SEO Budgets: What Should You Really Spend?

Kasra Dash (0:00): So I'm joined with James. How you doing? James Dooley: Yeah, not bad mate. How are you? Kasra Dash: Good, good, good. So the big debate — $50 SEO package versus $5,000 SEO package. There are obviously some SEO agencies that claim they do SEO for $50 or a couple hundred dollars. What's your thoughts on it? James Dooley: First and foremost, if someone came with $50 or $5,000, I’d decline them both. Neither one of them is a big budget for SEO. The amount of costs involved in strategically doing a topical map, silo structure, technical fixes, content, and backlinks — it's going to cost you a lot more than $5,000. If that's a short-term kind of investment and they're going to keep spending after that, then alright — $5,000 isn't a bad start. But $50? It's embarrassing. You can’t even buy one decent backlink for $50. And for people saying, “Oh, build good content and the links will come”… just go and get yourself a full-time job, work overtime, save more money, and don’t get into digital marketing with $50. If you don’t have more than $50 saved up, just go earn some more money and wait until you've got a minimum of $5,000. People keep asking this question like, “What kind of car can I buy for $5,000? A brand-new car?” No, it only starts at $20,000. Well then save more money or buy a second-hand car. Same concept. A lot of SEO agencies that take these tiny budgets on — I think they're scammers. They're sending people down a route pretending it's okay when they know it's not. I don't think it's fair. Kasra Dash: We’ve actually got some stats here. The average link cost is about $300, I’d say. Just an Ahrefs account alone is about $150 a month — and that's for the bare minimum package. Then to do a technical SEO audit, Screaming Frog is about $250 a year. Content — around $60–$70 an article. Keyword research. Topical maps — some guys charge $10k, $15k, $20k for those. Once you start breaking it down, you just can't do anything for $500 or $50 unless there’s consistent spend coming in. What’s your thoughts on those stats? James Dooley: Yeah, I mean none of them surprise me. You're saying $300 for a link, but in markets like casino it's more like $600–$700. It all depends on the niche. And yes — there are cheaper ways to do things, but long-term are they going to keep you ranking? You could go do a GSA blast or an XRumer blast and because of the Google Dance you might see a temporary lift… until the core update hits and wipes you. If you're looking for long-term rankings, you’ve got to build things like a real business. You wouldn’t build your house on quicksand, right? So why cut corners now? Set a realistic budget. Be frugal, but work with someone who knows where to spend money. If someone has only £2k a month or whatever, start with technical SEO audits, build some content, then move into links. But you must set realistic expectations. Kasra Dash: You've also sold businesses before. You understand how much a traffic source adds to valuation. If a business is doing around $100k a month and 40% of that comes from SEO — how much does that impact their valuation? James Dooley: Massively. Some businesses only get a 12-month multiplier if they aren’t generating their own leads. If you're generating your own leads through SEO, it could be an eight-year multiplier. So instead of your business being worth $1.2 million, it could suddenly be worth $9.6 million. You're adding over $8 million in valuation just by owning your own lead source. The growth at first is slow, then it becomes a hockey stick. Long-term, it’s huge. Kasra Dash: Exactly. And once you get traffic, you fix CRO. Then you raise average order value. If you can go from $1,000 AOV to $1,500, it stacks very fast. James Dooley: And that’s where people like you come in — because you’re not just doing SEO. You’re mentoring businesses, showing them how to upsell, cross-sell, optimize their thank-you pages, build their social following, and increase their lifetime customer value. SEO is one part of the equation. But when someone is getting your expertise on top — that’s where the real value is. Kasra Dash: Exactly. And that’s something you’ll never get with a $50 SEO package. James Dooley: Definitely not. You’re not cheap, but it's not about cheap — it’s about value. With $5,000 a month you can start making moves. At $50 you can’t do anything. Kasra Dash: So that has been the video on $50 versus $5,000 SEO packages. I think we both agree the $5,000 route wins every time. James Dooley: Absolutely. If you enjoyed the video, make sure to leave a like down below. Kasra Dash: Thanks.