Top 5 SEO & Web Design Companies of 2020
1. Northcutt – Chicago, Illinois
DCR Trust Score: 81%
Northcutt — named after founder Corey Northcutt — has helped clients achieve success for more than a decade. Corey himself has experience founding and growing companies, and Northcutt uses his tried-and-true strategies to build the brands of their clients. Northcutt’s team may be small, but the experience among them is enough to help any business get a stellar website while maintaining organic search results.
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2. WebFX – Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
DCR Trust Score: 72%
WebFX is headquartered in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The agency has become a major player in the SEO and web design industries over the past several years. With over 422 client testimonials and an extensive portfolio, WebFX is an excellent choice for any company looking to combine SEO with web design.
Not to mention, they have a team of over 200 industry-leading specialists who work in-house to manage your campaign.
Website3. 97th Floor – Lehi, Utah
DCR Trust Score: 51%
97th Floor is a Lehi, Utah digital marketing agency that offers a huge range of services for many companies. That diversity in their catalog means they’re a one-stop shop for web design and SEO, among other online marketing strategies. If you want to get an outstanding website that’ll rank high in Google, 97th Floor is your choice.
Website4. ePageCity, Inc. – Chicago, Illinois
DCR Trust Score: 35%
ePageCity of Chicago, Illinois has made a big name for itself over the past few years. Their emphasis on client budget ensures that they work within their clients’ capabilities, and they’re experts at combining their clients’ goals with expert online marketing tactics.
Website5. Custom Creatives – Agoura Hills, California
DCR Trust Score: 19%
Custom Creatives specializes in helping small businesses. Based out of Agoura Hills, California, their expertise extends far beyond one- or two-person businesses. Their motto of “Design, Develop, Drive” creates the ideal combination of SEO and web design, and their portfolio shows any potential client that they’re in good hands.
WebsiteWhat does an SEO and web design company do?
An SEO and web design agency combines two disciplines of online marketing: SEO and web design.
They often feature dedicated teams for each practice, one for SEO and one for web design. These two services, however, often overlap as best practices for SEO often extend to web design. As an example, it’s important to have a fast site for SEO, which requires the expertise of designers and developers.
With an SEO web design company, your business also makes the most of your site’s design or redesign.
While a new site can have a significant impact on the first impression of users, it’s often impossible for new users to find your website if it doesn’t show up in search results. That’s where SEO services become valuable because they help your site appear in relevant search results.
Thus, you can break down the work of an SEO and web design company into the following steps:
- Audit your site’s SEO and web design
- Outline your site’s design revisions or brand-new design
- Refine your site’s design outline to align with SEO standards
- Create your SEO strategy
- Design your website, while writing site copy optimized for SEO
- Launch your website
If your business wants to make the most of SEO’s benefits, you’ll generally continue your partnership with the SEO and web design company. They’ll continue to grow your strategy, which can help your organization appear in more relevant search results to bring even more qualified traffic to your site.
What do SEO and web design services include?
Before you start comparing SEO and web design companies, it’s important to mention that every agency is different. While many offer the same deliverables with their services, some may vary in what they provide clients.
In most cases, however, web design and SEO companies provide the following:
- Web design or redesign
- SEO audit
- Custom SEO strategy
- Copywriting
- Routine SEO reports
For the best experience, it’s helpful if an agency provides all the above services.
If not, those tasks become your team’s responsibilities. That often results in your staff searching for a third-party that provides these services, like copywriting, which is a hassle. Get a web design and SEO company that takes care of everything to make your job easier.
When should you hire a web design and SEO company?
If you want a new site design and updated SEO, working with an SEO and web design company might be a good choice. These agencies are generally made up of several departments that work together on your site, which is a lot simpler than choosing two separate companies for SEO and web design.
Working with one agency also ensures that your SEO and web design will work together to create a cohesive web presence. If search engine users find your site with specific keywords, they likely expect to find a site that reflects those words. If your designers and SEOs work together, this is bound to happen.
