Every business owner wants to have a successful SEO but ironically no one wants to spend the money to build one. The budget for a successful SEO is a mystery for many business owners. Can it be done for free or a full fledge budget is needed for it. There is no concrete answer to this question. It varies from business to business. However, one important determinant of cost is the competition that your business is facing. The cost depends upon positioning of your business in contrast to competitors. Your current standing and where you want to rank in future determines the cost of SEO Bill Lentis.

A survey suggests that nearly 50% of small businesses keep a budget for SEO purposes. But what I found most surprising is that out of those 50% small businesses, 71% spend between $0-$99 only on monthly basis. That’s the only reason when scam SEO companies approach you; they guarantee 100% success for only $99. It is easy to fall prey to their psychological games when you don’t have enough knowledge of SEO.

Damages of cheap SEO

If you are a business owner who is guaranteed first page success for a very minimal amount, you are surely trapped. The scammers use unnatural back links to direct traffic to your website. These scammed links not only destroy your visibility but help you earn Google penalty as well. Hence it causes you way more loss than paying for a legitimate SEO agency.

How to set a SEO budget

The first step is to set goals for SEO campaign. Goals dictate what outcome are you looking for and what is your parameter for success. Success parameter could be anything from higher keyword rankings to increased revenues. Keep in mind that your goals should be SMART i.e. specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time bound.

Once you have set the goals, you will know exactly how much work is needed to achieve those goals and how much expenses will incur to get there. It will help you in setting the realistic budget.

Since this process doesn’t happen overnight. It usually takes between 4-12 months therefore you should set a budget that you can continually provide for minimum of 4 months.

A top level SEO agency will charge about $500 per month. But if you are aware of basics of SEO and can do some of the work on your own then it wouldn’t take much effort for agency to fix the mistakes. Working from scratch would cost you a lot of money. So educate yourself about basics of SEO, improve your website using SEO tools and techniques and then hire a SEO professional to help you attain your remaining goals.

Although it would be great if SEO would be free and traffic keeps on coming to your website naturally but this is not bow it works. Free SEO is a myth and far from the truth. The money that is spent on SEO is an investment and it will bring you fruitful returns in the future. However, dedicating low budget on it will make you website obsolete over time. Choice is yours!