Best Local SEO Marketing Companies

The best local SEO company is Jives Media, with an average customer review score of 5/5, our research found. We were also impressed by Townsquare Interactive, which specializes in engaging local audiences.

We evaluated the best search engine optimization (SEO) agencies that get small, medium and large businesses better visibility on local search results, web directories, and map tools.

When choosing an agency to outsource your local SEO work to, you should look for:

• A roster of happy clients
• Proven expertise in local SEO
• Whether the agency usually works with businesses like yours

The above criteria are exactly how we’ve come up with this ranked list of local SEO agencies. We’ve been advising businesses on how to grow for over 10 years, so we know what separates a strong SEO marketing agency from a weak one.

To make it easier for you to find the right SEO agency for your business, we’ve made a custom tool to request quotes based on your specific needs. Simply let us know what sort of SEO you’re looking for and we’ll ask our partners to get in touch with you right away.

Here are our top recommendations for local SEO agencies:

1. Jives Media (5/5) – Best for brand transformation
2. SmartSites (4.9/5) – Best for rapid ROI
3. Ignite Visibility (4.8/5) – Best for comprehensive SEO strategy
4. SocialSEO (4.6/5) – Best for local expertise
5. On The Map (4.3/5) – Best for lead tracking
6. Townsquare Interactive (3.5/5) – Best for beating the competition

Quick Roundup – Best Local SEO Agencies

With Google constantly updating its search engine algorithms (the rules it uses to rank business listings in search results), you need an industry insider to help you stay ahead. In the following reviews, we’ve made reference to a number of customer reviews left on various online platforms. We’ve tried to summarize the most important parts, to save you the hassle of reading through every single one yourself.

Here’s a comparison of the top local SEO marketing services providers:

We compared the highest-rated SEO service providers across five trusted review platforms, and aggregated the results for you. When selecting the best SEO agencies, we look out for:

• High customer satisfaction
• How communicative they were during contracts
• Ability to deliver on deadlines
• Breadth of local SEO services
• Other marketing support

Now, let’s get into the details for each of the top performers.

1. Jives Media – Best for Brand Transformation 5/5

The team will manage your off-page SEO, including reputation management, link-building, and optimizing your Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) so your business will be found by web users looking for services locally. In online reviews, clients that enjoyed success in their local SEO with Jives Media praised the team’s attention to detail plus their speed of delivery, and said they were easy to work with.

As well as SEO, Jives Media offers a range of digital marketing services, including web design and video production. Although it’s hard to say whether video content on your website would really boost search engine rankings, it definitely gives a great impression to web visitors.

The agency is particularly experienced in marketing real estate, travel, and hospitality brands. Frankly, their portfolio in these areas is eye-catching, showing a flair for design, and all-around branding.

For these reasons we’d recommend Jives Media to businesses with a bigger marketing budget, as they’re capable of handling larger projects. If you’re a microbusiness without the spending power of a big-budget brand, then it’s best to steer clear of this agency.

Pricing on request.

2. SmartSites – Best for Rapid ROI 4.9/5

Overall, SmartSites’ customer reviews average 4.9/5, just squeezing into second place behind Jives Media.

A recent happy customer said in an online review that their leads increased by 40% after SmartSites worked on their Google business profile, and linked their business to Yelp and TripAdvisor. That’s a particularly handy service for entrepreneurs that need technical assistance with listing their business on online directories.

Former clients describe how SmartSites’ staff were careful to listen to their precise goals and business needs. For those trying to drum up more business in the local area, agency staff diligently designed a custom local SEO strategy to suit the specific aims of each one.

The size of the agency means it is capable of scaling up its workload as needed. Yet the agency’s larger size can be a drawback; one client said they would have felt more committed if they’d met more of the team. Yet their friendly, approachable demeanor makes them suitable for smaller companies as well. For this reason, we recommend SmartSites for SMEs.

Unfortunately, not everyone was delighted with the cost of services; their average hourly rate is between $100 and $149 per hour. One former client said in an online review in December 2021 that SmartSites’ SEO services were “overpriced”. However, most others rated the agency 4/5 or better on value for money. Overall, we’d say companies with a larger budget may benefit most from engaging with SmartSites.

Pricing on request.

3. Ignite Visibility – Best for Comprehensive SEO Strategy 4.8/5

We rate Ignite Visibility for its depth of experience in digital marketing and SEO strategy. Thanks to its efforts, clients saw boosted revenue from new customer engagement.

