Creating Custom Reports

When you need to present SEO data to stakeholders or clients, generic reports rarely tell the full story. NitroShock's custom report builder lets you build custom SEO reports with your choice of metrics, charts, and data visualizations for stakeholders or clients. You control exactly what data appears, how it's visualized, and how it's branded - ensuring every report aligns with your specific needs and audience.

This guide walks you through building custom reports from scratch, selecting the right metrics for your audience, customizing visualizations and branding, and saving templates for recurring reporting needs.

Report Builder

The custom report builder gives you complete control over report structure and content. Unlike the standard report types available in the Reports tab, custom reports let you mix and match data from different sources within a single document.

Accessing the Report Builder

To access the custom report builder:

1. Navigate to your project dashboard at /project/{id}/
2. Click the Reports tab in the project navigation
3. Select Create Custom Report from the report type dropdown
4. Click New Report to launch the builder interface

The report builder opens in a dedicated workspace where you can drag, drop, and configure report components without affecting your live project data.

Understanding the Builder Interface

The builder interface consists of three main panels:

Left Sidebar - Components Panel: Contains all available report elements you can add to your report. Components are organized by category:

• Overview Metrics: High-level KPIs like total keywords tracked, average position, visibility score
• Rank Tracking: Position charts, keyword tables, ranking distribution, SERP feature tracking
• Site Audit: Issue summaries, technical SEO scores, page speed metrics, crawl statistics
• Backlinks: Referring domains, anchor text distribution, domain authority metrics
• AI Cite: Brand mention frequency, sentiment analysis, citation sources
• Keyword Research: Search volume trends, keyword difficulty distributions, opportunity keywords
• Competitor Analysis: Competitive positioning, keyword overlap, backlink gaps

Center Canvas: The working area where you build your report layout. Components dragged from the sidebar appear here. The canvas shows a live preview of how your report will look in the final PDF.

Right Panel - Settings: Configuration options for the selected component. Different components expose different settings - a position chart might let you choose the date range and number of keywords, while a keyword table lets you select columns and sorting options.

Adding Components to Your Report

To add a component:

1. Locate the desired component in the left sidebar
2. Click and drag it onto the canvas
3. Drop it where you want it to appear in the report
4. The component renders with default settings

You can add multiple instances of the same component type. This is useful when you want to show different views of the same data - for example, one keyword table filtered for branded terms and another showing non-branded keywords.

Components automatically snap to a grid system that ensures professional alignment across your report. The canvas uses a 12-column layout, and components can span full width, half width, or one-third width depending on your layout preferences.

Arranging and Organizing Components

Once components are on the canvas, you can:

Reorder Components: Drag components up or down to change their position in the report. A blue insertion line shows where the component will land when you release it.

Resize Components: Grab the resize handles on the right edge of a component to adjust its width. Available widths are full (12 columns), two-thirds (8 columns), half (6 columns), or one-third (4 columns).

Group Components: Place multiple components side-by-side by resizing them to less than full width. Two half-width components sit next to each other, creating a two-column layout for that section.

Delete Components: Click the trash icon in the top-right corner of any component to remove it from your report.

Duplicate Components: Click the duplicate icon to create a copy of a component with identical settings. This saves time when you need similar components with slight variations.

Adding Sections and Headers

Break up long reports with section headers and dividers:

Section Headers: Add a text header component from the sidebar to introduce new sections of your report. Headers support three sizes (H1, H2, H3) and can include custom text describing what the following section covers.

Text Blocks: Insert custom text blocks for commentary, analysis, or context. Text blocks support basic formatting including bold, italics, bullet points, and numbered lists.

Dividers: Add horizontal line dividers to visually separate major report sections.

Page Breaks: Force a page break before a component to ensure it starts on a new page in the PDF. This is particularly useful for keeping related components together.

Previewing Your Report

Click Preview at any time to see how your report will look as a PDF. The preview opens in a modal window showing the exact layout, fonts, colors, and spacing that will appear in the final document.

The preview uses live data from your project, so you can verify that all metrics are calculating correctly and charts are displaying the right information. If you notice issues, close the preview and adjust component settings.

Preview mode does not use credits. Only generating the final PDF charges credits based on the number of data points and pages in your report.

Metrics Selection

Choosing the right metrics ensures your report tells a clear, compelling story. Different audiences need different data points - executives care about high-level trends while SEO specialists need granular details.

