Organic Traffic Value Calculator
Organic traffic value is what your organic clicks would cost if you bought them as Google Ads clicks: clicks × cost per click. Enter each keyword's monthly clicks and Keyword Planner's low and high bids for an honest range, with branded clicks excluded, or use the quick estimate with one average CPC.
Your results
Organic traffic value a month
$3,510–$11,000
$42,100–$131,500 a year
Value multiple
1.2×–3.7×
of your $3,000 monthly SEO spend
That's $1.53–$4.77 per click on average, across 2,300 non-branded clicks a month from 3 keywords.
Keywords by value
| Keyword | Clicks | Value a month |
|---|---|---|
| Example keyword 1 | 800 | $1,680–$5,440 |
| Example keyword 2 | 300 | $1,350–$3,600 |
| Example informational keyword | 1,200 | $480–$1,920 |
Sorted by the high end of each keyword's value.
Traffic value is what these clicks would cost as ads, not what they earn you. For profit, use the SEO ROI Calculator.
Your inputs are stored in the link itself, after the #. They aren't sent to our server.
Data as of 1 June 2026 (LocaliQ benchmarks, data Apr 2025–Mar 2026); sources checked 29 September 2026.
How this is calculated
Everything is calculated in your browser. Nothing is converted between currencies: pounds change the symbol only.
Keyword-level mode
For each non-branded keyword, clicks × bid, added up over the keywords:
Value (low) = Σ clicks × top-of-page bid (low range)
Value (high) = Σ clicks × top-of-page bid (high range)
Keywords you mark as branded are left out. Informational keywords count, at their own bids, which are usually low.
Quick mode
Value = non-branded organic clicks × cost per click (low and high)
It values every click at one average paid click, so it's an upper bound. If the low and high CPC are the same, the result is a single estimate with a sensitivity table (the value per click ×0.5, ×1 and ×1.5).
Both modes
- Annual value = monthly value × 12.
- Value multiple = monthly value ÷ monthly SEO spend, shown as a low–high range.
- Average value per click = monthly value ÷ the non-branded clicks counted.
Worked example (the default inputs)
Keyword-level mode, with the three example rows and a $3,000 monthly SEO spend:
- 800 clicks at $2.10–$6.80 = $1,680–$5,440
- 300 clicks at $4.50–$12.00 = $1,350–$3,600
- 1,200 clicks at $0.40–$1.60 = $480–$1,920 (an informational keyword: it counts, at its own low bids)
- Total: $3,510–$10,960 a month, or $42,120–$131,520 a year. The results panel rounds this to $3,510–$11,000.
- Value multiple: $3,510 ÷ $3,000 to $10,960 ÷ $3,000 = 1.2×–3.7×.
Quick mode, for comparison: 10,000 clicks × $5.42 = $54,200 a month, labelled: “Upper-bound estimate. It assumes every organic click is worth an average paid click, which informational clicks are not.”
Assumptions & sources
The keyword rows, the 10,000 clicks and the $3,000 SEO spend are examples to replace with your own figures. The only benchmark is the quick mode's default cost per click, which is used in US dollar mode only.
| Constant | Value | Source | As of |
|---|---|---|---|
| ConstantSearch ads benchmarks, all industries | Value
| SourceLocaliQ, “Search Advertising Benchmarks for Every Industry [2026 Data]”WordStream/LocaliQ customers' Google Ads and Microsoft Ads campaigns; countries and conversion definition not statedAlso: Search Engine Journal summary (source of the data period) (Published 2026-06-16) | As of
|
| ConstantKeyword Planner top-of-page bid range | Value
| SourceGoogle Ads Help, “About Keyword Planner forecasts” | As of
|
| ConstantTraffic value definition | Value“The equivalent monthly cost of traffic from all keywords that the target website/URL ranks for organically, if that traffic was paid via PPC instead.” | SourceAhrefs Help, traffic value and paid traffic cost in Site Explorer | As of
|
Why $5.42 is an upper bound for most sites. It's LocaliQ's all-industry average CPC for search ads. Applying it to every organic click assumes each one is as valuable as an average paid click, which informational clicks usually aren't. The keyword-level mode avoids this by pricing each keyword on its own.
Why a range. Keyword Planner gives two top-of-page bids per keyword, a low range (about the 20th percentile of bids) and a high range (about the 80th percentile). Using both shows how much the value depends on the price you assume.
Scope of the benchmark. LocaliQ's data comes from WordStream and LocaliQ customers' Google Ads and Microsoft Ads campaigns. The countries covered aren't stated, so it isn't converted or pre-filled in pounds.
Limits of this estimate
- Traffic value is what the clicks would cost as ads, not what they earn you. For profit, you need your conversion rate, customer value and margin.
- Top-of-page bids aren't actual CPCs, and you may not be able to buy that many paid clicks at those prices.
- Branded clicks are excluded. You'd usually get them cheaply, or organically anyway.
- The quick estimate is an upper bound: it assumes every organic click is worth an average paid click, which informational clicks are not.
- GBP mode doesn't convert the US default CPC. Use your own Keyword Planner bids.
Frequently asked questions
What is organic traffic value?
Organic traffic value is what your organic search clicks would cost if you had to buy the same clicks with pay-per-click ads. Ahrefs defines it as the equivalent monthly cost of traffic from all the keywords a site ranks for organically, if that traffic was paid via PPC instead.
How do I calculate the value of my organic traffic?
Multiply each keyword's monthly organic clicks by what a click on that keyword costs in Google Ads, then add up the keywords. With 800 clicks at $2.10–$6.80, 300 clicks at $4.50–$12.00 and 1,200 informational clicks at $0.40–$1.60, the value is $3,510–$10,960 a month. Leave out branded keywords.
Why are branded clicks excluded?
People searching for your brand name would usually find you anyway, and if you advertised on your own brand name those clicks would usually be cheap. Counting them at an average paid-click price would overstate what your SEO is worth.
Where do I get the clicks and CPC data?
Take monthly clicks per query from the Performance report in Google Search Console. Take bids from Google Ads Keyword Planner, which shows a top-of-page bid low range (about the 20th percentile of top-of-page bids) and high range (about the 80th percentile), based on the last 30 days.
Is traffic value the same as SEO ROI?
No. Traffic value is what the clicks would cost as ads, not what they earn you. Top-of-page bids aren't actual CPCs, and you may not be able to buy that many paid clicks at those prices. For profit, you need your conversion rate, customer value and margin as well.
What is the average cost per click in Google Ads?
LocaliQ's 2026 search advertising benchmarks put the all-industry average cost per click at $5.42, from WordStream and LocaliQ customers' campaigns between April 2025 and March 2026. It varies widely by industry and keyword, so keyword-level bids give a better estimate than one average.
By Malhar Shah, Founder & SEO Strategist at Vidern. Updated .