The advent of social media, numerous digital outlets, and online activity in general has led to a rise in what many people refer to as digital marketing. Just as traditional marketing focuses on how to get the consumer interested and ultimately buy something, social media marketing and branding strategies can be applied in an online setting as well.

Today, 93% of online experiences start with a search engine, but 75% of them will never make it past the first page of results. For these reasons, one of the most popular trends in this space currently is search engine optimization services. For a piece that ran last week on thenextweb.com, Brian Honigman, social media consultant and CEO of Honigman Media, outlined the importance and some of the basic guidelines to follow when debating if/how much your business should spend on SEO services. Here are some of the key points.

1.) Individual Game Plan:

      The first mistake many people make is thinking that there is some blanket system or branding strategy that will work for every business. Just because one company hires an entire team to handle their SEO services doesn’t mean that’s what your business requires.

 

      “Focus on being realistic with your goals, which will help you determine an appropriate budget to spend on your SEO investment,” Honigman wrote. “If your goal is to increase sales by 15%, estimate how much you are willing to pay for that result and how that will affect your budgeting and marketing options in the future.”

2.) Working Relationship:

      There are a couple different ways to successfully achieve the benefits of SEO. The first is by hiring an in-house team to do all the work. This can be costly since you’ll need experts with a wide-range of skills from link building to content creation.

3.) Pricing Models:

      The most common payment system for outsourced SEO services is usually a monthly subscription plan. Depending on the size and scope of efforts desired these can vary greatly in price range. At the low-end you can expect to pay about $500 per month, but Honigman cautions against blatantly trusting companies that offer these budget plans because, “Most companies that work in this area automate a lot of their link building, use overseas labor for content, and only do basic on-site technical work.”

 

      On the high end you can pay as much as $20,000 a month or more on top-of-the-line SEO services.

Search engine optimization is currently rated as the most effective lead generation tactic as 34% of marketers find it “very effective.” With the time and attention people spend online continuing to increase, these services will only get more and more valuable. Better familiarizing yourself to how they work and how much you should be spending can save you money and improve your digital reach astronomically.