In my years of pitching and managing SEO projects, I've learned that the most telling metric of a company's digital maturity isn't its traffic, it's its SEO budget.
The most significant annual SEO proposal I've ever pitched in Indonesia landed in the range of Rp6-8 Billion. For a mid-size company here, an SEO budget exceeding Rp5 Billion annually is substantial. To put it in perspective, that's over half a billion Rupiah every month. A commitment of that scale typically suggests a company with a monthly revenue well above Rp50 Billion.
But that was just a pitch. The largest SEO budget I've personally managed for a 12-month timeline? It was a minimum of Rp24 Billion.
This Rp24 Billion figure didn't come from a single company but was allocated across several products, representing only 30-40% of the company total annual SEO marketing spend.
This level of investment reveals a fundamentally different mindset. The stakeholders and investors in these companies operate on another level. They don't just spend on marketing; they invest in organic growth.
Reaching this level of understanding means a leader can clearly distinguish between a long-term game and short-term tactics. They grasp the fundamental difference between paid advertising (which stops the moment you stop paying) and organic marketing (which builds a durable asset). This perspective is often cultivated through global experience, as SEO investment levels in markets like the Americas are on a completely different scale.
The Indonesian Challenge and a Shift in Approach
Educating the market at this level requires a distinct approach, especially in Southeast Asia and specifically in Indonesia.
Here, a common business "pakem" or convention exists: money going out must immediately be matched, or exceeded, by money coming in. This "instant return" mindset, while understandable, often hinders the ability to play the long game. It's a key reason why many businesses struggle to level up.
This reality is why I fundamentally reframe SEO not as a marketing expense, but as a company-wide investment. In my pitches, I avoid leading with technical jargon. That information is overwhelming and often irrelevant to a non-marketing leader. Instead, I focus on a simple question: "What are your company's top priorities right now?"
I use our limited time to help stakeholders visualize the impact: what SEO can deliver in the short term (brand visibility, qualified leads), the medium term (sustained traffic growth), and the long term (establishing market authority and a predictable sales channel).
Yet, behind all this, a persistent sadness remains. Too often, the conversation becomes fixated on the investment cost. Instead of delving into the core business problems that SEO can solve, we get bogged down in price negotiations. I am confident that in 70-90% of cases, the decision-makers do not truly understand what SEO means for their specific company.
This is the complex reality I've learned to accept. And it's the very puzzle I am dedicated to solving: finding the right approach and language to champion strategic, long-term SEO investment within the unique and vibrant business ecosystem of Indonesia.