Budget for SEO: Example and 6 factors that influence

In this article, these and other variables will be analyzed in greater depth.

SEO budget example

Below you can see a sample of how a budget is formed for an SEO project. It can serve as a reference for:

• SEO service providers.
• People interested in hiring SEO services.

What can you see here?

• An overview of what an SEO project can be and the objectives that a company wants to achieve with these efforts.
• The process with which an SEO project is executed, with all its corresponding phases.
• The timeline of an average SEO campaign.
• A real economic proposal with Latin American prices.

You can ask any questions about it in the comments or leave it in a message here .

If you prefer, we leave you this same article in video format:

Factors that influence the SEO budget

Before explaining the factors that affect an SEO budget, we must make it clear that, regardless of the case, a long-term SEO project should not last less than 1 year.

Remember that getting results in Google takes time. Companies make the mistake of stopping investing in SEO as soon as they begin to see results because they consider that they already have the complete structure to maintain themselves over time.

This is not like this.

That moment when you start to see results is when the SEO budget you have targeted should be taken care of and lengthened as much as possible. SEO is not a switch that you can turn on and off, therefore the SEO budget should not be either.

Size of the website to optimize

An SEO budget for a 10,000+ page website will never cost the same as a project involving a 100 page website.

Remember that most SEO budgets are calculated by hours of work , and the more pages that need to be worked on, the more hours will be required for the web optimization project.

Scope of an SEO project

In the world of SEO there is no one size fits all:  each project is different and each person has different objectives.

Therefore, the famous technique of ‘packaging’ web optimization services is not effective.

The goals that the client has will draw the limits for the provider, because only then will the latter know how far they should go with their SEO efforts.

Let’s see examples of different scopes of a web positioning project:

First case :

The client already has a website, but does not receive the desired organic traffic.

In this context, the SEO service provider shall :

• Carry out an SEO audit to know the current traffic of the site, its loading speed, its position with respect to its competition and other factors.
• Optimize the title tags , meta tags and headings of the site pages, as well as build the new information architecture of the page  ( SEO On Page ).
• Design a content plan to answer all the possible questions of the industry in articles ( content marketing ).
• Reach an agreement with the prospect about who will be responsible for producing the content.

This last detail will increase or decrease the provider’s monthly working hours.

In addition to this, a link building campaign can be included to increase the authority of the domain and the pages of the website.

Second case :

The client does not have a website, but wants to start ranking in search engines.

In this context, the SEO service provider shall:

• Do an SEO audit.
• Build a website that is optimized for the terms identified in the previous step (may include e-commerce).
• Design a content plan that can be carried out by himself or someone from the client’s work team.

In both cases there is SEO work to be done, but let’s see the main difference:

The investment in the second case is much higher, since there is more work to do.

That budget can be between 3,000 USD and 6,000 USD (+80 hours of work), my guess is that in the first case the budget would be between 500 USD and 1,500 USD (+45 hours of work) .

Range is a key factor. The goals you have in mind should match the amount of money you plan to invest.

Responsible for the creation of the content and execution of the modifications

Depending on the client’s requirement, and the size of the SEO provider, there may be a need to hire:

• Extra editors.
• video editors.
• Designers.
• Programmers.

This can be done by the client directly (increasing the investment in their marketing efforts) or delegated to the SEO agency  (which will increase the provider’s SEO budget) .

industry competitiveness

As we know, on the Internet there is a lot of content on millions of different topics.

Ranking immediately for the terms of your choice will not happen, organically, overnight.

Therefore, the first task is to evaluate the online competition of the market in which you want to position yourself.

Yes, you probably consider that in the offline world you have no competition, that there is no product or service like yours; but believe me: on the Internet there are many people talking about the same as you.

Clearly, the more dispute there is, the more difficult it will be to rank  and the higher the cost of the SEO budget .

Also, if you are a business just starting out with low Domain Authority (DA) and low Page Authority (PA), it will probably be difficult for you to quickly rank in the top positions in Google for keywords that have high competence.

Example :

If I just opened a new CrossFit shoe store, my dream would probably be that when someone searches for “shoes”, without specifying what they are for, my brand will appear first.

That would mean that I am leading the footwear market, that I have won in the online industry.

However, before I get to that point, I must first master the “CrossFit shoes” sector, which would be part of the long tail of the search .

With the two images below you can see the competitiveness for both terms:

It is clear that the first term is much more competitive than the second.

Now, people searching for “CrossFit shoes” are likely to be closer to buying than people searching for “shoes.”

Therefore, ranking well for the second term may be more beneficial, because it is likely to bring me more sales than ranking for the first keyword.

Geographic location and years of experience of the service provider

As we explained in our article ‘ How much does it cost to position your website on Google? ‘,  SEO is charged in different ways depending on your geographical location:

• In the United States, the most common cost per hour of SEO work is between 100 USD and 150 USD; in Europe it ranges from 75 to 100 USD; while in Latin America the average rate is 60 USD.
• In the United States, the average SEO cost per monthly fee is between 2,500 and 5,000 USD; prices in Europe range from 250 to 1,000 USD; and in Latin America, the most common rate is between 500 USD and 1,000 USD.

Another factor that affects the SEO budget has to do with the years of experience of the person providing the service.

Those who have been in the industry for more than 2 years charge 39.4% more per hour and their monthly rates are 100% more expensive.

The success stories that the professional (or the agency) has accumulated also represent an important factor.

Languages

A factor that can go under the table in the preparation of an SEO budget is that referring to the target markets that the client seeks to dominate.

A website with more than one language requires more effort and, therefore, a greater investment.

It does not matter if the client operates from a single country: if your product or service covers more than one border and more than one language, the amount of the quote will be higher.

Although you are working with the same website, the ways people search are not the same.

To have optimal SEO positioning, we must treat the number of languages ​​almost as separate projects. A simple translation will not be effective.

Conclusion and recommendations

There are many factors that affect the investment amount of an SEO budget.

Therefore, from Pencil Speech we recommend the following steps before you start calling agencies and asking for quotes:

1. Define an intelligent SEO budget to invest: remember that this amount will draw the limits of the project. With good SEO, the return on investment will be quite high.

Do not be afraid to spend a significant sum of money, but do not bleed your company by expecting immediate results.

2. Do not choose the first budget: exhaustively evaluate the person or agency that will work with you. This election is very similar to a marriage: in good and bad times, both must support each other to achieve the objectives set.

3. Start small: Unless you’re Coca-Cola, Apple, Nike, or Adidas, you’ll need to conquer specific market niches first. Those victories are what will take you to dominate the most competitive terms worldwide.

Also keep in mind that in these niches the purchase intention is very high: you will be able to sell more even if they find you less.

4. Do not forget your product or service: it is worthless for people to get you on the first page of Google if when they enter your site the experience is not top quality. There must be a balance: your reputation on the web must go hand in hand with excellence in the offline world.