There’s a myriad of digital tools and artificial intelligence sneaking their way into our lives. Many businesses fear that without dedicating significant (human) time to their marketin… Read More

“Why isn’t my website showing up on Google!”  It’s something we hear from businesses all the time. Google is a powerful tool, but we still need to give it som… Read More

About ARSC – Acne Action  Acne Action is a website created by The Acne and Rosacea Society of Canada (ARSC), a national, not-for-profit organization led by Canadian dermatologi… Read More

Arbourside Court is an independent retirement living residence in Surrey, BC. Their dedicated staff provides supportive services to help residents enjoy retirement to its fullest. … Read More

Have you noticed how your Twitter feed (now known as X) has gone downhill recently? Even before Twitter was bought by Elon Musk in 2022, the platform seems to have lost its value (in our opi… Read More

Are you struggling to get inspired to write your next blog post? Publishing a regular weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly blog can cause you to experience “blog writers’ fatigue.&rdquo&hell…Read More

Have you ever received a bad review of your business? If you’ve put your heart and soul into your business, receiving a negative review on Google Reviews can feel like a punch in the g… Read More

The online world has opened up many new opportunities for digital marketers, but not all businesses use it honestly or ethically. When it comes to marketing your business, doing it ethically… Read More

Summer is all about soaking up the sun while reading a good book. Why not make it a book that ignites your entrepreneurial spirit? In 2019, we created a summer reading list for entrepreneurs… Read More

Deceptive digital marketing practices are not cool anymore, although many businesses still use them. In our opinion, ethical SEO practices give you a better chance of attracting the right cl… Read More

Email marketing is a great way for small businesses to connect with their audience and nurture leads in a personal way. The benefits are endless, however, this tool is often under utilizied… Read More

Images are an essential inclusion in your website, blog post, or social media. They can help you get more shares and interactions on articles and social media and create a visually-attractiv… Read More

Case studies are awesome. They’re an often overlooked tactic in the marketing world and an important tool that we rely on here at Out-Smarts. Aside from generating leads and influencin… Read More

If your website isn’t easy to use, you’re not only frustrating your potential and current customers. Google and other search engines are likely to use it as a strike against you… Read More

How can you show people your business is doing good in the world without proof? You can say you care about the environment and people, but having a third-party say it is stronger and more cr… Read More

Are you doing sustainability and green marketing posts on social media? Are you doing it in an authentic, ethical, and on-brand way? With Earth Day coming up in April, now is the time to sta… Read More

What is ChatGPT? Have you heard about the new tool everyone is buzzing about? ChatGPT is a new artificial intelligence, created in 2021 by OpenAI, a research organization focused on the… Read More

Background  Dixon Mitchell is an independent, Canadian, employee-owned investment counsel group based in Vancouver. They reached out to us in the fall of 2021 because, although they… Read More

When your company seeks to make a conscious effort towards ethical and more sustainable business practices, the terms ESG vs CSR may come up. What do they mean, and do you need both? Are the… Read More

Vancouver International Children’s Festival (VICF) is an institution in BC. As the longest-running professional performing arts festival for young audiences in North America, it has be… Read More

The social media world has been watching the recent $44 billion acquisition of Twitter by billionaire Elon Musk. Since officially purchasing the company (Oct 27, 2022), the world of Twitter… Read More

Your first post on your Instagram account will help introduce your business to the world and set the tone for the rest of your feed.It needs to be a scroll-stopping post…But what shou… Read More

What are Reels? Reels are brief, entertaining videos on Instagram and Facebook. They’re a fun and engaging way to view content and can be used effectively for businesses.  S… Read More

You’re a savvy business owner. You know people love to buy from businesses that care about the environment. So, you push some positive environmental messaging in your marketing but are… Read More

Right before the pandemic hit, Out-Smarts began work with Arete Safety Training and Protection Inc. to improve their Google Ads and increase their pay-per-click (PPC) leads. The results were… Read More

