Hoser Take Off Eh Canhost is Beauty eh! (3)

Take Off, Eh! Why Hosting in America Makes You a Hoser

by Canadian MadeHosting Tips

Take Off, Eh! Why Hosting in America Makes You a Hoser

Take Off, Eh? Don’t Be a Hosting Hoser
Listen up, ya hoser. If you’re running a Canadian business but hosting your website in the U.S., you might as well be drinking warm beer and cheering for Team USA in the Olympics, ask yourself is that something Joe would do? lets Reflect

Joe: “Hey, I’m not a lumberjack, or a fur trader.
I don’t live in an igloo, or eat blubber, or own a dogsled.
And I don’t know Jimmy, Sally, or Suzy from Canada, although I’m certain they’re really, really nice.
I have a Prime Minister, not a President.
I speak English and French, NOT American.
And I pronounce it ‘ABOUT,’ NOT ‘A BOOT.’
I can proudly sew my country’s flag on my backpack.
I believe in peacekeeping, NOT policing.
DIVERSITY, NOT assimilation.
AND THAT THE BEAVER IS A TRULY PROUD AND NOBLE ANIMAL.
A TOQUE IS A HAT, A CHESTERFIELD IS A COUCH, AND IT IS PRONOUNCED ‘ZED’ NOT ‘ZEE,’ ‘ZED’!!!
CANADA IS THE SECOND LARGEST LANDMASS! THE FIRST NATION OF HOCKEY! AND THE BEST PART OF NORTH AMERICA!
MY NAME IS JOE!! AND I AM CANADIAN!!!!”

It’s 2025, and hosting your website in another country when you’re serving Canadian customers is as outdated as a dial-up modem.

Here’s why American hosting is a beauty of a bad idea and why keeping your site north of the border with CanHost is the smartest move for performance, security, and SEO.

Hosting in America? What Are You, a Hoser?

Alright, let’s break it down like a good ol’ hockey fight—here’s why hosting in the U.S. is a bad call for any Canadian business.

You’re Slowing Down Your Own Website

Hosting your site in the U.S. is like sending your internet traffic on a road trip through rush hour Toronto—it’s slow, frustrating, and completely unnecessary.

A 1-second delay in load time can cut conversions by 7%.
Google ranks fast websites higher, and U.S. hosting adds lag for Canadian visitors.
More delays = more lost customers.

If you think a faster, smoother website experience doesn’t matter, you’re already losing sales to competitors who host locally.

Take off, eh! Upgrade to CanHost now.

Your Data is About as Secure as a Beaver Dam in a Storm

You like your privacy, right? Well, guess what? If your website is hosted in the U.S., your data isn’t really yours. The U.S. CLOUD Act means American authorities can access your business and customer data—without your consent.
Canadian hosting keeps your business protected under Canada’s stronger privacy laws. If you’re collecting customer data, processing payments, or handling sensitive info, hosting in America is a legal risk you don’t need. Host in Canada and keep your business safe.

Google Rewards Canadian-Hosted Websites

Want to show up higher in Google search results when Canadians are looking for your products? Well Google prioritizes locally hosted websites for country-specific searches. So a .ca domain + Canadian hosting gives you a search ranking boost in Canada beauty eh! and hosting in the U.S. tells Google your site is for Americans you hoser.

If you’re a Canadian business, you should be playing the home advantage—not making it harder for local customers to find you. Get your SEO right—host Canadian with CanHost

CanHost—Because Real Canadians Keep It Local

At Rad Websites, we don’t just talk the talk, we host Canadian. That’s why we recommend CanHost for businesses that care about fast load times, better SEO rankings and privacy protection under Canadian law. Most importantly you are supporting a Canadian company instead of a U.S. mega-corporation.

Don’t be a hosting hoser. Switch to CanHost now.

Conclusion: Take Off, Eh? Keep Your Hosting in the Great White North Hoser

You wouldn’t buy American maple syrup, is that even a thing lol or cheer for the wrong hockey team, so why would you host your Canadian business website in the U.S.? Hosting outside of Canada? That’s coo loo coo coo, coo coo coo coo.

Be a real beauty. Host your site with CanHost today. If you need help with site migration or anything to do with Canada US hosting feel free to call us at Radwebsites or the guys at CanHost they’d be happy to help you. tell them AJ Sent you.

Batman Coffee

The eCommerce Strikes Back: Tech Trends That Will Dominate the Next Decade

by Ecommerce TipsSEO Tips

The eCommerce Strikes Back: Tech Trends That Will Dominate the Next Decade

The Rebellion Against Outdated Commerce

The digital empire is expanding, and the battle for eCommerce dominance is intensifying. Businesses that fail to innovate are doomed to be left behind like an outdated protocol droid. The next decade will be shaped by rapid advancements in AI, hyper-personalization, the rise of connected devices, and immersive digital marketplaces. Adapt or be frozen in carbonite. This is not just an evolution—it is a full-scale rebellion against outdated systems. Let’s explore the forces reshaping the future of eCommerce.

AI-Powered Search and Discovery: The Force is Strong With This One

The days of static search bars and generic product listings are fading faster than Alderaan. AI-powered search is making online shopping as intuitive as asking Yoda for wisdom.
What’s Changing?
AI-powered voice assistants allow customers to speak their shopping needs into existence. Visual search enables users to snap a photo and instantly find similar products. Personalized search engines analyze shopping behaviors, delivering results that match individual preferences, purchase history, and browsing habits.
Key Takeaway: AI search is becoming as powerful as the Jedi Mind Trick—guiding customers to exactly what they want, without them even realizing it.

Hyper-Personalization Through Big Data: The Shopper’s Destiny

Consumers no longer tolerate generic experiences. They expect tailored shopping journeys that feel as if they were created just for them. Big data and AI are making this possible by reading signals from customer behavior like a Sith Lord sensing fear.
What’s Changing? AI adapts pricing dynamically based on browsing behavior and purchasing patterns.
Personalized product recommendations are getting eerily accurate, making customers feel like businesses know them better than they know themselves. Biometric data, like facial recognition and fingerprint scanning, will enable faster, hyper-secure transactions.
Key Takeaway: Shoppers are no longer passive buyers—they are at the center of their own custom-built shopping galaxies.

The Integration of IoT: Smart Devices in the Shopping Cantina

Imagine a world where your refrigerator orders more blue milk before you even realize you’re running low. This is the reality of eCommerce in the age of the Internet of Things (IoT).
What’s Changing? Smart home devices are automating reordering for household essentials. Wearables and health devices will track user needs and suggest purchases accordingly. Connected cars will allow drivers to order coffee, groceries, or fuel while in transit.
Key Takeaway: Shopping will shift from being an intentional activity to an automatic, seamless process, woven into daily life.

The Rise of the Metaverse and Virtual Shopping: Welcome to the Digital Cantina

Online shopping is no longer limited to clicking through flat, uninspired websites. The metaverse is creating an entirely new retail universe, where customers can explore virtual stores, interact with products, and experience shopping like never before.

What’s Changing? Digital storefronts will replicate physical stores in a virtual world, allowing users to walk through aisles without leaving home. Virtual dressing rooms will let shoppers try on clothes, accessories, and even makeup in real-time. Exclusive digital products and experiences will blur the line between physical and digital ownership.
Key Takeaway: The metaverse is not a gimmick—it is the next battleground for customer engagement and brand loyalty.

Conclusion: The eCommerce Rebellion is Now

The old ways of eCommerce are being overthrown. AI-driven personalization, hyper-intelligent search, automated purchasing, and virtual shopping are redefining how people interact with brands. Businesses that embrace this future will thrive in the galactic marketplace. Those that hesitate will be left behind like a malfunctioning droid on Tatooine. The force of innovation is unstoppable.

Want More Game-Changing Insights?

Success in eCommerce does not have to come with an outrageous price tag. You could pay for endless consultations, or you could get the same high-impact strategies for a fraction of the cost. My book breaks down how to dominate eCommerce with a future-focused approach while staying true to what works in business. Get your copy today or contact us at Rad Websites.

Hoser Take Off Eh Canhost is Beauty eh! (2)

U.S. Hosting: Why It’s Goo Loo-Coo Coo Coo Coo Coo

by Canadian MadeHosting Tips

U.S. Hosting: Why It’s Coo Loo Coo Coo Coo Coo Coo

Great White North Hosting: Why It’s Coo Loo Coo Coo Coo Coo Coo to Host in America

Take Off, Eh? Why hoser-ting in America is a Beauty of a bad idea eh (see what i did there?) so like there’s nothing more Canadian than keeping things homegrown. We protect our maple syrup, our hockey teams, and our right to say “sorry”—so why wouldn’t we keep our websites in Canada too? Hosting your site in America is like trading your poutine for cheese fries—it just ain’t right, hoser. Were not just about hockey, and the Hip Canada’s also home to some of the most data-driven businesses in the world. But here’s the problem: Most of them are hosting their websites outside of Canada without realizing the hidden risks and lost advantages that come with it. If your business is operating in Canada, selling to Canadians, and built for a Canadian audience—why would you host your website in another country? Let’s break down why Canadian web hosting is a must, how it boosts performance, security, and SEO, and why Rad Websites recommends CanHost for businesses that want to stay fast, secure, and compliant.

Time to Ditch the U.S. Servers: Host Canadian and Stay Local

Get started with CanHost now. Why Hosting Your Website Outside Canada is Like a Bad Import Beer – Sorry I’m really enjoying these Canadianisms it’s been a minute. When a Canadian business hosts its website on a U.S. or overseas server, it introduces three major risks that most companies don’t even consider:

Your Website Slows Down for Canadian Customers

Speed is everything. Faster websites rank better on Google, convert more visitors into customers, and provide a better user experience. But if your site is hosted thousands of kilometers away, every visitor in Canada is waiting longer than they should.

Fact: A 1-second delay in page load time can lead to a 7% drop in conversions.
Reality: A site hosted in Canada for Canadians loads faster than one hosted in the U.S. or Europe.

Why? Because every time someone in Canada visits your site, their request doesn’t have to travel across international networks. It’s a direct, local connection—faster, cleaner, and built for performance.

Data Privacy Laws: Keep Your Business Out of Legal Hot Water

If you host your website on U.S.-based servers, congratulations—you’re now subject to U.S. laws, including the Patriot Act, the CLOUD Act, and other surveillance policies that allow the government to access your data without your consent.

Fact: Canadian hosting keeps your data protected under Canadian privacy laws.
Reality: The U.S. CLOUD Act means American authorities can request access to any data stored on U.S. servers—even if it belongs to a Canadian company, yes even you. If your business collects customer data, processes payments, or stores sensitive information, you should absolutely keep that data inside Canada, protected under Canadian jurisdiction.

CanHost offers a secure, Canadian-based hosting environment that ensures your business is in full compliance with Canada’s strict privacy laws.

Seriously get started with Canadian hosting now—don’t wait until it’s too late.

SEO Advantages: Rank Higher in Canadian Search Results

Want to show up at the top of Google when Canadian customers search for your products or services? Your hosting location actually matters.

Google prioritizes locally hosted sites when users search within their own country.
Fact: A .ca domain + Canadian hosting signals to Google that your site is meant for Canadian users.
Reality: Faster page speeds boost rankings, and we’ve already established that local hosting is faster.
If you’re trying to outrank competitors in Canada, hosting inside the country is an SEO advantage you can’t afford to ignore and its going to go away, fast. Dtarting before the guy beside you in this case is important, especially when trying to rank for google.

The CanHost Advantage: Why We Recommend Hosting Locally

At Rad Websites, we don’t just throw around recommendations for the hell of it. We recommend CanHost because it checks all the boxes for Canadian businesses that care about performance, security, and SEO.
Here’s why we trust CanHost:
✔ 100% Canadian-Owned & Operated – No international interference, no legal loopholes.
✔ Fast, Reliable Hosting Infrastructure – Designed for speed, uptime, and scalability.
✔ Privacy-First Data Protection – Your data stays on Canadian soil, protected by Canadian law.
✔ Affordable Plans for Small & Large Businesses – Scalable options that grow with your needs.
If you’re serious about keeping your business, data, and SEO strategy strong, hosting locally is a no-brainer. especially now that we are being reminded to be Canada strong and proud and free

Make the switch to CanHost today and experience the difference.

Don’t Be a Hoser—Keep Your Hosting Homegrown

If you’re serious about performance, privacy, and SEO, hosting in the U.S. makes zero sense for a Canadian business.
Faster website speed = More conversions.
Better SEO rankings = More visibility.
Stronger privacy laws = Safer business operations.
So what’s it gonna be? A slow, risky, U.S.-based hosting plan—or a fast, secure, and optimized Canadian solution?
Host your site with CanHost now. Don’t wait until you’re stuck in the digital equivalent of a snowstorm, eh?

Now for a bit of Canuck fun! Here are some more quintessentially Canadian things we fiercely protect, just like our maple syrup, currency, the hip and our hockey teams:

The Right to Apologize First

Sorry this blog is so long, oops there i go again. Canadians don’t just apologize—we race to see who can say “sorry” first. Someone bumps into you? You’re the one apologizing. Hold the door for someone? Both of you will stand there saying “sorry” until one finally walks through. It’s a cultural reflex, like a Canadian standoff.

Ketchup Chips and Other Canadian Snack Royalty

You ever try to explain ketchup chips, Coffee Crisp, or Smarties (the real ones, not those fake American ones) to someone outside Canada? They just don’t get it. We have the superior snack game, and if anyone ever tries to take our all-dressed chips or poutine, we’ll be sending them a very strongly worded letter (politely, of course).

