AMA Marketplace
SEO Strategy & Implementation
Marketplace SEO for a Sharetribe platform, from the team that built it. Making AMA's verified providers the first result Albertans find, in Google, Bing and AI assistants.
Marketplace SEO is its own discipline. Sharetribe SEO even more so.
AMA Marketplace runs on Sharetribe and is open to AMA members and the general public. That makes organic search the largest low-cost growth channel it has, on both sides: homeowners looking for a trusted provider, and providers looking for steady local work.
Most SEO plans treat a marketplace like a website with more pages. It is not. A marketplace has two sides, inventory that changes every day, and page quality that depends on how many providers serve each area. And Sharetribe, for all its strengths as a transaction platform, makes choices by default that work against search: ID codes in URLs, no category or city pages, sitemaps that miss custom pages, search results loaded in the browser, and a members-only setting that hides everything from Google.
Marketplace Studio has spent more than ten years building marketplaces, and we built AMA's marketplace on Sharetribe. We know where it breaks for search because we have fixed it before. So we do not hand over specifications for another team to interpret. We design the search architecture, build it into the platform, write the content, and measure the results, in one accountable team.
This proposal follows the pilot timeline: the Employee Pilot (Phase 1, November 2026 to January 2027), the Member Pilot (Phase 2, January to March 2027) and the Content Scale-Up (Phase 3, April to June 2027).
Sharetribe-specific architecture, built and tested in the platform. Marketplace-specific SEO for both sides. Body copy, provider acquisition pages, a review engine and automated SEO checks on every release are all included. Page volume is not capped: every page that meets its quality threshold gets published.
Two sides, live inventory, quality that depends on supply.
A marketplace ranks when it solves the chicken-and-egg problem in search as well as in the product. These are the marketplace-specific pieces a standard SEO plan leaves out, and all of them are in our scope.
Both sides search
Providers search too: "electrical leads Calgary", "get more snow removal clients". A join page for each category turns search into supply, and supply is what unlocks new city and community pages.
Supply decides which pages exist
City and community pages publish only when enough active providers serve them, with a buffer so they do not flip in and out of search. Thresholds are set from the real provider split, not guessed.
Inventory changes every day
Providers join, pause and leave. Every change updates sitemaps, redirects and thresholds automatically, so ranking strength is kept rather than lost.
Reviews start at zero
A new marketplace has no on-platform reviews, and outside reviews cannot be marked up. We build review requests after every completed job and show ratings in search once a provider has enough to be meaningful.
Rich profiles without leakage
Detailed public profiles help rankings but can send customers around the marketplace. Profiles show credentials, reviews and service area; contact runs through a quote request.
Provider-written content
Providers often paste the same text from their own website. Onboarding prompts ask for local, job-specific detail, and duplicate checks run before a profile is shown to search engines.
Authority from the network
A "Find us on AMA Marketplace" badge built into onboarding. Hundreds of local businesses linking to their AMA profile is authority no competitor can buy.
Rank where supply can serve
A page that ranks and sends quote requests nobody answers hurts the brand. We track provider response rate by category and region, and push search hardest where supply can meet demand.
Answers for AI assistants
Factual comparison tables, cost and permit guides, and consistent AMA details make the marketplace the source ChatGPT, Perplexity and Copilot cite.
A typical SEO engagement compared with ours
| Typical SEO engagement | Marketplace Studio | |
|---|---|---|
| Deliverable | Specifications for a development team | Built, tested and live in the platform |
| Sharetribe architecture | Generic website rules | Designed around how Sharetribe works |
| Body copy | Writing guides; client writes the pages | Written for every page; AMA approves |
| Provider side | Not addressed | Join pages, badge program, onboarding guidance |
| Reviews | Not addressed | Review engine and rating markup |
| Page volume | Fixed page count | Every page that meets its threshold |
| Testing | Split tests before there is enough traffic | Deferred until volume makes results reliable |
| Protection over time | Manual checks | Automated SEO checks on every release |
Albertans search for help. Today they find strangers.
Searches like "electrician Calgary", "snow removal Airdrie" or "furnace repair Edmonton" are high intent and local. The results are crowded, and none of the current options combine verified providers with a brand Albertans already trust.