Did you know that hashtags have a genuine value for growing your business online? They are a very important part of your social media marketing. If you know how to use them properly, the res… Read More

To celebrate summer and our LOVE of SEO. We are excited to announce that we are giving away a FREE SEO audit to one lucky winner (valued at over $3,000). Our Search Engine Optimization au… Read More

Out-Smarts worked with Canyon Equipment on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and improving user experience (UX) on their website in order to increase targeted traffic and to help visitors con… Read More

Local search marketing is vital for every business to get found on Google by potential customers in their community. When it comes to being discovered in the pool of similar businesses, the… Read More

Out-Smarts partnered up with Hero Home Care, a trusted home care provider In British Columbia, to create a robust digital marketing strategy to elevate the HHC brand, and later on a strategi… Read More

Out-Smarts partnered with LegacyX to develop a fully functional, responsive, multi-page website that reflects their main services while making sure their design is contemporary, impactful an… Read More

Social Media Marketing is constantly evolving, and so are the strategies and tactics behind it. Before, social media used to be a place to connect with the people around you, a place to shar… Read More

People will spend an average of 7 minutes reading a blog post on your website if the content is good. Blogging is becoming one of the best ways to show your company’s unique expertise… Read More

You know the importance of messaging. Get it wrong, and your business could fail. Get it right, and your company can see success. If you have an environmental, social, or governance (ESG) me… Read More

Would you consider yourself someone driven by logic and rational thinking or your emotions? While many of us have an analytical mindset (or like to think we do), it’s more likely your… Read More

Have you considered the ethical issues with social media marketing in your business? If recent events have taught us anything, we know that what we write on social media is being watched, in… Read More

The best advertising is advertising someone else does for you, which is why influencer marketing for small business comes in handy. Consumers are so bombarded and often a little distrust… Read More

Unlike a good bottle of whisky, your website doesn’t get better with age. Most companies benefit from a website redesign every 3-5 years. With their launch, they also send out website… Read More

We teamed up with Vancouver-based airport and transportation consulting group, Optimas Consulting, to build and design their brand new website. To comply with BC’s Launch Online Grant… Read More

Website Redesign – Case Study We teamed up with a widely recognized and trusted manufacturing company in the lower mainland, to redesign and develop a fresh new website.  A… Read More

“Congrats, you’ve won!” That’s a fantastic thing to hear, right? Your customers and clients like winning contests. It’s a great way to increase your business re… Read More

You’re going to create a semi-fictional character and use it to attract the right people who will buy from your company. Yep! One of the best ways to help your company attract more cli… Read More

Content is king or so the saying goes (we prefer content is queen but that’s a whole other story). Over the last few years, as digital technologies and social networks have grown, cont… Read More

Patient Voices Network is a recent accessible website redesign and development case study that exemplifies the different ways we make websites accessible to people of all abilities. Websi… Read More

Digital accessibility means making a website, digital app, or online document accessible to people of all levels of ability. It is an essential part of good website design and user experienc… Read More

It’s our 19th birthday this month (this week in fact) and in honour of this momentous achievement, we’re launching our brand new website. Launching a new website is always thr… Read More

The year 2020 has shaken up different marketing trends, and with 2021 just around the corner, there are many things worth considering to stay afloat.  Social justice movements, the ch… Read More

Out-Smarts partnered with Great Bear Rainforest Essential Oils to develop and implement a comprehensive digital marketing plan to drive sales and build brand awareness. This small yet impact… Read More

When customers are in the research phase of the sales cycle, how will they find you?  The research phase of the Buyer Journey is a stage that all customers will go through before making… Read More

Pinterest marketing – yes, this platform has come a long way from being a place to share recipes and interior decor. Pinterest is one of the most underutilized, yet effective marketing… Read More

Websites nowadays are making it even easier to connect directly with their customers using chatbot marketing. You’ve probably seen this on websites already. Some Chatbots are either a… Read More

