What are we comparing?
Start with the source and the exact date window. Compare equivalent periods and explain incomplete tracking, site changes or unusual events. Keep country, device and page filters consistent.
Separate branded search from discovery where the data allows it. Otherwise, a brand campaign can look like a content improvement.
What work actually happened?
Name the pages created, updated or fixed. Link to the work. Distinguish a draft in review from a page published on your site.
A list of planned tasks is not a delivery report. Make completed work and open actions easy to tell apart.
What changed in the data?
Use Search Console for search clicks and impressions. Use Analytics for visits and configured key events. Use your sales records to understand which enquiries became customers.
Report AI referrals separately. If you check AI citations, record the question, platform and time of the check. Do not present a single answer as a stable ranking.
What should happen next?
End with the small set of actions the evidence supports. Say which page, what change, who owns it and how you will check the result.
A report can include a decline or an unmeasured outcome. Its job is to make the next decision clearer, not to make every month look positive.
A simple reporting checklist
- Named data sources and equal date windows
- Published work separated from drafts
- Clicks, visits and enquiries kept distinct
- Missing data explicitly marked
- A next action with an owner