The marketing agency small businesses choose as their partner.
We don’t overcomplicate things and we don’t try to sell you services you don’t need. Instead we focus on what will work for your small business and how we can help you get there.
We focus exclusively on local SEO, Google Ads and Web Design. Our pricing is designed to fit within small businesses budgets.
Exactly what your business needs to adapt and grow to a changing world
We’re a small but mighty team focused on the big picture for your business. The digital landscape is changing faster than ever — beyond traditional SEO, we stay ahead of emerging channels like Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) and Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), making sure your business gets found whether customers are searching on Google, or asking AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini.
We’re based in Vancouver, Canada but we help clients all over world execute on a sound digital marketing strategy.
Search Engine Optimisation
Get found on the first page of Google or in an AI’s answer
Google Ads
& PPC Services
Buy the clicks that turn into enquiries. Stop wasting budget on unqualified traffic.
Web Design & Management
A site that loads fast, reads clearly, and guides visitors to take action effortlessly.
The Reviews From REAL Small Business Owners Just Keep Coming.
Why Small Business Work With Salt Water Digital
01
We Only Work With Small Businesses
We’re not an enterprise agency that squeezes small businesses into the bottom of the client roster. Every strategy we build, every campaign we run, and every dollar we manage is done with a small business budget and a small business owner in mind. This focus makes us better at what we do and more accountable to the clients who need it most.
02
You Work Directly With The People Doing The Work
No account managers playing telephone between you and the actual team. When you have a question about your SEO campaign, you talk to your SEO specialist. When you want to know how your Google Ads are performing, you talk to the person running them. It’s a level of access most agencies won’t offer and one we think every client deserves.
03
Total Transparency. No Surprises
You’ll always know exactly where your budget is going and what it’s doing for your business. We send clear, honest reporting that answers the questions you actually care about.
04
No Long Term Contracts
We don’t hold clients captive with long-term contracts. We’d rather earn your business every month than trap you into staying. If we’re not delivering, you should be free to walk and we’re confident enough in our work that we’re okay with that.
05
Based in Vancouver. Serving Small Businesses Across Canada
We’re a Canadian agency that understands the Canadian market. From Vancouver to Calgary to Toronto, we’ve helped small business owners across the country compete online, and win. against much larger competitors.
GET in touch
We Help You Grow Your Business, No Catch.
We will NEVER pressure and this is NOT a sales call. When you book a consultation with us, we promise to be honest, transparent, and trustworthy. If we don’t think it’s a good fit, we will let you know.
Local SEO for Small Businesses
01
Keyword Research
Not all keywords are created equal. We identify the specific terms your ideal customers are actually searching. These are typically referred to as commercial keywords or high intent keywords. They are the ones with real buying intent behind them. For small businesses, targeting the right keywords from the start is the difference between a campaign that gains traction and one that spins its wheels for months.
02
Google Business Page Optimization
For most small businesses, your Google Business Profile is the single most valuable piece of digital real estate you own. A fully optimized profile puts you in the Map Pack. The three local results that appear before anything else on the page. We audit, optimize, and actively manage your profile so you show up where it counts most.
03
On-Page Optimization
Your website needs to speak Google’s (and AIs) language. We analyze and optimize your pages to make sure the right signals are in the right places. From title tags and headers to content structure and internal linking. It’s not glamorous work, but it’s the foundation everything else is built on.
04
Quality Backlinks
Links from reputable websites tell Google your business is worth trusting. Quality links are one of the clearest dividing lines between agencies that deliver long-term results and those that don’t.
05
Monthly Reporting
Every month you’ll receive a clear report that tells you exactly what’s happening with your campaign and why it matters. Straightforward data that answers the question every small business owner actually cares about: is this working?
Google Ads for Small Businesses
01
Campaign Setup & Strategy
A Google Ads campaign is only as good as the strategy behind it. Before we spend a single dollar of your budget, we do the groundwork: keyword research, competitor analysis, audience targeting, and ad copy to make sure every element of your campaign is built to perform from day one. Small businesses can’t afford to learn on the job. We come in ready.
02
Conversion Tracking
Most small businesses running Google Ads have no idea which clicks are actually turning into customers. We set up proper conversion tracking so you can see exactly what’s working. Phone calls and form fills that tie real business outcomes back to your ad spend. Without this, you’re flying blind.
03
Landing Pages
Sometimes, sending paid traffic to your homepage or a service page is the best option. But other times a dedicated landing page is more effective. In those situations we have a dedicated web design team that can build a landing page quickly and they start at just $225 for Google Ad clients.
