The best SEO specialists in Australia
An SEO specialist grows the traffic and revenue a business earns from search engines, through technical fixes, content and links. This list ranks people in Australia doing that work, on what their public record shows.
How this list is scored
To qualify, a person must work in SEO (in house, as a consultant or at an agency) while based in Australia. Each person is scored out of 10 on 6 criteria, 60 points in all. Scores measure how much of a person's work is publicly documented, not how good they are at the job: plenty of excellent people keep their results private, and they score lower here for that reason alone.
- Outcomes
- Results tied to the person's own work.
- Verification
- How independently those results can be checked.
- Craft
- The range of technical, content and link work they have documented.
- Teaching
- What they have published or presented for others in the field.
- Peer citation
- Awards, press and peers pointing at them.
- Currency
- Whether they are verifiably working in Australia in 2026.
The list at a glance
| # | Name | Role | Outcomes | Verification | Craft | Teaching | Peer citation | Currency | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jeff Deutsch | Head of Growth, That's Heaps and Hourglass AI | 9 | 5 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 50 |
| 2 | James Norquay | Founder and Managing Director, Prosperity Media | 7 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 41 |
| 3 | Kuhan Supramaniam | SEO consultant, Kuhan Supramaniam Consulting | 7 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 39 |
| 4 | Lachlan Hutchison | Lead Growth Engineer and SEO Lead, Mitti by SafetyCulture | 5 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 38 |
| 5 | Brodie Clark | Independent SEO consultant, Brodie Clark Consulting | 4 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 36 |
| 6 | Shaun Polidano | Founder, Shaun Polidano Consulting | 7 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 35 |
| 7 | Charbel Raffoul | Head of SEO Performance, StudioHawk | 6 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 33 |
| 8 | Lawrence Hitches | Chief of Staff, StudioHawk | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 31 |
| 9 | Nathan Tong | E-Commerce SEO and GEO Specialist, Factory Buys | 4 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 30 |
| 10 | Dan Petrovic | Managing Director, DEJAN | 3 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 29 |
| 11 | Edward Bate | SEO Consultant, Edward Bate Pty Ltd | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 29 |
The ranking, with the workings
- 1
50/60Jeff Deutsch Site owner
Head of Growth, That's Heaps and Hourglass AI · Sydney
Jeff runs this site, so weigh this card accordingly. By his own account, SEO took Superpower from 3k to 250k organic visitors a month, about $2m USD a year in SEO revenue, with a team of 4 doing what used to take 13. At ContactOut he grew organic traffic 5x and helped take the product to G2 number one in its category. Hourglass AI's SEO product page names him, and Boomcycle lists him among its Top 50 Content Marketing Influencers.
Scores and evidence for Jeff Deutsch Outcomes 9 Superpower: 3k to 250k organic visitors a month (83x), about $2m USD a year in SEO revenue. ContactOut: 5x organic traffic. Verification 5 Roles and speaking are confirmed by third parties (Hourglass AI, Rakuten Advertising, Ascend); the search figures are his own account. Craft 9 In-house SEO at Superpower (a team of 4 doing what used to take 13), ContactOut and VIPKid, and SEO work for Hourglass AI. Teaching 9 Opened Rakuten Advertising's DealMaker Australia 2026 with the keynote, spoke at Ascend 2026, and wrote a May 2015 essay on Inbound.org that drew 271,785 views. Peer citation 8 Named in Boomcycle's Top 50 Content Marketing Influencers; Hourglass AI's SEO product page names him; called "the best Head of Growth in Australia" by Alex Dam of Notion. Currency 10 Head of Growth at That's Heaps and, on contract, at Hourglass AI, in Sydney. Public sources: DealMaker Australia 2026 recap (Rakuten Advertising) · Connected context: how high-growth startups operationalize AI (Ascend 2026) · Alex Dam's post (LinkedIn) · Top 50 Content Marketing Influencers (Boomcycle) · Peter Farrell Cup 2021 (UNSW Founders) · SEO (Hourglass AI)
- 241/60
James Norquay
Founder and Managing Director, Prosperity Media · Australia
James Norquay founded Prosperity Media in 2012 and is its Managing Director; the agency has offices in Surry Hills, Sydney, and South Yarra, Melbourne. Prosperity Media won seven awards at the APAC Search Awards 2025, including Best SEO Campaign for GO Rentals and Best Large SEO Agency. Ahrefs credits him and his team for the Sydney SEO Conference, where he spoke in 2024 on affiliate and eCommerce SEO growth. His agency lists him as Key Speaker winner at SEOCON Forum 2022.
