Got SEO Clients? Rip Off This Monthly Report Template

[McBrett]

I've found that providing a monthly report (or monthly update) is one of the most important aspects to keeping an SEO client happy longterm--aside from making them a bunch money of course.

It creates a regular communication and expectations.

A regular monthly report/phone call gives you a good opportunity to chat about any issues that may have come up over the last month and lets them know you've been busy working hard on their account over the last month.

But a lot of the monthly reports I've seen are pretty plain and just don't represent the image an online marketing business should. That's why I've attached a free template you can rip-off and use for your own clients.

You don't need to use this exact formula for your template. In fact, I encourage you to make it your own. But if you want to save some time and have some professional reporting, I encourage you to have a look.

My other suggestion is that you send your completed client reports in .pdf format.

Let me know if you've found the attached doc helpful or completely useless. Cheers!

[Boris_yo]

It is not working correctly for me. Opened it with WordPad and Microsoft Works. Some images are missing and look like corrupt.

[PhilipSEO]

Instead of attaching the report template, you could have included a link to where you got it for free:
SEO Business Plan: How to Start an SEO Business at StartSEOCompany.com

Not giving proper credit sucks.

[McBrett]

@Boris_Yo -- I double checked the link and it works for me. PM me your email address and I would be happy to send it to you directly.

@PhillipSEO -- That's actually my website. You can get this template as part of the Fast Start Kit template there. However on my website, you'll need to hand over your name and email address to get it.

[PhilipSEO]

Originally Posted by McBrett

@PhillipSEO -- That's actually my website. You can get this template as part of the Fast Start Kit template there. However on my website, you'll need to hand over your name and email address to get it.

Ah, withdrawn then, your honor! Keep up the good work.

[McBrett]

@PhillipSEO Haha No worries my man. I appreciate you calling me out on that one. I don't mind if other people share this around--in fact I encourage it--but someone else taking the credit for creating it would indeed suck.

[LeCE]

I know this is a few months late, but I have just found this after searching on Google for a while and wanted to say thanks. This will likely be a big help!

[johnsteillman]

Nice template but I think it's too long. My experience is most clients don't look much at reports unless they are short and most important visual (graphs, charts).

So I'm now sending short monthly reports to clients, unless they are more demanding and they want more detailed insights.

[McBrett]

@ LECE... No problem my man. Glad you found it helpful.

@JohnSteillman... Completely agree. A lot of clients are not going to use all the the information provided in the monthly report template. Some won't open up the document at all.

But some clients will want go through every meta description with a fine tooth comb.

Just depends on who the client is and what makes them happy.

[RichardHK]

My (long) experience with monthly reports is that most execs want a single page report. I managed to get two-page reports accepted Ok if there were nice graphics included.

And the other thing I learnt (long ago) is that you can spend too much time writing reports that many do not bother to read. Check the company culture before wasting too much time.

Having said that, if a company is really traditional and hungry for reports, your template is very good so make sure any quote includes payment for time spent on reporting.

As you just said: Just depends on who the client is and what makes them happy.

[jsherloc]

Thanks for stopping by and sharing this. This is the type of stuff that is so hard to find when you're first starting your consulting business. As other have mentioned, it is all about customization/personalization and what works for your clients. Great stuff!

[JackPowers]

Nice share, but I think the backlinkreport should also be in Excel format. Makes it easier for a reader if there are many links.

[McBrett]

@RichardHK Completely agree with you. I've actually got an alternative one-page report that I use as well for reporting.

@JackPowers Thanks. I typically copy and paste the links from an Excel spreadsheet into the links section of the document. A lot of times I will then export these reports from .doc format to pdf. Just a personal thing, but I believe it makes the report seem more professional.

[kulonuwun]

thanks man, i use this report.. very usefull. Thx

[McBrett]

No problem @kulonuwun. I plan to post the short version of this monthly report template as well in the future.

[seolbs]

thank you, I really don't put too much into it, I'll starts using your form

[McBrett]

@seolbs Cool. Glad you've found it useful. Let me know if there's any way I could improve it for you.

[McBrett]

As promised here's a short template of a monthly report you can use for with your SEO clients.

You can edit the metrics used on this template depending on what's important to your client. You could even take stuff out and make this a one page report for clients who don't want to spend a lot of time looking at SEO work.

Let me know what you think.. and if any of you have examples of report templates you use, please share.

[jas1414]

nice report format any one can make changes according to requirement

thanks for this

[jesus72knight]

Hi there, McBrett. Thanks for sharing these. I really appreciated it. Just sent you some THANKS.

[McBrett]

No problem guys. Happy to help out. Let me know if there are any other SEO type documents you'd find useful for me to share.

[dvirint]

Thank you so much for the free report.. its helped me A LOT!!

[wpgwalt]

It's a decent report, it could be formatted better I think. Good for starters. Sent thanks tho!

[Tony Dean]

Just opened it in Open Office Writer and looks real good. Thanks for download.

[micromike]

Really good job on these; there's a couple of things I wouldn't have thought to include... thanks!!

[Amarilloway]

Thanks for sharing this, was looking for something alike.

Cheers

[zuber]

Thanks, i am quiet new to SEO, and your report looks great to me...Thanks for this valuable share

[indiadesign]

We're a SEO services company in India, what my two cents in SEO reporting is instead of opting out a stiff format customize report to match the requirements needed for each client. Honestly speaking we spent hours and hours on reports, and thankfully most of our clients are happy with what we provide for them in the monthly reports. Some clients need precise report, some other want very detailed reports. On the other hand customized reports are good to create a long lasting impression on clients.

[sishehzad]

Hay MacBret,

Thanks for sharing SEO monthly report. i've downloaded it and i think i ace.
will make my job easy.

[Ferenc Makar]

Thanks for the share MacBret, nice template, but I usually send shorter reports to my clients.