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Free tool · by Pedram Oreizi, Partner · updated October 2026SEO ROI calculator. What search could be worth to you.
Estimate the leads, customers and revenue that extra search traffic could bring, how long it takes to pay back, and what the same visits would cost as Google Ads clicks in Toronto.
Free, no sign-up. It runs in your browser, so nothing you enter is sent anywhere.
Would SEO pay for itself?
The starting numbers are examples. Replace them with yours from Google Analytics and your sales records.
Once results build, each month
- Extra leads
- 18
- Extra customers
- 4.5
- Extra revenue
- CA$6,750
- Same visits as Google Ads clicks
- CA$2,610
Over time
- Revenue in the first 12 months
- CA$64,125
- Return after 12 months
- 78%
- Return after 24 months
- 102%
- Pays for itself in
- month 5
A model, not a forecast: results depend on your market, your competition and your starting point. Google itself says "no one can guarantee a #1 ranking". Want a realistic target for your site? Start with a free SEO audit.
How the SEO ROI calculator works.
SEO doesn't switch on like an ad. So the calculator grows your extra visits evenly from zero to your target over the months you choose, then holds them there.
Visits in a month = target visits × (month ÷ months to build), up to the target
Leads = visits × share of visits that become leads
Revenue = leads × share that become customers × value of a customer
Return = (revenue − investment) ÷ investment
Pays for itself = the first month when total revenue passes total investment
The comparison with ads multiplies your target visits by Toronto's estimated average cost per click for your industry. It shows what buying the same traffic would cost each month, at the averages in our Google Ads cost study.
A worked example.
Say a business invests CA$3,000 a month and aims for 600 extra search visits a month, reached over 6 months. If 3% of visits become leads, 1 in 4 leads becomes a customer, and a customer is worth CA$1,500, then each visit is worth CA$11.25.
Visits build to 5,700 in the first year, worth CA$64,125 against CA$36,000 invested: a 78% return. The running total passes the investment in month 5. Buying 600 visits a month as Google Ads clicks at Toronto's estimated average of CA$4.35 would cost CA$2,610 a month, every month.
Change one input and the answer changes a lot. That's the point: it shows which number matters most for your business.
How to get honest numbers out of it.
- Use your own conversion rate. In Google Analytics, divide the leads from organic search by organic visits. Don't borrow someone else's.
- Set a target from the searches that exist. Extra visits can't exceed what people actually search for. A keyword tool shows the monthly searches in your market.
- Count every kind of lead. Calls and direction requests from your Google Business Profile never show up as website visits, but they're leads.
- Look at 24 months, not 3. SEO builds. In this model the second year carries more of the return than the first, because the visits keep coming.
- If the model only works with heroic numbers, SEO may not be your best channel yet. That's useful to know.
- If one customer is worth thousands, even a few extra leads a month can carry the cost. Our SEO service starts by measuring where you stand.
- For the bigger picture on search and AI, see our SEO statistics for 2026.
See where you stand.
A free, written audit within one business day: where you rank, who takes your searches, whether AI assistants mention you, and what to fix first. Then, if you like what you see, a free strategy session.
- 4.9×organic Google clicks for a law firm
- 8.9×organic Google clicks for a medical aesthetics clinic
Measured with the Redline Baseline Method: Search Console, July to September 2025 against the same months of 2026. Past results don't predict future results; yours depend on your market, competition and starting point. See the case studies.
SEO ROI, answered.
How do you calculate SEO ROI?
Estimate the extra visits from search, multiply by the share that become leads, the share of leads that become customers and the value of a customer. Then compare that revenue with what you spent on SEO over the same months.
How long does SEO take to pay back?
It depends on your market and your numbers. Early movement often shows in 2 to 3 months and meaningful results in 6 to 12, so judge it over a year or more, not a quarter.
Is SEO cheaper than Google Ads?
Per visit, it can be once it's working, because you don't pay for each click. But it takes months to build, while ads start the day you launch, so many businesses use both.
Can anyone guarantee these results?
No. Google says no one can guarantee a #1 ranking, so treat any calculator, including this one, as a planning tool, not a promise.
See what's holding you back.
Tell us about your business. Your written audit arrives within one business day. No call needed.
Your audit covers:
- where you rank for your services on Google and Google Maps across your service area
- which competitors take those searches
- whether ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google's AI answers mention your business
- technical problems holding the site back
- anything on your Google Business Profile likely to cause a suspension, such as keywords in the business name
Every finding is ranked by impact, with the evidence behind it. Yours to use, with us or without us. Then, if you like what you see, a free strategy session.
In short: a free, written audit within one business day. No call needed. Yours to keep, whether or not you hire us.