In 30 seconds
De Valk suggests a tentative SEO budget and explains why its contribution can be difficult to isolate.
- 1Starting pointHe suggests 10% of an existing CPC budget.
- 2Last clickHe criticizes reliance on last-click attribution.
- 3Measurement limitsHard-to-measure effects are not automatically zero.
Takeaways
- His 10% suggestion is a starting point.
- Last-click attribution can miss earlier influence.
- Measurement uncertainty does not prove no effect.
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An initial budget
Asked how a company might budget for SEO, Yoast founder Joost de Valk suggests starting with 10% of an existing cost-per-click advertising budget and observing the results. This is his rule of thumb, not a universal allocation.
Asked how a company might budget for SEO, Yoast founder Joost de Valk suggests starting with 10% of an existing cost-per-click advertising budget and observing the results. This is his rule of thumb, not a universal allocation.
Attribution challenges
The interviewer asks how a company can evaluate SEO when results take time, especially early in the process.
The interviewer asks how a company can evaluate SEO when results take time, especially early in the process.
De Valk says attribution is difficult and argues that advertising measurement systems often emphasize the last click.
He notes that the final click may be a branded search after earlier exposure persuaded a customer, while the exact search terms that brought visitors to a site may not be available.
Indirect effects
He compares the difficulty of attributing SEO results to measuring television advertising: difficulty of measurement does not establish that a channel has no effect.
He compares the difficulty of attributing SEO results to measuring television advertising: difficulty of measurement does not establish that a channel has no effect.
De Valk questions the assumption that every part of growth can be measured precisely and says SEO may influence other results indirectly.
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