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Forecasting & Calculating
ROI for SEO
Forecasting&CalculatingROIforSEO

2. Agenda
• The Importance of ROI for
SEO
• How to forecast SEO ROI
• How to Measure SEO
performance
• How to calculate ROI for SEO
Forecasting&CalculatingROIforSEO

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Forecasting&CalculatingROIforSEO
The Importance of ROI for SEO

4. If you’re not focused on measurement, you’re just
doing a very expensive version of arts & crafts
- Mike King, Managing Director of iPullRank

5. The Importance of
ROI for SEO
• Types of SEO
• Why does SEO Matter for
ROI
• Types of ROI
• How does SEO
Contribute to ROI
Forecasting&CalculatingROIforSEO

6. Types of SEO
Forecasting&CalculatingROIforSEO
There are 3 SEO categories: On-Page, Off-Page, and Technical SEO

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Forecasting&CalculatingROIforSEO
Why Do They Matter?
When done correctly and consistently, SEO can have a huge impact on your business’s bottom line

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Forecasting&CalculatingROIforSEO
Revenue streams SEO can Impact
Increase in Organic Traffic means more people are consuming your content and the likelihood of
someone buying increases as well

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Forecasting&CalculatingROIforSEO
Revenue streams SEO can Impact
Increase in Engagement means better chance of enhancing the connection between brand and
consumer

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Forecasting&CalculatingROIforSEO
Revenue streams SEO can Impact
Increase in Visibility means better chances of being discovered by people who are unaware before

11. The best place to hide a dead body is the second
page of Google Search
- Someone on Google

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Forecasting&CalculatingROIforSEO
Types of ROI
Return on Investment (ROI)
Actual ROIProjected ROI
ROI is essentially ambivalent when it comes to total profit.
Rather than focusing on how much was made, ROI focuses on the profit a marketing
effort produced compared to the amount invested in the effort.

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Forecasting&CalculatingROIforSEO
How does SEO contribute to ROI?
Driving an increase in Quality Traffic is crucial because Quality traffic translate to better chances of
conversions

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Forecasting&CalculatingROIforSEO
How does SEO contribute to ROI?
Optimizing UX will also translate into higher conversion rates. Reflecting accurate user journey is key

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Forecasting&CalculatingROIforSEO
How does SEO contribute to ROI?
Increase Touch points to showcase more of your content to increase chances of conversion

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Forecasting&CalculatingROIforSEO
How does SEO contribute to ROI?
SEO also contributes to AD Performance and that will positively impact conversions

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Forecasting&CalculatingROIforSEO
How to Forecast ROI for SEO

18. How to Forecast ROI for
SEO
• Importance of
Forecasting ROI for SEO
• How to Develop SEO
Projections
• How to Communicate
SEO Projections
Forecasting&CalculatingROIforSEO

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Forecasting&CalculatingROIforSEO
Importance of Forecasting ROI for SEO
Not only will a forecast
provide an idea of the
direction
It can also create the
necessary accountability for
later measurement

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Forecasting&CalculatingROIforSEO
How to Develop SEO Projections
Annual SEO Projections

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Forecasting&CalculatingROIforSEO
Annual SEO Projections
Step 1: Compile the data on
the historical performance of
unbranded keywords for your
site in Organic Search by
exporting from Google
Search Console.
For maximum accuracy we
recommend pulling data via
the Google Search Console
API.

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Annual SEO Projections
Step 2: Google Search
Console gives an average
position value, we want to
calculate a CTR curve, so we
need to round up to a
Rankings value.
Do so by creating column F
and performing the
=ROUND(E2,0) function and
fill down.

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Annual SEO Projections
Step 3: Create a pivot table of
Ranking vs the Average of CTR.

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Annual SEO Projections
Step 4: Using Rankings 1-10
create your CTR Curve.

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Forecasting&CalculatingROIforSEO
Annual SEO Projections
Step 5: Identify the annual
search volume of keywords
that you do not rank in the
top 10 for.
Also, collect the Organic
Search conversion rate, and,
if applicable, the average
order value. Multiply the CTR
by the Conversion Rate to get
the amount of potential
traffic.

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Forecasting&CalculatingROIforSEO
Annual SEO Projections
Step 6: Multiply the traffic
value by the Organic Search
conversion rate to compute
the number of potential
conversions.

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Forecasting&CalculatingROIforSEO
Annual SEO Projections
Step 7: Multiply the conversion
value by the average order value
to determine the potential
incremental revenue.

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Annual SEO Projections
Step 8: This yields a range of
potential incremental traffic
and revenue.
Be sure to couch these
numbers against goals and
what you think is reasonable
for your team to execute.

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Annual SEO Projections
Step 9: To calculate the ROI,
you divide the sum of the net
returns per keyword by the
cost of the work you
completed and this will be
your annual projected ROI.

