SEO ROI: an essential performance metric

Introduction to SEO ROI

‍

SEO, much like SEA, should be approached with a clear understanding of both investment and return on investment. This rational perspective is invaluable for any business leader seeking to assess the true efficiency of this strategic channel.

Calculating SEO ROI involves considering multiple factors and applying a robust methodology. In this article, we’ll explore the concept of SEO ROI and guide you through the process of calculating this crucial KPI for your business.

‍

What is ROI?

‍

ROI (Return On Investment) is a key performance indicator that expresses the ratio between profits and costs for a given activity. This KPI is used to measure the overall financial impact of a marketing or SEO campaign in relation to the resources invested.

‍

The key pillars of SEO

‍

‍

SEO specialists rely on several fundamental levers:

• Technical SEO: ensuring site performance, fast loading times, security and mobile compatibility.
• Content: delivering high-quality, original and relevant text, images and videos.
• Off-page SEO: building site authority through acquiring quality backlinks and managing online reputation.

These pillars work together and should be integrated into a holistic strategy to achieve measurable results.

‍

Definition and importance

‍

SEO ROI is the return on investment from organic search. It’s a critical indicator for evaluating the effectiveness of SEO activities and their impact on business growth. Understanding SEO ROI helps you allocate budgets, refine strategies and maximise the profitability of your digital initiatives.

‍

Why is SEO ROI crucial for your digital strategy?

‍

‍

49% of marketers rate organic search as the most effective channel for ROI, and over 40% of revenue is generated by organic traffic. SEO drives more than 1,000% more traffic than organic social media, and 60% of marketers identify inbound (SEO, blog content, etc.) as their best source of leads. SEO leads convert at an average rate of 14.6%, far higher than most other channels.

These statistics highlight the strategic importance of organic search for any business looking to grow its online presence and revenue.

‍

The importance of ranking in the SERP

‍

‍

Securing top positions in search results has a direct impact on traffic and, ultimately, on ROI. For example, the average click-through rate (CTR) for the first result on Google is 27.6%, compared to 18.7% for the second and 10.2% for the third. The top three organic results attract 54.4% of all clicks: being in this leading group is vital for maximising the return on your SEO investment.

‍

How to calculate SEO ROI

‍

The basic formula

‍

SEO ROI: (Campaign Gains - Campaign Costs) / Campaign Costs

To express this as a percentage, simply multiply the result by 100.

For SEA (paid search), ROI is relatively straightforward: costs are easy to identify and tracking allows you to measure gains directly. For SEO ROI, several factors must be considered, and as we’ll see, defining the costs and gains of a strategy is more complex.

‍

Factoring in time

‍

‍

SEO delivers results over the long term. Actions taken today may take time to reach their full potential. A sustainable strategy can generate traffic for years to come.

SEO ROI calculations are only accurate when time is factored in. While gains may be measured over the first year, benefits often continue in subsequent years, even though the investment was made during the initial campaign period.

‍

Average SEO ROI by time horizon

‍

An internal study of 80 US e-commerce sites across five sectors, from January 2022 to March 2025, established reliable benchmarks for average SEO ROI over different timeframes.
ROI is calculated as the ratio between revenue attributable to organic traffic and total SEO investment (agency fees, content production, technical improvements).

• After 6 months, average ROI is 0.8x, mainly due to early gains from technical SEO and easily optimised content.
• At 12 months, ROI reaches 2.6x, thanks to the cumulative effect of content and authority, driving more traffic and conversions.
• At 18 months, ROI rises to 3.8x, with organic search becoming the main revenue source for most e-commerce sites.
• At 24 months, ROI stands at 4.6x, as growth slows when content reaches saturation.
• Beyond 36 months, average ROI reaches 5.2x, with SEO becoming a core growth driver and marginal costs remaining low.

SEO ROI increases sharply between 6 and 18 months, fuelled by rapid content production and backlink acquisition. Niche e-commerce sectors with high average order values reach ROI above 5x more quickly, while more competitive sectors require greater time and effort.

It’s essential to adopt a long-term strategy, investing in ongoing quality content and building strong authority to maximise the profitability of organic search.

