What Should an SEO Report Include Each Month?
What should an SEO report include? Calls and leads first, then work delivered, rankings, reviews and next month's plan. Plus the red flags to watch for.
Short answer: a good monthly SEO report shows calls and leads first, then the work delivered, then rankings and traffic, and ends with a clear plan for next month. If a report only shows impressions and keyword positions, you cannot tell whether SEO is making you money.
What a useful SEO report includes
1. Business results
- Phone calls from Google Search and your Business Profile
- Form leads and booked jobs, by source
- Comparison with last month and the same month last year
2. Work delivered
- Pages written or improved, with links
- Profile posts, photos and review replies
- Listings fixed and links earned
- Technical fixes
3. Visibility
- Map rankings across your service area, not only from your office
- Search Console clicks, impressions and top searches
- New pages indexed, and any indexing problems
4. Reviews
- New reviews this month and your current rating
- How you compare with the top three competitors
5. Next month’s plan
- Three to five specific priorities
- Anything the agency needs from you, such as photos or approvals
Red flags in SEO reports
- Pages of charts with no explanation
- Only rankings for keywords nobody searches
- No list of the work actually done
- No access to the underlying data
Frequently asked questions
How often should I get an SEO report?
Monthly is normal for local businesses, with a short call to go through it.
Which numbers matter most?
Calls and leads from Google. Rankings and traffic are useful signs, but they are not the goal.
Should I have access to the data myself?
Yes. Ask for access to Search Console, Analytics and your Business Profile, in your own name. For more on judging an agency, see 15 questions to ask an SEO agency.
See what our reports look like
Every Synova SEO plan includes a plain-English monthly report with calls, leads and work delivered. Ask for a free audit.
Written by Qasim Qureshi, founder of Synova Digital, who has six years of hands-on experience in local SEO and Google Business Profiles for service businesses.