Finding The Perfect Calgary SEO Expert For Your Business
The digital world moves fast. Trends change daily. You have only a tiny sliver of time to catch a customer’s attention, keep them engaged, and then (hopefully) get them to invest in your services. I’ve been involved with search engine optimization (aka SEO) marketing and local SEO for Calgary businesses for more than a decade. Trust me, choosing the right Calgary SEO expert or a reputable SEO company can make all the difference.
So many businesses make the mistake of thinking their Calgary web design alone is enough. They invest thousands into fancy logos, brand names, and layouts. Sure, presentation is important for building an initial customer base but did you know that most consumers these days trust search results above all else?
A professional SEO agency or your local SEO expert consultant knows that search engine optimization comes down to understanding what makes a site relevant in Google's eyes. It's way more than meets the eye.
Factors That Affect Search Engine Results
Google looks at several ranking factors to help categorize and prioritize websites for searches. Many SEO optimization processes like keywords, backlinks, and site structure all contribute to the visibility of a webpage. So, let's say you're a local business here in Calgary or a local service provider in Calgary, Alberta Canada. What kind of keywords should a Calgary SEO expert be focused on to optimize your content?
Calgary SEO Testimonial
"Ace SEO Consulting stands out among our many choices for Calgary SEO Companies. They were prompt and responsive to our requests. Ace and his SEO and web design experts were always on top. They recommended improvements to be made on the website, and we saw their recommendations and improvements bring us more leads. They are exceptional in everything they do, and I highly recommend them."
--- Adam Gapinski (Vectra Heavy Haulers)
Choosing Strategic Keywords For Your Calgary SEO Campaign
An experienced and effective Calgary SEO expert knows Calgary’s market well. Your keyword selection needs to target both what Calgary customers want AND be tailored to your niche services. This may seem like common sense. However, it's easy to get lost in trying to be too general.
The goal of SEO content is to increase website traffic by targeting the ideal set of search terms (aka keywords), thereby generating quality leads through organic clicks and informing and educating the prospective customer as to why you are the best choice for their needs.
Here are some essential questions you need to consider:
- Does my business only cater to local Calgary customers? Or am I trying to rank highly for regional or national or even global customers?
- Are customers likely searching for general information on a product or service I provide, or are they looking for a specific product or service?
- Are there opportunities to rank higher on Google search with keywords that have low competition? How relevant is that to my niche or my area of expertise?
- What is the estimated CPC? Meaning, are other businesses in my area willing to pay Google to get more traffic through Google Ads?
Knowing your audience, anticipating and researching the keywords they use most, and adapting your website to use them correctly is what a true Calgary SEO specialist does when providing ROI based SEO services. There is no single digital marketing strategy that works for every Calgary SEO business or Calgary SEO client.
Finding and hiring the right talent requires careful analysis of a Calgary business owner’s needs, online objectives and business goals.
Website Design and Calgary SEO Testimonial
"We had a fantastic experience working with Ace and the entire Ace SEO Consulting team. They were extremely thorough and attentive to our website design needs and provided us with the best SEO and web design solutions. We thank Ace SEO Consulting for its exceptional web design, on-page SEO, and digital marketing services in Calgary. Highly recommended!"
--- Priyanka Grewal (MHSA University of Calgary)
In my past 20+ years as a professional SEO providing effective SEO and internet marketing services, I have spoken to so many business owners who think ranking their website and increasing online visibility can happen overnight. I usually end up correcting them and informing them that any credible SEO agency will differ. After conducting a thorough SEO audit (of their website) and proper competitor analysis, preparing a step-by-step SEO strategy blueprint for making their website visible and ranking higher in the Calgary market cannot happen instantly. Doing quality SEO work with sustainable SEO strategies, which are long-term approaches that focus on improving the website's organic visibility and traffic, crafted to increase business owners' revenue and bottom line, does and will take time.
Overview of a Successful SEO Process
Like many Calgary SEO companies, our SEO Consulting agency also has a proven SEO process. Our standard step-by-step SEO work aka our SEO blueprint includes, technical SEO, on-page SEO, and off-page SEO.
What Technical SEO is All About?
Technical SEO involves passing the critical criteria laid out by search engines, such as Google. From having proper security or HTTPS seal on your website, to hosting on good servers so that your website loads faster on all devices. Ensuring that your website is accessible to all visitors, including impaired and challenged people, and that they find your site easy to navigate.
Technical SEO strategy also includes informing Google, through Google search console or through various codes, XML sitemap, etc. that when there are multiple or duplicate content URLs then Google should pick the provided URL - a preferred URL, aka canonical URL. As a technical SEO expert, I feel that all these along with Google's structured data and schema markup covers technical SEO optimization properly.
