A client told me my keyword reports were 'just numbers' and it hit hard

I sent my usual monthly report to a new client in Austin, full of rankings and traffic stats. She emailed back saying, 'This is just numbers. What do they mean for my sales next quarter?' That one line made me stop. I spent the next week redoing my whole report format. Now, every data point has a short note next to it explaining the business impact, like 'This keyword moving up could bring 10 more leads a month.' Has anyone else had to totally change how they show their work?

4 comments

4 Comments

blair_torres7026d agoMost Upvoted

Remember the client is paying you to connect the dots for them. Your new format is a good step, but those short notes are still just your guesses. You need to tie the numbers directly to their actual business goals from the start. Ask them what a good month looks like in real results, then build the report to show progress toward that specific thing.

noahwood26d ago

Yeah, that back and forth is exactly why I hate writing reports sometimes.

the_jessica13d ago

Ugh, tell me about it. I spent a whole week last month redoing a client's dashboard because what they said was their "main goal" in the first meeting totally changed after they saw the first draft. It was all just website visits at first, then it switched to newsletter signups, and the data sources were completely different. Felt like I was chasing a moving target.

luna_chen826d ago

Actually, I think those short notes are more than just guesses if you know the client's history. They're based on past patterns we've already talked about. Sometimes you have to start somewhere before you can get the perfect goal from them.