Scores and evidence for James Norquay Outcomes 7 Prosperity Media won seven APAC Search Awards 2025, including Best SEO Campaign (GO Rentals) Verification 7 APAC Search Awards 2025 page names the agency; Ahrefs names him as speaker and event organiser Craft 5 Spoke on affiliate and eCommerce SEO growth at the Sydney SEO Conference 2024 Teaching 8 Organiser and speaker of the Sydney SEO Conference; Key Speaker at SEOCON Forum 2022 Peer citation 7 Ahrefs credits him for the Sydney SEO Conference; agency named Best Large SEO Agency 2025 Currency 7 Managing Director of Prosperity Media, with offices in Surry Hills and South Yarra Public sources: About Prosperity Media (Prosperity Media) · Sydney SEO Conference: An Absolute Belter (Ahrefs) · SEO Awards (Prosperity Media) · APAC Search Awards 2025 Winners (APAC Search Awards)
- 339/60
Kuhan Supramaniam
SEO consultant, Kuhan Supramaniam Consulting · Melbourne
Kuhan Supramaniam is a Melbourne SEO consultant working solo under Kuhan Supramaniam Consulting. His work with a Melbourne florist won Best Use of Search, B2C (SEO) at the APAC Search Awards 2026, and by his own account he was shortlisted in four categories that year. His site also lists Silver for Best Low Budget Campaign at the 2025 APAC Search Awards and a 2019 SEMrush Search Awards win while at WME. He taught SEO to postgraduate students at Victoria University from 2018 to 2021.
Scores and evidence for Kuhan Supramaniam Outcomes 7 APAC Search Awards 2026 B2C (SEO) win for a Melbourne florist campaign Verification 6 APAC Search Awards 2026 winners page names his consultancy; earlier awards listed on his own site Craft 5 Shortlisted across retail/e-commerce, B2C, low-budget and SEO campaign categories Teaching 6 Taught SEO to postgraduate students at Victoria University, 2018 to 2021 (own site) Peer citation 7 2026 APAC win, four 2026 shortlistings, 2025 Silver, 2019 SEMrush Search Awards win Currency 8 2026 award win; Melbourne-based consultancy Public sources: APAC Search Awards 2026 Winners (APAC Search Awards) · SEO Consultant & SEO Expert Melbourne (kuhansupramaniam.com.au (own site)) · Shortlisted for 4 categories at the APAC Search Awards 2026 (LinkedIn (own post))
- 438/60
Lachlan Hutchison
Lead Growth Engineer and SEO Lead, Mitti by SafetyCulture · Sydney
Lachlan Hutchison is a Sydney-based Lead Growth Engineer at Mitti by SafetyCulture, where he has led SEO. A third-party write-up of his talk describes the SafetyCulture marketplace project: six months of technical debt clean-up, then taxonomy reviews, automated taxonomy-driven internal linking, a content generation pipeline, FAQ clustering and deployment into Contentful. He is listed as an APAC Search Awards judge as SEO Manager, SafetyCulture. A testimonial on his site says he moved from Specialist to Lead on SEO at Scentre Group.
Scores and evidence for Lachlan Hutchison Outcomes 5 Led SEO for SafetyCulture's marketplace, described in a third-party write-up of his talk Verification 6 APAC Search Awards judges page and a third-party LinkedIn write-up both name him Craft 8 Technical debt clean-up, taxonomy reviews, automated internal linking, content pipeline, FAQ clustering, Contentful deployment Teaching 6 Presented a talk on leading SEO for SafetyCulture's marketplace Peer citation 6 APAC Search Awards judge; peer write-up of his talk by Aaron Taylor Currency 7 Own LinkedIn lists current role at Mitti by SafetyCulture, Greater Sydney Public sources: APAC Search Awards Judges (APAC Search Awards) · Lachlan Hutchison on leading SEO for SafetyCulture's marketplace (LinkedIn (public post by Aaron Taylor)) · Lachlan Hutchison - SEO & Growth (hutchison.net.au (own site)) · Lachlan Hutchison - Lead Growth Engineer (LinkedIn (own profile))
- 536/60
Brodie Clark
Independent SEO consultant, Brodie Clark Consulting · Melbourne
Brodie Clark is an independent SEO and organic growth consultant based in Melbourne. He moved to full-time consulting under Brodie Clark Consulting at the start of 2019, working with large sites such as marketplaces, eCommerce stores and news publishers. He was named Young Search Professional of the Year at the 2019 Australian Search Awards. His articles appear on Moz, Search Engine Land and Search Engine Journal, and his monthly newsletter has more than 3,500 readers by his own account.