Tim Hortons or (There’s Only One Right Answer)

Every true Canadian knows that Timmies isn’t just a coffee shop—it’s a cultural landmark. Roll Up the Rim is basically a national holiday, and even though we all complain that the coffee doesn’t taste the same anymore, we still go back. Why? Because it’s Canadian.

The Metric System… Except When We Don’t

We measure distance in kilometers, weight in kilograms, and temperature in Celsius—but ask us how tall we are, and suddenly, we’re back to feet and inches. We buy milk in litres, but when it comes to baking? It’s cups and teaspoons all the way. We’ll stick to our confusing hybrid system, Take off eh.

Universal Healthcare (Even If We Have to Wait for It)

Sure, sometimes you have to wait sixteen hours in the ER for a sprained ankle, but at least you’re not getting charged $10,000 for an ambulance ride. We love our healthcare system, and if you try to take it from us, we’ll passive-aggressively fight you while still holding the door open.

Its Not Cold, I’m Gonna Wear Shorts

It could be -25°C with a windchill, and you’ll still see some guy in shorts walking to the store like it’s no big deal. Canadians have a built-in resistance to cold that defies logic, and honestly? even though we complain we kind of love it.

Cottage Life and the Sacredness of Long Weekends

A Canadian long weekend isn’t just time off—it’s a ritual. Whether you’re heading up to the cottage, Pinelake, Drumheller or a buddy’s backyard, nothing beats cracking a cold one, grilling up some burgers, and listening to The Hip on the radio.

Ok Now it’s time to get serious about migrating your website you can call us at rad websites or you can call the guys at CanHost they’re happy to help tell them AJ from rad sent you. and remember smart Canadians businesses stay local and use cash.
If you’re running a Canadian business, serving Canadian customers, and growing in a Canadian market, your hosting should reflect that.

Host your site with CanHost today and give your business the home-field advantage it deserves. you also need more coo loo coo coo coo coo coo in your life. its Rad.

close up of a predator dinosaur eye generative ai art

Maximizing Business Potential with Landmark SEO

by SEO Tips

Maximizing Business Potential with Landmark SEO

Drumheller, a picturesque town nestled in Alberta’s Badlands, is celebrated not only for its stunning landscapes and rich history but also for its vibrant local business community. In such a unique setting, standing out requires more than offering quality products or services—it demands strategic visibility and genuine community engagement. This is where Rad Websites and Marketing steps in, delivering specialized SEO services designed for Drumheller’s distinct market. By weaving local landmarks into your digital strategy, you can achieve remarkable growth and strengthen your community presence.

Leveraging Drumheller’s Iconic Landmarks

Drumheller is home to a number of famous landmarks that capture the imagination of visitors and residents alike. These attractions aren’t just tourist magnets—they are powerful storytelling tools that can elevate your brand.

Royal Tyrrell Museum – A Global Icon of Paleontology

The Royal Tyrrell Museum is world-renowned for its incredible dinosaur exhibits and cutting-edge research. It draws visitors from every corner of the globe, making it an ideal reference point for any local business looking to tap into Drumheller’s fame. By aligning your digital presence with the museum’s prestige, you not only benefit from its global recognition but also build credibility and interest among prospective customers.

Atlas Coal Mine – Celebrating Industrial Heritage

The Atlas Coal Mine stands as a living testament to Drumheller’s industrial past. Its historical significance resonates with those who appreciate the town’s rugged, hardworking roots. Incorporating the story of the Atlas Coal Mine into your brand narrative connects your business to Drumheller’s proud heritage, appealing to history enthusiasts and locals who value authentic, time-honored traditions.

The Suspension Bridge – Where Community and Scenery Converge

The Suspension Bridge is more than a scenic marvel—it’s a hub for community gatherings and local events. Its striking design and breathtaking views make it an emblem of Drumheller’s unique charm. Whether you’re hosting an event nearby or simply referencing this landmark in your marketing, associating with the Suspension Bridge signals that your business is intertwined with the local pulse and spirit of Drumheller.

Local Success Stories: Embracing the Drumheller Spirit

Celebrating Summer with Munchie Machine

Munchie Machine, a local favorite for snacks and beverages, harnessed the energy of Drumheller’s landmarks during the busy summer season. By positioning itself near popular attractions and aligning promotions with community events, Munchie Machine not only boosted its visibility but also became an integral part of the town’s summer story. This local success underscores the power of connecting your brand with Drumheller’s iconic sites.

Treasure Box Toys: A Digital Launch Inspired by Local Heritage

Treasure Box Toys, a cherished toy store in Drumheller, is gearing up for a major online expansion. In preparing for this digital launch, the store embraced the unique charm of Drumheller by weaving references to landmarks like the Royal Tyrrell Museum into its online presence. This approach not only heightened excitement among local customers but also attracted visitors from surrounding regions, eager to experience a slice of Drumheller’s magic.

Badlands Bargains: Transforming the Shopping Experience

Badlands Bargains, a well-known discount store in Drumheller, underwent a transformative journey by integrating elements of local heritage into its branding. By mentioning landmarks such as the Atlas Coal Mine and supporting local events, the store redefined its image and significantly increased both online and in-store traffic. This transformation highlights how local landmarks can serve as powerful symbols to elevate business success.

Embracing Drumheller’s Community Spirit

At its core, Drumheller is a community where history and modernity meet. The local landmarks are more than just backdrops—they tell the story of a town rich in character and culture. By embracing these symbols, your business can project authenticity and resonate deeply with your audience. Whether it’s celebrating the groundbreaking discoveries at the Royal Tyrrell Museum, honoring the legacy of the Atlas Coal Mine, or capturing the communal vibe of the Suspension Bridge, integrating these landmarks into your digital strategy sets your business apart.

Looking Ahead: The Future of Drumheller Business

Drumheller’s charm is ever-evolving, with new events, exhibits, and local initiatives continually reshaping its identity. This dynamic environment offers endless opportunities for businesses to stay relevant by adapting their strategies to reflect the latest local trends. At Rad Websites and Marketing, we’re committed to keeping your business at the forefront of these developments. Our tailored digital solutions ensure that as Drumheller grows, your brand grows with it.

Conclusion

Maximizing your Drumheller business potential begins with embracing the very essence of the town—its iconic landmarks and rich heritage. By integrating the allure of the Royal Tyrrell Museum, Atlas Coal Mine, and the Suspension Bridge into your online strategy, you can create a powerful, authentic brand presence. Rad Websites and Marketing is here to guide you through this process, combining local insights with expert digital strategies to ensure your business not only thrives but becomes a vital part of Drumheller’s ongoing story. Embrace the spirit of Drumheller, celebrate its landmarks, and watch your business flourish in this extraordinary corner of Alberta.

Bonus Tip: Invest in Your Success Without Breaking the Bank

You could pay $150 an hour for a consultation… or grab my book for just $19.99 and get the same expert insights at a fraction of the cost. That’s like choosing between a DeLorean or a skateboard—your call. If you’re serious about dominating eCommerce and SEO, pick up my book today available on amazon.ca or from me personally at iamrad.ca or contact us at Rad Websites and let’s build something legendary together.

Success (8)

Canada Tariffs: Supercharge Your Business & Fuel Canadian Innovation

by Marketing Strategy TipsOnline Marketing TipsSEO Tips

 

Canada Tariffs: Supercharge Your Business & Fuel Canadian Innovation

In today’s fast-paced global market, there is a growing emphasis on doing business locally while embracing the quality and innovation that “made in Canada” represents. With evolving trade policies and increasing tariffs, now more than ever is the time to align with Canadian industry and support our local businesses. Whether you’re a seasoned entrepreneur or just stepping into the business world, understanding Canada tariffs and the numerous benefits of Canadian-made products can transform your approach to commerce. We’ll also explore actionable insights to help you leverage these trends, ensuring your business not only survives but thrives.

Canada’s evolving tariff climate has shot to the forefront of economic discussions, especially as the United States just imposed new tariffs on Canadian imports. While these tariffs may challenge established trade patterns, they also present an opportunity for Canadian business growth. For companies willing to pivot and embrace a truly homegrown approach, the benefits can far outweigh the hurdles.

In this article, we’ll cover how these American-imposed tariffs can fuel local innovation, why “Made in Canada” stands out now more than ever, and what steps you can take to adapt your operations. Whether you’re a seasoned entrepreneur or just getting started, these insights will help you harness Canadian resilience and quality to navigate today’s unpredictable market.

Impact of Recent US Tariffs on Canadian Businesses

Less than 24 hours ago, the U.S. government announced new tariffs specifically targeting Canadian goods. This move has immediate implications for exporters and businesses relying on cross-border partnerships. Prices on certain Canadian products could rise in the U.S. market, creating potential slowdowns in sales.

However, this very challenge can spur companies to refine their local supply chains and showcase Canada’s high production standards. By emphasizing the quality, ethics, and innovation behind Made in Canada goods, businesses can make a compelling case to consumers, both domestically and abroad. The key is to remain agile—use this shift in trade policy as motivation to bolster your brand’s Canadian roots and strengthen local ties.

Why “Made in Canada” Matters More Than Ever

  1. Homegrown Trust
    Consumers increasingly reward authenticity and transparency. Showcasing “100% Canadian” aligns with a growing movement toward ethical sourcing, fair labor practices, and minimal carbon footprints.

  2. Quality & Resilience
    Canada’s strict manufacturing and safety standards ensure that products labeled “Made in Canada” meet high expectations. Amid global supply chain disruptions, local production is often more reliable—giving your business a competitive edge.

  3. Community & Economic Boost
    Dollars spent on Canadian-made products circulate within the Canada economy, supporting local infrastructure, employment, and skills development. This ripple effect fosters Canadian innovation and makes communities more self-sufficient.

The Changing Landscape of Global Trade and Canada’s Role

Global Trade Trends and the Impact of Tariffs

Global trade is constantly evolving. Tariffs have long been used as economic tools by governments worldwide to protect domestic industries. In Canada, these tariffs not only act as a safeguard for local businesses but also stimulate innovation and competition among Canadian manufacturers. By imposing tariffs on imported goods, the Canadian government creates an environment where local products are more competitive on both price and quality. This, in turn, encourages businesses to invest in and develop Made in Canada products that stand out for their reliability and quality.
Tariffs are also an integral part of trade negotiations. As countries seek fairer trade terms, Canada’s approach to tariffs can influence international trade policies, making them more balanced and beneficial for all parties involved. The current global climate demands that business owners understand these mechanisms and use them to their advantage.

The Rise of “Made in Canada” in a Competitive Market

When consumers see the label “Made in Canada,” they associate it with quality, trust, and innovation. Canadian products often carry a premium reputation because they are made under strict quality controls and ethical standards. As more people prioritize buying local, Canadian businesses can leverage this brand identity to foster consumer loyalty and drive Canadian business growth.
Moreover, being a champion of the Canada economy means supporting local employment, innovation, and sustainability. The surge in demand for Made in Canada products is a testament to the resilience and ingenuity of Canadian manufacturers and artisans. Businesses that embrace this movement not only contribute to their communities but also gain a competitive edge in the marketplace.

Understanding Tariffs: A Closer Look

What Are Tariffs and How Do They Work?

Tariffs are essentially taxes imposed on imported goods, making foreign products more expensive than their domestic counterparts. In Canada, tariffs serve several purposes:
Protecting Domestic Industries: By increasing the cost of imported goods, tariffs give local businesses a competitive advantage.
Encouraging Local Production: With tariffs in place, manufacturers are motivated to produce locally, boosting the quality and variety of Made in Canada products.
Balancing Trade Deficits: Tariffs can help reduce the imbalance between imports and exports, supporting the Canada economy overall.
For businesses, understanding tariffs is crucial. By comprehending how these economic policies work, you can better position your offerings, anticipate market shifts, and create strategies that turn challenges into opportunities. This is particularly important for sectors like manufacturing, retail, and technology, where global supply chains are deeply intertwined with local production standards.

Tariffs as Catalysts for Growth

Contrary to popular belief, tariffs don’t just create roadblocks; they can also ignite progress. When importing becomes costlier, businesses turn to homegrown solutions. This dynamic pressures local manufacturers to innovate, pushing them to elevate product quality and incorporate new technologies. Over time, it can even open the door to global recognition of Canadian manufacturing excellence.

While adapting to higher costs might seem daunting, it often leads to discovering better processes, forming stronger local partnerships, and tapping new markets. In many cases, these changes prompt expansions in R&D, helping businesses future-proof their strategies in an increasingly competitive world.

Action Steps for Businesses

  1. Reassess Your Supply Chain
    Look for Canadian partners to source materials and services. By doing this, you reduce dependency on volatile foreign markets and strengthen local economies.

  2. Emphasize the Canada Brand
    Infuse “Made in Canada” messaging into your branding. Show people why local matters, highlighting your commitment to homegrown quality and innovation.

  3. Stay Informed
    Keep an eye on tariff announcements, especially as the U.S. could shift policies rapidly. Setting up alerts or subscribing to governmental and industry updates can help you pivot quickly.

  4. Collaborate Locally
    Seek out Canadian suppliers, tech companies, or marketing agencies to form mutually beneficial relationships. These partnerships broaden your network and reinforce a thriving national business ecosystem.

Why Supporting Canadian Businesses is More Important Than Ever

Economic Benefits of Supporting Local Industries

Supporting Canadian businesses means investing directly in the growth and stability of your local economy. When you purchase Canadian-made products, you’re not just buying an item; you’re contributing to a larger ecosystem of innovation, job creation, and community development. The economic ripple effect of supporting local industries is profound:

  • Job Creation: Canadian businesses, particularly small and medium enterprises, create local job opportunities that strengthen communities.
  • Innovation and Quality: By fostering a competitive local market, businesses are encouraged to innovate and improve product quality.
  • Economic Resilience: A strong local economy is less vulnerable to global economic fluctuations, ensuring long-term stability.

