2026 Ranking · Search Engine Marketing

The 10 Best Search Engine Marketing Agencies in 2026

Independent ranking: Sortlist does not rank itself, and agencies cannot pay for their position in this ranking.

By Nicolas Finet, Co-founder & CEO of Sortlist · Updated on October 5, 2026 · How we ranked

Which SEM agency fits your search goals? Our pick, with the strengths, budget and best use case of each one.

What is the best search engine marketing company?

It depends on what you need. Quick picks from our independent ranking:

Best for paid search performance: Mediacharge – 21 published search engine marketing projects – the most in the ranking – and a perfect 5.0 from 22 reviews.
Best for e-commerce: LUMINA – certified Shopify partner running search and shopping ads around the store, 5.0 from 26 reviews.
Best for B2B and tech: Roman.ua – Google Premier Partner focused on PPC and analytics for clients such as Lenovo and Semrush, 5.0 from 14 reviews.
Best for SEO and paid search together: Tactee – dedicated SEO and SEA teams in Paris and Lyon, 4.99 from 41 reviews.
Best on a small budget: Pink Panda Technologies – from €600, the lowest entry point in the top 10, 4.99 from 55 reviews.
Best for GEO and AI search: Agence Thrive – covers SEO, paid search and optimisation for generative AI engines, 5.0 from 54 reviews.

The 10 best search engine marketing agencies – independent ranking

The 10 best search engine marketing agencies – independent ranking
#	Agency	Score	Rating	Based in	From	Best for
1	Several.pro	91/100	5.0 (29)	Spain	€1,000	Search campaigns built together with the website
2	Mediacharge	91/100	5.0 (22)	Germany	€1,000	Paid search performance for startups and scale-ups
3	LUMINA	89/100	5.0 (26)	United Arab Emirates	€1,000	Shopping and search ads for online stores
4	Tactee	82/100	4.99 (41)	France	€3,000	SEO and paid search under one roof in France
5	Roman.ua	82/100	5.0 (14)	Ukraine	€3,000	PPC and analytics for B2B and tech companies
6	Promoguy.nl	81/100	4.97 (31)	Netherlands	€1,000	Search and social campaigns in several languages
7	INFLUASIA	80/100	5.0 (83)	Malaysia	€1,000	Search combined with content and influencer campaigns in Southeast Asia
8	Influactive	79/100	4.93 (48)	France	€3,000	SEO, media and PR for brand visibility
9	Adswell	78/100	5.0 (58)	Egypt	€1,000	Full-service digital marketing in Egypt and the Gulf
10	Pink Panda Technologies	77/100	4.99 (55)	United States	€600	SEO and paid media on a smaller budget

The top search engine marketing companies

The ten highest-scoring SEM agencies in detail – why each one earned its place, and when another would suit you better.