What is On Page SEO Services?
On-page SEO involves optimizing and improving the website content and the overall layout and flow of the page for the benefit of the reader. As an award winning internet marketing company, we feel this is the 2nd most important thing to do to inform Google and help search engines to learn what your website is all about, what products you sell or what services you provide.
On-page optimization involves creating user-friendly and Google-friendly content, by sprinkling the target keywords, proper usage of various HTML tags, Meta Data, optimized images, and internally linking important pieces of content of your website in order to create a relationship between various pages. Just by improving these on-page factors, we have witnessed search rankings, and organic traffic of many of clients improve significantly, especially on local search results and maps.
Learn What is Off-page SEO
Off page SEO involves putting information about your website on external sources in order to get a backlink either for the keyword being targeted or the domain or brand name. These external sources could be various social media channels, a guest post, a press release (PR), a video, an informational guide or an article, infographics, and other such off page SEO strategies.
Many digital marketing experts will agree that Off-page optimization has to do with the most difficult and tedious tasks of all marketing strategies. As a marketing agency providing local SEO services, we have found that higher rankings of target keywords through quality link building takes time, especially when there is a lot of local competition. However, through quality link building, your online presence will slowly begin to show results on organic search, eventually, you will gain more market share from your competitors. Business customers have experienced more leads and increase in their bottom line, as soon as their visibility online has improved by even a couple of keywords ranking on the first page of Google.
You can spend all the time in the world coming up with interesting topics that use targeted keywords perfectly but what good will that do you if no one knows how to find your webpage in the first place? It is essential to find an expert SEO company that understands off-page SEO factors, also known as building backlinks.
Think of SEO backlinks as online referrals from well-respected authorities within your niche. For example, a major news publication might have an article on gardening in Calgary and include a link to your site where customers can purchase locally grown flower bulbs. Each one of these high-authority mentions contributes to telling Google that your webpage is both trustworthy and has a lot of interesting content, thereby getting the benefit of improvements in organic traffic through higher rankings.
Digital Marketing and SEO Workshop Testimonial
"The recent SEO workshop hosted by Ace Rashid of Ace SEO Consulting was a game changer. Not only did it unlock the mysteries of online marketing, but it also ignited a newfound passion within us. Ace's mastery of the subject was evident in every session, his rich insights were like a lighthouse in the often foggy world of digital marketing. He didn't just impart knowledge, he lit a spark that has us all striving for more. For anyone looking to truly understand and harness the power of SEO, this is an opportunity you cannot afford to miss."
--- Nimira Haji (Local SEO & Digital Marketing Workshop Attendee)
Not all SEO backlinks or SEO keyword strategies are created equal. Many inexperienced or money-grabbing SEO “experts” promise quick turnarounds. In reality, they use Black Hat SEO tactics such as duplicate content, keyword stuffing, and temporary backlinks, spamming blogs with comments, cloaking or hiding content. They exploit shortcuts in the system to boost a client’s visibility temporarily. Beware of these Black Hat strategies as they will do more harm than good. Sooner or later, these sites and shady practices are discovered by Google, punished, and then your business website will disappear from rankings completely. Don’t let yourself fall prey to false advertising or overblown promises.
The right SEO expert focuses on long-term growth through sustainable “White Hat” strategies like in-depth keyword research followed by high quality unique content creation, proper image labeling and tagging, website optimization, and relevant backlinks through guest posts, content marketing and reputable directory submissions. They also have a firm understanding of SEO service reporting using reputable platforms.
Essential Tools Every Calgary SEO Expert Needs
Gone are the days when an SEO professional only needed a dictionary, a thesaurus, and a working phone to be successful. Just as Google's algorithms are becoming more and more refined with each update, so too are the resources needed to adapt to those changes. Calgary businesses not only need an expert team of online marketing specialists on their side, but also the programs, web-based software and SEO knowledge needed to track those subtle shifts in keyword demand and consumer interest.
An SEO company’s fees will fluctuate depending on their level of access. I know I would much rather invest in someone who understands the programs that work.
SEO's unique strengths are in delivering sustainable results to their clients by giving their business a boost on local search so that their potential customers find them instead of their competition.
Free SEO Tools
A free tool offered by Google to webmasters and business owners to help them improve their website performance on Google Search by learning what keywords or queries are driving more traffic and also fixing bugs, and issues with the websites.
