SEO doesn’t have to be a costly endeavor.
With a strategic approach and a focus on high-impact, low-cost tactics, even teams with limited budgets can achieve significant improvements in their search visibility.
In this post, we explore the best “value-for-money” SEO moves.
We’ve asked leading SEO experts and business leaders to share their top recommendations, focusing on strategies that deliver maximum impact with minimal financial investment.
Their insights offer a practical roadmap for maximizing your SEO ROI, proving that effective SEO is achievable even on a shoestring budget.
Read on!
Get an SEO Audit
SEO doesn’t have to be expensive to be effective. If you’re working with a limited budget, focus on these three high-impact moves to get results without breaking the bank:
1. Get an SEO Audit With Expert Insights
One of the best investments you can make is understanding what’s working, what’s not, and where your biggest opportunities are. If possible, invest in a comprehensive SEO audit that includes expert analysis–not just a data dump. A strong audit should break everything down in plain language and provide clear next steps tailored to your business goals.
If an expert audit isn’t in the budget, the next best option is to use a free trial of Semrush, Ahrefs, or Ubersuggest to run an automated audit. These tools provide helpful insights, but you’ll need to interpret the data yourself.
As part of your audit, look for quick technical SEO wins that improve your site’s performance. Use free tools like Google PageSpeed Insights and Screaming Frog (free for up to 500 URLs) to check for broken links, slow-loading pages, and mobile-friendliness issues. Fixing these small but important issues can boost rankings and create a better user experience.
2. Use AI for Keyword Research and a Sustainable Content Plan
Instead of manually searching for keywords, use tools like ChatGPT, Semrush or Moz, and AnswerThePublic to quickly identify keyword clusters and search intent that align with your audience’s needs. Prioritize informational and transactional keywords–the ones that bring in traffic and convert visitors into customers.
Once you have your keywords, build a content calendar you can sustain. Focus on:
– Answering real audience questions with depth and clarity
– Optimizing content naturally–without keyword stuffing
– EEAT–Expertise, Experience, Authority, Trustworthiness–still matters
3. Earn Backlinks and Strengthen Internal Links
Backlinks are still a top ranking factor, and you don’t need a big budget to earn them–just a smart strategy. Focus on organic link-building by:
– Implementing a PR campaign
– Appearing on podcasts
– Building relationships with industry peers for content collaborations and resource swaps
– Creating content that is “linkable”
Don’t overlook internal linking. Many businesses miss this easy win–linking strategically between your pages helps distribute SEO value and keeps visitors on your site longer.
SEO is a long-term game, but even with a tight budget, you can audit, optimize, and build authority without spending a fortune.
Hope Trory
Founder & CEO, HOPEWORKSDESIGN
Improve On-Page Content
If you’re working with a tight budget,
- focus on high-impact, low-cost SEO moves like improving on-page content (optimize meta tags, headings, and internal linking),
- building quality backlinks (target local partnerships or guest posts),
- and improving your site’s user experience (quick load times and mobile responsiveness).
These can drastically improve rankings without draining your resources.
Robbin Schuchmann
Co-founder, EOR Overview
Invest in Keyword Research
As a content marketer with 8+ years developing brands, I swear by these two hacks:
1. Invest in a keyword research tool like SEMRush or Ahrefs. The ROI on these tools, if used efficiently, is worth every cent spent on them. If you generate content posts doing proper keyword research, and with a keyword strategy in mind, you can easily get your content ranked in the top 10 organic results.
2. Build topical authority by researching AI overviews, featured snippets, and the People Also Ask section on search engines. Develop FAQ guide-based content to build authority.
3. Play with AI tools. You need not buy a ChatGPT Plus subscription or Claude or any AI tool for that matter. With the right prompt engineering, you can generate awesome content using any AI tools. It’s your intelligence that enriches the piece and helps it rank better, while getting generated in half the time.
Anjali Chopra Bhandari
Brand Strategist, Concurate
Content and Keyword Optimization
When funds are tight, prioritizing efforts that yield strong returns is essential. Here are three high-impact, budget-friendly SEO moves:
Content & Keyword Optimization: Invest time in understanding your audience by leveraging free keyword tools like Google Keyword Planner or Ubersuggest. Identify long-tail, low-competition keywords that resonate with your niche, and naturally integrate them into high-quality, engaging content.
Optimize title tags, meta descriptions, and headers to clearly signal your page’s value to search engines. By continually updating your content to reflect evolving search trends and user needs, you build long-term authority without heavy financial outlay.
Low-Cost Link Building & Outreach; Quality backlinks remain a top ranking factor, yet they don’t require expensive campaigns. Focus on creating shareable, authoritative content that naturally attracts links.
