SEO is more than just rankings and traffic — it’s a business growth engine. But unless you can communicate that effectively, especially to leadership like your CMO, the value of your work might go unnoticed. A well-crafted SEO report can bridge the gap between technical optimization and strategic business impact.
In this blog, we’ll walk through how to create SEO reports that grab attention, tell a compelling story, and demonstrate ROI to your CMO.
Also Read: 7 Automotive SEO Best Practices For Driving Business
1. Understand What Your CMO Cares About
Before writing your report, ask yourself: What does my CMO need to know to make informed decisions? Spoiler alert: It’s not keyword density or canonical tags.
Here’s what CMOs typically care about:
Business growth metrics (revenue, leads, conversions)
Marketing ROI
Brand visibility and competitiveness
Customer acquisition and retention
Strategic trends and opportunities
Your goal? Link your SEO efforts directly to these priorities.
2. Lead with an Executive Summary
CMOs are busy. The first page should be an executive summary that provides:
A snapshot of performance (this month/quarter vs. last)
Key wins (e.g., +20% organic leads, #1 ranking for a priority keyword)
Challenges or risks (e.g., traffic drop from a core update)
Strategic recommendations
This summary should be visual, concise, and actionable. Use graphs, bold KPIs, and bullet points to make it digestible in under two minutes.
3. Show Impact, Not Just Activity
Instead of listing tasks completed (“updated 10 meta descriptions”), focus on what results those actions generated:
“Optimized landing pages → +12% organic traffic and +18% conversions”
“Link-building for product pages → improved keyword rankings from #12 to #4”
Tie every effort to business outcomes. This makes your SEO work feel like revenue-driving strategy, not just technical upkeep.
4. Segment Performance by Business Objectives
Organize your report to reflect your company’s business goals, not just SEO categories. For example:
By Product or Service: How did SEO impact each core offering?
By Customer Journey Stage: What content pulled in TOFU (top-of-funnel) visitors vs. BOFU (bottom-of-funnel) leads?
By Geography (if relevant): Are local SEO efforts generating results in target regions?
This framing helps CMOs see SEO as integrated into the wider business strategy.
5. Highlight Key Metrics that Matter
Avoid vanity metrics that don’t connect to business goals. Instead, include:
📈 Core Metrics:
Organic sessions (YoY and MoM)
Organic conversion rate
Revenue or goal completions from organic
Keyword ranking changes for priority terms
Pages with the most growth or decline
🎯 Business Metrics:
Cost per organic lead vs. paid channels
Percentage of revenue driven by SEO
Lead quality from SEO (if available)
Use clean, consistent graphs and visuals. Highlight deltas (change %), not just raw numbers.
6. Use Visuals to Tell the Story
A wall of text or data tables will lose your CMO instantly.
Use:
Trend graphs to show traffic/conversions over time
Bar charts to compare channel performance
Heat maps for keyword opportunities
Pie charts to break down traffic by content type or campaign
Keep charts labeled, minimalistic, and color-coded with your brand for extra polish.
7. Include Competitive Insights
CMOs love to know how you’re performing against competitors. Include:
Share of voice: Are you gaining or losing ground on SERPs?
Competitor content trends: What topics are they targeting?
SERP features: Who owns snippets, people also ask, etc.?
Bonus points if you include opportunity gaps where competitors rank, but you don’t.
8. Forecast and Recommend Next Steps
Your SEO report should not just look backward. Look forward:
What opportunities are emerging (new search trends, content gaps)?
What’s the plan to double down on what’s working?
What risks need attention (site speed issues, algorithm updates)?
Add actionable recommendations tied to resources and timelines — this shows leadership and strategic thinking.
9. Keep It Simple, Jargon-Free, and Clean
Avoid technical SEO lingo like:
Canonicalization
Crawl depth
Hreflang
301 redirect chains
Instead, say:
“We fixed duplicate content issues”
“We improved how search engines find your international content”
Use a clean format, consistent fonts, and professional styling. Use headers, whitespace, and page breaks effectively. A chaotic layout screams “unpolished” — and that reflects on your work.
10. Deliver It with Context and Confidence
Don’t just email your report — present it.
Give your CMO the context behind the numbers:
Why did this traffic drop?
Why did this page spike in conversions?
What should we do next?
This allows you to steer the narrative and showcase your strategic role in business growth.
🔚 Conclusion: Reporting is Storytelling
An SEO report that gets your CMO’s attention is more than a spreadsheet — it’s a story. One that proves SEO is not just a traffic driver, but a revenue driver. When done right, your report becomes a strategic asset, elevating both your team’s work and your role as a trusted advisor to leadership.
Focus on what matters. Speak in business terms. And always connect SEO to growth.