SEO reporting and tracking pose significant challenges for people in the industry. The information you deem important might not hold the same importance for C-suite executives.
Alternatively, you might lack sufficient data to effectively illustrate growth, alterations, and noteworthy occurrences in a clear and succinct manner. Reports should narrate a compelling story. In the absence of appropriate data, your narrative could become convoluted and fail to resonate well.
Prior to embarking on the reporting and tracking of data, it is imperative to collect it, a process that necessitates the use of the correct tools.
What is an SEO Report?
SEO reporting is the process of analyzing and presenting data related to Search Engine Optimization (SEO) efforts. It involves compiling, organizing, and interpreting data to provide insights into the performance of your website or your online content in search engine results.
The primary goal of SEO reporting is to communicate the impact of SEO strategies on various metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs).
Key elements of SEO reporting include:
- Traffic Metrics: This involves information about the volume and sources of traffic to your website, including organic search, direct visits, and referral traffic.
- Keyword Performance: This is analytical data on the performance of certain keywords, including search engine ranking positions. It can also include your keyword position tracking, search volume, and click-through rates on your website.
- Page Performance: This is include the page view, time spent on page, bounce rate of every single page on your website.
- Technical SEO: This section sometimes carries reports regarding technical aspects of SEO, like website speed, mobile-friendliness, and crawl errors on your website.
- Backlink Analysis: Examination of the quantity and quality of backlinks pointing to the website, assessing their impact on SEO.
- Conversion Tracking: Monitoring conversions, such as form submissions, sign-ups, or sales, and attributing them to specific SEO efforts.
- Competitor Analysis: Comparison of the website’s SEO performance with that of competitors to identify strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement.
SEO reporting is important for SEO professionals, digital marketers, and businesses to measure the effectiveness of their SEO strategies, understand user behaviour, and make informed decisions to improve online visibility and performance.
SEO reporting and tracking tools
Many SEO professionals use different tools to effectively gather, monitor, and present data. Some key tools include:
- Google Search Console
- Google Analytics
- Adobe Analytics
- Bing Webmaster Tools
- Internal site search
Third-party tools such as Ahrefs, Moz, and Semrush can be used to track keyword growth, positions, and more. There are many paid third-party tools that can expand your reporting and tracking abilities. Keep in mind the limitations of each tool.
For example, Google Search Console only stores data for 16 months, so this should be kept in mind when running reports for more than this period of time.
Assuming you already have these in place, review them regularly and implement whatever coding is necessary on your website to start tracking. It’s a blind menot trying to navigate the jungle of SEO without the insight that these tools provide.
The impact of AI and the analysis of data using AI.
The introduction of AI forced the industry to continue changing its SEO landscape. It’s not only about feasibility but also advisability to make use of artificial intelligence in data analysis; this helps you get hold of important data points that you would have otherwise done manually or omitted because of a shortage of time.
Tools like ChatGPT can assist you in various ways:
Connect Google Analytics with ChatGPT
Google Analytics can establish a connection with ChatGPT through plugins in the paid version, facilitating the rapid extraction of important data, including:
- List visitors from each country for the last month.
- Plot the user growth in each of these countries over the last six months.
- Create a table showing page growth over the last six months.
If you are struggling with GA4, the integrations with third-party services open up options for novel data insights. The integrations include sources like Google Ads, Instagram Ads, and even Facebook Page for combined data.
Beyond SEO metrics, it is also about tracking key milestones with tools and analytics in place. While the core of SEO deals with organic traffic and revenue generation, knowing where you are against your goals is just as important. Consider the following when tracking:
- Page-level traffic.
- Changes and updates to the site.
- Conversions, among other metrics.
Tracking site changes and updates not only showcases the value of your efforts but also provides valuable insights as the site continues to evolve and expand.
Creating regex for the query filter
Build a regex for your GSC (Google Search Console) Query filter using ChatGPT. For example, you could use the following command: “Write a regex that would show keywords containing ‘how to,’ ‘do’, ‘what’, and ‘when’ in Google Search Console.”
Then, include all the other keywords that would have informational intent. Add this regex into your GSC to filter in your information-based content and have a better understanding of how it’s performing. Include these graphs in your reporting to provide a better picture for the reader.
Differences between Brand and Non-brand Keywords
Now that event tracking has started, it’s time to dive into some keyword organization details. Presenting clients with an extensive list of thousands of keywords may not effectively demonstrate value, as many of these keywords may not contribute significantly to overall value.
To add some clarity to this, consider bucketing keywords into:
Brand keywords
This category usually involves naming both the company and the product, which often becomes necessary when keeping track of branding efforts. For example, strong brands like Adidas lead to searches for “Adidas running shoes” as well as “running shoes” with the purpose of trying to locate the products.