Another free tool offered by Google to webmasters and business owners to get a detailed overview and understanding of how customers engage with their business through various kinds of reports directly from the analytics dashboard.
This free tool for Google gives all local area businesses, small and large, ability to stand out on Google Maps and Search results by allowing businesses to include photos, posts, events, specials, and hours of operation, reviews from happy customers, and much more.
Comprehensive website auditing, competitive analysis, and keyword research. Provides in-depth insights into backlink profiles.
Pricing Structure
Offers different subscription tiers, usually billed monthly or annually
A wide range of features including competitor research, keyword tracking, site auditing, backlink analysis and SEO reports
Pricing Structure
Provides limited free access with expanded features available through paid subscriptions
A desktop program used to crawl and audit websites to uncover SEO errors. Great for technical audits.
Pricing Structure
Available through a yearly license for individual users. Large businesses or agencies may need to pay for multiple licenses.
In addition to knowing how to analyze reports and identify errors or weaknesses in your site content, your chosen Calgary SEO expert should be up-to-date on SEO guidelines and Google’s algorithm updates. As they say in show business… “The show must go on.”
You found what you believed to be the best Calgary SEO expert for your unique business. Congratulations. You feel confident they understand your business’s goals. Now you need to sit back, relax and patiently wait for results. Am I right?
Although building an effective Calgary SEO service strategy does indeed require some upfront patience to gather information and adapt existing website content (or create entirely new content.), a surefire way to tell if it’s actually working is through ongoing performance monitoring. At Ace SEO Consulting, and many other reputable Calgary SEO companies, clients receive monthly progress reports (MPRs) about their performance along with an executive summary of what strategies were used, what worked and what is being planned in the upcoming weeks.
Ask yourself these simple questions.
- Is my dedicated account manager sending periodic (weekly or at least monthly) updates?
- Does my team receive easy-to-read SEO reports that break down website traffic, identify new customers and compare those stats to previous months?
- Is the Calgary SEO expert proactive and offer creative, engaging content ideas and traffic improvement suggestions or simply going through the motions?
Open, honest and most of all frequent communication will be the key to running a successful Calgary SEO campaign.
Calgary SEO Consulting Testimonial
"During a recent design and SEO consultation, Ace demonstrated a deep understanding of the latest web design trends and best practices. In addition, he offered invaluable insights and creative suggestions to enhance my website's visual appeal and functionality. His keen eye for detail and tailored approach to my unique needs truly set him apart from other Online Marketing and SEO consultants. I wholeheartedly recommend Ace SEO Consulting in Calgary to anyone seeking top-notch website audit, design, and SEO consultation services. Ace's expertise and dedication to client success have made a tangible difference in my online presence."
--- Kartikeya (Calgary Area Business Owner)
How much does an SEO expert cost?
It all depends on the scope of the services they offer, your target keywords, business competition, what kind of reporting they do and what your existing website structure looks like. There is no one price that fits all.
How much does it cost to hire someone for SEO?
To give you a rough idea, Calgary SEO professionals typically charge anywhere from $1500 to upwards of $3000 or more. Some start-up agencies or freelancers who may or may not offer monthly reporting will often charge lower rates but might not have the SEO expert personnel or training required to adapt quickly to industry changes.
How much should I pay someone for SEO?
SEO marketing can easily become very expensive if the team is constantly needing to play catch up or make changes to poorly-made websites. Think of your initial investment like a new car. The moment you drive it off the lot, it starts to lose value. That’s why doing proper due diligence and finding and hiring a suitable Calgary SEO expert that meet your needs will become your greatest asset.
Are SEO experts worth it?
That’s a big question. In today’s fast-paced online world, trying to cut corners can mean the difference between success and becoming another digital statistic. Social media is filled with complaints and bad reviews about mediocre SEO service providers. Investing in an experienced, passionate and dedicated Calgary SEO expert can boost your customer engagement through a range of useful SEO strategies like website design and creating quality traffic through on-page and off-page content. Consider this, did you use an internet search to find this blog post? See what I mean.
Conclusion
Finding and choosing the right Calgary SEO expert takes a keen eye and patience, but the effort will be more than worth it if you find someone with an understanding of how search engine results pages on Google or Google's SERP work. This, with having both online and offline experience and prioritizing website content to rank higher, will give you an edge over your competitors.
Are you a small business owner or service provider in the Calgary area struggling to generate traffic to your website?
Do you want to improve your online presence and attract more customers?
Then look no further!
Ace SEO Consulting is the best award-winning agency in Calgary and Southern Alberta and is ranked among the top 100 agencies in Canada.
Let us help you grow your business.