1
Rank 1: Several.pro
“Experts in custom web design and development”
91/100
- 5.0/5 (29 reviews)
- Barcelona, Spain
- from €1,000
- 14 people
- Catalan, English, Spanish, Portuguese
- 16 published projects
Best for: search campaigns built together with the website
Several.pro, in Barcelona, designs and develops websites, online stores and web applications, and runs SEO and paid search (Google Ads) around them, alongside branding and social media.
Why #1?
- A perfect 5.0 from 29 reviews.
- 16 published search engine marketing projects – among the highest counts in the ranking.
- Site, SEO and paid search handled by one team, so landing pages and ads stay aligned.
Score breakdown: rating 100/100 · review volume 76/100 · published work 92/100
Less suited if you only need paid-search management on an existing site – its core business is web design and development.
View Several.pro’s profile
2
Rank 2: Mediacharge
“We deliver results, not just reports!”
91/100
- 5.0/5 (22 reviews)
- Munich, Germany
- from €1,000
- 25 people
- German, English
- 21 published projects
Best for: paid search performance for startups and scale-ups
The Munich boutique agency takes a data-driven, no-frills approach to performance marketing. Its portfolio includes five unicorns, more than 30 top-tier startups and several NASDAQ-listed companies.
Why #2?
- 21 published search engine marketing projects – the most of any ranked agency.
- A perfect 5.0 from 22 reviews.
- Entry from €1,000, with a free initial consultation.
Score breakdown: rating 100/100 · review volume 70/100 · published work 100/100
Less suited if you want brand or content work rather than paid performance.
View Mediacharge’s profile
3
Rank 3: LUMINA
“YOUR ONLINE PARTNER”
89/100
- 5.0/5 (26 reviews)
- Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- from €1,000
- 15 people
- English, Arabic, Armenian, French
- 12 published projects
Best for: shopping and search ads for online stores
LUMINA is a Dubai e-commerce agency and certified Shopify partner. It builds and optimises online stores and runs the paid search and SEO that bring buyers to them, in English, Arabic, Armenian and French.
Why #3?
- A perfect 5.0 from 26 reviews.
- 12 published search engine marketing projects.
- Store and search campaigns from one team – useful when conversion depends on the shop.
Score breakdown: rating 100/100 · review volume 74/100 · published work 83/100
Less suited if you do not sell online.
View LUMINA’s profile
4
Rank 4: Tactee
“Orchestrate your digital strategy!”
82/100
- 4.99/5 (41 reviews)
- Paris, France
- from €3,000
- 20 people
- French
- 2 published projects
Best for: sEO and paid search under one roof in France
Tactee brings together more than 20 consultants in Lyon and Paris, organised in SEO, SEA (paid search and social ads), web creation and inbound marketing teams. It starts every engagement with a free audit of the site, the market and the competition.
Why #4?
- 4.99 from 41 reviews.
- Dedicated SEO and SEA teams that plan organic and paid search together.
- Works with SMEs and key accounts.
Score breakdown: rating 99/100 · review volume 84/100 · published work 36/100
Less suited if you need campaigns in languages other than French – its profile lists French only.
View Tactee’s profile
5
Rank 5: Roman.ua
“PPC, Web Analytics, Email & Retention Marketing Experts from 🇺🇦Ukraine”
82/100
- 5.0/5 (14 reviews)
- Kyiv, Ukraine
- from €3,000
- 14 people
- 6 languages
- 8 published projects
Best for: pPC and analytics for B2B and tech companies
Roman.ua, in Kyiv, specialises in pay-per-click advertising, web analytics and email marketing. It is a Google Premier Partner and Meta Business Partner, and lists clients such as Lenovo, Kingston Technology, Semrush and MacPaw among more than 250.
Why #5?
- A perfect 5.0 from 14 reviews.
- Google Premier Partner status and Google Ads, Microsoft (Bing) Ads and LinkedIn expertise.
- Strong analytics stack for tracking what search spend produces.
Score breakdown: rating 100/100 · review volume 60/100 · published work 71/100
Less suited if your budget is below €3,000, its entry point.
View Roman.ua’s profile
6
Rank 6: Promoguy.nl
“Born to Create - We are Digital Masterminds”
81/100
- 4.97/5 (31 reviews)
- Amsterdam, Netherlands
- from €1,000
- 9 people
- 6 languages
- 3 published projects
Best for: search and social campaigns in several languages
The Amsterdam collective covers technical and content SEO, paid advertising, websites, social media and analytics. Its team works in six languages, including English, Dutch, Spanish and Portuguese.
Why #6?
- 4.97 from 31 reviews.
- Six working languages – useful for multi-country search campaigns.
- SEO and paid search under one roof.
Score breakdown: rating 97/100 · review volume 78/100 · published work 45/100
Less suited if you need a large team for enterprise-scale accounts – it has 9 people.
View Promoguy.nl’s profile
7
Rank 7: INFLUASIA
“Award-Winning Digital Media and Influencer Agency”
80/100
- 5.0/5 (83 reviews)
- Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- from €1,000
- 115 people
- English, Malay, Chinese
- 0 published projects
Best for: search combined with content and influencer campaigns in Southeast Asia
INFLUASIA is a Malaysian digital media and influencer agency with its own publications and creator network. Its 360° campaigns combine content, influencers and data-driven media targeting.
Why #7?
- A perfect 5.0 from 83 reviews – the most reviewed agency in the ranking.
- A 115-person team.
- Owns media and a creator network that can support search campaigns with content.
Score breakdown: rating 100/100 · review volume 100/100 · published work 0/100
Less suited if you need a pure paid-search specialist – its strength is content and influencer media, and it has no published search projects yet.
View INFLUASIA’s profile
8
Rank 8: Influactive
“Brain Content !”
79/100
- 4.93/5 (48 reviews)
- Dardilly, France
- from €3,000
- 12 people
- French, English
- 2 published projects
Best for: sEO, media and PR for brand visibility
Influactive is a consulting agency in digital, media and press relations based in Paris and Lyon. It combines SEO, media campaigns, press relations, influence and visibility in AI assistants for clients such as Carrefour and Merck.
Why #8?
- 4.93 from 48 reviews.
- Award-winning (Grand Prix des Communicants 2026, Influence category).
- Links search visibility with PR and AI-assistant visibility.
Score breakdown: rating 92/100 · review volume 88/100 · published work 36/100
Less suited if you mainly need Google Ads management – its focus is SEO, media and PR.
View Influactive’s profile
9
Rank 9: Adswell
“#1 Leading Marketing Agency in Egypt, KSA, and MENA Region!”
78/100
- 5.0/5 (58 reviews)
- First New Cairo, Egypt
- from €1,000
- 60 people
- Arabic, English
- 0 published projects
Best for: full-service digital marketing in Egypt and the Gulf
Adswell, in Cairo, offers SEO, pay-per-click advertising, social media, content and media planning for businesses across Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the wider MENA region.
Why #9?
- A perfect 5.0 from 58 reviews.
- A 60-person team working in Arabic and English.
- Covers paid and organic search alongside social media.
Score breakdown: rating 100/100 · review volume 92/100 · published work 0/100
Less suited if your markets are outside the Middle East and North Africa.
View Adswell’s profile
10
Rank 10: Pink Panda Technologies
“Where Strategy Meets Scalable Success”
77/100
- 4.99/5 (55 reviews)
- East Cobb, United States
- from €600
- 21 people
- English, Hindi
- 0 published projects
Best for: sEO and paid media on a smaller budget
Pink Panda Technologies is a full-stack digital agency combining software, web and app development with SEO, paid media and data-led optimisation for startups, SMEs and global brands.
Why #10?
- 4.99 from 55 reviews.
- Entry from €600 – the lowest in the top 10.
- Development and search under one roof.
Score breakdown: rating 99/100 · review volume 91/100 · published work 0/100
Less suited if you want to review published search case studies first – none are on its Sortlist profile yet.
View Pink Panda Technologies’s profile