When dealing with sizable keyword datasets, further segmentation can be achieved by:
- Informative keywords
- Transactional keywords
- Generic keywords
You can then refine these segments by page, URL, or section to provide a more detailed breakdown in your reports.
While working through keyword lists is time-consuming, it constitutes a significant portion of the work for your reports. Clients are interested in understanding the keywords they rank for and where the site’s traffic is directed.
However, amid all these metrics, one data point stands out as the most important when tracking – revenue.
Track revenue drivers
Revenue serves as the focal point that captivates every stakeholder’s attention in a report.
To effectively convey revenue in a universally understandable and appreciable manner, consider implementing the following strategies:
Sales Drivers
Identifying the keywords responsible for driving sales can be challenging. Some tools may not offer the necessary refinement when navigating through traffic. Engage with the IT team to:
- Scrutinize logs.
- Identify sales.
- Tag keywords accountable for sales (potentially requiring customizations).
Demonstrating that a particular keyword, which jumped from rank 19 to 2, resulted in a 17% increase in sales for a product illustrates how SEO investment directly impacts revenue.
Data segmentation regarding events such as traffic that leads to calls, email sign-ups, consultations, etc., continues to enrich this story of how SEO is contributing to grow the revenue.
Period-over-Period Comparisons
Use comparisons as a strong tool for showing growth over defined periods of time. For example, the Q4 revenue spike during Black Friday and Cyber Monday is a peak period of your data. Analyzing the data over two years enables the demonstration of:
- Weekly growth (WoW or same week from previous years).
- Monthly growth (MoM or same month from previous years).
- Quarterly growth (QoQ or same quarter from previous years).
- Yearly growth.
- Seasonal growth.
Highlighting how improved search engine rankings contributed to a 25% sales boost on Black Friday compared to the previous year is invaluable for report creation.
Forecasting Analysis and the Utilization of Machine Learning
Machine learning and AI are introducing advanced predictive analysis to the realm of SEO, a capability that was previously exclusive to enterprise companies. Now, you can leverage this type of analysis to:
- Identify keywords with the highest likelihood of being clicked.
- Determine pages expected to exhibit the highest click-through rates.
- Discern site user trends and adapt your strategy accordingly.
Machine Learning and predictive analysis enable a deeper understanding of which pages will likely gain popularity in the next three months and which types of keywords may experience decreased traffic during that period.
AI, Machine Learning, and predictive analysis can help you discovered what your website project will look like in the future based on ranking and traffic data. Stakeholders are keen to understand potential outcomes if current traffic trends persist—whether for improvement or regression.
Predictive analysis helps you show the site’s future trajectory based on nuanced trends buried deep in the microdata of your analytics and keyword rankings.
On the other hand, it also focuses on micro-conversion data. These prime key performance indicators establish a strong tie between your site’s SEO and revenue earning; however, stakeholders understand what the dollar signs truly reflect. So showing them how increased in conversions and sales are developed from the efforts you brings into focus client or employer satisfaction are important.
So in today’s websites, there are numerous other micro-conversions that is taking place behind the scenes in an individual’s journey to ultimately create that conversion.
Some common examples include:
- Someone clicked through a Facebook Ad to come to your website.
- A week later, they remembered your brand, searched through Google for your company’s name, and start accessing and spending more time on your website, watching product demonstrations or downloading a free eBook.
These micro-conversions have a great possibility of future sales but sometimes may be tricky to keep track of. In 2025, SEOs will want to build campaigns for tracking micro-conversions as proof to stakeholders that their rankings are driving people into the sales funnel.
Creating targeted campaigns allows for a thorough analysis of the data, enabling you to understand your audience better. For instance, if many users view your product demo but aren’t making a purchase, the data can pinpoint weaknesses in your funnel, prompting changes that lead to more concrete conversions.
Provide the Appropriate Data to the Relevant Stakeholders
You’ve gathered and sorted your data into something useful. But, not all data points that are important to you and your marketing team are going to impress the C-suite quite as much.
For instance, take a report that details:
- Technical SEO changes.
- 10% more organic traffic.
- Faster site speeds.
- Longer time on page.
While the marketing department may find this information valuable, a C-suite executive is going to be much more interested in how that 10% increase in traffic equates to a very similar increase in revenue. It’s going to have very little meaning to the C-suite if it’s not tied into revenue somehow.
The creation of reports that focused on the key data points sought by distinct stakeholder groups assures that your insights will be in line with their specific interests and priorities.
Preserve your SEO data for future reference
The reports you generate today will serve as a reference in the coming years, contributing to the narrative of the company’s SEO growth. Preserve the data you gather, as it holds valuable insights that will prove essential in the future.
Additionally, consider integrating tools like ChatGPT into your workflow. These tools can assist you in exploring deeper into your data, uncovering valuable information that might otherwise go unnoticed.
