You’ve been researching how SEO works, what the potential benefits are, and are ready to start assessing what this investment might look like. At this stage, one of the biggest questions remaining is how much does SEO cost monthly? This is a vital question, especially when it comes to setting expectations for the campaign.
Firestarter SEO serves a wide range of clients across a broad spectrum of industries. On average, our clients pay about $1500 per month. However, every company is different. In our experience, our recommended monthly budget comes down to three main factors: competition in the industry, a client’s goals, and their working budget.
Competition
A major factor in how you can assess your monthly investment is by how steep the competition in your industry is. This matters simply because our strategies need to find a way to help you position your website ahead of your competitors, and the more competitors there are, the more difficult it will be – leading to likely higher costs. For example, a personal injury attorney is surrounded by competition with lofty monthly budgets for their online visibility – meaning it will take significantly more resources to surpass them. In a similar vein, an extremely niche company likely has less competition and can therefore generate results at a lower cost.
Goals
Your goals play a big role in determining your budget. Since SEO is a long-term investment, a company who is willing to be patient while results accumulate will likely have more flexibility in budget. If I run an ecommerce store that needs to double online organic sales within 3 months, we’re having a much different conversation. Take a good look at what your website is currently producing, and develop some benchmarks you would like to establish as upcoming goals. This will help your SEO expert develop a realistic plan for your business.
Budget
The majority of clients we speak with already have a budget in mind before we even start the conversation. This is extremely helpful to SEO agencies who are looking to create your strategy. SEO is a fairly flexible service, and can meet most budgets depending on the two factors above, within reason. Again, if I’m a personal injury attorney and I want to allocate a budget of $250/month in a major market, a resetting of expectations may be necessary.
In all, SEO can be a truly phenomenal asset to most businesses, and starting out with realistic expectations goes a long way towards building trust from day one. So take a good look at those three factors and reach out to an SEO expert today to develop a plan for your business!