All 124 search engine marketing firms, ranked

All 124 agencies with at least 10 verified reviews, scored with the same formula. Ranks 11 to 124 are often the best fit for a specific country, language or budget.

Show all 124 agencies

Full independent ranking of search engine marketing agencies on Sortlist
#	Agency	Based in	Rating	Published work	Score
1	Several.pro	Barcelona, Spain	5.0 (29)	16	91
2	Mediacharge	Munich, Germany	5.0 (22)	21	91
3	LUMINA	Dubai, United Arab Emirates	5.0 (26)	12	89
4	Tactee	Paris, France	4.99 (41)	2	82
5	Roman.ua	Kyiv, Ukraine	5.0 (14)	8	82
6	Promoguy.nl	Amsterdam, Netherlands	4.97 (31)	3	81
7	INFLUASIA	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	5.0 (83)	0	80
8	Influactive	Dardilly, France	4.93 (48)	2	79
9	Adswell	First New Cairo, Egypt	5.0 (58)	0	78
10	Pink Panda Technologies	East Cobb, United States	4.99 (55)	0	77
11	Agence Thrive	Bordeaux, France	5.0 (54)	0	77
12	Reux Digital	Madrid, Spain	5.0 (53)	0	77
13	Novicom Marketing Group®	Tilburg, Netherlands	4.99 (30)	1	77
14	Estudio Algaba- Agente Digitalizador	Madrid, Spain	5.0 (19)	2	77
15	GALOPINS	Nantes, France	4.97 (59)	0	76
16	Horizon	Paris, France	5.0 (16)	2	76
17	iDigitalise.net	Dubai, United Arab Emirates	4.96 (47)	0	74
18	Instasamy Agenzia di Social Media Marketing	Milan, Italy	4.98 (41)	0	74
19	SEO TECH EXPERTS LLC	Dubai, United Arab Emirates	5.0 (36)	0	74
20	KAIROS ADVICE COMPANY SRL	Naples, Italy	5.0 (32)	0	74
21	Boost it	Berlin, Germany	4.93 (17)	3	74
22	La Teva Web	Barcelona, Spain	5.0 (12)	2	74
23	Senate Marketing	Mumbai, India	4.91 (67)	0	73
24	Graviteit	Ghent, Belgium	4.93 (54)	0	73
25	Signature 360 Agency	Qism El-Nozha, Egypt	4.99 (30)	0	73
26	Bliss Agency	Rome, Italy	5.0 (28)	0	73
27	Chaitanya Design	Kathmandu, Nepal	5.0 (16)	1	73
28	RUJI	Paris, France	4.99 (23)	0	71
29	ELEVAM	Reus, Spain	5.0 (22)	0	71
30	Linov	Sébazac-Concourès, France	5.0 (22)	0	71
31	RSXigital	Chicago, United States	5.0 (21)	0	71
32	Arfadia	Jakarta, Indonesia	5.0 (21)	0	71
33	Clic Monkey	Pont-l'Évêque, France	5.0 (11)	1	71
34	comtogether	Saint-Sulpice, Switzerland	5.0 (11)	1	71
35	Dapper - the demand agency	Rotterdam, Netherlands	5.0 (11)	1	71
36	eMax Digital	Nantes, France	4.92 (36)	0	70
37	Rudo	City of London, United Kingdom	5.0 (20)	0	70
38	Convert Cake	Bangkok, Thailand	5.0 (19)	0	70
39	Secret Key Web Agency	Rome, Italy	5.0 (19)	0	70
40	Walt	Annecy, France	4.83 (63)	0	69
41	Design 030	Berlin, Germany	4.95 (25)	0	69
42	Fuego Yámana	Barcelona, Spain	4.83 (25)	2	69
43	Fénix Byte	Madrid, Spain	4.97 (20)	0	69
44	Whello	Amsterdam, Netherlands	5.0 (17)	0	69
45	5 Sens Advertising	Hammam Sousse, Tunisia	4.97 (11)	1	69
46	4iMEDIA GmbH	Leipzig, Germany	4.97 (18)	0	68
47	Outreach Advertising LLC	Dubai, United Arab Emirates	4.98 (18)	0	68
48	Enzima	Rome, Italy	5.0 (15)	0	68
49	ALWA Marketing	Stuttgart, Germany	5.0 (15)	0	68
50	The Rootsons	Sabadell, Spain	4.92 (15)	1	68
51	Hobrista	Muscat, Oman	5.0 (15)	0	68
52	Marketingkinges	Lahore, Pakistan	5.0 (14)	0	68
53	WebWins	Berlin, Germany	5.0 (14)	0	68
54	Target Web	Bordeaux, France	4.95 (19)	0	67
55	Adapts Media	Dubai, United Arab Emirates	4.96 (17)	0	67
56	Sparsis	Tbilisi, Georgia	5.0 (13)	0	67
57	Wowlab	Etterbeek, Belgium	5.0 (12)	0	67
58	WPWA Digital	Munich, Germany	5.0 (12)	0	67
59	Chase Marketing	Amsterdam, Netherlands	5.0 (12)	0	67
60	Online Klik	Eindhoven, Netherlands	4.87 (12)	2	67
61	Gurkha Technology	Kathmandu, Nepal	5.0 (12)	0	67