Jiffy
Vetted pros, launched in Calgary in 2024. Strong app, limited local search footprint and brand recognition in Alberta.
Taskrabbit
Ranks for Calgary and Edmonton city pages in several categories, especially furniture assembly. Transaction fees and a national, not local, model.
HomeStars
Established category pages in both cities. Lead-based model with uneven provider vetting.
Google Local Services Ads
Shown above organic results with Google screening. Sets the trust bar AMA's organic pages should meet or exceed.
Kijiji and Facebook Marketplace
Widely used for informal jobs. No vetting, no recourse, no accountability.
"AMA-verified providers are licensed, insured and able to pull permits where required." That is a trust statement no generic marketplace can make. Built into every page, it becomes AMA's edge in search results and in AI answers.
One team: strategy, build, content and measurement.
Most SEO engagements produce documents. The results depend on whether a separate development team can find the time to build them. We remove that gap.
Built into the platform
Server-rendered category and city pages, clean URLs, sitemaps, structured data and indexing rules are built by the same team that maintains the marketplace, and tested before every release.
Content included
We write titles, descriptions, FAQs and body copy for every page. AMA reviews and approves. No dependency on AMA's content team to keep pace.
Both sides of the marketplace
Pages for homeowners searching for help, and pages for providers searching for work. Supply growth is what unlocks new city and community pages.
Quality over volume
A page is published only when it has real, unique value: live providers, verified credentials, local permit rules. Thin pages hurt more than they help.
The search foundation every later page relies on
Architecture
Category-first URL structure, flat provider profiles, breadcrumbs, internal linking and listing thresholds.
Rendering
Every indexable page delivered as complete HTML to search engines and AI crawlers.
Structured data
Organization, Service, LocalBusiness and BreadcrumbList markup, consistent with ama.ab.ca.
Sitemaps & indexing
Sitemaps that update automatically as providers join or leave, with fast submission to Google and Bing.
Lifecycle rules
Clean handling when a provider leaves, a listing closes or a page drops below its threshold.
Release checks
Automated SEO checks on every release, so a code change never quietly breaks rankings.
Category first, location second, one page per intent.
Each topical cluster is anchored on the service, not the city. The province-wide category page is the hub and the city pages are its spokes, so the marketplace can rank for both "[service] Alberta" and "[service] Calgary".
| Page type | Example URL | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Category hub | /home-services/electrical/ | Ranks for province-wide searches; fallback when location is unknown |
| Category + city | /home-services/electrical/calgary/ | Main ranking page for local searches; covers surrounding communities |
| Category + community | /home-services/cleaning/airdrie/ | Published once a community reaches its listing threshold |
| Provider profile | /pros/business-name/ | One URL per business, however many categories or cities it serves. Credentials, reviews, service area |
| Auto services | /auto-services/auto-detailing/edmonton/ | Same pattern for Auto Cleaning & Detailing and Mobile Mechanic Services |
| Provider join pages | /join/electrical/ | Attracts providers searching for leads in their trade |
| Guides | /guides/furnace-replacement-permit-calgary/ | Permit, licensing and cost guides that answer questions and earn citations |
| Trust page | /what-ama-verifies/ | What AMA verifies and what it does not, liability and recourse |
Rules that protect quality
- Flat provider profiles. A provider offering three services in two regions has one profile URL, not six competing copies. Category and city pages link to it.
- Listing thresholds. City and community pages are published only above a minimum number of active providers, with a buffer so pages do not flip in and out of search as providers come and go.
- Real URLs for locations. No location filters as query parameters. Search and filter results stay out of the index.
- One page for everyone. Members and the public see the same URL. Member perks unlock on sign-in without creating separate member pages.
- Clean lifecycle. When a provider leaves, their profile redirects to the relevant category and city page so ranking value is kept, not lost.
Final folder names and threshold numbers are confirmed in the Phase 1 Information Architecture deliverable.
Where AMA's trust advantage matters most.
