How to Budget for SEO Marketing Campaigns
How to Budget for SEO Marketing Campaigns
How many of you simply find leftover money and give it to your marketer saying, "Here, do some marketing"? The simple answer to how one should create a web marketing/SEO budget lies in simple business planning that many firms can't be bothered to do. But I ask you this question: how do you know where to go and when you've reached if you don't know how to get there? As such, here are some crucial elements you should do BEFORE coming up with a budget for a web marketing campaign.
Planning Leads to Coherent Budgets
The first step is to go through a planning stage that articulates overall company vision, goals, and objectives. From this process you can create a budget, not before it. DON'T WORK BACKWARDS! Save yourself the time and reward yourself with coherent goal setting by walking straight forwards and not backwards. In a planning process the steps in order go:
1. Vision
2. Objectives
3. Goals (measurable and attainable in the short run)
4. Strategies (built around distinct capabilities and competitive advantages)
5. Tactics
Finally the Budget
Vision: This encompasses your overall firm vision. Usually it's on the back of your business card. The vision is not necessarily attainable in the short run, but should be a long term want.
Objectives: When you have the umbrella of the overall vision, you can start creating 1-2 objectives. These are supposed to be attainable but not in the short term. They should be lofty enough that it appears the objective stands in the clouds, but not so far that you can't attain it.
Goals: Goals are then created to meet the objectives. 1-3 goals for each objective. Goals should be measurable--this is important--so you can track the success of your project. Goals should be attainable within the short run (1-2 years).
Strategies: Strategies capitalize on distinct capabilities of the firm. If you answer the question, "what are your firm's distinct capabilities against your competitors," with, "nothing," it's time to get the heck out of your industry. The concept of strategy enforces the need to have some form of competitive advantage over your competitors. If you don't have one then don't bother scrapping leftover market share from them, it's just not worth the time. (1-2 for each goal).
Tactics: Tactics are designed to fulfill the strategies. You should probably have 2-4 for each strategy and each should not only be measurable so you can identify when you've achieved the tactic, but also have responsibility assigned to it so someone is also accountable.
Finally, after this planning process you are ready to start thinking budget. Here is how you approach it. FIRST, take your overall objectives and goals that you desire to fulfill. FROM these objectives you derive your budget. You will find out how much it will now cost to meet your objectives. It is at this point you can determine if you have enough marketing dollars to make the objective happen, if not, guess what? It's back to the drawing board, changing your objectives to something attainable within your budget. Repeat the process until you find something that meets your budget. Usually you create your report to see how much it will cost, not if you have enough money to do it (but the planning process answers both questions).
This is how you come up with the right budget for your SEO project, not the other way around. Don't start by taking marketing dollars and throwing it blindly at ideas or 'trial runs'. That's why some many people loose so much cash in marketing, they have no clue what they're doing because they don't have a plan or goals.
Skipping these steps is like putting a bullet through your car tire. You may (or may not) reach your destination, and if even you do, you're late (but your competitors aren't). You don't get quotes first, and then go, 'ok, what am I going to remodel and what do I want it to look like?' Same thing applies to budgeting for SEO work. Don't walk to the consultant with a vague idea of what needs to be done, come up with a goal of, "I want to rank top 5 for my market within 2 years", then find out cost. Knowing where you're going and how you'll get there will save dollars in the end and reap greater results that impact your bottom line.
How to Budget for SEO Marketing Campaigns - To learn more about this author, visit Barry Nagassar's Website.
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It's a problem for everybody, how do I determine the right amount of money to invest in a particular venture? When it comes to investing in web marketing tracking your investment becomes even harder because the industry is subjective to the abilities of your consultant who is in-turn at the mercy of unpredictable Google. It's no wonder people mess up their marketing investment, it's hard to calculate, and quite frankly, easier to just 'throw money at'.
How many of you simply find leftover money and give it to your marketer saying, "Here, do some marketing"? The simple answer to how one should create a web marketing/SEO budget lies in simple business planning that many firms can't be bothered to do. But I ask you this question: how do you know where to go and when you've reached if you don't know how to get there? As such, here are some crucial elements you should do BEFORE coming up with a budget for a web marketing campaign.
