Creating an Search engine optimization reporting dashboard is commonly a better strategy to share your Search engine optimization efficiency outcomes than a text-heavy Search engine optimization report. So, what’s one of the simplest ways to create one?
The kind of dashboard you create usually depends upon who you’re making it for—your personal web site, a small enterprise, or an enterprise enterprise.
On this article, I’ll clarify the fundamentals of Search engine optimization reporting dashboards and tailor them in your specific viewers.
An Search engine optimization reporting dashboard is a visible interface that shows key efficiency indicators (KPIs) and different metrics that present a web site’s Search engine optimization efficiency in engines like google like Google. Its essential job is to speak Search engine optimization efficiency over time.
Right here’s an instance of what an Search engine optimization reporting dashboard seems to be like for Ahrefs.com.
Ahrefs’ Looker Studio Integration – Site Explorer Template
Within the above instance, we are able to see the outcomes are constructive as a result of the road chart goes up, and the KPI comparisons are additionally principally inexperienced, exhibiting constructive yearly progress.
That is the ability of an efficient Search engine optimization reporting dashboard—you may immediately talk Search engine optimization efficiency at-a-glance.
The straightforward reply is something you need. But it surely’s greatest to incorporate SEO metrics that matter to the website you‘re reporting on.
This could include metrics like:
- Clicks
- Sessions
- Click-through-rate (CTR)
- Conversions
- Conversion rate (CR)
- Organic Traffic
- Average Position
- Referring domains
- And so on…
Let’s simplify this further.
At the most basic level, there are two core elements you should include in an SEO reporting dashboard:
- Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) – KPIs can be anything that is important to report on for your business and could include conversions, revenue, leads, orders, or any other SEO metrics
- Organic traffic performance chart – Tracking your traffic performance across the year


So, how can you create your very own SEO reporting dashboard?
One of the most popular methods is to use a tool called Google Looker Studio (GLS). Dashboard solutions like GLS integrate with many popular data sources for free out of the box, making them perfect for most websites looking to create an SEO reporting dashboard.
Here’s an example of the basic GLS connectors, with some useful ones for SEO highlighted.


Although GLS is great for small personal websites or small-medium businesses (SMBs), in my experience, enterprise businesses usually require more powerful alternatives, as they have more complex demands.
So, based on this, we can say there are three broad categories of websites you can build for:
- Small personal websites
- SMB websites
- Enterprise websites
Let’s explore these further.
Creating an Search engine optimization reporting dashboard for a small private web site is an efficient choice if you wish to monitor Search engine optimization efficiency however don’t need the trouble of logging into a lot of totally different instruments commonly.
This was the conclusion I got here to once I needed to watch my portfolio of affiliate websites with the least quantity of effort potential.
There was no manner I used to be ready to examine each single web site’s efficiency manually. So, I made a decision to create a mini Search engine optimization reporting dashboard in GLS that regarded one thing like this:


This dashboard wasn’t visually spectacular, however it was useful and displayed Search engine optimization efficiency at a look.
It mixed two knowledge sources: Periods from Google Analytics and clicks, impressions, and CTR from Google Search Console. Checking this knowledge manually is feasible, however it might be an inefficient use of time, particularly throughout multiple web site.
Having this setup meant I might:
- Spend extra time bettering the web sites relatively than obsessing over the main points and never doing something that improves efficiency
- Perceive the place to focus my efforts within the portfolio – I had many websites within the dashboard, so checking all of them wasn’t possible or environment friendly use of time
- Establish efficiency patterns between web sites—for instance, if there was a Google replace, I might get a hen’s-eye view of efficiency throughout the web site portfolio to see if there have been any widespread efficiency drops or will increase following the roll-out of the replace
- View year-over-year (YoY) comparisons: inexperienced in the event that they had been constructive and crimson in the event that they had been destructive – this fashion, I might rapidly scan many web sites and perceive whether or not Search engine optimization efficiency had elevated or decreased for every web site
- In a position to examine rapidly – in the event you’ve used GLS earlier than, you’ll know that the extra charts and visualizations you add, the longer it may take to load the web page
Despite the fact that I felt proud I’d created a minimal dashboard that saved time. I noticed afterward that I’d re-created Ahrefs’ Webmaster Tools dashboard with a few added metrics—oh dear.
Sidenote.
The advantages of using AWT for personal websites are:
- It’s free if you are a webmaster
- It’s easy to set up if you have GSC access
- You can view both GSC data and Ahrefs data


