SEO report: what to include in a monthly report

The short answer

A monthly SEO report should include a short written summary, search visibility from Search Console, visits and key actions from Analytics, the pages and searches that moved, site health and indexing, a log of work done, and next steps. Report monthly, compare with the same month a year earlier, and explain every number in plain words.

What an SEO report is for

An SEO report answers three questions for the person who pays for the work: what happened, why, and what happens next. Most reports fail because they answer a fourth question nobody asked, which is how many numbers the tool could produce. An owner who receives forty charts has no way to tell the three that matter from the rest.

Write the report for one reader. For a small business that is usually the owner or a manager who knows the products and customers well but has never opened Search Console. If you report to clients, the same rule applies: they are buying enquiries, not charts. Everything in the report should connect, directly or through a clear step, to someone finding the business and getting in touch.

What an SEO report should include

Seven blocks cover almost every situation. Keep the order the same each month so the reader learns where to look.

The sections below take each block in turn.

Block 1: the summary a busy owner reads first

Put the summary on top and keep it to a short paragraph. It should state the headline movement, the most likely reason, what is being done and anything needed from the owner. Write it last, after you have read the data, because the data decides what the summary says.

Here is an example for a made-up physiotherapy clinic: Visibility for the clinic's treatment pages grew again this month, and more of the visits ended in an enquiry. The sports injury page lost visits after a competitor's guide started to appear above it, so we are rewriting its opening section next month. We need two photographs of the treatment room from you by the middle of the month.

Notice what the example leaves out: jargon, a wall of figures and any claim about cause that the data cannot support. If the reason for a change is unknown, say so. "We do not yet know why" is more useful than a confident guess that proves wrong.

Block 2: search visibility from Search Console

Search Console's Performance report gives four figures, and Google defines each. Clicks are the times a person clicked through to your site from Google Search results. Impressions are the times your site appeared in results, generally counted when a result is on the page whether or not it was scrolled into view. Click-through rate is clicks divided by impressions. Average position is a relative ranking in which 1 is the topmost, averaged across the queries where your site appeared.

Show clicks and impressions as a trend line, and compare against the same month a year earlier so that seasonal swings do not look like success or failure. Google itself advises focusing on trends in impressions and clicks rather than on position alone. The position figure also differs from what you see when you search yourself, because search history and location change the results a person gets.

Say how you filtered the data. A report that mixes searches containing the business name with searches that do not tells a misleading story, since people who already know the name are easy to win. Show the two groups separately.

Block 3: visits and actions from Analytics

Visibility is only the start. The next block shows what search visitors did. Report visits from unpaid search, then the actions that matter to the business: enquiry forms sent, calls started, bookings made, purchases completed. In Google Analytics 4 these are called key events, which is the name Google now uses for what it used to call conversions. Someone has to set them up first, so confirm that the events you report on are being recorded, and note the date they began.

Search Console and Analytics will not agree. Search Console counts activity in Google Search, such as appearances and clicks on results. Analytics counts what happens once a visitor is on your site. The two use different methods and different definitions, so use each for its own job and do not try to reconcile them to the last digit. Add what the business itself recorded: calls, emails and in-person enquiries that mention finding you online. That evidence is not perfect, but it is closer to revenue than any chart.

Block 4: the pages and searches that moved

Name the pages and searches that gained and lost the most, and give a one-line reason for each where you have one. This is the part of the report that turns data into work. A page that gains impressions but not clicks may need a better title. A page that loses visits may have been overtaken by a result with a different purpose, so check what the search is really asking for before rewriting anything.

Group the movers by page type: service pages, blog posts, location pages, product pages. Patterns appear at that level that single pages hide. If every service page rose and every blog post fell, the cause is probably different from a drop on one page. The same grouping helps the owner see where the effort is paying off.

