# Lies, damned lies and SEO statistics – what should SEO be reporting to the board?
Author:  Pal Sinha, Barnali 
Author URL: https://financedigest.com/author/pal-sinha-barnali
Published: 2021-03-08
Category: BUSINESS
Category URL: https://financedigest.com/category/business
Meta Title: Why Accurate SEO Reporting is Essential
Meta Description: Learn why traditional SEO metrics may not be the best measure of success, and how to create reports that demonstrate real-world gains and drive business
URL: https://financedigest.com/lies-damned-lies-and-seo-statistics-what-should-seo-be-reporting-to-the-boardhtml

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_By **Joe Friedlein,** is founder and MD of_ [_Browser Media_](https://browsermedia.agency/) _, an SEO and digital marketing agency._

History teaches us that it’s possible to first decide on your narrative and _then_ use data to back it up. The same is true of SEO reports. There is so much data available that it can sometimes be manipulated to support a predetermined angle, including certain information (or perhaps more crucially, omitting it) to paint a slightly misrepresentative picture.

Add to this, the lingering reputation of SEO as a “smoke and mirrors” [service and we begin to see why reports in our industry](https://www.financedigest.com/how-digital-identity-verification-will-revolutionize-security-defenses-in-the-financial-services-industry.html "How Digital Identity Verification Will Revolutionize Security Defenses in the Financial Services Industry") have become a contentious topic. Often not read, and even less frequently used at a board level, we [need to rethink](https://www.financedigest.com/why-companies-need-to-rethink-retirement-tips-for-ensuring-a-happy-life-in-later-years.html "Why companies need to rethink retirement – Tips for ensuring a happy life in later years") the way we’re reporting on SEO.

It’s our job to make sure these reports are accurate and representative, but more importantly understood and used.

**The problem with SEO reports**

As an industry, we need to distance ourselves from meaningless stats like how many keywords your site is ranking for, or collectively how many positions you’ve moved up for. A list of exhaustive search terms from tools such as SEMrush will include all sorts of irrelevant phrases that aren’t going to win you any business. Similarly, a figure which aggregates all of your keyword [position changes](https://www.financedigest.com/the-meta-trends-driving-positive-change-for-financial-services.html "The meta trends driving positive change for Financial Services") into one number means very little in terms of traffic if you’re moving several keywords from page 8 to page 5, rather than shifting one or two valuable terms from page 2 to page 1.

It’s equating this [data to real-world gains](https://www.financedigest.com/byd-set-to-be-chinas-top-selling-car-brand-for-nov-tesla-gains-data.html "BYD set to be China’s top-selling car brand for Nov, Tesla gains -data") that means something to the board, and that’s how to ensure your SEO reports are actually read. Instead of rankings, focus on traffic, on how much of your traffic comes from organic search, and how much of this organic traffic converts. What products or [services are performing well](https://www.financedigest.com/uk-says-baker-hughes-altus-deal-may-hurt-competition-in-oil-well-services.html "UK says Baker Hughes-Altus deal may hurt competition in oil well services") in search and where are people bouncing? It has to relate to overall [business performance](https://www.financedigest.com/how-business-owners-can-improve-their-operational-and-financial-performance-through-contactless-and-card-payments.html "How Business Owners can Improve their Operational and Financial Performance through Contactless and Card Payments") to make them care.

It also needs to be digestible. [It’s important](https://www.financedigest.com/paternity-leave-and-why-its-important.html "Paternity Leave and Why It’s Important.") when compiling your report to consider whether this is being read by other SEOs or by people in different departments. Using jargon and complicated [industry terminology without explanations instantly make your report](https://www.financedigest.com/listen-care-share-ofwats-latest-report-on-the-water-industrys-handling-of-customers-during-the-pandemic.html "Listen, Care, Share: Ofwat’s latest report on the water industry’s handling of customers during the pandemic") less accessible. And when someone is time-poor and something is put in front of them that they aren’t comfortable or familiar with, it’s easy to push it aside.

