Ottawa business owners face tough competition no matter the industry they’re in. It’s crucial to stay ahead of the curve and keep your business relevant and in front of your audience. Running proper SEO campaigns will get you more qualified leads turning into more conversions. 

What is SEO?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a practice involving different strategies to improve your website’s ranking on search engines. The higher your ranking, the more likely you are to show up in the top search results for a given keyword. 

Customers who are searching for services generally do not move past the first page of their search results, making it important to hold real estate on that first page. In order to be at the top, you need different layers of strategic content on your website, as well as paid advertising. 

Link Building

In order for Google, the leading search engine globally, to know that your business's website is delivering quality content, it needs to be linked to and from the site. This means you need links to your website on quality and reputable pages. 

Links from .gov .org or .edu are considered the most prestigious. Any .com is normal, and any .biz or similar URLs are considered poor quality. Google will know your site has quality content to keep its users engaged if reputable websites link to your page. 

You also need internal links on your website; this means each page links to five to six relevant pages on your own site. This keeps the Google bots on your page longer while they index. The longer they're on your website, the more likely they will suggest your page for your customers in Ottawa. 

Content on your website to get more leads

Your website must have quality content with relevant keywords in order to attract customers in the Ottawa area. You will need specific keywords and location pages in order to inform your customers you are in the Ottawa area and where they can contact you. 

Try to have regular updates of content to your site. It will improve your SEO if your site is being added regularly. If Google sees that your site is active, it's more likely to show it to potential customers and leads. 

Local service ads

This feature in the Google search results is imperative for getting your business more leads. Local service ads will inform Ottawa residents about local companies and services they may be searching for. 

You will need to set your Google Business Profile, make sure to choose a wide radius of the service area, and promptly respond to any questions or requests from customers through the platform.

Google wants the best experience for its users. Suppose customers are contacting a particular business through the Local Service Ads and that company doesn’t respond in a timely manner. In that case, Google will assume they aren’t a qualified, reputable business and will drop them lower in search results.

Having your business as high as possible in Local Service Ads will attract more leads to your business. Your audience will see reviews and other relevant business information leading them to choose your service over another in Ottawa. 

How can reviews get you more leads?

Most customers will trust reviews of a business more than referrals from friends and family. This means your audience will seek out reviews for your business online to make a decision on choosing your services. 

Your business will need at least thirty reviews to even be part of the pack compared to other companies in Ottawa. Having more reviews means that one poor review won’t completely tank your rating. 

Take any poor review as a way to help your business grow and be better. Respond to every review, whether it’s good or bad, in order to show you are engaged with your customers and really do care about their experience. 

Potential customers seeking your service will see your responses to reviews as trustworthy and worthy of their business. Reviews also contain keywords, intentional or not, and are searchable in the search engines. This increases your website’s odds of appearing higher in the rankings. 

Paid advertising paired with SEO to get you leads

Your Ottawa business will need to run a proper paid advertising campaign (PPC) in order to attract more leads in your area. Running paid advertising will also boost your SEO with increasing traffic to your website. 

Paid advertisements show up in the first spots on Google search results. This doesn't mean it's a purely pay-to-play system to get your business at the top of the rankings. Google will still only recommend sites it deems viable and relevant to its customers' search inquiries. 

Having a successful paid advertising campaign and organic search optimization will get your business more real estate on the first page of search results. Having a paid and organic spot takes up two results in your potential audience's queue. 

The more you show up on the first page, the more likely you are to get good-quality leads. Not only will you get more leads, but they will be more likely to convert and purchase your product or services. 

If you google SEO Ottawa you'll see a large number of SEO Companies who can help you, one of them being us! 

Ottawa residents are most likely to search local

More residents in the Ottawa area are searching for services close to home. They aren’t searching “business near me” anymore, so successful SEO on your site will ensure they connect with your business. 

Having accurate location pages on your website will let Google know that your business serves specific areas. Search engines use IP addresses and customer information to detect where they are searching. 

Suppose a customer is searching for a bakery in Ottawa, and your bakery’s website has quality content and location pages full of the right keywords. In that case, that customer will likely be exposed to your site. 

The more exposure to your website, the more leads your business will receive.

If you're a small business and you're in the market for SEO services, Design Rush has great information on affordable seo services for small business.

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