An SEO report template is one fixed layout that you fill in for each client, each month. The monthly one has seven parts, from a cover and a short summary at the top to next month's plan at the bottom. Copy the layout below, study one month filled in with made-up figures, then cut it down if a client asks for a weekly note.
What should a monthly SEO report include?
A monthly SEO report can include five things: where the site ranks, the visits that came from search, the leads or sales those visits brought, what was done that month, and the plan for what's next. Put a cover and a short summary on top, and you've got the seven parts below. No official source says what a report must hold, so treat this layout as a place to start.
| Order | Part | What it holds |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cover | The client's name, the month, and your agency's name and logo |
| 2 | Summary | A few plain sentences: what changed, what you did, and what comes next |
| 3 | Rankings | Where the site sits for the searches you and the client agreed to watch |
| 4 | Visits from search | How many people came to the site from search, this month beside last month |
| 5 | Leads or sales from search | The calls, forms or sales that came from those visits |
| 6 | Work done this month | A short list of finished tasks, in plain words |
| 7 | What comes next | The tasks planned for next month, and anything you're waiting on from the client |
Three habits keep the layout useful.
- Hold the order steady from month to month. The client then knows where to find the leads line without hunting for it.
- Write the summary last, and put it on top. It's the part to get right for a reader who stops there.
- Keep a part in the report even in a quiet month. Say it was quiet, and say why.
This layout is for the monthly report. An audit report and a live dashboard do other jobs. To pick which reports to send, and when to send each, see SEO reports for clients.
A layout says what goes where. Filling it with data, adding your brand and checking the numbers is a separate job. For the steps to build a report, see How do I create a white label SEO report?.
What does a filled-in example SEO report look like for one month?
A filled-in report is the same seven parts with one month's words and numbers in them. The example below is for a made-up client, a dentist's office. We invented every figure to show the layout. The example isn't a real client's month, and it isn't a usual result.
| Part | What the example report says (made-up figures) |
|---|---|
| Cover | Example Dental. Monthly SEO report. Prepared by Your Agency. |
| Summary | More people found the site on Google this month, and more of them got in touch. Next month we add a page for emergency visits. Work done this month: new page titles on four service pages. |
| Rankings | Average position: 14.2 this month, 16.8 last month |
| Visits from search | Clicks: 420 this month, 365 last month. Impressions: 12,400 this month, 11,900 last month. Click-through rate: 3.4% this month, 3.1% last month |
| Leads from search | 19 calls and 7 booking forms this month. 15 calls and 6 booking forms last month |
| Work done this month | New page titles on four service pages. Two broken links fixed on the home page. Opening hours added to the contact page. |
| What comes next | Write and publish the emergency visits page. We're waiting on two photos of the office from you. |
The four numbers in the middle of the example come from Search Console's performance report. One line on each is enough for a client.
- Impressions: how often someone on Google saw a link to the site.
- Clicks: how often a searcher clicked through from Google to the site.
- Click-through rate: clicks divided by impressions.
- Average position: a relative ranking of where the site's link sits on Google, where 1 is the top spot.
The client doesn't have to learn the terms. You do, so you can answer when they ask. For what each SEO number means, see SEO metrics.
Four things in the example are worth copying.
- The summary says the result first and the work second.
- Every number sits beside last month's number.
- The work is listed as things the client can go and see on the site.
- The last part asks the client for one thing.
If the client serves one town or one neighborhood, the layout picks up a few more lines. For a local client's monthly report, see local SEO reporting.
A layout like this is easier to pass to someone else once the steps are written down. There's a template for handing off tasks. It's free, and you give your email to get it.
How is a weekly SEO report template different?
A weekly SEO report template is the monthly one cut down to three parts: the work done this week, the work planned for next week, and what you're waiting on from the client. It leaves the numbers for the monthly report, where the client can compare one month with the one before.
| What differs | Monthly report | Weekly report |
|---|---|---|
| Its job | Says what the month's work added up to | Says the work is moving |
| Numbers | All of them, beside last month's | None, or the one number the client asked to watch |
| Work done | A short list for the month | The tasks finished this week |
| What comes next | Next month's plan | Next week's tasks, and what you're waiting on |
| Form | A report with your brand on it | A short email |
Ask the client three questions before you start a weekly version.
- Is the monthly report enough, or would a short weekly note help?
- Who reads the weekly note, and what will they do with it?
- Is there one number you'd like to see every week?
A weekly note fits a stretch when a lot is changing on the site, such as a launch or a move to a new site. Agree up front on when it stops. That keeps it from turning into a second report you build every week for good.
Save the monthly layout as a file you copy each month, so the parts stay put and only the words and numbers change. If someone else will fill it in, the template for handing off tasks costs nothing. You give your email to get it.