Taking a website on the #1 spot in SERP and generating traffic, leads, and revenue from SEO campaigns is not a ‘No Cost Thing’. A good budget is required to conduct all the SEO campaigns. But how is it decided which proportion of the budget is to be allocated to different factors? If you are confused about allocating budget intelligently, this blog is for you. Let’s begin:
Hire Resources
Optimizing a business for search engines is not a ‘One-Man-Army’ task. You must have a diversified team, each in charge of rendering particular responsibility. To run an SEO project successfully, you need to have the following resources –
- Content Writer
- Graphic Designer
- Social Media Executive
- Web Developer
- Web Designer
- Quality Analyst
A significant portion of the budget is usually spent on paying them salaries. Many SEO Companies hire freelancers to save their costs. It is challenging to deal with and get work from them. Sometimes they are simply not available to do the task and cannot accomplish it instantly. It can be considered the biggest drawback of hiring freelancers. Having an in-house team makes the work process smooth. Therefore, it is suggested to reserve 50% of the total budget for rewarding the quality services of the employees.
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Content Writer
Business minds must ask, “Why are content writers required despite the advent of ChatGPT?” Here are some of the reasons:
Plagiarized Content
First and Foremost, ChatGPT has been closely observed by many SEO executives, and it has been found that ChatGPT, one of the predominant AI platforms, does not produce original content. The content is usually plagiarized.
Wait! Wait! Wait!
Do you check the content with Small SEO Tools and Duplichecker? These plagiarism-checking web applications are not relied on by SEO Experts as these do not tell the right amount of plagiarism found in the content.
Use Quetext, Copyscape or Copyleaks to know the correct amount of plagiarism. And when you check the content generated through ChatGPT on these plagiarism-detection web applications, you’ll realize that nearly 80 to 90% of the content is plagiarized and taken from another website.
It is always better to check the content on AI content detection tools like New AI Classifier For Indicating AI-Written Text and Copyleaks| AI Content Detector
Fails to Address Pain Points of Targeted Audience
ChatGPT can’t beat a human brain. It can’t give the desired creative touch to your content. However, it is exceptional to write content with analogical examples. But, it does not bring meaningful creativity. Besides, the content does not contain as much information as a human writer can put into it.
Similarities Can Be Found
Instructing ChatGPT to write content on ‘10 Tips For Successful Web Designing,’ will provide you with the best possible content. And then, if someone else searches for the content with exactly or somewhat similar prompts, ChatGPT will generate him with almost similar content. It will make Google have 2 similar contents with paraphrased versions. How can such pieces of content contribute to adding value to Google’s SERP?
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Graphic Designer
A graphic designer plays a significant role in your digital marketing campaign. It is he who provides the design for the website and landing pages. He is also responsible for providing catchy and internal images for blogs and Google Business Profile (GBP).
Click! Click! Click!
As we all know, Adobe is launching an Adobe Firefly, which will be a potential AI platform for Graphic Designing. Will Graphic Designers lose their importance in the future? Well, the answer to this is ‘NO!’. Adobe has released the Beta version of Firefly on the 21st of March, 2023. It is released for testing purposes only. Adobe is seeking feedback for the betterment of this AI graphic designing platform.
Kinex Media has explored this platform and found it below the mark. This Graphic Designing AI platform is not responding appropriately to the commands.
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Social Media Executive
A social media executive is responsible for promoting a business and its products or services on social media platforms. Without a social media professional, it is nearly impossible to market your business. A social media executive usually has a creative mind, with the help of which they are able to expand the reach and fetch the targeted audience. They are crucial members of any SEO team.
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Web Developer
An SEO project can’t be accomplished without the help of a web developer because he is the main face behind handling all the technical issues. He looks after all potential issues like HTTPS Security, Site Indexing, XML Sitemaps, Incorrect Robot.txt files, Meta Robots, Slow Page Speed & Multiple homepage versions.
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Website Designer
Often, a design fails to meet the expectations of Google, and it starts acting as a hurdle between your business and #1 rankings. So, whenever the modifications need to be done to the website’s design, the help of a website is usually sought.
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Quality Analyst
The quality of a website is of utmost concern and is one of the ranking factors. But who exactly looks after quality? – A quality analyst. He is responsible for taking care of the quality of the website. Be it site speed, quality of the content, functionality and technicalities of the website, a quality analyst takes care of everything.
These are the essential members of any SEO team. Without any of them, a project cannot flourish. This is why these are considered assets of an SEO team. But there is a price to hire them. The more qualified the assets are, the more salary they’ll want. Thus, while making a budget to leverage SEO efforts on your project, include the cost of hiring experts.
