Why this is a useful number
“Traffic value” is a standard SEO metric for putting a dollar figure on organic search rankings, separate from any ads you actually run. It answers: if this traffic disappeared tomorrow, what would it cost to replace through paid search?
It's commonly used to justify SEO spend, since it turns rankings into a number that's easy to compare against a marketing budget, and to compare the relative value of different pages or keywords on a site.
How it differs from ad revenue
The revenue calculators on this site estimate what you could earn by showing ads to your traffic. Traffic value instead estimates what that same traffic would cost you to acquire. A site with no ads at all can still have a high traffic value if it ranks for expensive keywords, because the value is in the visit itself, not in monetizing it with display ads.
Frequently asked questions
What is website traffic value?
It's the estimated cost of replacing your organic search traffic with paid search ads, calculated as your monthly visitors multiplied by the average cost per click for your keywords.
How do I find my actual average CPC?
A keyword research or paid-search planning tool for the search engine you rank in will show CPC by keyword. This calculator suggests a starting figure by niche, but your real keywords may cost more or less.
Does traffic value include social or referral traffic?
It's meant for organic search traffic specifically, since that's the traffic with a direct paid-search equivalent. Social and referral visitors don't have a clean CPC comparison in the same way.