A new video series aims to improve the ‘SEO literacy’ of Australian small and medium enterprise (SME’s).

‘SEO Hacks For SME’s’ is an initiative by leading digital agency Webbuzz, designed to educate Australians on search engine optimisation. It teaches business owners how to avoid the SEO scams recently identified by the Small Business Ombudsman.

“Increasingly Google is the ‘lifeblood’ of new customers for SME’s,” said Webbuzz CEO Darren Moffatt.

“It’s become such an essential revenue source, that the pressure on some business owners to engage an SEO consultant can be immense. Yet most have no idea how SEO actually works.

Indeed, the 2018 Telstra Small Business Intelligence Report found 26 per cent of business owners are now using search engine optimisation tactics. In the same year, the Small Business Ombudsman received hundreds of complaints about SEO providers.

According to Mr Moffatt, the surging demand for SEO services has attracted ‘dodgy operators’ to the industry. They exploit people’s desperation to be on page one of Google for financial gain.

“Genuine SEO expertise is valuable, and when done right SEO is incredibly powerful.

“But there are now lots of cowboys in the digital marketing industry claiming to be ‘experts’.

“Poor ‘SEO literacy’ is the problem. It makes it easy for these dodgy SEO providers to rip off hard-working Aussie small business owners.”

Mr Moffatt believes that in the absence of action from government or regulators, the best solution is education. Although there is plenty of SEO content online already, much of it is overly technical and for an American audience.

“We were surprised to discover there is no content out there that educates Australian entrepreneurs on how to avoid SEO scams. 

“So we went ahead and created it ourselves. With ‘SEO Hacks’ we’ve tried to strike the right balance between useful SEO tips, and accessible easy-to-understand language.”

SEO Hacks For SME’s will release a new episode every fortnight. Business owners and marketing managers can subscribe here.

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