Purchase Premium Tools
Many premium tools can help you make your marketing efforts better. Having premium access to them can help you make more informed decisions and track your performance. Only one tool will be sufficient to cater to all the marketing efforts. Usually, digital marketing efforts prefer to use SEMrush. Because it is an all-inclusive tool, it helps you with different aspects of marketing – Keyword Research, On-Page SEO, Competitor Analysis, Content Marketing, Rank Tracking, Local SEO, Social Media Management, Keyword Gap Analysis and Organic Traffic Insights. Based on your needs, you can choose from these three packages:
Package |
Price |
Inclusions |
| Free | Free | Limited access to Keyword Analytics, Competitor Analysis, Backlink Analysis, Rank Tracking, Site Audit, Social Media Tools, Content Marketing Tools |
| Pro | $99.95/mo | Full access to Keyword Analytics, Competitor Analysis, Backlink Analysis, Rank Tracking, Site Audit, Limited access to Social Media Tools, Limited access to Content Marketing Tools |
| Guru | $199.95/mo | Full access to Keyword Analytics, Competitor Analysis, Backlink Analysis, Rank Tracking, Site Audit, Full access to Social Media Tools, Limited access to Content Marketing Tools |
| Business | $399.95/mo | Full access to Keyword Analytics, Competitor Analysis, Backlink Analysis, Rank Tracking, Site Audit, Full access to Social Media Tools, Full access to Content Marketing Tools |
So, reserve some portion of your budget for purchasing a premium tool. Now, you must have a question, why have we suggested SEMrush and not Ahrefs or Moz?
Here is why?
Aspect |
SEMrush |
Ahrefs |
Moz |
| Keyword Research | Robust keyword research capabilities with advanced metrics | Extensive keyword database with comprehensive analysis tools | Comprehensive keyword research features with data visualization |
| Backlink Analysis | In-depth backlink analysis with accurate and up-to-date data | Extensive backlink index with detailed link profile information | Solid backlink analysis functionality |
| Competitor Analysis | Comprehensive competitor analysis tools and reports | Detailed competitor analysis with competitive landscape data | Competitor analysis features with insights on domain authority |
| Rank Tracking | Accurate and customizable rank tracking with historical data | Reliable rank tracking for organic and paid search results | Rank tracking features for monitoring keyword positions |
| Site Audit | Powerful site auditing capabilities for technical SEO analysis | Comprehensive site audit tools for identifying SEO issues | Site auditing functionality with actionable SEO recommendations |
| Content Marketing Tools | Content planning, optimization, and performance tracking | Limited content marketing features | Content optimization tools and content performance analytics |
| Social Media Tools | Social media management and monitoring features | Limited social media features | Social media monitoring and reporting functionality |
| Pricing and Value for Money | Competitive pricing with a wide range of features | Varies pricing tiers with different feature access | Tiered pricing plans with features based on subscription level |
Here. I’ve mentioned the tools used by SEO experts. But this is not it. There are many other premium tools used by other team members of the SEO team which demand premium membership for complete access.
Profession |
Premium Tools |
| Content Writer | Grammarly, Hemingway Editor, ProWritingAid, Scrivener, Evernote |
| Graphic Designer | Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Sketch |
| Social Media Executive | Hootsuite, Buffer, Sprout Social, Canva, BuzzSumo |
| Web Developer | Visual Studio Code, Sublime Text, PhpStorm, Atom, IntelliJ IDEA |
| Web Designer | Adobe XD, Sketch, Figma, InVision, Zeplin |
| Quality Analyst | JIRA, Selenium, TestRail, LoadRunner, Postman |
From the above-mentioned list, whichever tool is necessary and is demanded by the team member to accomplish specific tasks, the project coordinator has to make such a tool available.
Paid Backlinks
Paid backlinks refer to the practice of acquiring links from external websites by means of financial transactions. These backlinks are intended to improve a website’s search engine rankings and increase its online visibility. However, it is essential to approach this strategy with caution and discretion. While paid backlinks can provide short-term gains, they can also be considered a violation of search engine guidelines if not executed ethically and naturally. Therefore, it is recommended that no more than 10% of the SEO budget should be allocated to acquiring paid backlinks, ensuring a balanced and sustainable approach to link building.
Conclusion
Allocating and managing the SEO budget effectively is crucial for achieving success in search engine optimization. It is essential to prioritize different aspects of SEO campaigns and allocate the budget accordingly. Hiring skilled resources like content writers, graphic designers, social media executives, web developers, web designers, and quality analysts is necessary to run a successful SEO project. Allocating around 50% of the budget for rewarding these team members ensures the availability of quality services and smooth workflow.
Investing in premium tools is another important aspect of an SEO budget. Tools like Grammarly, Adobe Photoshop, Hootsuite, Visual Studio Code, Adobe XD, JIRA, and others help enhance productivity and efficiency in their respective roles. Setting aside a portion of the budget to purchase and maintain these tools to support the team’s work and improve overall SEO performance is recommended.