Under Alberta's Safety Codes Act, electrical, gas, plumbing and HVAC work usually requires a permit, and in most cases only licensed contractors can pull one. Google treats these as "Your Money or Your Life" topics and holds them to a higher standard of expertise and trust.
| What we do | Detail |
|---|---|
| Permit-aware taxonomy | Separates permit-required services from non-permit services within each regulated category, so structure, content and filters match how the work is actually regulated. |
| Expectations set before contact | Regulated category pages explain licence and permit requirements, and who pulls the permit, before a visitor contacts a provider. |
| Visible credentials | Credential type (journeyman, master, contractor of record), licence number, insurance status and verification date shown as visible, crawlable content with matching structured data. |
| Local permit guides | Guides by trade and municipality, for example furnace replacement permits in Calgary or panel upgrades in Edmonton. High-intent searches that generic marketplaces do not answer well. |
| "What AMA verifies" page | What AMA verifies and what it does not, plus liability and recourse, linked from every regulated category and profile. |
| Google Verified benchmark | Organic pages show at least the trust level Google requires for Local Services Ads: licence verification, background checks and proof of insurance. |
Electrical, Plumbing and HVAC content is reviewed by Marketplace Studio and approved by AMA Product and Legal before it is published. Permit decisions and disclosure wording come from AMA.
What Albertans are searching for right now.
We ran initial keyword research across all 13 categories in the Calgary and Edmonton regions, using live search results from both cities. The findings shape which pages we build first.
Keywords where a Reddit thread ranks in the top three. Albertans are asking "who can I trust?" and no trusted brand is answering.
Marketplaces in the top five for snow removal, furnace repair, house cleaning or junk removal. The aggregator position is open.
Snow removal, furnace repair and mobile mechanic searches are rising into winter, in step with the Employee Pilot.
| Keyword | Est. monthly searches | Difficulty | Trend now |
|---|---|---|---|
| snow removal calgary / edmonton | 2K to 5K each, winter peak | Medium | Rising |
| furnace repair calgary / edmonton | 1K to 2.5K each | Medium | Rising |
| snow removal cost calgary | 300 to 700 | Easy | Rising |
| calgary sidewalk snow bylaw | 500 to 1.5K, spikes after storms | Easy | Rising |
| furnace replacement permit calgary | 100 to 300 | Easy | Rising |
| mobile mechanic calgary / edmonton | 500 to 1K each | Easy | Cold-snap spikes |
| furniture assembly calgary / edmonton | 200 to 500 each | Easy | Holiday peak |
| plumber calgary / edmonton | 2.5K to 5K each | Hard | Stable |
| painters, car detailing | 1K to 3.5K each | Medium | Falling until spring |
Search volumes are directional estimates. Exact figures are confirmed in Google Search Console once pages are live. The full keyword report covers 32 keywords across all 13 categories.
Example: the "snow removal calgary" page
Snow removal is a Phase 1 category, the highest-volume search in the research, and rising now. Below is how that keyword becomes a page on AMA Marketplace. Use Hide SEO notes at the top of the example to see the page as a visitor would, or leave the notes on to see why each part helps it rank.
A short answer first (who, what it costs per visit, what the bylaw requires), AMA trust signals, server-rendered provider cards, what affects the price of a visit, Calgary's 24-hour sidewalk bylaw, local FAQs, links to nearby communities and related winter services, and a call to action for providers. Provider names and prices on the cards are sample data. The web address shown is illustrative until the subdomain is confirmed.
Three phases, aligned to the pilots.
Phases 1 and 2 build and validate the foundation through the end of Q1 2027. Phase 3 scales content on that proven base.
Phase 1: Foundation and build (November 2026 to January 2027)
Goal: build the search foundation for the whole marketplace into the platform, so that Phase 2 categories, regulated trades and Phase 3 content plug in without changing URLs.
| Deliverable | What it includes |
|---|---|
| Keyword research | All 13 categories in both regions, including surrounding communities, seasonal patterns and provider-side searches. Recommended category names based on demand. |
| Information architecture | URL map, hierarchy, flat profile model, breadcrumbs, internal linking and listing thresholds, for AMA sign-off. |
| Technical SEO build | Server-rendered category, city and community pages with crawlable provider lists and pagination. Clean URLs with redirects when a business renames. Canonical and noindex rules. |
| Sitemaps and indexing | Sitemaps by page type that update automatically as listings change, plus instant submission to Bing. |
| Structured data | Organization, WebSite, BreadcrumbList, Service and LocalBusiness markup, validated with zero errors. |
| Release checks | Automated SEO checks on every release: rendering, canonicals, structured data, indexing rules and status codes. |
| Lifecycle and threshold logic | Redirect and removal rules for closed listings and departed providers; threshold buffers to prevent pages flipping in and out of search. |
Phase 2: Member Pilot launch (January to March 2027)
Goal: extend to 13 categories and open the marketplace to search engines with strong signals from ama.ab.ca, discoverable to members, the public and AI assistants.
