SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is now a well-known concept in the digital world. Every company wants to leave a mark in the online world, acquiring the top position in search engine results. Being on top of SERPs has its own benefits, such as increased sales, more traffic, high conversion rate & leads, high visibility, etc. that online companies always strive for. This is why companies are showing their high interest in winning the SEO game and spending a huge amount to lead this game. Yes. Nowadays, marketers prefer a fixed amount to invest in SEO or hiring an SEO company Melbourne. Still, a question always tickles in a business owner’s mind that “How much should I set my monthly SEO budget?” It’s a commonly asked question every expert scramble for its answers. If you are also one of them, then you are reading the right piece of content as here we have covered all answers to your questions.
This blog post has cultivated a few essential points that would help you set a monthly SEO budget. All these points ensure that you won’t spend extra money that hits your budget hard. So, what are you waiting for?
Take a look at the below-listed points and know how you can control your continuous flow of money on SEO.
Calculate your Overall Marketing Budget
Although there is no clear answer to how much you should set your SEO (Search Engine Optimization) budget as every site and company is different in their own way, the ideal strategies can still lead you to a successful SEO budget. Instead of keep spending until the website delivers you the higher ROI, first, calculate the overall digital marketing budget. Getting a clear picture of your overall marketing budget is not an easy task. Therefore, we bring you a few approaches and methods that you can use for the same. Few are as follows-
- Flat rate dollar approach – This wide-use approach is based on what you can afford. Easy to use and highly accurate.
- Percentage of sales – It’s a popular method, usually 9-12% of the annual budget. This approach gives more accurate data with no bugs.
- Match competitor – Base budget on what competitors are spending to keep up. This approach is less accurate and has a higher parameter of difficulty.
- Marketing plan objective – Budget aligns with objectives, though most logical by most. It’s not easy to use and, at the same time, more accurate.
Now you are aware of several approaches. The next step is to allocate your budget properly in both the traditional and digital portion of marketing. Divide your dollars smartly on those channels, which delivers you high results in traffic and keeps the industry ranking up to the mark.
Set SEO Budget Based on Your Paid Search Spend
The next on our list is to know your paid search spend. PPC (Pay-Per-Click) is another effective digital marketing concept that helps increase the conversion rate and sales of your business. PPC is highly beneficial for businesses to earn high scores in the ad-games, especially Google Adwords, which usually get more clicks. Here, we’ll focus on Google AdWords (or Google Ads) PPC.
Let’s take an example that you set a monthly budget of $10,000 on Google AdWords and not a single penny on SEO. In such a case, if you get 80 percent of clicks in your SERPs, then it is good to say that your SEO budget should be a maximum of four times your PPC budget. You should spend at least 50 percent of your PPC budget on SEO. Such a practice will bring you close to your goals and delivers you high results.
But where should you spend more on SEO? Let’s find it.
In some financial industries such as insurance, mortgage, loans, etc. the cost-per-click can be calculated as high as $60-$100 per click. Here, we would suggest you spend more on SEO as it will maintain your overall marketing budget and avoid the unnecessary flow of cash. You can also take the help of experts at SEO companies and get more tips on this topic.
Where to spend more on PPC?
If you have spare cash to spend to fit in the product market as soon as possible, then spending on PPC dollars more than SEO is not a bad idea.
Base on Real Competitors’ Organic Search Value
Your monthly SEO budget also relies on the competitor’s organic search value. There is an urge among the marketers to defeat their competition in the online battle. Therefore, they compare in every aspect, including organic searches. If you are one of them, then here we want to gain your attention. Let’s take an example;
Let’s say the value of a competitor’s organic traffic is $100k a month, whereas your site has $50k a month. Here you need to decide how much you want to invest in catching up with your competitor or how long you have to wait before you get there. To know these factors or do the proper estimation of organic search value, you can use competitive research tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, or SearchMetrics.
Talking about organic traffic, then it can be easily derived from:
- Estimated organic traffic keyword by keyword, based on keyword rankings and volume of each keyword.
- The cost-per-click (CPC) of each of those keywords.
- Multiply all these estimated values, and you will get a $ value. This resulting value gives you an idea if you were to buy all of this organic traffic via Google AdWords, how much would it cost per month?
- Probably the most accurate way we have so far, but just a dollar value on competitors’ websites, without knowing their internal conversion rates and numbers.
Conclusion
This blog post has covered the top three ideal ways on which the SEO monthly budget highly depends. Keeping these factors in your mind while planning your SEO budget will help you reach your goals without spending extra. Results always look good when you get it in your set budget. Right? Follow these three simple ideal ways. We guarantee that they will help you a lot.
