There’s no scarcity of search engine optimisation reporting instruments to select from—however what are the core instruments you might want to put collectively an search engine optimisation report?
On this article, I’ll share eight of my favourite search engine optimisation reporting instruments that can assist you create a complete search engine optimisation report for free.
Value: Free
Google Search Console, usually known as GSC, is among the most generally used instruments to trace essential search engine optimisation metrics from Google Search.
Most typical reporting use case
GSC has a ton of information to dive into, however the primary efficiency indicator SEOs take a look at first in GSC is Clicks on the primary Overview dashboard.
As the information is from Google, SEOs contemplate it to be an excellent barometer for monitoring natural search efficiency. In addition to clicks information, you may as well monitor the next from the Efficiency report:
- Complete Impressions
- Common CTR
- Common Place
Tip
However for many search engine optimisation reporting, GSC clicks information is exported right into a spreadsheet and became a chart to visualise year-over-year efficiency.
Favourite function
One in every of my favourite reviews in GSC is the Indexing report. It’s helpful for search engine optimisation reporting as a result of you may share the listed to non-indexed pages ratio in your search engine optimisation report.
If the web site has quite a lot of non-indexed pages, then it’s value reviewing the pages to grasp why they haven’t been listed.
Value: Free
Google Looker Studio (GLS), beforehand generally known as Google Knowledge Studio (GDS), is a free instrument that helps visualize information in shareable dashboards.
Most typical reporting use case
Dashboards are an essential a part of search engine optimisation reporting, and GLS lets you get a complete view of search efficiency from a number of sources via its integrations.
Out of the field, GLS lets you hook up with many alternative information sources.
Reminiscent of:
- Advertising merchandise – Google Advertisements, Google Analytics, Show & Video 360, Search Advertisements 360
- Shopper merchandise – Google Sheets, YouTube, and Google Search Console
- Databases – BigQuery, MySQL, and PostgreSQL
- Social media platforms – Fb, Reddit, and Twitter
- Recordsdata – CSV file add and Google Cloud Storage
Sidenote.
For those who don’t have the time to create your personal report manually, Ahrefs has three Google Looker Studio connectors that may assist you create automated search engine optimisation reporting for any web site in a number of clicks
Right here’s what a dashboard in GLS seems to be like:
With any such dashboard, you share reviews which are straightforward to grasp with purchasers or different stakeholders.
Favourite function
The flexibility to mix and filter information from totally different sources, like GA and GSC, means you may get a personalized overview of your complete search efficiency, tailor-made to your web site.
Value: Free for 500 URLs
Screaming Frog is an internet site crawler that helps you audit your web site.
Screaming Frog’s free model of its crawler is ideal if you wish to run a fast audit on a bunch of URLs. The free model is proscribed to 500 URLs—making it excellent for crawling smaller web sites.
Most typical reporting use case
In the case of reporting, the Stories menu in Screaming Frog search engine optimisation Spider has a wealth of data you may look over that covers all of the technical facets of your web site, akin to analyzing, redirects, canonicals, pagination, hreflang, structured information, and extra.
When you’ve crawled your website, it’s only a matter of downloading the reviews you want and understanding the primary points to summarize in your search engine optimisation report.
Favourite function
Screaming Frog can pull in information from different instruments, together with Ahrefs, utilizing APIs.
For those who already had entry to some search engine optimisation instruments’ APIs, you might pull information from all of them straight into Screaming Frog. That is helpful if you wish to mix crawl information with efficiency information or different third get together instruments.
Even in case you’ve by no means configured an API, connecting different instruments to Screaming Frog is simple.
Value: Free
Ahrefs has a big number of free search engine optimisation instruments that can assist you at each stage of your search engine optimisation marketing campaign, and lots of of those can be utilized to supply insights to your search engine optimisation reporting.
For instance, you might use our:
Most typical reporting use case
One in every of our hottest free search engine optimisation instruments is Ahrefs Webmaster Instruments (AWT), which you need to use to your search engine optimisation reporting.
With AWT, you can:
- Monitor your search engine optimisation well being over time by establishing scheduled search engine optimisation audits
- See the efficiency of your web site
- Verify all recognized backlinks to your web site
Favourite function
Of all of the Ahrefs free instruments, my favourite is AWT. Inside it, website auditing is my favourite function—when you’ve set it up, it’s a totally hands-free option to hold monitor of your web site’s technical efficiency and monitor its well being.