62	UnFoldMart	Frankfurt, Germany	4.89 (25)	0	66
63	Ycp Creativos S.L	Seville, Spain	4.9 (23)	0	66
64	Agence BB® Switzerland	Lancy, Switzerland	4.94 (17)	0	66
65	AlCaz Media	Dubai Silicon Oasis, United Arab Emirates	4.98 (13)	0	66
66	Seven Gold Agency	Cannes, France	5.0 (11)	0	66
67	Prismalia	Madrid, Spain	5.0 (11)	0	66
68	AdsRank - Agence Google Ads	Paris, France	5.0 (11)	0	66
69	RIOLAB S.R.L.	Cuneo, Italy	5.0 (11)	0	66
70	MediaGroup Worldwide	Copenhagen, Denmark	5.0 (10)	0	66
71	ARI Media Group	Varese, Italy	5.0 (10)	0	66
72	Lemon Interactive	Lezennes, France	5.0 (10)	0	66
73	Supernovads	Marseille, France	5.0 (10)	0	66
74	Arvana GmbH	Berlin, Germany	5.0 (10)	0	66
75	Searchperts Deutschland GmbH	Düsseldorf, Germany	5.0 (10)	0	66
76	Strategora Agency	Getafe, Spain	5.0 (10)	0	66
77	Digitus	Castellón de la Plana, Spain	5.0 (10)	0	66
78	Daware	Paris, France	5.0 (10)	0	66
79	Dvisual	Silea, Italy	5.0 (10)	0	66
80	Leverage	Paris, France	5.0 (10)	0	66
81	Pathfinder Marketing	Nedlands, Australia	5.0 (10)	0	66
82	Bake Digital	Barcelona, Spain	4.88 (24)	0	65
83	Les Causantes	Neuilly-sur-Seine, France	4.93 (17)	0	65
84	Omega Digital	Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam	4.94 (15)	0	65
85	Billber - Tu equipo de Growth Marketing	Gijón, Spain	4.97 (12)	0	65
86	Vistanet Marketing	More Corraxe, Italy	4.97 (12)	0	65
87	Eskimoz France	Boulogne-Billancourt, France	4.97 (11)	0	65
88	WADM	Barendrecht, Netherlands	4.76 (56)	0	64
89	deBottomline	Kontich, Belgium	4.69 (56)	1	64
90	rock&stars digital	Hamburg, Germany	4.87 (24)	0	64
91	Yungo	Genk, Belgium	4.95 (12)	0	64
92	Brandimpact	Ghent, Belgium	4.8 (11)	3	64
93	BSL MARKETING	Biscay, Spain	4.97 (10)	0	64
94	Notecopies	Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain	4.97 (10)	0	64
95	Goose & Hopper	Valencia, Spain	4.81 (33)	0	63
96	Beyond Marketing	Oosterzele, Belgium	4.86 (11)	1	63
97	Agence 33 Degrés	Lyon, France	4.87 (17)	0	62
98	EVERNINE	Munich, Germany	4.89 (14)	0	62
99	FAIRRANK GmbH	Cologne, Germany	4.94 (10)	0	62
100	dietz.digital	Wiesbaden, Germany	4.87 (14)	0	61
101	Blubber Estudio Creativo	Madrid, Spain	4.88 (13)	0	61
102	Bastian Lewis	Amsterdam, Netherlands	4.9 (11)	0	61
103	UniK SEO	Falmouth, United Kingdom	4.91 (10)	0	61
104	Elespacio	Barcelona, Spain	4.89 (11)	0	60
105	Vault Mark	Bangkok, Thailand	4.89 (11)	0	60
106	Brightwall	Mont-Saint-Guibert, Belgium	4.82 (15)	0	58
107	Legs Brands®	Dolphin Coast, South Africa	4.86 (11)	0	58
108	ID Agency	Herstal, Belgium	4.79 (16)	0	57
109	Heers	Gorinchem, Netherlands	4.79 (16)	0	57
110	BRHN SOLUTIONS	Sialkot, Pakistan	4.82 (12)	0	57
111	MINTO VIETNAM	Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam	4.84 (10)	0	57
112	Umbau	Mechelen, Belgium	4.84 (10)	0	57
113	Praxis	Dubai, United Arab Emirates	4.84 (10)	0	57
114	LMI Whatsapp Agent Automatisation	London, United Kingdom	4.75 (20)	0	56
115	PER Connect GmbH	Munich, Germany	4.75 (16)	0	55
116	Albert Bauer	Hamburg, Germany	4.76 (13)	0	54
117	XY Marketing Solutions	Utrecht, Netherlands	4.74 (11)	0	52
118	The Mood Project	Barcelona, Spain	4.69 (13)	0	50
119	Clearwater Agency	Melbourne, Australia	4.72 (10)	0	50
120	Wow Showroom Business	Sant Cugat del Vallès, Spain	4.72 (10)	0	50
121	Estro Agency	Milan, Italy	4.69 (10)	0	48
122	schoene neue kinder GmbH	Munich, Germany	4.5 (10)	0	38
123	Trazada	Madrid, Spain	4.4 (11)	0	33
124	Áurea	Tinocas, Spain	4.11 (12)	0	17

