Hi there, and welcome to the 12th issue of the Outranked SEO newsletter.
In this issue, I’m sharing the insights of five experienced in-house SEOs on what stakeholders actually want to see included in SEO reports.
I recently spoke with Lee McCoy (Group Head of SEO at N Brown Group), Scott Salter (SEO & Content Manager at Gymshark), Hemanth Balaji (Head of SEO at Frasers Group), Adam Rowley (Head of SEO at TrustedHousesitters) and Helen Pollitt (Director of SEO at Getty Images) to learn:
- What non-SEO stakeholders actually want to see in reports
- How to tailor reporting to different internal teams
- How to show the value of long-term SEO work
- What to stop reporting on entirely
- How to build reports that speak in business outcomes, not search metrics
You can check out the full write up here, or keep reading for a summary.
Let’s get into it.
Most SEO reports don't answer the questions the board is asking...
Let’s be honest; most SEO reports are built for other SEOs, not for stakeholders.
The exec team doesn’t care how many tickets you shipped or how many links you built.
They care about growth. About impact. And about outcomes.
Stakeholders want to know:
- Are we growing?
- Are we visible where it matters?
- Are we acquiring customers cost-effectively?
- Are we making money?
Your job is to translate SEO activity into business outcomes.
Don’t show what you did. Show what the business gained.
And make sure you're giving the right context, not overwhelming the reader with information overload.
Scott Salter, SEO & Content Manager at Gymshark, says:
The number one thing that falls flat when reporting SEO is presenting a wall of data without any context.
The numbers in isolation mean little to senior leaders, who don’t have the time to be in the weeds.
You need to provide context and add some storytelling to your reporting to support the data.
Helen Pollitt, Director of SEO at Getty Images, backs this up:
SEO reports usually fall flat when they sit in the two extremes of reporting; too much focus on SEO-only metrics or going too surface level and not providing context.
What’s often missing is narrative.
And when reporting misses the mark, the consequences are real: SEO loses visibility, stakeholders disengage and budgets get squeezed. And the channel risks being misunderstood as low-impact or inconsistent.
If your SEO report doesn’t speak to a stakeholder’s priorities, it won’t get read, let alone acted on.
That’s the unvarnished truth at the heart of every effective in-house SEO reporting system: it’s not about showcasing what you did. It’s about proving what the business gained.
Across every expert I interviewed, the answer to “what do stakeholders really want to see?” was surprisingly consistent.
Whether it’s the CMO, the CFO, or a Head of Trading, the same themes come up again and again: outcomes over outputs, simplicity over complexity, and clarity over comprehensiveness.
Report on the metrics that map to business goals & make it executive-friendly...
As Adam Rowley, Head of SEO at TrustedHousesitters, puts it:
Non-SEO stakeholders are generally concerned with outcomes rather than activities. They want to know if we’re growing and meeting our targets for revenue, traffic, and acquisitions.
They want to understand how the work we’re doing in the SEO team is contributing to business goals, and whether there are any potential risks or opportunities on the horizon.
And don't be afraid to keep it simple and focussed.
You don’t need 40 slides.
Instead, build a short narrative around:
- What changed
- Why it matters
- What you’re doing next
Avoid jargon. Use visuals and make it executive-friendly.
It’s not just about what the numbers say, it’s about what they mean and what happens next.
Helen puts it perfectly:
It’s all about showing non-SEO stakeholders the “why” and the “what next” from the data, not just an evaluation of what’s currently happening.
They want to understand how the SEO team’s activity, or even their own activity, should change as a result of the insight you are providing.
This turns the report from “data” to “intelligence”
The most valuable reports are the ones that clearly align with broader business priorities.
SEO can’t be seen as a silo. It needs to show how it’s helping the business hit its biggest goals; whether that’s growing a new category, increasing margin, or reducing reliance on paid media.
Hemanth outlines the key things leadership is looking for:
- Organic revenue contribution
- SEO ROI (relative to investment in tools, headcount, agency support)
- Share of voice gains across commercial terms
And crucially, how SEO is supporting broader business goals (e.g. growing a category, improving margin or reducing reliance on paid).
Show the business impact first, then explain SEO’s role...
Too many reports start with rankings, traffic, or technical metrics and hope stakeholders can connect the dots.
Flip it.
Start with the outcome.
Begin where the business is already paying attention; revenue, acquisitions, margin, and only then trace the path back to what SEO has contributed.
That’s the kind of reporting that gets read in the boardroom. It doesn’t just show what changed in the SERPs, it shows how that change matters to the bottom line.
There's a lot more in the full write up, check it out here.
The takeaway…
A great SEO report doesn’t just prove what happened. It helps others make better decisions.
It builds understanding. It shapes perception and over time, it positions SEO as a core lever of business performance, not a siloed specialty.
So before you hit send on your next update, ask yourself:
- Does this help stakeholders see how SEO is contributing to business goals?
- Does it create clarity, not complexity?
- Does it show momentum and learning, not just activity?
- Does it build trust, visibility, and influence?
If the answer’s yes, you’re not just reporting on SEO.
You’re leading it.
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If you learned something from this issue or it’s made you think about SEO a little differently, please consider forwarding it to someone else on your team.
I’m on a mission to make sure more SEO investment actually has an impact on real business metrics.
Appreciate you making it to the end; same time next week?
- James Brockbank
P.S. If you ever need expert support with SEO or digital PR and want to drive results that actually matter, I’d love to chat. Let’s talk.
📌 This week’s bookmarks:
I've been out of the office on annual leave this week so scheduled this issue in advance ... these bookmarks will return when I'm back from my holiday!
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👋 Hi, I'm James...
Managing Director & Founder at Digitaloft.
I've spent the last 10 years building an agency that's perfectly positioned to help ambitious brands to drive real business growth from SEO and digital PR.
You might have seen me speaking at events like BrightonSEO, SMX and the International Search Summit.
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