SEO ROI Calculator
Enter your monthly SEO cost, current and projected organic traffic, and your conversion data. The calculator works out your return on investment, monthly profit, and the minimum traffic level needed to cover the cost. It builds a clearer picture of how the investment is performing and where the gaps are.
Explain like I'm 5 (what even is SEO ROI?)
You pay someone to help more people find your website through Google. More visitors means more customers, which means more money. SEO ROI answers the question: are you making more money from those extra visitors than you're spending to get them? And if not, how many more visitors do you need before you are?
Calculate
Enter your numbers, then press Calculate.
Monthly picture
- Additional organic sessions–
- Additional conversions per month–
- Additional revenue per month–
- Monthly SEO cost–
- Monthly net profit / loss–
Over 12 months
- Total investment–
- Total additional revenue–
- Total net profit / loss–
Return
- ROI–
- For every £1 invested–
Break-even
- Minimum additional sessions to cover cost–
- Status–
Prove it
Additional monthly conversions = additional sessions × (conversion rate ÷ 100). Additional monthly revenue = additional conversions × value per conversion. Monthly net profit = additional revenue − monthly cost. ROI = (total net profit ÷ total investment) × 100. Break-even sessions = monthly cost ÷ (conversion rate ÷ 100 ÷ value per conversion),the minimum additional sessions needed for revenue to equal cost. Revenue per unit invested = additional monthly revenue ÷ monthly cost.
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How to get accurate inputs
The quality of the output depends on the quality of the inputs. Here is where to find each one.
Monthly SEO cost
Add up everything you spend on SEO each month: agency or consultant fees, SEO tools and subscriptions, and any content you are paying to produce specifically for search. If your costs vary, use a three-month average. Do not include general website hosting or design costs unless they are directly tied to the SEO work.
Current monthly organic sessions
Pull this from Google Analytics. Go to Acquisition > Traffic Acquisition, filter by Organic Search, and read the session count for the last 30 days. Use a recent, representative month, avoiding months with unusual spikes or known tracking issues.
Projected monthly organic sessions
This is the harder number. If you are working with an SEO consultant or agency, use their traffic projection. If not, look at competitors who rank for your target keywords using a tool like Ahrefs or SEMrush, and estimate realistically where you could reach in 12 months. Being conservative here gives you a more honest result.
Organic conversion rate
Filter your conversions in Google Analytics by organic traffic specifically, not your overall site average. Organic and paid visitors often convert at different rates because the intent behind a search query differs from clicking an ad. If you have no organic-specific data yet, start with 1–2% for e-commerce and 0.5–1% for B2B lead generation as a baseline.
Value per conversion
For e-commerce, use your average order value. For lead generation, use the average revenue that a converted lead generates, either as a deal value or customer lifetime value depending on what you know. For content or ad-supported sites, use average revenue per session. The more precisely you can estimate this, the more the calculator tells you.
What the break-even sessions figure tells you
The break-even sessions figure is the minimum number of additional organic sessions per month your SEO needs to deliver just to cover its cost. Nothing more.
If your projected traffic is above the break-even threshold, the investment is covering its cost and returning something on top. If it is below the threshold, you are either not projecting enough traffic growth, your conversion rate is too low, or your value per conversion is too low to justify the spend at its current level. The calculator shows you which lever matters most: try adjusting each input individually and watch which one moves the needle most on the result.
What this calculator does not account for
This is a point-in-time, steady-state model. It assumes you have already reached the projected session level and are holding it. It does not model the ramp-up period, which for SEO is typically 3–12 months before results become meaningful. During that period your cost runs but your additional revenue has not yet materialised.
It also does not account for:
- Brand value: organic visibility builds brand recognition even for visitors who do not convert immediately
- Assisted conversions: organic search often plays a role in the customer journey even when another channel gets the last-click credit
- Compounding: traffic and authority built through SEO tends to grow over time, unlike paid traffic which stops when the budget stops
- Competitor actions: what your competitors are doing to their organic presence affects your results
For a broader view of how investment grows over time, try the Compound Interest Calculator. For a general-purpose return on any investment, see the ROI Calculator.
Nothing on this page is financial advice. For an investment decision that matters, talk to a qualified professional.
Related calculators
SEO ROI only tells you one slice of the marketing picture.
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate SEO ROI?
SEO ROI = (Additional revenue from organic traffic − Cost of SEO) ÷ Cost of SEO × 100. Additional revenue is the extra sessions your SEO delivers, multiplied by your conversion rate and average conversion value.
What is the break-even sessions figure?
The minimum additional monthly organic sessions your SEO needs to generate to cover its own cost. If your projected growth falls below this number, the investment is not yet paying for itself. Use it to challenge traffic projections and set realistic targets.
What should I enter as my conversion rate?
Use the conversion rate for organic traffic specifically. Find it in Google Analytics by filtering sessions and goal completions by the organic channel. If you do not have organic-specific data, 1–2% is a typical starting range for e-commerce; B2B lead generation is often lower.
What counts as the value per conversion?
For e-commerce, use average order value. For lead generation, use average deal value or customer lifetime value. The more accurately you can estimate this, the more useful the result.
Why does the calculator not account for the SEO ramp-up period?
This calculator models the steady-state economics: once you reach the projected traffic level, what does the return look like? Including ramp-up would require month-by-month traffic projections that are too site-specific to generalise. Use the steady-state result to decide whether the destination is worth reaching; factor in the ramp-up time separately when deciding whether the journey is right for you.