If you have already got entry to Google Search Console, it’s a no brainer to arrange a free AWT account and schedule a technical crawl of your web site(s).
Value: Free
Ahrefs’ search engine optimisation Toolbar is a free Chrome and Firefox extension helpful for diagnosing on-page technical points and performing fast spot checks in your web site’s pages.
Most typical reporting use case
For search engine optimisation reporting, it’s helpful to run an on-page verify in your web site’s high pages to make sure there aren’t any severe on-page points.
With the free model, you get the next options:
- On-page search engine optimisation report
- Redirect tracer with HTTP Headers
- Outgoing hyperlinks report with hyperlink highlighter and damaged hyperlink checker
- SERP positions
- Nation changer for SERP
The search engine optimisation toolbar is superb for spot-checking points with pages in your web site. If you’re not assured with inspecting the code, it may well additionally provide you with priceless tips on what parts you might want to embrace in your pages to make them search-friendly.
If something is mistaken with the web page, the toolbar highlights it, with crimson indicating a essential situation.
Favourite function
The part I take advantage of probably the most often within the search engine optimisation toolbar is the Indexability tab. On this part, you may see whether or not the web page will be crawled and listed by Google.
Though you are able to do this by inspecting the code manually, utilizing the toolbar is way quicker.
Value: Free
Like GSC, Google Analytics is one other instrument you need to use to trace the efficiency of your web site, monitoring classes and conversions and rather more in your web site.
Most typical reporting use case
GA offers you a complete view of web site site visitors from a number of totally different sources, akin to direct, social, natural, paid site visitors, and extra.
Favourite function
You may create and monitor as much as 300 occasions and 30 conversions with GA4. Beforehand, with common analytics, you might solely monitor 20 conversions. This makes conversion and occasion monitoring simpler inside GA4.
Value: Free
Google Slides is Google’s model of Microsoft PowerPoint. For those who don’t have a dashboard set as much as report in your search engine optimisation efficiency, the subsequent neatest thing is to assemble a slide deck.
Many search engine optimisation businesses current their report via dashboard insights and PowerPoint shows. Nonetheless, in case you don’t have entry to PowerPoint, then Google Slides is a superb (free) various.
Most typical reporting use instances
The most typical use of Google Slides is to create a month-to-month search engine optimisation report. For those who don’t know what to incorporate in a month-to-month report, use our search engine optimisation report template.
Favourite function
One in every of my favourite options is the flexibility to share your presentation on a video chat straight from Google Slides. You are able to do this by clicking the digital camera icon within the high proper.
That is helpful if you’re working with distant purchasers and makes sharing your reviews straightforward.
Value: Free
Google Tendencies lets you view a key phrase’s reputation over time in any nation. The information proven is the relative reputation ratio scaled from 0-100, not the direct quantity of search queries.
Most typical reporting use instances
Google Tendencies is helpful for exhibiting how the recognition of sure searches can improve or lower over time. For those who work with an internet site that usually has trending merchandise, companies, or information, it may be helpful as an instance this visually in your search engine optimisation report.
Google Tendencies makes it straightforward to identify seasonal traits for product classes. For instance, folks wish to purchase BBQs when the climate is sunny.
Utilizing Google Tendencies, we are able to see that peak demand for BBQs often occurs in June-July each 12 months.
Utilizing this information throughout the final 5 years, we might be pretty positive when the BBQ season would begin and finish.
Favourite function
Evaluating two or extra search phrases in opposition to one another over time is one in every of my favourite makes use of of Google Tendencies, as it may be used to inform its personal story.
Embellishing your report with traits information lets you acquire additional insights into market traits.
You may even dig into traits at a regional degree in case you want to.
Closing ideas
These free instruments will assist you put collectively the foundations for a well-rounded search engine optimisation report.
The instruments you employ for search engine optimisation reporting don’t all the time must be costly—even giant firms use most of the free instruments talked about to create insights for his or her consumer’s search engine optimisation reviews.
Acquired extra questions? Ping me on X 🙂