Resources

Everything here answers something before you have to ask

Tools that give you the result on the page, cost ranges that are not just ours, comparisons that argue the other side properly, and a glossary written for owners rather than marketers.

Try the free tools Open the glossary

Free tools

Answer the question yourself

Grade your visibility, size an ad budget, draft a review reply. Each gives you the whole result on the page, with no email required.

Local Visibility GraderGrade your own local visibility in about four minutes, and find out which part is holding the rest back.Read

Ad Budget CalculatorWork backwards from the jobs you want to the budget that would actually produce them.Read

Review Response GeneratorDraft a reply to any review in under a minute, written the way replies that actually help are written.Read

All free tools

What things cost

Ranges, and what moves them

Market ranges rather than our rate card, the factors that decide where you land, and what a quote usually leaves out.

How much does local search marketing cost?Most local businesses in the US pay somewhere between $300 and $2,500 a month for local search. Here is what decides where in that range you land.Read

How much does paid advertising cost?There are two numbers, and conflating them is the most expensive mistake in this category: what you pay the platforms, and what you pay to have it run properly.Read

How much does reputation management cost?For a local business this is usually $200 to $1,000 a month. The figures above that are almost always for something else.Read

How much does social media marketing cost?Management for a local business typically runs $500 to $3,000 a month. What decides it is how much of the content someone else has to make.Read

How much does a business website cost?A local business site is typically $3,000 to $15,000 to build, plus $50 to $500 a month to keep running. The gap between those numbers is mostly scope, not quality.Read

How much does a fractional CMO or marketing strategist cost?Fractional marketing leadership runs from about $2,000 a month for a few hours to $15,000 for a serious engagement. Against a $150,000 hire, the arithmetic is usually the point.Read

Plans and pricing

Compare

Mid-decision, honestly

In-house or agency, agency or freelancer, do it yourself or hand it over. Every option gets a real case, including the ones that lose us the sale.

In-House Marketing vs. an AgencyOne is a salary and a person in the building. The other is a retainer and a team you share. The right answer depends almost entirely on how much work there actually is.Read

Agency vs. FreelancerA good freelancer is often better value than a mediocre agency, and worse value than a good one. The difference is scope, not talent.Read

DIY vs. Managed MarketingPlenty of local marketing genuinely should be done yourself. The question is which parts, and what your own hours are worth.Read

All three comparisons

Glossary

20 terms, each on its own page

Local SEO, GBP, ROAS, CPL, the local pack and the rest — defined in a sentence, explained properly, and connected to the work each one describes. Written for the moment you are holding a proposal full of acronyms nobody explained.

Open the glossary

Longer reads

177 articles on doing this properly

Industry guides, service explainers and the arguments behind how we work — grouped into topic hubs so you can read everything on one subject rather than scrolling a feed.

Read the blog

Elsewhere on the site

Case studies FAQs Locations we serve Industries we work in Free visibility scorecard Get a growth proposal

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