Reach out to industry blogs, local publications, and complementary businesses for guest posting or collaboration opportunities. Participate in community forums and engage in social platforms where your target audience congregates. Genuine outreach and relationship-building can secure valuable, organic links that enhance your site’s credibility over time.
Technical SEO & User Experience Enhancements: A well-optimized website is a strong foundation for SEO success. Use free tools like Google Search Console and PageSpeed Insights to identify and fix technical issues–be it slow loading times, broken links, or non-responsive designs.
Ensure your website structure is clean and intuitive to improve crawlability and enhance the user experience. A faster, more accessible site not only helps improve search rankings but also increases visitor engagement and conversion rates, making it a smart investment for teams operating on limited budgets.
Together, these three strategies–smart content creation, cost-effective link building, and essential technical improvements–can significantly boost your site’s visibility and organic growth without breaking the bank.
Adopting these moves offers a sustainable path to building a robust online presence even when every dollar counts.
Paul Griffiths
SEO Services, The Laughing Professor
Find Expired Domains
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1. Look for an expired domain with high-quality links that align with your target site’s niche: You can find expired domains with followed links from sources like bbc.com for under $300. Ensure the domain is highly relevant to your niche.
2. Respond to HARO (Help a Reporter Out) questions: Platforms like featured.com connect publishers seeking industry insights with contributors. This is a free way to build brand authority, gain trust, and secure valuable backlinks.
3. Create content tailored to your target audience, not search engines: Aim to publish at least one topic per week that addresses their pain points, answers common questions, and provides solutions to the problems your potential customers are searching for.
Adam Haworth
Managing Director, Fuunction
Focus on Technical SEO Audits
When working with a shoestring budget, it’s important to focus on SEO strategies that provide the highest return on investment without requiring significant financial resources. Here are three value-for-money SEO moves that can make a real impact:
1. Focus on Technical SEO Audits: Conducting a thorough technical SEO audit is an advanced move that can identify issues affecting site performance and search engine crawling.
By addressing technical aspects such as improving page speed, fixing broken links, optimizing site architecture, and ensuring mobile-friendliness, a team can make their website more accessible to search engines. Tools like Screaming Frog or Google Search Console provide valuable insights for identifying and resolving technical issues without requiring a significant investment.
2. Content Gap Analysis: Analyzing competitors’ content to identify topics and keywords they are ranking for that you haven’t covered is a great way to target new opportunities.
Using tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush, you can find valuable long-tail keywords and content gaps, allowing you to create better, more targeted content that attracts organic traffic without needing to start from scratch.
3. Implement Structured Data (Schema Markup): Adding structured data to your website helps search engines understand your content better, potentially resulting in rich snippets or knowledge panel placements.
This enhances your visibility in search results without additional costs, making it a cost-effective strategy to improve click-through rates and rankings. Tools like Google’s Structured Data Markup Helper can simplify the implementation process.
Vipul Gupta
Senior Digital Marketing Specialist, VIABLE SYNERGY
Optimize Existing Content
When you’re working with a limited budget, excuses won’t cut it–execution will. The trick? Prioritize impact-driven SEO moves that bring in results without breaking the bank.
Most websites already have gold buried in their content, but they fail to optimize it. Instead of chasing new content creation, double down on what you already have.
Run a content audit to identify pages that already rank on page two or three of Google, then optimize them with better keyword targeting, internal linking, and refreshed metadata. Google loves fresh, well-structured content–small tweaks here can push pages to the first page without extra investment.
Technical SEO is often ignored, but it’s the silent killer of rankings.
A simple Screaming Frog crawl can reveal broken links, slow-loading pages, and duplicate content issues–fixing these doesn’t cost a cent. Google Search Console is another free goldmine, flagging indexation problems and Core Web Vitals issues that could be hurting your organic performance. A clean, crawlable website is half the battle in SEO.
Link-building is where most teams struggle, but it doesn’t have to be expensive.
Instead of paid links, create a highly shareable asset–a research report, a niche industry guide, or a useful free tool. Then, reach out to bloggers and industry websites who could benefit from it. This method builds long-term authority without running expensive outreach campaigns.
Maria Harutyunyan
Co-Founder, Loopex Digital
Prioritize Local SEO
1. Prioritize Local SEO Optimization: Local SEO is one of the easiest ways to boost visibility without spending a dime. Fully optimize your Google Business Profile (GBP), ensuring your name, address, phone number (NAP) and business hours are accurate across all platforms.
