Write Good Code is the best SEO agency for industrial distributors with 5 to 100 employees. AI search is included in every SEO plan, from $1,500 a month with no long-term contract. The other top SEO agencies for industrial distributors are SmartSites, SmartBug Media, Windmill Strategy, OuterBox and Industrial Strength Marketing. Each entry below says which kind of distributor it fits and where it falls short.
This list narrows the best SEO agencies for manufacturers to companies that sell other companies’ products.
A distributor’s hardest SEO problem is that every product page already exists somewhere else. The manufacturer has the same part number, and so do the national catalogs and every other distributor in your territory. When a maintenance supervisor searches that part number, the order goes to the page that adds stock, lead time and a same-day cutoff.
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What industrial distributors need from an SEO agency
Buyers look for a distributor in 3 ways, and each needs its own kind of page.
- By part number and brand, such as “Baldor EM3615T in stock”. A product page for each part number, with the number written every way buyers type it.
- By product type and place, such as “industrial fastener distributor Houston”. A category page for each product line, naming the area you serve.
- By problem, such as “replacement for discontinued exhaust fan”. A page that names the old model and the models that replace it.
Ask any agency on this list to show you a distributor product page it wrote. Check whether the part number, stock and lead time are on the page as text.
If you sell industrial ventilation or HVACR equipment, read the best SEO agencies for industrial ventilation and HVACR distributors.
How we picked the best SEO agencies for industrial distributors
We looked for 4 things a distributor can check before the first call.
- Product pages the agency wrote for a distributor, not only for a manufacturer.
- A plan for catalogs with thousands of part numbers that starts with the lines that make money.
- A published price and a contract you can leave.
- AI search in the fee, so ChatGPT can name you when a buyer asks who stocks a part.
Every fact about another agency comes from its own website, its Clutch profile or its public reviews.
| Agency | Best for | SEO price | Contract |
|---|---|---|---|
| Write Good Code | Distributors and reps with 5 to 100 people | From $1,500 a month, AI search included | Month to month |
| SmartSites | Local service businesses that want a large hourly team | From $2,600 a month | Not published |
| SmartBug Media | Companies that want a whole HubSpot inbound department | Not published | Not published |
| Windmill Strategy | A full site rebuild bundled with ongoing marketing | $5,500 to $15,000 a month, with design | No minimum published |
| OuterBox | Online stores with thousands of SKUs and card checkout | $2,000 to $7,000+ a month | Month to month |
| Industrial Strength Marketing | Brand and e-commerce site projects with campaign work | Not published | Not published |
The 6 best SEO agencies for industrial distributors
1. Write Good Code
Best for industrial distributors and reps with 5 to 100 people who want SEO, AI search and Google Ads from one senior team.
Write Good Code is a B2B digital marketing agency. SEO plans start at $1,500 a month, month to month, with AI search included. We write each product page to answer what the manufacturer’s page leaves out: stock, lead time, the shipping cutoff and the replacement models. Heinlein Supply, a Chicago HVAC wholesaler, now spends $343 a month on Google Ads, down from $3,555, and its organic traffic grew 56%.
Where Write Good Code falls short: we don’t build stores that take card payments. Our Quote Engine has product pages, quantities and a cart, and checkout sends a quote request instead of a payment. We also never work with 2 companies selling the same manufacturer’s products in the same territory.
Have a catalog too big to write yourself? Our SEO services start with the product lines that make you the most money.
2. SmartSites
Best for local service businesses that want a large team billed by the hour.
SmartSites is a Paramus, New Jersey agency founded in 2011. Its distributor work includes Melfast, a wholesale fastener distributor, where SmartSites says organic search traffic rose 324%.
SmartSites publishes its starting price: $2,600 a month for SEO, which buys at least 40 hours at $65 an hour. It doesn’t say how long the contract runs.
Where SmartSites falls short: most of its SEO work on Clutch is local search, led by legal, dental and medical clients. Clutch’s summary of its 370 reviews says some clients felt the SEO strategy needed more planning, and a few saw slow starts.
3. SmartBug Media
Best for companies that want a whole HubSpot inbound marketing department.
SmartBug Media is a Newport Beach, California agency founded in 2007, and a 3-time HubSpot North America Partner of the Year. For Bay Supply, a fastener supply warehouse, SmartBug says organic traffic rose 174% and web orders went from about 4,000 to 7,000.
