What should a monthly local SEO report include?
Most local SEO reports are a stack of screenshots that nobody reads twice. A useful one fits on a page: what moved, what probably caused it, and what you will do next month. This page gives you the template and a filled-in example.
What makes a local SEO report useful?
A useful report answers three questions on one page: what improved or slipped, what probably caused it, and what happens next. It joins visibility, profile actions and real enquiries, so the owner can see whether local search brought in work, not just whether a chart went up.
Screenshots of dashboards do not do this. They show numbers without saying which ones matter. A short page with five numbers, a few notes and three next steps gets read; a twenty-slide deck gets filed.
Who is the report for, and how often?
Write it for the person who pays for the work and makes decisions, usually the owner or a manager. They need plain language and a clear ask. An agency or in-house marketer may keep a longer working file, but the one-pager is what gets discussed.
Monthly suits most businesses: profile search terms arrive at the start of the month, and rank grids and enquiry logs settle into clean monthly totals. A quarterly review on top of that is the place for bigger questions, such as whether to open location pages for a new town or invest in local PR and links.
Multi-location brands should report each location on its own page, then add a single summary page that ranks locations by enquiries per month and flags the ones that slipped.
What does a one-page monthly report template look like?
Use the same layout every month so readers learn where to look. This template fits on one printed page.
| Block | What goes in it | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Headline | One sentence: what changed most and whether it matters | Your judgement |
| 2. Visibility | Grid cells in top 3 and top 7 for 2 or 3 money keywords; top 5 search terms | Rank grid; profile report |
| 3. Actions | Calls, direction requests, website clicks vs last month and same month last year | Profile report |
| 4. Results | Answered calls, conversions from tagged visits, walk-in tally, new customers | Phone system; analytics; enquiry log |
| 5. Reputation | New reviews, average rating, replies sent | Profile |
| 6. Work done | Three to six bullet points of what was changed and when | Task list |
| 7. What we think caused it | Two or three sentences, with honest uncertainty | Your judgement |
| 8. Next steps | Three actions, each with an owner and a due date | Agreed in the review |
How do you build the report each month?
- Pull the data on a fixed date, around the fifth, so profile search terms have arrived.
- Run the rank grids with the same keywords and settings as last month, as described in local rank grids.
- Check analytics for tagged profile visits. Consistent lowercase UTM values, built the way Google's campaign URL help describes, keep each month comparable.
- Count real enquiries from the phone system, forms and front-desk tally.
- Write the headline and next steps, then trim any number that does not support them.
- Review it together for 20 minutes and agree the owners and dates.
If you already run a wider analytics dashboard, link it from the report rather than pasting it in. The dashboards and reporting guide covers that side.
No screenshots without a sentence.
Every chart or figure in the report needs one line saying what it means and whether it calls for action. If you cannot write that line, leave the figure out.
What does a filled-in monthly report look like?
Here are blocks 1, 6, 7 and 8 for the fictional physio clinic from the strip above. These are the parts most reports leave out.
| Block | Entry |
|---|---|
| Headline | New patients from local search rose by 7, mainly through the booking page; walk-in direction requests dipped slightly. |
| Work done | Added a sports injury category (Oct 2); sent the profile link to the booking page (Oct 4); replied to every new review within 2 days; added 12 treatment-room photos. |
| What we think caused it | Booked visits from tagged profile clicks rose most, so the link change probably helped. Grid gains to the east match the new category. The direction dip lines up with road work on Harbour Street. |
| Next step 1 | Write a page for the knee and running injury service (owner: Priya, Nov 15). |
| Next step 2 | Ask every discharged patient for a review with the QR card at the desk (owner: front desk, from Nov 1). |
| Next step 3 | Rerun grids on Nov 5 with the same settings; add "running injury physio" as a third keyword (owner: ShoutEx, Nov 5). |
Notice the cautious wording: "probably helped", "lines up with". Several changes happened at once, so the report says what the evidence suggests and no more.
What mistakes make local SEO reports useless?
- Leading with views. They rise with season and say little about customers.
- Reporting only the centre of the grid. It is almost always strong. Report how many cells are in the top 3 and top 7.
- No enquiry data. Without answered calls and bookings, the report cannot say whether local search paid.
- Changing tags, keywords or grid settings between months, then comparing the numbers as if nothing changed.
- Claiming credit for every rise. Seasons, competitors closing and road work move numbers too.
- No owners on next steps. An action with no name and no date rarely happens.
If the report keeps showing the same weak spots, run a fresh local SEO audit instead of repeating the same fixes.
Which measures belong in every local SEO report?
| Layer | Measure | Compare with |
|---|---|---|
| Visibility | Grid cells in top 3 and top 7, per money keyword | Last month, same settings |
| Visibility | Top 5 search terms showing the profile | Your list of services |
| Actions | Calls, direction requests, website clicks | Last month and same month last year |
| Results | Answered calls, conversions from tagged visits, new customers | Last month and the cost of the work |
| Reputation | New reviews and replies sent | Your monthly review target |
Profile actions come from Business Profile performance; call handling and enquiry measures come from calls, directions and clicks.
Frequently asked questions
What should a local SEO report include?
Visibility (rank grids and search terms), profile actions (calls, directions, website clicks), real results (answered calls, bookings, new customers), work done and three next steps with owners.
How long should a monthly local SEO report be?
One page for a single location. Multi-location brands can add one page per location and a summary page.
How often should local SEO be reported?
Monthly for the one-pager, with a longer quarterly review for bigger decisions such as new location pages or local PR.
Should a local SEO report include ranking screenshots?
Only with a sentence that says what the figure means. A count of grid cells in the top 3 is usually clearer than a screenshot.
Can a report show that local SEO caused more customers?
Rarely with certainty. Several things change each month, so a good report says what the evidence suggests and notes other causes such as season or road work.
Why do we need UTM tags for reporting?
Tagged website links let analytics separate visits from your Business Profile, so you can see which of those visits booked or bought.
What if the numbers go down?
Report it plainly, check for outside causes such as closures or seasons, and set next steps that address the likely cause.
Should a local SEO report promise ranking targets?
No. Local results vary by searcher location and competition. Set targets for work done and enquiries handled instead.
Sources & further reading
Regulator rules, platform policies and local data change. These sources let you check the facts on this page, last checked October 7, 2026.