Ever feel like your SEO reports for clients are landing with a thud?
Instead of excited nods, you get confused stares? It’s frustrating! 😠
Because effective reports aren’t just about dumping data; they’re about telling a story, proving your worth, and getting clients excited about the progress.
Clear, actionable reporting is the cornerstone of any successful client relationship. It’s how you build trust, demonstrate ROI, and, frankly, keep those clients happy (and paying!).
This guide will walk you through the 10 essential pieces of creating an SEO report that actually gets clients on board, as well as ways to use reporting tools to craft it.
We’re talking about reports that are easy to understand, highlight wins, and spark meaningful conversations.
Let’s turn those reports into your secret weapon! 🔫
What are SEO Reports?
Okay, so what exactly is an SEO report, and why should you care? Think of it as a report card for your website’s search engine performance.
A good SEO report will cover key things like:
- Website Traffic
- Keyword Rankings
- Backlinks
- Engagement
- Conversions
These reports are essential for several key reasons. First, they’re all about tracking progress. You can clearly see what strategies are working and which ones need tweaking.
Second, they’re vital for keeping clients happy. Clear, concise reports build trust and demonstrate that you’re delivering tangible results, justifying their investment.
Finally, they help you plan. The data informs your future SEO strategy, guiding you on where to focus your efforts for maximum impact.
Most businesses do these reports monthly, but you might do them weekly or quarterly, depending on the client’s needs and the campaign’s goals.
And, importantly, a good SEO report isn’t just a wall of text. It uses visuals!
Charts, graphs, and tables make the data much easier to digest, especially for clients who aren’t SEO experts.
For example, a chart showing a sudden drop in website visitors and search rankings is a clear warning sign, even if your client isn’t an SEO expert. The goal is to make the data easy to understand and fix.
Why are SEO Reports Important?
Think of it as taking the pulse of your SEO strategy. Consistent reporting allows you to catch problems early. If you suddenly see a drop in website traffic or your rankings for important keywords start to slip, you can react quickly and figure out what’s going on before it becomes a major crisis.
Beyond just spotting problems, regular reporting is your best tool for proving the value of your work.
It’s how you demonstrate a clear return on investment (ROI) for your SEO efforts, and show clients their money is well-spent.
Also, if you need to advocate for affordable SEO tools or a larger SEO budget, solid data from your reports is your most powerful argument.
Essentially, consistent SEO reporting creates a shared understanding of what’s working, what needs improvement, and where to focus your efforts. For clients, it’s a clear window into the benefits of your services.
For internal stakeholders, it’s the justification for investing in SEO initiatives. It keeps everyone on the same page and focused on achieving the best possible results.
10 Key Components of an Effective SEO Report
A high-quality SEO report can help your clients see the effort you put into their website. While the process of creating a report may be stressful, you can do it well by following these 10 basic tips. So let’s begin.
1. Setting Goals So Your Client Understands What They’re Getting
Before diving into an SEO strategy, chat with your client about their priorities. What are they really hoping to achieve? More website traffic? Higher conversions? Better search engine rankings?
It’s crucial to pinpoint a few key objectives. SEO is vast, and trying to tackle everything at once, especially with monthly reports, is a recipe for overwhelm (and potentially, failure!).
Explain to your client that focusing on a few goals at a time yields better results. While many SEO goals are interconnected, some, like poorly targeted traffic, can hurt overall performance.
Once you’ve agreed on those core goals, you can build a general SEO or a local SEO report that speaks directly to them. The report should clearly state its purpose (e.g., tracking progress, finding areas for improvement), the timeframe, the KPIs you’ll be watching, and the tools you’ll use.
2. Choose Your Metrics to Align With Client Goals
The choice of metrics depends heavily on the client’s specific goals, but we’ll share a list of common and valuable SEO metrics, categorized for clarity. Remember to select only those most relevant to the client’s objectives. Stick to eight or nine key metrics to avoid overwhelming the report.
