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Offering monthly rankings reports has been historically one of the key methods SEO agencies use to prove they are performing well.
But are they worthwhile?
A good campaign might start off with by the SEO company agreeing with the client on a list of keywords that the client would like to target.
This keyword list can then be refined according to likely search volumes and profitability and a final keyword list is created.
Every month the SEO company can then deliver a report showing that the rankings are getting better and better across all the keywords.
The client is happy that targets are being met and the SEO company is happy to be able to prove they are performing.
The problem is that rankings are a poor measure of success and most companies want hard ROI data rather than rankings reports.
Most e-commerce sites would much prefer a monthly report showing how they had earned £7000 from a particular keyword last month but that the keyword is now earning £9000.
This data is far more valuable than the fact a ranking has changed from 5th to 4th.
I have worked on sites that have been able to dramatically improve revenue without improving the rankings purely by making changes to encourage Google users to click on the search results.
Things like compelling titles and interesting snippets can make all the difference in competitive niches.
This month try to make sure you are looking at all the information about your site rather than just a snapshot rankings report.
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They can provide a useful performance benchmark, and act as a reminder to clients and agency for the need to act on recommendations and link strategies to target new keywords. Your referring keyword reports from web analytics don't show you the keywords that aren't working for you in the same way that position reports can.
However, they're are just one piece of the jigsaw. Agencies and inhouse teams should be drawing on all useful performance indicators. Positions are one; typically onsite traffic and actions/conversions are more insightful, not to mention resulting actions that occur offsite (e.g. store visits, phone calls, etc.).
These articles that crop up every now and then stating how position reports are dead would be far more useful if they stressed the importance of a balance of performance indicators rather than "this one is bad for all, this other one is good".