Where the 124 ranked SEM agencies are based

Number of ranked search engine marketing agencies per country (25 countries in total).

Spain23
France20
Germany17
Netherlands10
Italy10
Belgium9
United Arab Emirates7
Other countries28

Show the data as a table

Category	Agencies
Spain	23
France	20
Germany	17
Netherlands	10
Italy	10
Belgium	9
United Arab Emirates	7
Other countries	28

Promising agencies with fewer than 10 reviews

Too few reviews to be scored reliably yet, but excellent ratings so far.

Boundify
5.0/5 (2 reviews) · Greenville, United States
Izoard
4.93/5 (9 reviews) · Etterbeek, Belgium
Daphne Consulting
5.0/5 (2 reviews) · Beşiktaş, Turkey
neurakey - Online-Marketing-Agentur in Köln
5.0/5 (2 reviews) · Cologne, Germany
Bloosem
5.0/5 (6 reviews) · Utrecht, Netherlands

Other SEM companies you will see in other rankings

Several names come up again and again in rankings published elsewhere. Those below have a Sortlist profile but fewer than 10 verified reviews, so we could not score them with the same method; descriptions summarise how each agency presents itself or how those rankings describe it.

WebFX (Harrisburg) – A digital marketing agency that says it has generated over $3 billion in revenue for its clients.
Searchbloom (South Jordan) – An SEO, CRO and PPC agency frequently ranked among the top US search marketing firms.
Disruptive Advertising – A US performance advertising agency focused on paid media.
OuterBox (Akron) – An e-commerce digital marketing agency covering SEO, PPC and web design for 18+ years.
Intero Digital (Colorado Springs) – A full-funnel digital marketing agency with roots in SEO and SEM.
SEER Interactive (Philadelphia) – A search and analytics agency known for data-led SEO and paid search.

We could not find a Sortlist profile for SmartSites, KlientBoost, HawkSEM, Directive, NinjaPromo, Search Engine People, Rankings.io or Silverback Strategies, which also appear in other rankings. Without verified reviews on Sortlist, we cannot compare them fairly with the agencies above.

How we ranked the agencies

1. The sample

Sortlist lists 2,679 search engine marketing providers worldwide. We evaluated the 196 agencies on the first three pages of Sortlist’s search engine marketing listing, in its relevance order. 130 of them have at least 10 verified client reviews – our threshold for a rating to be meaningful. 6 of those also pay for a sponsored placement and were set aside, leaving 124 agencies from 25 countries, with 2,551 verified reviews between them and an average rating of 4.92.

2. The score

Scoring criteria
Criterion	Weight	How it is measured
Client rating	50%	Average of verified reviews, placed on a scale from the lowest (4.11) to the highest (5.0) rating in the ranked group
Review volume	30%	Number of verified reviews on a logarithmic scale, up to the most reviewed agency (83 reviews)
Published work	20%	Search engine marketing projects published on Sortlist, on the same logarithmic scale, up to the highest count (21 projects)

3. Independence

Sortlist is a marketplace, not an agency: it does not appear in its own ranking.
Agencies cannot pay to enter the ranking or to move up. Agencies with a sponsored placement on this listing are excluded from scoring and shown separately.
The order of the listing page, subscriptions and badges play no part in the score – only the three criteria above.

4. Limits

Reviews reflect each agency’s work across all its services, and agencies with few reviews may be excellent but are not yet scored. That is why every entry says what it is best for – and when another agency would suit you better. The ranking is updated regularly.

