Why individual keyword tracking is no longer enough
It's been years since we could say website X ranks at #2 for the phrase [keyword tracker].
As Google works to personalize and add context to searches there is no longer a single rank for a site. Now, each searcher who looks for a keyword can find your site at a different position to the last.
Add to this Google's machine learning algorithms and you can see why there is no such thing as a fixed rank. Now Google will 'audition' a site at a range of positions and track feedback to decide if a site truly deserves to rank. Metrics like 'pogoing', organic click through rate and dwell time keep the SERPs in constant flux.
Old school rank trackers are practically obsolete. As one agency found[link], a site may change positions for a single keyword as many as 100 times a day. So why do we still check once per 24 hours - from a proxy that is no doubt known to Google?
A tool that checks average position is more valuable
If there is no single true position for a keyword any more, how can we measure progress? Keywords are still far from obsolete - the way users search has not changed that much. So what's the answer?
Rather than taking one sample we need to look at the average rank for a term. This is why SEO Scout connects directly to Search Console instead of scraping Google. Only Google knows the true range and depth of your keyword rankings.
It's also time to move away from monitoring the progress of a single keyword as a proxy for your whole site.
Instead,
start monitoring the progress of topics, by using keyword groups to watch all
modifiers and synonyms. Track every one of the
long tail keywords that drive customers to your site, not just a sample.And if you're not yet appearing for a wide range of long tail terms, try our free keyword research tool to generate hundreds of unique terms you could be targeting.
It's time to stop claiming a single rank check at a single point in time as accurate.
A modern keyword rank checker for Google
It's time to move away from simplistic checks on just a small handful of the keywords your site actually ranks for.
Say goodbye to inaccurate samples taken in the dead of night from a remote datacentre and start monitoring the postitions and keywords your site appeared for, when your customers actually searched for it.
Discover you top keywords by traffic, not vanity, and explore the biggest gains and losses in organic search volume at the keyword level.
Start Monitoring All Your Website's Organic Positions in Google
When the SERP result pages are in constant flux monitoring a single primary keyword can be deceptive. Unlike other trackers our tool doesn't limit the number of keywords you are checking.
Get a complete picture with our accurate reports. Sign up now for a free demo account!
