The Challenge of Getting Found Online
Search engines like Google, and increasingly AI tools like ChatGPT and Google’s AI Overviews, weigh hundreds of factors when deciding what to show or cite: technical setup, the links a site has, and whether the right words are in the right places.
Ranking at the top of the results, or being the answer an AI tool cites, can take months, sometimes longer, depending on how much competition exists for your terms. The key is making sure your target terms are the right ones.
There are billions of web pages and countless competitors also trying to be found. That’s where we come in.
Why SEO Marketing Matters to Your Business
Search isn’t going anywhere. Most people still start with a search engine when they’re looking for a product, service, or answer, and how they search is changing: search patterns are shifting toward AI tools that answer directly instead of returning a list of links. Both need attention now, not one instead of the other.
Good SEO marketing only works if the words and phrases your customers actually type into a search bar, or ask an AI assistant, show up in your own website content, on the pages themselves, not just in how you think about your business internally. It starts with understanding your prospective customers and the language they use, then making sure your site actually contains that language.
This is also the foundation AIO builds on. If you’re curious how AI search specifically fits in, see our AIO page for how we approach it.
Get Your Free SEO AuditOur SEO Process
Our process starts with a discovery session where we learn about your goals, culture, products and services, audience, and differentiators. We dig into your audience’s buying cycle, from first search through to retention. This is the foundation of any SEO marketing plan we build.
Next, we audit your current site to flag technical issues, benchmark the keywords you currently rank for, and see who’s outranking you and why. We also run a content audit to understand your existing traffic and how people find your pages. This tells us how realistic your goals are and what it will take to get there.
Based on the audit, we build a roadmap tailored to your business, covering any or all of the services below.
Every engagement follows our four-step approach: Discovery, Strategy, Implementation, and Measure and Optimise.
Our SEO Services
Foundational / On-Page SEO
- Keyword Research and Analysis. For new or unoptimised sites, we map the words people use at each stage of your sales cycle to the right pages, then refine the wording and placement on each.
- SEO for Website Redesign. A redesign that ignores existing SEO value is a common mistake. Clients often come to us asking why traffic dropped after a great-looking new site launched. We make sure that doesn’t happen to you.
- E-Commerce SEO. Good product optimisation helps local customers find you and makes syncing with Google or Facebook for paid campaigns far more effective.
- Landing Pages That Convert. Getting the right traffic to your site is half the job. We build pages that convert once visitors land.
- Technical SEO. If your site has technical issues holding back its ranking, we’ll fix them, or work with your developers to.
Local SEO
Local SEO makes sure customers searching near you, or searching for services in your area, can actually find you, and it’s a distinct discipline from general on-page or off-page SEO, not just an extra bullet point.
- Google Business Profile setup and ongoing management, keeping your listing, hours, service area, and categories accurate and complete.
- Local citation consistency, making sure your business name, address, and phone number match exactly across directories, your website, and social profiles.
- Location-specific content, so your site clearly and naturally establishes where you serve clients, for both search engines and AI tools.
- Review generation and response strategy, helping you build a steady flow of Google reviews and respond to them promptly.
Off-Page SEO
- Link Building. Search engines discover and trust pages partly through the links pointing to them, and the same signals help establish your site as a credible source for AI tools to cite. We help build internal links and earn backlinks from credible sites in your industry.
- Google Ads. SEO takes time. If you need visibility faster, Google Ads can bridge the gap. See our PPC / Online Ads page.
Why Choose Out-Smarts for SEO
Providing SEO Search Engine Optimization Since 2008
Out-Smarts was founded in 2002 in Vancouver, and has provided SEO services for clients across Canada since 2008, through every major algorithm update and now through the shift toward AI-driven search.
We Focus on Your Customers and Competition
Our goal is understanding which words and questions your customers use at each stage of the buying cycle.
Tried and Tested Strategies
Over two decades of refinement means we know what works, and we keep adjusting as the landscape changes.
Fanatical Customer Service
We’re tenacious and detail focused, and we build relationships that last.
Honest SEO
Some companies promise you’ll rank #1 out of the gate. We don’t, because for some terms that’s simply not realistic. We’ll give you an honest read on what’s achievable instead.
Budget-Scoped, Not Fixed-Tier
Packages are built around what you’re trying to achieve and what you have to invest, not a one-size price.
Frequently Asked Questions About SEO
How long until we see results?
It varies significantly by industry and how much competition exists for your target terms, so there’s no universal timeline we can promise upfront.
Do you handle AI search too, not just Google?
Yes, we call it AIO. It’s the same discipline as SEO, applied to how AI tools pick what to cite. See our dedicated AIO page.
We don’t have an internal marketing team, can you run this without heavy oversight?
Yes. We keep you informed at every stage without requiring you to learn SEO yourself.
Do you manage our Google Business Profile?
Yes, as part of our Local SEO work. It’s the single biggest lever for showing up in local search results and Google Maps.
Related Services
What Our Clients Say
We’ve seen our sites’ rankings improve a lot, traffic to the site has doubled.
Our new site only launched recently, but we’re already seeing an uptick in traffic thanks to their SEO magic.