How can you report SEO performance to stakeholders who are not familiar with the field?

Imagine SEO like a compass for our website. I'll share simple updates: Traffic Boost: Our website visitors are increasing, like more people finding our store. Keyword Wins: We're using words that people often search for, helping us show up in Google. Visibility Up: Think of us as a bright sign on the internet highway – more people can see us. Competition Check: We're staying ahead of others, like being at the front of the race. User Love: People are liking what they see, spending more time on our site. More Sales: Improved SEO means more chances for people to buy from us. So, in a nutshell, our website is becoming more popular, easier to find, and people like what they see, which could mean more sales. #seo

Understanding your stakeholders is crucial for effective communication. Here's how to tailor your SEO performance report to your audience: Identify Stakeholder Background: Learn about the background and expertise of your stakeholders. Tailor your report to align with their level of familiarity with SEO concepts and terminology. Address Business Objectives: Connect SEO performance metrics to broader business objectives. Demonstrate how SEO efforts contribute to the overall success of the organization. Use Layman's Terms: Avoid technical jargon. Explain SEO concepts in simple, easy-to-understand language, ensuring that your stakeholders can grasp the significance of the data.

First step is to set clear goals for SEO that match what the business aims to achieve. Emphasize important numbers, like site visits and actions taken by visitors Think of SEO as a journey. Show how things have improved or changed over different time periods. Connect SEO efforts to tangible business outcomes, such as increased revenue. See how well you're doing compared to others in your field. Break down SEO concepts for non-tech folks, like explaining it to your grandma. Showcase how online actions directly contribute to increased business revenue. Offer advice to enhance the website, making a good thing even better. Imagine your data as a story told through pictures. Use Charts and graphs that help tell the tale.

When reporting SEO performance to non-technical stakeholders, focus on simplicity and clarity. Know your audience well and avoid technical jargon. Present high-level KPIs aligned with business goals using visual aids like charts. Emphasize how SEO efforts contribute to increased visibility, traffic, and conversions, linking them directly to business outcomes. Tailor your communication to your audience's needs, providing concrete examples to make the impact of SEO more tangible. This straightforward approach helps bridge the gap between SEO complexities and their understanding, fostering support for SEO initiatives.

1. Focus on Key Metrics: Highlight metrics like organic traffic, keyword rankings, and conversion rates. Explain how these impact business goals like sales, leads, or brand awareness. 2. Use Simple Language: Avoid technical jargon. Explain terms like 'organic traffic' or 'bounce rate' in a straightforward manner. 3. Visual Representation: Use charts, graphs, and tables for a clear visual representation of progress and trends. 4. Contextualize Data: Provide context for the data. For example, show how changes in SEO metrics correlate with specific actions taken or industry trends. 5. Show Real-world Impact: Link SEO results to tangible business outcomes, such as increased sales, higher lead quality, or improved customer engagement.

2 basic reports will build trust with your supervisor/client: 1st REPORT: Google Search Console Report for Specific Keyword Performance: In this report, you are able to look at a keyword performance, for a page you have properly optimized. This report shows growth in impressions and clicks, which is an early indicator of success. You can, here, earn the trust and get more budget, well before seeing any organic conversions. 2nd REPORT: SEM Rush Position Tracking Against Competitors: In SEMRush, you can use the position tracking report, add all target keywords that are important for the business, and add the KEY competitors. Keeping an eye on competitors is always important!

Selecting the right metrics is essential for conveying the impact of SEO efforts. Here's how to choose and present metrics effectively: Focus on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): Highlight key metrics that directly align with business goals. Examples include organic traffic growth, keyword rankings, and conversion rates. Conversion Attribution: Connect SEO activities to conversions. Demonstrate how organic search contributes to lead generation, sales, or other desired actions on the website. Quality of Traffic: Emphasize the quality of traffic driven by SEO efforts. Showcase metrics such as bounce rate, time on page, and pages per session to indicate user engagement.

When reporting SEO performance to non-expert stakeholders, focus on choosing straightforward metrics tied to business goals. Opt for easily understandable indicators like organic traffic growth, conversion rates, and keyword rankings. Use visual aids such as charts to simplify complex data and highlight trends. Providing context and explanations for each metric helps stakeholders grasp the significance of SEO contributions to overall business objectives. By presenting concise and relevant metrics, you make the information more accessible and empower stakeholders to make informed decisions based on the measurable success of the SEO strategy.

In my experience, choosing the right metrics is very important, but more importantly is how you present the right metrics to stakeholders. Take an e-commerce business for example, what they are concerned about is sales, revenue, and profitability. Depending on which stakeholder(s) you’re presenting your metrics to, you should be able to choose which is most important and will drive home the right message. The “C suite” stakeholders most likely care about the bottom line - revenue and profit. The Marketing manager or lead may be more inclined to metrics that have to do with traffic or engagement. Leave the technical details out of your reporting and focus more on the delivering metrics acutely aligned to set business objectives & goals.

Peers: keyword rankings, visits, ctr, and general lead data Direct management: Visits, leads, and sales Executive management: Volume vs goal

Peers: What you did to create a result Direct management: What you did to improve the channel Executive management: What you did to improve revenue

Providing context is essential for stakeholders to interpret the data accurately. Here's how to ensure a comprehensive understanding: Seasonal Trends: Consider and explain any seasonal trends that may impact SEO performance. This helps stakeholders differentiate between normal fluctuations and significant changes. Industry Benchmarks: Compare your SEO performance against industry benchmarks. This provides a reference point and helps stakeholders gauge the effectiveness of your efforts within the larger landscape. Historical Performance: Include historical data to show trends over time. Highlight improvements and successes while addressing any challenges faced in previous periods.

