Digital ad spend will reach an estimated $325 billion in 2019 and is expected to grow to $389 billion in 2021 after a short hiatus due to COVID-19.
Perhaps your SEO budget will contribute to that. But how much should you spend on SEO services?
please do not worry. You are not alone. Digital is a primary marketing channel for many companies. That said, many owners and executives still struggle to budget for online marketing.
Developing a winning strategy and pricing it appropriately is just as difficult for providers.
Simply put, it’s a matter of positioning. How does your website compare to your competitors? The most important variables in determining your SEO budget are where you are and how fast you want to progress.
expectations and reality
A recent study found that less than half of all small businesses allocate funds to SEO. For companies investing in SEO services, it averages just under $500 per month.
After all, SEO is one of those things that really pays off.
Businesses making more than $500 a month are 53.3% more likely to be “extremely satisfied”.
Is it surprising that so many business owners are reluctant to invest in SEO? Most business owners don’t know how search marketing works. They are too busy running their business to spend time learning SEO.
Most businesses have a standardized step-by-step process to get from point A to point B.
Many people think SEO works in the same way. They treat it as a commodity and fall prey to $99/month “guaranteed page 1” spammers and scammers.
cheap SEO costs
I belong to several internet marketing groups on Facebook. The number of newbies who pretend to be SEO experts and take on clients is truly frightening.
It’s not uncommon to see questions like: [keyword x] – What do I have to do? “
The second closest is using linking schemes, especially private blog networks, without explaining the risks to your clients.
If business owners are just wasting their money by hiring incompetent SEOs, that’s good enough. Unfortunately, the collateral damage of “cheap SEO” can be even more severe.
It can draw a Google penalty and virtually wipe out your website’s visibility on the web.
Business owners should keep in mind that they are ultimately responsible for the SEO work performed on their site. They should discuss the specific tactics to be used before signing the contract.
Resource management
Google utilizes over 200 (probably exponentially more) ranking factors, so it’s easy to get intimidated or paralyzed.
the good news is you You can still beat it if you focus on just 3 elementsregardless of niche.
Here’s what you need to pay attention to:
1. Information architecture
Your site is:
2. Content
Site content must adhere to the best practices disclosed in the Search Quality Rating Guidelines.
3. Backlink
Manage what you measure – set goals
Before setting a budget, you should define specific goals for your campaign.
Goals should include measurable results, defined timeframes, and actual measures of success.
In the past, success was measured solely by keyword rankings. SERP is still an important metric, but not the most important metric.
I would argue that the most important metrics are those that have a direct impact on your bottom line. Organic sessions, goal conversions, and revenue fall into that category.
Goal setting includes improving organic sessions by X%, increasing conversions by Y% per month, and/or increasing revenue by Z%.
When setting goals, it’s important to keep a few things in mind.
First, it must be achievable. Stretch goals are fine, but pie-in-the-sky benchmarks can actually act as a disincentive.
Equally important, you need to give your campaign time to work.
According to Google, “…in most cases, SEO takes four months to a year for a business to first implement improvements and see potential benefits.”
budgeting
Your goals determine the tactics you need to succeed. This sets the framework for creating an action plan and the budget needed to support that plan.
This allows you to pay attention to and place the factors that drive the dial.
Your answers to these questions will determine your priorities as well as the amount of work required to reach your goals.
In many cases, the actual work performed is the same regardless of budget level. The difference is the amount of work done.
If you add twice as much content and twice as many links at budget level “B” versus budget level “A”, you are more likely to find early success with a higher budget.
Having said that, A good budget is a budget that you can afford. At least 6 months, ideally 12 months without losing sleep.
Properly planning, executing, and fine-tuning a campaign to measure its success takes time.
Also keep in mind that the lower the budget, the longer the trip.
How much can you expect SEO to cost?
If you hire a top SEO firm to run your local campaigns, expect to pay upwards of $500.00 per month.
Domestic or international campaigns require a minimum budget of $2,500 to $5,000 per month.
Some companies offer low-cost “trial packages” without a contract. This gives prospective customers the opportunity to test the service with minimal risk.
If you can’t afford to maintain a top-tier SEO pro, you have a few options. The most common is a one-time website SEO audit with actionable recommendations.
Simply fixing your website can often result in a significant increase in organic traffic. Content development and keyword analysis are other areas where you can get professional help for a one-time flat fee.
Another option is to become an expert and do it yourself.
SEO Cost Calculator – Measure Your Organic Search (SEO) ROI
Below is a calculator commonly used to (mis)measure your SEO return on investment.
Organic search ROI calculation assuming “one shot”
| Example: Selling Blue Widgets | |
| Number of new customers acquired through organic search in a given month | Ten |
| Average net profit per order (profit) | $100 |
| Total profit from new organic search customers for a given month | $1,000 |
| Monthly marketing budget (cost) | $2,500 |
| Monthly profit from new customers ($1,000) divided by monthly organic marketing spend ($2,500) | ROI = -60% |
The drawback of the above calculator is that lifetime value of new customers.
Online retailers need repeat business to grow. Without calculating the lifetime value of new customers, her true ROI is greatly underestimated.
The correct way to calculate ROI is to incorporate lifetime value into the calculator as shown below.
ROI calculation for organic search assuming lifetime value
| Same example: blue widget sale | |
| Number of new customers acquired through organic search in a given month | Ten |
| Average net profit per order (profit) | $100 |
| Total profit from new organic search customers for a given month | $1,000 |
| Average number of orders per customer over a “lifetime” | Five |
| Total Average Lifetime Earnings | $5,000 |
| Monthly marketing budget (cost) | $2,500 |
| Average lifetime profit from new customers ($5,000) divided by monthly organic marketing spend ($2,500) | ROI = 200% |
As you can see, that one variable is Huge Differences in how ROI is described.
Takeaway
Unlike PPC, organic search campaigns don’t produce immediate results. His comprehensive SEO campaign includes a combination of technical SEO, content marketing and link building.
Even if executed perfectly, it will take time for Google to recognize and reward these efforts.
That said, the traffic we get from these efforts is often the most consistent and highest converting across all channels.
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