What to Include in a Local SEO Monthly Report: 7 Metrics That Matter

Many business owners feel stuck when their website doesn’t bring in results, but they’re unsure what’s causing the problem. Without regular tracking, it’s easy to miss red flags or overestimate progress. 

For digital marketing companies, SEO reporting is a tool that proves the value of the SEO services they provide. One of the most important areas to focus on is SEO health. This blog explains the key parts of a local SEO report and highlights the seven most important metrics to track every month.

What is an SEO Report

An SEO report is a simple breakdown of how well a website is doing in search results. It shows performance over time and reveals areas that need attention. It gives you insight into visibility, website performance, and potential problems before they affect rankings or traffic. Business owners use these reports to stay informed and see how their marketing efforts are paying off.

Most reports are updated monthly. They’re written in a clear format so clients don’t have to guess or dig through complex tools. Whether it’s for a local business or a national campaign, the goal is to give a full view of what’s happening behind the scenes.

Types of SEO Reports

There’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to reporting. The structure and focus will change depending on the kind of SEO work being done. Below are two of the most common report types:

• Performance SEO Reports: These give an overview of how a website performs in search. They look at trends over time and help show whether SEO efforts are working. The data is easy to read and focuses on overall progress, not just numbers.
• Technical SEO Reports: This type of report dives into the structure of a website. It highlights any technical issues that may hurt your rankings. The goal is to make sure the website is easy to access, fast, and optimized for both users and search engines. These reports often cover:

• Site Audit: This involves a full review of your website to detect errors, gaps, or technical issues affecting SEO performance.

• Crawlability: It determines how effectively search engines can scan and index your pages.

• Mobile Optimization: This focuses on delivering a smooth and responsive user experience across all mobile devices.

• Schema Markup: It adds structured data to help search engines display your content with enhanced visibility in search results.

7 Important Metrics to Track

Tracking SEO progress without clear data is like trying to grow your business with your eyes closed. You need more than just rankings to know if your strategy is working. This is where regular reporting becomes valuable. 

For companies like The Ad Firm that offer Local SEO services, the right metrics tell a complete story. They can help show you how close you are to reaching your goals.

Here are seven key metrics every local SEO monthly report should include:

1. Conversion Rate: This measures how many users take an action on your site that benefits your business. That could mean booking a call, filling out a contact form, signing up for a newsletter, or making a purchase. A strong conversion rate shows your site is not only attracting visitors but also turning them into leads or buyers.
2. Bounce Rate:  When someone visits your site and leaves without clicking anything else, it increases your bounce rate. If this number is high, it might be a sign that your content does not match what users expected or that your layout needs improvement. Reducing bounce rate means creating pages that are useful, relevant, and engaging.
3. Keyword Rankings: This tells you where your website appears in search results for specific terms. Monitoring rankings helps you spot trends, what keywords are gaining traction, which ones are slipping, and how you compare to competitors. It’s one of the clearest ways to measure if your content strategy is aligned with what your audience is searching for.
4. Click-Through Rate (CTR): CTR shows how often people click on your site in the search results after seeing it. If lots of users see your page but scroll past it, something in your title or description may not be connecting. A strong CTR means your listings are appealing enough to make people curious and interested.
5. Backlinks: These are links from other websites that point to yours. They help search engines see your site as trustworthy and relevant. The more high-quality backlinks you earn, the more likely your site is to rank well. A good report tracks not just the number but also the sources and strength of these links.
6. Organic Traffic: This is the number of visitors who come to your site through unpaid search results. It shows how well your pages are performing in attracting people who are actively searching for your services. A steady increase in organic traffic means your SEO efforts are paying off and reaching the right audience.
7. Content Performance: Not all content on your site will perform equally. This metric looks at which blog posts, landing pages, or service descriptions bring in visitors or help convert them. Understanding what type of content drives traffic and actions can guide your future SEO strategy.

Other Metrics to Include

Beyond traffic and keyword data, some technical and local elements also shape your SEO success. These give more insight into how well your business appears and performs online, especially in local searches.