When you think of the short-form video platform, TikTok, you may picture a teenager filming themselves doing a viral dance video. But dancing is just one of the popular forms of content bein… Read More

There are multiple ways to create link building strategies in 2020. The purpose and objectives are the same – however,  sharing information, collaborating digitally with others a… Read More

Do you understand your buyer journey (the steps a prospective buyer takes when considering purchasing your products or services)? Whether you operate a brick and mortar business or if you&r&helli…Read More

Sustainability, business transparency and employee security – these are just some examples of how businesses operate with social responsibility in mind.  In the modern world, bus… Read More

We mentioned general tips in our recent blog post and today we’re listing specific social media tips for communicating effectively on these platforms at this time.  While some P… Read More

They say content is king and this statement rings true when keeping your website fresh and up-to-date. Optimizing blog posts or website content can effectively boost the digital performance… Read More

Background Out-Smarts worked with Netex Sport Netting Systems to develop a custom new WordPress e-commerce website, complete with SEO, E-Commerce, Search Console Setup, and Google Analytics… Read More

With the new reality of social distancing and isolation comes the challenge for small business owners wondering how to use your digital platforms to effectively communicate with your custome… Read More

About City Centre Urgent Primary Care Centre City Centre Urgent Primary Care Centre (UPCC) opened in late 2018 with a mission to alleviate emergency wait room times by providing ti… Read More

Summer’s in full swing, and it’s the perfect time to get caught up on a little business reading. Are you looking for entrepreneurial inspiration and not sure what to read next? W… Read More

Out-Smarts worked with Hippie Snacks on an SEO Audit and SEO set up for their new WordPress website, including redirects, knowledge transfer, Search Console, Google Ads Set up, Analytics, an… Read More

Out-Smarts partnered with DoMatcha, one of the world’s most trusted matcha brands, to develop and implement a strategic and well executed social media marketing plan to drive sales and… Read More

Out-Smarts designed, developed and optimized a responsive one-page website that integrated to Eventbrite to promote registration for Pacific Immigrant Resources Society’s Innovation in… Read More

Out-Smarts worked with Fairware on search engine optimization through two redesigns, launching both new websites with no perceivable drop in traffic despite there being a complete revamp o… Read More

Background Out-Smarts worked with Indalma Creative collaboratively to develop a custom new WordPress website, complete with SEO and ongoing web maintenance. About Indalma Creative Indalma C… Read More

Background Pacific Forage Bag Supply is an agricultural firm founded in 1995 that supplies silage equipment and seeds.  Co-owner Alexis sells specialized equipment to dairy farmers tha… Read More

Source: Digital Marketing Metrics You’ve Never Heard Of by Campaign Monitor The post Do You Track These Digital Marketing Metrics? appeared first on Out-Smarts Read More

Out-Smarts worked with the Acne and Rosacea Society of Canada to drive targeted traffic to their two websites, Rosacea Help and Acne Action increasing website traffic by 60-200% in one year… Read More

Since its inception in 2002, Out-Smarts has been a virtual organisation. We had a brief flirtation with bricks and mortar a few years ago but it wasn’t a good fit. A virtual organizat… Read More

We have a new website launch for Salt Spring Sea Salt that we’re excited to share! Owners Philippe Marill and Carolyn Kvajic, a husband and wife team, first introduced the gourmet fin… Read More

We were woefully late to Instagram as a company. Our team members had been using it for years and we’ve been building there for our clients but our corporate Insta feed was sorely negl… Read More

Imagine if people trying to visit your website got an alert saying that your website is not secure. Do you think it would deter them? Hell, yes it would! That’s what’s going to s… Read More

We are excited to announce the launch of the new Vital Plumbing + Heating website. Vital Plumbing + Heating is a locally-based and family owned company that has a long history with their cl… Read More

Join Mhairi at Small Business BC or from the comfort of your office and learn about the basics of social media as we share our tips and tactics for success. Seminar Date Thursday,  Jun… Read More

