SEO ROI Calculator — See Your Revenue Before You Rank
Plug in a keyword's search volume, a target position, your conversion rate, and your average order value. We run it through the real organic CTR curve and show you monthly traffic, monthly revenue, annual revenue, and your ROI versus Harbor's plan cost.
No email required. No sign-up. Numbers update as you type.
Model the keyword
Harbor plan cost / yr
$588
Net annual profit
$17,412
ROI %
2,961%
3-day free trial · no credit card required
Why Position Matters So Much
Every position drop costs you roughly half your clicks. Ranking #1 isn't 10× better than ranking #10 — it's 20×. Here is the organic CTR distribution we use in the calculator, blended from aggregate 2026 industry data.
| Position | Avg organic CTR | Clicks from 10k searches | Drop vs #1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | 31.0% | 3,100 | — |
| #2 | 15.0% | 1,500 | -52% |
| #3 | 10.0% | 1,000 | -68% |
| #4 | 7.0% | 700 | -77% |
| #5 | 5.0% | 500 | -84% |
| #6 | 4.0% | 400 | -87% |
| #7 | 3.0% | 300 | -90% |
| #8 | 2.5% | 250 | -92% |
| #9 | 2.0% | 200 | -94% |
| #10 | 1.5% | 150 | -95% |
4 Steps to Project SEO ROI
This is the same back-of-the-envelope model SEO teams use to greenlight content investments. Five minutes of math saves months of publishing the wrong articles.
Pull the search volume
Use Ahrefs, Semrush, Google Keyword Planner, or Google Search Console. If the keyword is new, use an exact-match sibling keyword as a proxy.
Pick a realistic target position
Be honest. If your site has DR 30 and competitors are DR 70, positions 4–6 are realistic. For quick-win long-tail queries you can target top 3.
Use your real conversion rate
Pull it from your analytics — don't guess. If you haven't measured it, SaaS averages 2–3%, e-commerce 1.5–2%, B2B lead gen 3–5%.
Use LTV as AOV if your model is recurring
For SaaS, use 12-month contract value. For e-commerce, either first-order value or annualized LTV — pick the frame that matches how you budget.
SEO ROI Calculator — FAQ
Where do the CTR numbers come from?
The curve is a blended industry average of aggregate 2026 SERP click-through studies. Your actual CTR varies based on SERP features (AI Overviews, featured snippets, sitelinks), query intent, branded vs unbranded, and device mix. Treat the curve as a directional baseline — your first-page results will sit within roughly ±30% of these numbers for most niches.
Does this account for AI Overviews?
Not directly. AI Overviews (AIOs) appear in roughly 25% of searches and cut organic CTR by ~40% when present. If your keyword triggers an AIO, mentally discount the projected traffic by about a third, or target a lower position and let the compounding work in your favor.
How should I calculate conversion rate?
Pull it directly from Google Analytics or your product analytics. Filter for organic traffic only — paid and direct convert very differently. If you don't have the data yet, use industry medians: e-commerce ~1.8%, SaaS free trial ~2.5%, B2B lead gen ~3.5%, info-product ~1%.
Why compare to Harbor's plan cost specifically?
Because that's the real cost of producing the article that ranks for the keyword. Most SEO ROI calculators compare against $0 and pretend content is free. It isn't. Harbor's Growth plan at $49/mo produces 10 articles per month — if even one ranks for a 5,000-volume keyword at position 3, you've broken even in roughly one month.
What if I don't rank in position 1–10?
Then you get close to zero organic traffic from the keyword. Positions 11–20 together get roughly 1% of clicks combined. If a keyword is worth pursuing, it's worth pursuing seriously — Harbor's agentic writer is designed to produce articles that earn top-10 rankings rather than languishing on page 2.
Is this calculator free to use?
Yes — completely free. No sign-up, no email required, no usage limits. If you want Harbor to actually generate the articles that earn these rankings, you can start with a 3-day free trial that doesn't require a credit card.
Now Go Earn That Traffic.
Harbor Writes The Articles That Rank.
3,500-word articles. Auto internal linking. Fact-checked. Built for the exact kind of top-10 rankings this calculator projects.