• Core Web Vitals: This set of performance signals includes how quickly content loads, how soon users can interact, and how stable the layout appears while loading. Google uses these as part of its search ranking criteria, so tracking them helps ensure your site delivers a smooth and responsive browsing experience.
• Google Business Profile Performance: Review metrics like search views, clicks to your website, calls, and requests for directions. These actions reflect how effectively your profile attracts nearby customers.
• Online Reviews and Ratings: Look at how many new reviews you receive, how positive they are, and how recent they appear. These influence how much potential customers trust your brand and affect how often your listing appears in relevant local searches.
• Citation Consistency: Your business name, address, and phone number should match exactly across all directories and listings. Even small differences can lower search visibility and reduce trust, which is why regular checks are essential.

A digital marketing agency will often include these measurements to give clients a broader view of their online performance and ensure every ranking factor is accounted for.

Also Read: Google Reviews: Why They Matter to Local SEO and How to Grow Them

Why is the SEO Report Important?

A well-structured SEO report highlights how your digital efforts support business objectives. Without this, it’s easy to miss opportunities or waste resources on low-impact strategies. A reliable report, often based on insights from an SEO audit, gives direction. Below are the reasons it plays a vital role in driving long-term results:

• Understand User Behavior and Improve Engagement: A report shows how visitors interact with your website, like which pages they explore, how long they stay, and where they drop off. These insights help refine your layout, content, and flow to create a better user experience that encourages people to stay longer and take action.

• Measure the Return on Your SEO Efforts: With proper tracking, you can see how much traffic, leads, or sales come from organic search. This helps you calculate the value of your SEO investment and determine whether your budget and time are being used effectively.

• Align Marketing Teams Around Clear Purposes: An SEO report gives everyone on your team a shared view of progress. It outlines key metrics and targets, helping departments work toward the same objectives with better coordination and fewer missteps.

• Use Data to Guide Decisions: Instead of relying on assumptions, you get solid numbers to shape your strategy. Reports highlight what’s working and what needs adjusting, allowing you to plan future campaigns with greater confidence.

• Communicate Progress with Clarity: When stakeholders ask for updates, your SEO report simplifies the process. It turns complex metrics into digestible summaries, making it easier to explain results, demonstrate growth, and justify marketing choices.

How SEO Experts Build a Local SEO Report

Creating a report that helps your business means more than pulling numbers from a dashboard. Experts approach local SEO reporting with a methodical process that blends strategy, performance, and real business outcomes. At The Ad Firm, here’s how they do it:

• Understand Business Goals: We start by learning what success means for your business. Whether you want more calls, foot traffic, or online leads, your goals shape the direction of the entire report. This ensures we’re measuring the right outcomes, not just surface-level data.
• Select the Right Metrics: Every business is different. We choose performance indicators that reflect your local search performance, online presence, and SEO growth. These might include metrics that matter to your bottom line.
• Connect Tracking Tools: To get accurate insights, we set up and link essential tools like Google Analytics, Search Console, and Google Business Profile. This gives us access to reliable data from every angle, search traffic, user actions, and local performance.
• Analyze Traffic Sources and Behavior: We look closely at where your visitors are coming from, how they move through your site, and what content or pages they interact with. This tells us what’s capturing attention and what might be causing people to leave early.
• Review Technical Health: Technical issues can quietly damage your search rankings. We use tools and audits to spot problems such as slow load speeds, crawl errors, or poor mobile usability, then highlight them clearly in the report so they don’t get overlooked.
• Map Local Search: For businesses that rely on local customers, we dig into your local SEO data. That includes keyword positions in your area, Google Business Profile engagement, and citation accuracy across directories so you can see how visible you are in your local market.
• Create a Visual Summary: Data should be clear, not confusing. We organize everything into a well-structured report with charts, graphs, and short takeaways. It’s easy to understand whether you’re in marketing or management.
• Add Recommendations: We don’t just point out what’s happening, we give you next steps. Our team includes practical, tailored suggestions in every report to help guide your ongoing SEO strategy and keep your progress moving forward.

Partner with The Ad Firm for Smarter SEO Tracking

SEO without tracking is just guesswork. At The Ad Firm, we give you clear, actionable insights that show exactly where you stand. We don’t send generic updates. We give you reports built to show what’s happening and what to do next. 

Our team makes it easy to understand your SEO impact and act on it with confidence. We focus on what helps us stay on top of changes. With us, SEO reporting becomes less of a task and more of a tool you can use.

Talk to The Ad Firm today for a clearer look at what’s behind your search performance.