Ranking The Best Local SEO Agencies

Last updated .

1. Directive Consulting

"We provide industry leading SEO, PPC, content marketing, and social media services. We are fiercely committed to delivering a truly exceptional service that delivers ROI."

2. Bruce Clay, Inc.

"Take advantage of our PPC knowledge, SEO product expertise, and access to our proprietary tools and Google technology to create high-performing campaigns."

3. BFO (Be Found Online)

" We focus on continually evolving with the ever-changing landscape of digital marketing. That is the heart of the Be FoundTM service."

Choosing A Local SEO Agency

Our rankings are based on third party data, client reviews, and first-hand experience. We’re confident that this is the most comprehensive and objective list of local SEO firms on the web.

That being said, choosing a partner agency is never easy. Here’s a video to help: It was made by Google, so you know it’s a truly impartial treatise on how to go about hiring qualified and effective SEO help for your business.

Our rankings are meant to serve as a jumping-off point for your search. We’ve done much of the legwork involved in vetting these agencies from a fundamentals point of view, but you need to make sure the agency you choose is also a good fit for your business on a personal level as well.

Our Top 50 Firms - Full Comparison Table

All About Local SEO

SEO or search engine optimization is the process of strategic additions to your website in order to rank for organic search queries through the results that a search engine provides. A commonly asked question tends to be: “what is the difference between SEO and Local SEO?” Local SEO offers a specialized plan and strategy for a local business based upon the geographical results that Google and other search engines provide users who searched with local intent.

Local intent could be considered a direct query, like “pizza shops in Harrisburg” but Google is also smart enough to understand that if someone just searches for “pizza shops” they are probably not looking to drive across the country for a slice, so Google will show local results close to that user. In order to get your local business higher in the search results, you must create consistent and correct online citations. A citation is the mention of your business name, address, and phone number online. If you have consistent citations, your local presence will grow. Local SEO may be the perfect marketing campaign to pair with your current SEO plan.

Important Questions to Ask Local SEO Agencies

When looking for a local SEO agency, finding a company that knows what they are doing and have experience in local SEO is important. Here are some questions that you can ask to ensure you’re making an informed decision.

Could you provide examples of successful campaigns? Unsuccessful campaigns?

Every local SEO company is going to have success stories and not so successful stories. Listening to each example can provide insights into exactly what that company can do for you. Everyone makes mistakes, but owning up to those mistakes and providing examples of exactly how those mistakes were fixed or what they learned from the mistake speaks wonders for how they can adapt to your needs.

Have you worked with companies in our area before? In our Industry?

Is the local SEO agency comfortable in your location? It is not a game changer if they are not, just be sure to ask what their plan is in order to get comfortable and see success in your specific location. Similar to that, do they have clients in your specific industry? Even if your industry is niche, hearing the experience they’ve had in B2B or B2C can give good indications.

How will you adapt your strategy to our specific needs?

How is this company going to plan your strategy so you see the best return? Although you may prefer to not work with the agency that is working with your competitor, or maybe you’re seeking that SEO agency directly, what are they going to do differently for your business?

How do you define success for a local campaign?

Keep your goals for the campaign realistic. Once you have a general idea of what you want from this partnership, ask your potential agencies how they plan on measuring your campaign. Making sure your goals are in line and building the strategy to reach those goals together will help avoid any miss communication and disappointment moving forward. The SEO company should give you a good idea of what they can usually expect out of a local campaign and how your goals should change and adapt based on the strategy you have come up with.

How do you tackle mobile search?

Mobile search is hotter than ever and with the growing number of searches coming from mobile devices (most of which are local searches) it is pertinent to know how a potential local SEO agency will deal with the optimization for mobile search.

Is local SEO the only service you provide?

Finding a company that does more than just local SEO could be beneficial in future marketing projects. Having one company that does all of your online marketing will avoid extra confusion and provide a better relationship. After ensuring that they do have plenty of local experience, test the waters and see what other digital marketing services they experience in.

How Much Does Local SEO Cost?

Like any digital marketing campaign, the cost of Local SEO is going to be specific to your business and your needs. Things to take into consideration when deliberating costs:

  • Number of locations
  • Current local presence
  • Target growth & amount of time for growth

If you have multiple locations, your cost is going to be higher than a business that only has one location. With local SEO, consistency in your local information or NAP (name, address, phone number) is of number one concern. If your information is not consistent, Google will not know if they are giving users the correct information and in turn, not show your listing at all due to the confusion. With more locations, the local SEO company has more to keep consistent which means more time and money. A local SEO plan costs around $450/month on average depending on your circumstances.

For best results, local SEO should be paired with an SEO plan. This will make the monthly cost more expensive. But local SEO citations will not grow your organic search results in non-local situations. So adding an SEO plan will allow you to grow your search results in multiple ways.

Paying a bit extra for local SEO will benefit you in multiple ways:

  • Brand awareness locally
  • Growing on platforms like Google My Business, Apple Maps, Bing Local, and Facebook
  • First page above organic results

How Long Does It Take To See Results?

Local SEO could take some time to see results. With consistent effort, a local campaign could take anywhere from 4-6 months to see the results you are looking for.

In the first month, your SEO company should begin research and strategic planning. Depending on the size of the project, this research and discovery phase could last anywhere from 2 weeks to 6 weeks. After this phase is complete and all of the necessary information is collected, local citation edits begin. The internet marketer and local SEO guru will fix as many local citations as possible so the name, address, and phone number are correct on as many platforms that allow.

From there, the SEO should have already put together a plan or strategy for growing into new listings. Sorting the efforts into which ones will be most beneficial to do first. This will be an ongoing process of updating and adding to directories and listings with the appropriate business information.

Depending on your local SEO plan, you may receive review management services. For a local business this will be beneficial in getting reviews to these local citations like Google My Business and Facebook.

On-page local SEO would also be beneficial and the longest in the local process. Similar to SEO, when on-page edits are made, like title tags and meta descriptions, or location based keywords are added to the copy, Google takes time to determine if they want to show this in their results. This is a big factor in why the local SEO process can take upwards of 6 months to see real results. Like any SEO campaign it is a game of consistent effort and waiting for the changes to take effect.

Picking the perfect SEO Company For Local SEO Work

When picking the best local SEO company for you and your business, plan accordingly and be prepared to ask questions. Every SEO company can offer something different and making sure you have your goal in mind will allow you to know exactly what you are looking for in your SEO partner. Local SEO differs from SEO and while it could good for your business on its own, it would be great with the right SEO plan partnered with it. When speaking to potential local SEO companies, discuss the strategy they are going to take for your specific campaign and some of the successes they have had with previous or current clients.

Keep an open mind. If you would like fast results, SEO is not going to achieve that. However you will see the best return on your investment with this service. It will expand your current profit and drive traffic to the site. Over time, you will receive the results you are looking for.