Forecast the revenue behind your keywords

Search volume tells you how often people search for a keyword, but it does not tell you what that traffic could be worth to your business.

A keyword with 200 monthly searches could be considerably more valuable than one with 2,000 if it attracts people who are closer to buying or converts at a higher rate.

My SEO revenue forecasting spreadsheet helps you look beyond traffic by estimating:

• Monthly clicks at different Google ranking positions
• Leads or customers generated from that traffic
• Revenue generated at positions one in Google
• Revenue currently generated by an existing ranking
• Potential revenue uplift from improving that position

I created this spreadsheet to make it easier to compare SEO opportunities based on their potential financial impact – not just their search volume.

How to use the SEO revenue forecasting spreadsheet

1. Download or make a copy of the spreadsheet

Microsoft Excel: Download a copy of the spreadsheet to your device.

Google Docs: Open the template and select Make a copy to create an editable version in your own Google Drive.

2. Add your target keywords

Enter each keyword you are considering, along with its estimated monthly search volume and your website’s current ranking position, if it already ranks.

You can find this information using an SEO platform such as Ahrefs, Semrush or SE Ranking.

3. Select the page type

Choose the type of page you would create or optimise for the keyword.

The spreadsheet includes different conversion-rate assumptions for commercial page types such as:

• Core product pages
• Alternative pages
• Comparison pages
• Feature and use-case pages
• Industry pages
• Best-of lists
• Templates

This matters because someone searching for a direct product comparison will normally have a different likelihood of converting than someone downloading a free template.

4. Enter your customer lifetime value

Add the average lifetime value of a new customer. The spreadsheet will then use this value to estimate the potential revenue associated with each keyword.

If you do not know your exact customer lifetime value, you can start with a sensible estimate and test several scenarios.

5. Compare the opportunities

The spreadsheet will calculate the estimated traffic, customers and monthly revenue estimated at positon #1 and the uplift available when moving from your current position 

You can then identify:

• New pages with strong revenue potential
• Existing pages that could benefit from optimisation
• High-volume keywords with limited commercial value
• Lower-volume keywords that could generate meaningful revenue
• Opportunities that deserve to be prioritised first

How the revenue forecast is calculated

The basic calculation is:

Monthly search volume × expected click-through rate × conversion rate × customer lifetime value

For example, imagine you are considering a keyword with:

• 1,000 monthly searches
• A 33% click-through rate at position one
• A 5% visitor-to-customer conversion rate
• A customer lifetime value of £1,000

The forecast would be:

1,000 × 33% × 5% × £1,000 = £16,500 in potential monthly revenue

The spreadsheet performs these calculations automatically and shows how the result changes across different ranking positions.

Forecast revenue uplift from existing rankings

The template can also help you evaluate pages that already rank.

Instead of treating all of the potential revenue as new, it estimates the difference between the revenue associated with your current position and the revenue you could generate from a higher position.

For example, if an existing page generates an estimated £2,000 per month from its current ranking and could generate £8,000 at position one, its potential monthly revenue uplift would be £6,000.

This allows you to compare the value of improving an existing page against creating an entirely new one. In many cases, updating a page that already ranks can produce results faster than starting from scratch.

What is included in the template?

The free spreadsheet includes:

• Pre-built revenue forecasting formulas
• Click-through-rate estimates for the top three ranking positions
• Conversion-rate assumptions for different SaaS page types
• Current-position revenue estimates
• Potential revenue-uplift calculations
• Space to compare and prioritise multiple keywords

You can replace the default figures with your own data whenever you have more accurate click-through rates, conversion rates or customer values available.

Who is the spreadsheet for?

The template is designed for:

• SaaS founders deciding where to invest in SEO
• In-house marketing teams building content roadmaps
• SEO agencies demonstrating the commercial potential of their recommendations
• Content teams prioritising briefs and page updates
• Anyone who wants to connect keyword research with revenue

It can also be adapted for other business models, provided you can estimate the value of a conversion or customer.

How accurate are SEO revenue forecasts?

An SEO revenue forecast is an estimate, not a guarantee.

Actual performance will depend on factors such as your final ranking, the appearance of the search results, brand recognition, content quality, conversion journey and customer value.

The purpose of the spreadsheet is not to predict revenue with absolute precision. It is to apply the same consistent assumptions to every keyword so that you can make better comparisons and prioritisation decisions.

As your website generates more data, you can replace the default assumptions with figures taken from Google Search Console, analytics and your CRM.

Want to automate the process?

The spreadsheet is useful when you already have a list of profitable keywords to analyse manually.

RevPages automates the wider research and prioritisation process. Enter your website and customer lifetime value, and RevPages will:

• Discover high-intent SEO opportunities
• Categorise them by page type
• estimate their potential revenue
• Identify revenue uplift from existing rankings
• Score their ranking achievability
• Turn the strongest opportunities into a prioritised content roadmap