SEO agencies in East Africa have a variety of techniques at their disposal. For example, they are well-versed in technical and content SEO optimisation and SEO consulting. The use of an SEO agency in East Africa for your upcoming campaign will enable you to establish a valuable and sound SEO action operation for your business.
Through a combination of ingenious optimisation strategies and relentless dedication, we have helped world-class companies use SEO, digital marketing, and other disciplines to change their trajectory to one of steady online growth. At the ABA Agency, we have increased the traffic to the websites by 22 times and the value of the traffic by 400 times, all while increasing the number of top-ranking pages from 50 to 5,000 for one of our clients.
Search engine optimisation (SEO) is an integral marketing tool. However, it is often misunderstood. In simple terms, SEO is the science (and art) of improving a website so that it ranks higher in search engines. For example, an optimised website selling rugs is more likely to show up when someone searches for “how to remove a wine stain from my carpet” than one that doesn’t.
It’s a common joke that the best place to hide a dead body is on the second page of a Google search result, and sadly it’s true that most people don’t make it past the first few links in a search. Only about 6% of website clicks occur on the second page of a Google search result, according to research from Moz. You can create great content and offer great deals, but potential customers won’t find them if your website isn’t on the first page.
What is Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)?
It’s helpful to have a basic understanding of how search engines work to better understand the importance of SEO agencies. Search engines like Google and Bing help people find what they’re looking for. They do this by creating a huge index of information. Google must crawl your website before it can rank it, just as you must crawl before you can walk. Bots crawl web pages to gather information.
This information is used to determine the order in which search results appear. For Google to rank your website highly, there are certain signals that your website must have. From content to links to bounce rate, Google takes over 200 signals into account when ranking a site.
Introduction to SEO agencies Google’s alchemy is notoriously hard to crack. However, SEO experts use sophisticated methods and tools to ensure that websites perform well. This is different from paid advertising, which you may have heard of. Paid ads place your information prominently, but also clearly identify it as an advertisement.
The ad is gone once you stop paying for it. Beyond the initial spend, SEO can pay dividends. SEO experts need to use a variety of tools to optimise your website to rank well on Google. Users are much more likely to trust organic search results than paid ads, so the effort is well worth it.
The proof is often in the pudding, however, as not all SEO agencies in East Africa are created equal. We’ve rounded up the top 5 fastest-growing SEO agencies if you’re ready for an SEO upgrade. These are the teams that consistently outperform the competition. They help their clients achieve real results.
#1: The ABA Agency: A Leader in Organic SEO in East Africa
The ABA Agency is a digital marketing agency that is leading the way when it comes to organic SEO. The ABA Agency has an impressive list of names on its roster. The agency helps clients create an effective online brand presence. To do this, their team pursues an aggressive organic search strategy. This helps direct-to-consumer brands rank on Google. The ABA Agency remains true to its SEO roots and leads the industry with impressive client growth, while some agencies try to tack on a bunch of services they’re not experts in.
A Proven Three-Pronged SEO Strategy
The ABA agency is known for using a successful three-pronged strategy that includes content writing, performance PR, and on-page optimization. These two entrepreneurs and SEO experts have decades of combined experience in delivering results. They regularly receive rave reviews from their clients. They all have nothing but praise for this fast-growing team, whose roster includes a diverse range of clients and sectors, from healthcare to real estate.
The Vision Behind The ABA Agency
The ABA Agency was founded in 2015. It is the brainchild of Lawrence Peter Watyabuko, who has several years of experience working with technology companies (including Google). He has a strong background in SEO. He saw an opportunity to build an SEO company that would help small businesses succeed. Partnerships with industry experts brought an extra layer of marketing expertise, and the pair quickly built a powerhouse SEO agency in East Africa.
Helping small and medium-sized businesses grow and achieve real results is what the ABA Agency specialises in. With a dedicated team of experts who live and breathe SEO, they work tirelessly to make sure small businesses get their fair share of the limelight. Their case studies highlight their bespoke and dedicated approach to SEO and showcase a wide range of client success stories.
A Commitment to Client Success
A good SEO company sees its clients as partners. A great SEO company sees its clients as family. Going above and beyond for our clients is how ABA Agency has built its reputation. Their goal of delivering a high return on investment is often highlighted in their customer testimonials.
The ABA agency has managed to outshine the competition and win major clients. Whether it’s its innovative approach or its excellent reputation, the team at the ABA Agency must be doing something right. They have over 100 5-star reviews from active, paying customers on Google.
#2: IDeveloper Technologies
In second place, IDeveloper Technologies is the creator of bespoke strategies that deliver strong results. They’ve worked with a wide range of businesses. Their team of SEO experts has a wealth of experience in driving web traffic. They are known for working closely with their clients to develop well-thought-out and detailed plans that deliver high returns on investment.