Planning Leads to Coherent Budgets
The first step is to go through a planning stage that articulates overall company vision, goals, and objectives. From this process you can create a budget, not before it. DON'T WORK BACKWARDS! Save yourself the time and reward yourself with coherent goal setting by walking straight forwards and not backwards. In a planning process the steps in order go:
1. Vision
2. Objectives
3. Goals (measurable and attainable in the short run)
4. Strategies (built around distinct capabilities and competitive advantages)
5. Tactics
Finally the Budget
Vision: This encompasses your overall firm vision. Usually it's on the back of your business card. The vision is not necessarily attainable in the short run, but should be a long term want.
Objectives: When you have the umbrella of the overall vision, you can start creating 1-2 objectives. These are supposed to be attainable but not in the short term. They should be lofty enough that it appears the objective stands in the clouds, but not so far that you can't attain it.
Goals: Goals are then created to meet the objectives. 1-3 goals for each objective. Goals should be measurable--this is important--so you can track the success of your project. Goals should be attainable within the short run (1-2 years).
Strategies: Strategies capitalize on distinct capabilities of the firm. If you answer the question, "what are your firm's distinct capabilities against your competitors," with, "nothing," it's time to get the heck out of your industry. The concept of strategy enforces the need to have some form of competitive advantage over your competitors. If you don't have one then don't bother scrapping leftover market share from them, it's just not worth the time. (1-2 for each goal).
Tactics: Tactics are designed to fulfill the strategies. You should probably have 2-4 for each strategy and each should not only be measurable so you can identify when you've achieved the tactic, but also have responsibility assigned to it so someone is also accountable.
Finally, after this planning process you are ready to start thinking budget. Here is how you approach it. FIRST, take your overall objectives and goals that you desire to fulfill. FROM these objectives you derive your budget. You will find out how much it will now cost to meet your objectives. It is at this point you can determine if you have enough marketing dollars to make the objective happen, if not, guess what? It's back to the drawing board, changing your objectives to something attainable within your budget. Repeat the process until you find something that meets your budget. Usually you create your report to see how much it will cost, not if you have enough money to do it (but the planning process answers both questions).
This is how you come up with the right budget for your SEO project, not the other way around. Don't start by taking marketing dollars and throwing it blindly at ideas or 'trial runs'. That's why some many people loose so much cash in marketing, they have no clue what they're doing because they don't have a plan or goals.
Skipping these steps is like putting a bullet through your car tire. You may (or may not) reach your destination, and if even you do, you're late (but your competitors aren't). You don't get quotes first, and then go, 'ok, what am I going to remodel and what do I want it to look like?' Same thing applies to budgeting for SEO work. Don't walk to the consultant with a vague idea of what needs to be done, come up with a goal of, "I want to rank top 5 for my market within 2 years", then find out cost. Knowing where you're going and how you'll get there will save dollars in the end and reap greater results that impact your bottom line.
How to Budget for SEO Marketing Campaigns - To learn more about this author, visit Barry Nagassar's Website.
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Jeff FosterWebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas. We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing. - Visit Jeff Foster's Website |
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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Joe DagerJoe Dager is President of Business901, a progressive coaching company providing no-nonsense direction in areas such as Lean Six Sigma Marketing and organized referral marketing. What others say: In the past 20 years, Joe and I have collaborated on many difficult issues. Joe’s ability to combine his expertise with “out of the box” thinking is unsurpassed. He has always delivered quickly, cost effectively and with ingenuity. A brilliant mind that is always a pleasure to work with.” - James R. If you want to learn more about Business901, start a conversation with us. We can be found @ Web/Blog: Business901.com Web/Blog: FundingYourNonprofit.com LinkedIn Profile Follow me on Twitter - Visit Joe Dager's Website |
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Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
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John AlexanderJohn has taught keyword research and SEO skills to small groups of business owners and Webmasters from over 80 different countries world wide since 2002. John is also the Director of Search Engine Academy ; Co-director of Training at Search Engine Workshops offering live, SEO Workshops with his partner SEO educator Robin Nobles, author of the very first comprehensive online search engine marketing courses at SEO Training Online and the SEO Workshop Resource Center. I look forward to hearing from you! - Visit John Alexander's Website |
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