Effectively reporting SEO performance to stakeholders unfamiliar with the field involves simplifying key concepts like keywords, organic traffic, and rankings. Use straightforward language, avoid jargon, and break down complex metrics. Emphasize the connection between SEO efforts and business goals, highlighting how improved visibility and rankings lead to increased website traffic and conversions. Utilize visuals, such as charts, to present data clearly. Contextualize SEO performance metrics within broader business objectives to help stakeholders understand the impact on overall organizational success.

Context is everything in your report. It's easy to assume your clients would have the same understanding as you. But always contextualize them back to your strategy, the market, and the current audience behavior. Then, the metrics can come after. Without this, you're simply bombarding them with random numbers.

Provide context to the data you present. Help stakeholders understand the significance of the metrics by explaining industry benchmarks, seasonal trends, or any external factors that may have influenced performance. Example: If there's a sudden spike in organic traffic, clarify whether it resulted from a successful marketing campaign or a trending topic in your industry.

Visual aids enhance understanding, especially for stakeholders unfamiliar with SEO. Here's how to use visuals and examples effectively: Graphs and Charts: Present data using graphs and charts. Visual representations make it easier for stakeholders to grasp trends and patterns in SEO performance. Before-and-After Scenarios: Illustrate the impact of SEO initiatives with before-and-after scenarios. Use examples of specific changes and their outcomes to make the data more tangible. Infographics: Create simple infographics summarizing key points. Visual elements help break down complex information and facilitate quicker comprehension.

Reporting SEO performance to non-experts? Here's how to keep it simple and engaging: Plain Language ??: Ditch the jargon. Explain SEO terms like you would to a friend. Visual Aids ??: Use graphs and charts to show growth in traffic or rankings. Focus on Key Metrics ??: Highlight main wins like increased website visitors or higher search rankings. Real Examples ??: Share stories of how SEO changes brought real results. Competitor Comparison ??: Show how you stack up against competitors. Goals & ROI ??: Link SEO successes to business goals and revenue. Success Stories ??: Share brief case studies of successful SEO campaigns. User-Friendly Dashboards ???: Present data through easy-to-understand dashboards. ????

Report SEO performance to non-expert stakeholders by simplifying concepts and using visuals. Avoid jargon, break down complex metrics, and emphasize the link between SEO efforts and business goals, illustrating how enhanced visibility leads to increased website traffic and conversions. Utilize charts or graphs for clear data presentation and offer real-world examples to make the information more relatable. By using visuals and examples, you enhance understanding and demonstrate the impact of SEO on overall organizational success.

Visual aids, such as charts and graphs, can simplify complex information. Use visuals to illustrate trends, patterns, and improvements. Incorporate real-life examples or case studies to make the data relatable. Example: Present a before-and-after visual of a website's search engine ranking, demonstrating the positive impact of SEO optimization.

You can use the data representative tools for the most popular looker studio (formerly known as data studio), ppt presentations, bar and graph charts etc. But I strongly recommend you to use looker studio where you easily integrate with the Google analytics, Google search Console and many more and provide or show stats to non seo stakeholders every easy way.

Conclude your report with clear recommendations and actionable insights. Here's how to guide stakeholders toward next steps: Prioritize Opportunities: Identify opportunities for improvement and growth. Prioritize these opportunities based on their potential impact on business goals. Mitigate Challenges: Address any challenges or setbacks encountered during the reporting period. Clearly outline strategies for overcoming obstacles and improving future performance. Actionable Steps: Provide stakeholders with actionable steps they can take to support and enhance SEO efforts. This could include content optimization, website updates, or targeted marketing initiatives.

Your SEO report always needs to highlight what's the next step. After all, that's why you're doing it in the first place. Here are some questions to help you come up with the next step: - What specific keyword optimizations are needed? - How can we improve on-page content for better rankings? - Are there technical SEO issues that require attention? - What link-building opportunities should we pursue? - What are the competitors doing differently, and how can we adapt?

Whenever I talk about next steps with senior management, I try to avoid getting too technical. There’s no value for you to say what you’re going to do if your client doesn’t understand! My favorite go-to explanation is that there are over 200+ ranking signals and this month we’re going to optimize signal X, X and X. I’ll try my best to highlight how many “points” each of those signals are worth out of a 100, so they understand that it’s not a silver bullet fix. I find that the point system makes it easier for people to understand that there are a lot of things you need to consider in SEO and it’s not just “write content and rank for keywords.”

When we share a report on how our brand's SEO is working, it is super important to summarize the ideas clearly, do not be arrogant when mentioning unnecessary technical terms, the most important thing is to highlight the points that help make decisions faster and with fewer complications. Highlights key report findings and KPIs aligned with business objectives. It could include improvements in organic traffic and online position. Provide clear and practical recommendations, focusing on concrete actions step by step and providing guidance on who should be in charge of each task and how they contribute to the overall success of the brand, you can even rely on images and infographics that facilitate understanding.

Reporting SEO performance to non-expert stakeholders involves simplifying concepts and focusing on practical recommendations. Begin by giving a brief overview of key SEO metrics in straightforward language. Break down complex terms and use visuals, like charts, for clarity. Emphasize the link between SEO efforts and business goals, highlighting how improvements can boost website traffic and conversions. Conclude by providing actionable recommendations and steps for future initiatives, ensuring stakeholders understand the practical implications and potential improvements for the overall success of the organization.

By customizing your SEO performance report to your audience, focusing on key metrics, providing context, using visuals and examples, and offering clear recommendations, you can effectively communicate the impact of SEO efforts to stakeholders who may not be familiar with the field.