‍

Calculation: a practical example of SEO ROI

‍

Step 1: calculating total costs

‍

‍

Step 2: measuring traffic and conversions

‍

Before campaign (month 0):

• Monthly organic traffic: 2,000 visitors
• Conversion rate: 2%
• Monthly conversions: 40
• Average order value: €120
• Monthly organic revenue: €4,800

‍

After 12 months of campaign:

• Monthly organic traffic: 8,500 visitors (+325%)
• Conversion rate: 2.5% (optimised via CRO)
• Monthly conversions: 212
• Average order value: €120
• Monthly organic revenue: €25,440

‍

Step 3: calculating gains

‍

Revenue generated over 12 months post-campaign:

• Months 1-3 (growth phase): average €8,000/month = €24,000
• Months 4-6: average €15,000/month = €45,000
• Months 7-12: average €25,000/month = €150,000
• Total 12-month revenue: €219,000

‍

Reference revenue (without campaign):

• 12 months × €4,800 = €57,600

‍

Incremental revenue generated by the campaign:

• €219,000 - €57,600 = €161,400

‍

Step 4: ROI calculation (revenue approach)

‍

SEO ROI = (Gains - Costs) / Costs × 100 = (161,400 - 24,000) / 24,000 × 100 = 572%

‍

Step 5: factoring in margin

‍

Assuming a gross margin of 40% on products:

‍

Gross margin generated:

• €161,400 × 40% = €64,560

‍

Net profit:

• €64,560 - €24,000 = €40,560

‍

SEO ROI on margin: ROI = 40,560 / 24,000 × 100 = 169%

‍

‍

Analysis of associated costs

‍

Calculating SEO ROI depends on campaign costs, which are spread across several areas. Here are the main considerations:

‍

Competitor audit

‍

Where do you stand in your market? What market share do you hold, and what is realistically attainable? This analysis involves reviewing the full semantic field of your industry to benchmark your performance against competitors.

‍

Technical website analysis

‍

As part of organic search optimisation, a technical audit is also necessary. Investment should be made on a solid technical foundation to avoid any blocking factors that could hinder strategy efficiency.

For example, it’s wise to scan the entire site to detect which pages aren’t indexed (not appearing in search results), which are orphaned, and whether errors exist on any of them.

‍

Strategic keyword research and selection

‍

The aim is to define which keywords are worth targeting. There’s little point relying on intuition or gut feeling: it’s better to use data to draw up a coherent list based on concrete factors. This is known as a "data-driven" strategy.

‍

Creating optimised content

‍

This is at the heart of the strategy: content production represents the bulk of SEO spend. To perform well, site content must be high quality, match user search intent and meet all SEO requirements. This production comes at a cost, which can be set upfront per word, per article or for an overall project.

‍

Developing a link building strategy

‍

The goal is to increase your website’s authority through links placed on other sites that direct visitors to your own. Costs vary greatly depending on your sector and the reputation of the site hosting the link.

‍

Assessing generated gains

‍

Depending on your business, the desired conversion may take several forms. On an e-commerce site, it’s usually a sale. But the goal may differ. When setting targets, they should be quantified: their value may correspond directly to a transaction or to a value you’ve assigned (for example, the gain from a newsletter signup).

The aim is to compare your gains between two dates, before and after your campaign, to measure its effects. The figure you obtain shows the relevance of your actions, but it’s only one step: in SEO, campaign effects play out over the long term.

‍

Measuring conversions from SEO

‍

To accurately evaluate conversions generated by organic search, it’s necessary to track user journeys leading to an action: purchase, contact, registration, etc. Tracking tools enable you to attribute each conversion to its source, making it easier to measure the ROI of each SEO campaign.

‍

Calculating impact on revenue

‍

Once you know the number and value of conversions, you can estimate SEO’s direct impact on revenue. For example, if 40% of turnover comes from organic traffic, every well-targeted SEO optimisation can drive significant, measurable growth for the business.

‍

The impact of Next Gen SEO on ROI

‍

The revolution in Next Gen SEO, powered by personalised AI, is transforming the traditional notion of SEO ROI. While a human writer spends hours crafting content, personalised AI now enables the generation of hundreds or thousands of optimised texts in record time at marginal cost.

This capacity for mass production radically changes content strategy: businesses no longer have to choose between the most promising keywords and secondary opportunities. You can cover all keyword variants, maximise your long-tail presence and fully exploit your organic traffic potential.
Exponential adoption of personalised AI among Incremys clients demonstrates the effectiveness of this approach: some projects result in the automated creation of hundreds of product pages, each following the brief and meeting Google’s requirements. This automation streamlines resource allocation, enabling you to capture all missed opportunities and achieve unprecedented SEO ROI, even on a limited budget.

‍

Some limitations of SEO ROI

‍

Difficulties with multi-touch attribution

‍

Most digital user journeys involve several touchpoints before the final conversion. A visitor may discover your site via social media, return through SEO, then convert after clicking a SEA campaign. Attributing ROI to just one channel becomes complex, making SEO ROI measurement partial or imprecise. To better handle these cases, it’s advisable to use multi-touch attribution models that distribute value across all touchpoints.

‍

The risk of cannibalisation with other channels

‍

SEO campaigns often run alongside other acquisition levers, such as SEA, email marketing or social media. These channels may target the same audiences or keywords, leading to cannibalisation of conversions and visits and affecting SEO ROI.

