Start with revenue potential, not vanity metrics. Pull your current conversion rate from Analytics, your average customer value from your CRM or accounting system, and identify 10–15 commercial-intent keywords where you rank positions 6–20. Use a tool like Ahrefs or Semrush to estimate monthly search volume and typical CTR by position. Multiply estimated new traffic by your conversion rate and customer value. That's your annual revenue opportunity. For a realistic business case, assume you move up 3–8 positions over 12 months on your target terms, not instant page-one dominance. If you're Toronto-based B2B SaaS with 2% conversion and $4,800 average contract value, capturing even 40 extra qualified visitors monthly is worth $46,000 annually. Compare that to typical agency costs of $3,000–$8,000/month and you see payback in under a year. Include these elements in your executive presentation: - Current organic traffic and revenue contribution (usually 20–40% of total for established sites) - Specific keyword opportunities with search volume and business value - Competitor visibility gaps you can close - 12-month projected traffic and revenue curve - Agency cost vs. revenue payback timeline - Cost of not investing (market share loss to competitors who are investing) Address the objection about timeframe directly. SEO isn't paid ads, but the compounding effect means year two and three returns dwarf year one with the same ongoing investment. At Ottawa SEO, we show clients their cost-per-acquisition trending down 60–75% between month six and month eighteen as rankings compound. The strongest cases compare SEO's customer acquisition cost to your current channels. If you're paying $180 CPA on Google Ads for the same search intent you could rank for organically, and SEO delivers that at $45 CPA by month fourteen, the CFO gets it. Skip the thought-leadership and brand-awareness arguments unless you're a Fortune 500. Tie everything to revenue, payback period, and CAC comparison.