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SEO ROI calculator.

Enter a search volume, the position you are aiming for, your conversion rate and what a conversion is worth. You get the visits, the leads, the revenue, the ROI and the month the content pays for itself. Everything stays in your browser.

  • Free
  • Open access
  • CTR by position built in
  • Unlimited scenarios
tonaily.com / tools / seo-roi-calculator

Searches per month for the keyword, from your research tool.

The position you can realistically reach, given the keyword difficulty.

Share of visitors who become a lead or an order, for this type of page.

Average order value, or lead value: deal size times close rate.

Writing, tooling and time, spread per month.

Example 5,000 searches · position 3 · 2% · $120 · $400/month
Visits / month
550
Conversions / month
11
Revenue / month
$1,320
ROI
230%
Months before break-even
3
Pays for itself

Every month at position 3 returns $1,320 for $400 spent, $15,840 a year at cruising speed. The content has covered its cost by month 3.

Assumptions: 11% click-through at position 3 · traffic grows in a straight line to the target over 6 months · cost paid every month from month 1 · ROI measured at cruising speed

Forecast

How to read the forecast.

  1. 01

    Volume becomes visits

    A search volume counts searches; traffic is the share of searchers who click a given position: 27% at the top, 11% at position 3, 2% at the bottom of page one. The calculator applies that rate first, so every number after it rests on visits you can actually expect.

  2. 02

    Visits become revenue

    Visits times your conversion rate gives leads or orders; leads times what one is worth gives revenue. Use the conversion rate of the specific page type you will publish. A blog post converts well below a pricing page.

  3. 03

    Revenue meets the cost

    ROI is revenue minus cost, over cost, at cruising speed. Break-even is the first month where what the content has earned since publication covers what it has cost, with traffic ramping up over six months. Both numbers hold up when the cost includes writing, tooling and time.

A forecast you can defend in a meeting.

Most SEO budgets are approved or refused on a feeling. A forecast changes the conversation: it names the query, the position, the rate at each step and the month the money comes back. Every number in it can be challenged, which is exactly what makes it credible. A forecast open to debate is a forecast people believe.

The step most forecasts skip is the position. Search volume is the number everyone quotes, yet traffic is a fraction of it: at position 7, a 5,000-search query sends 175 visits a month. Choosing the position you can realistically reach, given the difficulty of the keyword, is the whole exercise.

Run the calculator on the ten keywords in your plan, then sort by break-even month. The ones that pay back inside six months fund the ones that take a year. Write them in that order, whatever their raw volume.

Questions

How do you calculate SEO ROI?
Estimated revenue minus cost, divided by cost. The revenue side is the honest part to get right: search volume times the click-through rate for your target position, times your conversion rate, times the value of a conversion. The cost side must include content production, tooling and the time your team spends, as well as invoices. The calculator chains those four steps and shows each intermediate number, so you can see where a forecast goes wrong.
How do you forecast SEO traffic from a keyword?
Multiply the monthly search volume by the share of searchers who click the position you expect to hold. At position 3, about 11 in 100 searchers click, so a 5,000-search query sends roughly 550 visits a month. The forecast is only as good as the position you assume: aim for the position you can realistically reach given the keyword difficulty.
What click-through rate should I assume by position?
As a working baseline: roughly 27% at position 1, 15% at 2, 11% at 3, 8% at 4, 6% at 5, then 4% down to 2% across positions 6 to 10, and under 1% off page one. These are the rates the calculator uses. They vary enormously by query type: a brand search concentrates clicks at the top, an ambiguous query spreads them, and a SERP full of ads and featured snippets lowers every organic rate.
How long before SEO shows a return?
On a new or low-authority domain, six to twelve months before compounding becomes visible; on an established site, three to six for pages on topics you already have authority in. Any forecast that pays back in a quarter is either a very easy keyword or a very optimistic model. The calculator assumes the page reaches its target position over six months, with traffic growing in a straight line, and the cost paid every month from the first.
What does "months before break-even" mean here?
The first month in which the revenue accumulated since publication covers the cost accumulated over the same months. Because traffic ramps up over six months while the cost starts on day one, the first months run at a loss even for a profitable keyword. A page breaks even once its monthly revenue at cruising speed exceeds its monthly cost; the calculator flags the pages that stay below that line.
Why compare SEO ROI against paid search?
Because it is the decision you are really making. Paid buys traffic that lasts as long as the budget; SEO buys an asset that keeps returning and depreciates slowly. The comparison that matters is cumulative cost per visit over 24 months.
Is this SEO ROI calculator free?
Yes: open access, and as many scenarios as you like. Everything is computed locally in your browser, so your volumes, conversion rates and costs stay on your device.

Tools that go with it

One keyword is a forecast. A hundred is a plan.

Tonaily scores every keyword in your strategy by volume, difficulty and opportunity, writes the articles you approve and tracks what they actually bring in. Plug your site and see where to start.

Audit my site for free See how keywords are chosen

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