Adding clients

What this is

Open the client switcher in the top bar and choose Add client. A short wizard collects the essentials, creates the client workspace, makes you head-of-seo on it, seeds the default reporting cadences, and drops you on the new client’s Overview. Team invites and report recipients are deliberately not in this flow — both are managed from Settings afterwards.

Before you start

• The client’s name and domain (the only two required fields).
• Ideally: the Search Console property string and Plausible site ID — see Connecting data for the exact formats.

The 4 steps

1. New client — name, domain, and time zone.
2. Connect data — record the Search Console property and Plausible site ID, and choose whether to enable the SeoSwift site crawler (“Connects automatically and starts the first crawl.”). More sources can be connected later in Settings → Integrations.
3. Set a goal — optionally define the first OKR (objective + key result). Skippable.
4. Review — confirm the summary and press Create client.

What a client workspace contains

Every client gets the same sidebar: Analytics (Overview, Traffic, Performance), SEO (Keywords, Clusters, Share of Voice, Backlinks), client-scoped Workflow views (Alerts, Agreements), and Tools (Site Health). OKRs, Scorecards, and Reports span all your clients from the same sidebar.

What happens automatically

• With the crawler toggle on, SeoKestrel connects the client to SeoSwift in the background right after creation — you’ll see “Connecting SeoSwift in the background — the first crawl starts automatically.” If SeoSwift declines (plan limits) or is unreachable, nothing breaks: the integration stays disconnected with a retryable Connect button in Settings → Integrations.
• Recording a Search Console property or Plausible site ID marks that source connected, and the nightly ingestion starts picking the client up on its next run.

The demo client: Aurora Trail Co.

Every account — including brand-new ones — sees a client named Aurora Trail Co. (Demo) in the switcher: a fictional Nordic outdoor gear shop with a full year of sample rankings, traffic, backlinks, and site-health data. It exists so you can explore every screen with realistic numbers before your own data lands.

• You have viewer access to it; it is granted automatically at sign-up.
• It is read-only — you cannot add keywords, edit settings, or change its data. Where you try, the UI says so plainly (“The demo client is read-only.”).
• Everything in it is generated sample data — no real company is involved.

Good to know

• Each client’s short URL name must be unique — a duplicate is rejected with “Client slug already in use”. Pick a different name or set the slug yourself.
• The SeoSwift toggle only records an opt-in during the wizard; the actual connection is made after the client exists, so a crawler hiccup can never eat your new client.

FAQ

The wizard says "Adding new domains is currently disabled for your account". Why?

An administrator has switched off new-domain creation for your account. Ask them to re-enable it — the exact message ends "ask your administrator for access" for a reason.

I skipped Search Console and the goal. Is the client broken?

No. Only the name and domain are required. Data sources can be added any time from Settings → Integrations, and goals from the OKRs page.

Can I delete the demo client from my switcher?

No — it is a shared, read-only workspace that every account sees, and it stays in the switcher.