Choosing the right SEO partner can make the difference between plateauing traffic and sustainable digital growth. Canada’s search marketing landscape is mature, competitive, and filled with agencies that specialize across niches—from ecommerce and SaaS to local service businesses and national brands. This in-depth guide breaks down the top 10 SEO companies in Canada, how they differ, what they’re best at, and how to shortlist the right fit for your goals. You’ll also find a practical methodology, pricing benchmarks, questions to ask during discovery calls, and a quick checklist to spot real expertise versus smoke and mirrors.
Note: Every business has unique goals, budgets, markets, and constraints. The “best” agency is the one whose strengths, process, and communication style align with your needs—not just the one with the flashiest case study. Use the comparison insights below to build a balanced shortlist and run a thoughtful evaluation.
How We Evaluated Canada’s Top SEO Firms
To produce a fair, practical ranking, we looked across seven dimensions that most strongly predict successful outcomes for clients:
- Strategy & Methodology: Evidence of a documented discovery process, robust technical SEO audits, content frameworks, and a clear approach to link earning.
- Industry Fit: Depth of experience in your vertical (e.g., B2B SaaS, ecommerce, multi-location local, regulated industries).
- Execution Team: The caliber and stability of the practitioners you’ll actually work with—SEOs, analysts, content strategists, developers.
- Measurement: Their ability to tie SEO activity to pipeline, revenue, or booked appointments rather than vanity metrics alone.
- Transparency: Clarity on work plans, milestones, reporting cadence, and what happens in the first 30/60/90 days.
- Reputation & Longevity: Client references, independent reviews, and tenure in the market.
- Ethics & Risk: Avoidance of gray-hat tactics that create long-term exposure (e.g., private link networks, generated thin content).
We then mapped each agency’s strengths to typical use cases—whether you need heavy technical work on a large site, a content engine for thought leadership, local SEO for multi-location businesses, or a brand refresh aligned with search demand. The result isn’t a one-size-fits-all “leaderboard,” but a set of best-fit profiles to help you choose wisely.
Top 10 SEO Companies in Canada
Below are ten reputable Canadian SEO agencies with proven track records and distinct strengths. Use the “Best for” notes to match their experience to your situation.
1) Major Tom (Vancouver & Toronto)
Best for: Mid-market and enterprise brands seeking integrated SEO with paid media, creative, and analytics under one roof.
Why they stand out: Major Tom balances brand-forward strategy with rigorous performance marketing. They’re experienced at navigating complex stakeholder environments, aligning content and technical search with brand campaigns, and providing meaningful reporting rollups for C-suite visibility. If you need SEO that plays nicely with demand gen, PR, and creative, they’re a strong candidate.
Signature strengths: Cross-channel strategy, robust analytics implementation, governance for multi-team organizations, and scalable content programs that tie to business outcomes.
Watch-outs: Not typically the most budget-friendly option for very small businesses; best results come from integrated retainers rather than SEO-only engagements.
2) seoplus+ (Ottawa)
Best for: SMBs and growth-stage companies that need an accountable, KPI-driven SEO program with strong local and ecommerce capabilities.
Why they stand out: seoplus+ is known for structured campaigns, clear communication, and hands-on execution. They’re a good fit if you want consistent monthly momentum, straightforward reporting, and a team that moves quickly on technical fixes and on-page optimization.
Signature strengths: Local SEO for service businesses, Shopify and WooCommerce optimization, content briefs that align with search intent, and clean technical hygiene.
Watch-outs: For complex enterprise SEO (e.g., internationalization, custom headless CMS architectures), confirm the specific team’s experience and resourcing.
3) 1st on the List (Abbotsford, BC)
Best for: Organizations prioritizing technical SEO depth and sustainable, white-hat growth over hype or quick wins.
Why they stand out: With decades in the market, 1st on the List focuses on fundamentals—crawl efficiency, site architecture, page speed, and quality content frameworks. They’re pragmatic and methodical, often favored by teams that value steady, compounding gains.
Signature strengths: Technical audits, site restructuring guidance, accessibility-minded SEO, and content strategies that reduce cannibalization.
Watch-outs: If you need aggressive digital PR or large-scale link campaigns, clarify scope and approach upfront.
4) BlueHat Marketing (Montreal & Toronto)
Best for: Local and national SEO campaigns that require strong on-page foundations, citation management, and conversion-minded content.
