What we would do with the money
Splitting a client SEO budget across technical, content and links
Small agencies rarely lack ideas; they lack a rule for where the next dollar goes. This page gives three example splits and a decision tree you can adapt per client.
The rule
Fix, then write, then link
Spend on the track that is currently blocking the other two. For most new clients that is technical, then content, and only then links. Learning how to buy good backlinks starts with knowing whether the site is ready for them.
- Month one is rarely a links month.
- A link to a page that does not index is a wasted order.
- Review the split every quarter, not every week.
What we would do with $1,000, $3,000 and $6,000 a month
| Monthly budget | Technical | Content | Links |
|---|---|---|---|
| $1,000 | $450: audit, speed, indexation fixes in months 1-2 | $400: two service pages or one long guide | $150: one mid-priced placement plus a couple of cheap ones |
| $3,000 | $900: fixes, then monitoring | $1,300: four articles, one refreshed page | $800: five to eight placements spread over the month |
| $6,000 | $1,500: monitoring, schema, log checks | $2,700: eight articles, two refreshes | $1,800: a handful of stronger donors, reviewed one by one |
Why the links share stays smaller than clients expect
Clients often ask for links first because links feel measurable. You can count them. Counting is the easy part.
A placement costs from $1 up to about $500 on this marketplace, and price scales with donor authority, traffic and niche. That range is wide enough to burn a quarter of a small budget on one row if nobody sets a cap per link.
So we cap the track, not the link. Decide the monthly links figure once, then let the scorecard decide which rows deserve a slice of it.
A decision tree for the month ahead
- 1
If Search Console shows indexation errors on money pages
Put the whole month into technical. Revisit links in 30 days.
- 2
If the site is clean but has thin pages
Shift the month to content. Pick the two URLs that will receive links later.
- 3
If pages are strong and rank on page two or three
Open the links track. Choose donors in the page's niche and language, and order in small batches.
- 4
If rankings already sit in the top five
Hold links steady and spend on content refreshes. Chasing more authority there rarely pays back quickly.
- 5
If the client pushes for a big link batch anyway
Offer a phased plan from the twelve-week timeline and put it in writing.
A retainer that says 'link building' without a monthly cap invites arguments in month four. Write the cap, the donor criteria and the review date into the scope, and send the first report with them attached.
When the three tracks collide
Collisions happen in the third month, when a developer freezes the template and a writer needs a new landing page. Links then wait on content, content waits on technical.
Keep one shared sheet per client with three columns. Each cell holds the next action, the owner and the date. Simple, yes. Review it with the client at the monthly call.
If you work alone with freelancers, the same sheet works; the owners are just names on a list. For the donor side, read the offer teardown before you brief anyone.