I often get asked about link building budgets.  To many this budget is for the time and energy it takes their in-house SEO team to build links. For those who outsource their link building to an SEO agency, this is a financial question. However you look at it, this analogy may help you with your link building “budget.”

An overweight man goes to the doctor and tells him that he wants to lose a hundred pounds in the next three months. The doctor explains that this is an aggressive goal and that he’ll need to change his eating habits, and exercise at least five times a week. The man doesn’t like the sound of this, so he tells his doctor that he’s willing to give up sugar, but not bacon cheeseburgers and that he only has time to exercise twice a week.

What’s the doctor going to say? “Oh, that’s fine. I’m sure you’ll achieve your goals using your strategy.” Well, probably not. But since this is at least a step in the right direction, the doctor encourages the behavior and hopes that as the man starts to see some positive results, he will increase his commitment to the diet and exercise routine over time.

Let’s translate.

A business owner tells his SEO that he wants to get fifty of his best keywords to page one in the next three months. The SEO explains that this is an aggressive goal and that he’ll need to add content to his web page five days a week and that he’ll need to promote his website through social circles, webmaster outreach, and link building. (Or the SEO offers to help do these things for $5000/mo, however you want to look at it.) The business owner says that he’ll add some content and post it to Facebook, but that he doesn’t have time to write that many articles and that he has very little time for link building. (Or maybe he says he only has a $1000/mo budget to outsource these strategies.)

What’s the SEO going to say? “Oh, that’s fine. I’m sure you’ll achieve your goals using your strategy.” Well, probably not. But since this is at least a step in the right direction, the SEO encourages the behavior and hopes that as the business owner starts to see some positive results, he will increase his commitment to the SEO strategy over time.

What’s your link building budget look like? Are you spending enough time and effort (or money) on this essential ingredient to SEO? If you don’t, it’s not the end of the world. At least you’re doing something positive and healthy for your website. You could probably be doing more, but even if you’re doing a little, that’s good. Just set your expectations accordingly. If you’re in a competitive heading and your site is ranking on page six of the SERPs, and you don’t have the time to “exercise five days a week”, just know that it’s going to take you longer to achieve your goals. But do it anyway. Because in the long run, it’s the right thing for your SEO strategy, and maybe as you start to see results, you’ll find more “time to exercise.”

Thanks for reading.

David McBee

Did you like this analogy? Read SEO is a diet. PPC is Plastic Surgery