Does Birdeye Help with SEO? What SMBs Need to Know Before Spending $1K/Month?

Birdeye is a platform for managing online reputation, facilitating customer communication, and maintaining consistent business listings. While these features indirectly support local SEO efforts, they don't replace comprehensive SEO strategies that involve content strategy, keyword optimisation, backlink building, Digital PR or other technical website enhancements. Businesses aiming for long-term growth should consider Birdeye only as a tool to support the implementation of the overall SEO strategy.

Running a business means juggling a lot. Marketing often ends up on autopilot, which is why tools like Birdeye feel like a quick win.

Birdeye simplifies your digital presence: reviews, listings, messaging, and social media, all in one place. You start seeing more reviews. Your listings look good. Your social feed is active. It feels like progress. But presence isn’t the same as performance.

Birdeye is a powerful reputation and communication platform, but it’s not an SEO tool. Many business owners assume it covers both. It doesn’t.

This blog breaks down where Birdeye helps, where it doesn’t, and how to think smarter about SEO if your goal is long-term growth.

TLDR: Quick Takeaways

Birdeye's Strengths: Effective for online reputation management, customer feedback collection, and maintaining consistent business listings.

SEO Influence: Indirectly supports local SEO through enhanced listings and positive reviews.

Limitations: Does not provide comprehensive SEO services like keyword optimisation, content creation, or technical website enhancements.

Recommendation: Use Birdeye with dedicated SEO strategies for optimal online visibility and growth.

Let’s start by understanding the basics.

What Is SEO?

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the practice of enhancing a website to increase its visibility when people search for products or services related to a business in search engines like Google. The better visibility a site has in search results, the more likely it is to garner attention and attract prospective customers.

Key Components of SEO:

1. On-Page SEO: Involves optimising individual web pages to rank higher, including content quality, keyword usage, and HTML tags.
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2. Off-Page SEO: Focuses on external factors like backlinks from other websites, social media marketing, and influencer outreach.
   
   
3. Technical SEO: Pertains to website backend optimisations, such as site speed, mobile-friendliness, and structured data.
   
   
4. Local SEO: Targets optimisation for local search results, crucial for businesses serving specific geographic areas.

Effective SEO strategies aim to improve organic (non-paid) search engine rankings, thereby increasing website traffic and potential conversions. Learn more about our approach to digital marketing on our SEO Services page.

What is Birdeye and How Does It Influence SEO

Birdeye is a platform designed to help businesses manage their online reputation and customer communications. Its main features include:

• Review Management: Requesting, collecting, and responding to reviews across platforms.
  
  
• Customer Feedback: Gathering insights through surveys and sentiment analysis.
  
  
• Business Listings: Keeping your business details consistent across 150+ online directories.
  
  
• Messaging: Centralising communication via webchat, SMS, email, and social channels.
  
  
• Social Media Scheduling: Posting and managing content across platforms like Facebook, Google, and Instagram.

These tools can indirectly impact your SEO, especially when it comes to local search:

• Improved Local Listings: Consistent NAP (Name, Address, Phone number) data across directories supports local search accuracy.
  
  
• Positive Reviews: User-generated content like reviews builds trust and improves local map visibility.
  
  
• Customer Engagement: Active responses to reviews and messages can signal authority and responsiveness to search engines.

That said, Birdeye isn’t built to handle full-scale SEO. Things like keyword targeting, content strategy, or technical optimisation. It supports visibility and engagement, but not broader search discoverability.

What Birdeye Doesn’t Do

Birdeye doesn’t help you:

• Rank for key search terms
• Create content that brings traffic
• Improve your site’s speed, structure, or UX
• Convert visitors into leads

Think of it this way:

• A search like “dentist melbourne” triggers a map listing — Birdeye helps here.
• A search like “are braces good for 5-year-olds” needs a blog post — and that’s where Birdeye falls short.

Birdeye's Capabilities in SEO Context

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Why This Matters

Birdeye can cost $400 to $1000+ per month. That’s a serious investment.

And while it improves your visibility, it doesn’t always improve your discoverability or conversions. If your goal is organic growth, you need more than automation — you need strategy.

What to Do Instead

That same budget could go toward:

• SEO Content Strategy - producing content based on what your customers are searching for
• Digital PR - the modern link building
• Google Business Profile optimisation
• Fixing slow, clunky websites
• Boosting conversion paths with better CTAs and forms
• Local SEO tools like BrightLocal or Whitespark

These tactics help you not just get found, but get chosen.

How We Helped One Business Grow with Just the Basics

Take the case study of Magri Cabinets. When they came to us, they had no online presence. No website, no content, no strategy.

We started with the essentials — a fast-loading very simple website, an optimised Google listing, and useful content pages. In just a few months, they were ranking, getting enquiries, and building trust.

Tools offer visibility. Strategy builds growth.

Final Word

Birdeye is great for what it does, i.e. reviews, messaging, and listings. But if you’re counting on it to do your SEO, you’re likely missing the bigger picture.

Sometimes it’s not about adding more tools, it’s about choosing the right approach.

Want an honest look at how your business shows up online?

Reach out to us for a free SEO audit: no jargon, no pressure. Just clear insights tailored to your business. Get in touch with us.