In the SEO world , there’s no bigger name than Matt Cutts, the Head of Webspam at Google (read: the leader of the SEO world.) Matt wears colorful t-shirts, polos, runs ultra marathons and is a genuinely nice guy. A few times a week he posts a new YouTube video on the Google Webmaster Help YouTube Channel. He has amassed almost 18 hours of video spread over nearly 500 videos. Some of these videos are pretty detailed, technical and way over the average Joe’s head, but most of them offer excellent tips for search engine optimization beginners and small business owners. We’ve scoured the depths of YouTube to bring you 5 of the best of Matt Cutts videos.

5. Is WordPress or Blogger better for SEO? This is the perfect video for most small businesses to start with. When you’re launching your online presence, there are many different services that offer a platform to manage your website/blog. There’s WordPress, Blogger, and Drupal just to name a few. Hint: They all provide a good platform, but we use WordPress!

4. How would a non-optimized site outrank a site that has done search engine optimization? In this video, Matt explains how a non-optimized site can rank better than sites that’ve spent time optimizing. Tip: It isn’t all about meta tags.

3. Qualities of a good site. When building or reworking your website, this video provides a great checklist of what to do. Hint: Think about the user’s experience.

2. What are the top 3-5 search engine optimization areas where webmasters make the most mistakes? Parents always suggest that you learn from your mistakes. What if Matt Cutts was your dad, told you everyone else’s mistakes, and you could just learn from those? Tip: If you’re doing your own SEO work, or hiring a consultant to do it for you, these would be perfect things to AVOID.

1. What should we expect in the next few months in terms of SEO from Google? It’s rare that you get to peek into “The Google Crystal Ball,” but Matt gives you a look into the future with this video. Hint: Watch out spammers!

If you want to keep your ear to the SEO ground, follow Matt Cutts on Twitter, his blog and the Google Webmaster Help YouTube account. Be sure to check out The Short Cutts for all of Matt’s videos in one place that’s easy to sort by topic, date and even shirt color.

If you have a favorite video we didn’t feature that helped you out, we’d love to hear about it in the comments. If you want to see a geeky picture with Matt and I here you go.

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