Why they stand out: BlueHat blends local listing optimization with structured on-site improvements. They put practical revenue levers first—calls, form fills, and store visits—versus chasing rankings alone.
Signature strengths: GMB/GBP optimization, review and reputation guidance, location page strategies, and lead-tracking alignment with CRM tools.
Watch-outs: For highly technical web apps or multi-language SEO at scale, confirm relevant case studies.
5) TechWyse (Toronto)
Best for: Businesses seeking a full-funnel growth plan where SEO, paid media, and CRO support one another.
Why they stand out: TechWyse emphasizes the intersection of traffic acquisition and conversion optimization. Their teams are comfortable running experiments, streamlining landing experiences, and aligning content topics to sales enablement.
Signature strengths: SEO + PPC synergy, goal-based dashboards, lead quality analysis, and iterative CRO testing.
Watch-outs: Define how content creation will be resourced (internal vs. agency) to avoid bottlenecks mid-campaign.
6) Powered by Search (Toronto)
Best for: B2B SaaS and complex B2B companies that need a pipeline-first organic strategy.
Why they stand out: Known for thought leadership in B2B growth, Powered by Search frames SEO around revenue motions—self-serve signup, demo requests, and expansion. Expect rigorous messaging work, ICP-specific content mapping, and technical hygiene to enable efficient crawling.
Signature strengths: Bottom-of-funnel content strategy, product-led SEO, sales enablement tie-ins, and analytics that map to pipeline stages.
Watch-outs: Strong strategic guidance sometimes means leaner in-house content production; align on copy and SME resources early.
7) Nova Solutions (Toronto)
Best for: Local service brands, professional services, and regional ecommerce merchants wanting measurable gains without enterprise overhead.
Why they stand out: Nova Solutions prioritizes clarity and repeatability—keyword clustering, on-page structure, and clean internal linking. They’re comfortable with web development tweaks that move the needle on load time and Core Web Vitals.
Signature strengths: Technical and on-page fundamentals, content briefs for conversion, and keyword maps that prevent duplication.
Watch-outs: For heavy digital PR or national brand storytelling, discuss how they partner with PR/creative resources.
8) Local SEO Search (Toronto)
Best for: Brick-and-mortar and service-area businesses (plumbing, dental, legal, home services) that rely on local pack visibility.
Why they stand out: As the name suggests, Local SEO Search is oriented around hyperlocal relevance—NAP consistency, local content hubs, and review velocity that supports map rankings. They’re structured for practical outcomes like booked appointments and calls.
Signature strengths: Local pack optimization, location page hierarchies, service area content, and review playbooks.
Watch-outs: Multi-market national franchises should confirm systems and governance for dozens or hundreds of locations.
9) Edkent Media (Markham)
Best for: Growth-minded SMBs looking for balanced SEO that complements paid search and paid social.
Why they stand out: Edkent Media runs cohesive programs where content strategy, link earning, and conversion paths reinforce each other. They’re comfortable working within common CMS platforms and ecommerce stacks.
Signature strengths: Content calendars tied to funnel stages, conversion-path audits, and on-page + internal linking cleanup.
Watch-outs: Ensure you have alignment on brand tone and approvals for content velocity to maintain momentum.
10) Forge and Smith (Vancouver)
Best for: Brands that need SEO built into a thoughtful website redesign or replatform.
Why they stand out: Primarily known as a web design/development shop with strong SEO integration, Forge and Smith focuses on accessible, performant websites with content structures that match searcher intent. If your site needs both UX modernization and organic growth, they bring the disciplines together.
Signature strengths: SEO-aware IA, page speed improvements, schema and structured data, and content design that elevates readability.
Watch-outs: For ongoing digital PR or heavy link earning, clarify how they coordinate with PR partners or in-house teams.
Quick Comparison: Strengths at a Glance
- Integrated, cross-channel leadership: Major Tom, TechWyse
- B2B SaaS & pipeline alignment: Powered by Search
- Technical SEO purists: 1st on the List
- Local & multi-location: Local SEO Search, BlueHat Marketing
- SMB-friendly momentum: seoplus+, Nova Solutions, Edkent Media
- SEO + redesign/replatform: Forge and Smith
Pricing Benchmarks & Typical Engagement Models
SEO pricing in Canada varies by scope, complexity, and the seniority of the team on your account. Below are typical ranges you might encounter (actual quotes will differ):
- Audits & Strategy Sprints: CAD $3,000–$20,000+ depending on site size, technical depth, and research requirements.
