A monthly SEO report should answer three questions for your client: what happened, why it happened, and what you will do next. Everything you include should support one of those answers.
Below is exactly what to include, which SEO KPIs to track, a ready-to-use checklist and a simple workflow for getting reports out on time every month.
What to include in a monthly SEO report
A strong monthly SEO report has nine parts. Each one has a clear job, and together they tell a complete story in a few minutes of reading.
- Executive summary: the month in three to five plain sentences.
- Key metrics: four to six KPIs with a comparison period.
- Goals progress: how close the client is to their monthly targets.
- Search performance: clicks, impressions and trends from Google Search Console.
- Keyword movement: gains, new keywords and keywords to win back.
- Top pages: the pages driving search traffic.
- Traffic and conversions: organic sessions, channels and key events from GA4.
- Site health: technical issues found and fixed.
- Work completed and next steps: what you did and what comes next.
The monthly SEO report checklist
Run through this SEO report checklist before every send. It catches the small problems that make clients lose trust.
- The date range covers the full previous month
- Every metric has a comparison (previous period or previous year)
- The executive summary leads with the strongest result
- Every dip has a short explanation and a next step
- Goals show progress, not just raw numbers
- Branded and non-branded searches are separated
- Important dates (launches, migrations, updates) are marked on charts
- Conversions or key events are included, not only traffic
- Site health shows errors fixed and errors remaining
- Work completed is listed in plain language
- Three or four priorities for next month are agreed
- The report carries your agency's branding, not a tool's
SEO KPIs to track every month
Pick the SEO KPIs that match the client's goals. A local service business cares about enquiries. An online shop cares about revenue. Both care about search visibility.
| KPI | Source | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Clicks | Search Console | Visits sent by Google search |
| Impressions | Search Console | Visibility in search results |
| Average position | Search Console | Rough direction of rankings |
| Keywords on page one | Search Console | Breadth of strong rankings |
| Organic sessions | GA4 | Organic visits measured on the site |
| Key events | GA4 | Enquiries, calls, sign-ups or purchases |
| Site health score | Site audit | Technical issues holding pages back |
Search Console KPIs
Clicks and impressions show demand and visibility. Average position is useful as a direction, but it shifts when a site starts ranking for new keywords, so explain it rather than lead with it. Our guide to Google Search Console metrics explains each one in detail.
GA4 KPIs
Organic sessions and key events connect SEO to business results. Set up key events for the actions that matter (form submissions, calls, purchases) before you start reporting on them. See our page on GA4 reporting for channels, sources and landing pages.
Each section of the report, explained
Executive summary
Write this last but place it first. Lead with the strongest win, mention any dip neutrally and turn it into a "Focus for next period" action. Our guide on how to write an SEO report covers the wording in depth.
Goals progress
Monthly targets turn numbers into meaning. "2,210 of 2,500 target clicks" is clearer than "2,210 clicks". Agree targets with the client at the start of each quarter.
Search performance
Show a trend chart of clicks and impressions across the month, with the comparison period on the same chart. Add notes for anything that explains a change, such as a new page or a site launch.
Keyword movement
Group keywords into gains, new keywords and keywords to win back. Separate branded searches (the client's name) from non-branded ones, because non-branded growth is the clearest sign your SEO work is paying off.
Top pages
List the pages with the most clicks and how they changed. Clients relate to pages more easily than to long keyword lists.
Traffic and conversions
Show organic sessions alongside other channels, the top landing pages from search and the key events they produced. This is where SEO meets revenue.
Site health
Summarise the latest audit: a health score, errors fixed and the issues left. Keep the full list for your team. Our technical SEO audit checklist shows what a monthly audit should cover.
Work completed and next steps
List the work you did in plain words, then three or four priorities for next month. This section often prompts the most useful client replies.
A monthly SEO reporting workflow
Monthly SEO reporting is easier when it follows the same rhythm every time. A simple workflow:
- Wait a few days after month end. Search Console data usually lags by two to three days, so reporting on the 1st can miss the last days of the month.
- Pull the data from Search Console and GA4 for the full month, with the comparison period.
- Check site health with a fresh audit, or the one from earlier in the month.
- Write the summary and add notes for anything unusual.
- Review against the checklist above.
- Send on the same day each month, so clients know when to expect it.
Steps two, three and six are the easiest to automate. ReportFalcon, for example, can email last month's report from your agency's name on a chosen day, run monthly site audits for your clients, and alert your team when traffic falls sharply week over week.
Send monthly reports on autopilot. Schedule branded Search Console and GA4 reports to go out from your agency's name every month.
See automated SEO reportingUsing an SEO report template
An SEO report template saves time and keeps reports consistent across clients. It should fix the order of sections, the KPIs you lead with and the look of the report.
Good templates still leave room for each client. Hide sections that do not apply, such as conversions for a client without tracking, and add a short note where context matters. Browse our report templates and themes for layouts you can apply to many clients at once.
Put your own logo and colours on every report. A report that carries your brand reinforces the value of your agency, while one covered in a tool's logo does the opposite. In ReportFalcon, every report carries the agency's logo and colours, and clients never see the tool's name.
How to keep monthly reports useful over time
- Revisit KPIs every quarter. When goals change, the metrics you lead with should change too.
- Use year-over-year comparisons for seasonal businesses, so a quiet December is not mistaken for a problem.
- Keep the format stable. Clients learn where to look, and changes stand out.
- Ask what they read. If a client only reads the summary, make the summary better rather than the report longer.
FAQ
What should be included in a monthly SEO report?
An executive summary, key metrics with a comparison, goals progress, Search Console performance, keyword movement, top pages, GA4 traffic and conversions, site health, work completed and next steps.
What are the most important SEO KPIs?
For most clients: clicks, impressions, keywords on page one, organic sessions and key events such as enquiries or sales.
Choose the ones that match the client's goals and lead with those.
When should a monthly SEO report be sent?
A few days into the new month. Search Console data usually lags by two to three days, so waiting until around the 3rd to 5th gives you complete numbers for the previous month.
How long should a monthly SEO report be?
Short enough to read in a few minutes. The summary and key metrics should fit on the first screen or page, with detail below for readers who want it.
Is there a free way to check a site's SEO health for a report?
Yes. Our free SEO audit tool checks up to 50 pages for broken links, missing titles and other common issues, with no sign-up needed.
