What a Good SEO Report Shows
By CodexierPublished 4 min read
You pay for SEO every month and receive a report every month. Many of those reports are long, colourful and impossible to act on: rankings for keywords nobody searches, domain scores from third-party tools, traffic totals without context. A good report is shorter and more useful. It tells you what was done, what changed in search, what that meant for enquiries or sales, and what happens next. Use this checklist to judge the report you get, or to ask for a better one.
Work done and why
Start with activity, because it is what you pay for. The list should be concrete enough that you could check it yourself.
- Pages created or improved, with links, and the search intent each targets.
- Technical fixes made, such as redirects, speed improvements or indexing issues resolved.
- Local work, such as Google Business Profile updates and directory corrections.
- Links or mentions earned, with where they came from.
- Why these tasks were chosen over others, tied to the plan agreed earlier.
Search visibility and clicks
Google Search Console is the most reliable source for organic search, because it reports impressions, clicks and average position from Google's own data. Our guide to Search Console for beginners explains the terms.
| Metric | What it tells you | Useful breakdown |
|---|---|---|
| Clicks from Google | Actual visits from organic search | Brand vs non-brand queries |
| Impressions | How often you appear | By page group, such as services or blog |
| Average position | Rough ranking trend | For your important queries, not all of them |
| Click-through rate | Whether titles and snippets attract clicks | For pages with many impressions |
| Indexed pages | Whether Google can see your content | Changes in excluded pages |
Brand searches mostly reflect how well known you are. Non-brand clicks show whether SEO brings new people.
Leads and conversions from search
Traffic is a means. The report should show what organic visitors did: form enquiries, bookings, calls, orders or sign-ups. That requires conversion tracking set up correctly and, for B2B, a connection to your CRM so you can see which search leads became customers.
- Conversions from organic search, by type, with the same period last year.
- Which landing pages produced them.
- For webshops: revenue from organic search and average order value.
- For service businesses: enquiries from organic search and, where possible, how many became paying customers.
- A note on data limits, such as consent-based tracking gaps, so numbers are read correctly.
Next month's priorities
A report that only looks back is an invoice attachment. It should end with the three to five things that will be done next month, why they are the best use of the time, and what the supplier needs from you, such as approvals, text input or access.
Metrics to question
| Metric | Why to question it |
|---|---|
| Rankings for a long keyword list | Easy to pad with terms nobody searches; ask for search volume and business relevance |
| Domain authority or similar scores | A third-party estimate, not a Google metric; useful as a trend at most |
| Total traffic without breakdown | Can rise from irrelevant blog visitors abroad while leads fall |
| Number of backlinks | Quantity says little; low-quality links can harm |
| Hours spent | Shows effort, not result; useful only next to what was delivered |
Decision rule: if you cannot tell from the report whether search brought more enquiries or sales this quarter than last, ask for the leads section to be added before the next invoice. When you do not need an agency report at all: if SEO is a small part of your marketing and Search Console shows steady non-brand clicks, reviewing it yourself monthly is enough. If you want someone to run and report on SEO against business results, that is what our growth retainer does; see what SEO costs in Sweden for context, and book a short call to review your current report.
Frequently asked questions
How often should I get an SEO report?
Monthly is common and fine, with a longer quarterly review that looks at trends. Weekly reports add noise, since search data fluctuates day to day.
Should I have access to Search Console and analytics myself?
Yes, always, with your own account as owner. The report should be based on data you can check, and you keep it if you change supplier.
What if rankings rise but leads do not?
Then the rankings are for the wrong queries, or the landing pages do not convert. Both are worth raising with your supplier; better rankings alone are not the goal.
Is a report generated automatically by an SEO tool enough?
Tool reports are a starting point. Without a written summary of what was done, what it means and what comes next, you are left to interpret charts yourself.
Getting reports you cannot act on?
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