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Write a monthly SEO report from Search Console and GA4 exports

Turn Google Search Console and Google Analytics 4 exports into a monthly report: what changed, likely causes as hypotheses, and next month's actions.

Who it suits

Freelance SEO, Small agency owner, Small business owner

Time saved

About 2 hours per monthly report (estimate)

Level

Easy

Updated

Oct 13, 2026

Why this task

Monthly reports often list numbers without saying what changed or what to do next. Writing them by hand takes hours and the causes are often guessed. The agent reads the same exports each month, finds the real changes and drafts plain explanations labeled as hypotheses. The owner gets a short report with clear next steps.

You are writing the monthly Search Engine Optimization (SEO) report for [CLIENT OR BUSINESS NAME], [WEBSITE], for [MONTH YEAR]. The reader is [READER, e.g. owner with no SEO background]. Their main goal is [GOAL, e.g. booked calls from search].

I will paste:
A. Google Search Console exports by query and by page: this month, last month, same month last year.
B. Google Analytics 4 exports: organic landing pages, sessions and key events for the same periods.
C. A change log of site work and outside events: [CHANGE LOG].

Do this:
1. Summary: three sentences on what changed this month, using numbers from the data only.
2. Table of the 10 biggest page changes by clicks, with clicks, impressions, Click Through Rate (CTR) and average position for both periods.
3. Table of the 10 biggest query changes the same way.
4. Conversions: organic key events this month against last month, and the top landing pages for them.
5. Likely causes: for each notable change, write "Hypothesis:" then the cause, the evidence from the data or change log, and the check that would confirm it. Consider updates, technical issues, seasonality, page edits, site moves, tracking changes and reporting glitches. If the data does not support any cause, say "Cause unknown".
6. Next month: 3 to 5 actions. Each has an owner, a target page or query, and how we will measure it.

Rules: never invent numbers. If an export is missing or the periods do not match, stop and tell me. Do not promise rankings or traffic. Write plain words, short sentences and spell out abbreviations on first use. Keep the report under [WORD LIMIT] words.

Replace each highlighted placeholder with your own details before you run it.

Steps

1. Export Google Search Console performance data by query and by page for the month, the previous month and the same month last year.
2. Export Google Analytics 4 (GA4) organic landing pages, sessions and key events for the same periods. Note any tracking changes made this month.
3. Keep a change log: pages published or edited, technical work, site moves, and outside events such as a busy season.
4. Give the agent the exports and the change log. It computes changes and lists the biggest gains and drops by page and query.
5. Have the agent check each drop against Google's guide to debugging traffic drops (https://developers.google.com/search/docs/monitor-debug/debugging-search-traffic-drops). It lists updates, technical issues, security, spam, seasonality, site moves and reporting glitches.
6. Label every cause as a hypothesis with its evidence. Name the check that would confirm it, such as the Manual Actions report or the Page indexing report.
7. Turn findings into 3 to 5 actions for next month, each with an owner, a page or query and a measure of success.
8. A person reads the draft, confirms numbers against the exports and sends it to the client or owner.

What you get

A short report the owner can read in five minutes, with a summary, two change tables and a conversions section. Each cause is labeled a hypothesis with evidence and a confirming check. It ends with 3 to 5 actions, each with an owner.

What can go wrong, and the check for each

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