The vast majority of small businesses invest in search engine optimization (SEO). Every organization has unique needs, so the amount you should put toward SEO will depend on your niche and business. Still, there are several things to consider when determining how to allot your budget. Keep reading to check how much should you spend on SEO, the cost to pay, and the budget.
Determining Your Budget
Optimizing for search engines takes time and money, and you’ll need to make sure you allot enough of your budget to this. One way of getting the funding you need is by taking out a small business loan. Taking advantage of business loans can give you enough money to pay for a quality marketing strategy.
Dedicate a Portion of the Overall Marketing Budget
Commit to setting aside a certain amount of the overall marketing budget. The specific portion will depend on how much you rely on organic traffic from search engine results. If you specialize in e-commerce, you might need more search engine traffic than an organization that specializes in in-person sales.
You can also determine to set aside a certain dollar amount for this. Know that just because you set aside a certain amount of the budget doesn’t mean you have accounted for your specific needs. If you base the budget on what you feel like you can afford, you might not see meaningful results. In many cases, you get what you pay for, and low-budget SEO and cost to pay are no exception.
See What the Competition Is Doing To Learn How Much Spend SEO, Costs to Pay and Budget
If you have competitors that target specific keywords aggressively, you may need to do keyword research of your own and commit to more SEO so you can maintain enough organic traffic to see growth. Compare your rankings with the competition and determine whether you may be losing too many customers to them.
This does help you understand how much you need to put into SEO and cost to pay, but it may not take you all the way there. You will also need to determine what type of budget will help you outrank others in similar businesses.
Determine Your Overall Goals
You’ll also want to compare SEO goals with your broader goals, which can help you allot the right amount to your budget. Sit down and think about your potential for organic search results realistically. Do you need organic traffic to meet your sales goals?
Or do you just want to expand awareness of your brand? Having the right expectations can help you make the most of your marketing investment to drive results. It does take a lot of planning to ensure your budget and objectives align, but doing so will help you make sure every dollar counts.
Determine Customer Lifetime Value To Learn How Much Spend SEO, Costs to Pay and Budget
Organic traffic can help with more than just getting one-time customers. If you focus on brand loyalty, retention, and customer satisfaction, you’ll see a higher return on your investment. Taking this approach can determine your customer lifetime value. This is simply the amount you will potentially earn from each long-term customer. Perhaps one page receives 10,000 visitors each month. If even 1 percent of these visitors convert, you receive 100 customers each month.
If each customer’s lifetime value is $1,000, that particular page is worth $100,000. This figure can help you determine how much you should spend optimizing that page. If you want to increase traffic by 10 percent, you’ll receive another 1,000 visitors each month. That will equal 10 new customers, which would be a $10,000 customer lifetime value you can then use to relate to your budget.
Determine How Effective Each Type of SEO is
You may budget SEO in terms of pay per click and then spend more on the strategies that are more effective. Many companies spend more on pay per click, but SEO tends to generate more traffic. Still, it is important to look over your own data and compare it to your return on investment. Your budget should be in alignment with your return.
Pay per click can give you fast results, but as soon as you quit ads, the number of people you are reaching will drop. But if you optimize your site and it ranks well, you can start to build momentum, driving traffic over many months or years. As your business needs evolve, you may consider implementing a mix of both strategies.