That being said, if you are looking for a one-time redesign of your site, a full-service agency might not be for you. These agencies often prefer to work on ongoing marketing projects for their clients, and if you aren’t planning on maintaining a relationship with them, they may not want to take on your project.
This, of course, is something you should ask upfront and discuss with individual agencies. There are many different design and SEO companies out there, and they all offer slightly different services. The list we’ve compiled, however, highlights some of the best web design and SEO companies in the industry.
How do you find the best SEO web design company?
Think a dedicated SEO web design company is the best choice for your business?
Learn how to find the right agency for your company with these seven tips:
1. Determine your goals
If you’re serious about working with web design and SEO company, then you need to think about what you want to accomplish with a website redesign, plus an SEO strategy. While you don’t need a definitive set of goals, a general idea can help you discover the best agency for your business.
For example, do you want to increase your revenue by securing more online sales and generating more qualified site traffic? Or, do you want to revamp your site and start SEO to support the launch of a brand-new product?
With each of these examples, you provide an SEO and web design company valuable information about your goals. An agency wouldn’t know, for instance, that you wanted your SEO strategy to focus on your latest product if you didn’t say.
When you tell potential SEO and web design companies what you’re hoping to accomplish, it helps them develop a proposal and quote for your team. The more details you provide, the more in-depth their proposal can be, which offers a valuable preview of working with that agency.
2. Set a budget
A lot of businesses begin researching website design and SEO companies before they set a budget. This premature move can cause headaches for your team later, as you may start conversations with agencies beyond your budget.
Take a step back from your SEO and web design company research and redirect your focus to SEO and web design pricing. Do research in this area before you start browsing web design and SEO companies so that you can narrow your choices.
If you’ve already started your research, you’ve probably noticed a lot of companies promote extremely low prices for SEO. It’s a common occurrence with SEO and an attractive one for businesses looking to limit their costs.
Cheap SEO does not work, though.
In the long run, it costs your company money. That’s because these agencies rarely deliver on their promised results. They also fail to achieve your goals, which doesn’t help your business. The worst part is some lock your business in for a set period, forcing you to remain a paying client.
For you and your business, it’s imperative to avoid these kinds of agencies, which did not make our list of this year’s top SEO and web design companies. Unlike other review firms, we do not accept paid listings, so pay attention to this feature when browsing other sites that do accept payments.
Now, once you finish researching professional web design and SEO prices, you can create your budget. Depending on your findings, you may need to meet with company decision-makers to receive additional funds.
3. Create an SEO and web design company checklist
Next, your department should write-up a checklist for your dream SEO and web design company. This checklist services as a helpful reference for your team while comparing agencies. It should feature your must-haves for a firm, as well as bonus features.
For example, you may want an agency that:
- Offers custom SEO strategies
- Specializes in ecommerce web design
- Charges less than $2000 per month for SEO
- Comes with high recommendations or reviews
You can streamline your research process by making your checklist as specific as possible. A requirement for high recommendations or reviews, for instance, is vague and relative to each reader. Instead, you may want an agency with at least 50 four-star reviews on at least one platform, like Google.
4. Browse portfolios and case studies
With your budget, goals, and checklist compiled, your team can start looking at SEO and web design companies in-depth. As you compare agencies, it’s essential for you to review every potential firm’s portfolio and case studies.
A portfolio and a series of case studies showcase that agency’s web design and SEO expertise. They can also demonstrate the web design and SEO company’s experience in a specific industry, like healthcare or retail.
If you really like an agency, but they don’t feature an extensive portfolio or case studies, contact them. In some cases, they may not share the results of their work, like for SEO, due to non-disclosure agreements with specific clients.
5. Read reviews and testimonials
Next, your staff should browse reviews and testimonials for various SEO and web design companies.
Look for the strengths and weaknesses mentioned in reviews and testimonials. These can often alert your team to potential incompatibilities between the agency and your business. They can also highlight similarities between your organization and the web design and SEO company.
