5 Keys to Building the Best SEO Report

SEO reporting on paper with charts and graphs

One of the aspects of owning a website is understanding SEO. SEO helps drive more traffic to your website, leads to higher ranks on search engines, and ultimately leads to more sales. 

Like in marketing, you need to measure your results to know what’s working and what isn’t, which is what an SEO report does. A great SEO report measures progress, ROI, and why a team made specific decisions above others. 

Your SEO report should demonstrate the impact of your efforts. 

The downside to SEO reports is that they’re tedious and time-consuming. They contain a lot of analytical information, enough to make people glaze over from boredom. 

To avoid that scenario, we’re explaining five keys to building the best SEO report. That way, no one falls asleep in the middle of your report, and you can feel good about your work.

If you’re not sure if you’re covering all the details in your SEO report, don’t worry about that either. Let’s talk about what your SEO report should cover.  

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Woman building the best SEO report on laptop
Woman building the best SEO report on laptop

What Should An SEO Report Show?

Most businesses will have an online presence in 2022. Many business owners with an online presence understand basic website stats, like increased traffic. It’s easy to go to Google Analytics or your website hosting service and download a monthly website traffic report. 

What business owners need help understanding is in-depth knowledge about this traffic. Here is what your SEO report should show.

RELATED: The Benefits of Hiring an SEO Agency 

Traffic Channels

Clients want to know where the traffic is coming from. Maybe a specific social media platform is gaining traffic. Maybe a blog post is getting noticed. Your SEO report needs to show this information. This section tells clients where they should focus their time and money. 

Page Traffic

In addition to knowing where the traffic is coming from, you should also note where the traffic goes. This is the part of the report where you note trends. This section should tell a client if their product landing page needs more work or to publish more content. 

Conversion Rates

It’s important to know where the traffic is going and coming, but it’s also important to know if the traffic is converting. Conversion rates directly link to sales most of the time, so this section will be valuable to your client. Find out what is driving conversion rates and show this information on your report.

Page Speed

You might not have thought about page speed for your SEO report. Google has a great tool called Page Speed Insights. It’s a free tool that tells the client their page loading speed and how they can improve it. This tool can pinpoint specific parts of a page that bog it down. For example, a video on the homepage could slow down the page loading speed.

Rankings and Links

Show the client how their website ranks in Google and other search engines. Keep in mind that Google shows different results based on various factors. It could be history, where the visitor is searching from, or backlinks.

Also, note if the client has 404 error pages that affect traffic and search engine ranking.

Recommendations

A great SEO report doesn’t just show analytics. As the SEO professional, you should offer recommendations for improvements and an executive plan. Advising a client on what to do next helps the client make important decisions and allows you to showcase your skills. 

RELATED: How To Do Keyword Research For SEO

Hand typing on laptop creating information for an SEO report
Hand typing on laptop creating information for an SEO report

5 Keys to Building the Best SEO Report

So you have everything in your SEO report. Now it’s time to deliver the report. How you deliver the information is just as important. Let’s dive into five keys to building the best SEO report. 

Choose the right KPIs

Every client is different, so choosing the right KPIs will vary based on the client’s goals. Knowing what KPIs to choose comes down to understanding the client and the client’s business. 

Ask your client what their goals are. Do they want to sell a product? Do they want to increase email subscriptions? Ask your client, and then figure out the best KPIs to measure success. Cut out any unnecessary metrics that the client isn’t interested in.

Use plain English

Don’t use SEO jargon when presenting your client’s report. Cut to the chase and use terms your client understands. If you must use specific terms, take the time to define those terms, so you and your client are on the same page.

Give insights

Numbers have no importance unless paired with observation. Your clients won’t know what to do with the information if it’s just numbers. Explain what these numbers mean. Where is the website traffic coming from, and why? What should you do with this information?

Group your data

In addition to insight, group your client’s data to paint a better picture of what’s going on. For instance, group the numbers in sections like written content vs. video content or group information by audience location. Grouping information and making comparisons helps the client understand their business in a way they didn’t know before. 

Connect the dots

It’s up to you to help your client understand how SEO performance relates to their business performance. Again, don’t just lay out the numbers and walk away. Connect the dots. Show the client how their written content is bringing in new customers. Where are the visitors coming from? Why did their conversion numbers spike?

In other words, show, don’t tell.

RELATED: What is Quality Content and Why is it Important?

Write An SEO Report Worth Reporting

Writing an SEO report isn’t easy. It’s a daunting task and takes a lot of energy. Follow the tips in this article, and time spent writing your SEO report is better spent. Focus on showing the client what is happening and not just telling the client. Connect the dots, and use the right metrics. Doing so will help your clients understand more about their business. 

Ready to get started? Book a call with us! We love creating killer content for your business.

Last Updated on March 11, 2022 by Hilda Wong

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