This article is not a part of a parasitic SEO strategy where we are targeting the brand names of competitors. We are also not selling sponsorships or placements on this list. As an example of what I am talking about, if you click on the first search result for “Best SEO Agencies in Philadelphia“, 40% of the agencies listed are not located within 100 miles of Philadelphia (screenshot below) and all of the agencies listed at the top of that list are paying to appear there.
We are writing this article because most search results listing the ‘best’ agencies in Philadelphia are either biased, monetized, or incorrect. We want to help guide local SMBs toward the Philadelphia-area agencies that we know do good work.
Why Are We Able to Write an ‘Un-Biased’ List of the Best SEO Agencies in Philadelphia?
The short answer is because we do not market ourselves to local SMBs. Our agency works with law firms (90% of which are outside of greater-Philadelphia), so we’ve never really had to promote ourselves to local companies outside of the legal industry or try to rank our company for generalized search terms such as “SEO agency in Philadelphia”. In a way, this puts us on the sideline of the battle between local agencies that compete for Philadelphia-area SMB clients. Even so, we are locals who hire local team members, attend tech events, stay informed about reputable companies, and observe marketing efforts firsthand.
We also regularly receive calls from local companies outside of the legal industry looking to hire an SEO agency. We always try to help these callers by listening to their situation, budget, needs, and then trying to refer them to the right agency. Sometimes, we also hear horror stories about local agencies. This puts us in a unique position to stay informed about which agencies in Philadelphia perform well, while remaining neutral.
How We Are Evaluating the Agencies On this List
Because we are local, we know some of the professionals at the agencies listed below, know clients that have worked with them, have shared employees with them, and are able to see their client work in the real world. We have local knowledge that the agencies listed below do good work and we would be happy to recommend them to any SMB that calls us (and often do.)
Here is our list of the best SEO agencies in Philadelphia:
Seer Interactive
Seer is not just a Philadelphia SEO agency. Seer has always been known as one of the largest players in the national SEO-scene. Will Reynolds was speaking about a focus on search intent and meeting customers where they are researching years before Google came around to building that into its SERPs. I can vouch for Seer because I personally trained a few of their now senior folks and a few of their ex-employees have joined our agency as well. Everyone that has come over to us from Seer has been talented.
Phone: (215) 967-4461
Greenlane
Greenlane’s Founder, Bill Sebald, is a local legend in the SEO-game. Greenlane is a local SEO agency that has been around for a long time – close to 30 years – which is seriously impressive in this industry. Bill has authored dozens of articles in the highest-authority SEO-industry and has personally mentored many local folks in the SEO industry. In short, Bill knows his stuff.
Phone: (302) 319-2701
Momentum Digital
Momentum Digital is a cutting-edge local marketing agency founded by an ex-Googler named Mac Frederick. Treated as a start-up, Momentum is a Top-Rated Google Partner Agency specializing in all things search and beyond. Known for helping small businesses, their team is comprised of talented digital marketing experts with a reputation for success. They also provide Web Design, Social Media, Lead Generation and Content Marketing. Across both divisions of marketing and media, Momentum has garnered 500+ positive reviews and has won some awards such as 2nd Place in the Philly100 and #651 in the Inc 5000.
Mac is one of the hardest workers that I have seen in the Philadelphia SEO world. I once personally walked by him operating a video setup for a local brick-and-mortar business at 8 AM in the morning before they opened. That is a dedicated marketing partner!
Phone: (215) 876-2954
Franklin Digital
I know Luke Marchie personally and can vouch for his depth of SEO knowledge. He is one of the most skilled onsite-SEO minds in Philadelphia. Hire his Philadelphia SEO agency, Franklin Digital.
Phone: (215) 821-6436
Sagefrog
Sagefrog has also been around for a long time. Since 2002, Sagefrog claims to have served more than 600 clients. They have long been known locally as producing results for clients in industries such as healthcare, manufacturing and B2B.
Phone: (215) 631-3458
The 215 Guys
The 215 Guys have long been known as a local design and branding powerhouse. They also produce fast, clean, SEO-friendly websites. They have helped some big names in Philadelphia with SEO-friendly web design and strategy.
Phone: (215) 315-5529
Brolik
Brolik is another agency that has been around for a while. They have dozens of positive reviews and work with companies that provide local services such as medical, construction, home services, etc.
Phone: (267) 774-2557
Majux
*For law firms. Now obviously, this one is biased, but we would be remiss to not include ourselves on this list specific to the legal industry. The simple fact is that, specific to agencies that serve the legal industry, there is no agency located in or near Philadelphia that has as long of a track record of results or works with more law firms in an ongoing sense than we do. As we mentioned above, the vast majority of our clients are located far outside of Philadelphia, but we are located here, so we are on this list.
If you are a law firm, give us a call, we can help increase revenue through digital channels.
Phone: (215) 309-1631
How You Can Evaluate if an SEO Agency is Good at What They Do
There are a few recommendations that I can provide to help you evaluate whether an agency can actually provide a good work product for your company:
1. Look at Their GBP Reviews
Do the reviews pass the real vs. fake sniff test? Do some of the reviewers share the same last name as the owners of the company? Does the total number of reviews seem unrealistic? Many of the less scrupulous agencies are also the agencies that produce large numbers of fake reviews for their clients, which could expose those clients to suspensions and perhaps even prosecution.
2. Take the Second Step to Google the Companies that Have Left Them Testimonials
If they do have real testimonials, check to see how those companies are doing. Are those companies still working with the agency? Is that company still in business? If that company is no longer working with the agency, or even worse, has gone out of business, that is not a good sign that their efforts had any kind of positive impact.
3. Are they Lying?
Do they list fake office addresses on their website? Do they lie about how many employees that they have? They the list contractors or interns as full-time employees? Are they puffing up how much revenue they are doing each year in order to seem larger than they are? All of these would be reasons to question the integrity of any company.
Pro Tip: You can check to see how many employees a company listed as of when PPP loans when out here. If they only listed having four employees four years ago and are claiming having 40 employees now, there is a possibility that they are lying about their size.
4. Ask a Neutral Third-Party
If you call an agency on this list and you are unable to work together, ask them if they have insight into any of the other agencies that you are thinking about calling. They may give you some insight.
5. Ask ChatGPT
Typically ChatGPT’s first response will provide neutral information about a company that is directly lifted from the company’s own website. The interesting insight comes in the follow up question where you can ask, “Can you give me any negative information available for XYZ company?” That is where you will find any negative reviews or occurrences, if they exist.
6. Ask These Questions
When you do contact an agency, ask them these questions:
- Ask if they outsource any of their work
- Ask if they “pass-through” their client’s advertising spends (many agencies puff up their overall revenue this way)
- Ask if you will own your web assets and properties
- Ask for instances where they have been successful for clients in similar industries
- Ask how they specifically achieved those results
If they answer any of these questions incorrectly or cannot explain their process in a way that you understand, you should move on to calling the next agency.
I should say that just because a company is not listed here, that does not necessarily guarantee that they do not produce good results. It might be that we are not aware of them or they are located far away from Philadelphia and we cannot vouch for their work. Many companies ranking for ‘Philadelphia SEO Agency’ don’t actually have offices in Philadelphia. Some even list fake addresses to fraudulently attract local clients. Something like that would preclude me from including that company from this list. It might also be that we know they don’t produce good results. Bottom line – you’re better off calling someone from this list.