- Monthly Retainers (SMB): CAD $2,500–$8,000 for ongoing technical housekeeping, on-page optimization, content briefs, and light link earning.
- Monthly Retainers (Mid-market/Enterprise): CAD $8,000–$35,000+ with multi-workstream teams (technical, content, digital PR, analytics, CRO).
- Project-Based (Migrations/Redesigns): CAD $7,500–$60,000+ depending on number of templates, redirects, and internationalization.
When comparing proposals, weigh team seniority and deliverable quality against price; the cheapest option can be the most expensive if it creates technical debt or ranking volatility after launch.
What a High-Quality Canadian SEO Program Looks Like
Regardless of which agency you choose, strong SEO programs in 2025 share consistent building blocks. Use these as a litmus test in discovery calls:
- Discovery & Alignment: Stakeholder interviews, analytics audits, baseline measurement, and clarity on growth levers (leads, sales, MRR, bookings).
- Technical Foundation: Crawl coverage, indexation control, speed/UX optimization, structured data, and scalable site architecture.
- Intent-Driven Content: Topic clusters that map to awareness, consideration, and decision; rigorous briefs fueled by SERP analysis and subject matter expertise.
- E-E-A-T & Brand: Demonstrating expertise and trust with author bios, citations, first-party data, and brand signals across the web.
- Digital PR & Link Earning: Campaigns that create real editorial value (original research, partnerships, community initiatives) rather than risky link schemes.
- Measurement & QA: Meaningful KPIs (pipeline, revenue, qualified leads) plus diagnostic metrics (rankings, CTR, crawl stats). Tight feedback loops.
- Governance & Tempo: Clear roles, monthly roadmaps, content calendars, and documented change logs to reduce surprises.
How to Shortlist the Right Canadian SEO Agency
Use the checklist below to move from a long list of possibilities to 2–3 great-fit partners:
- Confirm industry experience with case studies that look like your business model and sales motion.
- Ask for a sample deliverable (e.g., a redacted technical audit or content brief) to gauge depth and clarity.
- Meet the core execution team, not just sales leadership. Chemistry matters.
- Request references from clients of similar size and complexity.
- Align on measurement: how will success be tracked in the first 30/60/90 days and beyond?
- Evaluate risk posture: what tactics will they never use? How do they respond to algorithm volatility?
Sample RFP Questions to Ask
- How do you prioritize technical fixes when dev capacity is limited? Provide a sample prioritization framework.
- Show a before/after example of a migration you handled: traffic trend, redirect plan, and lessons learned.
- What’s your approach to content quality? Share a redacted brief, editorial checklist, and review workflow.
- How do you build links without risky shortcuts? Provide 2–3 pitch angles you’ve used to secure editorial coverage.
- What will the first 90 days look like? Who does what, and how will we measure momentum?
- How do you tailor SEO to our funnel and CRM, not just Google Analytics?
- What’s your plan when rankings drop after a core update?
- How do you ensure accessibility and performance improvements are durable across releases?
Red Flags to Avoid
- Guaranteed rankings or traffic promises tied to arbitrary vanity keywords.
- Opaque link building that sounds like network swaps, paid placements, or bulk guest posts without editorial value.
- No developer collaboration or avoidance of site architecture and technical SEO.
- One-size-fits-all content that ignores subject matter expertise or your brand voice.
- Reporting without insight—beautiful dashboards that don’t inform action.
Deep-Dive Profiles
The sections below expand on the strengths, typical deliverables, and ideal engagement structures for each agency. Use them to fine-tune your shortlist and set expectations before you sign.
Major Tom: Integrated Excellence for Complex Organizations
For companies operating across multiple channels and regions, SEO cannot live in a silo. Major Tom’s value comes from integrating organic search with brand campaigns, paid media, and analytics. Expect discovery that aligns SEO with go-to-market strategy, content pillars anchored to brand narratives, and technical roadmaps that dovetail with product and engineering sprints. Their program cadence often includes monthly optimization sprints, quarterly planning tied to upcoming releases or seasonal campaigns, and executive-level reporting that rolls up performance across channels.
