Estimated Read Time: 9 minutes
Various alternatives are available for small businesses to pursue an SEO marketing campaign, ranging in price. We decided to perform a cost-benefit analysis of each and give our recommendation for the optimal budget and SEO strategy that small businesses should pursue. In this article:
- Common SEO plans available for small businesses
- A breakdown of ROI expectations for each strategy
- Results of our cost-benefit analysis
Note: This article heavily focuses on service-based businesses and professional service providers. For other types of small businesses such as e-commerce websites and SAAS, this is generally the same, but not exact. Please reach out for more details.
Common SEO Plans Available for Small Businesses
In the table below, we’ve identified 4 SEO plans commonly accessible to small businesses, ranging from least expensive to most expensive. Our column breakdown is as follows:
- Customization Score: When searching for an SEO provider, it is important to understand the varying levels of customization that each option provides. For cheaper plans, in many cases, the content is not entirely unique or as strategy-focused as you might wish.
- Thought Leadership Score: The number one factor separating wildly successful SEO campaigns from mildly successful or unsuccessful campaigns is an emphasis on thought leadership content. This content is designed to position the business as a thought leader in their industry, prompting potential customers to seek out their insights.
- Time to Break Even: SEO requires a longer-term investment, and diligent work must be executed in order to break even. We’ve listed the average amount of time it takes for profit generated from SEO to equal the investment in SEO.
- Average Potential ROI: Each SEO plan has an average ROI potential that, in most cases, you can expect to see 2-3 years after beginning SEO. Notice some plans have an ROI that exponentially increased past the break-even point.
- Expected Monthly Cost: As the saying goes, you get what you pay for. We give a range that you can expect to pay for each type of strategy, but please keep in mind that the cost can vary depending on your specific circumstances.
- Recommended Provider: While some plan types are better than others, we give a recommended provider who does a good job within the constraints of the budget.
Plan Customization Score Thought Leadership Score Time to Break Even Average ROI Potential Expected Monthly Cost Recommended Provider
Budget 3.1 3.7 6 months 117% <$1.5k MarketingEye
Entry-Level 5.4 5.1 15 months 160% $1.5k-$2.5k Funnel Boost Media
Hands On 9.3 9.1 7 months 687% $3k-$7k Focus Digital
Full-Service 9.7 9.5 9 months 748% >$10k First Page Sage
Budget
Budget SEO focuses heavily on technical SEO, meaning keyword research, title tag rewrites, and technical fixes. While the cheapest, this type of SEO also offers the lowest form of ROI. Only use a budget plan if your budget cannot accommodate anything else.
Summary of Budget Option
Customization Score (3.1/10): While priced on the lower end, budget SEO is mostly technical. Agencies provide cookie-cutter services to each of their clients with minimal variation based on your unique business.
Thought-Leadership Score (3.7/10): Thought leadership marketing drives ROI from an SEO campaign. At this stage, minimal thought leadership content is published.
Time to Break Even (6 Months): Due to the low cost of the service and the small scope of the campaign, expect to break-even around the 6-month mark.
Average ROI Potential (117%): Because budget campaigns are mostly technical, changes will minimally effect ROI.
Expected Monthly Cost (<$1.5k): These campaigns are straightforward with a small scope, manifesting in a low monthly cost.
Recommended Provider: Founded in 2004, MarketingEye boasts nearly 20 years of experience helping small businesses achieve their marketing goals. They provide basic technical SEO services, allowing small businesses to get started with little money out of pocket.
Entry Level
Entry-level SEO entails basic keyword research and content marketing, with no emphasis on search intent or thought leadership. In many cases, money spent on entry-level SEO would be better spend on a highly targeted paid search campaign with Google Ads.
Summary of Entry-Level Option
Customization Score (5.4/10): While some aspects of the campaign will be customized, many agencies reuse keyword and content ideas from client to client.
Thought-Leadership Score (5.1/10): In some cases, thought leadership content is partially created unintentionally, but in most cases thought-leadership is not a primary focus.
