What should a monthly SEO report include?

A monthly SEO report should show you three things: the work delivered, the movement in Google Search, and the enquiries that search brought in. In practice that means clicks and impressions from Search Console against earlier periods, the calls and forms that came from organic search, the actions people took on your Google Business Profile, a link to every page and fix delivered, and next month's plan. If a report can't tie the work to enquiries, it's a record of activity, not results.

You pay for SEO every month, and the report is the only regular evidence you get that it's working. Here's what belongs in it, how to read each number, and what to ask when something doesn't add up.

What is a monthly SEO report for?

It's for making decisions. A good report tells you whether to carry on as you are, change direction or put more behind something that's working. You should be able to read it in ten minutes and know what happened, why and what's next.

That rules out two kinds of report. One is a long export of every chart a tool can produce, with no explanation of what any of it means for your business. The other is a screenshot of where you rank for one search. Neither tells you whether the phone rang more because of the work you paid for.

Which Google Search numbers should it show?

Clicks, impressions and click-through rate from Google Search Console, for the whole site and for the pages that bring in work. Google counts an impression when someone has seen, or could have seen, a link to your site in its results, a click when they follow that link to your site, and click-through rate is clicks divided by impressions.

Read them together, because each one on its own can mislead you. Rising impressions with flat clicks means you're appearing for more searches without winning the visit, so look at your page titles and descriptions, and at how far down the page you sit. Rising clicks to your service and area pages is the figure that matters most, because those visitors are looking to buy.

Why shouldn't you trust average position on its own?

Because it's an average across every search you appear for. Google's Search Console help page What are impressions, position, and clicks?, checked in October 2026, defines the figure as "the topmost position occupied by a link to your property or page", averaged across all the searches where your site appeared.

So a site-wide average of 11 can hide first place for your main service in your own town alongside page three for searches you'll never win. Growth can even make the average look worse. New pages that start appearing for fresh searches in lower positions pull the average down, and nothing has gone wrong. Ask for positions on the specific searches and pages that bring in work, and treat the site-wide average as background.

How should the report show enquiries from search?

As a count of real actions, split by the page people arrived on. Traffic only matters when it turns into work, so the report should count the forms, website calls and bookings that came from organic search.

In Google Analytics, those actions are set up as key events. Google's Analytics help on key events, checked in October 2026, defines a key event as "an event that measures an action that's particularly important to the success of your business." If your agency hasn't set them up, nobody can tell you what SEO brought in, and fixing that comes first in next month's plan.

Once enquiries are split by landing page, you can see which service and area pages produce work and which only attract visits. That tells you, and your agency, where next month's effort should go.

What about calls from your Google Business Profile?

Customers who find you on the map can ring straight from your listing without ever visiting your website, so the report needs your Business Profile figures too. Google's Business Profile performance help, checked in October 2026, counts calls as "The number of times a customer clicked on the call button on your Business Profile." It also reports website clicks, requests for directions and the search terms people used to find you.

Watch the timing on that last one. Google updates the searches figure at the start of each month and says it can take up to five days to show, so a report sent on the 1st won't have last month's search terms in it yet. Ask your agency to send the report once that data is in, or to add it as soon as it arrives.

What work should the report list?

Everything delivered that month, with a link to each piece: new pages and articles, technical fixes, links earned and Business Profile updates. Each one should come with a line on why it was done, so you can see how it connects to the searches and services you care about.

Clicking through to read the work yourself proves it happened, and lets you check the facts on each page, such as your prices, services and areas, before customers and AI tools rely on them. If you want to know what that monthly work should look like in the first place, our guide to what an SEO agency does each month sets it out.

How should you compare one month with another?

Against last month and against the same month last year. Month on month shows recent movement. Year on year takes seasonal demand out of the picture, so a drop from a busy summer into a quiet autumn isn't mistaken for SEO going backwards.

Judge the trend across three to six reports rather than one month's swing. SEO builds as pages are indexed, earn links and settle into their positions, so the direction over a quarter tells you more than a single month up or down. A good report shows that trend on one chart, so you don't have to dig out old reports to see it.

What should you ask your agency?

If the report doesn't answer these five questions, ask them:

• Which searches and pages brought in enquiries this month, and how do you know?
• What did you do this month, and where can I see each piece?
• Why did the main numbers go up or down?
• What's planned for next month, and which searches or pages is it for?
• Do I have my own access to Search Console, Analytics and my Business Profile?

Don't skip the last one. The data belongs to your business, and you should be able to check any number in the report yourself. If your agency also works on AI search, ask how they check whether tools like ChatGPT and Google's AI Overviews mention you. Our guide on checking whether AI assistants recommend your business shows what that check involves.

What does DLR's monthly report cover?

Our SEO runs inside the DLR Growth Engine. Each month you get a performance report on your leads, your spend and the plan for the month ahead, and a dedicated account manager talks you through it. Between reports, you can message the specialists doing the work directly on Slack.

The work itself happens every week. Our SEO and GEO specialist runs your weekly content engine, alongside technical SEO and backlinks, so every report has a month of output behind it. You pay £1,499 a month + VAT on a 12-month term, and that one fee also runs your Google Ads and Meta Ads and gives you a free custom website worth £4,500. Ad spend is billed separately.

Not ready for monthly SEO? Our standalone SEO audits are one-off pieces of work, with the scope and price agreed before we start.

Frequently asked questions

How often should I get an SEO report?

Monthly. That gives search data enough time to show a trend, and the time between reports is when the work gets done.

Is ranking first for my main keyword the best measure of SEO?

No. One ranking says nothing about the other searches your customers use or whether visitors get in touch. Enquiries from search, by page, are the measure that matters.

Should I have my own access to Search Console and Analytics?

Yes. Both hold your website's data, and with your own access you can check any figure in your report yourself.

What if my report shows more traffic but no more enquiries?

Check the tracking first, then which pages the new visitors land on. Visits to articles and visits to service pages are worth very different amounts, and a good report separates them.

Talk to us about your SEO

Want a monthly report that shows what your SEO brings in? Ring +44 1382 699595 and we'll show you exactly what ours covers.