What’s included
Search now happens in two places: the results page and the AI answer. We work both. The audit tells us where you stand, the technical fixes free up what’s stuck, and the content earns the rankings and mentions everything else depends on.
Focus areas · Full-funnel marketing
Technical & on-page audit
Can Google read your site, how fast is it, how is it organized, and which pages are doing the real work. A full read on where you stand before anything gets touched.
On-page SEO
Page titles, headings and content tuned to what your customers actually search for, not what a keyword tool wishes they searched for.
Technical SEO
Site speed, crawl errors, structured data and the behind-the-scenes fixes that unlock rankings no amount of writing can reach.
Local SEO
Your Google Business Profile, directory listings and local pages, built to win the map results, which is where most Grand Strand buying decisions start.
Content production
Useful content that earns rankings instead of chasing them. Researched, edited by a person, and published on a steady schedule.
AI visibility (GEO/AEO)
The content, structured data and mentions that get you named and recommended inside ChatGPT and AI search results. The full story →
Authority & citations
The mentions and links from other sites that move rankings, and that AI engines lean on when deciding who to name.
Plain-English reporting
Rankings, traffic and the leads that follow, not vanity charts. You’ll know which pages earn their keep. How we report →
What a month looks like
The complaint we hear most about SEO retainers: “I don’t know what they do every month.” Here’s a typical month with us. Every item below shows up in your report by name.
Crawl errors, speed, broken pages. Fixed where we can, flagged where it needs your call.
A set number each month: titles, headings, internal links. Each one named in the report.
Pieces aimed at the searches you should own. Drafted with AI, finished by a strategist, approved by you.
Where you moved in rankings and AI answers, what we touched, what’s next. Readable in five minutes.
The tools behind the work
How we compare
Same service, different habits. This is the side-by-side we’d want to see if we were the ones buying.
The typical agency
- “Request a proposal” to hear a price
- A monthly dashboard export
- AI answers sold as a separate add-on, if offered at all
- Work handed to a fulfillment team you’ll never meet
- “Page one in 90 days” guarantees
- Terms you find in the fine print
Southern Tide Media
- Prices published right on this page
- Plain-English reports with an itemized work log
- AI answers built into every search program
- The people you talk to run the work, on AI systems we built
- No ranking guarantees, and we’ll tell you exactly why
- Plain-English scope, with any setup work disclosed up front
Where it starts
From $995/moFull SEO campaignsTechnical, content and authority work for when you’re ready to compete for the hard keywords. AI Visibility is included at this tier, so you never buy it twice.
How pricing worksHow pricing works
Two levels of search, priced separately. AI answers are the modern basics. Classic SEO is the bigger fight for competitive keywords, and you pick it when you’re ready. For context, typical agency retainers nationally run $1,500 to $5,000 a month, and most agencies won’t tell you a number without a call.
Technical, content and authority work for when you’re ready to compete for the hard keywords. AI Visibility is included at this tier, so you never buy it twice.
The modern basics: getting recommended inside AI search and answers. Starts with a $499 one-time audit. Managed+ at $899/mo adds content and schema production plus competitor tracking.
Researched, on-brand, edited by a person and optimized for both kinds of search. Two posts a month run $495, and every plan from Growth up has posts built in.
Bundling is cheaper than buying the pieces.
See plans & pricingHow long it takes
What to expect
SEO builds on itself. Anyone promising page one in two weeks is selling something else. Here’s what the first year usually looks like.
Audit, technical fixes and on-page work. This is the plumbing every ranking after it depends on. Nobody sees it, and it’s worth the most.
Content publishes and links and mentions build on a steady schedule. Rankings start moving on the searches that bring buyers.
The content library earns mentions, the map results settle, and the AI engines start naming you. Organic search becomes your cheapest channel.
Who we help
Full-service for everyone, specialists where it counts. These aren’t a menu. They’re the industries on our client roster today, and each one searches differently.
Hospitality & Resort
Direct-booking searches the big travel sites bid on, won without paying for them.
Explore →E-commerce & DTC
Product and category pages that rank, and content that feeds them.
Explore →Medical & Med Spa
Local treatment searches, answered with copy that stays inside the rules.
Explore →Outdoor & Recreation
Category content that outranks a bigger competitor with a bigger budget.
Home Services & B2B
Service-area pages, plus the longer research content B2B buyers read before they call.
Legal & Professional
Local searches from people ready to hire, where one ranking pays for the year.
Chambers & Nonprofits
Community organizations that need to be easy to find, not fancy.
Restricted categories
When the ad platforms limit you, organic search carries the load.
When you win, we win
Real clients, real numbers. Ratios and rankings, sourced, with each client’s sign-off.
Outbidding the category leader — at a 5.9× return
2023 – 2026
A 599% return in a category Google restricts
2023 – present
Thirteen years of showing up with the numbers
2013 – present
Don’t take our word for it
“The Southern Tide Media team has smartly positioned itself as partners, versus “vendors.” Each step along the strategic path, I feel as if they are “all in” and have our best interests at heart.”
“Southern Tide Media increased our conversion rates on our SEO campaigns by 60% in short time… Brandon takes the worry out of all the technical jargon and translates that into workable applications you can understand as a business owner.”
“In every dealing I have ever had with Brandon Evans, he has been knowledgeable, fair, and has responded quickly. I would highly recommend using him for any of your business’s marketing or advertising needs!”
Questions, answered
What’s the difference between SEO and AI Visibility?
Classic SEO wins the search results page. AI Visibility (GEO/AEO) wins the answer when someone asks ChatGPT or Google’s AI instead. They share a foundation, so full SEO campaigns include AI Visibility, and AI Visibility Managed is in every plan from Growth up. Full breakdown on the AI Visibility page.
Do you guarantee rankings?
No, and be wary of anyone who does. We guarantee the work, report the movement, and let the numbers speak for themselves.
Who actually writes the content?
AI speeds up the research and the first drafts. A strategist decides what gets published, and an editor reads every piece before it goes out. Nothing ships unreviewed.
Is local SEO included?
Yes. Your Google Business Profile, directory listings and the local pages that win the map results are part of the engagement, because that’s where most local buying decisions start.
Is SEO still worth it now that people ask ChatGPT?
Yes. It got repriced, not replaced. Google still carries most searches that end in a purchase, and AI engines recommend businesses based largely on the same things good SEO builds. The scoreboard just has a second column now: where you rank, and whether AI names you. We work both.
Why hire an agency instead of doing it in-house?
A good in-house SEO hire costs more per year than our program, and then still needs tools, content help and time to learn your market. We show up with the tools built and a decade of pattern recognition. At enterprise scale, in-house starts to make sense, and we’ll tell you if you’re there.
What happens if I stop?
Everything we built stays yours. The content, the fixes and the structured data live on your site, not ours. Rankings you’ve earned don’t vanish overnight; they just stop growing without upkeep. Nothing about our work is rented.
Do you lock me into a long contract?
Our agreements are plain English. Scope, price and any bundled setup work are disclosed up front, and where setup is folded into a monthly rate, we say so, with the payoff schedule in writing. After any initial term, everything runs month to month with 30 days’ notice. We’d rather earn next month than lock you in. No fine print, no surprise exit math.