Monitoring and SEO reporting go hand in hand. By monitoring, you collect data about your website, which you can then evaluate in regular reports. This way, you always know exactly where your website stands and what you should improve. In this article, I’ll explain how I, as a German SEO consultant and copywriter, build robust reports for my clients: the format, what to include, and the tools I use. It’s time to get started! Create your own report in 3, 2, 1, GO!
A word about formatting
When it comes to SEO reporting, there are many different formats: Excel spreadsheets, Google Sheets, PowerPoint presentations or PDFs.
Personally, I always create my SEO keyword reports in PDF format.
Why?
- PDFs are easy to share and compatible with all operating systems.
- Your report looks the same on every device, making it clear and easy to read. No nasty surprises from moved lines or cropped graphics.
- Each section is always in the same place in every SEO report, making comparisons easier.
- PDFs are also great for archiving. Your reports are always at hand and easy to find.
Plus, PDFs simply look more professional than an Excel file with countless rows and columns.
SEO reporting – What to include?
A good SEO report should be clear, well structured and self-explanatory. Different businesses need to track different metrics.
Here are six essential elements that should be included in any good report:
1. Clear explanations
If your report raises more questions than it answers, it is not a good report.
A good website SEO report presents metrics clearly so that everyone understands what the numbers mean – from the first week intern to the CEO.
2. Visibility: How is your website performing?
At first glance, your report should show how your website has performed since your last SEO report. This metric is called the “Visibility Index” (Sistrix) or “Performance Index” (Mangools). It is usually presented as a graph.
3. Keyword reporting & ranking changes: What content performs best?
Crucially, how have your rankings for relevant keywords changed? Which keyword is on page 1 and which has dropped below 100 (aka the SEO abyss)?
This metric helps you compare:
- Which new keywords were added?
- Which existing keywords have improved their ranking?
- Which pages now rank better?
- And which have dropped?
Understanding what works and what doesn’t (yet) on your site is essential. This data helps.
4. Competitor analysis
Do you want to know how your website stacks up against the competition? And how your competitors have evolved? A comprehensive report will show you not only where you stand, but also where your competitors stand, so you can act accordingly.
5. Estimated traffic value: How much is your content worth?
I find it particularly useful when a website SEO report includes the return on investment (ROI) of your website content.
ROI means:
➔ How much would advertising cost to bring a comparable number of visitors to your site?
This metric is called “Value of organic traffic” (Sistrix) or “Estimated traffic value” (Ubersuggest). It shows you at a glance whether your investment in website content is paying off.
Indeed, this figure is “only” based on the tool’s informed estimates. (Except for Ubersuggest: There you can connect your account to Google Search Console and work with real data).
However, this one number will tell you whether your site is going up or down – and it’s incredibly valuable when you need to justify your marketing budget to yourself or your boss.
6. Clear recommendations
A solid report should also derive specific actions and recommend easy-to-follow next steps based on the data that’s been collected:
- Where is potential for quick wins? Start there.
- What pages need a content update?
- Which pages are already performing well, and how can you push them further?
- Where are backlinks, images, etc., missing?
Such recommendations help you or your client respond to changes and make your website better and more user-friendly.
My top 3 favourite SEO reporting tools
One of the most common questions clients ask me during consultations is What tools do you use for SEO reporting? Here are my three favourites:
- Sistrix: With Sistrix you can monitor the visibility of your website in great detail. The tool shows you which keywords your pages are ranking for and how the rankings are changing. You can even generate branded SEO reports and calculate the value of organic traffic.
- Mangools: With Mangools’ SERPWatcher you can create simple reports to monitor your keywords. The tool automatically sends you weekly, monthly or quarterly reports. It’s easy to use and shows you at a glance how your content is performing. Perfect for keeping a casual eye on things.
- Ubersuggest: Ubersuggest‘s rank tracking feature makes it easy to generate keyword reports. The tool also provides detailed competitive analysis and integrates with Google Search Console to use real data. This allows you to calculate traffic value and ROI, ideal for concise, effective SEO keyword reporting.
I describe these tools in detail in my blog post “SEO monitoring- or: How hard is your website content working for you?” Check it out!
Keep watching – and keep moving up the rankings!
SEO is not a sprint, it’s a marathon. Keep at it and check your data regularly. Only through monitoring and reporting can you keep track of the data and ensure that your website remains successful in the long term.
As a German SEO consultant and copywriter, I’m happy to help you with this.
FAQs about SEO reporting
How often do I need to create a report?
My typical consultant answer: It depends.
(And in this case, it’s true.)
If you are very active on your website, regularly publishing blog posts, adding new products, landing pages or job offers, I recommend monthly reports. (For very large websites with a heavy focus on SEO, even weekly reports are useful).
If you have a small website and only publish one blog post a month, quarterly reporting can be sufficient.
I create reportings for my clients about as often as they have time to update their content: once a week, once a month, once a quarter.
Create a report as often as you have time for content maintenance. This will give you enough data to spot trends and adjust your SEO strategy.
Reporting too frequently, on the other hand, can be overwhelming and may even provide less meaningful data.
How do I create an SEO report?
Use reliable SEO reporting tools such as Sistrix or Mangools to monitor your website and effectively analyse the data collected. These tools allow you to create your own custom website report.
A good SEO report should be clear and concise. Start with key metrics such as traffic and rankings. Then add in-depth analysis and concrete recommendations.
How do I interpret the data in an SEO report?
The data in a good SEO report will show you what’s working and what’s not.
For example, if an important keyword is losing rankings, you need to know. You can then react and revise your content accordingly.
If a blog post brings in a lot of traffic, you can tweak it further – and create more similar content.
As a consultant and German SEO copywriter, I can help you interpret the data and continuously improve your SEO strategy.
