Google Search to Mailjet, SERP reports sent clean
You grab a keyword, Google it, copy the top results, paste into a doc, try to make it presentable, then do it again next week. It’s not “hard” work. It’s just the kind that quietly steals your time and focus.
SEO consultants feel it when clients ask for “just a quick SERP snapshot.” Marketing managers feel it when leadership wants weekly updates. Founders end up doing it too, because nobody wants to pay for another tool. This SERP report automation turns that whole mess into a clean email report you can send in minutes.
Below you’ll see exactly what the workflow does, what you need to run it, and what kind of time you can expect to get back once it’s live.
How This Automation Works
The full n8n workflow, from trigger to final output:
n8n Workflow Template: Google Search to Mailjet, SERP reports sent clean
flowchart LR
subgraph sg0["Start Flow"]
direction LR
n0["<div style='background:#f5f5f5;padding:10px;border-radius:8px;display:inline-block;border:1px solid #e0e0e0'><img src='https://flowpast.com/wp-content/uploads/n8n-workflow-icons/code.svg' width='40' height='40' /></div><br/>Build HTML Data Tables"]
n1["<div style='background:#f5f5f5;padding:10px;border-radius:8px;display:inline-block;border:1px solid #e0e0e0'><img src='https://flowpast.com/wp-content/uploads/n8n-workflow-icons/code.svg' width='40' height='40' /></div><br/>Assign Valid Values"]
n2["<div style='background:#f5f5f5;padding:10px;border-radius:8px;display:inline-block;border:1px solid #e0e0e0'><img src='https://flowpast.com/wp-content/uploads/n8n-workflow-icons/httprequest.dark.svg' width='40' height='40' /></div><br/>Scrape Google SERPs"]
n3["<div style='background:#f5f5f5;padding:10px;border-radius:8px;display:inline-block;border:1px solid #e0e0e0'><img src='https://flowpast.com/wp-content/uploads/n8n-workflow-icons/form.svg' width='40' height='40' /></div><br/>Start"]
n4["<div style='background:#f5f5f5;padding:10px;border-radius:8px;display:inline-block;border:1px solid #e0e0e0'><img src='https://flowpast.com/wp-content/uploads/n8n-workflow-icons/code.svg' width='40' height='40' /></div><br/>Build CSV Data Tables"]
n5@{ icon: "mdi:cog", form: "rounded", label: "Download SEO Report", pos: "b", h: 48 }
n6["<div style='background:#f5f5f5;padding:10px;border-radius:8px;display:inline-block;border:1px solid #e0e0e0'><img src='https://flowpast.com/wp-content/uploads/n8n-workflow-icons/mailjet.svg' width='40' height='40' /></div><br/>Mail SEO Report"]
n3 --> n1
n1 --> n2
n2 --> n0
n2 --> n4
n4 --> n5
n0 --> n6
end
%% Styling
classDef trigger fill:#e8f5e9,stroke:#388e3c,stroke-width:2px
classDef ai fill:#e3f2fd,stroke:#1976d2,stroke-width:2px
classDef aiModel fill:#e8eaf6,stroke:#3f51b5,stroke-width:2px
classDef decision fill:#fff8e1,stroke:#f9a825,stroke-width:2px
classDef database fill:#fce4ec,stroke:#c2185b,stroke-width:2px
classDef api fill:#fff3e0,stroke:#e65100,stroke-width:2px
classDef code fill:#f3e5f5,stroke:#7b1fa2,stroke-width:2px
classDef disabled stroke-dasharray: 5 5,opacity: 0.5
class n3 trigger
class n2 api
class n0,n1,n4 code
classDef customIcon fill:none,stroke:none
class n0,n1,n2,n3,n4,n6 customIcon
The Problem: SERP Snapshots Are Annoyingly Manual
Live SERP data is useful, but gathering it is a slog. You search a keyword, open a bunch of results, then try to capture the “top organic” list in a way that doesn’t look like a messy screenshot dump. Do that for a handful of keywords and it becomes a weekly ritual that eats an afternoon. Worse, it’s easy to introduce tiny mistakes: a missed URL, the wrong title, a ranking you typed from memory. Those little errors end up creating awkward client conversations and bad decisions internally.
The friction compounds. Especially when you’re tracking changes over time and you need the data structured, not just “visible.”
- Copying results into a doc or slide deck takes about 10 minutes per keyword once you include cleanup and formatting.
- Raw SERP exports (when you do have them) still need to be turned into something a stakeholder will actually read.
- Manual snapshots rarely get logged consistently, so historical tracking turns into guesswork.
- Paid rank tracking suites can be overkill when you simply need quick, shareable SERP reports.
The Solution: Automated SERP Snapshots Delivered by Email
This n8n workflow takes a keyword submission, pulls live Google search results via an API call, then turns those results into a report you can immediately use. The workflow starts with a simple form where you (or a teammate) enter a search keyword. n8n validates the input so you don’t waste executions on blank or malformed queries. Then it calls a SERP scraping endpoint using an HTTP Request node to fetch structured search results. From that same response, the workflow generates two polished outputs: an HTML table built for email (clean, readable, consistent), and a CSV/Markdown-friendly version that you can download and store for later analysis.
Once formatting is done, Mailjet sends the SEO report to your chosen inbox, and the workflow also generates a file you can drop into Google Sheets or Excel 365 for tracking. It’s a simple loop: submit keyword, get snapshot, keep a history.