Next week, Mhairi will be heading up to Northern BC to present ‘Mastering Social Media to Grow Your Small Business” at the Terrace and District Chamber of Commerce on February 27… Read More

Did you know that Google offers ad grants for non-profit an charity organizations in Canada, allowing them to run their AdWords with a budget of $10,000 per month? If you run a charity or no… Read More

Ten years into the great social media experiment and 2017 was the year we saw Facebook hit the 2 billion user mark, the proliferation of real-time video across social platforms and the conti… Read More

Did you know that email is the most popular activity on smartphones or that 53% of people open email on their mobile phones? Over the past few years, email marketing has seen a huge renaissa… Read More

If your website has a contact form and it isn’t securely set up with an SSL certificate, security warnings are going to start showing up on Chrome when visitors visit your site using t… Read More

Images are an excellent addition to your website, blog post or social media and can help you get more shares and interactions. However, not all images off the internet are okay to use since… Read More

It’s been four years since Yahoo bought Tumblr and in that time, blogging platforms have grown tremendously. What is Tumblr? Tumblr is a microblogging platform that allows users to sh… Read More

Images rock on social media and posts that contain images are way more likely than plain text or link posts to help you get more likes comments and shares. Our design partner Anne Dunnett o… Read More

**How To Get More Likes on Facebook – this is an update of an older post. Go here to see the older one, Get People to Like Your Facebook Page.** Facebook has become a major alternative… Read More

Google’s AdWords platform is a great way to advertise online. It allows you to pay to show up on the first page of Google for search terms that your targeted audience might use to look… Read More

Advertising on Facebook is becoming more and more sophisticated to the point that you now have many different options to help you build your audience, get followers attention and drive traff… Read More

Join Mhairi at Small Business BC or from the comfort of your office and learn about the basics of social media as we share our tips and tactics for success. Seminar Date Friday,  Februa… Read More

Okay, so you’ve developed a presence on Facebook for your business and want to start using Facebook Ads, but where do you start? How do you advertise on Facebook? When you start delvin… Read More

Hashtags are a really useful tool for small businesses. You can use a hashtag to extend your social media reach and to engage prospects and like minded networkers. Used right they will help… Read More

You have seconds to convince a first-time visitor to stay on your website. Approximately 50% of them leave within those first 8 precious seconds for a number of reasons, but there are ways y… Read More

Did you know that there are two versions of Google’s advertising platform Adwords? There’s full blown Google Adwords and Google Express. They are both really similar but Adw… Read More

This is an update of a post about Google Analytics that was originally published in 2009. To see the original, click here. Google Analytics is the best way to track traffic to your website… Read More

A-maze-ing Laughter – Yue Minjun – Sculpture For those of you who have been longstanding followers of this blog, you will likely remember our Reasons to Be Cheerful posts. It has… Read More

Thanks to the internet and social media there has never been a better time to build your personal brand. There’s over  1.7 billion people on Facebook (and counting), 450+ mil… Read More

Rogers is celebrating small business across Canada this summer by launching their Small Business Centres with Rogers Talks. In British Columbia, small businesses are the life blood of our ec… Read More

I often get asked when the best time is to optimize a website. Watch my latest video and find out when to bring in an SEO expert and why this matters so much. The post When To Optimize a Web… Read More

Congratulations, you have a brand spanking new WordPress website. It’s shiny and optimized and you’re raring to move on to the next item on your small business’s… Read More

We’ve been building and maintaining WordPress websites for over a decade and as the platform has evolved and grown, the question ‘how secure is WordPress anyway?’ is one th… Read More

This week I attended my first social media event in my native land – the Scottish Social Media  and Marketing Show in Edinburgh. The show, aimed at small businesses in Scotland, w… Read More

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) isn’t something that should happen as an afterthought. If you are planning a blog post, a new page on your small business website or other content such… Read More