Chapter 9 of 9 · Learn
The monthly report that keeps the care plan
5 min read · Last checked
What you'll learn
- Explain what a score of 70 means and what it does not
- Write a report in three paragraphs and under 200 words
- Show a score trend instead of a list of tasks
A client on a care plan eventually asks what they are paying for. The monthly report is the answer. This chapter is about what a score means so you can explain it honestly, and about turning a before and after issue list into an email a client will read to the end.
What a score of 70 means, and what it does not
Bluprent's audit gives a site a score from 0 to 100. It is a weighted average of four categories: Technical and Content at 30% each, Performance at 25%, and Mobile and metadata at 15%. Each category starts at 100 and loses 15 points per critical issue and 5 per warning, and Performance is the average PageSpeed score. A 70 therefore says the site has a handful of issues worth fixing. It does not say anything about rankings, visitors or leads. It measures hygiene: whether the site is in a state where search engines can read it.
That is why you should never promise a client a ranking from a score. You can promise that the problems the audit found were fixed, and show the number moving. Be exact about what a fix is worth, because the arithmetic is simple, and clients like it:
| You fix | Category gains | Overall score gains |
|---|---|---|
| One critical Technical issue | 15 | about 4.5 |
| One Content warning | 5 | about 1.5 |
| One Mobile and metadata warning | 5 | about 0.75 |
| Performance average up 10 points | 10 | about 2.5 |
| Any info-level issue | 0 | 0 |
These assume all four categories have a score. Two things follow. Fixing the same issue on more pages does not raise the score further, and clearing info issues never raises it, so a month of small fixes can leave the number flat. When that happens, say so in the report and say what the work was.
The three-paragraph report
A client does not want the issue list. They want three things, in this order:
- What we found. The one or two problems that mattered, in their words.
- What we fixed. What changed on the site, and the score before and after.
- What is next. What you will do next month, and one thing you need from them.
Keep it under 200 words. Use the score once. Do not say traffic or rankings improved unless Search Console shows it for the same period, and even then say what you saw, not what you caused.
The monthly update email
Write the monthly SEO update email to {client contact name} at {business}.
Audit before: score {x}. Main issues: {list, with severity}
Audit after: score {y}. Main issues: {list}
Work done this month: {list}
Planned for next month: {list}
Rules:
- Three short paragraphs: what we found, what we fixed, what is next. Under 200 words.
- Plain words a {trade} owner uses. Don't use terms like canonical, schema or LCP unless you explain them in a few words.
- Mention the score once, before and after.
- Do not claim more visitors, calls or rankings. Say only what changed on the site.
- End with one question or one thing I need from them. What a finished report looks like
An example for a placeholder client. An assistant drafted it and a person edited it:
Hi Sam,
This month's check found two problems on the site. Eleven pages had the same title, so search results showed them as copies of each other. The "Contact" link in the menu also led to an error page.
We gave each page its own title and fixed the link. The site's health score went from 64 to 70. Visitors and calls did not change this month and we are not claiming they did. These fixes remove obstacles, and Search Console will show over the next two months whether they matter.
Next month we will add short descriptions to the five pages that have none. Could you send me the three services you most want new customers to ask about?
Alex
It runs about 120 words. It names two problems, says what changed, says what did not, and ends with one question the client can answer in a minute.
When a client asks about a line in the report, this one explains it without jargon:
Explain one finding
Explain this audit finding to a {trade} business owner in two sentences: what it means for the people who use their website, and what we did about it. No jargon.
Finding: {issue title and description}
What we did: {the fix} Read every number in the draft against the audit before you send. Assistants sometimes copy a number wrongly or round one that was awkward, and you are the one signing the email.
Where the report lives
The report is one of the things that makes a care plan visible. A report that arrives by email is read once. A trend line the client can open any time is read more often, and Bluprent's client portal shows each site's score trend next to its uptime and the updates performed. The method works without it. Keep the before and after lists, and put the numbers in a spreadsheet if that is all you have.
Don't bother with
- A 20-page PDF. No client reads it. Three paragraphs and a number.
- Reporting every info-level item. They cost nothing in the score, and a long list hides the one fix that mattered.
- Sending what the assistant wrote unread. It is a draft.
- Promising a score. Promise the work.
Next
- Back to all chapters
- All 44 checks and the exact scoring formula
- Google Search Console, for the traffic numbers the audit does not have