In a time when the global market is unpredictable, investing in Canadian businesses is a strategic move to build resilience. The infusion of local capital and talent nurtures a thriving ecosystem where Canadian innovation is at the forefront, driving progress and ensuring that quality remains a top priority.

The Cultural and Social Impact of Buying Local

There is also a powerful cultural and social dimension to supporting Canadian businesses. When you buy local, you are endorsing the values of community and sustainability. Canadian products are often made with a keen eye on ethical practices, environmental stewardship, and social responsibility. This commitment to responsible business practices not only enhances consumer trust but also reinforces a sense of national pride and unity.

Moreover, local businesses are more likely to invest back into the community. Whether through local sponsorships, community events, or partnerships with other regional enterprises, the support of local businesses fosters a robust community spirit. This, in turn, contributes to a more sustainable and connected society—a true embodiment of what it means to be part of the support Canadian industry movement.

Creating a Marketing Campaign Centered on Canadian Values

In an age where consumers are increasingly mindful about the origin of the products they purchase, a marketing campaign that emphasizes the value of Canadian-made products can be a game changer. Here’s how you can craft a campaign that resonates:

Storytelling:

Share the unique stories behind your products. Highlight the craftsmanship, innovation, and dedication that go into each item. Narratives that capture the spirit of Canada and the dedication of local artisans foster deeper connections with your audience.

Visual Identity:

Develop a visual identity that reflects Canadian culture and landscapes. Utilize images that evoke pride in local heritage and showcase the beauty of Canadian craftsmanship.
Community Engagement: Host events, webinars, or social media challenges that promote local businesses. Encourage your audience to share their own stories of supporting Canadian industry, using hashtags like #SupportCanadianIndustry and #MadeInCanada.

Content Marketing:

Produce content that educates your audience about the benefits of Canadian tariffs and how they protect local industries. Use blog posts, videos, and infographics to break down complex trade policies into digestible insights.

Utilizing SEO and Content Strategy to Boost Your Online Presence

In today’s digital landscape, having an effective online presence is non-negotiable. To ensure your business stands out, consider these SEO and content strategies:

  • Keyword Integration:Seamlessly incorporate your targeted keywords into your content. In addition to canada, made in Canada, and tariffs, strategically include keywords such as Canadian business growth, Canada trade policies, Canada economy, Made in Canada products, Canadian innovation, support Canadian industry, and Canada manufacturing excellence.
  • Engaging Content: Write content that not only informs but also engages your audience. Use conversational language and relatable examples to make complex topics accessible.
  • Internal Linking: Connect your blog posts with other relevant pages on your website to improve your site’s overall SEO. Internal linking helps search engines understand your site structure and keeps visitors engaged longer.
    Mobile Optimization: With a significant portion of users accessing content on mobile devices, ensure your website is fully responsive. This enhances user experience and improves your search engine rankings.
  • Backlink Strategy: Build relationships with other Canadian businesses and influencers to earn quality backlinks. These partnerships not only boost your SEO ranking but also solidify your reputation as a trusted source in the industry.

Future Outlook: Navigating US-Imposed Tariffs

As the U.S. continues to reshape its international trade policies, Canadian businesses need to stay alert. There’s a possibility tariffs could expand in scope, creating deeper pressure for exporters. However, this environment can also fast-track local technological advances, improve manufacturing processes, and spur more robust intra-Canada trade.

In the near term, expect some industries—like steel, lumber, or agricultural products—to experience immediate cost hikes in the U.S. market. To counterbalance that, many Canadian companies may look to Europe, Asia, or even emerging markets for potential growth. Despite the hurdles, a renewed focus on local supply chains and brand-building around Canadian excellence will likely strengthen long-term resilience.

For SMEs, pivoting now can help capture new market segments or niche opportunities left open by shifting global competition. In essence, these American-imposed tariffs encourage self-reliance, foster innovation, and spotlight the distinctive quality of Canadian products worldwide.

Opportunities for Global Expansion with a Local Edge

Interestingly, while tariffs are designed to protect local markets, they can also open doors to international expansion. By establishing a reputation for quality and ethical production standards, Canadian businesses can position themselves as premium brands on the global stage. This dual advantage of thriving locally while exploring international markets presents a unique proposition for those willing to embrace the future of commerce.

Practical Tips to Support and Invest in Canadian Businesses

How Consumers Can Make a Difference

As a consumer, your purchasing decisions have a powerful impact on the economy. Here are some practical tips to ensure your dollars support local talent and innovation:

  • Research Brands: Look for companies that proudly display the “Made in Canada” label and have a track record of ethical business practices.
  • Attend Local Events: Engage with local business fairs, trade shows, and community markets to discover quality Canadian products firsthand.
  • Provide Feedback: Let businesses know that you value their contribution to the local economy by leaving positive reviews and sharing your experiences on social media.

Business Leaders: Investing in Local Partnerships

For business owners and leaders, consider these strategies to deepen your commitment to the Canadian market:

  • Collaborative Ventures: Explore partnerships with local suppliers, manufacturers, and creative agencies. Collaborative ventures can drive innovation and cost savings.
  • Local Sponsorships: Sponsor community events or local initiatives that promote Canadian industry. This not only enhances your brand image but also contributes to community well-being.
  • Invest in Talent: Prioritize hiring local talent and invest in training programs that boost the skills and creativity of your workforce.

Conclusion

The Inevitable Success of a Locally Focused Business Model

In a rapidly evolving global economy, tariffs are more than just regulatory hurdles—they are catalysts for innovation, quality, and sustainable growth. By embracing the values of “Made in Canada,” you’re not only boosting your bottom line but also championing a resilient local economy built on quality, ethical practices, and a commitment to community.

The future is bright for businesses that understand the importance of Canadian business growth and Canada trade policies. As a creative, powerhouse leader, you have the capacity to harness these trends and propel your business to new heights. Every decision to invest in Canadian-made products and support local industry contributes to a legacy of excellence and economic resilience.
Remember, success in business is not just about adapting to market changes—it’s about leading the charge. By positioning your brand at the forefront of the “Made in Canada” movement, you are setting yourself up as a beacon of Canadian innovation and Canada manufacturing excellence. Your entrepreneurial spirit, combined with the inherent quality and value of Canadian products, ensures that your journey to success is not only achievable but inevitable.
As you forge ahead, let your business model be a testament to the strength of local economies. Embrace the tariffs not as limitations, but as stepping stones to a more innovative, competitive, and prosperous future. Your commitment to supporting Canadian businesses isn’t just a strategic decision—it’s a declaration of faith in the power of community, quality, and sustainability.

Why Choose Rad Websites and Marketing and Rad DDR Security

When navigating the complexities of tariffs and an ever-evolving global market, partnering with seasoned experts is essential. At Rad Websites and Marketing, we’ve been proudly made in Canada since before it was cool, and our roots run deep in supporting the local landscape. We believe in the power of homegrown innovation—we are 100% hosted in Canada, Built in Canada, and we will always preach that message. If you’re with GoDaddy or any of the other US big boys, it’s time to make a switch.

Our expertise in crafting responsive and dynamic (rad) digital strategies empowers Canadian businesses to thrive amidst economic shifts, ensuring your brand’s story of quality and innovation resonates with your audience. We’re not just about business; we’re about community. Our journey includes launching a compelling book series—one of which is out right now—offering another creative way to support your own business while championing fellow Canadian entrepreneurs.
And for robust digital protection, Rad DDR Security provides cutting-edge security services to safeguard your assets and uphold the integrity of your data, personal information and operations. When you choose us, you’re not only investing in expert services but also contributing to a vibrant ecosystem of Canadian innovation and success.

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, the time to invest in and support Canadian businesses is now. With evolving tariff policies that favor local production, the landscape is ripe with opportunity. Whether you are a consumer, entrepreneur, or investor, your role in this transformation is vital. The keywords and insights shared in this post—canada, made in Canada, tariffs, Canadian business growth, Canada trade policies, Canada economy, Made in Canada products, Canadian innovation, support Canadian industry, and Canada manufacturing excellence—are not just search terms. They represent a mindset, a commitment, and a future that is steeped in quality and progress.

New American tariffs on Canadian imports may feel like a curveball, but with the right strategies in place, they can be the spark that ignites your business’s next phase of growth. By doubling down on local supply chains, emphasizing Made in Canada craftsmanship, and fostering community support, you’ll be positioning your venture to stand out in a shifting global marketplace.

Ultimately, tariffs aren’t just about taxes or trade tensions—they’re about how businesses like yours can pivot, innovate, and thrive. Embracing Canada’s reputation for high-quality manufacturing and ethical production doesn’t just benefit your bottom line, it strengthens our collective economy. Be proactive, stay informed, and remember: the future belongs to those who adapt quickly and champion Canadian excellence.

Thank you for joining this conversation. As you implement these insights, remember that every step you take towards supporting local industries brings us all closer to a vibrant, sustainable, and innovative Canadian economy. Let your actions today inspire the successes of tomorrow.

rad-nat-geo-scaled

Doing Business in Drumheller: Leveraging Local Landmarks

by SEO Tips

Doing Business in Drumheller: Leveraging Local Landmarks

Drumheller, nestled in the heart of Alberta’s Badlands, is more than just a scenic town known for its dramatic landscapes and rich history. It’s a vibrant hub for entrepreneurs and businesses looking to thrive in a community that values both heritage and innovation. Whether you’re a seasoned business owner or a newcomer, understanding the unique characteristics of Drumheller can propel your business to new heights. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore how to do business in Drumheller effectively, highlighting local landmarks, successful case studies, and proven SEO strategies to enhance your local presence.

Embracing Drumheller’s Unique Local Landmarks

Royal Tyrrell Museum: A Hub for Tourism and Education

The Royal Tyrrell Museum is Drumheller’s crown jewel, attracting dinosaur enthusiasts and scholars from around the globe. As a business, aligning your services or products with the museum can open doors to collaborative opportunities. For instance, local cafes and shops can offer themed products or discounts to museum visitors, enhancing visibility and foot traffic.

Atlas Coal Mine: Tapping into Industrial Heritage

The Atlas Coal Mine National Historic Site offers a glimpse into Drumheller’s industrial past. Businesses can leverage this landmark by offering tours, creating educational content, or hosting events that highlight Drumheller’s coal mining history. Such initiatives not only honor the town’s heritage but also attract visitors interested in history and culture.

The Suspension Bridge: Connecting Communities and Opportunities

The iconic Suspension Bridge is more than a picturesque landmark; it symbolizes Drumheller’s connectivity and resilience. Hosting community events or promotional activities around the bridge can enhance your business’s local presence. For example, organizing a weekend market or a local fair near the bridge can draw in crowds and increase brand awareness.

Valley Brewing: Local Flavors and Community Spirit

Valley Brewing is a testament to Drumheller’s thriving local business scene. As a popular brewery, it serves as a social hub where locals and tourists alike gather. Partnering with Valley Brewing for events, sponsorships, or joint promotions can mutually benefit both businesses, fostering a sense of community and shared success.

The Water Tower: A Symbol of Growth and Vision

The Drumheller Water Tower stands as a beacon of the town’s growth and future aspirations. Businesses can use this landmark as a symbol in their branding and marketing efforts, conveying messages of reliability, sustainability, and forward-thinking. Additionally, sponsoring maintenance or events related to the water tower can enhance your business’s visibility and reputation.

Ghostbusters Filming Location: Capitalizing on Pop Culture

Drumheller’s role as a filming location for the iconic movie “Ghostbusters” offers unique marketing opportunities. Businesses can create themed products, host movie nights, or engage in storytelling that ties your brand to this beloved film. Leveraging pop culture can attract diverse customer segments and create memorable brand experiences.

Case Studies: Local Businesses Thriving with Rad Websites’ Drumheller SEO services

Munchie Machine: A Summer of Success

Munchie Machine, a local favorite for snacks and beverages, experienced remarkable growth during a fun-filled summer in Drumheller. By partnering with Drumheller SEO Services, Munchie Machine optimized their online presence, attracting more customers both locally and from surrounding areas. Their vibrant summer events, combined with effective SEO strategies, resulted in a significant increase in sales and customer engagement.
Key Strategies Implemented:
Local Keyword Optimization: Focused on keywords like “Drumheller snacks” and “local beverages.”
Event Promotion: Leveraged SEO to promote summer events, increasing attendance and sales.
Social Media Integration: Enhanced social media presence to complement SEO efforts.

Treasure Box Toys: Exciting New Online Store Launch

Treasure Box Toys, a beloved local toy store, is gearing up to launch their new online store. RadWebsites played a pivotal role in preparing their website for a successful launch. By implementing a comprehensive SEO strategy, including keyword research, on-page optimization, and backlink building, Treasure Box Toys is set to reach a wider audience and boost online sales.
Increased Online Visibility: Higher rankings on search engines for relevant toy-related queries.
Enhanced User Experience: Optimized website structure and navigation for better customer engagement.
Expanded Market Reach: Ability to attract customers beyond Drumheller through targeted SEO efforts.

