Strong organic search engine optimization, also known as organic SEO; boils down to 3 basic ingredients:

• Strong On-Page organic optimization
• Strong Off-Page (link popularity and quality)
• Strong PageRank (for Google only)

Although this may sound simple enough, the amount of organic optimization (page and link) is largely dependant on each keyword and the websites that are currently occupying top positions. In order to quantify the amount of organic optimization (page and link) required to support a top position, each keyword and respective competitiveness needs to be evaluated.

Therefore, the cost of a Organic Search Engine Optimization (SEO) campaign is based on:

1. The number of keywords that best represent the theme of your site
2. The competitiveness of those keyword terms
3. The number of external, inbound links that may be necessary to compete with those websites currently occupying your internet "space"
4. Organic SEO implementation restrictions including website construction and/or website depth.
    

The most important step of Organic Optimization is benchmarking competitive websties.  This step answers the question: “how are they (other websites currently occupying a desirable keyword space) getting ranked so high”.  Although it‘s a simple question, attaining an answer with reasonable confidence is very difficult. It requires benchmarking many organic optimization ranking attributes for each website page currently ranking for specific keywords and then creating an organic Search Engine Optimization model to score these attributes.  With benchmark values in hand, professional Search Engine Optimization (SEO) companies can better determine the amount of organic SEO ingredients necessary to achieve success and plot a winnable organic SEO strategy.