What Is the Best SEO Reporting Frequency? (It Isn’t Monthly)

As a business owner, you most likely have an SEO agency or you have someone who supplies you with reports. I’m also guessing that these reports land on your desk in the first week of each month. Do you read them or does someone go through them with you? You’re likely paying a lot for them and you might be questioning the value of your current SEO reporting frequency.

Take a look at the last three reports you received and honestly, are they all that different? Have you essentially paid for the same report three times? That’s the problem with a monthly cycle.

What’s Wrong with Monthly SEO Reporting?

Simply put, SEO is a long game. Sure, if you’re reporting on fast results such as PPC or finances, then a monthly report is very useful, a lot can happen in that time. But with SEO, the key findings are discovered over a longer period of time. Honestly, progress looks limited when looking month on month and you’ll start to feel like SEO just isn’t working for you.

SEO agencies love to stick to a monthly reporting frequency because you’re paying them a monthly retainer. They need to show you they’re working for their fee, but is it actually value for money? If you’ve ever found yourself asking “I get a PDF every month, but what are they actually doing?” then maybe it should be the frequency you question.

With a monthly report, can you see any trends? Is there enough data to make an informed, strategic decision or is it more reactionary? The value of these reports are limited because of their length of time.

What’s The Minimum SEO Reporting Frequency?

To get enough data and to start to see trends, the minimum time period for SEO reports should be every three months. Think of your reports along with your quarterly cycle. Here’s where the real value shines through.

By looking at the data over the last quarter, you can strategically plan for the next quarter and so forth, continuously making improvements to your overall strategy. You’re also less likely to flip a switch based on a reaction that could potentially harm your SEO in the long run.

What Should Your Quarterly Reports Contain?

If you’ve read a report from an agency or otherwise and asked yourself “Why is my traffic up but my sales aren’t?”, then your report is based on vanity metrics. Metrics such as traffic numbers and impressions alone are easy to report on a monthly basis. They don’t require much deeper thought and can be presented as wins, but there could be a deeper problem.

The scenario:

Your report shows your traffic is up this month, it’s presented as a success, but you’ve not seen any additional sales. Your agency says your SEO is doing well, your accountant disagrees.

In reality, you’ve brought in more traffic but they aren’t the right people! Or they are the right people but your page content and layout meant they didn’t know what to do next.

Here, understanding how people are finding you, what they are searching for and then their behaviour on the page can tell you the problem. You’ll be able to see if it’s a relevancy issue, a call to action problem or the visiting audience isn’t right for your business.

Vanity metrics barely skim the surface of understanding your performance. Think about the metrics that truly matter to your business and what you need in front of you to make informed decisions.

Start Reporting the Right Way, Today

With all my clients, I only offer quarterly reporting for the reasons above. But if you wanted to go it alone I’ve also created a Looker Studio dashboard you can use right away which contains the metrics you need to make the right decisions each quarter with growth in mind.