Badlands Bargains: From F to A with SEO Excellence

Badlands Bargains, a local discount store, transformed their online presence with the help of Rad Websites Drumheller SEO Services. Utilizing the new SEO book and checklist from Canadian SEO Made Simple, they implemented strategic changes that elevated their website’s ranking from an F to an A within just a month and a half. This remarkable improvement led to increased website traffic, higher conversion rates, Expansion and sustained business growth.
Comprehensive SEO Audit: Identified and addressed key areas for improvement.
Content Optimization: Enhanced product descriptions and blog content with targeted keywords.
Technical SEO Enhancements: Improved website speed, mobile-friendliness, and security.
Leveraging Local SEO for Business Growth in Drumheller

Importance of Local SEO

In a town like Drumheller, where community connections are paramount, local SEO is essential for businesses aiming to attract nearby customers. Optimizing your online presence for local search ensures that your business appears prominently in search results when potential customers are looking for services or products you offer.
Keyword Strategy: Incorporating Local Landmarks
Integrating local landmarks into your keyword strategy can significantly boost your local SEO. Phrases like “business near Royal Tyrrell Museum” or “services by Atlas Coal Mine” not only enhance relevance but also connect your business with well-known Drumheller attractions.
On-Page Optimization: Utilizing H Tags and Content Structure
Effective on-page optimization involves using H1, H2, and H3 tags to structure your content logically. For instance, using H1 for the main title, H2 for section headings like “Local Landmarks,” and H3 for sub-sections such as “Royal Tyrrell Museum” ensures clarity and improves search engine readability.
Content Creation: Engaging and Relevant
Creating high-quality, engaging content that incorporates local references and success stories can captivate your audience and enhance SEO. Blog posts, case studies, and event highlights featuring Drumheller landmarks and local businesses not only inform but also build a sense of community.
Technical SEO: Enhancing Website Performance
Technical aspects like website speed, mobile optimization, and secure connections (HTTPS) are crucial for SEO. Ensuring your Drumheller-based business website is technically sound can improve user experience and search engine rankings.
Building Community Connections through SEO and Local Engagement
Networking with Local Businesses
Collaborating with other Drumheller businesses can create a supportive network that benefits all parties involved. Joint promotions, events, and referrals can amplify your reach and strengthen community ties.
Hosting and Sponsoring Local Events
Participating in or sponsoring local events near landmarks like the Suspension Bridge or Valley Brewing can increase brand visibility and foster positive associations with the community.
Leveraging Social Proof and Reviews
Encouraging satisfied customers to leave positive reviews on platforms like Google My Business can enhance your credibility and attract new clients. Highlighting these reviews on your website and social media further strengthens trust.

Future-Proofing Your Business with Rad Websites’ Drumheller SEO Services

Investing in professional SEO services tailored to Drumheller’s unique market can ensure sustained business growth. From comprehensive keyword research to ongoing optimization and analytics, Rad Websites and Marketing provides the tools and expertise needed to thrive in a competitive landscape.
Personalized SEO Strategies
Every business is unique, and so are our SEO strategies. We take the time to understand your specific needs, goals, and challenges to create a customized plan that drives results.
Continuous Monitoring and Optimization
SEO is not a one-time effort. Our team continuously monitors your website’s performance, making necessary adjustments to keep your business ahead of the curve.
Transparent Reporting and Analytics
Stay informed with regular reports and insights into your SEO performance. Understand what’s working, where improvements are needed, and how your investment is paying off.

Conclusion

Doing business in Drumheller offers a blend of rich heritage, vibrant community, and unique opportunities. By leveraging local landmarks, learning from successful case studies, and implementing effective local SEO strategies, your business can thrive in this dynamic environment. Drumheller SEO Services is dedicated to helping you navigate this journey, ensuring your business not only survives but excels in Drumheller’s competitive landscape. Embrace the spirit of Drumheller, connect with the community, and watch your business flourish.

How to use Chat GPT to build your website

by Marketing Strategy TipsSEO TipsWordPress Tips

How to use Chat GPT to build your website

When it comes to your business, having a successful online presence is of utmost importance in 2023. That’s why when building your website, you need to ensure that the user experience is positive or people won’t come back. Things like branding, content, customer service, analytics, processes and everything in between can be extremely overwhelming. Whether you’re updating an old website or crafting a brand new one, there are tools out there to help you. One of those tools is called AI – artificial intelligence.

In recent months, AI has made profound steps to help people in all industries with increased productivity and advanced ways of completing everyday tasks. When it comes to website building, you might be wondering if AI can help you. The answer is yes and in this blog post we will dive into how to use AI to build your website, specifically how to use Chat GPT to build your website.

Artificial intelligence in our daily lives

Before we dive into Chat GPT, it’s important to understand that there are many other forms of AI technologies that we use on a daily basis. Some of these you might not even realize are AI. For example, if you use facial recognition and/or voice-to-text when using your smartphone, you are using AI!

Have you ever thought about something and then it appeared on your social media channels? While AI doesn’t have the power to magically read your mind, it can use algorithms based on your interests to recommend what you see online. So if you’re wondering why all of the ads you’re seeing are things you’re interested in or have recently searched for, you can thank AI.

These are just a couple of the most basic but common AI technologies that we use today but there are way more complex technologies gaining traction. More advanced forms of AI include content generation algorithms that can create realistic images and videos that aren’t real or reinforcement technologies that can train robots to function. There are endless possibilities when it comes to AI and as it becomes more popular, it continues to advance.

What is Chat GPT?

Today we are going to talk about the AI technology Chat GPT and how to leverage it when building your website. The creators of Chat GPT intended on making an AI technology that would respond to someone who engaged with it. It can be used to answer questions, generate ideas, give you recommendations and so much more. This can be extremely useful if you are creating a website, especially because many website builders have integrated Chat GPT into their systems for an even easier way of website development.

While Chat GPT can provide valuable and contextual information, you should not solely rely on it because it can contain misleading information. It is also important to note that it can not replace human writers who are able to convey emotion and creativity in natural ways. However, it is a cutting edge technology that is making waves in communication and content creation.

Elevate your website using Chat GPT

There are various ways you can use Chat GPT to improve your website. Depending on what page builder program you are using, some will have AI integrated into the system for an even easier way of getting things done. Firstly, you can use AI to help generate more sales by allowing AI algorithms to analyze your visitor’s user behaviours in order to display tailored content to them.

If you are using this, each person who visits your website will see something a little different based on their previous web interactions, online purchases and geographical location. Using this tool on your website will help you increase your sales while ensuring people come back.

Personalize your website content

If you’re having trouble getting your website set up to function, Chat GPT can also help! These tools aren’t just for people who want to use your website, but also for you to streamline extensive processes. When building anything that takes a lot of time and effort, it can become difficult at times to get the job done the way you want it.

If you need more content for your website, you can leverage AI by allowing it to generate verbiage such as blog posts, descriptions for the products you’re selling and more! Create customized web pages in minutes using AI instead of spending hours doing it all yourself. Just remember, you will still need to add your personal touches to make your website unique to you.

Chatbots for improved customer service

Have you ever visited a web page and been instantly greeted by a chat robot asking if you need help with anything? This is a very popular form of AI that many website builders have started to use. There is nothing worse than having a problem with a product or a question and not being able to reach the people responsible for it. So, if you want to greatly improve your user experience, integrating a chatbot is the way to go. These technologies are capable of understanding a user’s language in order to help them navigate through your website, answer any questions and provide 24/7 support.

Media recognition

If your website uses lots of images and/or videos, you can use AI to help keep them organized. Because it has the power to automatically recognize what is in your media, it can tag your images/videos for you, categorize them accordingly, provide alt text and overall improve your website’s SEO with minimal effort on your end.

WordPress Elementor and AI

A popular option for a website builder plugin that we recommend is WordPress Elementor. By using this you don’t need to be a coding wiz in order to make a rad website! There are many great features offered through Elementor including the integration of Chat GPT. So, how do you use Chat GPT to build your website using elementor?

If your goal is to gather user data, try offering an AI-powered survey for your clientele to fill out. This will make it easy for your website to recommend the tailored content we mentioned earlier as well as collect useful data to continue to improve your website. This data can then be used to make future marketing campaigns an even better success.

Allowing AI to gather information from your website to provide you with analytics is a great way to find out more about your visitors and the functionality of your site. Doing so will help you determine if your website needs improvement in certain areas, how to market to your target audience and will ensure all decisions are backed by up-to-date information.

To conclude

Making a website stand out from its competitors in 2023 is a very challenging task. There are so many other people with similar products, business plans and online platforms so it is critical that you make a website that stands out, functions properly and creates an experience that has people wanting to come back. Whether you’re an entrepreneur who sells products through your website, an online influencer looking to partner with like minded brands, a blogger trying to share your writing, AI is here to help you. If you’re having a hard time figuring out where to start, Rad Websites and Marketing can answer your questions, including how to use Chat GPT to build your website. Rad Websites has the expertise you need to get your website finished and out in the market. Contact us today to learn more about our services.

How to Start Your Own Online Store

by Ecommerce Tips

How to Start Your Own Online Store

Achieve Ecommerce Success

If you have ever thought of starting your own online store, you might be surprised to learn that it’s easier than you think! In fact, with so many established companies selling their wares over the web, ecommerce has gone from a novel idea to an industry powerhouse in just the past few years. If you’re thinking about joining in on the fun, read on to learn more about what it takes to start your own ecommerce business.

Overview

Starting your own online store is a great way to make some extra cash on the side and build a sustainable business. It’s also a great platform for selling products that you create or find. One of the best platforms for setting up an ecommerce site is Woocommerce, which is free and easy to use.
First, you’ll need a domain name and hosting for your website. If you already have a website, it should be relatively easy to add an ecommerce store through plugins or extensions that come with it. If not, we recommend Canhost as they provide both domain names and hosting services that are easy to set up.

Step 1 – Registering your domain name

Registering a domain name can be the first step for a new ecommerce store. This is typically done through an EPP code. Be sure to understand the nuances of your desired domain name, including if it’s already taken or not available. Once you’ve registered your domain name, you’ll need to find a hosting service and register that with the same EPP code. A hosting service will keep your website live on the internet, while the registration will ensure that nobody else can steal it! Hosting services are typically inexpensive, but they have options based on what type of website you’re creating. If you’re planning to create a lot of content on your site, then make sure to choose a plan that has sufficient storage space (most hosting plans come with 10GB free).
In addition to domain names and hosting services, any ecommerce business should have security measures in place as well. Fortunately there are several reliable companies who provide inexpensive SSL certificates for just this purpose. You want these certificates so hackers don’t get into your site and expose sensitive information about customers like their credit card numbers or passwords!

Step 2 – Choosing a niche

Choosing a niche is one of the most important decisions you’ll make in starting an ecommerce business. It’s often a difficult decision, as it will determine the success or failure of your store.
Niche selection should be based on three key factors: The products you want to sell, your financial resources, and the target market for those products.
When making this decision it’s important not only to consider how many competitors are already in that niche, but also how much traffic there is for that type of product. A high demand for your product means more traffic and potential customers for your store!
The best way to get started with choosing a niche is with Google Trends.

Step 3 – Create an attractive website

The first step to start your ecommerce success is to build an attractive and easy-to-use website. To do this, you can use WordPress, which will make website development much simpler. At Rad Websites we love word press. Our suggestion? You can also use a self-hosted WordPress site or purchase hosting from a company like CanHost. Just make sure that your store meets the expectations of your target audience, as we have seen that some millennials prefer mobile stores and others desktop stores, so having both options will increase customer satisfaction.
The next step is Setting up your Google Analytics account and promoting your site on social media networks.

Step 4 – Google Analytics Setup

Set up Google Analytics on your website. This is a free tool that allows you to track how people are using your site. You can find out what pages they’re visiting, where they’re coming from, and how long they’re spending on your site.
This will help you see what’s working and what’s not so you can make adjustments accordingly. It’ll also help you know where the majority of visitors are coming from so you can set marketing dollars in the right places. If you want to get really advanced with this, add tracking codes for every ad campaign or link that sends traffic to your website. If one campaign gets more clicks than others, you’ll know which campaigns work best!
Now all you need is inventory! The third step would be setting up an inventory management system. With WooCommerce, Shopify Plus, Magento Community Edition and even WordPress e-Commerce plug-ins like WOOFox, it’s easy to import products directly from manufacturers like Amazon or Ebay. These systems provide templates for designing catalogues as well as front end shopping carts for customers who purchase items through your website – without any coding knowledge required! They allow customers to buy products at the time of order and choose when they receive their purchases instead of having them delivered automatically after ordering – saving you money on postage and packaging fees (and making sure each customer receives their purchase as quickly as possible).

Step 5 – Choosing Payment Methods

One important thing to know when starting an online store is the payment methods. There are two main types of payment methods, with a few subtypes. The two main types are b2b and b2c (business-to-business and business-to-consumer).
B2C is most common, since it’s direct between customer and the store. Subtypes include traditional credit cards, PayPal, Google Wallet, Apple Pay, etc.
B2B is less common but can be advantageous in certain situations because it allows for invoicing or purchase orders. Subtypes include accounts payable and eCommerce platforms like Shopify or Magento.

Step 6 – Launching your store

Launching a store is one of the most exciting parts of starting your own online store. You should make sure your website is developed by a professional website development company that knows how to create an ecommerce site using Woocommerce, which is the leading e-commerce platform. This will ensure that you have an easy-to-navigate site that provides a great customer experience. Additionally, it’s important to set up your business so that you’re able to start getting orders as soon as possible. Once you launch your store, promote it on social media and other channels so customers can find out about it!

To Conclude – Summary

To summarize, starting an ecommerce business is a big undertaking and requires a lot of planning. For example, you need to identify your niche, research and develop ideas for products and services, decide on pricing points, find suppliers, determine what technology will work best for you, create a website design, choose the store’s look and feel based on your target demographic. If you’re ready for the challenge but don’t know where to start or what steps are involved in the process of starting an ecommerce business then this post has hopefully been helpful. We discussed everything from identifying your niche, developing product ideas and choosing suppliers to determining how much inventory to order, setting up payment options and building a website that’s engaging with great content. We even shared some tips for hiring a web designer and social media manager!
In conclusion – A successful ecommerce business starts with solid groundwork. The more research you do before launching your site the better prepared you’ll be when it comes time to take orders. Set realistic goals for yourself by mapping out all the important aspects of launching an online store such as branding, inventory levels, marketing budget etc. Once you’ve done that it’s time to get creative!

