SEO Reporting for Rookies (But Make It Look Pro)

You’ve been putting in the work – optimizing pages, building links, and trying to climb up those search rankings. 

But how do you show your boss or client that your SEO efforts are actually paying off? Easy: you create a clear and simple SEO report.

SEO reporting is all about turning your work into something others can understand. It’s a way to share your results, explain what’s working, and show what you’ll focus on next. It doesn’t need to be complicated. You just need to know what to track and how to explain it.

So, we’ll walk you through the basics of SEO reporting: what to include, how to make it useful, and how to make sure your hard work gets noticed.

How to Write SEO Reports That Actually Matter

Most SEO reports end up unread, misunderstood, or worse, ignored. 

But not yours. Not anymore! Whether you’re reporting to a client, a boss, or your own skeptical brain at 2 a.m., your SEO report should be clear, actionable, and impossible to argue with.

Turn Insights into Action, Not Just Charts

Data without direction is just noise. If your SEO report doesn’t lead to a next step, it’s missing the point.

Put yourself in your stakeholder’s seat. They’re not SEO nerds (like us at Link Juice Club). 

They don’t want a wall of metrics: they want answers. So for every thing that happened, attach a thing we’re doing about it.

Let the Data Do the Talking

Every good SEO report has one thing in common: data you can trust.

Skip the guesswork and let the numbers guide the narrative. Thankfully, you don’t need a €1,000/month toolset to do this.

Here are your bread-and-butter data sources:

💣 Google Analytics: Visitor behavior, conversions, trends.

💣 Ahrefs Webmaster Tools: Backlink health, technical issues, keyword drops.

💣 Google Search Console: Traffic, CTRs, keywords—you name it.

Get your facts straight first. Everything else flows from there.

Make It Persuasive, Not Just Presentable

If you want people to care about your SEO report, don’t just dump numbers. Instead of that, tell a story that sticks. 

Start with logic (logos). Every recommendation you make should be backed by real data. Don’t just say traffic dropped; show that non-branded clicks fell 27% after the March update, likely due to outdated content or missing alt tags. That’s the kind of detail that earns trust.

Then layer in credibility (ethos). Show that you’ve been here before. If you’ve solved similar issues for others, say so. 

Finally, don’t shy away from emotion (pathos). If competitors are gaining ground, highlight it. They’re outranking us for our own product name hits a lot harder than vague stats.

And whatever you do, sound confident. We will fix this beats we might every time.

SEO Reporting That Actually Tells a Story (Not Just Shows Numbers)

No one wants another snooze-worthy spreadsheet dumped in their inbox. 

Your job is to make your SEO reporting clear, strategic, and worth reading. That means knowing what to include, what to skip, and how to turn insights into action.

Here’s how to build an SEO reporting flow that even your most skeptical stakeholder will appreciate:

Executive Summary

Start with the stuff that matters most. The executive summary should be short, sweet, and full of high-impact insights. 

Emphasize things such as what changed, what worked, what tanked, and what needs fixing. Use bullet points, ditch the jargon, and remember – this is the part your boss actually reads.

Organic Traffic

Your next stop? The big picture. Use tools like Google Search Console or Analytics to show how organic traffic has evolved. 

Has it spiked, dipped, or flatlined? Throw in a chart, drop a quick explanation next to it, and always connect the dots. Don’t just say traffic is down. Say why, and what can be done about it.

Keyword Rankings

Now that you’ve shown how traffic’s doing, it’s time to explain why. Keyword rankings give context to performance. Highlight your top movers and losers. 

Which keywords climbed to page one? Which ones are ghosted? Use this section to show wins, flag concerns, and fuel your next steps.

Technical Health

You don’t need to go full developer here. Just answer the big question: is the site technically sound? 

If your audit shows broken links, crawl issues, or Core Web Vitals flops, mention it, and more importantly, what to do about it. If everything’s clean, a simple All clear will do.

Link Wins

Links are still gold in the world of SEO (and Link Juice Club is the expert in link building). But when it comes to SEO reporting, it’s not enough to say we built some links. 

Stakeholders want the specifics. How many did you earn this month? Were they from high-authority sites or the digital equivalent of a cardboard box?

Focus on two things: the number of backlinks acquired and the quality of those links. Bonus points if you can show that a juicy backlink improved a particular page or keyword.

Content That Actually Performs (Or Doesn’t)

You’re creating content, but is it doing its job… or just sitting there collecting digital dust?

In this part of the SEO report, highlight your content MVPs: the blog posts or pages pulling in traffic like magnets. Then, spotlight underperformers and explain what can be done. Maybe it needs a refresh, maybe it’s targeting the wrong keyword, or maybe it just never had a chance. Content insights are your cheat sheet for what to double down on next.

Competitive Intel

Want to really wake up your client or boss? Show them how the competition’s doing.

Comparing your site’s performance with top rivals is a power move in SEO reporting. It sets the stage for smarter strategy.

Use visual data to make this land: overlap graphs, keyword gap charts, and competitor visibility snapshots all help tell the story.

Your SEO Game Plan

End your SEO report like a pro: with a roadmap that says: We’ve got this under control.

Your roadmap section should outline what’s been done, what’s currently in motion, and what’s next on the agenda. 

A Gantt chart works wonders here. Use a clean visual to lay out your campaign stages, key milestones, and future deliverables. No fluff, just a clear path forward.

SEO Reporting Is the Pulse Check Of Your Strategy 

SEO reporting isn’t just a box to tick. Done right, it turns raw data into smart decisions, builds trust with stakeholders, and keeps your entire SEO campaign moving in the right direction. 

A well-built SEO report puts you in control of the narrative. And in a world where SEO success often plays out behind the scenes, your report is how you make the results seen, understood, and valued.