Search engine optimization (SEO) continues to be a pivotal component of a successful marketing strategy. In 2025, businesses need to stay ahead by investing wisely in SEO services to improve visibility, drive traffic, and ultimately increase conversions.
To achieve this, developing a well-planned SEO budget matters. But how do businesses decide on the right SEO budget allocation? The answer depends on the business needs, local SEO services, and industry trends.
Understanding SEO and Its Budgeting
SEO is the marketing technique that encompasses optimizing a website or online content through technical SEO, keyword research, content optimization, and link building. The purpose of SEO is to improve a website’s ranking on the search engine results pages (SERPs) to boost organic traffic and visibility for users. With over 8.5 billion Google searches daily, SEO plays an integral role for companies, particularly if they want to be discovered by potential customers.
This image is taken from DemandSage.
Since 75% of users never scroll beyond the first page of SERPs, businesses need to leverage their marketing efforts to be visible and to gain an advantage against competitors. Therefore, creating an SEO budget plan is crucial to correctly allocate financial resources for tools, content technical improvements, and experts. With a well-planned budget, businesses can dodge the risk of falling behind search rankings and missing out on long-term growth opportunities.
Where Should Businesses Allocate Their SEO Budget?
According to Gartner, the average marketing budget allocation for marketing is finally rising again after years of decline. Set at an average rate of 9.5% of total business revenue, this growth from 6.4% in 2021 reflects a renewed focus on marketing initiatives.
This image is taken from Gartner.
Moreover, businesses should allocate their budget wisely on key areas that need optimization to ensure their website becomes more discoverable. Companies should set the budget for the following:
- On-Page SEO
When it comes to SEO budgeting, on-page SEO generally demands a more direct, hands-on, and upfront investment. On-page SEO covers optimizing website elements like meta tags, headers, content, internal linking, and improving site speed.
Getting on-page SEO right means adapting to frequent algorithm updates impacting ranking factors like keyword optimization, content, and user experience. To stay competitive and maintain visibility, businesses need to allocate more of their budget to ongoing SEO adjustments or risk losing traffic and rankings.
This image is from Semrush.
- Technical SEO
Website speed is among the top ranking factors in Google. About forty percent (40%) of consumers abandon a site if it takes more than three seconds to load, highlighting that slow-loading sites often lead users to either close the tab or visit a competitor’s site.
This is why investing in technical SEO is important, as it ensures that the website is optimized for both search engines and users. By focusing on facets like mobile optimization and technical SEO, businesses can vastly improve their website performance and ranking.
One marketing budget example is investing in tools that fix crawl errors, enhance page load times, and optimize structured data. Hence, when picking SEO Philippines packages, businesses must make sure that the service incorporates the right tools for technical SEO to enhance their website’s visibility and provide a better user experience.
- Link Building
Websites that have more high-quality backlinks rank higher on SERPs, making it another critical ranking factor in search engines. Thus, businesses should allocate part of their SEO budget to link-building to attract more organic traffic. To add, investing in link building can boost a business’s domain authority, improving the site’s credibility, conversions, and revenue.
This image is taken from Moz.
- Local SEO
Allocating a share of the average marketing budget for small businesses to local SEO is essential for reaching nearby customers who are actively searching for assistance. Local SEO enriches a business’s visibility on search engines, particularly when users look for location-specific terms like “near me.” This targeted approach guarantees businesses appear in relevant local search results, which boosts foot traffic, phone calls, and online inquiries from potential customers.
Investing in local SEO also offers a high return on investment (ROI) because it focuses on attracting customers with immediate intent. In fact, statistics show that over 76% of local searches turn into leads, and 28% result in a purchase within 24 hours. By optimizing for local search, businesses can compete more effectively against larger competitors and create a strong presence within their community.
- SEO Agency or Expert
When businesses don’t have in-house expertise, outsourcing marketing services to an SEO agency is a great way to ensure effective execution. Whether hiring an SEO agency Philippines or working with experts in the country, investing in professional SEO services can lead to higher ROI.
Factors to Consider in SEO Budgeting in 2025
With the occurrence of SEO trends this 2025, the marketing budget allocation shall consider several factors to guide business decisions.
- Business Size and Industry
The business size and the industry’s competitiveness are primary factors in determining the SEO budget. Larger enterprises or highly competitive industries like e-commerce or finance need to set more budget for SEO, as ranking on the first page can be difficult. The average SEO budget also depends on the niche market. Local SEO services are more budget-friendly, while global SEO needs higher investment.
This image is taken from Writesonic
- SEO Trends and Algorithm Changes
SEO is always modifying and staying up to date with the latest trends. In 2025, SEO trends like AI-generated content, video optimization, and core web vitals will play an increasingly vital role in digital marketing strategies. To keep up with these trends, allocating part of the SEO budget is needed to get ahead of the curve.
- Website Performance
Assessing the website’s current performance can also help determine budget allocation. If the site is already well-optimized and ranks well for targeted keywords, there is no need to allocate much for SEO. However, if the site is fresh or has significant performance issues, a larger budget might be required.
- Outsourcing Vs. In-House
Deciding whether to manage SEO in-house or outsource to an SEO agency will significantly impact the budget. In Deloitte’s Global Outsourcing Survey 2024, it has been highlighted that cost reduction remains a primary driver for outsourcing services like SEO. Outsourcing also enables businesses to leverage professional expertise while achieving greater scalability. Meanwhile, in-house needs more budgeting for hiring and training employees as well as acquiring tools and other resources.
This image is taken from HubSpot.
Maximize Your SEO Budget for Digital Success with DMP
In 2025, SEO will remain one of the most adequate ways to drive organic traffic and build a sustainable online presence. Planning SEO funding is a crucial step in assuring that businesses stay ahead in an increasingly competitive digital space. By carefully allocating resources to digital marketing services, companies can maximize the usefulness of their marketing budget while improving their site’s visibility, generating leads, increasing conversions, and boosting revenue.
Expand your SEO and online presence this 2025 by teaming up with Digital Marketing Philippines (DMP). With a group of trained SEO professionals, we specialize in SEO services and strategies that can cater to your business needs to achieve improvements in search rankings and business growth.
Whether it’s optimizing your website, executing engaging campaigns, or producing stunning visuals, we provide result-driven solutions to help your brand be more invincible and competitive than ever.
Contact us today to begin your SEO journey.
References:
- https://www.webfx.com/blog/marketing/how-to-plan-a-marketing-budget/
- https://reusser.com/insights/blog/4-factors-to-determine-your-marketing-budget-2025
- https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-much-should-i-spend-marketing-2025-marketers-take-subhodip-das-0lgsc
- https://www.forrester.com/bold/planning-guide-2025-b2b-marketing-executive/
- https://www.invoca.com/blog/marketing-budget-trends
- https://searcht.au/blog/seo-budget/
- https://www.monsterinsights.com/seo-statistics/
- https://backlinko.com/google-ranking-factors
- https://www.nutshell.com/marketing/resources/cost-of-seo
Jomer B. Gregorio is a well-rounded expert when it comes digital marketing. Jomer is also known as a semantic SEO evangelist and practitioner. Check out our Digital Marketing Services today and let us help you in achieving positive and profitable results for your business.