Ideal engagement: Mid-market to enterprise retainers where SEO touches content studio, analytics, and paid search teams. Good for programs needing governance, documentation, and change management.
seoplus+: Momentum-Driven SEO for SMBs & Growth Companies
seoplus+ thrives when there’s a clear goal—more qualified leads, higher ecommerce conversion, or dominance in a local service area. Their monthly rhythm emphasizes technical cleanup, on-page refinement, and content targeted at bottom-of-funnel intent. They’re strong at creating pragmatic to-do lists for your internal stakeholders and tracking what actually ships. Because SMBs often have limited dev capacity, seoplus+ prioritizes changes with the highest impact-to-effort ratio and communicates what will drive the next lift.
Ideal engagement: SMB retainers with well-defined KPIs, plus ecommerce brands looking to expand organic acquisition without ballooning ad spend.
1st on the List: Technical Rigor & Sustainable Growth
Some organizations don’t need flash—they need stable foundations and compounding organic growth. 1st on the List is a fit for teams that appreciate precision: canonicalization decisions, pagination handling, log file analysis to evaluate crawl efficiency, and structured data that clarifies entity relationships. Their content philosophy favors quality over quantity, reducing duplication and keyword cannibalization while improving internal linking and information scent.
Ideal engagement: Technical audit + ongoing technical/indexation management, with content guidance implemented by internal SMEs or external writers.
BlueHat Marketing: Local Visibility Meets Conversion Focus
BlueHat takes a ground-level approach for businesses competing in city and regional markets. Expect careful GBP (Google Business Profile) optimization, NAP consistency audits, and service/location page architectures that speak to each market’s nuances. Because local searchers are often ready to buy, BlueHat pays attention to conversion copy, trust signals (reviews, badges, guarantees), and phone-tracking setup so you can see which keywords and pages drive calls.
Ideal engagement: Local lead-gen businesses and national players with regional footprints that want both map-pack dominance and organic landing page performance.
TechWyse: SEO Powered by Experimentation & CRO
The best SEO brings qualified traffic. The best growth programs turn that traffic into customers. TechWyse marries these disciplines through experiment-driven roadmaps—tweaking layouts, testing value propositions, and removing friction while using technical and on-page SEO to raise qualified demand. Expect collaboration between SEO specialists, media buyers, and CRO analysts who share win/loss learnings across channels.
Ideal engagement: Growth retainers where budget covers SEO, paid search, and CRO together; reporting emphasizes lead quality and LTV.
Powered by Search: Pipeline-First SEO for B2B
In B2B, ranking for definitions doesn’t pay the bills. Powered by Search reframes SEO around pipeline metrics—often starting with jobs-to-be-done interviews and buyer journey mapping to identify decision-stage topics. They’re strong at crafting product-led content that triggers self-serve adoption or accelerates sales-led motions. Technical SEO is treated as enablement—ensuring the right pages are discoverable, indexable, and fast.
Ideal engagement: B2B SaaS and services companies, particularly those with complex buying committees and multi-touch attribution models.
Nova Solutions: Fundamentals That Compound
Nova Solutions aims to make SEO progress predictable. Their playbook covers content brief quality, precise on-page optimization, and internal link structures that nudge authority to the right places. They’re pragmatic about CMS constraints, suggesting fixes that fit your system rather than idealized recommendations that never ship. For many SMBs, this “ship more, faster” approach outperforms grand strategies that stall.
Ideal engagement: SMBs and regional ecommerce that need clean execution and steady month-over-month gains.
Local SEO Search: Engineered for the Map Pack
Local SEO Search is optimized for businesses where the map pack is the main acquisition channel. They focus on category selection, local landing page differentiation, and the operational work of review collection and response. Because proximity, relevance, and prominence drive map visibility, they often run content programs that emphasize community involvement, local partnerships, and geo-relevant assets worth citing.
Ideal engagement: Clinics, trades, legal, and home services—especially those with multiple service areas or cities.
Edkent Media: Balanced SEO with Paid Support
Edkent Media is a good match if you want organic growth to coordinate with paid search and paid social. This is helpful when you’re entering new markets or launching new products and need to stimulate demand while organic ramps. Their SEO work typically includes content calendars tied to funnel stages, on-page refinement, and early experiments to squeeze more value from existing traffic.
Ideal engagement: Growth-stage businesses needing blended acquisition with clear budget guardrails and rapid reporting cycles.