04
Ongoing Optimization
Launching a campaign is the starting line, not the finish line. We continuously monitor and refine your campaigns by adjusting bids, cutting underperforming keywords, testing ad variations, and reallocating budget toward what’s working. This is where the real gains happen over time.
05
Transparent Reporting
You’ll know exactly how your budget was spent and what it produced. We report on the metrics that actually matter to a small business owner – leads, cost per lead, and return on spend not click-through rates and impression share that don’t pay the bills. And if you’re curious about a management-fee-free option, that’s a conversation worth having on your strategy call.
06
A Google Ads Option Built for Tight Budgets
If you’re working with a smaller ad spend, typically under $500 a month, a traditional management fee can eat up a disproportionate chunk of your budget. Our management-fee-free Google Ads option was built specifically for small businesses in that position. You get the same strategy, setup, and expertise without the overhead that makes paid advertising feel out of reach. It’s our way of making Google Ads accessible to businesses that are just getting started or working with limited marketing dollars.
Web Design & Web Management for Small Businesses
01
Affordable Builds Starting at $1,500
A professional website shouldn’t be out of reach for a small business. Our builds start at $1,500 and are designed to give local service businesses a fast, polished, conversion-ready online presence without the agency markup that comes with larger shops. You get a custom site built to your brand, your market, and your goals, at a price that makes sense for where your business is right now.
02
Built on WordPress
We build exclusively on WordPress, the world’s most widely used website builder. It’s flexible, scalable, and gives you the ability to grow your site as your business grows. It also means you’re never locked into a proprietary system that holds your own website hostage.
03
Fast, Reliable Performance
Slow websites lose visitors before they’ve read a single word. This is a drain on marketing campaigns. We build lean, fast-loading sites reliable infrastructure so your site stays up, loads quickly, and never costs you a lead because someone got tired of waiting.
04
Mobile Responsive By Default
More than half of all web traffic comes from mobile devices and for local service businesses, that number skews even higher. Every site we build looks and functions perfectly on phones. Because your next customer is probably searching from their phone, and a site that doesn’t work on mobile is a site that doesn’t work.
05
Web Management That Takes It Off Your Plate From $85/month
Building your website is just the beginning. Keeping it secure, fast, and up to date is an ongoing job most small business owners don’t have time for. Our web management program covers everything from domain registration, SSL security, hosting, daily backups, plugin updates, technical support, malware support and content changes. We also install Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and basic conversion tracking so your site is ready to measure results from day one. Human support is available 9am–4pm PST on business days, and if you ever decide to move on, you keep your website.
Small Businesses We’ve Helped
One of the most common things we hear from prospective clients is some version of “do you have experience with my specific niche?” It’s a fair question but it’s also less important than most think. The fundamentals of a great local SEO campaign or a well-structured Google Ads account don’t change dramatically between industries. What changes is the keyword set, the audience, and the messaging.
Our experience working across a wide range of local businesses is actually an advantage. That said, here are some of the industries we work with most frequently:
01
Home Services — HVAC, Plumbing, Contractors
Home service businesses live and die by local visibility. When someone’s furnace breaks or a pipe bursts, they’re searching Google immediately and calling the first credible result they find. We help contractors, trades, and home service businesses get in front of those high-intent searches at exactly the right moment with SEO and Google Ads strategies built around how your customers actually find you.
02
Self Storage
Self storage is one of the most competitive local search environments there is. High intent, high competition, and very little brand loyalty. We’ve kept cost-per-click down below $5 for self storage clients in markets where competitors were bidding as high as $30. If you’re in storage, you already know how brutal the ad auction can be. We know how to win it efficiently.
03
Healthcare & Wellness — Physiotherapists, Chiropractors, Massage Therapists, Therapists
Patients looking for healthcare providers search locally, trust reviews, and make decisions fast. We’ve helped healthcare clinics scale with smart Google Ads campaign structures and micro-conversion tracking and we understand the nuances of marketing wellness services. If you’re running a clinic or practice and want a steady pipeline of new patients and clients, this is what we do.
04
Professional Services — Lawyers, Accountants, Bookkeepers, Consultants
Professional service businesses often have the highest lifetime client value of any small business category. This makes every lead worth fighting for. We help lawyers, accountants, bookkeepers and consultants build the kind of online presence that earns trust before a prospect ever picks up the phone, through Local SEO, Google Ads, and websites that position you as the obvious choice in your market.
increase in organic traffic
B2B Uniform Manufacturer
SEO
Our Commitment To You & Your Business
We keep things simple. No lengthy onboarding processes, no endless back-and-forth before anything gets done. Here’s what working with Salt Water Digital actually looks like.