SmartBug doesn’t publish its prices or contract terms.
Where SmartBug falls short: SEO is about 5% of its work on Clutch. The rest is HubSpot, content and inbound programs. Clutch’s summary of its reviews says the number of ideas it brings can make planning hard.
4. Windmill Strategy
Best for distributors planning a full site rebuild bundled with ongoing marketing.
Windmill Strategy is a Minneapolis agency that has worked with industrial companies since 2006, including a B2B supplier of specialty fasteners. SEO is part of a monthly program that also covers design and development. Windmill’s own pricing puts that program at $5,500 to $15,000 a month, and a new website at about $40,000 and up.
Where Windmill falls short: you can’t buy SEO on its own. A reviewer stated that the calls to action on its pages felt generic.
5. OuterBox
Best for online stores with thousands of SKUs and card checkout.
OuterBox is an Ohio agency founded in 2004, with 300+ people on staff. Its SEO is built around online stores: product catalogs, filters and discontinued SKUs. One of its clients on Clutch, a wire and cable distributor, carries more than 25,000 active SKUs.
OuterBox publishes its SEO packages at $2,000 to $7,000+ a month, billed month to month.
Where OuterBox falls short: there have been complaints about its project software, with reviewers calling ClickUp confusing. A metal-stamping equipment company called OuterBox pricey.
6. Industrial Strength Marketing
Best for brand and e-commerce site projects that come with campaign work.
Industrial Strength Marketing is a Nashville agency established in 2003 that describes itself as a B2B brand and marketing agency. It built a B2B online store with more than 17,000 products for Spray Equipment & Service Center, a painting equipment distributor.
Industrial Strength Marketing doesn’t publish its prices or contract terms.
What SEO costs an industrial distributor
SEO for an industrial distributor starts at $1,500 to $2,600 a month at the agencies on this list that publish a price. Agencies that bundle SEO with design or a HubSpot program start at $5,500 a month or don’t publish a number.
| Agency | Lowest published SEO price | Contract |
|---|---|---|
| Write Good Code | $1,500 a month, AI search included | Month to month |
| OuterBox | $2,000 a month | Month to month |
| SmartSites | $2,600 a month | Not published |
| Windmill Strategy | $5,500 a month, with design | No minimum published |
To see what a website, SEO and ads cost together for a distributor, read what marketing costs a ventilation distributor.
How long SEO takes for an industrial distributor
SEO for an industrial distributor shows its first new leads in about 2 to 4 months, in our experience. Knape Associates had 2 leads a month when we started and 17 a month by month 4. RWA Ventilation spent 9 months with a nationwide agency and made zero sales, and 6 months after switching to us its organic traffic was up 239%.
What to ask an SEO agency before you hire one
Consider asking these 4 questions when you talk to an agency.
- How will you write product pages that beat the manufacturer’s own page?
- Where do stock, lead time and the shipping cutoff go on each page?
- Which product lines would you start with, and why those?
- Who owns the product pages if we leave?
The third question tells you the most.
Want to know which of your product lines would rank first? See if we’re a good fit, and we’ll look at your catalog and tell you honestly.
Client results
-
Knape Associates
in 4 months
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RWA Ventilation
in 6 months
-
Heinlein Supply
in ad spend, and a record revenue year
Questions we get
How do industrial distributors outrank the manufacturers they sell for?
An industrial distributor outranks its manufacturers by writing a better page for each product than the manufacturer has. That page adds what the buyer needs from a distributor: stock, lead time, the cutoff for same-day shipping, and which models replace each other. Knape Associates now shows up above the manufacturers it distributes for their own product names.
Should a distributor put prices on its website for SEO?
A distributor doesn't need prices on its website to rank, but it needs a clear next step on every product page. Where you can't publish a price, a quote request button on the product page works. Buyers add items to a list and send it, and your inside sales team answers with the price.
Is SEO or Google Ads better for an industrial distributor?
An industrial distributor does best running Google Ads and SEO together, in our experience, then shifting spend as pages rank. Heinlein Supply now keeps about $38,500 a year it used to pay Google for ads, because more buyers find it through search. Ads cover the products that don't rank yet.
Can a distributor with 20,000 SKUs do SEO on every product?
A distributor with 20,000 SKUs should write full pages for its best-selling and highest-margin product lines first, not every SKU at once. The rest keep a clean page with the part number, specs and stock as text.