New York City is the most populated city in the United States. With 8.5 million permanent residents and well over 1 million daily commuters, it’s no surprise that NYC is the most competitive metro area in the United States.

So how does a business stick out in a city that’s saturated with just about every kind of business? How can you get new customers instead of your competitors?

Surprisingly, it doesn’t come down to billboards, storefronts, newspaper ads, or radio air-time.

It comes down to SEO.

Practically every other advertising medium in the world — especially in New York City — is packed to the brim with high-cost, low-yield advertising. You’re lucky to break even if you commission a television commercial in New York City.

But search engine optimization is still largely untapped, even in the 212. Thousands of businesses don’t have a presence online, and if they do, it’s not optimized to show up in Google. That means losing customers, money, and growth potential all at the same time.

With millions of Internet users in NYC, you can’t afford not to have an SEO presence.

Fortunately, there’s a solution. These 10 SEO agencies in New York City can help your business succeed.

The 10 Best SEO Agencies in New York

RankRatingSEO CompanyCompany WebsitePricingLocationFull Time Employees
1*****MimviWebsite$$$$New York City, New York26-50
2****SosemoWebsite$$$$$New York City, New York1-10
3****eBrandzWebsite$$$$$New York City, New York26-50
4***My Media PalWebsite$$$$New York City, New York1-10
5***GurusWebsite$$$$$New York City, New York1-10
6***Path InteractiveWebsite$$$$New York City, New York1-10
7***Black Bear SEOWebsite$$$$$New York City, New York1-10
8***Empire MediaWebsite$$$$$New York City, New York26-50
9**MKKH MarketingWebsite$$$$$New York City, New York26-50
10**Fuze SEOWebsite$$$$New York City, New York1-10

How Does SEO Help You Succeed in NYC?

SEO is the process of expanding and improving your website so search engines can understand it. That entails a lot of different strategies and ideas, but in a nutshell, it means spending a lot of time working on your website.

You can also utilize local SEO to reach customers in your neighborhood or borough. Local SEO means submitting your business information (name, address, phone number, hours of operation, etc.) to listing services like Google My Business, Bing Places, Yelp, Yellow Pages, and more.

Most of those services offer listings for free, so don’t feel pressure to ever pay for them. The most powerful will be Google My Business and Bing Places, but using additional services is helpful as well.

On top of that, creating listings through services like Yelp lets you keep an eye on any reviews that come through.

More and more, customer reviews are becoming a bigger part of the new customer shopping experience. Someone wants to make sure they spend their money with the right companies before buying, and online reviews are seen as the most objective form of marketing.

So when someone leaves you a positive review on Yelp, you want to know about it.

More importantly, you also want to know when someone leaves a negative review.

Your SEO company can help you respond to negative reviews and maintain your positive reputation online — you just have to ask. That’s just one part of the larger scope of SEO and how it can help you earn new customers.

So clearly, SEO can help your New York business succeed. There’s just one more question — how do you know who to choose?

How Do You Choose Your SEO Agency?

At SEO Companies Ranked, we like to think that we’ve done the hardest part already. We’ve checked out some of the most popular and well-rounded SEO agencies in NYC.

But that doesn’t mean the #1 spot will be ideal for your company.

Some of these agencies specialize in different industries. Some of them specialize in different parts of SEO. That means you still have to do a little homework to find the agency that’s right for you.

You can start by visiting each agency’s website and looking at their testimonials. Then, you can check out their online portfolio and even look at some of their clients’ websites.

You can also check Yelp, Facebook, and other review-based sites to see if any of their clients have said something about an agency. That could be a positive or negative review, but either way, you’re learning something new about that agency.

It’s worth mentioning that positive reviews are much harder to get than negative ones, too. That’s based on the old saying that if you do something right, your customer will tell 10 people. If you do something wrong, they’ll tell 100 people.

With that in mind, an SEO agency with lots of positive reviews from diverse sources is a great indication of success.

But before you make your final decision, it’s important that you directly contact your favorite agencies. Talk to them person-to-person, and get a feeling for how it would be to work with them.

If you butt heads with someone, go to your next agency. If you get along swimmingly, consider moving further with that agency.

Trust your gut in this case and weigh it against what you know about an agency already. Your ideal marketing partner might be the #10 spot — and that’s okay. It all depends on your business and what you need.

Need Help Starting?

If you want help evaluating these agencies, just contact our team!