About the author: Nicolas Finet

Co-founder and CEO of Sortlist. An entrepreneur passionate about B2B marketing and about helping companies grow, he has been connecting companies with the right marketing agencies across Europe since 2014. His focus: digital strategy, business development and scaling B2B marketplaces. He oversees this methodology and the data behind every Sortlist ranking.

LinkedIn · X (@nifinet)

How does search engine marketing work?

Search engine marketing (SEM) is about appearing on search engine results pages when people look for what you sell. In practice, the term mostly means paid search: text and shopping ads that appear above and below the organic results on Google, Bing and other engines, marked as sponsored. You pay only when someone clicks – hence the name pay-per-click (PPC).

Every search triggers a split-second auction. The engine looks at all advertisers bidding on keywords that match the query, then ranks their ads by a combination of bid and quality. That is why a relevant ad with a good landing page can appear above a competitor who bids more.

The building blocks of a campaign

1
Keyword research
Find the searches your buyers use, with their volume, competition and intent (informational, navigational or transactional).
2
Campaign structure
Group keywords by theme into campaigns and ad groups, with match types that control how close a search must be to your keyword.
3
Ad copy and assets
Write ads with a clear value proposition and call to action, and add sitelinks, callouts, structured snippets, call and location extensions.
4
Landing pages
Send each ad to a page that answers the search, loads fast on mobile and makes the next step obvious.
5
Bidding
Set manual or automated bids by goal – clicks, conversions, revenue – with adjustments for device, location and time of day.
6
Tracking and optimisation
Measure conversions, cut keywords that waste spend, test new ads and audiences, and move budget to what works.

Keyword match types

Match types decide how closely a search must match your keyword for the ad to show. Using the right mix is one of the main levers to control wasted spend:

Keyword match types
Match type	Ad can show for	Use it for
Broad match	Searches related to the keyword, including synonyms and related topics	Discovering new searches, with automated bidding and strong negative lists
Phrase match	Searches that include the meaning of the keyword	A balance between reach and control
Exact match	Searches with the same meaning as the keyword	Your most valuable, proven keywords
Negative keywords	Nothing – they block searches you do not want	Excluding irrelevant queries such as jobs, free or support

Quality Score: why relevance lowers costs

Google rates every keyword on a Quality Score based on expected click-through rate, ad relevance and landing-page experience. Higher quality improves your ad position and lowers what you pay per click – which is why good SEM agencies spend as much time on ads and landing pages as on bids.

The main SEM platforms

Search engine marketing platforms
Platform	Where ads appear	Typical use
Google Ads	Google Search, Shopping, YouTube and partner sites	The default for most search budgets
Microsoft Advertising	Bing, Yahoo and partner sites	Lower competition, strong in B2B and desktop audiences
Amazon Ads	Amazon search results and product pages	Products sold on Amazon
Apple Search Ads	App Store search	Mobile app installs

What types of search marketing companies and services are there?

“Search marketing agency” covers very different companies. Knowing which type you need saves time when you build a shortlist.

Types of search marketing companies
Type of company	What it does best	Good fit when
PPC / SEA specialist	Google and Microsoft Ads campaigns, bidding, shopping feeds	Paid search is your main growth lever
SEO agency	Technical SEO, content and links for organic rankings	You can invest for results over months
Full-service search agency (SEO + SEM)	Organic and paid search planned together	You want one partner and shared keyword data
Full-service digital agency	Search alongside social, web, brand and content	Search is one channel among several
E-commerce and marketplace specialist	Shopping ads, product feeds, Amazon and marketplace search	You sell products online
GEO / AI-search specialist	Visibility in AI assistants and AI search results	Your buyers ask AI tools before they search

Search engine marketing services

Keyword research and strategy

Mapping searches to your offer and funnel. See keyword research agencies.

Paid search management

Campaign build, bidding and optimisation on Google and Microsoft Ads. See pay-per-click agencies.

Shopping and e-commerce search

Product feeds, Shopping and marketplace ads. See e-commerce marketing agencies.

Landing pages and CRO

Pages built for each search intent, and tests that raise the conversion rate of paid traffic.

Remarketing

Ads that bring back visitors who did not convert, on search and display networks.

Tracking and reporting

Conversion tracking, attribution and dashboards. See performance marketing agencies.

Seven things search engine marketing agencies typically do: create and manage PPC campaigns, run SEO, improve your website’s conversion rate, help with landing-page design, manage display advertising, troubleshoot underperforming campaigns and make sure your site is properly indexed by search engines.

What is the difference between SEO and GEO?

SEO (search engine optimisation) improves your position in the organic results of search engines through technical work, content and links. GEO (generative engine optimisation) aims to make your brand mentioned and cited in the answers of AI assistants and AI search features, which summarise sources instead of listing ten links.

The two overlap – both reward clear, authoritative, well-structured content – but GEO puts more weight on being quoted by trusted third parties, on precise factual answers and on structured data that AI systems can read. And both differ from SEM, where you pay for placement.

