What should a monthly report from our web person actually tell us?
Three things, in plain words: what happened (enquiries, calls and bookings per location, compared with last month and last year), why (what changed in search, in AI answers, on the site), and what's being done about it next month. If a report is twelve pages of charts and you finish it not knowing whether to be pleased, it isn't a report; it's a dashboard export.
You’re paying for outcomes. The report should be about outcomes, and short enough to read at the start of a meeting.
What happened
Enquiries, calls and bookings, per location, this month against last month and against the same month last year (seasonal businesses need the year comparison or every winter looks like a disaster). Where they came from: search, map results, AI assistants, direct, referrals. Two or three numbers per branch, not twenty.
Why
The explanation behind the numbers. “Orillia is up because the location page started ranking for ‘septic pumping Orillia’ in week two.” “Barrie dipped because a competitor opened a yard and took the map slot; here’s what we’re doing.” “ChatGPT now names us for portable toilet rental in Simcoe County; it didn’t in August.” This is the part that takes judgement, and it’s the part most reports skip.
What’s next
One to three specific actions for the coming month, each tied to a number above. “Write the Midland page; it’s the only branch without one.” “Ask the Orillia team to start requesting reviews; the profile has four.” Sometimes the honest action is “nothing; it’s working, don’t touch it”.
What it shouldn’t be
Rankings for fifty keywords. Bounce rate. Sessions with no outcome attached. Screenshots of tools. Anything you have to interpret yourself. Anything over two pages.
What mine look like
Three paragraphs and a small table. What moved, why, what I’m doing. If you read it in three minutes and know whether to be pleased, it’s done its job.