How to use a large budget

[Webrevolve]

Hi All,

This is more of an open discussion to gather some advice /  strategy tips for a large spending client - so looking for some experts tips here.

Potentially, there is a large client on the horizon, with a budget for 'SEO'  starting at the 15k PM region.

My question is- in what way would you personally begin to utilise this budget in absolute benefit of the client. What would you propose strategy-wise to begin with, what else would you incorporate along the line? How would you generate results not just from SEO, but from additional channels?

PS - They have a separate budget for PPC.

An open discussion and plenty of ideas would be fantastic.

[Textbroker]

If you need writers to help ramp up, we have some capacity on our UK site. (textbroker.co.uk).

As much as I love content, creation is only part of the battle. You may want to think about social media, guest blogging and relationship-building to help promote your content. Of course, you'd have to look at where your client's customers are and go from there.

Good luck!

[Martin_Harris]

15K pm... media or media & management? If it is just Media it seems bizarre they would spend that much on SEO, when they could hire a top PR/Copy writing agency for a lot less.

I digress.

• Paid online publications
• Viral competition promotion
• Invest in the latest tracking/technology resources
• Content, Content, Content  (Info-graphics, Written Content, Video, Photos ect)

[Andy.Drinkwater]

Lots of good additional info there Charles

[Webrevolve]

Great answers guys, many thanks.

You have confirmed that the track I was looking at is indeed the correct one. The Wikipedia page is a great idea. Thanks for the link to http://www.quicksprout.com/ - looks like an awesome resource.

[Andy.Drinkwater]

Everyone is always going to have different approaches Brian

But just in terms of budget, Matthew's client has around £15k per month, which sits very firmly in the 6-figure region.

Like yourself, I can only speak from experience of what has worked for my clients. Diversity is what makes the world go round

[Backlinko]

I know you meant good stuff, Andy : )

I think we have a tiny difference in approach...and I can definitely see your side.

I agree that putting all your eggs in one basket is a potentially HUGE waste of money.

However, I do think you should only have a few baskets. It's simply not possible to create hundreds of amazing articles without a 6-figure budget.

In my experience you get a better ROI from 10 mind-blowing pieces of content vs. 100s of very good articles.

And while Google has likely decreased link value coming from syndicated infographics...they still very much value links pointing TO infographics on your own site.

[Andy.Drinkwater]

By buckets of content, I'm not referring to $5 pieces penned by would-be copywriters - Sorry, never thought to clarify that

However, putting all your eggs in one basket is something of a no-no. Would I ever recommend a client spend thousands on one article? There comes a point of diminishing returns and that will get hit. However, have a couple of hundred amazing articles written and cast your net out to catch as many fish as possible.

Also worth remembering that Google has cottoned on to infographics and you don't get the same from them now. Too many have been created to the point of saturation.

However, videos are great and I have seen many SERP increases just by placing a video on a page.

[Backlinko]

I agree with Andy that content should be your focus.

However, with a budget like that, the last thing you should be doing is creating "buckets of content".

Volume isn't going to get you a single link: you need to create outstanding, mind-blowing stuff.

Just look at this guide by QuickSprout...this is the type of stuff that naturally generates links:

http://www.quicksprout.com/

Did this take a lot of effort and money? Sure did.

But that ONE piece of incredible content is worth so much more than hundreds of "good" articles.

Think animated videos, stunning infographics and definitive guides. That's the type of stuff that will drive links and social signals.

[Andy.Drinkwater]

In terms of writers, it depends what market they are in. You might find some that are specific to their industry (or maybe not). I have heard good things about Copify and know a few places that deal with them.

In terms of additional activities, the next best bang for buck will be to ensure all pages are targeting phrases correctly (meta, titles, etc), but you are likely to get the most from a solid link-building campaign. Have you also thought about creating them a Wikipedia page?

[Webrevolve]

Thanks Andy,

Yeah, I was thinking about a pure content based strategy and getting some top-notch writers lined up as the main way to generate a decent link profile.

We are also developing their site, and so we will have bucket loads of time initially to develop on-site too.

However what, in addition, could be utilised that would add real value outside of content?

Further to the content  - I'd need to look at some additional writers which may take a while to locate and bed in, so does anyone know of any trusted third party (UK Based) writers that could be contracted in in the short time?

[Andy.Drinkwater]

With a budget like that, you could write so much great content - and this is what it's all about at the end of the day.

Start with having buckets of content written for the site, for articles, blog posts, etc., and then move on to sharing and then link-building. With so much great content, you will be able to show potential sites this content that they can link to.

Share it all around the social platforms as well - perhaps look at getting a video or two created as well.

As long as they don't have problems such as Panda or Penguin to deal with, then just employ some marginal on-page techniques for the site itself - Meta, Titles, internal links, etc.

Andy