{"id":2042,"slug":"rule-show-dollar-ranges-not-points","title":"Rule — Show derived dollar ranges as estimates, never point values","kind":"rule","scope":"business","status":"current","audiences":["kevin","candid-team"],"topics":["smb-seo-budget-norms","smb-difficulty-widget"],"reference_body":"**Rule:** Because SMB owners think in dollars, pair every tier with concrete anchors — but as RANGES with vendor-source flags, never point estimates.\n\n**Why:** Vendor variance is huge ([[smb-website-build-cost-range-vendor]]); descriptive SMB SEO data is anchor-able ([[backlinko-2019-smb-seo-monthly]] $497/mo) but precision varies; precision backfires when shown wrong (Pena-Marin 2019 — see sister brief [[research-brief-smb-widget-presenting-tiers-june-2026]]).\n\n**How to apply:** Website build $5K-$40K (one-time), SEO ~$500-$2,000/mo, content/tools incremental. Label these \"typical market prices\" and cite Backlinko + BDC. NEVER quote a single price.","rationale_body":null,"metadata":null,"links":{"outgoing":[{"slug":"smb-website-build-cost-range-vendor","title":"SMB website build cost — $5,000-$40,000 (vendor-quarantined)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"backlinko-2019-smb-seo-monthly","title":"Backlinko 2019 SEO Services Report — average SMB spends $497.16/mo on SEO","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"}],"incoming":[{"slug":"research-brief-smb-widget-spend-benchmarks-june-2026","title":"Research brief: SMB widget spend benchmarks — feasibility of a \"digital-minus-ads\" % of revenue (June 2026)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"}]},"created_at":"2026-06-23T19:16:01.993Z","updated_at":"2026-06-23T19:16:01.993Z"}