MetricBase

Calculator · 075

Paid Traffic Calculator

Total paid traffic across ad sources and size the upside of scaling — and decide where paid gains should come from.

sessions
sessions
sessions
%

Total paid traffic

Average
Scenario lens Current · Benchmark · Optimized
Leverage

Formula

Paid traffic = Search + Social + Display ad sessions

Understanding paid traffic

Reference material — the calculator above stays the primary tool.

What paid traffic measures

Paid traffic is the sessions ads buy you, split here across search, social, and display. Unlike organic, it scales instantly with budget and stops the moment spend does. Summing its sources gives both the channel total and the mix beneath it, so you can see not just how much paid traffic you have but where within the channel it originates.

Traffic sits at the top of the funnel, so this channel's level and growth bound every conversion and dollar that follows from it.

How to read your result

The headline is current paid traffic. The scenario lens then projects it at a benchmark and an optimized monthly growth rate, pricing the gap in concrete sessions so a growth target for the channel is explicit.

Use the source split to see which part of the channel to lean on.

Paid traffic sources

The channel's sub-sources behave differently. Treat these as orientation.

ContextTypical median
Search adsHigh intent, higher CPC
Social adsDemand-gen, creative-led
DisplayCheap reach, lower intent
RetargetingWarm, efficient
Levers that grow the channel

Paid scales with budget and efficiency: improve targeting and creative to lower cost per session, then add budget where return holds. Watch saturation as spend grows on a fixed audience. Model a higher growth rate as a scenario above to see the sessions it adds.

In context

Read paid traffic alongside organic traffic and paid ads ROI, which the related tools cover. Paid volume is only worth its cost if it returns, so pair session growth with ROI before scaling.