# What a good SEO report contains, with an example

You want a report that leads to changes, not a stack of charts. This guide shows the sections that matter, the tools to use, and an example on a product page. You can copy the outline and adapt it to your site.

Updated 2026-09-13 · Source: https://porteur.ai/guides/seo-report-example

## What an SEO report is for

A report exists to drive decisions. It tells you what to change on which page, in what order, and why.

It is not a dashboard export. It is a short narrative with evidence, tied to your pages and your funnel.

- Decide what to fix first on the site this month
- Pick the pages to expand or prune
- Choose three queries to target on one page
- Agree which technical issues to ship and which to park

> Keep it to what you will act on in 28 days. If it will not drive a change, cut it.

## The sections a good report contains

- Summary: three actions, why they matter, expected impact
- Search performance: queries, pages, intent, clicks and CTR
- Technical health: indexing, sitemaps, Core Web Vitals
- On page: titles, meta descriptions, headings, internal links
- Content gaps: keywords and questions you do not cover
- Links: referring domains and broken backlinks to reclaim
- Competitors: who owns the SERP and where you can win
- Plan: owners, steps, and dates for the next 28 days

You can add rank tracking screenshots. Keep them to the queries you target. Ten lines beat a wall of positions you do not influence this month.

## The worked example: a SaaS pricing page

Fictional site: yourproduct.com. Page: /pricing. You sell a small team plan and a business plan.

Goal: more trials from the pricing page. You track a click on “Start trial” as a conversion in Google Analytics 4. You track organic impressions and clicks in Google Search Console.

- Target queries: “yourproduct pricing”, “yourproduct cost”, “yourproduct free trial”, and one generic, “[category] pricing”
- Current issues: title truncates, no comparison block, layout shift on load, thin FAQ
- Plan: fix the title and meta description, add a comparison table, stabilise layout, expand the FAQ with three questions users ask

> Do not try to rank a pricing page for broad non brand terms first. Nail branded and near brand intent, then add one generic if it fits the page.

## Search performance: turn Search Console into decisions

Use Google Search Console Performance. Filter to Page, equals /pricing. Compare last 28 days to the previous 28 days. Scan Queries and Pages tabs first, then Devices and Countries if relevant to you.

- Look for high impressions, low CTR queries: these need better titles and meta descriptions
- Find “striking distance” queries with positions around 8 to 15: add a section or internal link support
- Spot cannibalisation: several pages for one query with similar intent

1. **Collect the query set** Export the Queries for /pricing. Keep terms with brand and near brand intent, and one or two generic modifiers that fit the page.
2. **Map intent to the page** Group terms by intent: price, trial, discount, comparison. Drop any that do not match a buyer on the pricing page.
3. **Write actions per query group** For price: tighten the title and meta description. For trial: surface the “Start trial” button near the fold. For comparison: add a short “YourProduct vs X” row in the table.

Example fix on /pricing. Before: Title, “Pricing | YourProduct”. After: “YourProduct pricing, plans and free trial”. You bring price and trial into the snippet and keep it under about 60 characters. Pair it with a meta description that says what changes by plan in about 155 characters to avoid truncation.

> Search Console is pre click. Google Analytics 4 is post click. The numbers never match exactly. Use each for what it measures.

## Technical health: indexation and Core Web Vitals

A report shows the one or two technical issues that block growth. It does not paste a thousand line crawl export.

- Indexing: is /pricing indexed, canonicalised as itself, not excluded
- Sitemaps: is the page in the XML sitemap and discovered
- Core Web Vitals: LCP under 2.5 seconds, CLS under 0.1, INP under 200 ms, on mobile

Tools that help. Google Search Console, Indexing and Pages for coverage. PageSpeed Insights for field data and Lighthouse for lab tests. Chrome DevTools Performance for layout shift and long tasks. GTmetrix and WebPageTest add waterfalls and test locations if you need them. Lighthouse is also in Chrome DevTools and as a CLI.

