How Much Should You Budget for SEO Services?
We have been pretty busy here during Q3 at 3plains, so I figured I would at least post a good article. I read a variety of SEO, marketing and industry related online publications and this point jumped out at me and I thought was quite relevant to 3plains customers - "A recent survey reported that less than half of all small businesses have an SEO budget."
That statistic doesn't surprise me, but it's very alarming for a variety of reasons. The most important reason being, do small businesses understand SEO and realize the impact it can have on the growth of their business? The answer after my 15+ years as a SEO is... no, they don't.
Here's another point the article made: "Of those with an SEO budget, the majority (17 percent) spent less than $100/month. That’s right – 71 percent of small businesses budget $0 – $99/month for SEO. Here’s the breakdown for the week of July 25 – Aug 1, 2018 (a pretty typical week):
SEO Budget- This is why your inbox is spammed with promises of guaranteed first-page results for $99. SEO spammers know the market. Their promise of first page results is hard to resist. And let’s face it; most business owners have no idea how SEO works. They are far too busy running their businesses to spend time learning SEO."
What does SEO Cost?
I think the whole SEO sales process has become a joke and filled with snake oil. I could go on and on about how the digital industry such as Godaddy suckers you in for so called cheap SEO services and how SEO is misunderstood as a word and a service. A lot of SEO services are sold as a DIY product for $99/month or something around that range. Then when 3plains quotes a SEO price it's sticker shock. It's total nonsense- SEO is manual labor and hard work. Quoting the article again, which I really agree with:
"That said, the right budget is one you can afford, without losing sleep, for a minimum of four (and ideally 12) months. It takes time to properly plan, implement and tweak a campaign in order to evaluate its success. Also, the lower the budget, the longer the journey. How Much Can You Expect to Spend on SEO? If you are hiring a top-level SEO company to execute a local campaign, expect to pay $500+ per month."
Examples
There are a variety of agencies that will pitch you $100 to $10,000 USD per month. There are so many prices out there it's become a joke.
A SEO I respect is John Romaine at SEO Point in Australia. Take a gander at his prices: https://www.seopoint.com.au/pricing/ I also really respect is no bullshit approach.
Questions?
I like to work with business owners who are serious about their marketing, sales and business. Even if your overall revenue is low, as long as you understand a percentage of your gross revenue needs to be put into marketing (or SEO), you are a great candidate to work with. Working with business owners who care about what we do, makes the job enjoyable for both parties. If you are serious, please give us a call and we would love to work with you. Call 3plains at 612-716-2060 or email us.
Full article can be found here: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/seo-cost-calculator/264305/
Posted in: SEO / SEM