- Paid media is a rental, content is an asset.
- Breakeven often falls in months 9 to 18.
- Refresh content to slow decay.
A simple two-year model
Assume paid traffic costs $2.00 per visit and you need 5,000 visits a month, or $10,000 a month. Assume content costs $6,000 a month to produce and reaches 5,000 monthly visits by month 12, then holds with a 10% yearly refresh cost.
Cumulative paid spend reaches $240,000 by month 24. Content spend reaches about $150,000, with traffic continuing afterward.
What makes content slower
New sites need months to earn trust and rankings. Competitive terms take longer. Plan for a gap with no results in months 1 to 4.
Use both
Paid media gives fast learning and covers the gap. Content lowers blended cost over time. Many brands shift from 90% paid in year one to 60% paid in year two.
Refresh to keep the asset
Pages lose traffic as they age. A yearly refresh of the top 20 percent of pages keeps most of the traffic at a fraction of the original cost.
How many months until a customer pays back their cost?
Questions about Content and SEO Economics
Is SEO free?
No. Writing, editing, technical work and tools all cost money, even without ad spend.
How fast can SEO work?
Low-competition terms can move in 2 to 4 months. Competitive terms often take 9 to 12 months.
Should small businesses start with SEO?
Start with paid if you need leads now, and build content alongside.
Key terms
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