If you pay for SEO, a monthly report should show what was done and whether it is working. A good report is clear, honest and tied to business results.
What a useful report includes
| Section | What to see |
|---|---|
| Work done | Pages created or improved, technical fixes, links earned |
| Organic traffic | Visits from Google, compared with last month and last year |
| Enquiries | Calls, forms and WhatsApp clicks from organic search |
| Rankings | Positions for keywords that matter to the business |
| Google profile | Calls, directions and reviews |
| Next month’s plan | What will be done and why |
Numbers that matter most
- Enquiries and sales from organic search.
- Traffic to service and product pages, not just blog posts.
- Rankings for buying-intent keywords.
Calculate changes with our percentage change calculator and organic conversion rate.
Red flags
- Only rankings for obscure keywords nobody searches.
- Impressions and traffic with no link to enquiries.
- No list of work done.
- You do not have access to your own Search Console and Analytics.
Be patient but informed
SEO takes months. Read how long SEO takes.
Want the full picture? This article is part of SEO: the complete guide, our in-depth guide with everything in one place.
