Expected Results

[mat_bastian]

A client needs an educated guess on expected results of an SEO package I have devised for his site so that he can do an ROI calculation for his customer in order to provide them with a basis for valuing the service.

What methods do you folks use to determine expected results? Is it really just a guess or what? Every set of keywords can expect such differing traffic.

How can I accurately predict potential traffic?

[ritualcoffee]

I use search volumes for certain keywords - bump that up against a CTR (one that I think is acceptable depending on rankings and the averge marketing CTR for that company)

[mat_bastian]

CTR from a given SERP?

so lets say the keyword "junkits" is getting a search volume of about 100 searches per month on a given search engine, how would I determine the CTR from that search engine and how it corresponds to my site's position in the SERPs.

Is there a formula to determine the likelyhood of a CT based on the site's search engine position?

This is confusing to me for some reason. Sorry if I'm coming off as overly ignorant. I'm really clueless.

In the past, I've been fortunate enough to have clients who just say, "OK, make it so".

This is a whole new ballgame for me.

[Michael Anthony]

Why not just contact the sites above and below where the client wants to be and see if they're prepared to share the information?

As u rightly say, the CTR and ROI can differ so much for any given industry and/or keyword, that what you need are some comparables.

This approach is fairly standard in the UK property market, where comparables are used all the time. The information is much easier to come by though as it's not commercially sensitive.