Block 5: site health and indexing

Keep this block short unless something is wrong. Cover whether the important pages are indexed, whether Search Console reports new errors, whether the sitemap was read, and whether the mobile version of key pages works, since Google primarily uses the mobile version of a page for indexing and ranking; the guide to mobile-first indexing explains the details. Record any change to the sitemap or to crawl rules, which the guide to XML sitemaps and robots.txt describes, because a one-line mistake there can remove pages from search.

If the same technical errors appear month after month, or the site has changed platform recently, a full review may be more useful than monthly patching. The article on signs your website needs a technical SEO audit lists the signals to look for.

Blocks 6 and 7: work done and next steps

A change log is the most underrated part of any report. List what was done each month with dates: titles rewritten, pages added, links fixed, redirects set up, a new page for each service. Without it nobody can tell later whether a rise or fall followed a change or just coincided with one. Google's SEO Starter Guide says changes can take anything from a few hours to several months to show up, and suggests waiting a few weeks before judging whether a change helped. A dated log lets you honour that wait.

Close with next steps: what happens next month, why it was chosen, and what you need from the owner. If service pages are the priority, link the plan to the guide on how to write SEO service pages so the owner can see the thinking behind it.

How often to report on SEO

Monthly is the usual rhythm, and it suits the way search works. Changes take time to appear and day-to-day numbers move around, so weekly reports mostly describe noise. Between reports, the person doing the work should still look at Search Console regularly for errors, but that is housekeeping rather than reporting.

Add a longer review each quarter. Zoom out to compare with the same quarter a year earlier, check whether the plan still fits the business, and drop work that has not helped. Report sooner when something breaks: a site move, a sudden fall in indexed pages or a security problem should not wait for the next scheduled report.

How to explain results to a non-technical owner

Use the owner's words. Replace each technical term with what it means for the business, and keep the definitions in a short glossary at the back of the report.

Lead with what the movement means, then show the figure that proves it. "More people found the treatment pages, and more of them got in touch" comes first; the chart comes second. Say plainly what is uncertain. Search results are shaped by many things outside your control, and an honest report says so.

What to leave out of an SEO report

• Screenshots of a single keyword's position, which vary by person and place and invite arguments over one search.
• Scores from automated tools shown without context or an explanation of what to do about them.
• Traffic totals with no link to enquiries or sales.
• Technical findings with no ranking of what matters, since a list of minor warnings buries the one real problem.
• Promises about what next month will bring.

If someone else produces your report, ask if you own the Search Console and Analytics accounts it draws on, how each figure is defined and how it ties to enquiries. Liftup Technologies runs SEO for clients, and its search engine optimisation service page describes the work. Whoever you choose, you should be able to read the report without a translator.

Related guides

• SEO services
• Search intent explained
• Signs your website needs a technical seo audit
• Xml sitemap and robots txt what they do
• Url structure for seo
• Contact page what to include

Questions and answers

What should an SEO report include?

A short written summary, search visibility from Search Console, visits and key actions from Analytics, the pages and searches that moved, site health and indexing, a dated log of work done, and next steps. Each block should answer one question for the reader in plain words.

How often should I report on SEO?

Monthly suits most small businesses, with a longer review each quarter. Search changes take time to show, so weekly reports mostly describe noise. Report sooner if something breaks, such as a site move, a sudden fall in indexed pages or a security problem.

How do I explain SEO results to a non-technical owner?

Start with what the movement means for the business, then show the one figure that supports it. Swap technical terms for plain ones, keep a short glossary, and say clearly what is uncertain. Tie the numbers to enquiries or sales wherever you can.

Why do my Search Console and Analytics numbers not match?

They measure different things. Search Console counts activity in Google Search, such as appearances and clicks on results, while Analytics counts what happens on your site once visitors arrive. Settings, filters and methods also differ, so use each tool for its own job.

Should an SEO report include keyword rankings?

Only as a trend across groups of searches. Position varies with search history and location, and Google advises watching impressions and clicks as well. A report built around a handful of single keyword positions invites argument and hides what customers actually did.