Understanding Metric Categories

NitroShock organizes metrics into logical categories that align with different aspects of SEO performance:

Visibility Metrics measure how visible your site is in search results:

• Average Position: Mean ranking across all tracked keywords
• Keywords in Top 3/10/100: Count of keywords ranking in these ranges
• Estimated Traffic: Projected organic traffic based on positions and search volumes
• Visibility Score: Weighted metric accounting for position and search volume

Ranking Metrics track position changes over time:

• Position Changes: Keywords that moved up or down
• New Rankings: Keywords that entered top 100 for the first time
• Lost Rankings: Keywords that dropped out of top 100
• Ranking Distribution: Histogram showing how many keywords rank in each position range

Technical Health Metrics reveal site quality issues:

• Audit Score: Overall technical SEO score (0-100)
• Critical Issues: Count of high-priority problems requiring immediate attention
• Warning Issues: Medium-priority items that should be addressed
• Pages Crawled: Total pages analyzed in the most recent audit
• Core Web Vitals: LCP, FID, CLS scores from Lighthouse

Authority Metrics indicate domain strength and credibility:

• Total Backlinks: All incoming links to your domain
• Referring Domains: Unique domains linking to you
• Domain Authority: Composite score predicting ranking ability
• Toxic Link Ratio: Percentage of backlinks flagged as low-quality or spammy

AI Visibility Metrics track presence in AI-generated content:

• Total AI Mentions: Times your brand appears in AI responses
• Citation Rate: Percentage of relevant queries where you're cited
• Sentiment Score: Overall sentiment of AI-generated mentions (positive, neutral, negative)
• Competitor Mention Gap: How often competitors are mentioned vs. your brand

 

Selecting Metrics for Different Audiences

Executive Reports should focus on business impact:

• Estimated traffic trends (shows potential customer reach)
• Visibility score over time (single number that summarizes progress)
• Keywords in top 10 (indicates strong competitive positions)
• Year-over-year or quarter-over-quarter comparisons (demonstrates ROI)

Keep executive reports concise - 2-4 pages maximum. Use large, clear charts with minimal technical jargon. Include brief text blocks explaining what the metrics mean for business goals.

Client Reports should balance results with education:

• Position changes with highlighted wins (celebrates progress)
• Ranking distribution showing movement toward top positions (visualizes improvement)
• Technical issues resolved since last report (demonstrates ongoing value)
• Competitor comparison showing where you're gaining ground (provides competitive context)

Client reports typically run 6-10 pages. Include more detail than executive reports but still prioritize clarity over comprehensiveness. Add text blocks explaining the significance of changes and next steps.

Internal Team Reports can include granular technical details:

• Individual keyword performance tables with all tracked keywords
• Detailed technical audit issues organized by category
• Backlink acquisition and loss tracking
• Specific SERP feature presence (featured snippets, PAA boxes, local packs)
• Page-level performance for key landing pages

Internal reports often run 15-25 pages since the audience has the expertise to interpret detailed data. Include raw numbers, percentage changes, and drill-down tables that enable deep analysis.

Configuring Metric Display Settings

Each metric component exposes configuration options in the right panel:

Date Range: Choose what time period the metric covers. Options include:

• Last 7 days, 30 days, 90 days, 12 months
• Custom date range (select specific start and end dates)
• Comparison mode (compare two time periods side by side)

Visualization Type: Many metrics can display as different chart types:

• Line Charts: Best for showing trends over time
• Bar Charts: Good for comparing categories or time periods
• Tables: Present exact numbers when precision matters
• Scorecards: Large numbers with context (change vs. previous period)

Filters: Narrow metrics to specific subsets of data:

• Keyword filters (branded vs. non-branded, by search intent, by keyword tag)
• Device filters (desktop vs. mobile rankings)
• Location filters (specific cities or countries being tracked)
• Competitor filters (show only keywords where specific competitors rank)

Sorting and Limits: For table components, control what data appears:

• Sort by position, change, search volume, or difficulty
• Limit tables to top N results (top 10 keywords, biggest movers, etc.)
• Show only keywords meeting certain criteria (position improved, ranking in top 10)

 

Creating Calculated Metrics

Some components let you create custom calculated metrics by combining base metrics:

Visibility-Weighted Traffic: Multiply estimated traffic by average position to get a metric that accounts for both volume and ranking quality.

Issue Resolution Rate: Divide technical issues resolved by total issues identified to show audit improvement progress.

Backlink Growth Rate: Calculate the percentage change in referring domains period over period.

Competitive Position Ratio: Show your average position divided by competitors' average positions for shared keywords.

While these calculated metrics require more setup, they can provide unique insights tailored to your specific reporting needs.

Customization

Custom branding and visual styling ensure reports feel like natural extensions of your brand or your client's brand.

Applying Brand Profiles

Brand profiles contain your logo, color scheme, contact information, and other branding elements. To apply a brand profile to your custom report:

1. In the report builder, click Branding in the top toolbar
2. Select an existing brand profile from the dropdown
3. The report preview updates to show your branded elements

If you haven't created a brand profile yet:

1. Navigate to Account Dashboard → Branding tab
2. Click New Brand Profile
3. Upload your logo (PNG or JPG, recommended size 300x80 pixels)
4. Set primary and secondary brand colors (used for charts and accents)
5. Add company name, website, and contact details for the report footer
6. Save the profile

You can create multiple brand profiles - useful for agencies managing reports for different clients. Each report can use a different profile, letting you maintain consistent branding for each stakeholder.

