Five principles behind how we work
Every way of working rests on a few choices. These are ours, for every project.
Few clients at a time
We deliberately work with a limited number of companies at once. That keeps the founder close to every project and spares you a rotating cast of account managers.
Foundation first
A website with technical problems, an unclear structure or no visible people behind it will not grow in a lasting way. So we fix the base first: technology, structure, keywords, internal links and trust. Only then do we build on it with content, authority and campaigns.
Honest timelines
SEO takes time. Google itself notes that it often takes four months to a year before improvements show results. How long it takes for you depends on your market, your competitors and the state of your website. We tell you that up front, not after the fact.
No ranking guarantees
Only Google decides the order of its search results. Anyone who guarantees a first-place ranking is promising something they do not control. What we do promise: we use methods that work, we are open about what we do, and you can see what it delivers.
Our own brands as a test ground
We also build and run our own brands and websites. Every method is tested on our own sites before we use it for clients.
The four phases
Every engagement follows the same four phases, so you always know where you stand and what comes next.
1. Strategy session
You start with a 50-minute strategy session: a professional introductory conversation with the founder about your ambition, your market and whether we are the right fit. It is not a free audit and not a plan; it is the moment we both decide whether to continue. Read more about the strategy session and how to apply.
2. Proposal
Based on the session, we write a proposal with a fixed scope and a fixed price. It shows what we will do, in what order, what you can expect and what falls outside the engagement. Our pricing page explains how that price is set.
3. Build and delivery
Then we get to work. Depending on your needs, that might be a new website, a technical clean-up, a content plan or a new brand identity. We work in clear steps, with set moments for your review and feedback, so you always know where we are and why.
4. Measure and improve
After launch, we measure what happens: indexing, visibility, traffic, enquiries and on-site behaviour. What works, we expand. What does not, we adjust. For longer engagements we review results at set intervals and reset priorities.
Working remotely with Canadian companies
Kaptein Beacon is based in the Netherlands and works remotely with companies across Canada. We do not have a Canadian office. Our way of working suits remote collaboration: clear written summaries, shared documents and set review moments.
We plan calls at times that work for Canadian time zones. Where it genuinely matters, we account for Canadian context, such as English and French search behaviour, differences between provinces and your Google Business Profile in the cities you serve.
How we assess websites
Every analysis and SEO engagement uses the same 10-point website score. It shows at a glance where your site is strong and where the gains are. For each criterion you get an assessment with concrete improvements, ranked by impact.
For speed, we follow the Core Web Vitals as Google defines them. The last criterion is new to many companies; our page on AI SEO explains it in more depth.
| Criterion | What we assess |
|---|---|
| 1. Technical foundation & indexing | Can Google find, crawl and index your pages without errors, duplicates or blocks? |
| 2. Speed & Core Web Vitals | How fast does your site load, and how stable and responsive is it by Google's Core Web Vitals? |
| 3. Mobile experience | Does your site work as well on a phone as on a laptop, including menus, forms and readability? |
| 4. Keyword & content coverage | Do you have a strong, dedicated page for each important question your customers search for? |
| 5. Local & international visibility | Are you visible in the cities, provinces and countries where your customers are, including your Google Business Profile and language versions? |
| 6. Authority & backlinks | Do relevant, trustworthy websites link to you, and has your link profile grown naturally? |
| 7. Trust & E-E-A-T | Does your site show who is behind it, what experience and expertise you have and why visitors can trust you? |
| 8. Conversion & user flow | Can visitors quickly find what they need, and is the next step, such as calling or sending an enquiry, clear and easy? |
| 9. Brand & positioning | Is it immediately clear what you do, for whom, and why you are the right choice? |
| 10. AI visibility | Are you mentioned and cited in AI answers, such as Google's AI Overviews and chat assistants? |
What we ask of you
Good collaboration runs both ways. We know websites, search visibility and brands. You know your trade, your customers and your market. So we ask for:
- One main contact who can make decisions.
- Access to your website, Google Search Console and analytics, as far as needed.
- Knowledge of your business: which services matter most, who your ideal client is and what sets you apart.
- Timely feedback at the moments we agree on together.
Communication and reporting
You deal directly with the people doing the work. We report in plain language: what we did, what effect it had and what comes next. In SEO we look beyond rankings for single keywords and focus on visibility for the searches that matter, on enquiries and on content quality, in line with Google's guidance on helpful content.
Is our way of working right for you?
We are a good fit for owners and directors who:
- see their website as a multi-year investment, not a cost to minimize;
- would rather build it right once than start over every few years;
- want honest advice, even when it is not the answer they hoped for.
If you want the lowest quote or quick results without a foundation, we are not the right partner. That is not a judgement, just honesty about how we work. To learn more about who we are, read about Kaptein Beacon.