So, when creating an SEO reporting dashboard for a small personal website, it’s best to consider what metrics you want to track before you start. This will help you determine the best solution for your reporting demands.
In short:
- If it’s just GSC and for your personal use, use AWT with GSC connected
- If you want to combine multiple data sources and share with others, then use GLS
If you need more detailed GA or GSC data, you can also visualize it quickly using GLS’ dedicated community templates. I used the GSC template below to provide detailed information on each site.
Here’s how you can set this up:
How to connect Google Search Console to Google Looker Studio
If you need more data from GSC or want to visualize performance, Google Looker Studio’s Search Console templates are your friend. A pre-built Google Looker Studio community template can get you up and running in a few minutes.
To do this, log into Google Looker Studio and connect to this template:


Then click on Use my own data and Replace data.


Then, select your site from the list.


Then select either Site Impression and web or URL Impression and web, depending on your preference. I am using URL Impression and web in this example.


Click Add at the bottom right-hand corner. You’ll then probably get a pop-up—click Add to report.


Once that’s added, you should get something that looks like this but with your website’s data showing.


And there you go—your very own GSC-flavored SEO reporting dashboard.
This dashboard reports on:
- Impressions
- Clicks
- CTR
- Top Landing Pages
- Top Queries
- Device performance
- Country performance
Of course, you can customize it to your requirements, but I usually find this a good starting point for visualizing basic GSC data.
How to connect Google Analytics (GA4) to GLS
Similar to this, you can create a dedicated GA4 SEO reporting dashboard by using a GLS community template.
To do this, log into GLS and connect to this template.


Once you’ve done that, you’ll get a template that looks something like this:


If GA4 reporting is important for your business, you’ll find a good selection of metrics to explore here. Again, you can customize or add new tabs to expand or reduce the report’s scope, depending on your website’s reporting requirements.
At its most simple stage, most SMBs need to know whether or not their Search engine optimization marketing campaign is transferring positively.
In that case, you solely must share the Search engine optimization efficiency chart and the year-over-year KPIs.


It’s easy to share this utilizing Ahrefs’ Site Explorer Google Looker Studio integration.
Ahrefs’ SEO reporting dashboards
If you need more specific SEO data to report on, you might want to explore some of our other Ahrefs’ dashboards.
For example, our Site Audit dashboard is best for monitoring the technical SEO performance of any website.


This would be a useful SEO reporting dashboard for development teams to track whether site improvements have been successfully implemented.
Our Rank Tracker dashboard is best for monitoring keyword rankings in Google for any website.


The most obvious choice for an SEO reporting dashboard is the Rank Tracker template. Because it studies on positions, SERP options, opponents, tags, site visitors share, and different key phrase metrics.
This could be helpful for sharing with SMBs that need to know extra about Search engine optimization rankings and the particular efficiency of their key phrases.
With a lot Search engine optimization knowledge obtainable right here, this normally covers most of an SMB’s reporting calls for. And when you’ve got another customized knowledge you may normally embrace it via Google Sheets on a customized dashboard.
Sidenote.
The benefit of utilizing these dashboard templates is that they arrive from a trusted supply—Ahrefs—and are quick to arrange. You too can simply white-label them by changing the emblem, making them a easy, cost-effective dashboard resolution for Search engine optimization consultants and Search engine optimization businesses.
Model vs. non-brand site visitors break up
To this point, we’ve defined the fundamentals of utilizing Ahrefs’ dashboards for Search engine optimization reporting, however generally, SMBs need one thing extra particular. One space the place they usually request that is model vs. non-brand site visitors.
Rising companies need to construct their manufacturers. Monitoring whether or not they’re driving sufficient model site visitors is a part of understanding whether or not they’re doing this or not.
Though you may fiddle round with regex in GLS to get the model/non-brand break up for clicks and impressions, it’s usually sooner to make use of or modify an current Search engine optimization reporting template.
Right here’s a clean-looking GLS template created by John Reinesch that does precisely that.