| Deliverable | What it includes |
|---|---|
| Page content | Titles, descriptions, unique FAQs and body copy for 13 category hubs and 26 region pages, plus any community pages that meet thresholds. |
| Regulated trades | Permit-aware taxonomy, licence and permit guides by trade and municipality, the "What AMA verifies" page and credentials on profiles. |
| Provider acquisition | Join pages for all 13 categories and the "Find us on AMA Marketplace" badge in onboarding. |
| Review engine | Post-job review requests and review ratings in search results above a minimum review count. |
| Comparison tables | Up to five factual comparisons (for example Jiffy, Taskrabbit, HomeStars, classifieds), drafted up front for Legal review. |
| Redirects and ama.ab.ca links | Existing ama.ab.ca pages covering the same services mapped to the new pages; navigation, member benefits and newsroom links in place. |
| Analytics | Key events (quote request, sign-up, booking), consent, cross-domain tracking including member sign-in, and an SEO dashboard. |
| Testing and launch | SEO acceptance testing on staging, launch, sitemap submission, 30-day baseline report and a Q1 validation report with the Phase 3 plan. |
Phase 3: Scale-up (April to June 2027)
Goal: publish at the pace supply allows, expand to communities and new markets, and improve existing pages with real performance data.
| Deliverable | What it includes |
|---|---|
| Community and long-tail pages | No fixed page count. Every community and service page that meets its threshold and has unique data is published, with content written by us. |
| Guides | Cost guides and permit explainers by municipality; seasonal content for summer services such as painting. |
| Monthly optimization | Titles, FAQs and internal links improved from real Search Console queries and engagement data. |
| AI search visibility | Monthly tracking of AMA citations in AI assistants and consistency of AMA details across the marketplace and ama.ab.ca. |
| New market launch kit | Templates and page sets ready for any new market AMA approves, so expansion is a configuration step, not a project. |
November 2026 to June 2027.
Keyword research and IA sign-off first, then the technical build on staging. Employee Pilot pages stay out of search while the pilot is internal. Snow Removal prioritised for winter demand.
Content for 13 categories, regulated trades, provider pages and reviews. Acceptance testing, then open to search engines when the Member Pilot opens. 30-day baseline and Q1 validation report by end of March.
Monthly publishing batches gated by supply and quality, guides, optimization from real data, and new markets as AMA approves them.
Decisions and access that keep the schedule.
| What we need | Details | When |
|---|---|---|
| Scope approval | Confirmation of this proposal and named approvers for IA, names, titles and content | Before Phase 1 starts |
| Subdomain and pilot dates | Final subdomain, pilot start dates and the date the marketplace opens to search engines | Phase 1 kickoff |
| Category details | Final category list and sub-services; expected providers per category and region | Before keyword research and IA sign-off |
| Search engine access | Google Search Console (ideally an ama.ab.ca domain property) and Bing Webmaster Tools | Before launch |
| Analytics access | Analytics and tag manager edit access; confirmation of the analytics platform and consent approach | Before acceptance testing |
| Regulated trades decisions | Which services require permits, the verification model per trade, approved disclosure wording, and a named owner who keeps it current | Start in Phase 1, final before regulated pages are drafted |
| Member perks | What members see after sign-in that the public does not (pricing, perks, booking) | Before IA sign-off |
| Comparison guidance | Competitors AMA wants compared; Legal review of final tables | Phase 2 |
| ama.ab.ca links and redirects | List of existing pages covering the same services; navigation, member benefits and newsroom links on launch day | Phase 2 |
| Review windows | A standing review window (3 business days) so publishing stays on schedule | Throughout |
Leads and liquidity, not just traffic.
| Area | What we track |
|---|---|
| Discovery | Indexed priority pages, crawl errors, sitemap coverage |
| Visibility | Impressions, clicks and positions for category and region searches |
| Leads | Quote requests, sign-ups and bookings from organic search, by page type and member status |
| Supply | Provider sign-ups from join pages and badge links |
| Marketplace health | Provider response rate and time to first response by category and region |
| AI visibility | Referrals and citations from ChatGPT, Perplexity and Copilot |
Numeric targets are set from the baseline about 30 days after the marketplace opens to search engines.