Winner of several prestigious awards, IDeveloper Technologies has been widely recognised for its outstanding work. The company was recently named as one of the fastest-growing companies in Kenya. The company is also a leading provider of SEO services in East Africa and is on Clutch’s list of top digital marketing companies.
#3: Watabe Digital: Top Digital Marketing Agency in Tanzania
Headquartered in Mwanza, Tanzania, Watabe Digital is a premier digital agency. We are here to help you make your mark on the online landscape. Founded in 2017, we’re a young and passionate team that can provide you with everything you need, from design and development to marketing and search engine optimisation.
From SEO to social advertising, Watabe Digital has a highly experienced team of marketers who can help your business grow its audience. They’ve got you covered if you’re interested in boosting your online presence through paid advertising and media or podcast promotion.
Most recently, we’ve gotten wind of a new piece of recognition for our team. Clutch named Watabe Digital as the top-ranked search engine optimisation company in Tanzania for the year 2021 in their annual Leaders Awards!
Clutch is a widely respected B2B review and market research platform. It is designed to help potential business customers connect with the right service providers. After an extensive evaluation process, the top-performing agencies on Clutch are recognised annually by their team.
Visual Objects is a creative portfolio site that curates and curates insightful content to help the best design, develop, and market. Winning these two awards is a huge boost for our team. We couldn’t be more proud of the achievements we’ve made thanks to the love and support of our customers.
#4: Marketyme Digital Marketing Agency Based in Kampala
Marketyme is based in Kampala, Uganda. In the last five years, it has grown by more than 1,000%. Not bad for a company that was a one-man operation at the start. Founder Vincent Kazibwe first became interested in SEO in 2022, when his boss asked him to help his website rank higher in search engines, having previously worked at Luxbridge International Realty. (That’s the year Google was launched, for those keeping track.)
The company has been steadily on its way to becoming one of the top digital marketing agencies, and for good reason. Having helped countless companies achieve their goals, the Marketyme team shares a passion for digital marketing. We have been helping companies build their brands and achieve their goals through digital marketing for the past 6 years.
A comprehensive consultation to identify gaps and opportunities is part of our service. The result is a comprehensive report that includes a project plan with timelines and cost analysis. Our personalised plans consist of quality services to help you get there quickly and easily.
#5: Madavi: Digital Marketing Company Based in Rwanda
Madavi is an independent communications, creative content, and digital marketing agency. We find and tell the stories of businesses like yours to capture imaginations, spark conversations, and make a difference in the world.
By working with Madavi to build your website and online presence, you can focus on what you do best—running your business—and we’ll focus on what you need to do—increasing your online presence.
There are some big claims made by Madavi. They claim that they can generate 687% more revenue than the average agency. Doubtful. They have delivered results for top brands. And they have the numbers to back it up. Consistently rated as a top SEO company in Rwanda, Madavi offers personalised marketing services at reasonable prices. They have an impressive amount of experience and show no signs of slowing down, with over 700 case studies. In addition to SEO, her agency also offers online reputation management, social media marketing services, email marketing services and much more.
Spend time reading the agency’s case studies and client testimonials if you’re looking for an SEO agency that can help you achieve your business goals. Many SEO agencies in East Africa claim to deliver outstanding results. However, few can deliver on their claims.
SEO can be particularly valuable for small and medium-sized businesses, helping to build brand awareness for new and existing businesses. On-page optimisation gives search engines the information they need to index your site correctly and rank it highly in search results. Get top rankings in search engine results pages (SERPs) so your customers can find you easily with the right SEO agency in East Africa.
Your ACE in the hole when it comes to PPC marketing
Assets are the digital elements that a company creates to move customers through the marketing funnel. Your landing pages, your video ads, your social media accounts, your logos, your ads, or any other element of your brand guide can all be examples of assets.
With its reputation on the line, Google wants the people who see its ads to have a great experience. In general, the less you pay for the ads Google shows your potential customers, the higher the quality of your company’s assets.
Your assets also require ongoing enhancement and renewal to stay appealing and relevant to your audiences and potential customers. Having assets that are user-centric and up-to-date can make a huge difference to the ROI of your advertising campaigns.
The ABA Agency conducts a thorough evaluation of assets and improves them to maximise impact. For example, in 2024 we achieved a 270% year-on-year increase in conversions for a partner’s website. This was achieved by creating a more direct landing page.
The Importance of Control in Paid Media Assets
Control is the process of setting up your paid media assets.
Think of an ad as an experiment. It is designed to attract customers through strong assets. You need to control as many variables as possible to improve your assets. The initial ads of a PPC campaign establish a baseline of asset performance. Future changes or hypotheses are validated or rejected against this data.