This is also what makes context so crucial. Those [outside marketing](https://www.financedigest.com/outside-door-handle-market-analysis-trends-top-manufacturers-share-growth-statistics-opportunities-and-forecast-to-2027.html "Outside Door Handle Market Analysis, Trends, Top Manufacturers, Share, Growth, Statistics, Opportunities and Forecast to 2027") aren’t as bothered with the numbers themselves so much as what you plan to do about them. It comes down to the ‘so what’ factor – why was there a spike or dip this month, what caused it and what do you [plan to do next](https://www.financedigest.com/austria-plans-to-bring-budget-deficit-within-3-of-gdp-next-year.html "Austria plans to bring budget deficit within 3% of GDP next year") as a result? This is where the real [value of your report](https://www.financedigest.com/deliveroo-reports-doubling-in-gross-order-value-in-first-half.html "Deliveroo reports doubling in gross order value in first half") lies.

This is the first step to [overcoming perhaps the biggest challenge](https://www.financedigest.com/overcoming-challenges-faced-in-business-from-one-woman-to-another.html "Overcoming challenges faced in business: from one woman to another") of all – making sure your SEO report is actually used. All too often, [reports are simply an end of the month](https://www.financedigest.com/whatsapp-bans-2-4-million-indian-accounts-in-july-monthly-report.html "WhatsApp bans 2.4 million Indian accounts in July – monthly report") autopilot exercise that gets forgotten about for another four weeks, but really they should be used to dictate what you do next. Not just from a [marketing perspective but a business](https://www.financedigest.com/how-to-create-a-pr-plan-and-link-it-to-your-business-marketing-strategy.html "How to create a PR plan and link it to your business marketing strategy") one too. Your [report can reveal anything from what products or service](https://www.financedigest.com/rebound-in-the-oil-gas-exploration-and-production-activities-to-boost-mobile-servicing-rig-market-fact-mr-report.html "Rebound In the Oil & Gas Exploration and Production Activities to Boost Mobile Servicing Rig Market, Fact.MR Report") pages people are engaging with, to what barriers to conversions there are, and this information is relevant to everything your business does.

Of course, to be able to offer this kind of insight, you need to be including the right stats in your report in the first place.

**Looking beyond search positions**

While the method of SEO is about pushing your site up the [search engines](https://www.financedigest.com/grelly-a-visual-search-engine-for-ebay.html "Grelly: A Visual Search Engine For Ebay"), the motive for doing so is to increase your traffic, your engagement and your conversions, so remember to report on this too.