Why You Need to Build an E-Commerce Website

by Marketing Strategy TipsOnline Marketing TipsSEO Tips

This COVID-19 2020 pandemic has caused a lot of disruptions and changes in our daily lives, our way of living, employment, businesses, and most of all our finances. It broke us from our normal movement, our daily routine. Norms have changed. Big and small businesses closed. People were kept inside; there was less activity, relied more on computers, tablets, and mobile phones; our only window to the outside world. However, despite the pandemic, some were spared were lucky enough to be able to work pretty much without disruption. COVID has changed the way we do business and those who survived mostly are those who render their services through online portals or e-commerce website. And this is the opportune time for other businesses to follow suit. 

What Is An E-Commerce Website? 

An e-commerce website is any website that sells products online, making it easier and convenient for shoppers to make purchases. 

With the lockdown, all of our attention has moved virtually! Consumers are reaching out for their essentials through the internet recently. From the food industry to clothing to other dry goods. Commerce done virtually is without any argument a plausible cause. 

Whether you’re a medium or small-scale entrepreneur, building an e-commerce website is within the entrepreneur’s reach. It will help you grow and most of all, increase your business’ revenue. 

How Does This E-Commerce Work For You And Your Business? 

Before this pandemic, there was already an influx of online merchants, and man, some of them have reached the peak of success in their field.

The most famous is of course Amazon. One of the factors that made Amazon so successful is because their products or services are not focused on just one group of people – cloud computing, digital streaming, artificial intelligence are some of the few of those services they offer. 

How Do E-Commerce Website Generate More Revenue? 

Traditionally women spend more time and money on shopping, but on the other hand, when it comes to online shopping, 28% of men in the past five years have spent more time and money on online shopping than women do, according to recent studies. 

And yet it may be obvious to people living in the urban area, knowing that it is more convenient for them to shop at the nearest physical store, still, these people living in the major areas of the metropolitan spend more money shopping on their favourite e-commerce websites. This avenue your business will be treading on is a feasible way for a lucrative income.

Why do these people shop online despite shops being within their reach? Because of customer convenience. Through the e-commerce website, customers can gather information such as store hours, contact numbers, and even physical addresses; this information is a big help for drive-in-person sales. 

In addition to that, you can extend your hours of operation to 24/7. Meaning, you can connect with your customers 24 hours a day; this is beneficial to those who work graveyard shifts, or people who can’t just simply go to sleep early; nocturnal beings, for the better lack of word. And once your product or business goes popular, maybe, just maybe you can expand to other areas in your city or state.

One of the perks of having both a physical store and an online business is that you can combine your services into one; a multi-channel experience for both customers and your business. Your clients can make an early purchase of the product, you on the other hand can prepare it, pick it up when they arrive at the store. 

How Can I Make An E-commerce Website Successful? 

Once you have your e-commerce working and you can see that your business is gaining its traction online, you’ll come to realize that you can reduce expenses like payroll and increase efficiency. 

For example, you need less staff because your services will rely completely on the internet, orders and purchasing. However, of course, as time goes by and your business will start to expand, this would mean more staffing and more operations, thus more expenses, but of course there will be offset to the revenue your business is making.

  • Online Payment Gateway. 

Organizing sales and keeping up with the inventory data is sometimes the reason why some entrepreneurs have apprehensions to operating an online business. Managing online sales is not that easy; otherwise, you wouldn’t have a hard time keeping up with your physical store, right? Wrong!

Having the right payment gateway will ease having these apprehensions, fortunately. You can accurately track your inventory without any apprehensions by using a payment. A payment gateway allows you to seamlessly connect your online ordering system with your store and inventory. 

  • Search Engine Optimization 

Utilize the power of local business SEO. Using the right keywords and phrases which are associated with your business or your product is an effective tool in having a high ranking in search engines.

With the use of search engine optimization, users can easily pinpoint an exact website that will cater to the user’s needs. Thanks to Google’s indexing and ranking prowess, your website will immediately appear upon a click of the search engine. Imagine the power of e-commerce combined with these tools and what your business can harness from these techniques.

  • Social Media Marketing

Just like e-commerce, having a social media presence is a must. It allows you to get in front of your consumers in a new and interesting way. Just look at Gymshark, a brand that was practically created through its Instagram followering.

And through word of mouth from your satisfied clients, they can easily create a “snowballing” effect in social media about your product thus making your business grow and giving you an innumerable ROI. 

Final Thoughts 

E-commerce now is more of a necessity than a nice-to-have. Never mind those apprehensions and fears of managing your physical store while having an e-commerce website. Never let your fear of failing in having one contradict your future of being a successful future entrepreneur in the following years. 

Don’t deny your customers the convenience they deserve while enjoying your product. Take advantage of what is happening now. This is the opportune time to operate your business online despite the ongoing pandemic. 

Having e-commerce is the way to go as your connection between you and your customers. Once you’ve learned the ins and outs of having an e-commerce website, everything will be an easy task. Always have a master plan near you, eventually, this will be your master plan, and soon everything will turn out well for your business.

SEO Blogging: 12 Tricks You Must Know To Attract Traffic

by Ecommerce TipsSEO TipsWordPress Tips

SEO blogging is an art. Not many people have the kind of discipline it requires to ensure that the right amount of keywords are strategically placed in the blog content.

Either they put too many (especially towards the end), or not enough (especially in the first paragraph–which should always have at least one). Of course, if you are blogging using the WordPress CMS, you have the benefit of their Yoast SEO partner, which will guide you into placing the required numbers that will meet Google’s best practices.

Still, even after all that, there is no guarantee you will start seeing traffic to your website as there are other factors that can prevent Google’s algorithms from ranking your site. So how can you guarantee traffic flows to your website through blogging? By using the Best SEO in Canada. However, if for whatever reason you are unable to avail yourself of the excellent services of our SEO-expert A J Frey, fear not. We will share with you 12 tricks you must know to attract traffic through SEO blogging when DIY. 

Attracting Traffic Through SEO Blogging

Here’s the thing: Google is on a mission. And so are you. Google’s mission is to ”organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful”. What’s your mission? If you wish to succeed in attracting traffic to your website, you must familiarize yourself with Google’s mission, which means you have to understand search engine optimization (SEO). Is your blog in line with Google’s mission? 

If you’re reading this article, then it means We have succeeded in attracting traffic through SEO bogging. It means We have succeeded in showing search engines like Google and Bing that our blog is a relevant source for people like you who are searching for information about attracting traffic to your website. That’s what SEO blogging is all about.

Do you think We could help you do the same? Sure we can. Here, then, are the12 tricks you must know to attract traffic through SEO blogging:

1.  Use a SEO-friendly CMS

What’s a CMS, you ask? Content Management System. The text and images on your blog are called contents. It’s a no-brainer: If you’re doing SEO blogging you need a CMS that not only facilitates SEO blogging but also promotes it.

It is a documented fact that WordPress is, by far, the best CMS on which to blog, especially SEO blogging. WordPress not only allows SEO plugins like Yoast (which is the closest thing to a human SEO expert), but also facilitates Google Analytics so you can do your own informal audit of your site. 

2. Conduct a SERP Research for your keyword/phrase

SERP stands for Search Engine Results Page— it’s your go-to to learn which pages are ranking using your search term. Knowing what the search results page looks like for the term you’re targeting is important.

After spending time analyzing the top five or so posts to see what they are doing right, you are now armed with the necessary information on how best to optimize your blog posts to not only land the best spots on the results page, but to ensure your content is outstanding.

Researching your keyword/phrase is perhaps the foundation for your plan as it shows you how many people are already searching for your keyword/phrase, which sites are ranking for your keyword/phrase and even make suggestions for alternate keyword phrases that could potentially be more successful for your website. 

3.  Strategically place the keyword/phrase

Another “trick” you must know to attract traffic through SEO blogging is placement. One of the reasons many people are turned off SEO is due to misunderstanding. They believe SEO is stuffing keywords into headers and body of content that does not make sense. That is what’s called keyword stuffing, and actually frowned on by Google. See our article Good SEO Practices vs Bad SEO Practices to learn more. 

Good SEO practices actually include placing keyword/phrases in headers and paragraphs of content that has been well-researched and is coherent. It means when a searcher enters a search term like “how to bake a cake”, he/she is looking for an actual Recipe, not a site with the phrase “how to bake a cake” a million times, but no Recipe.

If this has ever happened to you, you know how frustrating that is. That’s why Google heavily penalizes sites that practice keyword stuffing. 

But where do you place these keywords/phrase you ask? AJ Frey and his team of SEO experts suggest placing them at the following places: 

URL:

The first and most obvious place for your keyword/phrase is in your Url. The Url with the main keyword/phrase gives a hint of what is on the page. Besides, It is a big turn off for Google to see these Urls with a string of characters and numbers.

Page title:

The page title is the “main idea” of your page, and should show up first in a search result. This is a no-brainer.

Headings (and subheadings):

These are phrases used to segment the content on your page. They make the content more scannable, and also help visitors to your page to decide which sections to read, in the event they are unable to read the entire article.

Content:

This is the tricky part, and where most people err. There’s a not-so-thin line between keyword stuffing and strategically placing keywords in the body of your article. Rule of thumb: One in the opening paragraph, one in the closing paragraph and at least 2 – 3 in the body of the text. This, of course, is dependent on the length of the article. You wouldn’t want to have half a dozen keywords in your 500-word article. That could get penalised by Google.

Meta description:

Do you ever notice the block of text in a search result? Sure you have? That’s what decides whether or not you will click on the link in that search result. That’s what we call the meta description. It is very important, as it not only helps Google to determine how relevant is your content, but it also helps searchers to decide whether or not they should click the link to your website. Including the target keyword/phrase clearly makes your content more relevant to the search.

4. Use internal links

There are only a few times that I’ve gone on a website for a minute and end up staying for hours, and that’s usually caused by the interlinking of their articles. I.e., linking from one post to another on the same site. I would start to read one article, but it linked to a few others that I was interested in reading. This is a wonderful trick by the SEO experts for that site, because they managed to accomplish what many experienced webmasters failed to do–keep visitors on their site. 

Google rewards such SEO practices. By using internal links you’re helping search engines better understand the topic of your blog content, and keeping visitors on your site longer, which ultimately can lead to paying customers. 

If you’re new to blogging, don’t worry. It will only be a matter of time before you find yourself with a solid library of posts that you can interlink. 

5. Add internal links to new pages

Internal links are backlinks from one page to another on your website. As mentioned before, they keep visitors on your site, and also help visitors to navigate from page to page, distribute ‘link authority’ throughout your site, and allow Google to use their anchor text to understand context.

The problem is that most people forget to add internal links whenever they publish a new page. However, if you want your page to stand the best chance of ranking on Google or any other search engine for that matter, then you must remember to add internal links to it. 

6. Long-tail keyword/key phrase

Long-tail keywords are also called key phrases. They’re highly specific, consisting of three or more words. For example, “12 Tricks You Must Know To Attract Traffic Through SEO Blogging” is considered a long-tail key phrase. Four reasons long-tail keywords are so effective are:

They generate more qualified leads

Searchers using long-tail keywords have a more defined search query, which typically results in more qualified leads. Someone searching for “SEO blogging” might just be looking for information on what is search engine optimization and how to use it in a blog post; whereas someone searching for “12 Tricks You Must Know To Attract Traffic Through SEO Blogging” as clearly pass that stage and is more than likely looking for other ways to attract more traffic to their site. 

There’s less competition

Long-tail keywords/key phrases also have less competition, which makes it easier to rank for organically and cheaper to bid for when advertising. They make up more than seventy percent of online searches, but they have less traffic, making them more effective for smaller eCommerce brands to rank highly in SERP.  

They result in more conversions

The third reason they are so effective is that they result in more conversions. Online shoppers searching for long-tail keywords have high purchase intent, making them more likely to convert and generate profit. They’re no longer in the discovery phase of what is “SEO Blogging” – they know they want “12 Tricks You Must Know To Attract Traffic Through SEO Blogging” and they’re ready to apply them.

You can create targeted content

Finally, long-tail keywords enable you to create more targeted content for your audience. Information on 12 Tricks You Must Know To Attract Traffic Through SEO Blogging is relevant to your audience and geared towards creating trust and value that increases spend and customer lifetime value. Your site becomes the “go-to” site for all things SEO, and before long, they are purchasing one of the best SEO packages in Canada.

7. Fix pages with broken backlinks

Backlinks are hyperlinks that link one website to another. However, the link is incoming. Meaning that the other website is linking to your website. The more backlinks you have pointing back to your site, the more popular your site becomes.

However, if the linked page is dead, then it is not ranking, and is probably preventing other pages on your site from ranking. If the websites linking to your site are high quality–what we call “high-quality backlinks”–then it is worth fixing these “dead” pages. However, if they’re not, then you can leave them as 404 pages (that’s the error message you get when a page is dead).  

8. Update old posts to keep them current

It takes a lot of work to create fresh content on a regular basis. One way to ease the “stress” is to look for good, older posts that may have become “outdated” and spruce them up with “new” information. 

This is especially applicable to those pages ranking on Google’s page 2 and older. Analyse them to see what could have prevented them from making it to Page 1 and fix the problem. This could also mean adding missing information. 

9. Feature Influencers in your blog posts

One of the big “tricks” to attracting traffic to your website is finding ways to collaborate with Influencers. This is useful as it exposes your blog to a wider audience. Collaboration could be in the form of interviewing them, featuring a quote from them, or referring back to advice they provided on their site (with a link).