This template clearly exhibits model vs. non-brand knowledge over time utilizing GSC knowledge. If the SMB you’re working with desires to watch model exercise intently, a separate model and non-brand dashboard just like the above might be a superb choice.
Tip
In contrast to SMBs and private web sites, enterprise companies face three particular Search engine optimization reporting challenges because of the scale and complexity of their operations and enterprise.
First, we’ll contemplate what the most typical Search engine optimization reporting challenges are, after which what instruments you should use for creating an enterprise Search engine optimization reporting dashboard.
Frequent enterprise reporting challenges
- Huge quantities of knowledge – Typically, a number of knowledge sources, a number of territories
- Complicated segmentation calls for – Buyer kind segmentation, behavioral segmentation, geographical segmentation
- Cross-team collaboration calls for – For instance, the C-suite ought to be capable to perceive whether or not Search engine optimization is offering a superb ROI, improvement groups must know the place to focus their efforts, advertising and marketing heads must know which channel to assign extra price range to
Let’s discover these challenges in additional element.
Huge quantities of knowledge
With GLS typically thought-about the de facto resolution for dashboard Search engine optimization reporting for SMBs and small web sites, it’s simple to imagine you could possibly roll out the identical resolution for enterprise companies. Nonetheless, this isn’t all the time potential.
On the enterprise stage, the primary main hurdle is knowledge measurement. Whereas many SMBs primarily deal with a single territory as their major supply of natural site visitors, enterprise companies are sometimes multi-territory, which immediately will increase the quantity of quantity crunching required.
One in all my former enterprise shoppers needed an Search engine optimization reporting dashboard that displayed Search engine optimization efficiency knowledge and different advertising and marketing knowledge for the highest 25 territories—it was important for his or her enterprise as a flight operator.
Whereas this stage of knowledge could also be potential to visualise with GLS, it’s usually not sensible throughout the whole enterprise web site.
Added to that is the huge quantity of knowledge sources required to report on. Though enterprise companies might have sure platforms they depend upon for core metrics, they are going to be excited by getting a second opinion from different knowledge sources, which places extra stress on a reporting platform resolution.
Complicated knowledge segmentation calls for
Knowledge segmentation at enterprise stage is normally the place issues get difficult. At its most simple stage, buyer segmentation could be achieved by geographic area, however usually, segmentation for enterprise companies goes deeper into defining, analyzing, and recording client behaviors.
For instance, efficiency evaluation could be divided into totally different geographic areas, product classes, or enterprise segments. An enterprise firm I labored with needed to know the conduct of recent and current clients, so this shaped a central a part of their Search engine optimization reporting.
Superior visualization of knowledge segments helps talk a narrative to different groups and senior stakeholders. This story might be used as a part of a enterprise case to safe extra funding in Search engine optimization. So, the visualization, in addition to the info, must be compelling.
My earlier consumer needed to know the impression of the climate on sure product classes, and to interrupt this down by the various kinds of clients that they had outlined. We used this visualization to get elevated funding in Search engine optimization for sure elements of the web site that wanted enchancment.
Cross-team collaboration calls for
Enterprise corporations work with a number of stakeholders in several groups, each internally and externally. Due to this fact, reporting platforms should be capable to accommodate knowledge sharing between many alternative groups.
- Totally different groups worth totally different metrics, so the dashboard must replicate all of those totally different reporting calls for
- Totally different groups should be capable to perceive the info that’s introduced
- Dashboards in enterprise corporations function a benchmark for efficiency, though they could be accompanied by a static report, the dashboards are sometimes used to inform a narrative a couple of web site’s efficiency in between occasions
What instruments to use
Primarily based on my expertise of working with enterprise companies, I’ve seen there are two instruments usually used to create Search engine optimization reporting dashboards on the enterprise stage: Energy BI and Tableau
Energy BI
Energy BI is a Microsoft device for creating interactive dashboards from totally different knowledge sources. It’s additionally helpful for creating Search engine optimization reporting dashboards.
Right here’s an instance of a third-party Search engine optimization reporting dashboard created in Energy BI.


