SEO and PPC analytics: compare organic and paid results

SEO PPC analytics compares organic and paid search results using the same conversion definition, revenue basis and reporting window. Combine the traffic and cost summaries you already export with a prepared order file. Then compare recorded acquisition economics without treating attributed revenue as proof of causal lift.

Set one basis for organic and paid search

Choose the business decision first: continue a campaign, change the search budget or investigate a revenue decline. Record the reporting dates, currency, order cutoff and channel assignment rule beside the result. Use the same website session export for both channels rather than comparing organic search clicks with paid website sessions.

Google's Search Console definitions describe search impressions and clicks. Keep those search measures in a diagnostic view. They help explain visibility and response, but are not substitutes for the website sessions used in the commercial comparison below.

The example uses a prepared order export in which each order is assigned to one channel under a documented, consistent rule. It counts completed orders placed during September 2026, with a common refund cutoff. The assigned channel is the last eligible recorded session channel within the company's stated observation window; other channels and unassigned orders remain outside the search subtotal.

Preserve the rule supplied with the export. Google Analytics explains attribution as the assignment of credit to customer touchpoints. Reports using different credit rules or lookback settings can disagree without any change in underlying sales. If your source uses fractional order credit, retain it and label it rather than rounding each channel to whole orders.

For the separate campaign-level investigation, use PPC analytics. This comparison stays at the organic-versus-paid channel level.

Assemble traffic, spending and order rows

A US office-supply seller prepares a channel summary. Acquisition spending includes the documented staff and agency allocation for each channel, plus advertising for paid search. Organic spending includes content work recorded during the month. These are current-period costs, so the result does not measure the lifetime return on older content.

Use summary columns A through G for channel, acquisition cost, sessions, attributed orders, billed sales, refunds and cost of goods sold. The source data are shown in two tables to keep them readable.

Billed sales are after discounts and exclude sales tax. Refunds are positive deductions, and COGS is the cost attached to those orders after the agreed return adjustments. Count each order once, even if it has several product lines. Aggregate product lines before counting orders, and aggregate orders before adding channel-level spending; repeating a channel's cost beside every order would multiply that cost.

Suppose Orders has unique order ID in A, assigned channel in B, billed sales in C, refunds in D and COGS in E. For the summary channel in A2, billed sales in E2 are:

=SUMIFS(Orders!$C$2:$C$5000,Orders!$B$2:$B$5000,$A2)

Change the sum range to Orders D for refunds and Orders E for COGS. This follows Microsoft's SUMIFS criteria-based summation. Filter the source population to the agreed order period first, preserve exact channel labels and extend the formula range to include the full export.

Covirage is not affiliated with Google or Microsoft.

Calculate the channel economics

Place net revenue in H, orders per session in I, cost per order in J, revenue per acquisition dollar in K and contribution after acquisition cost in L. Enter these Excel or Google Sheets formulas in H2, I2, J2, K2 and L2, respectively, then fill down:

=E2-F2
=IF(C2=0,"",D2/C2)
=IF(D2=0,"",B2/D2)
=IF(B2=0,"",H2/B2)
=H2-G2-B2

Ratios are rounded to two decimal places after calculation. Orders per session is an order-volume ratio under this assignment rule, rather than a count of distinct purchasing sessions. Contribution here deducts COGS and the stated acquisition costs; it excludes other company overhead and is not operating profit.

Paid search produces more attributed orders and a higher orders-per-session ratio. Organic search produces more contribution under the cost basis shown. Neither result alone tells the business where the next advertising dollar will earn the highest incremental return. Use SEO content ROI when the decision instead concerns a content investment across its useful life.

Prove the subtotal and keep attribution separate from lift

The revenue reconciliation is $54,500 less $2,500 equals $52,000. The channel net revenues also sum to $52,000. Contribution reconciles as $52,000 less $31,200 less $15,000 equals $5,800, matching the channel contribution sum.

The 190 attributed orders must equal the unique orders assigned to the search channels in the prepared file. Tie the search subtotal to that selected population; reconcile other channels and unassigned orders separately before attempting a company-wide tie. Confirm acquisition costs against the spending register, with each allocation included once.

Compute combined rates from totals. For example, =SUM(D2:D3)/SUM(C2:C3) gives 3.45%, and =SUM(B2:B3)/SUM(D2:D3) gives $78.95 per order. Do not average the channel percentages or costs per order.

Attribution describes recorded credit. Causal lift asks what would have happened without the activity. Google's Conversion Lift explanation describes a controlled comparison of treatment and control groups to measure incremental conversions. That is a different evidence source from this spreadsheet comparison. Keep the revenue-versus-profit distinction clear with marketing ROI versus ROAS.

Where the comparison goes wrong

• Unmatched denominators. Search clicks, website sessions and customers answer different questions.
• Incomplete organic costs. Excluding content and labor while including all paid-search costs distorts the comparison.
• Competing attribution totals. Two reports can both claim credit for the same sale; use one prepared assignment basis.
• Different return cutoffs. Older orders have more time to accumulate refunds than newer ones.
• Attributed sales called incremental sales. A channel can receive credit for demand that existed already.

Compare your own search exports in Covirage

Bring channel traffic summaries, the acquisition cost register and a prepared order export to Covirage; it maps the columns, and its tools compute and check the comparisons. The external AI model explains the results with every figure traced to its rows. Create a free Covirage account and bring a sample of your own data.

See revenue driver analysis for the supporting business context.