By featuring them, you not only get on their radar (you’ve initiated a relationship with them), but they may thank you by sharing your blog post with their audience. And the rest, they say, is history. 

10.  Optimize Your Images for SEO

As mentioned earlier, blog posts consist of text and images. At least, it should be. If your blog post has text only, it may be intimidating to read for the visual learners. As such, every blog post you publish should include at least one image, and sometimes more. But don’t just post them, optimize them! 

Every image you include in a blog post gives you an extra opportunity to add your keyword/phrase to the page. You can use either the alt text and/or the image file name. If possible, you can even add it to the caption text. That’s a few more ways to signal to Google what the page is about.

11. Embed your videos in relevant posts

You can take it a step further and add videos, in addition to your image(s) to your blog posts. Videos can really bring your blog to life and make the visitor experience more engaging and interactive.

12. Make sure your site is optimized for Speed and Mobile Use

The days when web browsing was done exclusively on a desktop are long gone. It is proven that more people access the Internet on a mobile device than ever before, which means more people are searching the web on their mobile devices than ever before. This is the reason your site must be optimized for mobile. 

Your mobile site should have a responsive web design with a fast page speed, so people don’t bounce from your site. If your mobile site delivers a positive experience, visitors will stay longer on your page longer and even return. These behaviors show search engines like Google that your site is helpful and easy to use. This will improve your ranking and send more traffic to your site. 

Conclusion

  1. And that’s it. 12 Tricks you must know to attract traffic through SEO blogging:
  2. Use a friendly CMS like WordPress
  3. Conduct a SERP Research for your keyword/phrase
  4. Strategically place the keyword/phrase
  5. Use internal links
  6. Add internal links to new pages
  7. Use long-tail keyword/key phrase
  8. Fix pages with broken backlinks
  9. Update old posts to keep them current
  10. Feature Infuencers in your blog posts
  11. Optimize your Images for SEO
  12. Embed your videos in relevant posts and make sure your site Is optimized for speed and mobile use.

We guarantee if you follow these 12 “tricks”, you will start to see traffic flowing to your website.  Did we leave out any you think should have been among these twelve? Let us know in the Comments box below.

5 Reasons People Prefer Hiring Experts For Their SEO Audits

by Marketing Strategy TipsOnline Marketing TipsSEO Tips

Let me ask you something. If you’re Usain Bolt, would you buy a pair of running shoes at a $10 store? Probably not. You’ve heard the admonition, don’t be penny wise and pound foolish. This lesson could not be more true than when it comes to doing SEO audits. The last thing you want is to be that guy who constantly goes to the plastic surgeon to fix his nose. If you need something done right, let the experts do it–in this case, the SEO experts.

And millions of people around the world hire experts like AJ Frey for their SEO audits. Still not convinced? Let me ask you? Do you think it is a coincidence that you are here? No, it’s not! You are here because our SEO experts have spent hours auditing our website to ensure that we make it on Google’s page one–which is where you found us. 

And that’s just one reason people prefer hiring experts for their SEO audits. We’re the good guys. We believe in sharing information so we’re going to share some more reasons with you. Are you ready? Here then are 5 reasons people prefer hiring experts for their SEO audits. But for the newbie who is just starting out in SEO and has no idea what we are talking about, let’s first define an SEO audit.

What Is an SEO Site Audit?

Well, we are going to presume that you already know that SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. According to Yakkety Yak (a Chicago-based marketing agency) “an SEO site audit is an analysis of the factors that impact your website ranking in organic search. 

This often includes technical back-end factors as well as on-page, content-focused elements that make a website both easier for search engine robots to crawl and easier for people to navigate”. The objective being to understand the ranking of your site and to discover how to increase traffic to your site.

Why is this Important? 

A 2020 study (Search Engine Journal) found that the clickthrough rate for websites in the first position on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) is 25%. For websites in the second position, this number drops drastically to 15%, and 2.5% for websites in the 10th position. And this is all on the first page!!! 

Can you imagine what happens when you get to Google’s page 2? This means if your website is not on page 1, the odds are pretty slim for consumers to find you. Why spend money to build a website if not to generate revenue. However, if no one is visiting your site, then it means no leads and ultimately no revenue. 

So now you see the purpose of SEO, you can also understand why it’s important to do an SEO audit of your website to ensure it is properly optimized for the search engines. 

 

Why can’t I do it for free?

Good question. Let’s look at free: 

We all know that time is money, therefore it is unreasonable to expect an SEO Expert to spend the time to do an audit for free, right? So what’s left? DIY or have a team member who’s not an expert do it. Anyone else who promises free has an ulterior motive, whereby you are going to end up being penny wise and pound foolish. 

Note that a free SEO audit will generate incomplete and misleading information, which if acted upon could harm the quality, visibility and profitability of your website. If using a third-party, he/she could provide sales-oriented recommendations to steer you towards engaging with the third-party providing the audit. I.e. “Hire us” and we will fix the problem for you. This we call the foot-in-the-door tactic.   

What you will not get for free is valuable insights, historical contexts (past and present performance) and meaningful recommendations for what to do next. The danger of missing these three necessary ingredients is that you can end up making harmful decisions due to a lack of information, the wrong information, or information designed to lead you in a predetermined direction. 

Not only will you now have to deal with the financial fallout of an uninformed decision, but you will also have to bear the additional cost of fixing it–penny wise and pound foolish.

 

Why it is Worth Paying for an SEO Audit

A free SEO audit, as a giveaway, only provides limited useful information in its purpose, scope and strategic value. A paid SEO audit delves deep into your marketing data to analyse the meaning and implications of the site’s SEO performance.

Not only that, but it also presents a “comprehensive picture of how SEO affects overall marketing and business goals, so the audit delivers many times the value of your investment in revenue-driving conclusions”.

Having established that you are now left with a paid SEO audit, let’s now look at the 5 reasons people prefer hiring experts for their SEO audits. Also, let’s give a look how SEO Expert AJ Frey, the best SEO in Canada, can audit your site and ensure your audiences discover you on Google’s first page. 

You’re hiring a team of experts

Usually, SEO experts do not work in a vacuum. So what most people don’t know is that when you hire an SEO expert, you are actually getting a team of experts working together to do a comprehensive audit on your website. 

You’re getting value for your money

When you hire an SEO expert, you’re actually getting value for your money because he/she is going to evaluate your website based on your unique needs, foci and desired conversions. There is no one-size fits all in SEO, therefore, you cannot use a template to do an SEo audit. Even if you start with a template, it must be customized to meet the needs of that particular website. 

You’re getting thoughtful, Informed Insights

You could decide to purchase the SEO tool–which is good, and even the SEO experts use them sometimes. The only problem is, you may not be able to read and understand the outcome. What does “manual actions” and “tracking/analytics” really mean, for example? An SEO expert will give you thoughtful, informed insights based on the outcome after he/she has audited your website. 

You can expect to receive quantitative and qualitative information because well-trained experts like AJ Frey are looking through every single anomaly revealed through their SEO audit of your website. 

Issues like duplicate contents, excessive redirects, low word count, unlinked pages, etc. are recorded and categorized into subheadings. The SEO audit report will not read like a fill-in-the-blank generic report used by everybody. No, every section of the report will contain thoughtful insights about your website–information that has been obtained from the data collected.  

You’re Getting Honest and Forthright Recommendations

After a thorough evaluation, you can expect an SEO expert to provide a prescriptive list of categorize recommendations fit to your budget. And one that is easily implemented by you and your team. 

Many third-party auditors will give you a description of what’s “wrong” with your website–Usually in the form of a pdf file, and that’s where they stop. However, they will not prescribe the “medicine” needed for your “broken” site. 

With an SEO expert, an SEO audit report is not just a pdf file (though you will get that too), but also includes meaningful recommendations that go beyond “check your sitemap” and “improve content”. 

The SEO expert will have a conference call or face-to-face meeting with you to discuss the findings of the SEO audit. After giving you honest and forthright recommendations, he/she will answer all the  questions you may have concerning the audit and your website. You can expect to get honest feedback.

By the time you finish, there will be no doubt as to what your next move will be. This is another reason people prefer hiring experts for their SEO audits. If you do not have an SEO team, we will gladly assist. We have the best SEO packages in Canada, so you don’t have to worry about your bottomline. 

You will avoid Issues with Google

And the fifth reason people prefer hiring experts for their SEO audits is to avoid any issue with Google. If you know anything about SEO you know that Google has a Best Practice manual of the things one can and cannot do in order to rank on their pages. 

You’re an upstanding citizen, but unknown to you, when you decided to place your favourite keyword 20 times in your underperforming page Google sees that as a “black-hat” technique and penalises you. 

Google no longer accepts keyword stuffing (that’s what they call using a keyword too many times in one article) and so Google’s crawlers notice this on your web pages. What will happen is, you will see your page rank go down instead of rising, which means fewer people will find your page, and subsequently fewer leads and conversions.

As you can see, it’s bad enough If you make a mistake with your SEO campaign–if that’s all you had to worry about: wasted resources. However, your real problem starts when you get entangled with Google. If you’re not experienced with SEO-and most DIY web owners aren’t–you could accidentally conduct black-hat SEO techniques without fully understanding the consequences of your actions.

SEO Experts know all the rules. That’s why they are experts. A part of their job is to understand the ins and outs of the industry, to ensure they never run into legal issues. If they were to conduct “black hat” SEO, they could find themselves in trouble with Google, and you could take legal actions against them. 

Final thoughts

When It comes to SEO Audit, you could download a free SEO tool and DIY. However, if you did, and if you’re not an SEO expert, you coud not only hurt your bottomline: you could get into trouble with Google and your website could get penalised for inadvertently practicing black hat techniques.

Or, you could hire an SEO expert who will not only conduct a thorough audit of your site, but will also present the results in a timely, well-thought out manner, whether face-to-face or virtually. He/She will go through the results with you in a thoughtful way. 

Once through, you will receive a honest and forthright recommendations. So you can make informed decisions. The value you get from hiring experts for your SEO audit will be proportionally more than what it costs, if managed correctly and nurture your business to scale.

If you do not have an SEO team, we can provide SEO services to you, at a fraction of the cost seen on the Internet. Or, if you want to learn more about how search engine optimization can help your business grow, give us a call, or send us an email. AJ Frey is ready to help you!  

So there you have it. The 5 Reasons People Prefer Hiring Experts for Their SEO Audits. What are your thoughts? Let us know in the Comments box below.

What is eCommerce?

by Ecommerce TipsSEO Tips

What is e-commerce?

E-commerce stands for ‘electronic commerce’ or ‘internet commerce’ which occurs when people buy or sell things through online services/the internet. E-commerce can be done through a variety of technologies and ways such as simply buying a pair of brand new shoes from your smartphone, selling your services to customers online, downloading a paid for song and more. E-commerce is broken down into four main categories including:

Business to business (B2B)
Business to consumer (B2C)
Consumer to consumer (C2C)
Consumer to business (C2B)

When looking at electronic commerce, it’s easy to believe that it just entails simple transactions such as a business selling their product online to a consumer. For instance, Amazon is selling you your favourite cookbook. While this is an example of ‘business to consumer’, e-commerce spans over many more types of transactions as long as the web is being utilized for at least part of it. A simple way to look at the lifespan of an e-commerce transaction is the transfer of services and/or goods, the transfer of funds and then finally the exchange. Whether this occurs only between consumers, businesses or both depends on what type of model the transaction is. E-commerce has become one of the biggest and fastest growing industries across the world especially since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic when people resorted to shopping online even more.

Business to business e-commerce

B2B e-commerce occurs when businesses carry out transactions with one another without involving consumers. This can happen when a manufacturer sells their products to a retailer or wholesaler. This is a very popular e-commerce model as many businesses order their goods online and have left traditional in-person transactions behind. The reason for this all comes down to convenience and what saves a business time and money. B2B e-commerce takes away stress and time by providing a business with a safe and reliable way to restock merchandise, access services and get quotes on items. This means a B2B wholesaler will sell their products online in bulk to other businesses and retailers. And in recent years many wholesalers have invested in creating online platforms to sell their products and services, widening their reach and utilizing the positive effects of B2B e-commerce. Other ways a business can involve themselves in B2B commerce is selling their online services to companies in need, just like what we do here at RAD Websites! The variety of B2B commerce models is large and the opportunities are endless. Other examples of B2B include websites like AliExpress, Rakuten, HubSpot, Amazon Business and Salesforce.

Business to consumer e-commerce

This type of e-commerce is the most popular model as the average person has purchased items or services online through e-commerce giants like Amazon, Knix, Spotify, Walmart, Adidas and even Netflix! Let’s say you are an average consumer looking to purchase an item such as a new blender or a service such as movie streaming online. You carry out an online transaction to achieve this good or service and then you finally receive your goods or services. Boom, you’ve just participated in a B2C e-commerce transaction! Having access to business to consumer e-commerce alleviates the need to physically go somewhere in order to purchase goods. This has allowed for convenient spending while turning many consumers away from traditional shopping at brick-and-mortar locations. Because of this, many brick-and-mortars have invested in creating online websites for their customers to use while also vastly increasing their brand awareness. B2C e-commerce gained even more popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic when people were told to stay home and limit their in-person contacts. Now that lockdowns and mandates are no longer affecting people, consumers have more of a choice on how they get their goods and services although many have realized how easy it is to shop online.

