Everything we do in marketing MUST ALWAYS be measurable and we must understand the effects of our work and prove value in what we’re doing. Reporting is the tangible manifestation of this. We have recently launched a new tool which goes into detail as to how, why and when to report, using this free SEO report format Excel - here is the FREE template that you can download and use for your own reporting, and we'll cover below how to use it.
"I’ve always said that I learnt SEO via reporting. Finding the right data, understanding it and commentating on it - and overlaying this on top of the work/tasks undertaken – can only breed knowledge. Reporting has value beyond simply communicating numbers." Mark Leech
Reporting on the right data is imperative and this is usually defined by two things:
'Client X' (or senior management in-house) may be measuring SEO on traffic, revenue and some key rankings and, ultimately, this then has to form the basis of reporting. On top of this, we can explain how those KPI numbers have been achieved.
Equally, however, additional 'over-and-above' metrics can become a hindrance, so ensuring they truly add value and are insightful is key. Trying to achieve the right balance here can be difficult, which is why we’ve produced a downloadable Excel template so you can cover the basics well.
Here's a list of the metrics which the Excel template covers:
We believe this setup should cover the most common SEO KPIs, plus some over-and-above metrics that can prove further value and add context to KPI performance, whilst keeping the report simple and clear.
The template includes manually-entered week-on-week, month-on-month and year-on-year percentage comparisons. However, you may wish to replace these with your own formulas, if needed. Conditional formatting has been added to highlight positive and negative movements. The trends featured (fuelled by the data in the second tab) can also be changed to other metrics if you need, you’ll just need to change the data that populates them.
And finally, the report has been populated with sample data so don’t forget to make sure you change it for your own information.
Feel free to edit and tweak the template to suit, and if you think there’s anything we’ve missed in the template then please let us know in the comments below. We have kept the report to a single A3 page but this can, of course, be expanded or condensed if needs be.
If you have any questions about where to get any of the metrics from, or if you need further insight into why any of them are important, please take a look at our SEO service page or get in touch and we will be happy to help you.
To download your FREE SEO Reporting Template, click on the button below!
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