Ask happy customers for reviews, as these significantly impact local map pack rankings. Get listed on directories like Yelp, Bing Places, and industry-specific sites. Finally, create location-based content (such as city guides or service pages) to appear in more local searches.
2. Leverage Free SEO Platforms: Instead of expensive tools, use free platforms like Google Search Console, Google Analytics, PAA, AlsoAsked, and Ubersuggest to uncover valuable SEO insights.
These tools help you track keyword performance, analyze website traffic, and identify technical issues that could be hurting rankings. GSC and GA, in particular, reveal what search queries are already driving traffic allowing you to optimize existing content rather than creating new pages from scratch.
3. Turn Existing Relationships into Backlinks: Backlinks are essential for SEO, but instead of cold-pitching strangers, tap into your existing network.
Reach out to partners, vendors, satisfied clients, or local businesses you’ve collaborated with and ask for a mention on their website. Offer to write a short testimonial they can feature (with a link to your site).
This method builds trust-based, high-quality backlinks without the time-consuming outreach. By prioritizing these strategies, even teams with a limited budget can improve rankings, drive organic traffic, and grow their business sustainably.
Shankar Subba
Growth Consultant, SEO Expert in Nepal
Prioritize Commercial Traffic
I’ve worked with growth-stage startups and pre-seed companies that had to compete against giants with marketing budgets big enough to buy a small island.
Here’s what works every single time:
1. Prioritize Commercial Traffic
If you’re on a budget and need quick SEO wins, focus heavily on commercial keywords.
Will they bring in less traffic? Probably.
But what matters is what success means to you. For my clients, it’s revenue–even if that means fewer visitors.
So if value for money means actual money to you, this is the way to go. Then, double down on building links to these money pages (featured.com is a budget option to use for this)
But if you prefer the traffic-fueled illusion of success, you can sprinkle in some informational keywords.
I usually recommend a 60/40 split between commercial and informational keywords.
2. CRO + SEO = More Revenue
Ask any experienced SEO, and they’ll tell you: one of the best SEO moves is making the most of the traffic you already have.
Sometimes, you don’t need:
New content
New landing pages
More backlinks
Instead, SEO and CRO should work together to maximize results.
And no, CRO isn’t expensive.
Free tools? Try Microsoft Clarity.
Got a little budget? Mixpanel, Hotjar–all solid picks.
3. Update and Iterate
Still on the topic of making the most of what you have–consistent sitewide updates should be part of your strategy.
Here’s what to do:
Go to Google Search Console (GSC)
Find keywords that are almost ranking on page one
Update the content using those keywords
These small tweaks can make a big impact.
And if you want to make this revenue-driven, set up conversion tracking in Google Analytics:
Identify the pages driving conversions
Focus on updating, internal linking, and external linking for those pages
Apply small-scale optimizations that boost results
Timothy Boluwatife
Founder, SEO By Tim
Prioritize Content Optimization
If you’re working on SEO with a tight budget, I’ve been there, and I know how to get the best results without spending a fortune. The key is to focus on strategies that bring the highest ROI with minimal investment.
First, prioritize content optimization. You don’t need expensive tools—just a solid understanding of what your audience is searching for. Take existing content and refresh it with better keywords, improved readability, and updated information. Free tools like Google Search Console can help identify pages that need a boost, while AnswerThePublic or Google’s “People Also Ask” section can give insights into what users are looking for.
Second, focus on technical SEO improvements. Many people overlook this, thinking it requires a developer, but simple fixes can go a long way. Compress images with free tools like TinyPNG, improve site speed by enabling caching, and use a free SEO plugin (if on WordPress) like Rank Math or Yoast to handle meta tags and XML sitemaps. A well-structured website helps search engines crawl your content better, which can significantly impact rankings without spending a dime.
Finally, build backlinks through smart outreach and collaborations. You don’t need to pay for links; instead, leverage guest blogging, HARO (Help a Reporter Out), or simply engage with niche communities where your expertise can add value. Also, update and repurpose your best-performing content into different formats—infographics, LinkedIn posts, or Twitter threads—to naturally attract more backlinks. Organic link-building is a long game, but when done right, it’s completely free and incredibly effective.
SEO on a shoestring budget is all about being resourceful, optimizing what you already have, and taking advantage of free tools and strategies that drive real results.
Inali Patel
Digital Marketing Specialist, Tech NewsCast
On behalf of the BoostMyDomain community of readers, we thank these leaders and experts for taking the time to share valuable insights that stem from years of experience and in-depth expertise in their respective niches.
BoostMyDomain invites you to share your insights and contribute to our authoritative publication. Reach a wider audience, build your credibility, and establish yourself as a thought leader in an industry that caters to every business with an online presence!