By Coupler.io: Get the template here.
Energy BI’s insights and wealthy visualization choices assist inform decision-making for enterprise companies.
Listed here are the professionals and cons of Energy BI:
Execs
- Skill to hook up with varied knowledge sources like Google Analytics, Search Console, rank monitoring instruments
- Highly effective knowledge visualization capabilities
- Straightforward sharing and collaboration options to distribute studies/dashboards
- Inexpensive pricing in comparison with some BI instruments
- Good integration with Microsoft ecosystem (Excel, Azure, and many others.)
Cons
- Restricted native Search engine optimization knowledge connectors might require extra instruments or customized knowledge prep
- A steep studying curve, particularly for superior evaluation Efficiency, can degrade with very giant datasets or advanced visualizations
- The dashboard interface can seem cluttered or overwhelming for some customers
- Time-consuming to course of and rework knowledge for optimum reporting
Tableau
I used Tableau with two totally different enterprise shoppers and located that, if arrange correctly, it’s one of the crucial highly effective dashboarding instruments for Search engine optimization dashboard reporting.
It’s a fantastic selection in the event you work with an enterprise enterprise that covers a number of territories, as I did just a few years in the past.
Right here’s the overview web page from an Search engine optimization reporting dashboard that studies over 20 territories.


It might look easy, however the knowledge behind this was pulled from a number of sources, and it was simply considered one of many elements of the dashboard.
When you’re pondering of utilizing Tableau, right here’s my opinion on its execs and cons:
Execs
- Highly effective data visualization capabilities
- Vary of integrations like Google Analytics and Google Sheets
- The drag-and-drop interface makes it simple to investigate and visualize Search engine optimization knowledge with out coding
- Collaboration options permit groups to share and distribute studies/dashboards simply
- Tableau Server or Tableau On-line allows safe sharing and deployment inside the enterprise
- Helpful for a number of territory reporting – I’ve personally examined it with 20+ territories
Cons
- A steep studying curve for superior evaluation and calculations
- Restricted native Search engine optimization knowledge connectors might require extra instruments or customized knowledge prep
- Customization of visualizations could be restricted in comparison with customized options
As each of those options don’t all the time cowl every part you want, as an enterprise Search engine optimization, it’s possible you’ll want extra Search engine optimization-specific instruments to offer further particulars about their web site’s efficiency—like Ahrefs.
Combining instruments
Though Tableau and Energy BI are highly effective dashboard reporting instruments, they’ll usually be much less Search engine optimization-specific—particularly in the event that they’ve been constructed internally by the enterprise enterprise.
Combining instruments may help improve your Search engine optimization reporting by offering a second opinion. I most well-liked this feature when working with enterprise manufacturers as a result of it allowed me to achieve insights from a number of sources relatively than counting on one platform as a single supply of reality.
The shoppers I labored with had entry to Tableau and platforms like GA360 and Adobe Analytics, however to make sense of all of it, I usually returned to Search engine optimization instruments like Ahrefs to get a extra detailed Search engine optimization perspective.
Right here’s an instance of what a customized reporting resolution might seem like at its most simple stage. You need to use this to complement your current Search engine optimization reporting dashboard.


Making a dashboard like this lets you examine and distinction first and third-party knowledge and add another knowledge you have.
- First-party knowledge – Like Google Search Console and Google Analytics
- Third-party knowledge – Like Ahrefs or one other Search engine optimization device
- Customized knowledge – Like Google Sheets or another database
Tip
Remaining ideas
Creating an Search engine optimization reporting dashboard is an efficient funding for companies that need to observe their Search engine optimization efficiency, automate SEO reporting, and identify areas for improvement in their SEO campaign.
However, creating a dashboard isn’t always easy if you don’t have any experience building one. That’s why Ahrefs’ Looker Studio Integration is the perfect starting point for most businesses. With just a few clicks, you can have a fully functioning SEO reporting dashboard without the headache of designing and building one from scratch.
Got questions? Let me know on LinkedIn.