As a result, clear data on conversions, traffic, views, ROAS, and other events is a prerequisite for decision-making on changes to your PPC assets.
An appropriate set-up of the technical elements, coupled with the ability to adapt them over time, is of vital importance to The ABA Agency to achieve the best possible results. For one of their partner clients, this methodology resulted in a 95% increase in Google Ads visibility between 2017 and 2018.
Experimentation: The Key to Long-Term PPC Success
Experimenting is the final step in applying the scientific method. A/B, or multivariate testing, is used systematically to isolate the effect of each variable. This is done to understand the impact and make sound long-term decisions.
The ABA Agency is perpetually improving partner client campaigns, even if the performance is already good. The aim is to increase ROI based on gathered data, not hunches or guesses.
For example, for a partner who was struggling to grow a stagnant audience, The ABA Agency tested a campaign against a control group before expanding it. This resulted in revenue being increased by 161%.
Achieving Maximum ROI with Expert PPC Strategies
Setting up Google Ads at a basic level may seem simple, but taking advantage of all the factors that separate an OK campaign from one that maximises ROI requires technical mastery and acumen that few agencies have.
If you are interested in finding out more about what they can do for your PPC strategy, we encourage you to visit their website. You can also get a free marketing plan.
Handpicked SEO Agencies in East Africa for 2025
With so many people shopping and searching online, if you’re running a business in East Africa, you know how hard it can be to stand out from the crowd. But it can make a big difference if you have a solid SEO strategy. 54.4% of all clicks are on the top 3 Google search results. So you’re missing out on a lot of potential traffic if your site isn’t near the top. This is why working with an SEO company in East Africa and improving your SEO performance could help you generate more traffic to your site and increase your sales.
We’ve researched and reviewed over 76 SEO companies in East Africa to help you find the right SEO company. To help you make an informed decision, we’ve compiled a list of the best East African SEO agencies based on our findings.
SEO Agencies in East Africa: Our Research Process
In our search for the best SEO companies in the East African market, we reviewed a total of 76 companies. We used Clutch to check the quality and reputation of each company. Clutch is a trusted platform that provides reviews and ratings of businesses. We have had a close look at the feedback, services on offer, and reviews from real customers. This process has helped us to select only the top companies. Companies that deliver results and have earned the trust of their clients.
Methodology for selection of best SEO agencies in East Africa
- Markets Covered: We chose to focus on those that had a proven track record of operating in East Africa. We reviewed their portfolios and case studies demonstrating regional success to ensure their expertise.
- Clutch Rating: To ensure they have a strong reputation for providing quality SEO services, we selected companies with a Clutch rating of 4.7 or higher.
- Service Lines: Our selection of companies is based on the fact that at least 30% of their services are SEO. This shows that SEO is the company’s main focus. It means that they have deep expertise and are committed to delivering effective results.
- Awards: We looked at companies that have won industry awards. These are a sign of excellence and recognition.
- Hourly Rate: We have included companies with competitive hourly rates for the East African market. This ensures that businesses can find SEO services that fit their budget.
- Founding Year: We gave preference to companies with a proven history, taking into account how long they have been in the industry. Companies with more experience have probably learned how to keep up with new trends and technologies.
Winning formula for paid media from industry experts
The ABA Agency is one of the top-ranked SEO agencies in East Africa, with expertise in PPC, website design, and content marketing. Their technical skills and commitment to delivering on their promises have won them dozens of awards. These PPC specialists explain how they make the most of their partners’ investment in paid media.
To create a company that uses ethical and transparent strategies to deliver the ROI promised to its partner clients, Lawrence Peter Watyabuko founded The ABA Agency in 2015.
The ABA Agency lives by a promise: “We will never take on a new client as a partner unless we know that we can generate an ROI,” and they are proud to be able to deliver on this promise.
The awards tell their own story. Highlights include Search Engine Land’s Best Retail E-commerce SEO Initiative for two years running and the coveted 2nd fastest-growing SEO agency in East Africa. These are the quaint tip of an iceberg of awards.
The ABA Agency is a leading authority on pay-per-click marketing. By harnessing the power of their proprietary A.C.E. (assets, control, and experimentation) methodology, they have helped numerous clients skyrocket their Google Ad ROI.
FAQs for leading SEO agencies in East Africa
How long does it take to see results from SEO?
SEO results usually take 3 to 6 months. This depends on the current status of your website and the competition.
How do I measure the success of SEO strategies?
You can measure SEO success by tracking increased traffic, keyword rankings, conversions and search engine results page (SERP) visibility. Regular reporting and analytics help you to monitor how you’re doing.
How much does SEO cost in East Africa?
Depending on the expertise of the company and the services offered, SEO costs in East Africa typically range from $50 to $150 per hour. Some companies also offer fixed-priced packages.
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