Customizing Colors and Charts

Beyond the brand profile colors, you can customize individual chart colors:

Chart Color Schemes: Click on any chart component and select from preset color schemes in the right panel:

• Brand Colors: Uses your primary and secondary brand colors
• Professional: Blue and gray tones suitable for corporate reports
• High Contrast: Bold colors that differentiate clearly
• Custom: Select specific colors for each data series

Chart Styles: Modify visual aspects of charts:

• Line thickness: Make trend lines thicker or thinner
• Grid lines: Show or hide background grid for easier reading
• Data labels: Display actual values on chart points
• Legend position: Place legends at top, bottom, left, or right

Color Coding: Some components support conditional color coding. For example, keyword tables can highlight:

• Position improvements in green
• Position drops in red
• Keywords ranking in top 3 in bold

 

Customizing Layout and Spacing

Fine-tune the visual flow of your report:

Margins and Padding: Adjust spacing around components using the spacing controls. Options range from compact (minimal whitespace) to spacious (generous padding between sections).

Column Gaps: When placing components side-by-side, control the gap width between columns.

Component Backgrounds: Add subtle background colors to specific components to make them stand out. This works well for highlighting key achievements or important findings.

Typography: While the base font follows your brand profile, you can adjust:

• Header sizes and weights
• Table font sizes
• Text block formatting

 

Adding Custom Commentary

Reports become more valuable when they include interpretation and recommendations:

Text Blocks: Add commentary before or after data components to explain:

• What the data shows
• Why changes occurred
• What actions you're taking in response
• What the client or stakeholder should understand about the results

Annotations: Click any chart to add annotation markers that highlight specific points of interest. Annotations include a small icon on the chart and a text explanation below.

Custom Tables: Create tables that don't pull from system data - useful for:

• Action item lists
• Strategic recommendations
• Project timelines
• Contact information for questions

 

Configuring Report Metadata

Set document-level properties in the Report Settings panel:

Report Title: Appears on the cover page and PDF filename.

Report Period: Displayed prominently on the cover page (e.g., "Monthly Report - November 2024").

Prepared For: Client or stakeholder name shown on the cover page.

Prepared By: Your name or agency name.

Report Description: Optional summary text that appears on the cover page below the title.

Page Numbering: Show or hide page numbers in the footer.

Table of Contents: Auto-generate a table of contents based on your section headers.

White-Label Options

For agencies, white-label settings remove any NitroShock branding:

Footer Branding: Replace "Powered by NitroShock" with your agency branding.

Report Styling: Use only your brand colors and fonts throughout, with no NitroShock visual elements.

Data Source Attribution: Show data sources as generic "SEO Data Platform" rather than mentioning NitroShock by name.

White-label options are available on Agency and Enterprise plans. They apply at the brand profile level, so reports using that profile automatically get white-label treatment.

Templates

Once you've built a custom report you like, save it as a template to reuse for future reporting cycles.

Creating Report Templates

To save your custom report as a template:

1. Build and preview your report in the report builder
2. Click Save as Template in the top toolbar
3. Enter a template name (e.g., "Monthly Client Report", "Executive Summary")
4. Add an optional description explaining what the template is for
5. Choose template visibility:

- Private: Only you can use this template
- Team: All team members can access it
- Project: Anyone with access to this project can use it

1. Click Save Template

The template preserves:

• All components and their arrangement
• Component settings (date ranges, filters, sorting)
• Layout and spacing configurations
• Custom text blocks and commentary
• Color schemes and chart styles

Templates do NOT save:

• Specific brand profiles (you select the brand when generating from template)
• Actual data (data is pulled fresh when generating the report)
• Date ranges (you can configure these when using the template)

Using Saved Templates

To generate a report from a saved template:

1. Navigate to the Reports tab in any project
2. Click New Report
3. Select From Template from the dropdown
4. Choose your saved template from the list
5. Configure dynamic settings:

- Date range for the report period
- Brand profile to apply
- Any component-specific filters

1. Click Generate Report

The system pulls current data from the project, applies it to the template structure, and generates your PDF. This process uses credits based on the number of components and data points in your template.

Template Management

Manage your saved templates from Account Dashboard → Reports → Templates:

Edit Template: Update the components, layout, or settings of an existing template. This doesn't affect reports already generated - only future reports using the template.

Duplicate Template: Create a copy of a template to use as a starting point for variations. For example, duplicate your monthly client report to create a quarterly version with longer date ranges.

Delete Template: Remove templates you no longer need. This doesn't affect existing reports generated from the template.

Template Categories: Organize templates into folders or categories for easier management:

• Client Reports
• Internal Reports
• Executive Summaries
• Audit Reports

 

Template Best Practices

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