SEO Forecasting

Make data-driven ROI predictions to build your business case for investment in SEO

Traffic, value and conversion forecasts at keyword level

Hidden rankings within AI Overviews

Use the data you have in the platform to forecast the probable impact of your SEO campaign on organic rankings, visits and conversions and show stakeholders what SEO could deliver for your business.

Model different scenarios

Create realistic scenarios by using sliders to change forecast rankings and by showing how the result will be achieved over time, based on how long you feel it will take you to achieve these higher rankings. Present high, medium and low scenarios to manage expectations and inspire confidence.

Calculate your SEO ROI

It’s so simple. Simply drag the sliders and use our simple or advanced SEO forecasting calculator. Make assumptions around custom click-thru rate curves for branded and non-branded terms, estimated media value (PPC savings) and forecast organic visitors and sales conversions.

Prioritise Opportunity

Focus resources where the value is. Use grouped keywords to evaluate and prioritize opportunities and invest your team’s resources in the most valuable activities. Spend less time forecasting and more time doing!

Simple SEO ROI Forecasting

You control the simple forecast by operating the two sliders to the top right of the table.

Get summary forecast data and detailed keyword level forecasts in a table

Select the number of months and weeks you’d like to see forecast data for going forward

You can even filter the contents by tag group and/or a text search

Forecast future ranking positions and assess the impact on PPC savings and online sales revenues

Try it for free

Advanced SEO ROI Forecasting

Our software attempts to provide more realistic results by applying a model when generating forecasts. This model can be customised if needed, and offers three scenarios:

Low – A fairly conservative expectations of achievable rank

Medium – A reasonable assumption of what is likely to be achievable

High – This shows a best-case scenario given your current rank position

See pricing

Questions about how to forecast for SEO?

How do I build an SEO business case?

SEO forecasts are typically made using standard or customised click-thru-rate models built on your keyword ranking data and search volume data for every keyword.

You will need:

1. Up-to-date keyword ranking data for the keywords and pages that interest you.

2. Search volumes for these keywords.

3. A standard CTR% model to apply to the search volumes for each keyword based on how well you are ranking for that keyword. You can of course customise this for brand/non-brand keywords or at a keyword or keyword tag level.

4. Business metrics from Google Analytics or elsewhere, that show you how many and the value of the sales or leads generated from organic search.

5. A model (typically in Excel) that estimates your current organic visibility and allows you to produce estimates based on you making assumptions and estimates of how much you can improve rankings by and by when.

6. You can do this manually by gathering data from a keyword ranking tool like Authoritas, Google AdWords (or other suppliers of Search Volume data, Google Analytics (or another analytics provider) and Google Search Console.

7. Alternatively, you can automate this process by choosing an SEO platform with in-built sophisticated SEO forecasting and ROI calculators.

How do I use an SEO ROI Impact Calculator?

Make realistic forecasts. No website ever gets to number 1 ranking for all their non-brand keywords!

We like using the Authoritas “Ladder Principle” – this allows you to make forecasts assuming that you can improve to the average ranking positions of the sites above you, not necessarily straight to number 1.

This caters for an incremental improvement in rankings as opposed to an overnight spike in rankings and is consequently more realistic than a lot of SEO forecasts which are made assuming the very best-case scenario (the ‘impossible scenario’).

Discover for yourself why we're different to other SEO tools

There's a few things that we do really well that might just make a difference to the success of your next SEO campaign.

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AI Overvieew rank tracking software screenshot of the SERPs

Featured Posts from our blog

Expert content from our team and our friends. Read our original SEO research studies, news about our software, algorithm updates, SEO advice and opinion.

Keyword Rankings

SERP Organic and AI Overview Volatility Research

Our latest research study delves into the volatility of Google’s search results, focusing on AI Overviews, organic rankings, and SERP layout shifts. Over a two-to-three-month period, we found that 70% of ranking pages in AI Overviews change, highlighting a significant fluctuation compared to organic rankings. Interestingly, AI Overview rankings and snippets evolve independently of organic results, and changes in SERP layout have minimal impact on ranking stability. With AI-generated search results constantly shifting, understanding SERP volatility is critical for SEO strategies. Read our full report to explore key insights, methodology, and actionable takeaways.

Keyword Rankings

AI Overview User Intent Research

This unique AI Overview research conducted with Dave Cousin (DavetheSEO & Co.) analysed 10,000+ keywords to reveal how AI Overviews appear differently across search intents. Problem-solving and specific question intents dominate AIO appearances (74% and 69% respectively), while topic research shows surprisingly low rates (3.37%). The findings suggest SEOs should prioritise intent-specific optimisation strategies, especially for problem-solving and specific question content.

Keyword Research

Understanding Google's Search Volume Buckets: A Deep Dive into How Search Volumes Really Work

Our analysis of over 60 million keywords reveals that Google groups all search volumes into just 60 predetermined buckets, making search volume data far less precise than most SEO professionals realize. By examining monthly search volumes across all countries, we discovered that keywords need to show dramatic changes (often 20-30%) before moving to a different bucket, explaining why many search volumes appear static for months.