1. **Check coverage in Search Console** Open Pages under Indexing. Find /pricing. Confirm it is indexed, not soft 404, not Alternate page with proper canonical.
2. **Test performance** Run PageSpeed Insights on /pricing. Note LCP element and size. If CLS spikes, list the elements that shift and why.
3. **Name one fix per metric** For LCP: server render the hero and optimise the hero image. For CLS: set size attributes on plan cards. For INP: delay non critical scripts until user interaction.

> If your Core Web Vitals fail on mobile, fix those before chasing new keywords. You convert more of what you already get.

## On page: titles, descriptions, headings, and links

Show the elements you changed and why. Keep it concrete on the page level. One screenshot of the snippet, one of the hero, and a list of edits beats a generic audit score.

| Element | Before | After | Why |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Title tag | Pricing \| YourProduct | YourProduct pricing, plans and free trial | Matches price and trial intent and keeps within about 60 characters |
| Meta description | Find a plan that suits you | Compare plans and start a free trial today. Team features, SSO on Business, month to month | Adds plan detail and a call to action within about 155 characters |
| H1 | Choose your plan | YourProduct pricing | Aligns with query language and avoids duplication with title |
| Internal links | None to docs | Link to /guides/getting-started and /security | Supports concerns that block sign ups |
| FAQ | 1 generic Q | 3 Qs: billing cycle, discounts, SSO requirements | Targets People also ask and reduces support tickets |

Run a quick crawl to catch missing titles and duplicates across the site. Screaming Frog SEO Spider is a desktop crawler for Windows, macOS and Linux. The free version crawls up to 500 URLs. Sitebulb is another desktop crawler, known for explained audit hints and visual crawl maps, with a cloud option. Both produce tables you interpret yourself, which suits a small site with a founder in the loop.

## Content gaps you can close

You will have questions that searchers ask which your pricing page should answer. Add them only if they belong on a pricing page. Push the rest to a guide or a comparison page and link from pricing.

- Find People also ask for “yourproduct pricing” and “[category] pricing”
- Use AnswerThePublic or AlsoAsked for question lists
- Use your support inbox to source real questions
- Pick three that buyers ask before they click “Start trial”

If you must tackle a generic like “[category] pricing”, add a short explainer box on /pricing and publish a full guide at /guides/[category]-pricing. Link both ways. Your report should show the draft outline, not just the keyword list.

## Links: what to include and what to skip

A small site does not need ten backlink charts. You need a one page view of authority and opportunities you can act on this month.

- Referring domains trend: flat or growing
- Broken backlinks you can reclaim to 404s or moved pages
- A shortlist of partners or directories to pitch this month

Ahrefs is known for its backlink index and Site Explorer. It shows Domain Rating from 0 to 100 based on links. Semrush has a broad suite with Backlink Analytics and an Authority Score. Moz has Link Explorer and Domain Authority, and a long standing education arm. Pick the one you already know, and do not mix authority metrics in one report. Explain the scale once and move on.

Add one table of four rows. Each row is a broken backlink target with the source URL, the anchor, and the fix you will ship. If you have none, say so and move on to content and internal links instead.

## Competitors and rankings that matter

Track a small set of target queries. Weekly is enough for most small sites. SE Ranking offers rank tracking with keyword and competitive research. Ahrefs, Semrush, and Moz can also track positions. SpyFu focuses on competitor keyword history, which helps when you pick which generic terms to pursue.

- Who ranks for “yourproduct pricing” and “[category] pricing”
- What page type wins, pricing page or a guide
- The SERP features present: People also ask, sitelinks, AI Overview as of 2026

Your report should show one screenshot of the SERP and one gap list. Example gap: rivals have comparison pages, you do not. Action: publish /compare/yourproduct-vs-rival and link to it from /pricing. Do not list every rival keyword. Show three you can move within 28 days and the content plan for one of them.

