1. Objective
This SOP governs the monthly SEO maintenance cycle and client reporting for a home inspector's local SEO engagement. The work of local SEO is not finished when the initial setup is complete — rankings shift, reviews slow down, technical errors appear, and competitors make moves. The monthly maintenance cycle exists to catch these issues before they compound, to keep the GBP active and current, and to give the inspector a clear view of what's working. A well-structured monthly report also demonstrates the ROI of the VA relationship and makes it easy for the inspector to understand the value being delivered.
Where this SOP starts: Month 2 of the engagement, once the initial setup work is underway. Monthly reporting runs in parallel with all active SEO work from that point forward.
Where this SOP ends: Never — this is a perpetual monthly cycle.Success looks like: The inspector receives a concise, accurate monthly report by the first week of each month. The report shows direction of travel for key metrics — up, down, or flat — with brief explanations for any notable changes. All active maintenance tasks are completed each month before the report is sent. The inspector understands their SEO progress without needing to log in to any tool themselves.
2. Your Role & Boundaries
2a. What you handle independently
- Pulling all metrics from Google Business Profile Insights and Google Search Console
- Completing all monthly maintenance tasks on the checklist
- Drafting and delivering the monthly SEO report
- Identifying issues in the data and documenting specific recommendations
2b. What requires client approval before acting
- Making changes to the GBP based on maintenance findings (example: updating service area, changing business description)
- Publishing any new content to the website
- Acting on any GSC errors that require backend or hosting access
- Responding to any reviews in the inspector's voice — review and approve responses before posting
2c. What you never do
- You never send a monthly report without first completing the maintenance checklist — the report reflects the state after maintenance, not before
- You never report a metric without context — numbers without explanation create confusion rather than trust
- You never make SEO changes and fail to document them — all changes go in the changelog section of the monthly report
3. Monthly Maintenance Checklist
Complete every item on this checklist before drafting the report. Document any issues found.
3a. Google Business Profile Maintenance
- ☐ Log in to the GBP dashboard and review for any suggested edits submitted by users (approve or reject)
- ☐ Check for any Q&A questions that haven't been answered — respond to new questions within the month
- ☐ Confirm business hours are correct (holiday hours, seasonal changes)
- ☐ Publish the month's Google Posts (if not already scheduled from SOP-HI-MKT-06)
- ☐ Check that the website URL and phone number in the GBP are still current
- ☐ Review GBP Insights: calls, direction requests, website clicks, searches (record these in the tracking spreadsheet)
- ☐ Check for any new photos added by users — flag inappropriate photos for removal if necessary
3b. Review Activity
- ☐ Count total new reviews received this month (all platforms)
- ☐ Confirm all new reviews have been responded to (SOP-HI-MKT-07)
- ☐ Calculate current average star rating on Google
- ☐ Note whether the review acquisition system is active and running — are new review requests being sent?
3c. Google Search Console Monitoring
- ☐ Check the Coverage report for any new indexing errors
- ☐ Check the Performance report for the month: total impressions, total clicks, average position, top queries, top pages
- ☐ Identify any queries where the inspector is ranking positions 5–20 — these are candidates for on-page optimization (title tag, content additions) to push into positions 1–3
- ☐ Check Core Web Vitals: are all URLs showing "Good" status?
- ☐ Check the Links section: note total external links and any new linking domains
3d. Website Health
- ☐ Run the homepage through Google PageSpeed Insights (pagespeed.web.dev) — note mobile score
- ☐ Check that all CTAs on key pages are functional (booking links, phone number click-to-call, contact forms)
- ☐ Confirm any blog posts published this month are indexed in GSC
3e. Citation Review (Quarterly — months 3, 6, 9, 12)
Every third month, spot-check Tier 1 and Tier 2 citations:
- ☐ Verify NAP is accurate on Google, Yelp, Facebook, Bing, Apple Maps
- ☐ Check for any new duplicate GBP listings (search inspector's business name in Google Maps)
- ☐ Confirm phone number and website URL are current on all checked platforms
4. Monthly Metrics to Track
Pull these numbers each month and record them in the tracking spreadsheet. Month-over-month direction matters more than any single month's number.
From Google Business Profile Insights:
| Metric | Where to Find It |
|---|---|
| Search views (Discovery vs. Direct) | Performance tab in GBP dashboard |
| Direction requests | Performance tab |
| Phone calls (from GBP) | Performance tab |
| Website clicks (from GBP) | Performance tab |
| Total GBP photos | Photos tab |
From Google Search Console:
| Metric | Where to Find It |
|---|---|
| Total impressions (last 28 days) | Performance → Search results |
| Total clicks (last 28 days) | Performance → Search results |
| Average position | Performance → Search results |
| Top 5 queries by impressions | Performance → Queries tab |
| Top 5 pages by impressions | Performance → Pages tab |
From manual review:
| Metric | Source |
|---|---|
| Total Google reviews (count) | Google Maps listing |
| New Google reviews (month) | Compare to last month's total |
| Average star rating | Google Maps listing |
| New backlinks this month | GSC Links section or link log |
5. Monthly SEO Report Format
Deliver the monthly report by the first Monday of the following month. Keep it concise — 1–2 pages maximum. The inspector doesn't need a data dump; they need a clear read on momentum.
