Reviews
Part of Getting Local SEO for Small Businesses Right the First Time
Sterling Sky Versus Whitespark for Local SEO Agency Work
Sterling Sky and Whitespark both publish local SEO scopes and starting prices, so compare the two on written scope, ownership, reporting and exit terms.
What to take away
- Call Whitespark first for one locationmanaged profile work, website fixes, review strategy and citation cleanup in one place.
- Call Sterling Sky first for home services, several locations, or a profile problem you cannot clear. The work is a custom plan.
- Neither publishes an audited result. Ask for the baseline, the period and the denominator behind any number.
- Typical US single-location retainers run about $500 to $2,500 a month, with setup billed separately. A category range, not a quote.
- Keep the profile, domain and analytics account in your own name. The checklist that starts with ownership lists what to hold.
Which one fits your business
Whitespark fits the single-location owner with no agency history. Its service page sells managed profile and website optimization, review strategy, monthly reporting, and citation and listing work. Citations are also a product line the company maintains.
Sterling Sky fits the messier account. Its service page sells audits, custom work plans, reporting, and profile and website work for single-location, multi-location and service-area businesses. Positioning points at home services and at a named strategist, not a support queue.
Both are Canadian firms that take US clients, so quotes may arrive in two currencies with different tax treatment.
What each shop sells
Read this as scope, not quality. Each cell comes from the agency's own service page.
Sterling Sky vs Whitespark
Sterling Sky
- Published scope
- Custom local SEO, audits
- Commercial check
- Confirm starting price
- Evidence request
- Methods, team, references
- Control
- Ownership, written exit
Whitespark
- Published scope
- Profile, website, reviews
- Commercial check
- Confirm plan, add-ons
- Evidence request
- Claims, denominators, team
- Control
- Ownership, data exports
Sterling Sky
- Core offer
- Audits and custom work plans
- Who does the work
- Named strategist
- Listings and citations
- Handled inside the plan
- Review strategy
- Not a standalone line
- Best fit
- Home services, multi-location
Whitespark
- Core offer
- Managed profile and website work
- Who does the work
- Named team roles
- Listings and citations
- A listed service line
- Review strategy
- A listed service line
- Best fit
- Single location, first hire
Costs and what the plan includes
Both quote a monthly arrangement rather than a fixed project fee. Typical US single-location retainers run about $500 to $2,500 a month, with audit or setup billed on top. Those are category ranges, not either shop's published figure.
Ask for four numbers: monthly fee, one-time setup, included hours, and the trigger that moves you into the next tier. Then ask what month one produces.
Multi-location work is usually priced per location, so ask how the second and the fifth are charged.
A promised timeline means little without a baseline. Read what local SEO benchmarks mean for a small business before you accept one.
Ownership and exit terms to settle first
Ownership is the step owners skip. Before you sign, get four answers in writing.
Ownership and exit terms
- Who holds the Google Business Profile listing and the manager permissions.
- How reports and raw data leave, and in what format.
- Notice period, final invoice and any handover fee.
- Which page edits, citations and accounts survive the split.
If a shop will not name these, that answer decides the choice.
Example: one brief, two proposals
Send both agencies the same five answers.
One brief, two proposals
- One location, one city, one map pack problem, one result inside 90 days.
- Your accessGoogle Business Profile, site CMS, analytics, call tracking.
- A monthly budget range, and what that range buys at their shop.
- Who does the work, how many accounts they carry, and what happens in week one.
- What you keep if you leave, including profile ownership and a data export.
Identical briefs produce proposals you can score side by side. The Google Business Profile tactics comparison explains which profile elements belong under your own login.
Where the models diverge
Whitespark maintains its own citation and review tools, so the listing cleanup you buy runs on software the same company keeps current. That matters after a move, a rebrand or a duplicate-listing mess.
Sterling Sky sells the consultant. A custom work plan means the analysis follows your account instead of a template, which suits owners who expect to talk to the person reading their data.
Neither is a full-service advertising shop. Paid search, media buying and print sit outside both retainers, so budget for them separately.
The two also differ on evidence. Whitespark's page leans on its own tool data and performance claims. Sterling Sky's public material leans on named staff and account work.
Ask how many accounts the person assigned to you carries, and what happens when they take leave.
Check the tool side against what you would actually use, with which local SEO tools earn their fee.
A suspended profile is the fastest test of an agency's capacity. Ask for the response window before you sign, not after.
Claims, reviews and the rules
US advertising law expects a reasonable basis for objective claims before they run. That FTC advertising substantiation policy applies to a local SEO shop's public performance statements.
Review requests sent to Canadian customers count as commercial electronic messages. The official CASL guidance sets consent and unsubscribe rules for them, and a US mailing address does not remove the obligation.
Fake reviews, selective review requests and conditioned incentives fall under FTC guidance for marketers using reviews, which covers the review strategy either agency would run.
