Modern SEO Leaders & Strategists
Brian Dean
Founder of Backlinko
Brian Dean is the founder of Backlinko, a site that became famous for its long, screenshot-heavy SEO case studies and link-building tutorials. Before Backlinko, Brian left a Ph.D. programme to work on his own projects, which turned into one of the most-referenced sites in the industry.
Quick facts
- Role
- Founder of Backlinko
- Based in
- United States
- Experience
- 10+ years in SEO
- Known for
- The 'Skyscraper Technique'
- Focus areas
- Link Building, Content Marketing, SEO Case Studies
- Known clients
- Independent operators, publishers, SaaS marketers
What Brian Dean is known for
Brian coined the Skyscraper Technique — a repeatable content framework for identifying, improving and outreach-linking the best existing content on a topic. It has since been taught, criticised and re-invented enough times to count as a genuine industry canon.
Backlinko grew to hundreds of thousands of monthly visitors on the back of unusually thorough posts and was later acquired by Semrush. Brian continues to publish under the brand.
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