Consumer to consumer e-commerce

C2C e-commerce is simply a model which sees two consumers engaging in online business with one another. If one person decides they want to sell a used coffee machine and they decide to list it for sale on a third party website for $20 and you buy it, you and the seller have engaged in C2C e-commerce. Some third party sites will charge sellers a small fee in order for them to sell their items but others are free. Depending on the quantity and frequency of the items you sell, you may find paid-for sites are the way to go. Some great examples of C2C e-commerce websites include eBay, Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist and Esty. Lots of people love this form of e-commerce because it’s less costly than buying new products, it’s easier to sell things because of the lower price expectations, it’s extremely convenient and it’s good for the environment. However, there are some things to be aware of when engaging in C2C e-commerce. You cannot guarantee the quality of products which means people can misrepresent the product they are selling. It’s also important to note that scammers will sometimes use C2C e-commerce to take advantage of buyers. Never make an online payment before receiving your item and always exercise caution when it comes to providing payment.

Consumer to business e-commerce

Last but not least, C2B e-commerce flips the script when it comes to the ‘business and consumer’ relationship. This happens when the consumer offers a business a service or product. The exchange involves payment to the consumer through funds or other benefits. A freelance writer who writes copy for a business in turn for payment is a perfect example of C2B e-commerce. These individuals are considered consumers and not businesses because they create their own terms and they negotiate their own transactions when offering a service and/or product to a business. This model is great for individuals who want to provide products to businesses without making a business of their own. It allows consumers to pick and choose who they want to provide their services to for whatever benefits they decide and it offers great flexibility to both the consumer and the business. This idea has grown exponentially through social media and social media influencers who promote and showcase a company’s products on their platforms in turn for free products, money and or experiences.

Conclusion

E-commerce can be a tedious subject but once you familiarize yourself with the different categories, it won’t take long for you to understand the processes and benefits it can have for your business. RAD Websites is a great starting point for you to grow or start your own online presence. After being awarded the Best E-Commerce Website Agency in Western Canada and the Best E-Commerce Design Agency Canada-wide, it’s obvious that we have all the tools you need to achieve your goals.

Why WordPress Is Still The Best

by Ecommerce TipsMarketing Strategy TipsOnline Marketing TipsSEO TipsWordPress Tips

WordPress is by far the most popular open source CMS (content management system) – around 60% of all websites use WordPress and for good reason. In fact, over 10 million websites use WordPress, with 500 new ones added each day, according to the latest statistics.
In this blog article, we’ll go through the reasons why you should choose Wordpress over other CMS systems such as Shopify, Wix, Joomla or Drupal.

How Long Does SEO Take to Work?

by Marketing Strategy TipsOnline Marketing TipsSEO Tips

The single most important question for a business or brand which is about to spend money on search engine optimization (SEO) is how long does SEO take to work before results start coming in. We’ve been asked that question countless times over, and frankly, there’s no direct answer. 

The leading issue in trying to answer that question is that there are plenty of things that factor in – including but not limited to, the type of business, industry, marketing strategies, and web design. Simply put, figuring out how long it takes for SEO to work is relative to how it is done in the first place. 

We’ve dealt with several businesses in the past who already had impractical expectations before coming in; they ask head-on if we can help them produce results in a couple of months because that is the ideal time frame they hear from their peers.

How Long Does SEO Take to Work?

The Truth About SEO

Sadly, for them and any future client, we tell them that SEO doesn’t walk on a straight line. In other words, there’s no uniform system or set of rules that govern how strategies should work and what methods should be avoided. 

Key in the term “SEO tips” in Google, and you are bombarded with thousands of opinions from everyone claiming to be experts. While there is nothing wrong with the overabundance of information, we take issue on those who cash in on misinformation, particularly about SEO campaigns that produce results in no time. 

You’re here because you want to know the truth. Don’t get me wrong – We’re not dissuading you from investing in SEO. You’re here for a reality check, and that is what we’re giving you.

Don’t worry if you are confused or scared. Everyone feels the same way when they ponder how long it’ll take for SEO to work. But before we delve on to the factors that affect the timeline and results, let’s make sure you know the basics of SEO. 

What is SEO?

SEO deals with the optimization of the pages of a website in a way that achieves favorable rank in the search engine results pages (SERPS). It stands out from all other strategies with the same objective because it involves the use of free or “organic” methods. 

SERPs contain links to pages, listings, videos, and other stuff that are relevant to a specific keyword phrase or search term. The results are ranked using an algorithm designed based on the search intent of the user. 

SEO has the most impact on a website’s ranking, but it is a broad concept that is better understood by two attributes – on-page SEO and off-page SEO. 

On-Page SEO

The only way to understand on-page SEO is by learning how a search engine like Google operates. It was mentioned earlier that search engines embrace an algorithm to examine content and rank pages through them. Google gathers content by using spiders or crawlers.

Search engines use a database (indexes) to save pertinent website info, including URLs. So, when someone searches “signs of a roof replacement,” Google displays results based on its indexes. 

On-page SEO deals with optimizing a page on a website. The search engines take multiple factors into account when ranking pages. These factors include keyword use and stemming, internal links and anchor texts, mobile responsiveness, and distribution of page authority, to name a few. 

Off-Page SEO

This is often called “link building,” for a good reason. Off-page SEO describes the process of creating a reputable inbound link profile for a website by using:

  • high-authority
  • relevant
  • trustworthy links from other websites.

The reason why it is called “off-page” is that the work done is outside of the website. An excellent example is when you ask an authority site in the roofing industry to link to your blog post about the signs that a roof needs replacement.

When Will You See Results from Your Campaign?

Irrespective of the chosen SEO strategy, it takes time to see the results after the implementation. If you’re desperate to know how long you should wait, then the most sensible projection is four to seven months.

This is the period when you begin to see results. In other words, we’re not saying you achieve utter success in less than a year. 

The reason why we’d always come up with this modest projection is that there is a bevy of factors that affect the development of your campaign. We discuss these factors below:

Age

Being a newbie is the biggest challenge for every website trying to climb up to the search engine results pages. It’s like when you’re vying a job straight out of college, and everyone looks at you as an inexperienced prospect with a lot of risks and a few upsides.

For the most part, it takes Google a couple of months to index a newly published site. In other words, age plays a crucial factor in figuring out how long you have to wait for your website to appear on the first page of SERPs.

There are ways to help speed up your progress, i.e., obtaining links from authority sites (off-page SEO). Doing so means convincing high-ranking and relevant sites to link to you. If you’re successful in getting these links to your pages, you’re telling Google to index your site quicker. 

History

Age and history are two different things SEO’s perspective. The former refers to the time that your site has been published on the web. While the latter talks about your site’s interaction history with the search engines.

Google hands out a score on every page of a website based on factors such as trustworthiness and reputability. This score or rating exemplifies your site’s propensity to climb in the search engine rankings. Hence, the higher score your page gets, the more likely faster the climb to the first page of Google will be.

Penalties

We said earlier that there is no set of strict guidelines or rules in SEO. But don’t think Google and other search engines won’t penalize black hat strategies.

Google hates websites that break its rules, although there’s no existing document that details these rules. Any decent individual with minimal background in SEO knows what it means to break the rules.

For example, procuring backlinks from shady and spammy sources, posting duplicate content, and keyword stuffing.

If you’ve engaged in any of those black hat techniques before, it means your site has a tainted reputation online. Google and other search engines won’t forget previous penalties when they rank pages. But like everything in life, there’s always a second chance to redeem yourself. 

Final Words

SEO is a lot more complicated than most people think, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Instead of probing into how long does SEO take to work, the best approach is to set realistic goals. And then establish an effective plan based on them. Instead of focusing on the time frame, you should weigh on the factors that affect your campaign. 

Search Engine Marketing: What’s the Cost to Be Seen Online?

by Marketing Strategy TipsOnline Marketing TipsSEO Tips

How Much Should I Pay to be Seen First Online?

At Rad Websites, we get a lot of the same questions when it comes to creating search engine marketing strategies are profitable, sustainable and all around RAD.

How much does it cost to jump to the first place on the search engine results page?

Can’t I just pay to be seen first?

If I’m running paid ads, I’ll be seen at the top anyway right? I’m paying to be there!

Isn’t SEO included when you build my website? How can we possibly need monthly updates?

And guys, honestly- we get it. If you don’t live and breathe the Internet like we do, it’s actually quite overwhelming to understand and build marketing strategies for search engines that make sense to both us (the nerds) and you (the much cooler customers.)

It’s because online marketing has crafted it’s own set of rules over time. While we can apply a lot of off-page marketing principles to online marketing, there’s entire concepts we must keep in mind to get you seen among the noise.

The Internet is a really weird place. But it’s not going anywhere, anytime soon at least- and to be consistently seen online requires a whole lot of work on the back end.

The general theme of this particular blog? You can’t buy search engine ads and expect to triumph your competition with those alone. You just can’t. Let’s find out here How Search Engine Marketing will help you.

It’s Not All About Cost with PPC Ads

Consider the Online User Experience

At the end of the day, people often forget that Google/Bing/Yahoo are businesses. Yes, they get a tonne of revenue from paid ads- but, they rely on people coming back to their online space to make money.

Search engines get people to come back by being a quick, consistent and accurate source of answers for online users with pressing, immediate concerns.

(There is a slight hint of sarcasm in there. We get to see the stuff people search on Google on a daily basis. Entertaining doesn’t quite sum it up.)
But really though; search engine strive everyday to present the best solutions to those who continually use them. It places onus on the search engines to audit, categorize and filter websites to make sure each search gives you what you were looking for. They care about the user experience, because a positive user experience makes them return.

Google Decides First Place on the SERP by Their Everchanging Algorithm

In order to audit, categorize and rank websites to see just how well it will answer a particular search query, Google has an internal algorithm that they stick on their crawler bots who scan millions of websites a day.

Does anyone know the entire in’s and out’s of the Google algorithm? Of course not. They would never make it that easy.
Does it stay consistent so you can figure it out?

An even harder NO- they make minor changes to the algorithm up to 100 times a day.

However; there are many principles that leading Kelowna web development and SEO agencies know to be true, tried and tested. Of course, they all lead back to the user experience.

Now, we don’t want to overwhelm you (or quite frankly, bore you) by spilling the entire scope of our understanding of the algorithm.
(Trust us- we’ve tried at least ten ways to make alt tags sound cool and hip. They just don’t.)

Okay, so stick with us. In order to understand why paying your way to the top just isn’t going to work, you need to understand the mechanisms of paid advertisements and how your organic website plays a vital role in anything you do online.

The Quality Score of Pay-Per-Click Advertisements

A lot of times, we see businesses who throw a large chunk of money at paid ads and think “hey, that’ll do. I’m paying a good chunk of money, I’ll be seen.”

Unfortunately, no.

When you type in a search term- lets say web developers Kelowna- Google brings you two set of results. The first is a few paid ads at the top and the rest are organic search results (not paid.)

Paid or not, Google has crawled through your website and ad to see if you are a relevant and high quality candidate to show for that search query.
With organic results, Google scans hundreds of different items to decide your “worthiness.” With paid ads, it really boils down to three things which make up your online campaigns quality score:

Ad Relevance + Landing Page Experience + Expected CTR
Shooting back to “web developers Kelowna”:

  • Does your ad talk directly about web development in Kelowna?
  • Does your website or landing page talk directly about web development in Kelowna?
  • Are people clicking on your ad when they search web development in Kelowna?

It circles back to two main concepts.

Your ad campaigns must be designed, written and executed flawlessly to show up amongst millions of advertisers.

Your website has also has to be designed, written, built and executed flawlessly to show up amongst millions of advertisers. Google puts a hefty weight on how relevant your website is- 60% of your quality score will depend on your website.

We are sorry to say- if your website isn’t rad, it will struggle to show up in both paid and organic search results no matter how much you pay. If your website isn’t clean, relevant, up to date and built properly- even paid ads won’t show very much.

Do People Still Click Paid Ads?

Absolutely! Paid ads are a great addition to your online search engine marketing strategy. Around 40% of people will go directly to an ad over an organic search listing.

But it’s important to remember they are an addition, not a solution. Without putting a good amount of effort into your website- or picking a web development company that does- you will simply be wasting your money paying for ads that Google still won’t show much.

PSA: This is a really, really good measure for search engines to put into place. Giants, like Amazon and Coca-Cola have billions to throw around online and it wouldn’t really be fair if only the biggest and richest got seen online whenever they wanted.

Plus, how annoying would it be to search for a web development company in Kelowna and you get ads for Vanilla Coke?

(Because cherry Coke is better. That’s what we meant.)

So, i hope you understand how much search engine marketing is important for your business/website.

What You Should Look For In A Website

by SEO TipsWordPress Tips

What You Should Look For In A Website

You may wonder why you should spend money updating your current company website? You
might even think it’s a waste of money. Maybe your existing website looks outdated compared to
the competition but does a newly designed website design really matter that much?

Despite a lot of businesses owners reluctance to spend money, a ton of studies show well-built, modern-
looking website will generate better customer traffic and will increase conversion which means
higher sales.

There are many reasons why a well-designed website will attract more customers and give you
dominance in your industry. The following highlights four key components that a web designer
should keep in mind when designing a website. This will help you ask the right questions and
hire the perfect web designer for your project.

Brand Consistency

Whenever creating a new website the designer should understand your brand. This goes further
than just the look and feel of your brand and website, but should also include messaging, core
values, and mission statement. You don’t have to put it all on your website, but a good website
designer understands that everything they create and do should come from a brand-first
perspective. It is important for your customers to be able to recognize your brand in all forms of
communication so they associate your brand position and promise with your business. Often
when the visual communication changes with a brand, it can cause customers to feel
uncomfortable, which can cause them to create a negative association with your company. When
designing a new website, you might want to look at a brand overhaul or a brand refresh,
depending on what has changed internally within your company.

