Forecasting can be more than just estimating the SEO results.

It can help you answer questions about specific keywords and their change in performance, validate and compare different SEO strategies or pitch proposal alternatives to your clients.

In SEOmonitor's Forecast, you can set up multiple forecast scenarios, each with its own goal, budget, and level of difficulty, and visualize the results in terms of Visibility, estimated additional sessions, conversions, and revenue.

The Forecast module works with scenarios that estimate how much additional non-brand organic traffic would be generated if you achieve a specific SEO goal in a particular timeframe.

This complex calculation is based on our precise and transparent forecast algorithm, which takes in a set of input data (keyword data, metrics and rank goals) and forecast parameters (timeframe, progression speed) to compute estimated Visibility, additional sessions, conversions, and revenue that would be generated if the target ranks are reached throughout the set timeframe.

To create a Forecast scenario, open the Scenario Navigator and click Create a new Scenario.

First, you choose the keyword groups you're targeting and their target ranks, along with the forecast start date, the timeframe, and the progression speed with which you estimate the goals will be reached. Each of the following parameters is explained in greater detail below.

Choose when you'd like the forecast to start. You can choose between the next month and the two following months.

Select the overall timeframe for the forecast, in other words, how long it will take to achieve the SEO goal: number of months, between 6 and 12 months.

Enable this to get estimates for the next equal timeframe after the forecast goal is reached. For example, if your forecast timeframe is 8 months, the Extended Forecast will calculate the estimates for the next 8 months after the completion of the timeframe.

Select the time it takes for your selected keywords to rise up to rank 99, from 99 up to 20, and from 20 up to the target rank. You can choose one of the three predefined options below, or customize the pace by choosing Custom and selecting a different no. of months for each milestone:

You might have different keyword groups that are expected to grow at different paces. For example, a group with a current average rank of 33 will move to the top 20 faster than another with an average rank of 42. In this case, you can choose different speeds for different groups, or choose a custom speed for one or more groups.

Select a key competitor from a list of top competitors, to see their current average ranks next to yours, on the groups of keywords added to the forecast. This gives you a point of reference to choose your own target ranks for these groups.

Add the keyword groups you're targeting in the scenario by choosing from the groups you created in the Rank Tracker (or the Keywords module for draft campaigns), and set their progression speed.

For each of your selected keyword groups, choose a target rank to reach by the end of the timeframe, between 2 and 10.

You can also turn on the Target Rank Range option to enter a range instead of a single rank. In estimating the growth of your keywords, we understand that there are several variables at play. It is more practical to set a best- and a worst-case target, so you can make your pitch with a range of outcomes, and avoid any accidental over-promising to your client. Selecting a rank range results in all the forecast estimates (sessions, conversions, revenue, and Visibility) being presented as a range, including the estimated Google Ads equivalent spend (as shown in the results screen).

Based on the current rank and the target rank of the keywords and the website’s difficulty to rank in the top for them, a Goal Chance metric is computed. The chance ranges between Realistic and Too ambitious. The higher the goal and the keyword difficulty, the more ambitious the goal chance will be.

You can tweak your SEO goal until you have a good balance between the generated value and how realistic the goal is. Check the goal chance and the forecasted additional sessions, and choose a higher or lower target rank for your keyword groups based on their difficulty level.

For example, if you change the target to a higher rank, you will get more additional sessions, but the goal chance will be more ambitious, too.

Review the set of variables we include in the calculation.

Our complex forecast algorithm calculates estimated additional sessions at a keyword level by considering all the keyword attributes.

It is as precise as the number of inputs it considers, so you'll get the best precision if you include all of them. However, you have the option to adjust the calculation by entering custom values or excluding some of the attributes.

Learn more about our forecast algorithm and each parameter we consider in this article.

Based on your inputs, our algorithm calculates the Visibility, and additional non-brand organic traffic estimated to be achieved throughout the forecasting timeframe in additional sessions, conversions, and revenue. You can view the total additional traffic and its monthly trend in the Forecast Overview.

The additional traffic will be a single estimated value for singular target ranks and a range for target rank ranges.

You can also choose to view the estimated Visibility or Avg. Ranks by selecting them on the chart dropdown, and this helps you visualize the monthly goal for the scenario in the same metrics you use to measure your actual/current performance.

If you have selected a key competitor while setting up the scenario, their initial average ranks and Visibility are also displayed in the left-hand side Forecast Scenario sidebar under the SEO Goal section. This will give you a comparative view of their standings vs. your current standings and goals.

You can also view keyword-level estimates in the Detailed tab for a fully-transparent analysis of all the keywords you're targeting and their contribution to future SEO results.

Choose between Sessions, Conversions, and Revenue in the dropdown to see the monthly breakdown of the respective estimates for each keyword included in the forecast.

In the Scenario Navigator, you can create different scenarios from scratch or duplicate scenarios when you only want to make small changes. You can also set monthly budgets for your scenarios for transparency on SEO costs.

You can create up to 5 scenarios with different keyword groups, levels of difficulty, and different budgets to compare how your SEO outcome would look in each case.

Forecast scenarios are pitch-ready: the Forecast view captures all the data you might need for your next proposals to the client.

Once you sign off on the scenario you want to pursue, you can set it as a campaign objective and start tracking it daily for your campaign.

Learn more on how to track your campaign performance against SEO objectives in this article.