Let’s say I moved to a new city, and I want to find a great, independently-owned coffee shop. My first stop is likely Google or another search engine. I’ll see several suggestions based on my location, but why do some java joints rank higher than others? Well, that’s all a part of SEO.
The coffee shops higher on the list may have better site structure, making it easier for search engine bots to crawl and categorize their pages. Or perhaps they’re targeting the right keywords, like “specialty lattes” or “locally owned.”
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Backlinks are links on external sources that direct users to your website. When a website links to your website, it is essentially vouching for the credibility, relevance, or quality of your content.
Backlinks are considered a crucial ranking factor for search engines like Google.
Let’s say you sell the best cat brush online, and hundreds of pet-care websites link your product. Google knows that you sell a trustworthy product and have high authority when it comes to cat grooming.
Because you offer something valuable, you rank higher.
However, if your bush is only linked on spam websites, your authority will take a hit. This section evaluates the quality and quantity of backlinks pointing to your website.
It may include information about referring domains, anchor text, link diversity, and any toxic or spammy backlinks that could be negatively impacting your SEO.
If you have any link-building campaigns, include your performance here.
As we’ve discussed above, the technical infrastructure of your sites helps search engines determine what you cover. Having the right heading structure, fast loading times, and accessibility features help improve your performance in SEO.
In this section, you’ll note where your site is struggling and how you can improve these technical aspects. Evaluate the following in preparation:
Your SEO report should compare your website's performance to your competitors.
It may include a comparison of keyword rankings, organic visibility, and backlink profiles to identify areas where you can improve and strategies you can learn from.
Consider featuring side-by-side graphs or joint charts to make your comparisons visual.
After reading the report, your team will have a solid understanding of your SEO performance.
Now’s your chance to tell them how you’ll adapt based on the data you gathered. Point out what areas need improvement and how that will impact your strategy moving forward.
Pro tip: Focus on what specifically you’ll focus on before your next reporting session.
If your marketing team already has an SEO reporting cadence, this step has been done for you. However, if you’re at a new business or site, you’ll want to decide how frequently to run these reports.
Are you going to dive in every month, bi-monthly, or every quarter?
What are the metrics that are most important to your business? The best way to track your success is to determine the KPIs you’ll need in your report.
You’ll want to include basic data, like website traffic, page load speed, and backlinks. Additionally, feature other metrics your team already uses to evaluate SEO success.
Determine which keywords you’ve targeted with inorganic and organic campaigns. If you’ve made a push around a certain phrase during the last reporting period, feature it in your report.
Your SEO report is going to be something that you and your team look at frequently, so you want to ensure the data is presented in a logical and organized way. If your team has a standard layout, there’s no need to reinvent the wheel.
Starting from scratch? You’ll need to choose how your SEO report looks.
Decide if you prefer a slide template or a written report/PDF. Consider which data visualizations you’ll use. Lastly, be sure to feature your brand logo and colors so your report feels customized.
Once you know what you’re looking for, you’re ready to create your report. Look at the software you have that gather information on traffic and performance. That could be your CRM, your website builder, or Google Analytics.
Your tech stack may make relevant graphs for you. In other circumstances, you may need to pull data points to populate your own charts.
Be sure to include visualisations where possible. A bullet point may highlight a trend, but a graph can reinforce the concept.
Each report that you pull should include various growth opportunities. This is the time to think of new strategies that might work and ways to find the whitespace and opportunities for growth.
Understanding your performance allows you to change your strategy where needed.
You can see which keywords performed poorly, as well as what strategies should be replicated. Make your recommendations clear. Include where you should experiment in the future.
This becomes especially true when you're looking to improve upon your paid search efforts. You should look to make sure your growth correlates with the money you spend on your campaigns.
There are many tools to understand your SEO strategy and pivot where you need to.
Remember, the best reporting happens consistently. If you track data regularly, you can see how your performance changes year-over-year or month-over-month. You can see if seasonality affects your traffic and conversions.
From there, you’ll have something to track against and opportunities to grow your program.
Clarify the goals and objectives of the SEO report.
What metrics and insights are the most important for your team? What does a good traffic month look like? What would be a failure for paid search campaigns?
Make sure your report aligns with the specific needs and expectations of your audience.
It might not make much sense when you first pull these numbers, but knowing what you’re looking for is crucial to running a successful SEO report.
Simply presenting data without context gives numbers without meanings. Your SEO report should include any efforts that you’ve made to improve your rankings, both organic and inorganic.
Additionally, look at the broader context of your industry. You may find that the global economy has affected conversions on your site or the number of people booking a demo.
Or perhaps there was a breakthrough in your industry, and more people are searching for your content. Your audience should know how these factors impacted your performance.
Additionally, look for major changes that have been made in search engines. Are they prioritizing different content? Have their algorithms changed?
This will help your team understand any major, previously unexplained changes in your performance.
Tailor your report to the specific audience you're presenting it to. Consider their level of SEO knowledge and their specific areas of interest. Focus on the metrics and insights that are most relevant to their role or department.
For example, the report that you pull for an audience of senior executives may be at a higher level. They may not want to understand each of your paid campaigns or the performance of every keyword.
Meanwhile, your marketing team will want more information so they understand what changes to make in the future.
Make your report easy to understand by using clear and concise language.
Avoid technical jargon as much as possible or provide explanations when necessary. Use bullet points, headings, and subheadings to break down information into digestible chunks.
Once you pull the report, you can define a strategy to change the results. Does that mean cutting down on content or shifting your focus to more relevant content for your buyers? You get to figure out how to understand your results best.
By tracking and reporting on how your website is performing, you will see where your SEO strategy is working and where you may need to change tactics.
With most of the world’s population online, the searches for products and services often begin on Google. It’s crucial to have a successful SEO strategy so your site shows up in the right searches to reach your target audience.
