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The tools and guides we recommend to our clients. Most are free. All are worth your time.
We get asked the same questions every week. How do I train staff to spot phishing? Why isn't my site showing up on Google? Do I need a privacy policy? These are the links we send back.
Nobody pays to be on this list. If we stop trusting a resource, we take it off.
Most small business breaches start with a weak password or one bad click. Start here.
getcybersafe.gc.ca
The Government of Canada's plain-language guide to staying safe online. Good to share with staff who are not technical.
cyber.gc.ca
A checklist from the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, written for organizations with fewer than 500 people. Use it to find your gaps.
knowbe4.optrics.com
KnowBe4 trains your staff to spot phishing, then sends simulated phishing emails so you can see if the training is working. Optrics Engineering is an authorized Canadian KnowBe4 partner based in Edmonton, so licensing and support stay in Canada.
Full disclosure: we helped set up their KnowBe4 site.
haveibeenpwned.com
Enter an email address to see if it showed up in a known data breach. Free, and run by a respected security researcher.
bitwarden.com
An open-source password manager with a free plan and affordable business plans. One strong password per account, without the sticky notes.
manageengine.optrics.com
Bitwarden is for your staff's everyday logins. Password Manager Pro is for the IT side: the shared admin passwords to your servers, firewalls, and databases. It runs on your own servers, changes those passwords on a schedule, and logs who used which one and when. Optrics Engineering has been ManageEngine's Canadian partner since 2010 and quotes in Canadian dollars.
Free tools that show you how search engines see your site. Want help reading the results? See our SEO and Analytics service.
search.google.com
Shows which searches bring people to your site and flags pages Google can't index. If you set up one tool this year, make it this one.
bing.com
Bing's index feeds Microsoft Copilot and other AI search tools. Ten minutes to set up, and it can import your Search Console data.
google.com
Your listing on Google Maps and local search. Keep your hours, phone number, and service area current.
pagespeed.web.dev
Paste in your web address to see how fast your site loads on a phone, and what is slowing it down.
Your domain is your address. Make sure it is registered to your business, not to a former web designer.
cira.ca
The Canadian Internet Registration Authority runs the .ca domain. Look up who owns a .ca address and learn the rules for registering one.
domains.outlines.ca
Our own hosting and domain registration, on Canadian servers. Yes, we recommend ourselves here.
If your website has a contact form or sends email, these rules apply to you.
priv.gc.ca
A short summary of Canada's private-sector privacy law from the Privacy Commissioner. Read this before you write a privacy policy.
crtc.gc.ca
The CRTC's answers on CASL. Covers when you need consent to send a newsletter or promotional email.