- **Traffic –** [setting](https://www.financedigest.com/home-prices-are-setting-records-while-mortgage-rates-plunge-is-it-time-to-refinance.html "Home Prices Are Setting Records While Mortgage Rates Plunge – Is It Time To Refinance?") your parameters to year-on-year gives a more accurate representation of your site’s growth or decline, especially if you have a particularly seasonal business. Regardless, it’s still [important to consider](https://www.financedigest.com/4-important-factors-to-consider-when-choosing-an-eb-5-visa-investment-project.html "4 Important Factors to Consider When Choosing an EB-5 Visa Investment Project") anything that might have happened this time last year to account for any peaks and troughs. This could be anything from [market trends](https://www.financedigest.com/amino-acids-market-trends-size-share-growth-forecast-report-2025.html "Amino Acids Market Trends, Size, Share, Growth Forecast Report 2025") shifting, to a new product you released, or changes in your terms of service. Diving into segments such as organic traffic can be useful to see how this compares to other channels, as can examining traffic for [key products](https://www.financedigest.com/chondroitin-market-overview-analysis-by-top-players-product-segments-market-size-and-leading-key-players-2022-2029.html "Chondroitin Market Overview & Analysis by Top Players, Product Segments, Market Size and Leading Key Players 2022- 2029") and pages to see whether spikes and dips here might be manipulating overall trends. Remember to check you’ve filtered out spam and internal IP addresses too.
- **Click-through rate –** if you’ve gone to the trouble of pushing your pages up the listings, it seems crazy not to go the extra step and check they’re clicking through to your site. Identifying pages with a [low click-through rate](https://www.financedigest.com/stocks-slump-to-2-year-low-as-rates-reality-bites.html "Stocks slump to 2-year low as rates reality bites") can give you an opportunity to tweak page titles and meta descriptions, or even experiment with Schema markup
- **Session duration and pages per visit –** engagement stats are where your SEO report starts to overlap with business-level decisions. The problem with some of this data however is that they can be misinterpreted. There’s a tendency to panic if average session duration dips for example, but [it’s not a simple case of the longer the dwell time](https://www.financedigest.com/its-time-for-banks-to-spend-on-digital-mortgage-journeys.html "It’s time for banks to spend on digital mortgage journeys"), the better. Instead, you [need to weigh](https://www.financedigest.com/weighing-up-buy-now-pay-later-what-you-need-to-know-before-you-invest.html "Weighing up Buy Now, Pay Later: What you need to know before you invest") up how much content there is on the page, what stage of the funnel they’re at, and what you’re asking them to do. An increase in session duration might seem positive, but it could also be an indication that people aren’t converting. It’s all about context; a Contact Us page with a short session duration for example is no cause for concern – it’s likely this page has just a few lines of text and some contact details so you wouldn’t [expect people to hang around](https://www.financedigest.com/cherry-picker-crane-market-is-expected-to-experience-substantial-gains-with-projections-around-6-to-8-cagr-from-2021-to-2031.html "Cherry Picker Crane Market is expected to experience substantial gains, with projections around 6% to 8% CAGR from 2021 to 2031") for too long. If in doubt, use segments to [view these stats from organic traffic compared](https://www.financedigest.com/gamers-spend-twice-as-long-viewing-intrinsic-in-game-ads-compared-to-other-digital-channels-reveals-new-research-from-lumen-and-anzu.html "Gamers Spend Twice As Long Viewing Intrinsic In-Game Ads Compared To Other Digital Channels, Reveals New Research From Lumen and Anzu") to overall traffic to see if these users behave differently.
- **Conversions**– again, it’s worth looking at how your organic traffic performs in terms of conversions compared to overall traffic, whether you’re tracking sales, or other forms of conversions, such as newsletter sign ups, or contact form submissions.
- **[Bounce rate](https://www.financedigest.com/dollar-bounces-as-fed-seen-keeping-up-aggressive-rate-hikes.html "Dollar bounces as Fed seen keeping up aggressive rate hikes") –** bounce rate is another stat that can cause unnecessary alarm. Using the Contact Us page as an example again, a high bounce [rate might not be as negative](https://www.financedigest.com/analysis-europe-says-goodbye-to-negative-rates-or-just-au-revoir.html "Analysis-Europe says goodbye to negative rates – or just ‘au revoir’?") as you think, as visitors may have been able to get the information they need and leave quickly. It does make sense to investigate any sudden changes in your bounce rate however, as this could be a sign of usability issues. Looking up [average bounce rates for your own industry](https://www.financedigest.com/average-annual-uk-grocery-bill-highest-since-at-least-2008-industry-data.html "Average annual UK grocery bill highest since at least 2008 -industry data") can act as a useful benchmark for those reading your report outside the SEO department.
- **Positions** [– Google Search Console is ideal when it comes to reporting](https://www.financedigest.com/industrial-catalytic-converter-market-size-share-forecast-report-2027-covid-19-impact-analysis-fmi.html "Industrial Catalytic Converter Market Size, Share, Forecast Report – 2027 – COVID-19 Impact Analysis | FMI") on SERPs. Because it uses aggregated positions over time, it provides a more useful view than a spot check ranking tool, and helps you [draw conclusions](https://www.financedigest.com/johnson-urges-caution-on-drawing-conclusions-from-falling-covid-cases.html "Johnson urges caution on drawing conclusions from falling COVID cases") between patterns and activity, which in turn can be used to shape future plans.

SEO reports are in danger of becoming a box ticking exercise, but there’s a real opportunity to use them as a tool to [bridge the gap](https://www.financedigest.com/bridging-the-gap-between-banking-and-digital-accessibility-in-todays-digital-by-default-world.html "Bridging the Gap Between Banking and Digital Accessibility in Today’s ‘Digital by Default’ World") between departments as well as put theory into practice.


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