The client has one question and rarely asks it directly: is this retainer worth renewing? Everything in the report either helps answer that or is taking up space that could.
Activity lists do not answer it. 'We optimised 40 title tags' tells the reader you were busy. It is the input, and nobody buys inputs on purpose.
A structure that works
- One paragraph at the top, written lastWhat happened, what it means, what happens next. Most readers read this and skim the rest, so anything the report reports has to reach this paragraph. If the section below says visibility dropped 27 points, the summary cannot say it was a quiet month.
- What shipped, with datesNot what was recommended. What was actually live on the site, and when. The dates matter because they decide which month the effect belongs to.
- What it did, with the comparisonEach landed change against comparable untouched pages over the same window. Show both movements, not just the flattering one.
- What did not workThe no-effect and regressed results, in the same table, in the same font. This is the section that makes the rest of the document credible.
- What is waitingFixes inside their measurement window, labelled as undecided, with the date the verdict is due. An interim number without that label will be read as a result.
- What we are asking forThe next changes, ranked by expected impact, each with the developer effort it needs. A report that ends without an ask is a status update.
Language
The reader may have no SEO vocabulary at all, and pretending otherwise costs you the argument. Gloss each term the first time: a canonical is the tag telling search engines which URL is the real one; impressions are how many times your page was shown.
Do not describe fixes by their tag names. 'We added meta descriptions to 400 blog posts' means less than 'the summary text under your search results was missing on the blog, so Google was writing its own'.
Two numbers, two denominators
The most common way a careful report misleads is by putting two figures counted over different periods next to each other without saying so. 'Named in 8 of the 15 answers' followed by a competitor 'named in 30 answers' invites a comparison that is not valid, because one is a week and the other is a quarter.
State the denominator next to any number a reader might compare with the one beside it. It costs four words and it removes the one error a smart client will catch.
Will showing failures cost me the account?
The opposite, in our experience of how these conversations go. A report with no failures is discounted entirely; one with a labelled failure and a decision attached reads as a team that is measuring rather than performing.
How long should it be?
Two pages that get read. The detail belongs in an appendix or a link, because the person who signs the renewal is not reading page seven.
Try it on your own site, free
No card, and the free tier does not expire — the first verdict takes about six weeks to arrive.