These are common (basic) metrics used in SEO reports, but you can customize this based on their goals:
- Organic Traffic
- Keyword Rankings
- Conversions
- Bounce Rate
- CTRs
- Page Load Speed
- Site Health
With Search Atlas, you can generate full SEO reports that include all key metrics from Google Analytics 4 (GA4), Google Search Console (GSC), keyword rankings, backlinks, local SEO, and more
Additionally, Search Atlas allows you to create reports where you can customize the metrics for each of these individually:
- Google Analytics
- Google Search Console
- Google Business Profile
- Keyword Rank Tracking
- Local SEO Heatmaps
- Backlinks
3. Executive Summary to Share Important Insights First
The executive summary is your client’s “cheat sheet” for your SEO report. It’s the TL;DR version, or the big picture, without the nitty-gritty technical details.
Think of it like this: you’re showing them the highlights reel, not the entire movie. Focus on the good stuff, any impressive jumps in search rankings, a noticeable boost in website traffic, or keyword strategies that are really working
Most importantly, don’t just tell them what happened; tell them what to do next. Give them clear, actionable recommendations based on your findings.
In Search Atlas, you can also click on Generate AI Summary right above the report section, and have it ready in minutes.
4. Data From Google Analytics and Google Search Console
To create a comprehensive SEO report for your client, you’ll need data from both Google Analytics 4 (GA4) and Google Search Console (GSC), along with potentially other tools depending on the scope.
From GA4, you will likely need:
- Traffic Overview: Total sessions, users, and traffic sources (especially organic search).
- Engagement Metrics: Bounce rate, session duration, pages per session.
- Conversion Data: Goal completions (purchases, sign-ups, etc.).
And the data you’ll probably gather from GSC is:
- Search Performance: Clicks, impressions, average position, and CTR from Google Search.
- Keyword Data: Which queries are driving traffic.
- Index Coverage: Ensure key pages are indexed.
- Core Web Vitals: Page speed and user experience metrics.
Your next step could be to combine it, analyze it and visualize your findings.
But we know both of these tools can be tiring to use (however vital they are).
With Search Atlas, you can expect a much simpler process. Connect the platforms to Search Atlas and get a fully customizable, white-label report. Automatically.
5. Keyword Analysis for a Clear View of Rankings
A good SEO report needs a solid keyword analysis section.
It’s important to list all tracked keywords, highlight ranking changes, and showcase performance shifts.
The report should also include how many people are actually searching for these keywords (search volume) and how tough the competition is.
This helps your clients understand the lay of the land. You can demonstrate which keywords are bringing in the most traffic and sales, and point out any that need some extra work.
The Search Atlas’ Report Builder shows you the following metrics (which you can customize):
- Tracked Keywords: Specific search terms or phrases monitored to evaluate your website’s performance in search results. They help measure visibility, rankings, and traffic.
- Search Visibility: The extent to which a website appears in SERPs for relevant queries. It measures how often and prominently a site is seen, impacting organic traffic.
- Average Position: The average ranking of a website’s pages for specific search queries or keywords on SERPs. It shows where your site typically appears in search results.
- Keywords in Top 10: Search terms or keywords for which your website ranks in the top 10 positions on SERPs. These high-ranking positions are crucial for visibility and attracting organic traffic.
In the builder, you can also generate this Keyword Ranking Report for different time periods:
- 1 month (a quick snapshot)
- 3 months (see the trends emerging)
- 6 months (a solid overview of progress)
- 1 year (the full picture of long-term performance)
6. On-Page SEO and Site Health Scores
With this part of the report, you demonstrate what your agency is taking care of the website’s technical health and on-page optimization,
This includes evaluating how well the website’s content is optimized for relevant keywords, as well as checking for technical issues such as site speed, mobile responsiveness, and internal linking.
You can use several tools to assess all of these aspects. One of the flagship features of the platform is OTTO SEO, an AI assistant that automates and reports on almost all SEO aspects
It also offers direct fixes, straight from the dashboard. And in the Report Builder, you can see the OTTO agent’s performance within a given timeframe.
This includes optimization scores, technical fixes, and the number of flawless pages, as well as a before and after graph.
