Search engine optimization (SEO) is often reputed to be a cheap marketing strategy, but high-value work can require a large investment. Dave Colgate of agency Vertical Leap looks at the right investment options.
Not sure how much you should spend on search engine optimization (SEO)? Let’s take a look at how to set the right budget considering how much other companies are spending. prize. Elements that need to be budgeted for. Minimum cost recommended for small businesses just getting started with SEO.
How Much Do Companies Spend on SEO?
Marketing budgets have been impacted by Covid-19, but industry reports show businesses are returning to pre-pandemic levels. According to Oracle’s Top Marketing Trends report, 64% of companies planned to increase their budgets in 2022.
Meanwhile, according to Gartner’s State of Marketing Budget and Strategy 2022, businesses are spending 9.5% of their revenue on marketing this year, up from 6.4% in 2021.
The same study found that companies spend 8.5% of their marketing budget on SEO, topping the list of “free channels.”
Gartner’s insights are heavily supported by StrategiQ’s The Marketing Budgets Report 2022. This shows that the company will spend his 10% of total revenue on marketing in 2022. The company also spends 10.5% of its marketing budget on his SEO, up from Gartner’s 8.5%.
A report from StrategiQ found that small businesses spend a greater percentage of their revenue on marketing.
StrategiciQ’s report includes fewer channels than Gartner. This is an important point because the fewer channels you have to spread your marketing, the more you will spend on SEO. So, well over 10.5% of marketing spend he can spend on SEO if he spends absolutely no marketing budget on live events, digital audio ads, or other channels.
What is your SEO budget spent on?
When setting an SEO budget, it’s important to understand how your spending will be allocated across your core activities.
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analysis: Insights that inform every part of your SEO strategy and reveal your greatest opportunities.
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Content production: All content we create and optimize for ranking in search engines.
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On-page SEO: Optimize your web pages and content for maximum search visibility.
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Off-page SEO: Optimize off-page signals using link building, content placement (e.g. guest blogs), reviews, and other off-site factors.
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Technical SEO: Optimizing and maintaining the technical performance of the website (load times, link profiles, URLs, etc.).
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SEO tech stack: Tools for every stage of your SEO strategy: analysis, competitive research, content planning, content production, and more.
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Agency/consultant fee: Any SEO services required from an agency or consultant.
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outsourcing: Tasks outsourced to freelancers or external resources, such as content creation, copywriting, web design, etc.
That Oracle report found something else: 82% of companies were planning to change their marketing tech stack in 2022.
In today’s data-driven marketing environment, this is one of the most important aspects of your SEO budget. With the right tech stack, improving the quality of your insights, automating tasks, and seizing opportunities earlier than your competitors can greatly improve his ROI on SEO costs.
If you don’t have the budget or resources to build a competitive SEO tech stack, it’s worth considering an agency that has already developed its own tech stack. Get class-leading SEO technology at a fraction of the price by partnering with the right agency.
Maximize ROI with Effective SEO Strategies
In 2019, Backlinko published a survey asking US business owners about their experiences with SEO services. The study revealed that businesses spending $500 or more per month were 53.3% more likely to be “extremely satisfied” with their results.
As a general rule, I advise small businesses that it’s hard to get meaningful SEO traction for less than £800 (about $1000) a month. Considering all the costs we saw in the previous section (analytics, content creation, SEO tools, etc.), this is not a big deal.
Clearly, big companies should expect to spend more, but it’s not just a matter of spending more to get better results.
Spending wisely is just as important as setting the right budget. Every business can maximize ROI with an effective SEO strategy that uses data science to identify and prioritize opportunities.
If you want to increase your online visibility, we can analyze your current SEO status for free and provide a quote. Click here for more information.