Book a Free Strategy Call
Every engagement starts with a conversation. We want to understand your business, your market, and what you’ve already tried. There’s no sales script and no pressure just an honest discussion about where you
We Tell You What Will Actually Work
After the call we’ll give you a straight answer on which channels we think make the most sense for your business and which ones don’t. If SEO isn’t the right fit right now, we’ll tell you. If your budget is better spent on Google Ads than a new website, we’ll tell you that too. We’d rather lose a sale than set a client up to be disappointed.
We Get To Work
Once we’ve agreed on a strategy, we move fast. No months of onboarding before anything happens. Your campaign gets built properly from day one with the right structure, the right tracking, and a clear plan for how we’re going to get you results.
You Stay In The Loop
You’ll receive clear, honest reports on how things are progressing (every month for local SEO, every other month for Google ads). You’ll always know what’s happening with your campaign and why.
We work with you to create a marketing strategy suitable for your business. Every business is unique, and your advertising should show that.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does digital marketing cost for a small business?
It depends on the channel and the market, but here’s a realistic ballpark. Local SEO campaigns typically run between $400–$1,200 per month depending on how competitive your industry and location are. Google Ads management starts at $395 per month plus your ad spend, which we generally recommend starting at $1,000 per month minimum to get meaningful data. Website builds start at $1,500 plus web management which is $85 per month. We’re upfront about pricing on every strategy call.
What's the difference between SEO and Google Ads for a small business?
SEO builds visibility over time. It’s slower to start but compounds. Google Ads delivers results immediately but stops the moment you stop paying. For most small businesses the right answer is often both. We’ll tell you on your strategy call which one makes more sense to start with given your budget, timeline, and market.
How long does SEO take to work?
Longer than most agencies will tell you. For competitive local markets you should expect at least 2-3 months before you see meaningful movement in the map pack and 3-4 months in the organic results. 6–12 months is when the campaign is really firing. Anyone promising page one results in 30 days is selling something you don’t want to buy. What we can promise is that you’ll see progress at every stage and know exactly what’s happening throughout.
Do I need a website before I start marketing?
For SEO and Google Ads, yes. You need somewhere credible to send traffic. A poorly built website will undermine even the best campaign. If your current site is slow, outdated, or not built to convert, we’ll tell you. In some cases we recommend sorting the website first. In others, we can run campaigns to a dedicated landing page while a full build is in progress. We’ll figure out the right sequence for your situation.
Can a small business compete with larger companies online?
Yes, especially locally. It’s much harder to market in several cities, so larger national or even regional companies have a harder time optimizing locally, which creates real opportunities for small businesses. A well-optimized Google Business Profile, a tight Google Ads campaign, and solid local SEO can put a small business ahead of national brands in local search results. We’ve seen it happen repeatedly across industries.
What makes Salt Water Digital different from other marketing agencies?
A few things. We work with small businesses so you’re not an afterthought here. You deal directly with the people doing the work, not an account manager passing messages back and forth. We won’t lock you into long term contracts. We’ll tell you on the first call if we don’t think we’re the right fit which is not something most agencies will do. We’re built for small business owners who’ve been burned before and need an agency they can actually trust. We have over 115 5 star reviews from real business owners, spanning dozens of industries. This is because we’re a mid-sized agency (12 employees) which gives us the expertise to build great strategy and the man power to actually execute on that strategy.
What if I already have a website on Wix, Squarespace, Webflow, Duda or another platform?
Not a problem we run SEO and Google Ads campaigns on whatever platform you’re already on. Wix, Squarespace, WordPress, Webflow, Duda etc. If you have a working website, that isn’t on a custom coded platform we can work with it. We’re not going to tell you to rebuild your site just to work with us but we will tell you if a rebuild is the best course of action. If you’re starting from scratch or need a full overhaul, we build exclusively on WordPress. It’s the most flexible, scalable, and SEO-friendly platform available for small businesses and it’s what we trust to perform long term. Either way, we’ll give you an honest read on your current site on the strategy call.
Will you manage my existing website?
Yes we manage existing websites on WordPress. If your site needs to be rebuilt for any reason but you love the design, we can replicate it on WordPress very affordably. You get the look you already like on a platform built to perform long term.