SEO vs GEO vs SEM
SEO	GEO	SEM (paid search)
Goal	Rank in organic results	Be cited in AI answers	Appear in sponsored results
Cost	Time and content; no cost per click	Time, content and PR; no cost per click	You pay for each click
Speed	Months	Months	Days
Control	Indirect	Indirect	Direct: you choose keywords, budget, message
Measurement	Rankings, organic traffic, conversions	Mentions and citations in AI answers, referral traffic	Clicks, conversions, CPA, ROAS

SEM vs SEO: which one first?

SEM is the quick way to get traffic: it is ideal to test a new product or offer, kick-start a slow month or capture demand while SEO builds up. SEO needs time and patience, but keeps working without a cost per click. Treating them as separate options is a mistake – they work best together, sharing keyword data, landing pages and conversion insights.

In our ranking, Tactee runs dedicated SEO and SEA teams, and Agence Thrive (Bordeaux – not to be confused with the US Thrive Internet Marketing Agency) explicitly offers GEO alongside SEO and paid search.

How much does search engine marketing cost?

Search engine marketing has two costs: the media you pay the search engines for clicks, and the management – an agency, a freelancer or your own team. On media, a 2026 survey of 600+ US marketers by WebFX found that 83% of businesses spend between $100 and $100,000 a month on PPC ads – a range that shows how much budgets depend on the market and the goal.

What drives the cost per click

Competition: legal, insurance, finance and B2B software keywords cost far more per click than most retail searches.
Intent: searches close to a purchase (“buy”, “price”, “near me”) are more expensive – and usually more profitable.
Quality Score: relevant ads and landing pages lower the price you pay for the same position.
Location and timing: targeting a capital city or peak hours raises costs; broader or off-peak targeting lowers them.

How much should you budget?

Work backwards from your goal: target number of leads or sales, the conversion rate of your landing pages and the cost per click in your market give you the budget needed. Keep enough budget for each campaign to collect meaningful data before judging it – cutting a campaign after a few dozen clicks rarely tells you anything.

Projects recently posted on Sortlist

Search engine marketing projects posted on Sortlist
Project	Client	Budget	Brief
SEM for B2B lead generation	Established B2B services provider	€25,000–€35,000	Targeted search campaigns to increase qualified, convertible leads
Local SEM campaign for a retail chain	Regional retail chain with multiple locations	€30,000–€40,000	Localised campaigns across several cities to increase in-store traffic
Optimisation of online search performance	E-commerce platform for home goods	€20,000–€30,000	Better search visibility and conversions with cost-effective strategies

How much does a search engine marketing company charge?

Among the 124 ranked SEM agencies on Sortlist, 79 start at €1,000, 20 accept smaller projects and 23 set their minimum at €3,000 or more.

Minimum project budget of the 124 ranked SEM agencies

Number of search engine marketing agencies per starting budget, as stated on their Sortlist profiles.

20Under €1,000
79€1,000
2€1,001–2,999
20€3,000–4,999
3€5,000+

Show the data as a table

Category	Agencies
Under €1,000	20
€1,000	79
€1,001–2,999	2
€3,000–4,999	20
€5,000+	3

The main pricing models

How SEM agencies charge
Model	How it works	Watch out for
Percentage of ad spend	The fee is a share of the media budget managed	Incentive to spend more – agree on caps and goals
Flat monthly fee	A fixed retainer for a defined scope	Make the scope and number of campaigns explicit
Hybrid	A base fee plus a percentage above a spend threshold	Check the threshold and what triggers changes
Performance-based	Fees tied to leads, sales or ROAS	Attribution rules must be clear before you start
Setup fee	One-off charge for audit, tracking and account build	What is included, and who owns the work afterwards

As a published example, WebFX lists its own paid advertising management from $750 a month, with plans charged as a percentage of ad spend (15% or 12%) after an initial setup month. Ask every agency for the same breakdown – setup, monthly fee, percentage of spend, contract length – so you can compare like for like. And always keep media spend separate from agency fees.

What a search engine marketing agency should report

Reports should show what your search budget produced, not just what it bought. Expect these indicators at least monthly:

SEM reporting indicators
Indicator	What it tells you
Impressions and impression share	How often you appear, and how many eligible searches you miss
Click-through rate (CTR)	How relevant your ads are to the searches
Cost per click (CPC)	What traffic costs, and how it moves with competition
Conversion rate	How well landing pages turn clicks into leads or sales
Cost per acquisition (CPA)	What one lead or sale costs
Return on ad spend (ROAS)	Revenue generated for every unit of ad spend
Quality Score trends	Whether ads and pages are getting more relevant
Search terms	The real queries behind your clicks, and the ones excluded

When should you hire a search engine marketing agency?

Running Google Ads yourself is possible on a small budget. An agency usually pays for itself when one of these situations applies:

Spend is growing and small inefficiencies – irrelevant search terms, weak ads, wrong bids – now cost real money every month.
Results have plateaued and your team lacks the time or expertise to restructure campaigns, feeds or tracking.
You are entering new markets or languages, where keyword research and ad copy must be redone for each audience.
Tracking is unreliable, so automated bidding optimises towards the wrong signals.
You launch e-commerce or Shopping campaigns, which depend on clean product feeds and merchant settings.