7. Backlink Profile to Demonstrate Their Improvements in Authority
Backlinks are an essential part of SEO, and this section should evaluate the quantity and quality of backlinks pointing to the client’s site.
Make sure to include data on new backlinks, lost links, and the overall quality of referring domains.
Using Search Atlas, you can track and customize the following options:
- Backlink Quantity and Quality: Analyze the number and quality of backlinks pointing to the site, noting any new or lost links.
- Referring Domains: Identify the diversity and authority of domains linking to the site to assess the strength of the backlink profile.
- Referring IPs: Look at each IP associated with a referring domain.
The report can also showcase your blink-building efforts by visualizing your history of backlink changes on a handy graph.
If you want to accompany your report with more data, such as backlink velocity, toxic backlinks, and anchor texts, you can get detailed insights through Backlink Analyzer tools.
8. Local SEO Performance to Show Clients Their Local Progress
For businesses with a local focus, include a dedicated Local SEO performance section in your SEO report.
This section will help you evaluate the accuracy and consistency of business information across local directories and maps, analyze local search rankings, and assess customer reviews. By leveraging tools like Search Atlas and the Google Business Profile (GBP) Dashboard, you can gain valuable insights into how well your client’s business is performing in the local market.
First, you should analyze Local Search Rankings. You can use the Local SEO heatmaps tool and measure things like local keyword rankings, and the local search visibility score.
After that, include the client’s Google Business Profile (GBP) Dashboard Metrics. With OTTO automations, you’ll easily track and report on all the key metrics:
- Impressions: The number of times your business listing appears in Google search results or on Google Maps. This metric indicates how often your business is shown to users searching for relevant terms or viewing map results.
- Website Clicks: The number of times users click through to your business website from the GBP listing. This metric helps measure the effectiveness of your listing in driving traffic to your site.
- Call Clicks: The number of times users click on the phone number listed in your business profile to make a call. This metric helps measure how often potential customers directly contact your business from your GBP listing.
- Direction Requests: The number of times users request directions to your business location via Google Maps from your business listing. This metric indicates how often potential customers seek physical directions to visit your business.
9. Ad Performance for a Wider View
Clients don’t just want numbers, they want to know what’s working and what’s not.
Search Atlas makes it easy by pulling in data from Facebook Ads, Google Ads, and other key sources into a conversion and traffic report that actually makes sense.
No more digging through different platforms, just a clear breakdown of which channels bring the most visitors, leads, and sales. With these insights, clients can stop guessing and start making smarter decisions that drive real growth.
10. Regular Reporting to Build Trust With Clients
Regular SEO reports are key to building trust and demonstrating your SEO campaign’s value. They keep clients informed, showcasing your work and progress. Search Atlas makes reporting easy with automated emails. Here’s what you can offer clients:
- Scheduled Reports: Weekly, monthly, or custom delivery schedules.
- Automated Delivery: Set it and forget it, reports arrive on time, every time.
- Secure Sharing: Confidently share sensitive data with controlled access.
- Data Integration: Reports pull directly from your data sources for accurate insights.
- Customizable Frequency: Tailor delivery to client preferences.
- Two-Way Communication: Clients can reply directly to reports, fostering open dialogue.
Search Atlas: Effective Reporting and Automated Solutions
Creating SEO reports isn’t exactly the highlight of anyone’s week, but they’re genuinely crucial for clients to understand what they’re paying for.
The data tells the story that most clients can’t see otherwise, how their visibility is growing, where their traffic comes from, and why certain keywords matter more than others.
Without regular reporting, even successful SEO work can go completely unappreciated because most of it happens behind the scenes.
However, the reporting grind is a real thing. If you’re looking for a more convenient solution, tools like Search Atlas handle the heavy lifting by automating data collection and presentation.
Within our all-in-one SEO and PPC platform, we also offer customizable, white-label reports that professionals can adapt to their branding.
This approach saves time while still delivering the insights clients need to see the value of ongoing SEO work.
Make your job a lot easier and sign up for a 7-day FREE trial. We will help you with onboarding, training calls, tutorials, and support.
