SEO is worth what the visits it brings are worth to you. Two numbers make that concrete: traffic value, which is what the same visits would cost as ads, and revenue, which depends on your own conversion and close rates.
Traffic value
Traffic value = monthly organic clicks × cost per click. CPC is the price advertisers pay in Google Ads auctions, so it reflects what the market thinks a visit is worth. LocalIQ's 2026 benchmarks put the all-industry average at $5.42.
Revenue
Revenue = clicks × visit-to-enquiry rate × enquiry-to-customer rate × value of a customer. Use your own numbers where you have them. If you don't, LocalIQ's paid search conversion rates by industry are a starting point; organic landing pages usually convert lower than dedicated ad pages, so we halve them by default.
Worked example
A plumbing company ranks for searches that bring 1,400 clicks a month. At $8.33 CPC (home improvement average) that's about $11,660 of ad-equivalent value. If 4% of visitors call or fill a form (56 enquiries), 30% become jobs (17) and an average job is worth $220, that's about $3,700 a month in revenue.
Timing
New pages and links take time. Most SEO programs see little in the first two or three months and most of the gain between months four and nine, depending on competition. Plan with a ramp, not a straight line.
Compare with the cost
SEO ROI = (revenue from organic − cost of content, tools and time) ÷ that cost. Measure it over 6 to 12 months, compare matched periods, and note anything else that changed (seasonality, ads, prices).
Try the organic traffic and revenue calculator, or run a report to get these numbers for your keyword list.