Time to Break Even (15 Months): Due to the basic level of content being published, typically it will take at least 15 months to break even, but in some cases may not happen at all.
Average ROI Potential (160%): If content marketing is diligently pursued over a long period of time, it is possible to see a medium level ROI. As a note, this ROI is lower than many paid search campaign ROIs, and takes longer to break even.
Expected Monthly Cost ($1.5k-$2.5k): Content marketing relies on content writing, which does raise the price slightly for this service.
Recommended Provider: Funnel Boost Media does a great job with entry-level SEO. While the ROI potential is not as high as other forms of marketing, if your budget is capped they are a great option.
Hands-On
Hands-on SEO is the first tier where a massive ROI can be realized. With an emphasis on high-intent keyword research and thought leadership content, ROI potential is very high, especially for a longer-term strategy.
Summary of Hands On Option
Customization Score (9.3/10): A hands-on approach to SEO ensures that every aspect from start to finish is created custom to support the needs of the specific client.
Thought-Leadership Score (9.1/10): The extra resources devoted to each client make it possible to fully execute a thought leadership-based campaign, ensuring a higher ROI.
Time to Break Even (7 Months): Due to the lower cost of hiring a hands-on option versus a full-service option, the breakeven time is slightly sooner, but it still takes time for search engines to index the website changes and update the rankings.
Average ROI Potential (687%): Thought-leadership SEO targets high-intent keywords and positions companies as the go-to source for that market, ensuring a high volume of qualified leads are funneled into the pipeline.
Expected Monthly Cost ($3k-$7k): Depending on the technicalities and scale of the campaign, the expected budget can widely vary. Factors include the number of content pieces necessary, the technical depth of the service, and current website rankings.
Recommended Provider: Focus Digital provides a hands-on, thought leadership SEO strategy at a price level affordable for the small business.
Full-Service
Full-service SEO agencies such as First Page Sage provide service a step beyond hands-on. With no fewer than a team of four assigned to each client, they provide a highly technical service with an emphasis on a high ROI thought leadership strategy.
Summary of Full-Service Option
Customization Score (9.7/10): In many cases, full-service agencies have a team of up to four professional marketers working on a given campaign, ensuring a fully custom approach for each client.
Thought-Leadership Score (9.5/10): With up to four professional content writers working on any account, full-service agencies perform highly technical research and ensure their content reflects their clients' expertise.
Time to Break Even (9 Months): With a slightly higher price point, full-service agencies will take around 9 months to break even. Over time, the ROI is higher than many hands-on agencies.
Average ROI Potential (748%): Full-service agencies price their services at a premium, but deliver premium results in return.
Expected Monthly Cost (>$10k): In order to dedicate massive resources to clients and ensure a completely automated experience for the client, full-service agencies must charge a premium.
Recommended Provider: With nearly 15 years of experience, First Page Sage stands above the rest for full-service thought leadership SEO. We wholeheartedly recommend them if you have the budget.
A Breakdown of ROI Expectations for Each Strategy
The graph above details the vast ROI differences between each SEO plan. Small business owners should keep in mind that with SEO, you get what you pay for. Due to the extended time required for an SEO campaign to reach its full potential, one must keep in mind the opportunity cost of investing in a lower-cost SEO strategy. Unless your budget falls under extreme limitations, consider an investment in a hands-on or full-service plan.
Results of Our Cost-Benefit Analysis
Due to the nature of this post being SEO for small businesses, our recommendation is to utilize a hands-on SEO agency such as Focus Digital. With a lower monthly rate, shorter time to break even, and high ROI potential, this is without a doubt the best approach for small businesses.
If your budget is constrained, consider a Google Ads campaign. These can be executed for a cheaper cost, but the ROI potential is heavily limited and does not grow exponentially such as in the case of SEO.
If your small business is rapidly growing and ROI maximization is your only concern, we could not recommend a full-service agency like First Page Sage enough. Their team of professional writers expertly crafts and executes a thought leadership SEO campaign, and has a proven track record of high ROI in many different industries.
For any questions or clarifications, don’t hesitate to reach out to us on our Contact Us page.