SEO, short for Search Engine Optimization, is the process in which you take steps to increase the ranking of a content piece or website on Google. It comprises many tactics like keyword research, content marketing to increase rankings on various search engines, and much more.
Now, we all are well aware of this fact – you can’t call SEO a short-term process. It involves constant improvement as well as analysis to help you find a place in the top searches of different search engines.
This brings us to our main subject – SEO reports.
SEO reports display the results for search engine optimization on and off a website. They display overall keywords, ranking improvements, top keywords, conversion metrics, visitors, and traffic comparisons.
Let’s take an example to understand these reports further.
After working on a website, SEO reports work as a means to showcase to your clients what you did and why it matters. Reporting offers justification for the client’s investment in your services.
All in all, it’s important now more than ever to understand the importance of SEO reporting. Here’s a detailed look at the subject!
What is SEO Reporting?
Before we discuss why SEO reporting is beneficial, let’s take a closer look at its definition.
Essentially, SEO reporting tracks the SEO performance of a website. It lets you know which SEO marketing efforts are working and also suggests growth opportunities.
A great SEO report includes an overview, concise suggestions on what to do next, and key metrics (typically displayed in charts and graphs).
Why is SEO Reporting Important?
Here’s a deeper look at the reasons why monthly SEO reports matter.
1. Increases Client Retention
Sending monthly reports to your clients doesn’t let them stay in the dark. Reporting regularly means you are being transparent with your clients. The more regularly you communicate, the quicker you take care of their doubts, and the more your clients trust you. This will only lead to an increase in client retention.
2. Empowers Your Clients With Information
Monthly SEO reporting empowers your clients with knowledge about your operations. When you give regular honest assessments of what’s working and what’s not, you let your clients know about the work you are doing to boost their online presence.
3. Saves Loads of Time
When you share reports on a monthly basis, you get to address client concerns as soon as you can. This means you get to save a ton of time by eliminating the possibility of any project delays or even cancellations.
4. Helps You Gain Appreciation
With SEO reports, your clients get to see you at work in the form of granular data. As a result, they get to know more about you, resulting in increased appreciation for the services you provide.
5. Frames Client Expectations
Keeping your clients in the loop on a frequent basis is highly important. Sending them monthly, consistent reports is one way to do so. Doing this will help you manage expectations and address problems along the way.
Information to Include in SEO Reports
SEO reports must possess data in an easily-digestible manner for your clients to view and check. They are already busy enough, and you don’t want to add to their hectic schedules. Your SEO reports should be straightforward, concise, visually appealing, and broken down into sections.
Apart from including an overview to let your clients know what to expect in your SEO report, this is the information you should include in it:
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Keyword Growth: Keywords you are tracking, such as semantic keywords and long-tail keywords, and the improvements in their organic keyword rankings.
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Increase in rankings for top targeted keywords.
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Year-over-year performance and month-over-month growth.
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Backlinks
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On-Site Optimization: Errors, SEO performance, technical reports.
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Traffic by source
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Goal Reports: These reports talk about things such as page visits and conversions.
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Performance Reports: Such reports show rich results; how different keywords are converting, how different pages are converting, and so on.
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Local SEO: You can generate these reports from local keywords that include a location and those from Google My Business. You should be tracking NAP consistency, citations, customer feedback, and local keywords.
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Social Media Growth: Show how branding, audience demographics, and engagement is performing.
Best Practices for SEO Reporting
In the SEO report, it’s vital to include points that are important for your client. Here are some best practices that you can follow for SEO reporting:
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Have clarity on the purpose of the report.
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Explain the data to clients to prevent them from making any assumptions.
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Present recommendations and opportunities to your clients.
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Draw a conclusion of all your efforts and include a strategy that talks about what should be done next.
We all know this – generating SEO reports is tedious and time-consuming. Hence, you can consider automating the reports. It is a more efficient and effective process. When you take this step, you save hours of manual work and toiling. This saved time can then be used for other critical tasks.
But how to automate your SEO reporting?
Today, automation software is a boon that helps you save countless productive hours for your team. Automation tools like DashClicks’ InstaReports can send reports automatically to an agency’s clients, that too on a regular basis. The white label SEO reports will offer the agency’s clients a full SEO analysis along with insights into rankings and traffic of their website.
Wrapping it Up
So far, it’s safe to say that SEO reports help document the benefits and improvements of the SEO work you have been performing for your client. It even helps establish rapport and trust. It also displays what to work on next.
The bottom line? We all can agree on one thing – tracking, analyzing, and measuring results can offer an accurate and deep understanding of trends. Not only does it offer perspective, but also helps you make any necessary adjustments. All in all, the benefits of SEO reporting cannot be emphasized enough. It’s high time we understand the potential it holds and leverages it for business growth.
Also, SEO reporting takes time and effort, so automating your agency’s SEO reporting can help you save tons of valuable time and invest it in creating enhanced growth for your business.