Forge and Smith: SEO-Led Web Design
When your site requires a new information architecture, template overhaul, or performance uplift, Forge and Smith shines. They design and build with SEO in mind—semantic markup, component-driven content models, and templates that adapt to different query intents. Their teams understand the high-stakes nature of migrations and work to mitigate risk with redirect maps, testing environments, and staged rollouts.
Ideal engagement: Redesigns and replatforms where SEO must be embedded—especially for brands that suffered traffic loss in a previous migration.
Building Your SEO Roadmap: 30/60/90 Days
To ensure momentum with any agency, align on a phased plan that gets wins early while laying a durable foundation.
First 30 Days
- Discovery workshops, analytics and tracking audit, KPI agreement.
- Technical audit: indexation, crawl budget, CWV, structured data, critical errors.
- Opportunity sizing: quick wins vs. high-impact, longer-term projects.
- Content gap analysis and keyword clustering for top priorities.
Days 31–60
- Ship high-impact technical fixes with low dependencies.
- Roll out first content cluster (3–6 pieces) mapped to revenue-driving intents.
- Begin link-earning groundwork: assets, outreach angles, and partnerships.
- Implement dashboards for diagnostic and business metrics.
Days 61–90
- Second content cluster and internal linking enhancements.
- Digital PR launch or co-marketing initiatives for authority building.
- Quarterly review: wins, blockers, hypothesis backlog, and next-quarter plan.
FAQ: Finding and Working with a Canadian SEO Agency
How long until we see results?
Most businesses see leading indicators (improved indexing, rank movement, better CTR) within 60–90 days and bottom-line impact within 3–6 months, depending on competition, site health, and content velocity.
Do we need to produce content, or will the agency do it?
Many agencies provide briefs and editorial direction, then collaborate with in-house SMEs or copywriters. Some offer full-service content production. Align on who writes, who reviews, and turnaround times before kickoff.
Is link building still necessary?
Quality links are still a ranking signal, but the how matters. Favor digital PR, partnerships, and assets worth citing over transactional link schemes, which can be risky and short-lived.
What metrics should we track?
Track business outcomes (pipeline, revenue, bookings) alongside diagnostics (impressions, rankings, CTR, crawl stats, Core Web Vitals). Tie content assets to stages of the funnel to see which pages assist real conversions.
How do we avoid setbacks during a redesign or migration?
Involve your SEO team early, preserve URL equity with proper redirects, test in a staging environment, and launch in phases when possible. Always validate indexing and tracking after go-live.
Putting It All Together: A Practical Shortlist
If you’re ready to move forward, here’s a simple way to create your shortlist based on the profiles above:
- Complex brand with multi-channel needs: Start with Major Tom and TechWyse; add a third based on your vertical (e.g., Powered by Search for B2B).
- SMB seeking predictable momentum: Consider seoplus+, Nova Solutions, and Edkent Media.
- Local lead-gen powerhouse: Local SEO Search and BlueHat Marketing.
- Technical depth or migration-heavy scope: 1st on the List and Forge and Smith.
Checklist: Signals You’ve Found the Right Fit
- They can explain why each recommendation matters for your business outcomes.
- You’ve met the execution team and feel confident in their seniority.
- The first 90-day plan includes quick wins and durable foundation work.
- They embrace transparent reporting and are comfortable being measured on revenue-related KPIs.
- They avoid risky shortcuts and are candid about tradeoffs.
Need a Full-Service Partner Across Web, SEO, and Marketing?
If you’re looking for a single, accountable partner that can bring SEO together with modern web development and performance marketing, consider WEBPEAK. WEBPEAK is a full-service digital marketing company offering Web Development, Digital Marketing, and SEO Services—ideal when you want strategy, execution, and analytics handled by one integrated team. With an engineering-first mindset and conversion-focused creatives, WEBPEAK can align your site architecture, content engine, and demand generation programs to drive measurable growth.
Conclusion: The Best Canadian SEO Agency Is the One Built for Your Goals
Canada’s SEO ecosystem includes specialists for nearly every scenario—multi-location dominance, B2B pipeline growth, ecommerce expansion, or large-scale technical modernization. Start with clear business outcomes, insist on a 90-day plan that ships real work, and measure what matters. Use this guide to match your needs with the agencies most likely to deliver, and don’t hesitate to request sample deliverables and meet the team who will be in the trenches with you.
Whether you choose a niche specialist or a full-service partner, the right agency will act like an extension of your team: transparent, data-driven, and relentlessly focused on results that matter to the business—not just positions on a page.