Report Structure:
Monthly SEO Report — [Inspector Business Name]
[Month, Year]
---
HEADLINE SUMMARY
[Two to three sentences. What happened this month? Is momentum up, flat, or down? Any one thing worth highlighting?]
Example: "Organic impressions grew 18% month-over-month — the radon testing page we published last month is already generating search impressions. Phone calls from GBP held steady at [X]. Review velocity slowed slightly — only 2 new reviews versus 6 last month."
---
KEY METRICS
| Metric | This Month | Last Month | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| GBP website clicks | | | |
| GBP phone calls | | | |
| GBP direction requests | | | |
| GSC impressions | | | |
| GSC clicks | | | |
| Average position | | | |
| Total Google reviews | | | |
| New reviews (this month) | | | |
| Average star rating | | | |
---
WHAT I DID THIS MONTH
[Bullet list of work completed — one line each]
- Published 1 blog post: "[Post Title]" targeting "[keyword]"
- Responded to 3 new Google reviews
- Submitted the Overland Park location page for GSC indexing
- Outreach sent to 4 real estate agents re: preferred vendor pages
---
WHAT'S WORKING
[1–3 observations supported by the data]
- The "radon testing Kansas City" page is ranking in position 14 after 3 weeks live — approaching page 1
- Review responses are averaging under 24 hours — this is visible in the GBP and sends a positive engagement signal
---
ISSUES & RECOMMENDATIONS
[Any problems found + specific recommended action for each. If no issues, say so.]
- GSC flagged 2 pages as "Crawled - currently not indexed" — recommend reviewing page content to confirm they're substantive enough for Google to index
- Review acquisition slowed — the post-inspection text sequence may not be sending. Recommend confirming the SMS automation is active.
---
WHAT'S NEXT
[Top 2–3 priorities for next month]
1. Finish the remaining 2 location pages (Lee's Summit, Blue Springs) and submit to GSC
2. Follow up with 4 real estate agent outreach contacts from this month
3. Publish the scheduled blog post: "What to Expect During a Home Inspection"
---
CHANGES MADE THIS MONTH
[Document every SEO change made — CYA log for the engagement]
- Updated title tag on homepage from "[old]" to "[new]" on [date]
- Compressed and re-uploaded 6 images on the services page on [date]
6. Quarterly Review (Every 3 Months)
At months 3, 6, 9, and 12, expand the monthly report to include a quarterly perspective:
- Compare current month metrics to 3 months ago — is there a clear upward trend?
- Identify the top 3 keyword rankings that have improved most
- Identify any pages that are getting impressions but no clicks — optimize their title tags and meta descriptions
- Review the content calendar — are topics still aligned with the keyword list?
- Confirm the GBP service area still reflects where the inspector is actively booking
- Run a full citation spot-check (Tier 1 and Tier 2)
At month 12, present a full-year summary with before/after comparisons for all major metrics and a recommended priority stack for Year 2.
7. Escalation Protocol
Escalate when:
- Any metric drops significantly month-over-month without a clear explanation — example: GBP phone calls drop 50% in a single month
- Google Search Console shows a manual action, penalty, or sudden mass deindexing
- The inspector's average star rating drops below 4.0 due to a cluster of negative reviews
- A competitor has jumped to position 1 in the Local 3-Pack and displaced the inspector after previously being ranked below them
SEO Alert — [Inspector Name]:
[What changed and when you noticed it]
Current status: [data points that show the issue — e.g., "GBP phone calls dropped from 28 to 6 month-over-month"]
Likely cause: [your best assessment — e.g., "A competitor gained 12 new reviews in the past 30 days and may have pushed us down in the Local Pack"]
Recommended action: [e.g., "Activate a 30-day review sprint — the fastest way to recover pack position is increasing review velocity"]
What I need from you: [specific ask, if any]
I'm not making any changes until I hear from you.
8. Tools & Access
| Tool | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Google Business Profile dashboard | GBP Insights, post publishing, Q&A, suggested edits |
| Google Search Console | Coverage, performance, links, Core Web Vitals |
| Google PageSpeed Insights (pagespeed.web.dev) | Monthly mobile score check |
| SEO tracking spreadsheet | Month-over-month metrics log |
| Citation tracker (SOP-HI-MKT-12) | Quarterly citation spot-check |
| Link acquisition log (SOP-HI-MKT-13) | Monthly link count update |
9. Changelog
| Date | Notes |
|---|---|
| April 2026 | Initial release |