Article · Onboarding
SEO client onboarding checklist: access, baseline and kickoff
The first week of a retainer sets up every monthly report that follows. Here is what to request and at which permission level, what to save before you change anything, and what to agree with the client at kickoff.
In short: Full user in Search Console, Editor or Viewer on the Analytics property, Manager on the Business Profile. Save a dated baseline first. Agree goals and the tracked keyword set in writing.
Three ground rules for access
- Everyone uses their own login. Search Console, Google Analytics and Business Profile all grant access to your own Google Account, so the client never has to share a password. Apply the same rule to the website and hosting: ask for a named user, not the owner's login.
- Ask for the lowest level that covers the work. You can ask for more later.
- The client stays the owner. The business owns its properties and profile. You are a user they can remove when the engagement ends, and the history stays with them.
What to request in each tool
Use Google's role names exactly, so the client can match them on screen.
| Tool | Ask for | Why this level | Ask for more only if |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Search Console | Full user | Sees all data and can submit sitemaps and use URL Inspection fully. A Restricted user cannot submit sitemaps or removals. | You must add users or link Analytics yourself. Both need an owner. |
| Google Analytics 4 | Editor on the property; Viewer if you only report | Editor controls property settings, including data retention; the Search Console link also needs a verified owner of the Search Console property. Viewer can see data and settings but cannot change settings. | Not for managing users: that is the Administrator role, which should stay with the client. |
| Google Business Profile | Manager | Can edit business info, posts and photos, and reply to reviews. Cannot add or remove users or delete the profile. | Rarely. Owners can remove other users and delete the profile. |
| Website (CMS) | A named account with an editor-type role | Enough to change titles, copy and internal links. | You will install add-ons, change the theme or run updates. Agree who owns backups first. |
| Hosting and DNS | Usually nothing | Most retainers never touch it. | You need to verify a Search Console Domain property, set up redirects or read server logs. Often the client's developer can make the one change instead. |
Two details that cause most of the back-and-forth
Analytics: property, not account. Google's help says a user added at account level gets the same access to every property in that account, and a property cannot give someone less than the account already does. Ask to be added to your client's property only.
Search Console: which property exists. A Domain property covers every subdomain and protocol and needs DNS record verification. A URL-prefix property covers only URLs that start with that exact address, protocol included, and has several verification methods. So a URL-prefix property misses other subdomains and the http version. If you need a Domain property, that is when DNS access, or the developer, comes in.
Where the client clicks
- Search Console: Settings, then Users and permissions, then Add user. Only owners see this page, and group email addresses cannot be added.
- Google Analytics: Admin, then Access management under Property, then the plus button and Add users. Adding users takes the Administrator role.
- Business Profile: On the profile, More, then Business Profile settings, then People and access, then Add. Enter your email, choose Manager, then Invite. You must accept the invitation from your own account.
An access request email you can copy
Send it the day the contract is signed. Replace the bracketed parts and delete any line that does not apply.
Subject: Access I need to start work on [Business name]
Hi [First name],
To start, I need access to the tools below. None of them needs your password: you add my Google account, [your.name@yourdomain.com], and you stay the owner of everything.
1. Google Search Console: Settings > Users and permissions > Add user. Choose "Full".
2. Google Analytics: Admin > Access management (under Property, not Account) > + > Add users. Choose "Editor".
3. Google Business Profile: More > Business Profile settings > People and access > Add. Enter my email, choose "Manager" and select Invite.
4. Website: please create a user account for me with [editor] access, in my own name.
If you cannot find one of these, reply and we will sort it out on our kickoff call on [date]. If anyone who worked on the site before still has access, please send me their names so we can decide together whether to remove them.
Thanks,
[Your name]
Reporting only? Change "Editor" to "Viewer" in point 2. To send it automatically with three other setup emails, see automated onboarding emails.
Save a baseline before you change anything
The baseline is your "before" picture. Save it on day one, before your first change goes live, in a dated folder the client can also open.
Three Google limits make day one the right time:
- Search Console keeps 16 months of performance data. Anything older is gone unless someone saved it.
- In Google Analytics, the data retention setting (2 or 14 months on standard properties) limits what explorations and funnel reports can show. Standard reports are not affected.
- Marking an event as a key event in Analytics counts only from that point on; it does not change past data. If calls or form leads are not tracked yet, the sooner that is fixed, the sooner you have a comparison.
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Search Console performance
Set the date filter to the last 16 months and export the queries and pages tables. Note clicks, impressions and average position for the last full month as well, so your first report has a clean "before". Exports from the Search Console interface stop at 1,000 rows, so on a larger site this is a sample, not every query.
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Indexing and manual actions
Export the Page indexing report, which shows how many pages are indexed and not indexed and why, with up to 1,000 example URLs per reason. Open the Manual actions report and record whether it is clear. If it is not, that changes the whole plan. For what each reason means, see Page indexing statuses explained.
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Organic traffic and key events
In Reports, then Acquisition, then Traffic acquisition, record Organic Search sessions and key events by month, as far back as the property has data. List which key events exist and check the data retention setting. For the steps in GA4, see building an organic search report in GA4.