In-house team or SEM agency?

In-house team versus SEM agency
In-house	Agency
Knowledge of the business	Deep from day one	Needs onboarding
Platform expertise	Depends on the people you hire	Specialists across Google, Microsoft and Amazon Ads
Tools	Bought and maintained by you	Usually included
Cost	Salaries, whatever the spend	Fee or percentage of spend
Best when	Search is a permanent core channel with large budgets	You need expertise quickly or to scale across markets

Many companies combine both: an in-house marketer owns goals and budget, and an agency handles campaign build, bidding and testing. Whatever the set-up, keep the ad accounts and conversion data in your company’s name.

Search engine marketing by type of business

The same principles apply everywhere, but the priorities change with your business model:

B2B and SaaS

Few searches, high value per lead and long sales cycles. Expect tight keyword lists, LinkedIn and Microsoft Ads alongside Google, and optimisation towards qualified pipeline rather than form fills. Roman.ua lists B2B and tech clients.

E-commerce

Shopping and Performance Max campaigns driven by product feeds, with ROAS as the main measure and promotions planned around seasonal peaks. LUMINA combines Shopify stores and search ads.

Local businesses and multi-location brands

Location targeting, call and location assets, opening-hour scheduling and local landing pages – as in the multi-city retail project posted on Sortlist above.

Lead generation and services

Search ads aimed at quote and contact requests, with call tracking and quick follow-up by sales. See lead generation agencies for programmes beyond search.

Common search engine marketing mistakes

Most wasted search budgets come from the same handful of errors. A good agency fixes them in the first weeks:

Broad keywords without negatives: ads shown for searches that will never convert, such as “free”, “jobs” or competitor support queries.
One landing page for every ad: sending all clicks to the homepage lowers both Quality Score and conversion rate.
Broken or partial tracking: without reliable conversion data, automated bidding optimises towards the wrong outcomes.
Judging too early: pausing campaigns after a few days, before they collect enough clicks and conversions to tell anything.
Ignoring the search terms report: the real queries behind your clicks are the fastest source of new keywords and exclusions.
No link between paid and organic: paying for clicks on searches where you already rank first, or never using paid-search data to guide SEO.

How to choose your search engine marketing agency

Testing should go beyond the number of ad clicks: make sure the right people come to your site, engage with it and convert. Choose an agency that keeps you informed, explains its decisions and works easily with your team.

5 questions to ask SEM companies

What is included in your rate – and what is billed separately?
What is your experience with tracking tools like Google Analytics and Google Ads?
What other search engine marketing services do you offer?
Who are your customers, and which ones are similar to us?
How often do you report, and in what format?

Red flags

Google Ads accounts created in the agency’s name instead of yours
Guaranteed first positions or results
Reports without conversions, CPA or ROAS
No access to the search terms report
Long contracts without a test period

Search engine marketing in practice: project examples

Work published by agencies on Sortlist:

SEA campaigns for international e-commerce

Knewledge · E-commerce

Management and optimisation of Google Ads campaigns to grow the online sales of an international e-commerce business.

SEA for Ethias

Knewledge · Insurance

Paid search campaigns generating online quote requests for the Belgian insurer Ethias.

Digital strategy for Tiritas (HARTMANN)

LaMagnética · Healthcare

Website, content strategy and campaigns for the Tiritas® brand; according to the agency, the site’s organic search traffic grew 60-fold compared with the previous website.

Frequently asked questions

Is search engine marketing the same as PPC?

Not exactly. PPC (pay-per-click) is a pricing model used on many platforms, including social networks and display networks. Search engine marketing is the use of search engines to win visibility – today mostly through PPC search ads, sometimes in a broader sense that includes SEO.

How long does it take to see results from search engine marketing?

Paid search campaigns can bring traffic the day they launch, but they usually need a few weeks of data before bidding and targeting are optimised. SEO and GEO work takes several months. Judge an SEM agency on conversions and cost per acquisition after the first two or three months.

Should I hire one agency for SEO and PPC?

One agency makes it easier to share keyword data, landing pages and conversion insights, and avoids paying for clicks on searches where you already rank well. Two specialists can make sense for large budgets – as long as they share data and goals.

Do I keep my Google Ads account if I change agency?

You should. Ask for the account to be created in your name, or for full admin access, from the start. That way the campaign history, conversion data and audiences stay with you if you change partner.

How does content marketing support search engine marketing?

Content gives paid search better landing pages, more sitelinks and remarketing audiences built from readers, and it reinforces trust when people see both your ads and your organic results. Use paid search data to choose content topics, and content performance to refine ad copy.

How do I find the right SEM agency on Sortlist?

Compare agencies by rating, number of reviews, published search engine marketing projects, budget and languages, then shortlist three to five and ask each the same questions. You can also post your project for free and get matched with qualified agencies.