The Top SEO Agencies for Franchises

Last updated: May 9, 2024

Franchises have unique marketing needs compared to those of other businesses. To help both franchisors and franchisees address these needs, our team has compiled a list of the top SEO agencies for franchises, and ranked them based on the following 6 factors:

• Notable Clients: An agency’s historical work with high-profile franchises is a strong indicator of their ability to create and execute on successful SEO strategies.
• Leadership Experience Score: We rated each agency’s leadership and top marketing talent’s experience in content marketing specifically for franchises, and assigned them a score from 1-5.
• Company Size: SEO agencies achieve growth by creating successful long-term strategies that satisfy the needs of their clients, making size an indicator of a baseline level of quality.
• Years in Business: As with company size, the tenure of an SEO marketing agency gives insight into their experience meeting the needs of a wide variety of clients, as well as their ability to adapt their approach to changing economic conditions.

• Headquarters: While location is a fairly minor factor in our ranking, agencies based in major cities often have a deeper pool of talent to draw from.
• Approach to Content Marketing: We favor SEO agencies that place an emphasis on content quality and long-term ROI, and can tailor that strategy in ways that specifically benefit franchises while still working with their more limited budgets.

Our findings are presented in the table below:

The Top SEO Agencies for Franchises in 2024

Rank	Company	Notable Clients	Leadership Experience Score	Company Size	Years in Business	Headquarters	Approach to Content Marketing
1	First Page Sage	Homevestors, Security 101, Verizon	4.8	100-250	14	San Francisco, CA	Using product/services based thought leadership with SEO for high-ROI lead generation.
2	Focus Digital	GoHealth Urgent Care, Dosa Indian Restaurants, Click Away Mobile	4.3	1-10	6	Greensboro, NC	SEO, content marketing, and lead generation for small businesses
3	Bigleap	AVIS, Visionworks, Nu Skin	4.6	11-50	15	Lehi, UT	Combining high-budget paid advertising with SEO
4	Hot Dish Advertising	QDoba Mexican Eats, Black Bear Diner, Goodwill	4.6	11-50	24	Minneapolis, MN	Ground-up marketing and brand strategy and geotargeted SEO
5	SOCi	Ford, Anytime Fitness, Sport Clips	4.5	501-1000	11	San Diego, CA	Multi-location brand marketing platform
6	Top Fire Media	Shawarma Press, Plaza Pizza	4.2	11-50	10	Chicago, IL	Affordable SEO for franchises
7	Consumer Fusion	The Drip Bar, A1 Garage Door Service, Tint World	4.0	11-50	10	Solana Beach, CA	Review Management, Social Media Marketing
8	C Social	Jack in the Box, Massage envy, State Farm	4.0	51-100	24	Auburn, NH	Social media marketing & SEO for franchises
9	LocaliQ	Rock’n-It Quality Masonry Work, Kitsap Garage Door Co, Pala Brothers Furniture	3.5	500+	19	McLean, VA	Full-service marketing and advertising for local businesses

First Page Sage

First Page Sage is the largest SEO firm in the nation, and they have worked with national enterprise clients such as Homevestors and Security 101. First Page Sage’s approach focuses on creating thought leadership SEO content that attracts qualified leads. They combine this with a geotargeted content strategy that can fit the needs of both franchisees and franchisors.

For franchises looking for the highest possible ROI, with the understanding that content marketing alone takes time to reap full results, First Page Sage boasts the most consistent and comprehensive track record.

• Location: San Francisco, CA
• Year Founded: 2009
• Price Range: $$$
• Additional Services: SEO, Strategy Consulting, Conversion Optimization, Geotargeted Content Creation

Summary of Online Reviews

First Page Sage is “head and shoulders above other SEO firms for its content,” constantly striving for excellence in its “blend of thought leadership and SEO” with a “heavy focus on ROI”; however, clients who want a quick marketing solution “will have to wait” as their attention to detail takes time.

Focus Digital

Focus Digital is a boutique firm that has excellent SEO chops but offers affordable prices due to their smaller headcount. Their strategy focuses on writing targeted content for high-intent keywords, measuring their results in qualified leads as opposed to leading indicators like traffic or rankings. They are a great choice for small businesses looking for high-end SEO services at a reasonable rate.

• Location: Greensboro, NC
• Year Founded: 6
• Price Range: $$
• Additional Services: Google PPC, Conversion Optimization, Email Marketing

Summary of Online Reviews

Focus Digital “meticulously focuses” on each client and is “in a constant state of innovation” on the newest SEO strategies and best practices.