Website Navigation

One of the most important parts of a website is the navigation. If your customer becomes
frustrated and can’t easily find what they are looking for they will go somewhere else. It’s that
simple. The navigation of a website can often make or break a website, which is especially true if
you’re selling products online. Website navigation typically includes a navigation bar that divides
the pages of the website into categories. For example, you might have a category with service or
products, or you might have one with all the company information. Good navigation should
make things easy to find and comprehend. When designing navigation, web designers sometimes
get carried away with designs and fancy typefaces because they look pretty but oftentimes they
just confuse the customer and slow the process down. In most cases, over-simplified navigation
maximizes ease of use for a wider range of customers, no matter what your target demographic
is.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search Engine Optimization is an important area of expertise. If you want to know more about
Search Engine Optimization SEO (AJ insert link) click here to learn more. When hiring a
website designer, you should always ask what he or she knows about SEO. Please keep in mind,
just because they are a web designer, it doesn’t mean that they are experienced in SEO and they
might miss a few steps and you’ll have to go back to fix them which will likely cost you extra
money. Ask how the web designer plans to implement SEO setup in the design and see what
they say.
Some things to watch out for:
– Title Tags
– Meta Description
– Linking
– Keyword optimization

Website Content

The content of your site is important for reasons besides the fact that it communicates your
company’s brand position and promise (which we’ve already mentioned). There are other very
important elements that are considered when a copywriter creates the content and the graphic
designer creates the visual assets. Making the message short and to the point, yet warm and
welcoming helps the reader to remember the message easier. Also, when there is too much text
on a page, the page becomes visually cluttered making it more difficult for a reader to physically
read the page, let alone remain interested in reading the page. By streamlining the content, the
designer is then able to insert the text into their design, which typically includes plenty of blank
space. This empty space lets the readers’ eyes rest so they do not tire of reading.

Conclusion

In today’s day and age, most people look online to make purchasing decisions and most
businesses have already developed their respective websites to become more accessible for their
customers. With the help of website design, business owners are able to create a user-friendly
and welcoming online environment where users can get useful information any time of the day.
When you have a well-managed website, people can rely on you. It builds trust, and when
visitors trust you, they won’t have doubts about purchasing your products and services.

Best Free SEO Tools

by Marketing Strategy TipsOnline Marketing TipsSEO Tips

There are hundreds if not thousands of Search Engine Optimization (Best Free SEO Tools) you can use. And they can get pretty pricey if you’re not careful so you need to be picky which ones you pay for and which ones you use a free version instead.

Thankfully there are tons of free ways you can check different SEO attributes and rankings which can save you both time and money. Here are some of our favourites at Rad websites.

1) Small SEO Tools (Free)

This site is one of the best Free SEO Tools out there because it has all types of free tools you can use in order to do keyword research, site analysis and even check your competition. A part from Google’s own tools, this is probably the best you can get without entering in your credit card information. While you can’t go as deep as some of the paid tools, Small SEO Tools is great for people who want to be able to fix some of the more common SEO issues without spending a ton of time and effort.

How To Use This Tool

Enter your website into any of the offered tools but I would recommend start with the SEO website checker, especially if you’re looking for some quick SEO wins. This tool will give you an idea of how you score and how you stack up against your competition. You can then dive deeper using some of the other tools.

2) Google Analytics (Free)

This is the tool you must definitely use on a weekly basis, even if you don’t really care about SEO. Google Analytics tracks all your traffic to your website and you can analysis which marketing channels are working and which aren’t. You can see what pages your clients are most gravitating towards and which ones need improvements.

How to Use This Tool

You need to sign in to your Analytics account to start using this tool. Once you have added your website, navigate to the Tracking code under the property column and copy the code. Paste the tracking code in your SEO plugin. We recommend either Yoast or All In One SEO.

You should get verification that you’ve done this correctly. It will take a little time to get used to navigating Google Analytics as there are so many different options and customizable features but once you do, you’ll see the power of it.

3) Google PageSpeed Insights (Free)

Google PageSpeed Insights is a tool that checks the speed of your site and provides suggestions to how to improve it. Page loading speed is one of the most important elements of a website. Better site speed leads to increased user satisfaction and higher rankings.

How to Use This Tool

Enter your website URL, click the “analyze” button, and the tool will automatically check the speed and overall user experience of your site and provide a score – for both desktop and mobile. You need to opt for a score above 90 to offer your users a better site experience and to increase your chances of ranking higher in the search results.

4) Google Search Console (Free)

Formally Google Webmaster, this is yet another Google tool that allows you to search for errors on your website that could potentially harm your SEO score. Primarily it allows you to check and submit a sitemap which is the overall architecture that Google views your site in.

How To Use This Tool

You’ll have to sign into your Google Search Console or create a new account if you don’t have one already. Once you are in you’re account you’ll have to attach it to your website. You can do this in a variety of ways including through domain access, your website code or a website plugin. Once you have hooked your website up, you’ll able to navigate with the bar on the left-hand site which will give you a variety of options.

5) Mobile-Friendly Test (Free)

Mobile-Friendly Test is a free tool that lets you check the responsiveness of your website on a mobile device. With Google’s emphasis on mobile-first search queries on mobile devices are at least 50% in your industry — and in many cases more. Therefore it’s important to optimize your site for mobile devices.

How to Use This Tool

Enter the URL of the site that you wish to test and then click the “run test” button. In just a few seconds, you will know if your website is mobile-friendly or not.

6) Ahrefs Backlink Checker (Freemium)

Ahrefs offers a free back-link checker that allows you to check the top 100 links pointing to any website. Back-links are important because they are one of the ways Google checks to see how popular your website is and whether the website provides useful information.

How to Use This Tool

Enter the URL that you want to analyze and the tool will not only show you your domain rating score.

7) Keyword.io (Free)

Keyword research is undoubtedly one of the most fundamental tasks that every SEO specialist needs to perform, but researching is a time-consuming process without access to the best tools. Keyword.io is an easy and free alternative to Google’s Keyword Planner and it offers lots of relevant keyword suggestions for every type of research.

How to Use This Tool

Enter your main keyword in the search box, click on the desired search engine or platform, and then select the targeted country from the drop-down list. Once you press search, a variety of options will appear.

8) Moz Local (Free)

Moz has a free tool called Moz Local which is great for local businesses that want to be found within a particular neighborhood. Moz Local offers a comprehensive view of a website’s profile and web presence. By analyzing the most popular online directory’s, it gives a score on how well you rank and where you can improve. A great thing about this tool is that you don’t need a paid Moz account in order to use it.

How to Use This Tool

Enter the company’s name and street address and click search. It will take up to 30 seconds to analyze and will display where that company is indexed and where you could add it for improved search results. It is particularly useful to create links from sites like Yelp, Facebook, and Foursquare which will increase your domain authority.

So, these are the best free SEO Tools, that you can use and get better website ranking on Search Engines. If you need our SEO Experts Help, Feel free to Contact Us.

5 Expert SEO Tips to Push Your Traffic – How We Nail it Every Time!

by SEO Tips

Today we share with you 5 expert SEO tips to push your traffic, that has allow us to nail it every time!

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is like a car race, except the race is to make it to Page One on search engines like Google and Bing. In this race, you have several different types of cars, such as Car #1 (Content), Car #2 (Link building), Car #3 (Technical SEO), Car #4 (Social Media) and Car #5 (Keyword Research).

In this race, the cars are not racing against each other. They are racing with each other, each attempting to fit in simultaneously on your website. Once you gain momentum with one “car”, it can help boost your rankings and traffic.

According to Brian Harnish, lead SEO at iLoveSEO, “When you have both elements – rankings and traffic – performing well, you can expect higher conversions as a result”.

In a previous post I talked about maintaining a high ranking by practicing white hat SEO, something we, here at Best SEO in Canada, are very good at. Btw, if by some miracle you don’t know what SEO is, let me just say it is a term used to describe the process webmasters’ use to make a website rank higher in search engines like Google and Bing.

In today’s article, I will share with you five expert SEO tips to push your traffic–and how we nail it every time, because I am the best SEO in Canada: Someone RAD who makes Rad Websites, equipped with all the latest best practices and  technology, and the creator of high-functioning, complex e-commerce stores that perform. Which brings me to:

Number 1 – A well-designed website

It doesn’t matter how many Ads you purchase (and we hope you don’t because we hate PPC), if you don’t have a well-designed website, the traffic you worked so hard to gain will “bounce”. That’s right! They’ll say, “See yah later”, and you can bet they will not be sharing your link with anyone either.

A well-designed website is a RAD website. If you’re reading this article then it means you’ve seen our website. And since ya’all know I love to brag, you won’t be surprised if I say it is one of the best websites on this superhighway. A well-designed website has a sitemap-whether created by you or generated by Google or Bing.

However, it is vital, as it provides search engines like Google with the necessary information to swiftly crawl and index site pages, audio and video. As a matter of fact, in order to appear in Google News, your website must have a sitemap.

On the front page of your website should be several or one main image that has been optimized for search images. See Number #3 below. Your blog (and I am presuming you have one. If you don’t, then you really need to stop reading this post and contact me NOW!) must be discoverable on your front page.

Do I have to say that the link should lead to your latest post? A well-designed website has a well-chosen name, and on the backend, uses relevant keywords. More on this later (see Number #4 below).

Last, but not least, a well-designed website looks just that: well-designed. It is pleasing to the eye. Believe it or not, visitors are turned off by unattractive websites. What will happen is that they will visit your site because you’ve implemented all these expert SEO tips I’ve shared with you, but they will not stay, and they will not return.

Those are potential clients. Solid leads. Lost revenue. So my number one expert SEO tip is that you build a well-designed website to attract people and spiders. At Best SEO in Canada, we make sure people enjoy being on our client’s RAD website, want to come back, and tell all their friends.

Number 2 – A Fast Website

So you have a well-designed website, but because you chose our competitors it’s not a RAD website. Chances are it is not fast. Are visitors waiting up to 30 seconds for your site to load? Guess what? You’re losing revenue.

If your website takes longer to load than the time it takes for you to say Search Engine Optimization, your bounce rate will be high. Check to make sure your third-party plugins are not bogging down your website. If so, either optimize them or lose them.

Do you really need them though? Check also the size of your image files. I am not saying a fast website will drive traffic to your website. However, it certainly won’t convert that traffic.

Remember my analogy of the race at the beginning of this article? Well, think of a fast website as Car #3, and in this race, the cars work together–not compete against each other.

Number 3 – Optimized Images

Well, I’ve been talking so much about images that I might as well tell you about them now. Let me ask you a question. Are you making the most of the image “alt text” option? Here’s the thing.

Search engines cannot really see the bright, colourful images you upload to your website. They depend on alternate text, what they call “alt attributes” that helps them categorise your lovely images. As the name suggests, it is a description of the image.

You might think it is too much bother and so may choose not to add images. That would be to your detriment. Images are very important to a website as they not only highlight your product(s) or service(s), but also break up large text blocks to keep readers engaged with your page.

Images are important, so you should take time to optimize them. In addition to describing your image for the search engines and persons with devices that cannot load images, you should shrink your images to manageable sizes. And what I mean by that is to ensure your website can manage the size of the image.

Search engines hate sites that are slow in loading, and one of the major causes is large image files. And while we’re on the subject: Ensure to save your images as either JPG or WEBP.

Number 4 – Use relevant keywords

As mentioned earlier, a well-designed website uses relevant keywords. And this will push traffic to your website. The fact you’re reading this article is proof that our relevant long-tail keyword worked. I hear you asking: What are keywords? I like PCMagazine’s simple answer: “They’re the main words that lead people to your site”.

See our previous article here, there we explained long-tail keywords. Keywords must be strategically placed throughout your website in articles, images, videos, etc. You should also place them in your website’s URL, header tags, meta descriptions, and alt attributes.

Number 5 – Write descriptive meta files

The final SEO tip to push your traffic that we nail every time that I’m going to share with you is meta descriptions. Visitors to a website usually read the first few lines in a search result to see if the information matches what they are looking for.

This “snippet” of information below the page title or mini paragraph is what we call meta description. So we don’t need to convince you of its importance. Search engines allow you approximately 150 characters, so you are at liberty to say all that you wanted to that couldn’t fit in your page title. It is here you would want to also place your long-tail keyword.

Your meta description should explain the purpose of your website. As it is the second thing searchers see (after the title), you want to ensure it provides enough information to induce that coveted click to your website–wat we SEO experts call a “click through”.

Subsequently, you may be tempted to put all your keywords in your meta description. Don’t! That’s what Google describes as keyword stuffing, and they will penalize you for it. See our article on worst SEO practices.

That’s it! That’s my 5 expert SEO tips to push your traffic. Have a well-designed website; have a fast website, optimize your images, use relevant keywords and write an informative meta description that tells the purpose of your website. These 5  SEO tips are just the tip of the SEO iceberg. I didn’t even mention mastering internal links, which is another potent one.

However, I believe if you implement these five SEO tips you will see more traffic coming your way. Can AJ Frey push traffic to your website? You found me on page one, didn’t you? The fact you’re here is proof we nailed it! If I can do that for myself, just imagine for a moment what I can do for you!

Did you find value in this article? Why not share it with your friends and family? Perhaps you have your own SEO tips to push traffic to your website. Why not share them in the comments section below.

Need to push traffic to your website but don’t have the time or expertise to apply these 5 expert SEO tips? Give us a call or send us an email. We believe we have the best and most affordable SEO packages in Canada.

4 SEO Myths Hurting Your Business

by Marketing Strategy TipsSEO Tips

Search Engine Optimization is a fast-changing field that is constantly moving and shifting as Google keeps changing the rules about how they operate. Part of the problem is that Google doesn’t tell us exactly what those changes are as they protect their algorithms are top secret.
Because of this, there is a lot of misinformation surrounding SEO and how to best make it on the first page of Google. Here are a 4 of the most common myths that we’d like to dispel.