The monthly update is the one document that tells you whether the service is worth its fee. We keep it short and put the numbers that matter at the top, because an owner reading it at 9 p.m. after a full day of calls should not need a glossary.
What every update contains
Each update follows the same three-part order, whatever the plan.
- What we did. The pages published, profile updates, campaign changes and fixes from the period, listed plainly so you can check them.
- What it produced. Calls, texts and email enquiries by source, booked jobs where your office shares them, and cost per booked job for paid campaigns.
- What changes next. The two or three priorities for the coming period, and anything we need from you.
Supporting detail follows: search terms, ranking movement, page-by-page traffic, and the competitor comparison from your free trial benchmark, refreshed.
How the plans differ
| Plan | Reporting | Extra |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | Monthly reporting | Call, text or email us with questions any time |
| Growth | Weekly reporting | Faster course corrections during peak season |
| Elite | Real-time dashboard and custom reporting | Monthly strategy calls and a dedicated account manager |
Weekly reporting on Growth matters most in the busy months. When a cold snap arrives in November, a week is a long time to wait before noticing that a campaign has stopped bringing calls.
Who it suits
Reporting is part of every plan, but it is most valuable for owners who have been burned before: the ones who paid an agency for a year and received pages of impressions while the phone stayed quiet. If that is you, read our numbers against your own dispatch records for the first few months. We would rather you check than trust.
How to check the numbers yourself
You don't need to be technical to audit a marketing update. Three checks take about fifteen minutes:
- Spot-check calls. Pick five calls attributed to Google Ads and find them in your call log or dispatch system. Were they real customers in your area?
- Match the spend. Compare the ad spend we list with the charges on your statement from Google and Meta.
- Follow the work. Open two of the pages we say were published. Do they exist, and are they about your services and towns?
If those checks fail, something is wrong, and you should raise it the same day. Our guide to evaluating a marketing trial applies the same approach to the first week.
What we measure, in order of importance
- Booked jobs and the cost per booked job
- Calls, texts and email enquiries, by source
- Your office's booking rate, where you share it
- Search visibility for the services and towns in your plan
- Website speed and conversion rate
Traffic, clicks and impressions are useful context. They are never the headline. A month with fewer visitors and more booked jobs is a good month.
What a month-three update looks like, in outline
Month three is usually the first update with a full month of clean data behind it, so it is a good example of the format.
- Top line: 41 tracked calls, 6 texts, 3 email enquiries; 19 booked jobs reported by your office; ad cost per booked job $118.
- What we did: four new service pages, two area pages, Business Profile categories corrected, negative keywords added after we found spend on "furnace parts" searches.
- What it produced: organic calls up on the previous month, mostly to the new heat pump page; paid calls steady.
- What changes next: move a slice of budget from the AC campaign into furnace replacement before the first cold week; publish the maintenance plan page.
The figures above are illustrative, not a client's results. The point is the shape: numbers first, work second, plan third, all on one screen.
Mistakes owners make with marketing updates
- Not sharing booked-job data. Without it, we can count calls but not profit.
- Reading only the summary. Spend five minutes on "what we did" and check that it is real.
- Changing course every month. Search work needs time; look for trends over a quarter.
Reporting ties together local SEO and ads management. The about page explains who prepares the numbers and how we work.
Frequently asked questions
How often will I get an update?
It depends on the plan: a monthly report on Starter, weekly reporting on Growth, and a real-time dashboard with custom reporting on Elite. Elite also includes monthly strategy calls.
Can I call to go through the numbers?
Yes. Call, text or email with any question about your numbers and a senior strategist will go through them with you. Awkward questions are welcome.
What if a month goes badly?
The update says so in its first lines, explains why if we know, and states what we are changing. Hiding a bad month does more damage than the bad month itself.
Do I get access to the raw data?
Yes. Your analytics, Business Profile and ad accounts are in your company's name, so you can look at the underlying numbers yourself whenever you want.