What You Get: Automation vs. Results
| What This Workflow Automates | Results You’ll Get |
|---|---|
|
|
Example: What This Looks Like
Say you track 10 keywords each Monday for a client update. Manually, you might spend about 10 minutes per keyword between searching, copying titles/URLs, and making the table look decent, which is roughly 1.5 hours. With this workflow, you submit the keywords through the form (about 10 minutes total), let the workflow fetch and format results in the background (a couple minutes), and you receive a ready-to-forward Mailjet email plus a downloadable file. That’s about an hour back every week, per client.
What You’ll Need
- n8n instance (try n8n Cloud free)
- Self-hosting option if you prefer (Hostinger works well)
- Mailjet for sending the finished email report
- SERP scraping API to return structured Google results
- API key (get it from your SERP data provider dashboard)
Skill level: Beginner. You’ll paste an API key, set the recipient email, and run a test submission.
Don’t want to set this up yourself? Talk to an automation expert (free 15-minute consultation).
How It Works
A keyword gets submitted. The workflow begins with a form entry trigger, so you can run it on demand without touching the n8n editor.
Inputs are cleaned up. A validation step checks that the keyword is present and usable, which prevents “empty report” emails and wasted API calls.
Google results are pulled and shaped. n8n calls the SERP endpoint via HTTP Request, then transforms the response into two formats: a neat HTML table for email and a CSV-friendly table for storage.
Your report is delivered and saved. Mailjet sends the formatted SERP snapshot to your inbox, and the workflow also exports a downloadable file you can upload into Google Sheets or open in Microsoft Excel 365.
You can easily modify the query parameters to target a country, language, or device type based on your needs. See the full implementation guide below for customization options.
Step-by-Step Implementation Guide
Step 1: Configure the Form Trigger
This workflow starts when a form submission is received in Form Entry Trigger.
- Add and open Form Entry Trigger.
- Review the generated webhook URL and keep it for your form connection.
- Save the node to register the endpoint.
Step 2: Set Up Input Validation and Search Querying
The workflow validates inputs and then queries search results before report generation.
- Open Apply Valid Inputs and confirm it receives data from Form Entry Trigger.
- Open Query Search Results and verify it is connected to Apply Valid Inputs.
- Configure the HTTP request settings in Query Search Results to match your search provider’s API (URL, method, headers, and query parameters).
Step 3: Configure Parallel Report Generation
The search results are processed in parallel to generate HTML and CSV outputs.
- Confirm that Query Search Results outputs to both Generate HTML Tables and Generate CSV Tables in parallel.
- Open Generate HTML Tables and configure the code to build HTML table markup for email content.
- Open Generate CSV Tables and configure the code to build CSV-formatted output for file export.
Step 4: Configure Output Delivery
One branch creates a file export while the other sends the report by email.
- Open Export SEO Report and ensure it receives input from Generate CSV Tables.
- Open Send SEO Email and ensure it receives input from Generate HTML Tables.
- Configure the email fields in Send SEO Email (recipient, subject, and HTML body) to use the HTML output from Generate HTML Tables.
Step 5: Test and Activate Your Workflow
Run a controlled test to verify both branches execute and the final outputs are delivered.
- Click Execute Workflow and submit a sample form entry to Form Entry Trigger.
- Confirm that Query Search Results runs and both Generate HTML Tables and Generate CSV Tables execute in parallel.
- Verify a file is produced by Export SEO Report and an email is sent by Send SEO Email with the expected HTML report.
- Once successful, toggle the workflow to Active to enable production use.
Common Gotchas
- Mailjet credentials can expire or need specific permissions. If things break, check your Mailjet API key status and sender/domain verification first.
- If you’re using Wait nodes or external rendering, processing times vary. Bump up the wait duration if downstream nodes fail on empty responses.
- Default prompts in AI nodes are generic. Add your brand voice early or you’ll be editing outputs forever.
Frequently Asked Questions
About 30 minutes if you already have your API key and Mailjet account ready.
No. You’ll mostly paste credentials and edit a couple fields like the recipient email.
Yes. n8n has a free self-hosted option and a free trial on n8n Cloud. Cloud plans start at $20/month for higher volume. You’ll also need to factor in your SERP scraping API costs, which vary by provider and request volume.
Two options: n8n Cloud (managed, easiest setup) or self-hosting on a VPS. For self-hosting, Hostinger VPS is affordable and handles n8n well. Self-hosting gives you unlimited executions but requires basic server management.
Yes, and it’s a common upgrade. You can accept a list of keywords in the form, then add a simple loop so the “Query Search Results” request runs once per keyword and merges everything into one email table. Some teams also add filtering so only new rankings or changed URLs appear, which keeps reports short and actually readable.
Most of the time it’s an API key issue or sender verification. Regenerate your Mailjet API key, update it in n8n, and confirm the “from” address is allowed in your Mailjet account. If it still fails, check Mailjet sending limits and make sure your email content isn’t being blocked by a template setting.
It depends on your execution limits and your SERP provider’s rate limits. On n8n Cloud Starter, you can run a healthy number of report runs per month for a small team, and Pro handles more. If you self-host, there’s no execution cap, but you still need enough server resources and API quota. Practically, most teams start with 10–50 keywords per run and scale up once the report format feels right.
Often, yes, because this kind of workflow needs formatting logic and branching that gets expensive fast in Zapier. n8n is comfortable with code steps for generating HTML/CSV, and you can self-host for unlimited executions if reporting becomes frequent. Zapier or Make can still work if your version is “send one keyword to one endpoint and email the raw output.” If you’re not sure, Talk to an automation expert and you’ll get a straight answer based on your volume and clients.
Once this is running, SERP snapshots stop being a recurring chore. The workflow handles the repetitive parts, and you get clean reports you can actually share.
Need Help Setting This Up?
Our automation experts can build and customize this workflow for your specific needs. Free 15-minute consultation—no commitment required.
