Local SEO in Niagara Falls, NY, beyond the tourism strip, from $1,000 CAD

Your city shares its name with a city in another country, and with one of the most photographed waterfalls on earth. A listing built for residents has to say so on purpose.

Call 905.682.4642Email hello@niagaraseo.com

Christopher Ross
On the web since 1996, working out of Fort Erie.

Schematic, not to scale · each town links to its page

This page is for businesses on the New York side. If yours is in Niagara Falls, Ontario, the Ontario page is the one written for you.

Most businesses have one city name to compete for. In Niagara Falls, New York you have to compete for yours twice: once against Niagara Falls State Park and the whole tourism industry attached to it, and once against a city of the same name on the far end of the Rainbow Bridge. Somebody types those two words and gets an entire tourism industry from two countries at once.

For a hotel that's fine. For a hair salon or a plumber, it means the search results for your own city are full of businesses that are not competing with you and never were.

Having a conversation on a parade route

You can't win that by talking louder. It's like trying to have a conversation on a parade route: the answer isn't to raise your voice over the marching band, it's to step off the route onto a side street where somebody can actually hear you.

For a Google Business Profile, stepping onto the side street means two things. The category has to be narrow enough that Google can tell a resident-facing business apart from the visitor economy sitting next to it, and the profile has to say where you actually are and who you actually serve, rather than just the city name that the Falls already owns. Add the towns your customers really drive in from, Lewiston, Lockport and North Tonawanda among them, and the listing starts getting shown to people who live here instead of people visiting for an afternoon. The guide on why you're not showing up in the map pack covers what to check first.

Two sides, one region

I'm on the Canadian end of this, in Fort Erie, and that has never made the work any different. Families, suppliers and customers have crossed these bridges in both directions for generations, and that hasn't changed. I'm glad to work for businesses on either side of the line. Prices are in Canadian dollars, and the Buffalo, NY page explains how paying a Canadian practice works, including paying in US dollars. If you also need a website, my sibling site Niagara Web Design, run by the same person, has a guide to building a site for a business that sells across the border.

What it costs

Three sizes, from $1,000 CAD, the same as everywhere else I work, with the category and neighborhood precision folded into whichever size fits. Quotes can be given in US dollars. One payment, nothing recurring, and the listing, the login and any pages stay in your name. See the three sizes and what each includes.

One local resource worth knowing, separate from me: the Niagara USA Chamber, which covers Niagara County including Niagara Falls, Lockport, Lewiston and North Tonawanda.

Where to start

Call or email with your business name and the part of town you're in. I'll look at what Google is currently showing for you, and within one business day you'll hear back from me directly with the size that fits and exactly what it costs.

Call 905.682.4642, or email hello@niagaraseo.com if that's easier.

Common questions