Scores and evidence for Brodie Clark Outcomes 4 Full-time consulting since early 2019 for marketplaces, eCommerce stores and news publishers (own site) Verification 5 Award listed in his Search Engine Journal author bio; Optimising records a SEMrush Search Awards nomination Craft 6 Works across large sites: marketplaces, eCommerce stores and news publishers Teaching 8 Articles on Moz, Search Engine Land and Search Engine Journal; monthly newsletter of 3,500+ by his own account Peer citation 6 2019 Young Search Professional of the Year, Australian Search Awards; SEMrush Search Awards nomination Currency 7 Own site describes him as a Melbourne-based independent consultant Public sources: About Brodie Clark (brodieclark.com (own site)) · Brodie Clark, author (Search Engine Journal) · 3 SEMrush Search Awards nominations (Optimising)
- 635/60
Shaun Polidano
Founder, Shaun Polidano Consulting · Melbourne
Shaun Polidano runs Shaun Polidano Consulting from The Commons in Cremorne, Melbourne. His consultancy and Daydream Island won Best Use of Search, Travel / Leisure (SEO) at the APAC Search Awards 2026 for 'The Great Australian Family Escape'. By his own account, the Daydream Island work added $100K in bookings in two months, and his audience-centric content and service pages for Mercer Super lifted SEO traffic by 92%. His site presents both results alongside the award.
Scores and evidence for Shaun Polidano Outcomes 7 APAC Search Awards 2026 win with Daydream Island; 92% SEO traffic lift for Mercer Super by his own account Verification 6 APAC Search Awards 2026 winners page names his consultancy; other figures are from his own site Craft 5 Audience-centric content and service pages for Mercer Super; travel campaign for Daydream Island Teaching 3 Public record centres on client results rather than talks Peer citation 6 Winner, Best Use of Search, Travel / Leisure (SEO), APAC Search Awards 2026 Currency 8 2026 award win; office at The Commons Cremorne, VIC Public sources: APAC Search Awards 2026 Winners (APAC Search Awards) · Shaun Polidano Consulting (shaunpolidano.com (own site))
- 733/60
Charbel Raffoul
Head of SEO Performance, StudioHawk · Melbourne
Charbel Raffoul is Head of SEO Performance at StudioHawk in Melbourne and part of its leadership team, with an eCommerce focus. In an Add To Cart podcast interview he described joining StudioHawk around 2018-19 in a junior part-time role and rising through mid-level and senior roles. By his own account, the nine-month Cooper & Co. program he worked on delivered +125% organic revenue and +103% non-branded clicks. The interview covers ecommerce SEO and collection pages.
Scores and evidence for Charbel Raffoul Outcomes 6 Cooper & Co. program: +125% organic revenue and +103% non-branded clicks over nine months, by his own account Verification 5 Figures published by the third-party Add To Cart podcast, sourced from him and his agency Craft 6 eCommerce SEO focus including collection pages Teaching 5 Interviewed on the Add To Cart podcast about eCommerce SEO Peer citation 4 Public record centres on his StudioHawk role and one podcast interview Currency 7 Own LinkedIn and StudioHawk profile list him as Head of SEO Performance, Melbourne Public sources: AI Search Rewards the Boring Work: Ecommerce SEO, Collection Pages and AEO with StudioHawk (Add To Cart podcast) · Staff profile - Charbel Raffoul (StudioHawk) · Charbel Raffoul - Head of SEO Performance (LinkedIn (own profile))
- 831/60
Lawrence Hitches
Chief of Staff, StudioHawk · Melbourne
Lawrence Hitches is Chief of Staff at StudioHawk in Melbourne and also works as an SEO consultant. He joined StudioHawk in its early days in 2018 and moved from Senior SEO Specialist to Team Leader, then General Manager of StudioHawk Australia. He won Young Search Professional of the Year at the SEMRush Awards 2021. His employer credits his leadership with StudioHawk's Best Large SEO Agency wins at the APAC Search Awards in 2022 and 2023.