## A dashboard export is not a report

| Item | Dashboard export | Good report |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Purpose | Show all metrics | Drive three actions in 28 days |
| Length | Many charts | Short narrative with evidence |
| Scope | Whole site | Specific to pages and queries |
| Tools | Whatever is easy to connect | Whatever proves the point |
| Owner | Nobody | Named owner and date per action |

If you receive a PDF with 40 pages of charts and no actions, reject it or ask for the one page summary with owners and dates. If you produce the report, write the summary first. Then add only the evidence needed to support it.

## Questions to ask of any SEO report

- What three changes will you ship in 28 days, on which pages
- Which queries will those changes affect, and how
- What will you stop doing to make time for those changes
- Which owners and dates are named, and are they realistic
- What will you measure in Search Console and in GA4 to judge success

> Do not accept aggregate wins with no page or query named. Win the page, then the section, then the site.

## Questions

### How do I write an SEO report?

Start with a one page summary of three actions for the next 28 days. Pull Search Console for queries and pages, and GA4 for conversions. Add one section on technical health and one on on page edits. Close with owners and dates. Keep every chart tied to a change on a specific page.

### What is an SEO report?

It is a short document that turns search and site data into decisions. It covers performance from Search Console, technical health, on page changes, links, and a plan. It is different from a dashboard, which lists metrics without a narrative or owners.

### What does an SEO report look like?

Five to ten pages or a short deck. A summary, then sections for performance, technical, on page, gaps, links, and competitors. Each section has one or two screenshots and a short list of actions. The example on /pricing in this guide shows the level of detail to aim for.

### Can ChatGPT do an SEO audit?

It can draft a checklist and suggest on page changes from a URL. It cannot access your Search Console or GA4 unless you provide the data. Treat it as a helper to format findings, not a source of your site’s facts.

### Which tools should I use for an SEO report?

Use Google Search Console for queries and indexing, and GA4 for post click behaviour. For crawling, Screaming Frog or Sitebulb. For performance, Lighthouse in DevTools and PageSpeed Insights for field data. For links and research, Ahrefs, Semrush, Moz, or SE Ranking, depending on what you already use.

## Read next

- [The Search Console performance report, column by column](https://porteur.ai/guides/search-console-performance-report): Every column in the Google Search Console performance report explained with the traps that trip small sites, and how to act on each.
- [How to use Google Search Console in ten minutes a week](https://porteur.ai/guides/how-to-use-google-search-console): A quick weekly routine: set four filters, compare 28 days, check pages then queries, and fix three findings, without getting lost in noise.
- [Keyword gap analysis: the searches your rivals hold and you do not](https://porteur.ai/guides/keyword-gap-analysis): See how to find rivals’ search traffic you could win, filter it to your product, group it into pages, and turn gaps into briefs you can ship.
- [Internal linking for a small site: which pages link to which](https://porteur.ai/guides/internal-linking-for-seo): Decide which pages rank. Build hubs, write clear anchors, fix orphans, and crawl your site to map links you control.
- [Core Web Vitals for a product site: the three numbers](https://porteur.ai/guides/core-web-vitals): The product founder’s guide to LCP, CLS and INP: what Google measures, why phones decide the pass, common causes, and how to test and fix.
- [Meta description length, with examples that earn the click](https://porteur.ai/guides/meta-description-length): Keep meta descriptions around 155 characters on desktop and shorter on phones. Here is how to write snippets that earn clicks, with clear examples.
- [SEO audit](https://porteur.ai/glossary/seo-audit): An SEO audit is a structured review that ends in a prioritised change list. See the parts, what tools find, where judgement matters, and what to fix first.
- [Content brief](https://porteur.ai/glossary/content-brief): A content brief defined, what to include, how to write one in minutes, how to measure it in Search Console, and common traps to avoid.

Get a free check from a URL to see three findings on your site, the searches around it and who else appears, in about thirty seconds. Free check: https://porteur.ai/