Then, take a deeper dive into your competition’s SEO efforts, including their technical strength, content quality and depth, optimization tactics and backlink profile.
Estimate the resources required to compete.
Secondly, figure out how fast you want to compete. Most SEO programs take several months up to a year to see measurable SEO results.
This can vary depending on how competitive the niche and keywords are.
If you want slow growth, you’ll use a smaller budget over a longer period of time. Or perhaps you have the ability to launch a more aggressive campaign for six months to start.
Remember that the factors that influence how fast you’ll see results include the health of your site, the competition and whether you take action.
Tip: Regularly benchmark your competitors’ SEO activities to ensure your budget aligns with the level of competition you’re up against.
For more, you can check out my articles here at Search Engine Land:
4. Establish what stakeholders want and report your wins
If you want to secure, keep and grow your SEO budget, here are some things to consider on an ongoing basis:
Know the goals of the people controlling the budget. Try to align your SEO proposal with their goals. Jim Yu has a piece on communicating with the C-suite worth checking out here on Search Engine Land.
Educate stakeholders on the value of SEO. The truth is some stakeholders may not know much more about SEO beyond terms like “link building,” “rankings” and “Google.” Make sure to support your recommendations with advice from search engines like Google, too.
Report your wins. Nothing is better at securing a budget than showing how the SEO strategy is driving the KPIs that matter to the company.
Tip: Use visual reporting tools like dashboards or charts to make SEO progress tangible for stakeholders.
Dig deeper: How to use SEO education for stakeholder management
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5. Map your priorities
Don’t plan a road trip without a map, and don’t plan an SEO budget without clear priorities.
Aligning your budget with your main SEO goals ensures your dollars drive results.
For example, is building brand authority most important, or driving sales for seasonal products or services? Or maybe you want to enter into a new market segment or dominate the SERP features.
Remember: Not all SEO efforts have the same timeline or price tag. Split your efforts into:
Short-term wins: These are actions that will provide quick results.
Long-term investments: These activities require consistent effort but pay off big.
An initial SEO audit should uncover what the quick wins and long-term investments would be.
Tip: Focus on SEO initiatives that align directly with business goals, and revisit your roadmap quarterly to adjust.
Dig deeper: How to create SMART SEO goals (with examples)
6. Adjust the budget based on performance
Being rigid with your budget allocations doesn’t leave you room to pursue what’s working and ditch what’s not.
For instance, maybe one keyword has lost traction, or one type of content strategy is really driving success.
Or perhaps a product page is seeing a surge in organic traffic but no conversions. You might reallocate the budget toward CRO efforts.
To keep your finger on the pulse, track performance. Conduct monthly and quarterly reviews to gather and analyze data.
And be willing to let go of underperforming tactics – even if you’ve sunk a large chunk of your budget into them.
Tip: Create a dynamic budget where a portion of funds is reallocated quarterly based on what’s delivering the best results.
7. Be flexible with unforeseen costs
Imagine you’re on a basketball team, and the rules of the game require that the basket keeps moving across the court. That’s SEO.
SEO is a moving target. Algorithms change, competition changes, socioeconomic factors come into play and more.
Anything that can happen likely will happen, so having some flexibility in your budget for times such as these is important.
For example:
A Google algorithm change might require adjustments to your content strategy or technical fixes to maintain rankings.
A surprise collaboration with an industry influencer could drive high-impact results.
A security breach could demand immediate attention and resources.
Consider setting aside 10% to 15% of your SEO budget for emergencies or opportunities.
At the end of a quarter or a year, review your “rainy day” budget to see how much was used and how you used it. This is good data moving forward.
Tip: Make continuing education a part of your SEO strategy so you can monitor industry updates and anticipate potential disruptions, staying proactive rather than reactive.
Dig deeper: How much does SEO really cost
8. Assess the ROI of your SEO investment
Results can sometimes take time, and they should be demonstrable. I have seen many sites with a long list of deliverables without any quantifiable set of measurements.
“I will edit eight pages per month” is not ROI and is obviously easy to perform.
That said, many companies/people claiming to do SEO simply punch down a list of tasks without any results other than the fact that you paid for the tasks to be done.
The single most important metric for SEO success will be a growth in organic traffic over time.
Tip: Use cohort analysis to measure how SEO-driven leads or customers perform over time compared to other channels.
In summary, successfully managing an SEO budget is a big task. Overspending can drain resources without delivering results, while underinvesting can leave you falling behind the competition.
When you view your SEO budget as a flexible, results-driven tool, you’ll help your business remain competitive in the search results no matter what comes your way.
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