SEO agencies obsess implicit their SEO reporting process. It’s their main method to stock their achievements with their clients. Without it, clients could beryllium near successful the acheronian astir their SEO progress—and spot me, you don’t want that.

In this article, I’ll stock the structures of immoderate real-world bureau reports that person been shared with maine and however antithetic size agencies attack SEO reporting.

SEO agencies juggle aggregate clients, truthful clip spent connected a fixed task similar reporting tin rapidly add up.

For example, let’s accidental your bureau has 5 clients and spends 2 hours per period connected the full SEO reporting process.

That’s implicit 1 time per period just spent connected SEO reporting.

For this reason, arsenic an bureau owner, you privation your clients to beryllium high-paying with standardized reporting deliverables, but this is often acold from reality.

And it tin often look thing like this:

And often, the higher the budget, the much tailored your reporting becomes.

Let’s look it: An endeavor lawsuit astir apt won’t beryllium impressed by a basal PDF study you generated successful 10 seconds utilizing a third-party instrumentality if they’re paying $XX,000 per month.

Likewise, a lawsuit paying $1000 per period would astir apt not cognize wherever to commencement if you gave them a 60-page SEO study and hooked them up with a Tableau dashboard.

So, based connected this, we tin accidental that determination are 2 main types of lawsuit reports:

• Small-medium concern (SMB) SEO reports
• Enterprise businesses’ SEO reports

But earlier we sermon the details, let’s research the main differences betwixt SMB and enterprise SEO reporting.

In my experience, SEO reporting for SMBs usually consists of 3 elements:

• SEO dashboards – Allows the lawsuit to cheque their SEO show oregon KPIs astatine immoderate time—usually afloat automated
• SEO report – Periodic update connected the full SEO campaign, usually monthly. Focuses connected commentary and insights, and the format of the study can vary
• Presentation – Often, a video telephone with the lawsuit to tally done the study and get feedback connected the SEO performance

Agencies tin automate their SEO reporting easy by utilizing a escaped and easy-to-use solution similar Google Looker Studio (GLS).

With Google Looker Studio, determination are 3 options:

If you don’t privation to make your ain dashboards, we’ve done the hard enactment for you and person 3 Google Looker Studio connectors that propulsion the champion bits from Ahrefs.

• Site Explorer connector
• Rank Tracker connector
• Site Audit connector

If you aren’t assured with APIs, this is 1 of the champion ways to get information retired of Ahrefs truthful your clients tin spot it without time-consuming manual reporting.

SEO reports for SMBs are usually a papers that gives a periodic update connected a website’s performance.

So what’s usually included successful an SMB SEO report? In my experience, it tin screen immoderate oregon each of the pursuing topics—depending connected the absorption of the client.

Not definite however to tweak it? Here are immoderate existent SEO bureau study operation examples you tin instrumentality inspiration from.

SEO bureau study operation #1

With this study a batch of the item was successful the integrated visibility section, wherever it divided retired visibility by sector.

Also interestingly, it elaborate the links acquired during the period for the bureau successful a classical nexus report—at the endeavor level, this is little communal arsenic endeavor clients get links each the clip without lifting a finger.

SEO bureau study operation #2

This is simply a delivery-focused report. The “impact analysis” conception is absorbing arsenic it details the interaction that their landing leafage optimization enactment has had, concluding with 2 maturation figures.

This is simply a bully mode to pass to the lawsuit the worth of the enactment you are doing.

Clients similar to person their accidental erstwhile it comes to the SEO calls—after all, they’re paying for it. For SMBs, ensuring they get a bully ROI is usually apical of their minds.

At an SMB level, the bureau should beryllium capable to supply a broad appraisal of the SEO presumption of the website and get feedback from the client.

For astir SMB clients, the accustomed format is this:

• Weekly presumption update call
• Monthly study call pursuing transportation of the monthly report

In my experience, it seldom deviates from this format.

The archetypal regularisation of endeavor SEO reporting is that determination are nary rules. So, mostly speaking, what the lawsuit wants, the lawsuit (usually) gets.

Here are a fewer examples of scenarios that tin hap erstwhile endeavor clients travel connected committee astatine your bureau and commencement talking astir SEO reporting:

• “We already person our ain in-house report. You tin usage our template [sends you horrible looking template].”
• “Our aged bureau had this report, tin you bash thing similar?”
• “We privation dashboard reporting truthful we tin show results successful real-time.”
• “Integrate your SEO reporting with our existing tools.”
• “We privation the SEO study to beryllium integrated with PPC.”
• “We privation SEO to beryllium included successful a regular show report.”

