Vancouver Local SEO

Vancouver Local SEO

This is an exciting and challenging time in the advertising/marketing business. The internet has become the only mass media channel that is still growing and expanding it’s reach across almost all demographics.

In Canada, as well, we’re facing some strange paradoxes in the telecommunications arena. I could get into telecom pricing, competition; internet access pricing, bandwidth, net neutrality; but I’ll rant about those things at another time!

Instead, let’s explore what’s going on online here in comparison to our southern neighbours. In the larger cities, and in the more online savvy competitive markets, getting a number 1 position for your business is becoming difficult.

In some areas and many markets there is, what amounts to, an all out search engine position gold rush happening in the USA. They are playing hard ball with real money to make sure that they are at the top of the local search rankings for their respective business.

Local search optimization has really blossomed in the last 2 years as an important subset of SEO and smart entrepreneurs are using local search as an important way to drive customers to their business.

In Vancouver, well… for an internet/web development hub in North America, we’ve actually not done a good job in getting the message out to small and medium sized business owners. And it shows when you do a local search.

The listings are dominated in many markets by directories. This is a clear indicator that small business has not caught on to how much business they are leaving on the table by not having an internet marketing strategy.

When we look into the future, say 5 years from now.. what do you think will be the reality? Is there going to be less internet access or more? Is there going to be cheaper web access in more places or less? Will internet capable telephones be more popular?

I think the answers to those questions are self evident. The changes that we will see to easy online access in the next 5 years will be startling. Further, I predict that they will finally mean that businesses without websites will have a very hard time keeping profitable.

Worse (for those who are deaf to this tsunami coming), the businesses that take advantage now and secure top rankings on the search engines and maintain them, will be virtually cemented in place. They will get the lions share of the business.

After all the hype from 10 years ago about how the internet was going to change everything, it is happening now and accelerating around us. The gold rush is starting for local search positions in Vancouver. Are you ready?

Traffic is not the be all and end all of making your website a business producing tool. Does your website convert that traffic into customers using a well designed and systematic conversion process?

Hanson Brothers

Here’s great article discussing some pitfalls from one of my favorite local SEO blogs.Is Flat the new Hockey Stick Growth?