Fixed price, delivered in three phases.
All amounts in CAD, excluding GST. Each phase is priced by deliverable.
Phase 1: Foundation and build
| Deliverable | Amount |
|---|---|
| Keyword research, all 13 categories, both regions, homeowner and provider searches | $3,500 |
| Information architecture, URL map and provider profile model | $3,500 |
| Technical SEO build: server-rendered category, city and community pages, clean URLs, sitemaps, indexing rules | $9,000 |
| Structured data implementation and validation | $2,000 |
| Automated SEO checks on every release | $2,000 |
| Listing lifecycle and threshold logic | $2,000 |
| Phase 1 total | $22,000 |
Phase 2: Member Pilot launch
| Deliverable | Amount |
|---|---|
| Titles, descriptions, unique FAQs and body copy for 13 hubs and 26 region pages | $6,000 |
| Regulated trades: taxonomy, permit guides, "What AMA verifies" page, credentials on profiles | $5,000 |
| Provider join pages for 13 categories and onboarding badge | $2,500 |
| Review engine and review ratings in search results | $2,000 |
| Comparison tables, up to five, drafted for Legal review | $1,500 |
| Redirect map and ama.ab.ca linking plan | $1,000 |
| Analytics: key events, consent, cross-domain tracking, SEO dashboard | $2,500 |
| SEO acceptance testing, launch, indexing, 30-day baseline and Q1 validation report | $3,500 |
| Phase 2 total | $24,000 |
Phase 3: Scale-up
| Deliverable | Amount |
|---|---|
| Community and long-tail pages, no page cap, each gated by provider count and unique data | $7,000 |
| Cost guides, permit explainers and seasonal content | $5,000 |
| Monthly optimization from Search Console and engagement data | $3,000 |
| AI search visibility tracking and entity consistency | $2,000 |
| New market launch kit | $2,000 |
| Phase 3 total | $19,000 |
Payment schedule
Each invoice is tied to a delivered milestone, not elapsed time.
| Milestone | Amount (CAD) |
|---|---|
| Phase 1: Information architecture and URL map signed off | $11,000 |
| Phase 1: SEO pages, sitemaps and structured data pass checks on staging | $11,000 |
| Phase 2: Category, region and regulated trade content delivered | $9,600 |
| Phase 2: Acceptance testing passed and marketplace opened to search engines | $7,200 |
| Phase 2: 30-day baseline and Q1 validation report delivered | $7,200 |
| Phase 3: April batch and report delivered | $7,000 |
| Phase 3: May batch and report delivered | $6,000 |
| Phase 3: June batch and quarterly report delivered | $6,000 |
| Total | $65,000 |
What is included, and what is not.
Included
- All deliverables in section 13, designed, built and tested
- Body copy for all category, region, community, join and guide pages
- One round of revisions per content batch
- Monthly written performance updates
Not included
- Paid search and Local Services Ads management
- Keyword research for new markets before AMA approves them
- Third-party tool subscriptions, billed to AMA if required
- Legal review, provided by AMA
Assumptions
- The marketplace is open to AMA members and the general public. Public pages are readable without sign-in.
- The marketplace runs on a subdomain of ama.ab.ca.
- Phase 3 page volume depends on provider supply and AMA review capacity. Pages are published only when they meet quality thresholds.
- Pilot dates follow AMA's current plan. If a pilot date moves, the related milestone moves with it.
- Changes to scope are assessed, estimated and approved in writing before work begins, through the existing change request process.
How we get started.
Proposal review
AMA reviews this proposal and confirms scope, or sends feedback.
Kickoff
Confirm pilot dates, subdomain, approvers and the search engine opening date.
Access
Search Console, Bing Webmaster Tools and analytics access granted.
Regulated trades conversation
Product and Legal begin the permit, verification and disclosure decisions.
Phase 1 can begin this month.
Contact Darren Cody to confirm scope and schedule kickoff.
[email protected]