For example, a sale from organic search might also have come from a paid campaign if one didn’t exist. Segmenting analyses and monitoring performance by channel helps minimise this bias and optimise investments.

‍

The complexity of valuing some non-transactional conversions

‍

SEO generates more than just direct sales. It also contributes to non-transactional conversions, such as newsletter signups, white paper downloads or contact form submissions.

Assigning precise value to these actions in SEO ROI calculations is difficult: their impact on revenue is often indirect and depends on nurturing quality or commercial follow-up. For a fairer measure, it’s best to attribute a financial value to each conversion based on its business potential.

‍

Strategies to maximise your results

‍

Optimise high-value keywords

‍

Targeting the right keywords is absolutely essential in any SEO strategy. High-intent keywords are those entered by users ready to buy a product or service online. Identifying and targeting them is valuable, as each visit from these searches is highly likely to result in a sale.

‍

Identify and target transactional keywords

‍

Transactional keywords, such as "buy", "best", "cheap", or "near me", indicate an intent to act quickly. Ranking for these queries increases the proportion of visitors likely to convert and optimises SEO ROI. Adopting a search intent-centred strategy for these keywords supports your commercial objectives.

‍

Analyse the commercial potential of keywords

‍

Before investing in a keyword, it’s crucial to study its search volume, competition level and conversion potential. Semantic analysis tools help identify the most profitable opportunities, cross-referencing these factors to prioritise your efforts.

The better a keyword ranks in the top three organic results, the more it drives qualified traffic: remember, 54.4% of all clicks are concentrated in these three spots.

‍

Make effective use of search intent

‍

Nowadays, ranking for a keyword isn’t enough. You need to understand the search intent behind each query – what the user actually wants. Google constantly seeks to deliver the best results for users. It therefore favours sites with relevant content that’s likely to satisfy those searching.

For example, with the query "What is SEO?", the intent is clearly informational. If your business sells SEO training, this keyword may not be the most relevant: you should instead focus on transactional keywords.

Bear in mind that ranking for an informational search intent does not immediately lead to a sale. However, it enables your brand to position itself as an authority in its field, which can ultimately result in the desired conversion.

‍

Understand the different intent types: informational, navigational, transactional, commercial

‍

There are mainly four types of intent:

• Informational: the user wants to find out more or understand a topic.
• Navigational: the user wants to reach a particular site or page.
• Transactional: the goal is to make a purchase, sign up, or take another concrete action.
• Commercial: the user wants to compare products or services before deciding.

‍

‍

Identifying the intent behind each query allows you to tailor content to precisely meet user needs and improve your site’s visibility in the SERP.

‍

Align your content with user intent

‍

Effective content must be aligned with search intent. For informational intent, focus on in-depth articles, guides or FAQs. For navigational intent, optimise your homepage, as it reflects your brand image and is key for strategy.
For transactional queries, optimise product pages, landing pages and calls to action. Adjusting format, tone and structure for each intent increases engagement and conversion.

‍

Improve your conversion rate with CRO

‍

Beyond SEO ROI, CRO (Conversion Rate Optimisation) refers to optimising the conversion rate. This rate measures how many people, over a given period, complete the desired conversion compared to total visitors. It’s a crucial KPI for SEO ROI: in this case, it’s worth focusing on the segment specifically generated by organic search.

‍

Definition and principles of conversion rate optimisation

‍

CRO aims to increase the proportion of visitors who carry out a desired action (purchase, signup, contact request, etc.). It relies on behavioural analysis, optimising user journeys and continually improving key page elements. For instance, SEO leads have a conversion rate of 14.6%.

‍

Advanced techniques to optimise your landing pages

‍

• Site design and usability: make navigation easy and reduce distractions.
• Page load speed: minimise waiting times to avoid losing visitors.
• Mobile compatibility: ensure an optimal experience on all devices.
• Security: reassure users about data privacy and safe transactions.
• Content quality: provide clear, persuasive text tailored to search intent.
• Calls to action (CTA): use compelling buttons and messages to encourage conversion.
• Persuasive copywriting: employ writing techniques that prompt action.
• A/B testing: compare different page versions to identify what converts best.

‍

Strengthen your link building strategy

‍

Link building boosts your site's authority by acquiring external links. Authority helps search engines gauge your expertise and reputation. The higher this indicator, the greater your visibility in search results.

‍

Get quality backlinks

‍

Improving authority means getting links from sites with substantial authority themselves. In simple terms, link building is about creating as many high-quality links to your website as possible. It's one of the main SEO levers. Focus on editorial partnerships, guest posts and high-value content to attract natural links.

‍

Avoid risky link building practices

‍

Avoid artificial methods like mass link buying or low-quality link networks. These are detected and penalised by search engines. Choose a sustainable strategy based on backlink relevance and legitimacy.

