SEO is complex. Implementing it and bringing in results could be a huge task, but reporting is equally cumbersome.
Not everybody understands SEO, and you must keep that in mind when you prepare reports. The wrong presentation of your efforts will fail to convey why SEO is essential.
It should provide in-depth insights into website performance, as an example shown in the screenshot.
To make an excellent SEO report, you must start with the thought that nobody understands SEO.
This will give you an idea of what to include and what not to include in your reports. Here are the top 9 enterprise SEO reporting mistakes to avoid.
One of the most significant reporting mistakes Enterprise SEOs to make is using too many SEO terms. It is understandable for those who work on it day-in and day-out. But you have to see to whom you are presenting your SEO report.
You cannot make nerds out too much. Your Enterprise SEO report should be understandable.
For example, the below screenshot shows a crawling report of a website from the screaming frog tool. Presentation it as is, will baffle them completely.
So, communicate what they understand the best. If you are using SEO terms, explain to them what it means.
How to include it in your report?
Following these tips mentioned above will make you overcome the nerdy SEO within you.
It matters who you are reporting to. Your audience and their understanding of SEO should be the first criteria for making an Enterprise SEO report.
Assuming you are presenting an SEO report to a growth manager, they will have better SEO knowledge than a CEO or an investor.
Customize your reports, tailor them as suited for the audience, and present data accordingly. For a growth manager, it could be more detailed and SEO-centric.
For example, an overview report is shown in the below screenshot.
But when presenting to investors, talk about returns and investments your SEO efforts have delivered.
How to include that in your report?
These tips will help you understand what type of SEO report you should make. Customizing them will be easier and faster.
When discussing Enterprise SEO reports, you should know that their marketing efforts aren't restrained to organic growth.
A lot happens on the marketing front, including PR, paid marketing, brand marketing, etc. SEO can benefit from it, but you must show how content linking, creation, and technical SEO are.
To do that, you must keep a tab on broader strategy, as shown in the screenshot below.
Analyze what is happening in other marketing channels and how it impacts your efforts. Show the positive and negative aspects. Highlight how SEO saved the day.
How to include that in your report?
This will establish the role of SEO and other efforts, highlighting the correlation of each marketing effort.
The biggest mistake in Enterprise SEO reporting can be this one.
Divulging in numbers will make everything complicated. Numbers are difficult to understand without context. So, while preparing SEO reports, ensure a context to everything.
If you have data, break it down. Help your audience understand what it indicates. Use graphs, pie charts, and other visual aids to simplify it. One of the best ways to create this report is using google data studio.
As shown in the below image, it helps create visually appealing and easy-to-understand reports.
How to include it in your report?
These tips will help you make better Enterprise SEO reports. It will help you explain your data better without boring them.
Your SEO goals are more than just rank-boosting and link building. You need to find out what metrics align with company revenue goals. Based on the broader goals and strategies.
Enterprise SEO should discuss keyword rankings, organic search traffic data, click-through rate, conversion rate, lead generation, etc.
How to include it in your report?
Keeping track will help you form better reports. It will prevent you from picking the wrong metrics for performance measurement.
There is a misconception about people loving data and numbers. Yes, they love it, but it has no value if you can't provide valuable insights.
You should always consider that data is just a number if presented without valuable insights.
Your audience will access it, but what do those numbers reflect?
Tell them how those numbers should be interpreted and how your strategy has improved results. You need to give context, problems, and solutions to understand the data better.
How to include it in your Enterprise SEO report?
Including insights will make your enterprise SEO reports more impactful. You will be able to communicate your achievements better.
Of course, you can summarize your keyword ranking report. You can talk about the number of keywords ranking on top pages and their performance.
But can you hoard them all in just one report?
Certainly not.
Your audience may have little idea about the number of pages, keywords, or tasks you have worked on. So, you will have to be precise.
Tell them those numbers but segregate the keywords into branded and non-branded keywords. This will give an idea of how well the company brand is recognized.
How to include it in your Enterprise SEO report?
Even if your audience understands keywords and their performance, they will get an idea about their brand performance.
When you form Enterprise SEO reports, you need to know what your audience understands. The company stakeholders may not fully understand SEO.
They may get lost if you go all in explaining technical SEO changes and on-page and off-page efforts. While preparing an SEO report, talk about the best terms they understand.
Take a look at the below screenshot; it shows the number of visitors, deal value of opportunities created, and other metrics that clients will easily understand.
Then you should mention your efforts but focus more on what they resulted in. Were you able to drive to broader goals? If yes, then how? Show them numbers. Show them the business they got from your SEO efforts.
How to include it in your Enterprise SEO report?
Your Enterprise SEO report will surely grab many eyeballs if you follow this diligently.
When presenting your SEO reports, you should never miss out on mentioning the challenges you faced. It will give an overview of what challenges came through and solutions to beat them.
It will highlight the problem-solving ability of the enterprise SEO team and present a broader sense of how SEO can be challenging.
How to include it in your Enterprise SEO report?
It is essential to highlight this aspect in your Enterprise SEO report for your audience to understand the importance of SEO.
Brice has been handling marketing projects for more than 12 years and he is providing consulting services on SEO, Social Media and PPC. He has a huge expertise in working at large corporations including Accenture Interactive & PwC Digital Services.
Brice has been handling marketing projects for more than 12 years and he is providing consulting services on SEO, Social Media and PPC. He has a huge expertise in working at large corporations including Accenture Interactive & PwC Digital Services.
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