SEO & AI visibility
Six core terms to #1 in nine months.
WC Marker · Airdrie, Alberta
WC Marker had real differentiators — exclusive Canadian distribution for MacDev and a Certified Pre-Owned programme for used gear. Online, none of it was findable. Nine months later the store ranks first in Canada for the searches that actually sell markers.
SEO
AI visibility
Specialty retail
The engagement
- ClientWC Marker, Airdrie AB
- IndustryE-commerce · specialty sporting goods
- What we didRedesign, SEO strategy, content, site management
- EngagementOctober 2025 – July 2026
The challenge
WC Marker is a specialty paintball retailer with two genuine competitive edges: a Certified Pre-Owned programme for used markers, and exclusive Canadian distribution rights for MacDev, one of the sport’s most respected brands.
Online, neither was visible. When the engagement began the site ran on a generic template that undercut the brand, with no analytics, no Search Console, no structured data, a “B” performance grade, and Google visibility for exactly one thing — its own name. A shopper who didn’t already know the name would never find it.
The goal was to look like a business — not like some guy on Facebook.
Malcolm McKenzie, Owner — WC Marker
What we did
- Foundation first. GA4 and Search Console, a hosting migration, SEOPress, schema markup, and performance work that lifted the site from a B grade to an A.
- A redesign built to convert sceptics. A darker, more tactical brand system with clear navigation and the trust signals a wary used-gear buyer looks for.
- Theme-driven SEO. Seven keyword themes anchored on the two differentiators — a MacDev authority hub and the Certified Pre-Owned marketplace — tracked across eighty keywords.
- Expert-led content. Written from the owner’s knowledge of the sport rather than from a keyword list, which is what made it quotable.
The result
6×
Core terms at position #1
4×
AI answer-engine referrals
9mo
Engagement to result
Rankings: Google Search Console · Referrals: GA4
These are products people search for by brand, model and country — the kind of query that used to be won purely on rankings. Over the same nine months referrals from AI answer engines went up four-fold, which is the number that actually mattered: the work that earned the rankings also made the site the source the machines quote.
Is this your situation?
A specialist retailer whose real advantages aren’t showing up in search is the situation this work is built for.