stumbles upon the name of Matt Cutts. Often referred to as 『Google guru』, he is a major celebrity to SEO folks. Whenever he posts on his blog, gives an interview or makes a YouTube video – he always makes heads turn. So, who is the real Matt Cutts and what makes him so important? The answers is simple – Google. Cutts is one of those 『insider guys』, whom receptive ears of SEOs are always open to. Since Google is ever so secretive about what’s going on or about to happen within its Empire, SEO folks grasp any opportunity to learn something useful from what 『Google people』 condescend to share. And Matt Cutts seems to be the most generous one.
Quick facts about Matt Cutts
* Matt Cutts joined Google in January 2000 – at the time the company had less than 100 employees.
* Cutts is currently the head of Google Webspam team (part of Google’s Search Quality group) and striving to keep Google a spam-free environment
* He got the nickname 『porn cookie guy』 for giving his wife’s homemade cookies to any co-worker who noticed undesired porn in the search results
* Cutts always carries a notepad on him in which he writes down domain names of websites he comes across. At home, he checks if the results Google returns for each name are accurate
* Cutts loves dressing up for Halloween and going to the Burning Man festival in the Black Rock Desert, Nevada
* He has bachelor’s degrees in both computer science and mathematics from the University of Kentucky
* Before Google, Cutts worked for the US Department of Defense and the Numerical Design Ltd gaming engine company.
* Matt Cutts’ fans and followers are called 『Cuttlets』
* He admitted to using the 『GoogleGuy』 identity in some of the Internet posts undefined
Good Cutts, bad Cutts – Google vs SEOs
Things Matt Cutts does and says often create controversy in the SEO world. On the one hand, on his blog and in his YouTube videos he seems to provide a lot of helpful SEO advice and shed light on unclear Google policies. That’s why he’s often referred to as SEO guru.
On the other hand, some savvy SEO specialists only chuckle at some 『pieces of advice』, generously provided by the SEO mogul. They say that, in fact, Matt Cutts is a cunning wolf in sheep’s clothing who only asserts Google’s interest and rarely says anything useful. They say Cutts brings more harm than benefit to the SEO world.
1/2 of what Matt Cutts says is Google propaganda
One-half of everything Matt Cutts says benefits Google in one way or the other. He never misses an opportunity to stress that Google is all about striving for ultra-accurate search results, making the world a better place, etc. At the same time, he manages to defend even the most hypocritical of Google’s policies (for example, Google being against purchased links, but selling and displaying paid ads themselves), repeatedly landing on his feet.
1/4 of what Matt Cutts says is SEO advice
It would be unfair to say that Matt Cutts does not provide SEO advice, he certainly does. He has made tons of really educational YouTube videos, posted lots of useful thing on his blog, gave a bunch of enlightening interviews. The only thing is, Matt Cutts only says as much as he can without treading on Google’s interests. What he’s often accused of, though, is that his 『useful tips』 are nothing new to skilled SEOs and that he only pretends to help while cracking down on even white-hat SEO techniques at the same time.
It all started when Cutts declared that Google is going to penalize websites for buying/selling links and encouraged users to report websites that use purchased links. The SEO community erupted: 『Right, only Google is allowed to sell links!』, 『Matt Cutts is a two-faced SEO guru』, etc. But, again, that was something to be expected from the head of Google Webspam team. The middle ground here is to use whatever Matt Cutts says to your advantage. It’s like getting insight into your adversary’s forces: you might not like what you see there, but it’s still good to know. From this point of view, yes, he is of great use to SEOs.
1/4 of what Matt Cutts says is self promotion
In order to promote Google, Matt Cutts also has to promote himself – and that’s what he does the rest of the time. On his blog, he takes users behind the scenes of his public life, and we see Matt climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro or taking part in a sprint triathlon, etc. Luckily, he has a good sense of humor, and that is, probably, another secret of 『the Matt Cutts phenomenon』 that made him one of the biggest public faces of Google.
From Matt Cutts blog:
I spent a year as an engineer in the ads group, but that was a long time ago (28 dog years, at least). So asking me detailed AdSense or AdWords questions is sometimes like asking a cat how an airplane works:
Q to cat: How does an airplane work?
A from cat: Meow?
Who else besides Matt Cutts?
Is Matt Cutts the only SEO guru out there? Well, of course not, there are other SEO experts who have been around for ages and can hit you with a gem of an SEO advice.
The first one who comes to mind is Danny Sullivan aka 『search engine guru』. Danny Sullivan is a veteran of the search engine business who has been researching and writing about them since 1995! His 『Webmaster’s Guide to Search Engine』 that came out in 1997 was a revolutionary coverage on the art of improving site rankings.
The founder of Cre8asite Forums and President of SEO by the Sea, Bill Slawski, is another SEO mogul who took interest in SEO as early as in 1996. He has written for Website Magazine, Search Marketing Standard, and Target Marketing and created many SEO whitepapers for www.seobythesea.com. Bill Slawski is also known as 『patent guru』 for blogging on search-related patents.
Barry Schwartz, CEO of RustyBrick and the founder of the Search Engine Roundtable is another celebrated SEO guru who has been writing about search engine marketing for almost a decade now. Barry is on the board of advisors for such industry’s big names as Google, Yahoo! Search, Microsoft’s Bing and is one of the most quoted SEO specialists.
Dan Richmond with www.seoinpractice.com – is kind of a low-key guy with lots of secrets around him. Looks like he is fully dedicated to making a fortune with practical SEO, with next to no publicity around him whatsoever. While Dan’s hiding behind Link-Assistant.Com’s public image as a leading developer in the field of SEO software, his most widely known project is the practical guide to SEO – SEO in Practice – which is competing with Aaron Wall’s SEO Book on Google’s page 1.
As you see, there are other SEO moguls out there to listen to besides Matt Cutts. He stands out – and rather stands apart from the expert crowd because of his 『Google insider』 status and plays on the other half of the field. So each time 『GoogleGuy』 opens his mouth, we still go to listen what the rest of the gang have to comment.
Ally Crooks is a journalist, Internet marketer, freelance SEO, sociologist, and a mother to two identical looking little boys.
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