I love talking about the ROI of SEO because it’s so incredibly motivating to see how powerful words can be.
One of the first questions small business owners often ask when they start working with me is “is SEO a waste of money?”
My answer is always the same.
Nope, absolutely not. It’s actually one of the best investments you can make in your business.
But, I get it. SEO is scary. It’s a marketing investment that doesn’t have an immediate impact on your business – it’s a long term marketing strategy that will make marketing more hands off in the future.
Think: High maintenance to be low maintenance vibes.
Butttt there’s actually a lot more value to SEO than just making more sales.
Let’s dive into the real ROI of SEO so you can see why this foundational marketing strategy is a must for every small business.
What is “SEO ROI”?
SEO ROI = Search Engine Optimization Return on Investment
Aka how much more money are you going to make after you invest time and/or money into SEO.
How to calculate the ROI of SEO
Calculating the ROI of SEO is a delicate subject in the marketing world.
It’s one of those things where Person A says one thing, Person B says another and Person C hates everything A and B said and has a whole new formula to calculate it.
But, let’s just be humans, k?!
To calculate the ROI of your SEO, you need to understand a few things:
- What keywords are driving traffic to your website.
- How much people pay to BUY spots in search results for those keywords (aka the cost per click or CPC for short).
- How much traffic each keyword brought to your website.
- How much Organic Traffic your site gets on a monthly/quarterly/yearly basis (aka people who clicked on your website from Google).
- How many conversions came from Organic Traffic.
- What your average sale amount is.
Calculating the ROI of SEO:
There are 3 different types of ROI that SEO can provide:
- Keyword Value
- Traffic Value
- Revenue Driving
Understanding all three of these data points will help you understand the true value of your SEO investment.
Let’s break it down.
How to Calculate the Traffic Value of Keywords:
Total Traffic Sessions from a Keyword x Cost Per Click of that Keyword
EXAMPLE:
Client A is ranking for 10 keywords on Google.
3 of those keywords are driving traffic to their website.
- Keyword 1 brought 5 traffic sessions and has a cost-per-click of $0.80
- Keyword 2 brought 3 traffic sessions and has a cost-per-click of $2.50
- Keyword 3 brought 10 traffic sessions and has a cost-per-click of $4.00
To calculate the SEO ROI, you’d multiple the CPC of each keyword times the number of traffic sessions.
Total Traffic Sessions from the Keyword x Cost-per-Click of that Keyword
SEO ROI of Keyword 1:
5 traffic sessions x $0.80 CPC = $4.00 SEO ROI
SEO ROI of Keyword 2:
3 traffic sessions x $2.50 CPC = $7.50 SEO ROI
SEO ROI of Keyword 3:
10 traffic sessions x $4.00 = $40 SEO ROI
In total, this client saved $51.50 by ranking organically for these keywords instead of having to pay to show up for them with Google Ads.
Total SEO Value = $51.50/month
How to Calculate the Total Traffic Value of all 3 Keywords Combined:
Organic Traffic Sessions x Average CPC
18 Organic Traffic Sessions x $2.44 Avg. CPC = $43.92 SEO ROI (for that month)
Multiply that out for the year ($43.92 x 12) to find the yearly value of your SEO investment.
In this case, their SEO would be worth approximately $527 per year in ad spend saved.
Keep in mind, this does not include any revenue they’ve made from someone finding them on Google…yet!
How to calculate how much money you’re making from your SEO:
Aka how much revenue SEO is driving for your business…
Organic Traffic Conversions x Average Sale Amount
EXAMPLE:
Client A had 100 conversions from Organic Traffic last month.
Their average sale is approximately $100.
100 conversions x $100 = $10,000
Aka their SEO is valued at $10,000 for that month.
Meaning, the client made an estimated $10,000 in sales because their website showed up on Google, their dream client clicked into it and made a purchase.
The best part about calculating the ROI of SEO is that you can drill down to a per-page or per-keyword value. This is especially valuable if you have a range of pricing in your business because you can calculate with a true revenue number instead of an average ticket price.
The Real ROI of SEO
Obviously, showing up on Google and letting search results do the heavy lifting of generating leads for your business is amazing.
But, the real ROI of SEO is within the keywords.
SEO Keywords are like a peak into your dream client’s brains.
They tell us exactly how people are searching for what you offer and give you the opportunity to fine tune your marketing messaging across the board to better connect with your dream client.
The more connected people feel, the more likely they are to click.
The more clicks you get, the more chances you have to make a sale.
And that’s not just on Google, that’s on every marketing platform.
So, when you invest in SEO, you’re investing in making marketing easier forever.
Literally every time you sit down to do anything marketing related for your business, you will save time because your SEO strategy tells you exactly what to say in things like:
- Social Media Posts
- Email Campaigns
- LinkedIn Ads
- Print Ads
- The list goes on and on…
Is SEO a waste of money?
No, absolutely not!
A well thought out SEO strategy designed for your brand is NOT a waste of money.
In fact, it’s one of the best investments you can make for your business because it’s the only marketing strategy that tells you exactly what to say to attract your dream clients, and makes lead generation a whole lot easier.
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