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Business Profile performance
For local clients, download the performance data as a spreadsheet: calls, website clicks, directions and searches, where the profile shows them. Google only shows performance data for verified profiles.
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Your own snapshot of the site
Save the current robots.txt, the sitemap addresses, a crawl export with titles and status codes, and the list of pages that bring the most search clicks. This is what you compare against if something breaks after a change.
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First rank check
Run the first check of the agreed keyword set, described below, and save it with the date, location and device. Every later movement is measured against this file.
Example: a shared folder called "Baseline 2026-11-03 – Example Dental Co." (a made-up client) with one file per step.
Kickoff questions that settle goals
Hold the call with the person who signs off on the work, then send the answers back in writing the same day.
Business and goals
- Which services, products or locations matter most this year, and which can wait?
- What counts as a result: calls, form leads, bookings, sales? Which of these can we measure today?
- Roughly what is a new customer worth to you?
- Is anything planned that affects the site: a redesign, a new domain, new locations, new services?
- What SEO work was done before, by whom, and do those people still have access?
Working together
- Who receives the monthly report, and who approves changes to the site?
- How quickly can you approve new content or technical changes, and who decides when you are away?
- Which competitors do you watch, and why those?
- Are there terms you do not want to appear for, or claims your industry does not allow?
Turn the answers into two or three numbers you will report every month. Our article on SEO KPIs for clients shows how to choose them, and the five questions in our guide show where each one fits in the report.
Agree the tracked keyword set in writing
The tracked keyword set is the short list you report on every month. It is not every term the site appears for; Search Console covers that. Our decision rules:
- Build it from the client's priorities: each priority service crossed with each place they serve, in the words their customers use.
- Map every keyword to one page. If no page fits, that is a content task, not a tracking task.
- Keep brand terms in a separate group so they do not flatter the overall picture.
- Agree the location and the device with the client. Example: a plumber serving one city and a store shipping nationwide need different settings.
- Change the set no more than once a quarter, and say so in the report when you do.
Seed the list from the Search Console queries you exported for the baseline. For how long the list should be, see how many keywords to track per client.
If you track rankings in Semrush, settle location and device before you create the campaign. As listed on 28 October 2026, its help pages say a Position Tracking campaign's original location and device cannot be changed afterwards, the entry SEO toolkit does not offer several locations or devices in one campaign, and the keyword allowance is shared by all campaigns. Setup can import keywords from Google Search Console. Costs are in our guide; setup is in Part A of the walkthrough.
Only one or two clients? The free route may be enough for now.
The onboarding checklist
| Step | Who | Done when |
|---|---|---|
| Send the access request email | You | Sent the day the contract is signed |
| Search Console: Full user | Client (owner) | The property opens in your account and you can see the performance report |
| Analytics: Editor or Viewer on the property | Client (Administrator) | The property's reports open in your account |
| Business Profile: Manager | Client, then you | You have accepted the invitation |
| Website user account | Client or developer | You log in with your own account |
| Hosting or DNS change (only if needed) | Client's developer | The record or redirect is live |
| Former contractors' access reviewed | Client | Each one removed or kept on purpose |
| Search Console linked to Analytics (optional) | Client, or you with Editor in Analytics and verified ownership in Search Console | The link shows under Admin, Product links, Search Console links |
| Baseline saved | You | Dated folder shared with the client |
| Key events checked | You and client | Each lead action is a key event, or a fix is scheduled |
| Data retention checked | You (Editor) | Set as agreed with the client |
| Kickoff call held | Both | Answers sent back in writing |
| Tracked keyword set approved | Client | Written OK on the list, location and device |
| First report date agreed | Both | It is on both calendars |
After the first week
With access, a baseline and agreed goals in place, set up the client's reporting views with our Search Console reporting setup, build the first report on the outline in our guide, and send it with the monthly report email template. When a tracked keyword falls, the baseline is what lets you explain a ranking drop with facts instead of guesses.
Sources
- Search Console permission levels and adding users: Search Console Help, managing owners, users and permissions
- Search Console Domain and URL-prefix properties: Search Console Help, add a website property
- Search Console performance report and export button: Search Console Help, performance report overview
- Search Console export row limit: Search Console Help, export data directly from a report
- "Last 16 months" date filter in the performance report: Google Search Central, debugging traffic drops
- Page indexing report: Search Console Help, Page indexing report
- Manual actions report: Search Console Help, Manual actions report
- Analytics roles (Administrator, Editor, Viewer and others): Analytics Help, access and data-restriction management
- Analytics account and property access, adding users: Analytics Help, add, edit and delete users
- Analytics data retention: Analytics Help, data retention
- Analytics key events: Analytics Help, mark events as key events
- Analytics Traffic acquisition report: Analytics Help, Traffic acquisition report
- Linking Search Console to Analytics, permissions and 16-month limit: Analytics Help, connect Search Console
- Business Profile owners and managers: Business Profile Help, add or remove owners and managers
- Business Profile performance data and download: Business Profile Help, understand your performance
- Semrush Position Tracking setup, location and device, import sources: Semrush KB 548
- Semrush Position Tracking keyword limits and multitargeting: Semrush KB 32