About This Column
This monthly column on Online Business Canada is intended to inspire action. You know digital transformation is critical to growing your business, but there are so many moving parts and so much to learn! It’s easier to navigate if someone points you in the right direction so you can take the first steps. You don’t have to master anything right now, you only need to move forward and learn as you go.
If one growth tip doesn’t work for your business, pick another one and try that. If you do that over the course of a year, you may be surprised at how much your business has grown and how clear your path is to further growth. A custom strategy will naturally emerge from your efforts, all from trying something new every month.
Content for this column will vary from month to month. We’ll cover what’s trending, motivation, tools, diversification, funding, actionable Canadian data, expert quotes, and how & where to grow your business online over the following month. New posts will be announced in our newsletter, so sign up to ensure you don’t miss a single month of growth.
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Grow Your Canadian Small Business Online in April
Spring kickstarts the growing season in Canada and there’s no better time to position your business for growth. These bite-size tips reveal fast ways to grow your Canadian small business online this month.
TIP 1: Easter Content Marketing
Easter content topics can revolve around the most popular activities and purchases for the holiday, along with seasonal slants.
- Easter dinner & baked goods
- Weekend travel
- Easter parties/events for both adults and children
- Easter/Spring décor
- Easter gifts for kids and hosts
- Spring season
- Renewal
- Family & tradition
- Saving money on related products or activities
If you’re comfortable with it, any holiday is a great time to get a little personal. Share your own Easter memories, traditions, favourite family recipes, or a story of personal renewal.
Learn more in Easter Email Marketing Tips & Ideas.
TIP 2: Grow with a Search Indexing Audit
“Indexing is a multi-step process,” writes Tanatswa Chingwe. “Google doesn’t blindly surface pages—it discovers, evaluates, and decides which pages deserve a place in its index.”
Her article on Search Engine Land describes the steps involved as:
- Discovery: The “Finding” Stage
- Rendering: The “Reading” Stage
- Canonicalization
- Indexing
In order to identify and fix indexing issues, we have to conduct a search audit. Not only today, but on a regular, ongoing basis.
There are many tools to help you identify and diagnose search engine crawlability and indexing issues, such as:
TIP 3: Create Content That Shows Up in AI Results
Everyone is still feeling their way through AEO. Just when we think we’ve identified a solid strategy, it changes. All we can do at this point is keep testing and remain agile. I caution you against trying the latest AI “tricks” to influence inclusion or search rank. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but eventually these black or grey tactics will come back to bite you in the form of manipulation penalties.
When it comes to content, the safest bet is what it has always been: original, focused, and high quality.
Additionally, it’s critical to keep an eye on the people who are digging deep into AI and testing content. Using their research can save you time, inspire ideas, and help guide your next spending decision rather than flying blind.
Following are a few recent AI content optimization articles to get you started:
How to Make Your Content Stand Out in the Age of AI
The 7 Content Marketing Trends Shaping 2026 [Data-Based]
How to Optimize Your Owned Content for AI Search
TIP 4: Revisit Your Digital Transformation Plan
All things digital evolve rapidly and we must evolve with them. New technologies present new opportunities that can support (or even cause) a pivot. Our requirements can change with our priorities as well. A recent example of this has been the quest for data sovereignty in Canada and other countries, leading to changes in where websites are hosted, cloud storage, digital tools, and more.
In Canada, I’ve watched many small businesses switch to Canadian website hosts (such as HostPapa) and email platforms (such as Cakemail), while also updating their marketing and customer relationship management to reflect their Canadian preferences.
Your digital transformation plan will never be done. It will change and evolve as the business tech world does or it won’t support your growth. It isn’t a map, it’s a guide, leaving it subject to change.
TIP 5: April Content
Grow your traffic, grow your business! Timely content can differentiate your business while generating traffic that converts.
Note: We post a list of holidays & observances (monthly, weekly and daily) for marketers in the Online Business Canada Facebook group, and our Online Business Canada EhNow group. There’s a lot of them! You’re bound to find some that are a perfect fit for you business.
Here are just a few April holidays & observances with promotion potential:
Decorating Month
Pet First Aid Awareness Month
Financial Literacy/Capability Month
Global Child Nutrition Month
Garden Month
Foot Health Awareness Month
Stress Awareness Month
International Customer Loyalty Month
International Guitar Month
April content themes and slants can include Spring, cleaning, renewal, earth, flowers, wind, and rain. Earth Day (April 22nd) is an opportunity to share everything eco-friendly about your company, which is very important to many Canadian consumers. Easter Sunday is on April 5th.
TIP 6: Business Books Worth Reading
Here we share quick quotes from business books we’re reading to help your knowledge grow with your business, and your business grow with your knowledge.
“[SaaS] Product-Led Growth (PLG) is a business strategy where the product itself is the primary driver of customer acquisition, conversion, and expansion. In contrast to traditional models that rely heavily on sales and marketing to fuel growth, PLG puts the product at the center of the customer experience. It focuses on providing value through the product from the very first interaction, allowing users to experience its core functionality before making a purchase decision. In a PLG model, the product effectively acts as the key marketing and sales tool, delivering enough value to turn users into paying customers and driving sustainable growth.
The PLG approach has gained significant traction in the SaaS industry because it capitalizes on the shift toward self service, trial-based customer journeys, where users want to experience value before committing to a subscription or paid plan. Companies like Slack, Zoom, and Dropbox have successfully employed PLG strategies, achieving rapid growth by letting their product’s utility speak for itself.”
~ The SaaS Marketing Playbook: A Step-By-Step Guide to Scaling Success, by Zack Hanebrink
Incremental Change
Changes spread out over the year will combine into powerful results. When growth based on technology overwhelms us, we can make small changes to continue growing and develop further as we feel our way through it.
How will you grow your online business in April? Please share your ideas or questions in the comments below, or join us in the Online Business Canada Facebook group.
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Last Updated on March 31, 2026 by Melody McKinnon, Online Business & Marketing Manager
