SEO represents a large world of different strategies and angles, so it’s hard to know how to budget properly.
There’s content marketing. There’s link building. There’s social media marketing. There’s onsite optimization. There’s design. There’s local review cultivation. There’s brand mentions. There’s guest blogging.
There seems to be no limit to the number of strategies that all funnel in to improve your search rankings. Managing all of them can be a logistical headache and a financial nightmare, especially considering the fact that, as a general rule, the more you put into these strategies, the more you’ll get out of them.
However, there are a few simple tricks you can use to keep your budget—both from a financial and effort standpoint—under control:
Understand your main goals
First, think carefully about what your main goals actually are, and select the strategies that will cater to those goals. Are you focused on improving your reputation? Content marketing and offsite guest blogging should be your main stars. Are you more concerned about generating traffic as quickly as possible? Link building and onsite optimization perfection are good first steps. Are you more interested in edging out a competitor? Mirror their strategies and try to one-up them.
Know your place
Not everyone can compete at a national level, and not everyone can compete in a general industry. Focusing on a niche, either in your industry or from a geographic standpoint, can help you set a proper budget. Generally, the more you narrow your niche, the smaller audience you’ll receive, but the less money you’ll have to spend.
Make adjustments
Your first few months of executing an SEO strategy will be uncertain and unpredictable. Even if you’ve balanced your budget carefully, you’ll likely find your results defying your expectations, one way or another. Take the strategies that seem to be the most effective for your brand and pour more money into them, while cutting off the strategies that aren’t doing as well.
With these strategies in place, you’ll have a much easier time dedicating a proper budget for your SEO campaign. If you need help throughout the process, feel free to contact us.
