From zero to 40,000+ monthly visits

Proving there was a gap before scaling

Before investing in content, I tested whether residents, newcomers and families actually struggled to plan things to do, and whether local businesses wanted a new way to reach them.

• Interviewed residents, parents and newcomers about how they find activities today and where that breaks down.
• Mapped existing local event listings, tourism sites, ticketing platforms and local media to find what none of them covered well.
• Used keyword research to size the demand for evergreen topics such as kids’ birthday parties, swimming pools, U-pick farms and cooking schools.

The finding that shaped everything: people plan around a specific need (a rainy day, a birthday, a first month in a new city), and search for it in plain words. That became the content strategy.

One platform, two audiences

The strategy had to serve people looking for things to do and the businesses that want to be found by them. Each audience fed the other.

• Residents, newcomers and families: free, trustworthy guides that answer a question completely, in the language they are most comfortable reading.
• Local businesses: featured placement and sponsored content in front of an audience already planning to spend locally.

Content earned the traffic, traffic earned the credibility, and credibility made the partner conversation easy.

A content engine built for search

• Evergreen guides targeting high-intent searches, supported by monthly “What to Do in Metro Vancouver” roundups and weekly weekend picks.
• A single article template (heading hierarchy, mobile-friendly tables, internal links, embedded maps) so every writer produces consistent, publish-ready work.
• A structured events database that imports into WordPress with mood, age and location taxonomies, so events are filterable and findable.
• A newcomers guide published in English, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese, the highest-value single piece because it serves an audience most local guides ignore.
• AI used for drafting support, translation checks and data wrangling, with a human editor accountable for every published page.

Building and running the team

I built a multidisciplinary team across content, design and development and made it easy to do good work without me in the room.

• Recruited and onboarded contributors with a written style guide, article template and review checklist.
• Set shared digital and content standards: tone, structure, image sourcing and licensing, and accessibility.
• Ran a content calendar tied to search demand and seasonal moments such as FIFA World Cup 2026, Canada Day and Pride.
• Managed vendors, budgets and delivery timelines.

Turning an audience into revenue

I designed a paid partner program with multiple tiers, then sold it myself so I understood every objection.

• Build a prospect list from local businesses we already covered
• Open with proof: “we already featured you”
• Email sequences, compliant with CASL
• In-person visits and meetings
• 15+ paying partners

I also tested paid acquisition (Reddit Ads to a high-intent guide) and display ads as supplemental revenue, and kept what paid back.

BizBridge: meeting the community in person

Search brings people to the site. Events build trust. I hosted BizBridge, a business networking series, plus community nights at the Marpole Community Hub, to bring local owners, partners and residents into the same room.

• Planned, promoted and hosted each event, from venue to follow-up.
• Used events to meet partners face to face and move conversations toward a yes.
• Represented the platform with municipal partners and community stakeholders.

Tools

• Miro
• Figma
• Hotjar
• SurveyMonkey
• Jira
• Notion
• Google Tag Manager
• Google Analytics
• Search Console
• Ahrefs
• Similarweb
• Hubspot
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• Brevo
• MailerLite
• Mailchimp
• Google Ads
• Facebook Ads
• Instagram Ads
• Reddit Ads
• Display Ads
• DaVinci Resolve
• AI agents

What I would do differently