Aim to look at reviews across a few platforms, like Facebook and Google, for example.
6. Ask for a custom quote
Based on the research you’ve done so far, you probably have a list of potential SEO web design companies. Go ahead and start requesting custom quotes from your top picks. Remember to provide details about your goals and any unique project requirements.
When you receive your quotes, look for transparency on the part of the SEO and web design company. You want an agency that’s upfront about their prices, as well as willing to explain what their rates include. It’s also helpful for the quote to have a breakdown of SEO and web design costs.
7. Gauge their interest
In some cases, your team may meet potential web design and SEO providers in-person. For example, some website design and SEO companies may offer to present their quote and proposal at your office to provide a more personable experience.
This move demonstrates the company’s interest in your business. They’re willing to travel to see and meet your team, which is a significant investment of their time and agency’s money. That doesn’t mean that firms delivering their quotes via email aren’t interested, however.
You can still determine an agency’s interest by how they respond to your request.
If they ask follow-up questions, like about your business and industry, it can often indicate they’re curious about your organization and passionate about providing an accurate and relevant proposal for your team to review.
For the best experience, choose a firm that’s as passionate about your business as you are.
FAQs about website design and SEO companies
Do you have some additional questions about website design and SEO companies? Browse our FAQ!
What is SEO?
Also known as search engine optimization, SEO is a strategy that improves your site’s visibility or ranking in search engine result pages (SERPs), like Google. It’s often a strategy with a long-term view. That’s because SEO can take several months to improve your position in search results.
What is web design?
Web design is the practice of designing an attractive, yet functional website. With web design, there is a big emphasis on the user experience (UX), as well as conversion rate optimization (CRO). Unlike SEO, you can update your website’s design and change the UX overnight.
How are web design and SEO related?
SEO is what helps people find your site, and web design is what they see when they get there.
That being said, they aren’t as separate as you might think.
When many people think of SEO, they think about including relevant keywords in their page titles, headers, and body content. While this is certainly valid, and should definitely be a part of your SEO strategy, optimization doesn’t stop there.
There are many different factors that play a role in your chances of ranking well in search engines, and although it’s impossible to know all of them, there are a few you should take into consideration when designing your site, like site speed, mobile-friendliness, and bounce rate.
Slow sites don’t rank as well as fast ones, so even if your design looks great, if it takes forever to load, it probably won’t perform very well in search engines. Sites that aren’t mobile-friendly (compatible with smartphones and tablets) also don’t rank as well as those who are.
In addition to your site’s speed and mobile-friendliness, your bounce rate, or the percentage of people who come to your site from search engines and go back to the search results, can also affect your rankings.
This means that if your site is designed poorly and users’ first reaction is to leave, your chances of attracting future visitors will plummet.
How much do SEO and web design companies charge?
Pricing for SEO and web design companies varies quite a bit.
Businesses can easily spend $25,000 on site design, plus a few thousand dollars a month on SEO. What you invest depends on a few factors, like the agency’s rates, the complexity of your site’s design, and the aggressiveness of your SEO strategy.
That’s why it’s helpful to research prices beforehand, as well as request quotes from multiple top SEO and web design companies. You can get a general idea of what SEO, plus web design will cost your business.
Are contracts normal for website design and SEO companies?
Yes!
Many website design and SEO companies use contracts because of the delayed results of SEO. A contract, which is generally around six months for SEO, allows your agency to provide your business with visible results from your SEO strategy.
A lot of businesses don’t understand that SEO doesn’t happen overnight, like a website redesign, so many will leave their web design and SEO companies when nothing happens after the first two months. A contract forces these businesses to be patient and get the benefits of SEO.
Find your SEO and web design company today!
With the multiple benefits of SEO and web design companies, it’s becoming common for businesses to choose agencies that specialize in both services. If you’re looking to partner with an SEO web design company, browse our rankings to find the best firm for your business!