Fast, cheap, or good? The SEO tradeoff you can’t ignore

You’ve probably heard the saying: Fast, cheap, or good – pick two. 

The concept goes something like this:

If you want something fast and cheap, don’t expect it to be good. 

If you want it good and fast, it’s going to cost more. 

And if you want it good and affordable, well, you’ll need to give it time.

It’s a simple way to explain how tradeoffs work in projects.

In SEO, these tradeoffs are especially important to understand because you’re often creating problems that will cost more to fix later.

This article looks at variations of this project management concept and how it applies to SEO. 

Then I’ll explain why a quality-first approach leads to better, more sustainable results in the long run.

Understanding the fast-cheap-good concept

The fast-cheap-good concept is a modern variation of a classic project management approach that shows the trade-offs involved in getting work done. 

This project management approach is often visualized as a triangle. The three sides are typically:

• Time: How fast the work can be delivered.
• Cost: How much the work will cost.
• Quality: How good or thorough the work is.

The common interpretation is that you can prioritize two but the third will be constrained. 

The tradeoffs go something like this:

• High quality + fast delivery = higher price.
• High quality + low price = slower delivery.
• Fast delivery + low price = lower quality.

It’s worth noting that the original model introduced by Dr. Martin Barnes did not claim you could “pick two” and sacrifice the third. 

Barnes described time, cost, and quality as interdependent. If you constrain one, the others are impacted. 

Later interpretations produced various new iterations of the triangle.

Nevertheless, in theory, using this framework helps set realistic expectations in project outcomes.  

What time, cost, and quality mean to SEO 

How does time, cost, and quality impact outcomes in SEO? 

Time 

For many, being able to move faster than the competition is often a differentiating factor in success. 

However, most know that SEO is a marathon, not a sprint.

In some cases, it can be six months up to a year to see real movement. 

For more competitive sectors, it can take years to achieve No. 1 rankings for highly competitive, revenue-generating queries.  

Only 2% of pages reach the Top 10 within a year, while about 73% of top-ranking pages are more than three years old, per an Ahrefs study.

As for No. 1 rankings, the average page in Google is five years old.

However, the research shows that if the page were going to rank for a “higher search volume term,” it was more likely to do so within the first month. 

So, how much you decide to invest in SEO can impact how quickly you want to compete. 

If you’re in a competitive niche or aiming for faster results, you’ll likely need to invest in more resources upfront. 

However, if you can be more nimble than your competition, then you have the potential to beat them in the search results even without a bigger budget. 

Being nimble means: 

• The ability to forecast potential changes in search and act on them sooner. 
• The ability to make decisions faster than your competition.
• The ability to implement SEO recommendations faster than the competitors. 

Cost

I don’t know any true SEO experts who charge bargain-basement rates.

The reality of high-quality work is that it takes skill, and paying for that skill comes at a price.

It can be alluring to buy inexpensive SEO that seems to check all the boxes. 

But what you’re actually buying is an illusion. 

And when everything falls apart, not only do you lose the initial costs of buying cheap SEO services, but you also have to pay for recovery. 

Add that to the fact that you’ll lose revenue while your visibility drops.

In the end, you’ll end up paying more for it later. 

Dig deeper: Don’t kill your SEO budget, shift it

Quality 

When we talk about quality SEO, we’re talking about: 

• The caliber of strategy behind the SEO program.
• The degree of expertise with which the program is executed. 
• The aptitude of the project managers to run an efficient program. 
• The level of SEO knowledge powering the SEO team.
• The quality of the content that is central to a helpful website.
• The precise implementation of technical SEO.  

There is probably more, but you get the point. 

Quality is essential to the success of SEO because it operates in a highly competitive environment. 

If you aren’t properly vetting the team that you’re hiring, you may ultimately be unhappy with the services you receive.

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What the specific tradeoffs look like in SEO projects

Here’s how the project tradeoffs can play out in real-world SEO scenarios:

Fast + cheap = risky, low-quality SEO

This is perhaps the most dangerous path. When SEO is sold as both fast and affordable, it usually means:

• Automated, low-effort tactics. 
• Practices that may produce short-term gains but can trigger long-term search engine penalties.
• No strategy, just surface-level optimization. 

Fast + good = a bigger investment

If you want expert-level SEO done quickly, it’s likely going to cost more. 

This is because:

• High-quality SEO requires skilled strategists, developers, and content creators. 
• Speed means ultra-focused resources, so no waiting in line behind other client projects or spreading the work out over a long timeline.
• Quick wins still need to be rooted in a sustainable strategy that ultimately takes time. 

Cheap + good = slow and steady

If you’re working with a limited budget but still want high-quality SEO, it may be possible with the right engagement.

However, you’ll need to expect slower progress:

• You’ll see incremental improvements.
• Results will build up over time, creating a compounding effect.
• This route is ideal for businesses that want long-term, sustainable growth and are willing to wait for it.

Dig deeper: Why SEO often fails before it even begins

Rethinking project constraints for SEO 

Critics have argued that the classic project constraints I’ve been discussing here in this article oversimplify how projects actually function.

And this may be especially true for creative and technical work like SEO.

The question is, do we really have to just pick two?

I propose something different. We should make quality the non-negotiable starting point.

In SEO, where quality determines the ranking potential and long-term visibility in search results, it makes more sense to treat quality as the foundation upon which time, cost, and scope depend (and adjust).

A quality-first strategy helps SEO programs run faster and more cost-efficiently because there’s less waste and less rework.

With quality at the forefront:

• Content builds true authority.
• Websites are more trusted by users and search engines.
• Organic traffic grows steadily and sustainably.
• You spend less time undoing poor-quality work.

The bottom line is that quality SEO is the only approach that pays off over time without costing you everything later.

Quality first, then everything else follows

Traditional project constraints show up in every SEO initiative.  

The fastest path to SEO results, though, is through quality, consistent work by people who know what they’re doing.

So if you’re weighing your options, don’t think about which element of the SEO program you have to sacrifice.  

Instead, ask how you can protect quality, and everything else will fall into place.