Big Leap

Big Leap typically provides marketing campaigns that involve several channels, offering high-level service for franchises with larger budgets. Their specialty is combining SEO with a significant investment in paid advertising, generating faster results at the cost of potential long-term ROI. As a result of this mixed focus, they are generally a good fit for larger franchises who need rapid lead generation.

• Location: Lehi, UT
• Year Founded: 2008
• Price Range: $$$
• Additional Services: Paid Ads, Reputation Management, CRO Marketing

Summary of Online Reviews

Big Leap “can provide all the SEO services” a company could need, and pairs them with “site audits and speed [improvements].” their paid ad strategies offer “stellar results” but can be a bit “higher cost” than competitors.

Hot Dish Advertising

Hot Dish Marketing is a franchise-only marketing company that helps franchises build their brand from the ground up. This includes both paid ads and SEO, as well as brand design and local advertising like vehicle wraps and billboards.

Overall, they are a strong option for brand-new franchises that need help with multiple aspects of their brand and marketing, but not necessarily for those that just need to increase their lead growth and brand recognition.

• Location: Minneapolis, MN
• Year Founded: 1999
• Price Range: $$$
• Additional Services: Ground ads (vehicle wraps, bench ads, billboards), Logo Design, Media Buys

Summary of Online Reviews

Hot Dish Marketing has “leadership that is involved” and is “constantly trying to improve” their services.

SOCi

SOCi is a marketing platform for multi-location brands with SEO, advertising, chatbot, and social media marketing capabilities. They work with both enterprise users and small businesses, offering a wide variety of scaling solutions for those that prefer to keep more of their marketing in-house.

• Location: San Diego, CA
• Year Founded: 2012
• Price Range: $$$
• Additional Services: Marketing Software Platform, Paid Ads, Online Chatbots

Summary of Online Reviews

SOCi’s software platform “combines all of a business’s social media platforms into one” and “makes it easy to manage many listings.” Their marketing services “work great for managing multiple locations” and “take a lot of the work out of” their clients’ hands.

TopFire Media

TopFire Media is another franchise-only marketing firm, and offers web design, paid ads, public relations, and local ads in addition to SEO. Their price tag is generally lower than many other options on the list, which could make them a good choice for single-location franchise owners that need a number of marketing services on a tighter budget.

• Location: Chicago, IL
• Year Founded: 2013
• Price Range: $$
• Additional Services: Public Relations, Web Design, Paid Ads

Summary of Online Reviews

TopFire Media designs “fully functional and perfectly designed websites” and their marketing professionals are “very professional and creative.”

Consumer Fusion

Consumer Fusion focuses primarily on review management, or removing illegitimate reviews and automatically sending reminders to their customers to leave better ones. They also offer social media marketing, and some SEO services, but their primary focus is on review and social media management. This makes Consumer Fusion a great pick for franchises looking specifically for review management and social media management at a competitive price. 

• Location: Solana Beach, CA
• Year Founded: 2013
• Price Range: $$
• Additional Services: Review Management/Generation, Social Media Management, Directory Management

Summary of Online Reviews

Consumer Fusion “successfully removes spam reviews” and “provides top-notch customer service.” They help franchises “build a strong online presence” on both social media platforms and review aggregators.

C Social

C Social is another social media-focused marketing agency that has worked with a number of high-profile clients that leverage the franchise model. They are a larger agency, capable of handling a wide variety of franchise needs. They focus less on SEO than other firms on this list, however, resulting in a lower ranking from our team.

• Location: Auburn, NH
• Year Founded: 1999
• Price Range: $$$
• Additional Services: Social Media Marketing, Digital Ads, Web Design

Summary of Online Reviews

C Social offers “full-funnel strategies” that convert well, and “produce incredibly high-quality graphics” for the websites they help design.

LocaliQ

Formerly known as ReachLocal, LocaliQ works with local businesses to improve visibility in local search results and enhance social media presence. Local IQ generally focuses on smaller home services companies that concentrate their efforts on individual clients within residential areas, making them a good fit for many franchisees.

• Location: McLean, VA
• Year Founded: 2004
• Price Range: $$
• Additional Services: Listing Services, Social Media Marketing, Display Ads

Summary of Online Reviews

LocaliQ offers a “plethora of features” that set them apart from the competition for local home services businesses. They offer great services and education for  “these smaller multifamily managers who aren’t as familiar with marketing strategies.”