Ranking in Canadian Search Engines is significant and on the other hand, tough as well for a Canadian business owner who deadly wants his online presence in Canada.
However, you can optimize your website for ranking higher in the Canadian search engine and can attract more organic traffic and potential customers to your site through doing best practices for Canadian SEO.
But, it can get complicated, and if you don’t do it right, you could end up seeing no results at all.
So, in this article, we’re going to show you how to rank higher in Canadian search engines in 5 steps so you can:
- Get the most qualified visitors
- Increase your visibility on a SERP
- Increases business authenticity
- Improve business image
Below are discussed the Canadian search engine ranking tips and steps to help you rank higher in Canadian search engines.
So, waiting for what? Let’s Dive In!
Ranking Factors for Canadian Search Engines:
When we want to rank a site for a particular country we have to look at some ranking factors to achieve the best-desired results.
Search engines are very clever and intelligent. They know very well which content is the best result for the searched query. So, we have to optimize it accordingly to rank higher.
Below are 8 ranking factors for Canadian Search Engine you should consider for optimizing your website:
- Language
- Domain extension / URL structure
- Hreflang tagging
- HTML Language
- Keyword Selection
- Quality of content
- Country targeting in Google Search Console
- Backlinks
They all are super important. Keep it in your mind.
Which Domain Name to Use? .com or .ca?
Here is your quick answer.
As a Canadian business owner, you should use the .ca domain like our own seo1st.ca.
.ca is the Google Canada search engine URL and according to the statistics; google.ca is the second most extensively visited search engine website in Canada in 2023.
Why not .com? Because it is a common domain name and already has almost 125 million users. So, it’s far better to use the .ca domain which is targeting your specific region i.e. Canada.
Using the .ca domain specifies that your business is 100% Canadian and it tells search engines that you are highly relevant to rank higher in Canadian search engines.
Also, Canadians trust more on the .ca website so they prefer clicking on the .ca website over the .com website. Simple is that, if you use the .ca website it will work better in Canada SEO. If you don’t have a .ca website. Here is the solution for you: Use Google Webmaster Tools, and set your geographical location to Canada.
Google Webmaster Tool is an excellent tool to keep track of the interaction of your site with Google.
Steps Overview:
- Optimize Your Website For Local Keywords
- Claim Your Google My Business Listing
- Build Quality Backlinks
- Improve Your Website’s User experience (UX)
- Use Schema Markup
Step By Step Effective SEO Techniques for Canadian Websites
Step 01: Optimize Your Website for Local Keywords
When it comes to search engine optimization (SEO), Local keyword research in Canada is essential.
By including keywords that are relevant to your location and niche, you can help search engines understand the content of your website and connect with users in your area.
You can use the following Keyword research tools for Canadian businesses:
Focus on long-tail keywords (phrases with three or more words) that include your city or province, industry, and services or products. Because these keywords are more specific.
They are highly useful in building higher conversion rates and bringing you additional traffic with fresh and more motivated readers. Even so, they brought up less search traffic.
Step 02: Claim Your Google My Business Listing
Claiming your Google My Business listing is vital for local SEO. When you verify your business information, you can appear on Google and in the local pack.
Plus, it can help you with Google Map Optimization in Canada, which is the box of local business listings that appears at the top of some search results.
Google My Business Canada also helps you to;
- Improve your local rankings
- Increasing SEO Visibility and Search ranking
- Showing Google Star ratings
- Strengthening Brand Images
To claim your Google My Business listing, create a Google account and visit the Google My Business website. Follow the prompts to add your business information, including your business name, address, phone number, and hours of operation.
Once your listing is verified, keep it up-to-date with photos, reviews, and other appropriate, suitable information.
Step 03: Build Quality Backlinks
Backlinks are the links you get from other websites pointing to the content of your site. When other websites link to your content, it signals to search engines that your website is trustworthy and authoritative.
Quality backlinks from reputable websites can help you rank higher in search results.
To build backlinks, create high-quality content that other websites want to link to. Ask the owner of your relative site to include the link of your site in their content – Do not flood it.
Remember! One backlink from an authoritative site is better than 10000 from a low-quality site – yes, you read it right. Get your backlinks from the .ca website because link building in Canada will help you in:
- Increasing Website authority
- Improving the credibility of your business
- Increasing website traffic
- Getting more customers
Share your content on social media and reach out to other websites in your niche to ask for links. Guest posting on other websites is also a good method to build backlinks and reach a new audience.
Step 04: Improve Your Website’s User Experience (UX)
Search engines categorize websites based on a good user experience. And, it is good for the reason that it strives for the users’ needs. It always makes sure that its audiences get the best result without being confused.
Improving your website’s UX can help you rank higher in search results and keep users on for a long time on your site.
Improved website user experience will help you with:
- Improving ROI
- Sales and Conversion
- Positive brand prestige
- Increased engagement
Here’s a quick 5-step checklist to help you improve the website’s user experience (UX):
- Make sure your website is mobile-friendly
- Ensure your website loads quickly
- Use clear and easy-to-read fonts
- Include high-quality images and videos
- Make your website easy to navigate
Step 05: Use Schema Markup
Schema markup is an SEO element – a type of structured data that helps search engines understand the content of your website better.
Furthermore, it is useful to deliver the best search result query and it can help you to stand out from your competitors. As Schema markup can help you rank higher on Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs), you should be using it rightly.
Using schema markup for Canadian websites, you can provide additional information to search engines. This information can help you appear in featured snippets and other rich snippets in search results.
To use schema markup, visit the Schema.org website and find the schema that’s relevant to your business. Use a markup generator tool to create the markup code and add it to your website’s HTML code.
Do Not Forget This Final + Important Step: SEO Audit
After completing the above steps, make sure to do a website SEO audit. SEO audit is the continuous process of examining your website performance and seeing the factors negatively affecting your website.
It is necessary to do this as it helps you keep your SEO Strategy up to date. You should check it from time to time and improve it accordingly. Doing an SEO audit is a time-consuming task. So, here are a few tools, you can use to conduct a perfect SEO Audit for your Canadian website:
Now You Know, How To Rank Higher in Canadian Search Engines
Ranking higher in Canadian Search Engines requires a combination of local SEO tactics, quality content, and a good user experience. And, you can do this easily by implementing the above SEO Strategies for Canadian businesses. It will improve your website’s visibility and attract more organic traffic from Canadian searchers.
Bonus Points: Over and above that, Alt tags can also help you to be discovered. It is simply the descriptive form of your inserted image or videos. Keep it short – Do not fluff it with a bunch of keywords. It will help search engines easily get the various types of content available on your site and index it to the right place.
Also, make sure to use hreflang tags properly – Hreflang tags are the code snippets that help Google to show search results according to the language of geographically targeted users.
Before going through these steps, make sure to do a perfect competitor analysis, so that you can perform better than all of your competitors.
We’ve discussed all the important points we think are necessary for you to rank your website higher in major Canadian search engines. 😉
