SEO Report
Generating SEO report for clients is an important task for any digital agency. Your customers need to understand the value of your services and how it benefits their business. They need to see how SEO report is tracked on a weekly, and monthly basis. The great thing about SEO is that there is no ambiguity about performance – organic traffic and search rankings will improve over time or not. More traffic means more leads, more sales, and more conversions. The work you do can literally transform a client’s business.
Fundamental SEO Report Sections
Consider these 7 fundamental SEO report concepts as mandatory:
Report Branding and layout
Don’t underestimate the impact of how your statement looks and how your client interprets it. Your SEO report should be consistent with your agency’s branding. Minimum: Logo, colors, and fonts. The layout should be optimized for how you intend to present the report.
If you send the report by email, it should be scannable with descriptive headings that state the facts. For example, instead of the page title “Organic Traffic Summary This Month”, a better title would be: “Organic Traffic Increased 45% This Month”.
Executive Summary
If the client only reads 1 page of the report – that should be it. The purpose of the executive summary is to provide a high-level progress report on the site’s SEO report performance and how it relates to the client’s business objective(s). Less is more so don’t clutter this page.
SEO Metrics Dashboard
The Metrics Dashboard is a 1-page view of agreed KPIs, goals, and supporting metrics. This includes charts, graphs, numbers, and totals. Optimize for clarity by using visual language – if the illustrations are up and right, this is great! Use red/green arrows to indicate progress in metrics and callout bubbles to draw attention to key points on the page.
Traffic & Conversion trends
Check Google Search Console for organic queries, search logs and clicks for each page. Check the segment with Google Analytics, organic traffic, and note traffic and conversion trends. These figures are important as they are the end result of your hard work and drive the client’s business objectives.
Backlinks
Add a list of new backlinks gained and lost backlinks (soon you will be able to see actual backlink URLs stay tuned for this feature). If part of your SEO services includes backlinks and blogger/publisher outreach – this will be an important area for you to communicate the value of your efforts.
Customizing SEO Reports for client preferences
When it comes to SEO report for clients, you need a set of different report templates to suit different clients. Many factors can influence the way you structure content and layout. These include your client’s industry, business level, goals, and other subjective factors such as the relationship you have with them, their knowledge level, and their layout preferences.
Some clients prefer skimmers and summarization over details. Other customers want to get results, read everything and get the finer details. These different styles can greatly affect the way customers interpret your statements and retain information. Knowing this in advance and optimizing it will set your reports up for success!
Report Delivery Format
Content aside, you should consider the following report delivery formats:
- Acrobat PDF: This is the most popular report format and for good reason. PDFs are easily shareable, compatible with all devices, and generally have a small file size.
- Live link: A direct link opens a web-based report in the client’s browser, usually a dashboard. The advantage of this is that the report is interactive and displays some data based on filters and user input.
- Email:The report is presented entirely in the body of the email, which means it should be very simple and short. No links or links required.
- Zoom/screenshare: Some agencies offer their reports via screen share, but they usually also send a PDF version of the report. When screen sharing, it is preferable to use a presentation tool such as PowerPoint or Slides.
Report Length
The length of the report will determine the level of detail you go into in your reports. We recommend showing your client a default report template. Go together and highlight their likes and dislikes. That way you can make changes to the report you know to meet their expectations.
Stakeholders
You should also ask your client what they do with the report once they receive it. Do they pass it on to other members of their team? If so, these other team members may have completely different expectations of what the report should contain. It’s actually quite common.
It is therefore important to identify all stakeholders early and meet everyone’s needs, especially if these other stakeholders are more senior.
