Marketers should know a small set of formulas that explain visibility, engagement, and business value from search. SEO formulas usually start with core performance metrics such as Click-Through Rate (clicks divided by impressions), Bounce Rate (bounces divided by entrances or sessions, depending on the analytics setup), and ROI (revenue minus cost, divided by cost).
They also include practical spreadsheet formulas that help extract page data, such as =IMPORTXML(URL,"//title") for title tags, =IMPORTXML(URL,"//meta[@name='description']/@content") for meta descriptions, =IMPORTXML(URL,"//h1") for the H1, and =LOWER() to standardize URL slugs. A complete view goes further by connecting these numbers to ranking analysis, keyword cannibalization checks, internal links, content freshness, mobile usability, and featured snippet opportunities, so the formulas help you decide what to fix, not just what to measure.
In practice, the most useful formulas are the ones that turn raw data into action. CTR helps you judge whether a page earns clicks from search results, bounce and engagement metrics help you check whether the page satisfies the visit, and ROI helps you test whether the work supports business goals. Spreadsheet formulas then help you audit a web page at scale by pulling titles, headings, canonical URLs, and other elements into one sheet, which makes technical review and content updates faster and easier.