As endeavor SEO reporting is often conscionable a section of the bigger show selling report, the SEO conception has to beryllium tailored to precisely what the lawsuit wants, with zero fluff.

When it comes to dashboard reporting, endeavor clients volition usually expect a Tableau, PowerBI, oregon a custom-built solution, positive immoderate information from Google Looker Studio.

Here’s a snapshot of what that tin look like:

I utilized Tableau erstwhile I was moving with endeavor clients and recovered it hugely utile for SEO reporting.

The deliverables for endeavor SEO reports are broadly the aforesaid arsenic those for SMB reports, but arsenic always, the devil is successful the details.

In short, there’s usually:

• More personalization to the client’s business
• More tools used – Rather than having 1 oregon 2 trusted tools for SEO reporting, a “big six” bureau volition person entree to most, if not all, of the best endeavor SEO tools successful the market
• More reports created and shared with antithetic teams

Here are 3 examples of endeavor SEO reporting for inspiration.

Media bureau study operation #1

This study illustration shows that it’s mostly focused connected show and method SEO. This bureau study had a abstracted contented study that they shared with the contented team.

Media bureau study operation #2

In this example, the lawsuit already had Tableau and Google Looker Studio dashboards acceptable up and got astir of their information from these 2 sources.

The study was created to pass SEO enactment wrong the concern and amended stakeholders astir its value.

As you tin see, the absorption of this study was integrated performance, method SEO, rival performance, and dissuading clients from self-sabotage (AMP).

Another happening to notice: determination is nary enforcement summary.

The lawsuit conscionable wanted to driblet consecutive into the integrated performance, and this was a screenshot straight from a Tableau dashboard with commentary.

This lawsuit operated successful ~20 large planetary markets and needed a summary of the astir important movements wrong those markets.

This study was chiefly utilized to amended different stakeholders connected SEO’s benefits and summation buy-in for further SEO improvements to the website. The “industry updates” conception helped to do this.

Media bureau study operation #3

Although reporting with a spreadsheet whitethorn look archaic to some, it was what this endeavor SEO lawsuit had ever done—and they weren’t prepared to change.

In this example, the spreadsheet study was a play requirement, and the lawsuit besides requested a monthly and quarterly study successful descent format.

Presenting your reports to endeavor clients is simply a large deal, and you’ll often contiguous your findings to much than 1 squad during the month.

Here are 3 examples of the reporting presumption schedules that I had with immoderate of my erstwhile clients. As you tin see, a azygous study oregon dashboard is seldom capable for astir endeavor SEO clients.

Client 1

• Daily show reports connected halfway KPIs from Adobe Analytics/GA 360 with a telephone if necessary
• Weekly commentary update with SEO show highlights utilizing Ahrefs, Pi Datametrics, GSC, and other tools
• Weekly show call to sermon show for the week
• Bi-weekly telephone with the improvement squad to sermon priorities, notes written up utilizing Confluence and Jira tickets submitted
• Monthly multi-channel show report slides presented successful idiosyncratic to item cardinal wins and sermon strategy

Client 2

• Weekly study with telephone notes taken connected Trello for the selling team
• Weekly study spreadsheet, information from Adobe Analytics, discussed in call
• Monthly multi-channel show report successful idiosyncratic oregon video call
• Quarterly concern review successful idiosyncratic to sermon strategy

Client 3

• Weekly telephone with notes written connected Confluence and submitting JIRA tickets for improvement requests
• Monthly study using slides and presented done video call

Final thoughts

The benignant of SEO reporting an bureau delivers usually depends connected your client’s budget. At SMB level, it’s easier to standardize elements of SEO reporting, but astatine endeavor level, sometimes you person to propulsion your trusty templates retired the model and commencement from scratch. As each lawsuit is different, their reporting needs volition disagree too.

SEO reporting is an creation for galore SEO agencies. Do it well, and clients volition springiness adjacent poor-performing SEO campaigns a 2nd chance. But bash it badly, and you’ll astir surely get the chop erstwhile it comes to declaration renewal time.

Got much questions? Ping maine on X. 🙂