Scores and evidence for Lawrence Hitches Outcomes 6 StudioHawk credits his leadership with Best Large SEO Agency at the APAC Search Awards 2022 and 2023 Verification 5 Sources are his employer StudioHawk and his own site Craft 4 Progressed from Senior SEO Specialist to Team Leader to General Manager of StudioHawk Australia Teaching 3 Public record centres on agency roles rather than talks Peer citation 6 Young Search Professional of the Year, SEMRush Awards 2021 Currency 7 Own site and StudioHawk profile list him as Chief of Staff in Melbourne Public sources: Staff profile - Lawrence Hitches (StudioHawk) · Award-Winning SEO Campaigns & Awards (StudioHawk) · Lawrence Hitches (lawrencehitches.com (own site))
- 930/60
Nathan Tong
E-Commerce SEO and GEO Specialist, Factory Buys · Melbourne
Nathan Tong is an E-Commerce SEO and GEO Specialist at Factory Buys, an Australian eCommerce retailer, and is based in Melbourne. He previously worked as a Senior SEO Specialist at StudioHawk, which lists technical, migration, international and eCommerce SEO among his areas and names Cygnett, Providoor and New Balance among his clients, described as some of the largest retailers in the country. He is listed as an APAC Search Awards judge under his Factory Buys role.
Scores and evidence for Nathan Tong Outcomes 4 Worked on SEO for Cygnett, Providoor and New Balance at StudioHawk Verification 5 StudioHawk staff profile and APAC Search Awards judges page both name him Craft 6 Technical, migration, international and eCommerce SEO (StudioHawk profile) Teaching 3 Public record centres on roles rather than talks Peer citation 5 Listed as an APAC Search Awards judge Currency 7 Own LinkedIn and APAC judges page list him at Factory Buys, Melbourne Public sources: APAC Search Awards Judges (APAC Search Awards) · Staff profile - Nathan Tong (StudioHawk) · Nathan Tong - E-Commerce SEO Specialist at Factory Buys (LinkedIn (own profile))
- 1029/60
Dan Petrovic
Managing Director, DEJAN · Australia
Dan Petrovic is Managing Director of DEJAN Marketing, an Australian SEO agency whose about page lists him as Director. He is a speaker at SERP Conf. Vienna 2026, and the conference lists him as representing DEJAN Marketing, Australia, with sessions that include content optimisation. The agency describes itself as the only Moz Recommended agency in Australia. His public record centres on agency leadership and international conference speaking, with the 2026 Vienna program the most recent documented appearance.
Scores and evidence for Dan Petrovic Outcomes 3 Public record centres on agency leadership rather than client figures Verification 4 SERP Conf. speaker page confirms his role at DEJAN Marketing Craft 4 2026 conference sessions on content optimisation Teaching 6 Speaker at SERP Conf. Vienna 2026 Peer citation 5 Selected as an international conference speaker; agency describes itself as Moz Recommended Currency 7 Listed as a 2026 SERP Conf. speaker representing DEJAN Marketing, Australia Public sources: Dan Petrovic - SERP Conf. Vienna speaker (SERP Conf.) · About Dejan Marketing (Dejan Marketing)
- 1129/60
Edward Bate
SEO Consultant, Edward Bate Pty Ltd · Australia
Edward Bate is an SEO consultant trading as Edward Bate Pty Ltd, working with large sites. Testimonials on his site come from Atlassian's SEO Team Lead, who credits him with helping scale enterprise content SEO, and from Temple & Webster's SEO manager on Core Web Vitals work. He spoke at the SEO Collective Sydney SEO Meetup in August 2023, billed as a freelance SEO consultant and experienced agency professional. The APAC Search Awards site carries a testimonial from him.
Scores and evidence for Edward Bate Outcomes 4 Atlassian's SEO Team Lead credits him with helping scale enterprise content SEO (testimonial on own site) Verification 4 Testimonials published on his own site; APAC Search Awards page carries a testimonial from him Craft 5 Enterprise content SEO for Atlassian; Core Web Vitals work for Temple & Webster Teaching 5 Spoke at the SEO Collective Sydney SEO Meetup, 29 August 2023 Peer citation 5 Testimonials from SEO leads at Atlassian and Temple & Webster Currency 6 Own site presents him as an SEO consultant for large sites Public sources: Edward Bate - SEO Consultant (edwardbate.com (own site)) · Sydney SEO Meetup 29th August 2023 (LinkedIn (own post, resharing SEO Collective co-host Regan McGregor)) · Previous Judges (APAC Search Awards)
Method notes
Candidates were found from conference speaker pages, industry press, podcasts and bylined writing, then every source was opened and checked to confirm it names the person and supports the facts quoted. Where a person's 2026 role is not publicly listed, they are described by the role they are known for, and the Currency score reflects that.
Request a correction or removal
If you are on this list and something is wrong, out of date, or you would rather not be listed, email jeff@thatsheaps.com. Removals are honoured without question, and corrections are made and noted on the page, usually within two business days.
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