SEO reporting software is indispensable for keeping campaigns organized and effective. The right tool should allow you to generate clear, concise, and visually engaging reports — while also supporting growth, tracking KPIs in real-time, and automating analytics.
This guide covers what to look for in SEO reporting software, what reports to provide clients, and how leading tools compare.
📊 The Importance of SEO Reporting for Agencies & Freelancers
Search engine optimization can be hard to explain to non-SEOs. Clear reports help you:
- Provide reasoning behind your SEO strategy
- Demonstrate short- and long-term results
- Justify rate increases or renewals
- Present the monetary value of your SEO-generated traffic
- Keep clients informed and confident in your expertise
🕒 When to Present SEO Reports & What KPIs to Include
Pitch to Potential Clients with Preliminary Reports
Use data-driven reports to win new clients without excessive research. Include:
- Domain rating
- Competitors’ domain ratings
- Page speed (desktop & mobile)
- 5 potential target keywords
SEO Case Study Reports
Create and share visual case studies showing past campaign results. These can double as year-end reports that highlight measurable growth and tell your client success stories.
On-Boarding SEO Reports
Establish a baseline for new clients to measure growth over time. Include:
- Domain Rating
- Keyword positions and rankings
- Traffic sources by country
- Organic traffic and EVOT — Estimated Value of Traffic (EVOT) is an approximation of the monetary worth of your organic traffic based on equivalent paid search costs, surfaced inside your Search Atlas dashboard alongside organic traffic metrics
- Referring domains, referring backlinks, and indexing speed
- Technical SEO score, site issues, backlink profile
Active Campaign Reports
Provide ongoing updates monthly, quarterly, or annually. Use automation to save time.
Recommended metrics:
- Keyword position history
- Change in organic traffic and impressions
- Growth in total ranking keywords
- Overall rank change
- Top-performing keywords and pages
- Organic traffic value
⚠️ Note on Keyword Rank Tracker trend labels: The 'Stable' trend indicator may appear for newly added keywords that only have a single historical snapshot (known issue KE-1282, awaiting release). Wait for multiple snapshots to accumulate before relying on trend direction labels in your reports.
Technical report data:
- Backlinks and broken links
- Indexing and page speed
- Content scores
- Inaccessible/orphaned pages
💡 Tip: Use GSC Insights to export real-time data and reports in PNG or CSV formats for easy sharing.
As-Needed Reports
Generate focused reports during sudden SEO shifts — like algorithm updates or industry changes — to communicate strategy adjustments.
Contract Renewals & End-of-Campaign Recaps
Show campaign ROI and value delivered. Highlight:
- Total traffic value generated
- Organic traffic growth
- Ranking improvements
- Conversions and CTR increases
Include a summary of strategy, results, and recommendations for future campaigns.
🧩 How to Produce SEO Reports (Including PDFs)
Search Atlas supports several report formats out of the box: PNG snapshots of dashboards, CSV exports of raw data, and PDF reports assembled from the steps below. White-label PDF reports and shareable report links are also available for client-facing deliverables — see the limitations noted in the White Label and Local SEO sections.
⚠️ Known issue (Classic Report Builder): The Classic Report Builder may hang, show an infinite loading spinner, or crash Chrome due to a known race condition (RB-1273). If this happens, open the report by reloading the report URL directly in a new tab rather than navigating to it from within the app.
Step 1: Create SEO Reports with Report Builder
- Navigate to Left sidebar → Reports (Report Builder).
- Click Export to PNG.
- Insert the image into a Word Doc, Google Doc, or PowerPoint.
Step 2: Create PDF Reports
- Export your dashboard to PNG.
- Open Google Docs → New Blank Document.
- Go to Insert > Image > Upload from Computer.
- Crop as needed and go to File > Download > PDF Document (.pdf).
Step 3: Convert CSV Reports to PDF
- Click Export to CSV.
- Upload to Google Drive → open with Google Sheets.
- Select File > Download > PDF Document (.pdf).
⚙️ What to Look for in SEO Reporting Software
- Accurate Data – Choose tools that pull from trusted sources like Google Search Console.
- Real-Time Insights – Ensure up-to-date metrics for responsive decisions.
- Comprehensive Site Crawls – Vital for indexing and technical SEO data.
- Clear Visualizations – Reports should be graphically engaging and easy to interpret.
- Fresh Performance Insights – Tools like GSC Insights provide page groupings and comparative metrics.
- Local SEO Capabilities – Support for geo-specific keyword tracking and SERPs. ⚠️ Known issues with shared Local SEO reports: (1) Location labels in shared report links may display as generic placeholders such as 'Local SEO ##' instead of the actual location name — please flag affected reports to support while the fix is being deployed; (2) Heatmap pins do not currently render in externally shared report links (RB-106) — access heatmaps directly inside the platform as a workaround until this is resolved.
- Flexible Formatting Options – Support for PDF, CSV, and PNG exports.
- Multiple Client Profiles – Manage all client campaigns from a single dashboard.
🧱 White Label SEO Reporting
White-label reporting automates the process and allows you to share branded, scalable reports in PDF format. Ideal for agencies serving multiple clients with varied reporting needs.
⚠️ Caveats for shared client-facing reports: Local SEO location labels in shared links may currently appear as generic placeholders (e.g., 'Local SEO ##') instead of the real location name, and Local SEO heatmap pins do not load in externally shared reports (RB-106). When sharing visual heatmap reports, walk clients through the heatmap inside the platform directly, and flag any mislabeled shared reports to support.
📈 Comparing Top SEO Tools for Reporting
1. Our Dashboard
All-in-one SEO suite with tools for auditing, keyword research, backlink tracking, and reporting.
- Reporting: CSV and PNG exports
- Features: Site Events tracker, schema creator, local SEO, and social tools (coming soon)
2. SEMrush
Comprehensive toolset for technical and content SEO.
- Reporting: PDF, XLSX, CSV exports
- Note: Full access comes at a premium price.
3. Ahrefs
Powerful for link analysis and keyword tracking.
- Reporting: CSV exports (quick, full, or custom reports)
- Note: No free trial and fewer integrated tools.
4. Moz Pro
Clean, user-friendly dashboard with core SEO metrics.
- Reporting: Custom, automated, branded reports (PDFs, CSVs)
- Note: Limited SEO content and local tools.