Marketers who specialize in SEO often face the frustration of having clients or employers who expect instant results on a limited budget. SEO, however, is a long-term strategy that requires patience. Yet, scenarios demanding quick results are quite common. As marketers, it’s essential to adapt and deliver good outcomes swiftly and within budget, particularly if a single opportunity is granted to demonstrate value.
Achieving excellent SEO results in a short timeframe is possible. The key lies in prioritizing the right SEO tasks. To illustrate this, let me introduce my hypothetical client, Voltage: The Salon, an establishment aiming to attract Millennial and Gen Z clients with its upscale, trendy services.
Planning For A $3,000 Initial 1-Month SEO Budget
Voltage: The Salon, being new, doesn’t rank well for keywords like [salon near me] and lacks a Google Business Profile. With a starting budget of $3,000, which aligns with the most common average budget range, our main goal is to boost client acquisition and revenue. This is measured by increasing phone calls and appointments booked via the site. The decision was made to pursue SEO for better Google rankings in the long term.
Given a $3,000 budget and a trial period of one month, it’s crucial to deliver noticeable improvements to secure future investment in SEO.
Key Details
- Industry: Beauty
- Business: Hair salon
- SEO monthly budget: $3,000
- My hourly rate: $100
- Total hours allocated: 30
- Timeline: 1 Month
- Location: Kansas City Metro
- KPI: Increase in calls or appointments
SEO Week-By-Week
Initiating SEO work with a technical audit is imperative, especially for new projects, to identify potential issues hindering SEO efforts.
Week One
Fixing technical errors on the website is crucial. Identified issues include mobile-unfriendly pages, blocked indexing, a redirect loop, and slow load times. These fixes, expected to take five hours, ended up requiring seven hours due to unforeseen server and admin challenges. This left 20 hours for the remaining month.
Week Two
Setting up foundational analytics tools is the focus this week. Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and a Google Business Profile were established, consuming four hours. Optimization efforts for relevant keywords on the Google listing were planned to follow future keyword research.
Week Three
This week prioritized keyword, competitor, and content research, aimed to be completed in approximately 10 hours but finished in nine. Key tasks involved identifying valuable keywords and analyzing competitors to inform future content and SEO strategies.
Week Four
This final week focused on optimizing site structure for keywords. On-page and off-page SEO efforts included enhancing user experience, improving site speed, and optimizing lead-generating pages with targeted meta tags and content. The week concluded with enhancing the client’s Google Business listing.
Conclusion
The primary objective for the initial month was to set a solid SEO foundation and begin enhancing the client’s visibility for relevant service-related keywords. This goal was successfully achieved through resolving technical issues, setting up a Google Business Profile, conducting research, and initiating on-page SEO work.
Voltage: The Salon’s website is now better positioned to improve its organic search ranking and compete in local listings. For marketers facing similar challenges on limited budgets, it’s essential to prioritize effectively and manage client expectations by laying the groundwork for future success.
More resources:
- SEO Cost Calculator: How Much Should You Budget for SEO Services?
- State of SEO Client Insights: Budgets, Traffic & SEO Tactics
- SEO Strategy: A Full Year Blueprint (+Template)
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