‍

Tools to measure and analyse your performance

‍

Google Search Console: performance analysis

‍

The GSC tool is invaluable for reviewing everything that happens before a user arrives on your site. Key KPIs to track with GSC include:

• Keyword position: where do they rank in search results?
• Number of impressions: how many people see your site listing?
• Number of clicks to your site
• CTR (Click Through Rate): the ratio of clicks to impressions
• Linking domains: GSC reports backlinks to your site from third party sites.

‍

Google Analytics: interpreting data and ROI

‍

GA complements GSC and focuses on user behaviour once they reach your site. With correct configuration (where conversions are called goals), you can track performance by action. Here are KPIs correlated with SEO ROI that are worth following:

• Time spent on pages
• Bounce rate (the proportion of visitors who leave after viewing a single page)
• Conversion rate
• User behaviour at each stage of the conversion funnel
• Exit page

‍

The 360° SEO SAAS solution integrates and combines both tools via API.

‍

How to monitor and adjust your strategies for maximum results

‍

Key performance indicators (KPIs) to track

‍

The effectiveness of your SEO campaigns is measured using specific indicators:

• Organic traffic generated
• Ranking for strategic keywords
• Conversion rate for SEO visitors
• Market share gained
• Number and quality of backlinks
• Revenue or business value generated directly by organic search

‍

Create regular and effective reporting

‍

Regular tracking, using dashboards and automated reporting, helps quickly identify progress points and adjust actions. Data transparency and comparative analysis are vital for managing campaigns and demonstrating res

‍

Use data to continually optimise your campaigns

‍

By leveraging collected information, you can continually refine your strategies: adjusting keywords, optimising pages, strengthening link building, adapting content… This data-driven approach guarantees ongoing improvement and maximises return on investment.

Drawing on regular analysis of KPIs, user behaviour and page performance enables you to quickly spot areas for improvement and seize new opportunities, while avoiding stagnation. Agility in campaign adjustment is key to sustaining organic growth and maintaining high SEO ROI over the long term.

‍

Real-world examples of strategies implemented by Incremys

‍

First Stop: boosting organic traffic and conversions

‍

First Stop, a leading European tyre and car service specialist, chose to invest in a long-term SEO strategy focused on real user needs. Thanks to an in-depth technical audit, rapid correction of major errors and content creation based on data-driven keyword analysis, the company achieved remarkable results:

• 70% of optimised keywords ranked on Google page one, including 40% in the top 3 within 12 months
• Over 700 keywords on page one, generating 250,000 monthly visits
• Organic traffic up by more than 117% between 2020 and 2021

The data-driven approach enabled First Stop to target high-impact content and optimise editorial performance, while limiting unnecessary investment.

‍

Maison Berger Paris: optimised ranking in the SERP

‍

Maison Berger Paris, a leading home fragrance brand, has made SEO its second largest acquisition channel, representing 20% of France website revenue. Before implementing an SEO strategy, less than 10% of keywords appeared on Google page one; today, the brand ranks 80%, with 50% in the top 3.

• 70% of keywords achieve the highest positions in Google
• Growth of +30 to +80% on key product segments

By reducing reliance on SEA, Maison Berger Paris was able to allocate ad spend to its most competitive products, while enjoying sustainable, profitable organic traffic.

‍

Le Bonbon: boosting brand awareness through an optimised content strategy

‍

Le Bonbon, a high-traffic lifestyle magazine, wanted to boost its SEO visibility and diversify acquisition sources beyond social media. Through a semantic audit, user behaviour analysis and data-driven editorial planning, Le Bonbon was able to:

• Win Google page one for 2,650 key queries
• Create over 200 optimised publications generating 2.5 million unique monthly visitors
• Record organic traffic increases of +30 to +80% depending on topic (exhibitions, events, leisure)

70% of new visitors come via SEO traffic, which has strengthened the brand’s reputation and improved content profitability.

‍

Conclusion

‍

SEO ROI is often calculated retrospectively, sometimes months after strategies are implemented. This is partly because many SEO specialists propose strategies whose impact is hard to anticipate. By adopting a data-driven approach and treating SEO as a strategic acquisition channel, investment decisions become far more rational. Strategic effectiveness is also enhanced, as ROI analysis reveals friction points and opportunities for growth.

To optimise your results, make sure to:

• Segment your campaigns and analyse each action individually
• Prioritise high-intent keywords and tailor your content to search intent
• Continually improve conversion rate with CRO
• Favour a qualitative, sustainable link building strategy
• Track KPIs using robust tools and adjust your campaigns based on collected data

‍

Sources:

https://firstpagesage.com/seo-blog/e-commerce-seo-roi-report/

https://siecledigital.fr/2024/01/23/agence-seo-chiffres-cles-2024/

https://www.seo.com/basics/analytics/kpis/

https://backlinko.com/seo-stats

‍