Use the same definitions each month. A short report that distinguishes search visibility, visits, and received inquiries is more useful than a large dashboard that treats them as the same result.
Start with what changed
Record the pages edited, campaigns launched, outages, and seasonal events. Note changes to tracking itself. Otherwise a jump caused by a new tag may look like a jump in customers.
Keep the log short enough to maintain: date, change, reason, and owner. The record supplies context when you compare periods later.
Review queries and landing pages
Separate business-name searches from broader service searches in Search Console. Check which pages appear for the queries relevant to the work you want. Compare like periods where seasonality matters.
Review the reports available in your property. Our September 2026 Search Console review included a separate Generative AI features beta report showing impressions, alongside the broader Web report. Keep each report’s label, date range, and metric definition attached to its figures. Do not relabel all Google traffic as AI traffic, or impressions as visits. Identifiable referrals from other systems can be reviewed where your analytics records them.
Match events to received inquiries
Check whether successful form events correspond to saved or delivered messages. Count phone taps separately from connected calls unless you have the records to establish the connection.
Review inquiry quality privately: was it for the right service and area, and did the business respond? Public case studies should use appropriate aggregate figures without exposing customer details.
Write one conclusion with its evidence
“Relevant service queries increased during this period” is narrower than “the campaign generated sales.” State the observation you can support and the next thing to investigate.
Our Oregon RV Outlet case study shows dated evidence without describing every number as a sales result. Read the metric definitions when setting up the report.
Copy this monthly report structure
- Period and comparison: exact dates and why the comparison is appropriate.
- Changes: pages published, campaigns sent, outages, tracking changes or seasonal events.
- Discovery: relevant queries and landing pages in Search Console.
- Visits: available source and landing-page information from analytics.
- Inquiries: received records, separated from button taps or attempted submissions.
- Decision: one action, its owner, and the evidence supporting it.
For an inventory website, a useful question is whether visitors reach individual listings and ask about identifiable units. A homepage traffic total alone cannot answer it. The measurement guide explains why search impressions, visits and inquiries should remain separate.
If tracking was added halfway through the month, mark that break. Do not compare the incomplete period with a full month and call the difference growth or decline.
I run Good Creations in Grants Pass. I work directly with business owners on website design, content, and search. My work includes service writing, inventory websites, and custom publishing tools.
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