On top of local SEO work, the agency can carry out technical fixes; keyword research; content strategy; and linkbuilding, to improve customer generation for your business. It’s trusted by major corporations, including Office Depot, Morgan Stanley, and DoorDash. That’s a great hallmark of credibility – as well as the fact that at least one client remained with them for seven years.

On the downside, one former client said the agency struggled to secure backlinks, which is one reason they parted ways.

The agency is said to respond positively to client feedback, which bodes well for an easy and collaborative relationship. Customers recommend proactively making changes suggested by Ignite Visibility, as they’re not an entirely do-it-for-you type outfit.

SEO from Ignite Visibility often goes hand-in-hand with wider digital marketing transformation, but there’s no need to hire unwanted additional services. You should expect to spend in the tens of thousands of dollars. Happily, it does offer short-term contracts, saving you the anxiety of long-term commitment.

Pricing on request.

4. SocialSEO – Best for Local Expertise 4.6/5

SocialSEO has offices in: Austin, Colorado Springs, Dallas, Denver, Phoenix, and San Diego. We recommend going for SocialSEO over Ignite Visibility or SmartSites if your business is in any of those regions, as it’s convenient to be able to meet the team in person.

Another strength of SocialSEO is its content development. Not all SEO agencies will create business assets for you in-house, but SocialSEO creates custom media, such as whitepapers, case studies, newsletters, and infographics. They’ll do this as part of their white hat SEO backlinking strategy, improving the chances of getting your business credentials name-dropped by authoritative entities.

On the negative side, a customer in a lower price bracket felt disappointed at the quality of keyword research done. They said the agency overlooked duplicate content on the client’s website, which should have been simple to find. However, the majority of other customer reviews expressed satisfaction with service delivery.

Pricing on request.

5. On The Map – Best for Lead Tracking 4.3/5

Its clientele mainly consists of dentists, plastic surgeons, realtors, home services and law firms looking for legal SEO services. Like the other SEO agencies we’ve reviewed, On The Map will carry out optimizations of your online business listings, run backlink campaigns, and carry out keyword research. Yet, if your business is in any of its speciality sectors, you’d be wise to choose On The Map over SocialSEO because of their greater expertise.

Clients noted the prompt and professional communication of On The Map, which made for a reassuring experience. Others noted the agency kept to agreed costs, and met deadlines.

We found a couple of spelling errors on their website (ironically, on the local SEO services page), so you’d best double-check work produced if you end up hiring them. A minority of customer reviews were less than favorable about the quality of On The Map’s content production, which explains why they’re not as high up on our list as Jives Media or SocialSEO.

TrackRight platform is $99 per month. Other SEO services pricing on request.

6. Townsquare Interactive – Best for Beating the Competition 3.5/5

Townsquare told us its ideal client is a small business owner, such as a tradesperson working in home services. Entrepreneurs making over $5,000 per month, such as dentists, lawyers, manual workers, and designers stand to succeed with Townsquare.

For client convenience, it also offers short-term contracts, like Ignite Visibility. However, unlike Ignite Visibility, Townsquare takes full ownership of your local SEO marketing. This means you can cross it off your to-do list because the work is entirely outsourced.

A bonus is the option of investing in Townsquare’s CRM app for invoicing, scheduling appointments, and email marketing. If you’re having trouble staying on top of customer management as your business grows, then this could be a viable solution to those woes.

Despite its strong performance in some customer reviews, Townsquare was unpopular with Yelp reviewers, averaging just 1.5/5 on that platform. Unhappy customers mention they lost control of the business website built by Townsquare Interactive once they stopped paying. Several cite difficulty in contacting account managers to correct misunderstandings.

Pricing on request.

How Important is Local SEO?

Every week, new studies are coming out to show that customers are using search engines to find trustworthy local business information. For example, 70% of consumers research on Google when they’re thinking of buying something. If you’re not getting the basics of local SEO right, you’re just not going to show up on screens when customers are ready to buy.

It’s therefore crucial to get your local business profiles set up correctly on Google, Bing, Yelp, TrustPilot, and specialist directories per your industry. Now, your online profiles must not only contain accurate details of your store locations, opening hours and services, but you’ll also want to ensure you’ve got positive customer reviews, too.

An incredible 79% of Americans trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations from friends and family. And after reading a positive review, almost a third (31%) will click onto that business’ website, according to BrightLocal.

Thoughtfully responding to feedback is a core tenet of local SEO. After all, it’s all about your reputation. Unanswered negative testimonials can harm your credibility for months and even years – so you’re best off answering quickly and politely each time.