QUEBEC-SPECIFIC
SEO ISSUES
INTERACTIVE S TRATEGY- 55 AV. MONT-ROYAL W SUITE 999, M
., ONTREAL (QC) H2T 2S6 T 514.524.7149 NVISOLUTIONS.COM

AGENDA
> QUEBEC DEM OGRAPHICS
> QUEBEC FRENCH AUDIENCE
> GOOGLE.CA
> BING
> QC.YAHOO.COM
> TOILE DU QUÉBEC / CANOEKLIX
> BV! MEDIA
> PAGESJAUNES.CA
> QUEBEC M ARKET DISTRIBUTION
> QUEBEC AND SOCIAL M EDIA
> HOW TO M ARKET PROPERLY IN QUEBEC
INTERACTIVE STRATEGY– NVISOLUTIONS.COM

QUEBEC DEMOGRAPHICS
> In M 2009, 73.5% of Quebecers used the Internet regularly
ay
> Over 1 out of 6 Quebec Internet users go online at least once per day
from a m obile device, 65% of them m than once
ore
> 55% (+15%) made purchases online over the past semester.
> Numbers would be higher if debit paym w w
ent as idely accepted
> Quebec users trust their banks, not 3rd party websites!
> 4million active users
> 70% French / 30% English
>Montreal is a bilingual market: 60% French, 40% English
> Any other city or region besides Montreal = 90% + French
INTERACTIVE STRATEGY– NVISOLUTIONS.COM

QUEBEC FRENCH AUDIENCE
> Quebec Search landscape is m experienced than France:
ore
~ 8% searches are 1 keyword vs ~30% in France
~45% searches are 2 keywords vs ~22% in France
~35% searches are 3 keywords vs ~29% in France
~12% searches are 4+ keywords
~12% users are not satisfied by the search results displayed
Data is g athe re d and normaliz e d from multiple s ource s , including : ComS core Ne tw orks ,
NETe ndance s s tudy , pe rs onal e xpe rie nc e s w ith hundre ds of clie nts s tatis tics , s pe cific public ations in
Que be c, including a re c e nt one from S kooiz « Comme nt le s qué bé cois che rche nt-ils s ur le we b , »
and g re at dis cus s ions with pe e rs on the Fre nc h marke ts in Que be c and France .
INTERACTIVE S TRATEGY –NVISOLUTIONS.COM

GOOGLE
> Educated guess monthly searches:
~79% w 225-250 m
ith illion searches
Major Strengths Major Weaknesses
Quebec and France sites areM likely to get spam ed
ore m
w divided
ell
Easiest to setup / Content netw quality
ork
m traffic
ost is belowaverage
Best ratio between time Confusion of Google.ca and
spent / ROI Google.com in English
INTERACTIVE S TRATEGY –NVISOLUTIONS.COM

BING.CA
> Our estim on m
ate onthly searches:
~8-10% w 20-25 m
ith illion searches
Major Strengths Major Weaknesses
Traffic quality Relevance is sometimes
inaccurate
Not a lot of advertisers Tim consum platform
e ing
(low CPC!)
er and not a lot of traffic
Finally a decent branded name
for Canada
INTERACTIVE S TRATEGY –NVISOLUTIONS.COM

QC.YAHOO.COM
> Our estim on m
ate onthly searches:
~4-5% w 10-15 m
ith illion searches
STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES
Best traffic quality / ROI Sm (for som verticals?)
all e
French content network
Great Quebec French Generates low traffic
er
portal volum than Google/M
e SN
Great Canadian account
managers network
INTERACTIVE S TRATEGY –NVISOLUTIONS.COM

TOILE DU QUÉBEC / CANOEKLIX
> Our estim on m
ate onthly searches:
~2-3% w 3-5 m
ith illion searches
> CanoeKlix has an im portant ad display network
w several m
ith illion impressions
Major Strengths Major Weaknesses
Great paid regional Unconventional payperclick
directory platform
Unsavvy Internet users No recurring billing
Loyal userbase Poor perform platform as a
ing
(oldest Québec engine) whole
INTERACTIVE S TRATEGY –NVISOLUTIONS.COM

BV! MEDIA
> Form erly Branchez-Vous and Netw orldmedia, BV! M edia is an
important ad display netw w several m
ork ith illion impressions that
can reach all Quebec users
Major Strengths Major Weaknesses
Great behavioral targeting LowROI on B2B
Great B2C market Not a search engine
M than 1 000 clients
ore Belowaverage tracking
INTERACTIVE S TRATEGY –NVISOLUTIONS.COM

PAGESJAUNES.CA
> Our estim on m
ate onthly searches:
~3-4% w 3-5 m
ith illion searches
Major Strengths Major Weaknesses
Contains all Quebec Expensive cost per click
businesses
Great for brand No clear relation betw een
awareness traffic and price for categories
Amajor player in Quebec Not good for all verticals
INTERACTIVE S TRATEGY –NVISOLUTIONS.COM

QUEBEC MARKET DISTRIBUTION
>Major Quebec properties and verticals owned by 3 actors:
Pow erCorp, Transcontinental, Quebecor
> Top 3 actors strategy is mainly based on vertical acquisitions
> Because of their size, the turnaround is much slower
> This leaves multiple opportunities to create many verticals
(and m aybe get acquired by any of those 3 leaders later!)
INTERACTIVE S TRATEGY –NVISOLUTIONS.COM

QUEBEC AND SOCIAL MEDIA
> Quebec users are the m active in Canada (37%)
ost
> Youth in Quebec are m prone to use rich m
ore edia
than other provinces (50%)
> 2 of the top 30 users on Digg are from Quebec
> Quebec’ culture encourages the use and
s
understanding of many non-English social platforms
INTERACTIVE S TRATEGY –NVISOLUTIONS.COM

HOW TO MARKET PROPERLY IN QUEBEC
> Include francophones while building your strategy
>Make your website bilingual and optim it
ize
> Leverage social m edia tactics w m
ith arketing tools
com to m
ing aturity (Facebook Apps, Online PR through
blogs, Reputation m anagem ent, Brand Watch, etc.)
INTERACTIVE S TRATEGY –NVISOLUTIONS.COM

GOOGLE.COM INTERNATIONAL VS US
:
> Since early 2008, Google.com international ≠ Google.com US
> Canada is international
> If you w to rank on Google.com US, act Am
ant erican, but you might
sacrifice part of your Canadian heritage
> Backlink profile, hosting, physical addresses listed on site, text
about the country, Google local listing
> Use the query &gl=us to have Google.com US results
INTERACTIVE S TRATEGY –NVISOLUTIONS.COM

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