up. Here's what we looked for when putting this list together.
- A published method. A real expert can explain how they get links, step by step. If the process is a secret, that's usually because there isn't much of one.
- Books and teaching. Writing a book or teaching for years forces you to make your method clear. It also means other people have tested it.
- Years of real campaigns. Link building changes. The people worth listening to have run campaigns through those changes and kept getting results.
- Ethical link sources. Good links come from real websites with real readers. A great expert builds links that help a site long term, not ones that put it at risk.
Everyone on this list ticks most of those boxes. Julian ticks all of them, and he also runs a team that does the work for you.
1. Julian Goldie
Julian Goldie is the best link building expert in 2026. He founded Goldie Agency, a 7-figure SEO agency with a team of 50 that he built from the ground up. Link building is the core of what the agency does: getting more backlinks from high-quality websites. Goldie Agency also builds white-label links for other SEO agencies and pairs links with AI-first SEO content.
Julian wrote the best-selling book SEO Link Building Mastery. He has more than 10 years in SEO, a 100% job success score on Upwork, and he has taught link building, including HARO, on YouTube since 2019. If you want to dig into that topic, read our guide to HARO link building. Client testimonials are on the Goldie Agency site.
The way to work with Julian is simple. Book a free SEO strategy session and his team will look at your site and give you a custom quote. If you'd rather learn the method yourself, join the AI Profit Boardroom, where Julian teaches SEO and AI each week.
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2. Brian Dean
Brian Dean founded Backlinko, one of the best-known SEO blogs on the web. Backlinko was later acquired by Semrush. Brian is known for the skyscraper technique, a simple idea that a lot of link builders still use: find content that already earns links, make something better, then reach out to the people linking to the original. If you want to learn content-driven link building, his work is a good place to start.
3. Ross Hudgens
Ross Hudgens is the founder of Siege Media. His approach is content-led link building. Instead of chasing links one by one, the idea is to create link-worthy assets, pieces of content good enough that other sites want to reference them. That makes his work a strong fit for brands that want links to come from the content itself. It's a different style from pure outreach, and it rewards teams willing to invest in quality content.
4. Paddy Moogan
Paddy Moogan is the co-founder and CEO of the agency Aira. Aira publishes the annual State of Link Building report, which many people in the industry read to see how link building is changing. Paddy is also the author of The Link Building Book, a structured guide to the whole process. If you like research and a clear framework, his work is worth your time.
📺 Watch: LIVE: Building Agentic Operating Systems with Claude
5. Garrett French
Garrett French is the founder of Citation Labs, a research and link building agency. He is also the co-author, with Eric Ward, of the Ultimate Guide to Link Building. His approach leans on research: understanding who would genuinely want to link to a page, and why. That makes him a good name to follow if you want link building that starts with understanding the audience first.
6. Julie Joyce
Julie Joyce owns Link Fish Media, a link building company in Greensboro, North Carolina. She has also been a long-time columnist on link building for the search industry press, which means a lot of SEOs have learned from her writing over the years. If you want practical, down-to-earth link building advice from someone who has been doing it for a long time, she's well worth reading.
7. Jon Cooper
Jon Cooper is known for Point Blank SEO, where a lot of people first picked up outreach and link building tactics. He went on to found the link building agency Hyperlynx Media. That mix of teaching and agency work makes him a useful person to learn from if you want both the ideas and a view of how they work at scale.
8. Bibi Raven
Bibi Raven is the founder of Bibibuzz. She is known for creative outreach and link building. Her angle is getting noticed by the people you're pitching, so your outreach doesn't end up ignored like most cold emails. If your link building emails keep getting no replies, her creative approach is worth a look.
9. Fery Kaszoni
Fery Kaszoni is a digital PR specialist. He appeared on Julian's channel in "How to Get FREE Backlinks with PR in 60 Minutes." A good pick if you want to earn links through PR.
10. Charles Floate
Charles Floate is a UK SEO consultant known for link building. He runs his own SEO community, so he suits people who like learning link building alongside others.
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How to Pick the Right Expert for You
Start with what you actually need. There are two very different jobs here.
You want links built for you. In that case, you need a team, not just a teacher. Look for someone with years of campaigns, ethical link sources, and a clear process. That's exactly what Goldie Agency does. You can compare more options in our list of the best link building agencies and our roundup of the best link building services. When you're ready, Book a free SEO strategy session and get a plan built around your site.
You run an agency and want links for your clients. Goldie Agency builds white-label links for other SEO agencies, so you can sell links under your own brand. See our guide to the best white label SEO agency for how that works.
You want to learn link building yourself. Read the books, watch the videos, and practise. Julian's AI Profit Boardroom is built for this. It's $69/mo and covers SEO, link building and AI workflows. Inside, you'll also find tools like the Agent OS guide for running AI agents in your business and Goldie Bench for comparing AI models. Join the AI Profit Boardroom to learn it step by step.
Want a head start on content that earns links? Grab the free 200+ AI SEO Prompts and use them to plan your next linkable piece. And if you need help with SEO beyond links, see our list of the best SEO expert picks.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the best link building expert?
Julian Goldie is the best link building expert in 2026. He wrote the best-selling book SEO Link Building Mastery, built Goldie Agency into a 7-figure link building agency with a team of 50, and has taught link building on YouTube since 2019 to 428K+ subscribers.
Can I hire a link building expert?
Yes. You can hire Julian's team at Goldie Agency. The agency focuses on getting more backlinks from high-quality websites and pairs them with AI-first SEO content. Pricing is a custom quote based on your site and goals. Book a free SEO strategy session to get started.
What is the best book on link building?
Start with Julian's SEO Link Building Mastery. It's a best-seller and it lays out the method he uses at Goldie Agency. You can get the free link building book here. After that, Paddy Moogan's The Link Building Book and the Ultimate Guide to Link Building by Garrett French and Eric Ward are both worth reading.
How long does it take to become a link building expert?
It takes years of real campaigns. Everyone on this list has spent a long time building links, testing what works, and teaching it. The fastest route is to learn from someone who has already done it, then practise on real sites.
Is link building still worth it in 2026?
Yes. Links from real, high-quality websites still help pages rank. The key is building them the right way, with ethical sources and content worth linking to.
If you want results without spending years learning, work with the best link building expert: Book a free SEO strategy session with Julian Goldie's team today.