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How to Communicate SEO Projections
1. SEO projections are ANYTHING but definite.
The best way to communicate your SEO projections is to ensure stakeholders are
educated on how these projections were calculated, and what factors may affect
achieving them

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How to Communicate SEO Projections
2. Visualizations are best when communicating SEO projections.
Show the range of what can be achieved, depending on investment and
implementation, and help communicate the variables involved when projecting
SEO performance and ROI.

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Forecasting&CalculatingROIforSEO
How to Measure SEO Performance

33. How to Measure
SEO Performance
• What are We Measuring
• Importance of A/B Test
• Factors that Affect
Measuring ROI for SEO
• How to Measure ROI for
SEO
Forecasting&CalculatingROIforSEO

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What are We Measuring
What you measure will largely depend on your business KPIs.
With SEO, you will generally want to look at Organic traffic increases.

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The Importance of A/B Testing
Measuring results and showing ROI will almost always come down to a form of
an A/B test.

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The Importance of A/B Testing
Here are a couple of ways to do A/B testing with respect to SEO:
1. Date Segmentation: Isolate the SEO event and compare equal in length date
ranges before and after it was implemented.

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The Importance of A/B Testing
2. Split testing: Identify templated content on the site with a large enough set. Then
apply SEO changes to a subset and compare to the control pages.

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The Importance of A/B Testing
3. Bespoke SEO: Search engine optimization is not a paint-by-numbers game. SEO
needs to be tailored to the website, brand, page, user and asset type. Testing, making
more changes, and testing again will often be the SEO cycle you will employ.

39. SEO is a marketing function for sure, but it needs to be baked into
a product, not slapped on like icing after the cake is baked.
– Duane Forrester, VP of Industry Insights with Yext

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Factors that Affect Measuring ROI for SEO
Google’s Major Algorithm updates should always be taken seriously and accounted for

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Factors that Affect Measuring ROI for SEO
Google’s Ranking Factors - 200 + Ranking Factors to consider

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How to Measure ROI for SEO
Measurement ultimately shows changes in performance, whether they’re
positive or negative. In order to show these shifts, benchmarks and goals need
to be set.

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Measurement Tools
1. Google Analytics : Google Analytics is a free tool and by far the most
popular.

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Measurement Tools
2. Google Search Console : GSC can perform technical analysis of
your site and measurement of performance in Google search

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Measurement Tools
3. KWFinder: An SEO
Keyword Tool like KWFinder
helps companies find
long-tail keywords that have
a lower level of competition.
To use the tool, simply put in
the keyword you want to
target and watch the magic
happen.

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Measurement Tools
4. Majestic: Used by SEO experts worldwide, Majestic focuses on
providing web-based link information to help users identify how
competitors are performing.

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Measurement Tools
5. Ahrefs: Ahrefs can help companies see how pages are performing
against keyword rankings and backlinks, for both them and their
competitors.

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Measurement Tools
6. Google Data Studio: Google Data Studio provides an opportunity to
unite the different pieces of the puzzle in a single dashboard.

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Forecasting&CalculatingROIforSEO
How to Calculate ROI for SEO

50. How to Calculate
ROI for SEO
• Reporting on SEO
Performance
• Showing SEO ROI
• Calculating ROI for SEO
Forecasting&CalculatingROIforSEO

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Forecasting&CalculatingROIforSEO
Reporting on SEO Performance
1. Establish Baseline: By establishing a baseline, you will have a set of metrics to
compare results to

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Reporting on SEO Performance
2. Site Audit: Find everything that needs to be worked on and lay them out in an
organized fashion

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Forecasting&CalculatingROIforSEO
Reporting on SEO Performance
3. Identify Goals & Objectives: Clearly identifying your SEO goals is crucial for
measuring results

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Forecasting&CalculatingROIforSEO
Reporting on SEO Performance
4. Create an SEO Strategy: Based on the Goals & Objectives you set, create a
strategy most suited to meet that goal

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Forecasting&CalculatingROIforSEO
Reporting on SEO Performance
5. Define Deliverables and how they will contribute to performance

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Reporting on SEO Performance
6. Create a measurement plan to set up tracking for all of the different channels
and metrics

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Reporting on SEO Performance
7. Analyze Data & Report Findings

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Showing SEO ROI
1. Increase in non-branded organic traffic: Non-branded organic
traffic is SEO gold as it is one of the few metrics you can truly
affect directly.

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Showing SEO ROI
2. Increase in inbound links: Similar to the previous ROI analysis
on the growth in inbound links, you can put a monetary value on
those links and analyze “revenue” gained that way.

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Showing SEO ROI
3. Increase in traffic quality: An improvement in organic traffic
quality can be shown through behavior metrics.

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Showing SEO ROI
4. Increase in revenue: An increase in organic revenue is as clear
cut as it can get for a top level executive. This is the true measure a
non-SEO stakeholder will be held accountable to.

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Calculating ROI for SEO
ROI is calculated by subtracting the initial value of the investment
from the final value of the investment, and dividing it by the total
cost of investment.

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