SERP Tracking: Find Your Rank With a SERP Tracker
SERP tracking is the process of monitoring and analyzing the performance of a website in the search engine results pages (SERPs) for a specific keyword.
After putting in the work in creating a banger content, from keyword research, to drafting, editing, proofreading, and publishing, most normal people will likely want to know what that work was worth to the search engines.
Even if it’s not for curiosity’s sake, even not normal people engage in SERP tracking for performance and improvement analysis purposes.
I’m normal sometimes, so I do check, a lot, mostly out of curiosity.
You might want to check out this Google PageSpeed Insights-based website audit tool that shows the score of your website performance, SEO, usability, and speed.
Why SERP Tracking?
When you track where your site ranks on the SERP, you get to:
1. Track Your Website’s Ranking for Relevant Keywords
This information can help you to identify areas where your website is performing well and areas where it needs improvement.
2. Identify and Track the Ranking of Competitors
Learning from competitors who are doing better can be one of the best ways to discover what to improve in how you go about SEO for your site.
3. Track The Impact of Your Current SEO
SERP tracking, over time, lets you see how your SEO practices are impacting your website’s ranking position in the SERPs.
How To Do SERP Tracking
SERP tracking can be done manually.
But it is time-consuming and error-prone.
A better approach is to use a SERP tracking tool.
SERP tracking tools can automatically track your website’s ranking for any number of keywords and provide detailed reports on performance in a matter of minutes, sometimes seconds.
There are different SERP tracking software available, both free and paid.
Some of the most popular include:
- SEMrush
- Ahrefs
- Moz Pro
- Google Search Console
- Bing Webmaster Tools
If you are serious about SEO, then SERP tracking is ‘essential’ to be in your arsenal.
We have a thorough review post on the best website search engine result page position tracking tools out there.
Benefits of SERP Tracking
There are more benefits in tracking your rank in the SERP besides knowing your website’s ranking position and that of competitors.
It involves all the aspects that help in identifying areas where you need to improve and develop a more effective SEO strategy.
Here are some additional benefits of SERP tracking
1. DiscoverTrending Keywords
Search results position tracking can help you to identify break-out keywords that just gained rapid volume.
The thing with trends is that sometimes, they are short-lived, other times they are new keywords that will last come to the limelight.
Despite the one it is, time is always of the essence.
Jumping on a trend on time allows you to create new content and optimize your existing content for the trending keywords.
2. Identify The Newest Competitors
New websites are ranking for the first time every day.
That can also mean, new competitors are emerging every day.
However, many also disappear because only a very tiny percentage of websites can retain ranking page one on Google for 12 months in some cases.
So, SERP tracking can help you to identify new competitors who are ranking for the same keywords as your website.
This way, matching up becomes possible.
3. Opportunities for Backlinks
Websites ranking for the same keywords as yours, or the same keywords you want your website to rank for can be a great backlink to your website.
SERP tracking can help you to identify these websites and begin your outreach; who knows?
What Is A SERP Tracker
While SERP tracking is the process, a SERP tracker or SERP tracking software is a tool that helps you monitor and track your website’s ranking for one or more keywords.
Unlike manually tracking just keyword positions of your content on a search engine, SERP trackers can also track:
- the ranking of your competitors (you always want to know because you are not the only one who wants a piece of the cake),
- search volume for a keyword,
- click-through rate (CTR) of the different ranking websites, and
- cost per click (CPC) which determines how much valuable a keyword is.
SERP tracking is an important part of SEO, as it allows you to track progress.
Choosing a SERP Tracking Software That Is Right For You
When choosing a SERP tracking software, there are a few factors you should consider:
1. The Number of Keywords You Need to Track
Some paid SERP trackers may charge based on the number of keywords you need to track, so it’s important to choose a tracker that fits your needs in this case.
2. The Frequency With Which You Need to Track Ranking
Some trackers have different delay periods for updating data; from minutes to daily, weekly, and monthly.
However, these settings can sometimes be customized too.
3. The Level of Detail You Need In A SERP Tracking Report
Some software may provide just the basic reports that show your ranking for each keyword.
Others, like the ones in our best SERP tracking software review guide, provide much more detailed reports.
A detailed report may include information such as search volume, click-through rate (CTR), cost per click (CPC), percentage of the overall organic traffic to a website that a specific keyword brings, etc.
4. Budget
You cannot spend more than you have.
Sometimes, if you don’t have the budget, you will need to find another way around doing certain things such as SERP tracking.
Those ways may happen to be harder, but still work.
Rank trackers can range in price from free to hundreds of dollars per month.
Choose a tracker that fits your budget.
Here are some additional factors you may want to consider when choosing a SERP tracking software:
- Ease of use Most software makes user experience a priority, so for the most part, finding something easy to use and navigate should not be a problem.
- Customer support You will have questions from time to time, so you want to make sure there’s always someone to answer your questions.
Tip: Most “SERP trackers” also double as keyword research tools, competitor research tools, and a ton of other features for all the different aspects of SEO beyond just SERP tracking.
It is a packaged deal and best described as SEO tools.
Once you’ve considered these factors, you can start comparing different SERP tracking software options.
You can also read reviews of different SERP tracking software options, which we provide the best of on Afonne Digital.
You can also get feedback from other users.
And once you’ve made a choice, you can now start tracking your website’s ranking and the ranking of your competitors on the Go!
How To Use A SERP Tracker
To use a SERP tracking software, follow these steps:
- Create an account with the SERP tracking software of your choosing.
- Add the keywords that you want to track. You can add keywords one at a time or import a CSV (comma-separated values) file containing a list of keywords.
- Select the location and device that you want to track rankings for.
- Set the frequency with which you want to track your ranking.
- Set any other filters and input parameters as may be required by your specific website rank-tracking software.
- Start tracking.
With tools like SEMrush, you may only need to input your domain as well as that of your competitors.
Then the SERP tracking software will start tracking your ranking for the keywords that you have added.
You can view your ranking reports at any time by logging into your account.
Tips for Using A SERP Tracking Software
Here are some tips for using SERP tracking software:
- Track a variety of keywords. This will help you to get a better understanding of your website’s overall performance.
- Track your ranking over time. This will help you to see how your SEO efforts are impacting your website’s ranking.
- Track the ranking of your competitors. This can help you to understand what your competitors are doing well and how you can incorporate that into your own SEO strategy.
- Be sure to review your reports regularly and make adjustments as needed.
- Use filters to segment your data. For example, you can filter your data by keyword, location, device, and date range. This can help you to get more granular insights.
- Use alerts to be notified when your ranking changes. This can help you to quickly learn about progress and address any problems in time.
- Use any necessary and available integrations to connect your SERP tracking software with other SEO tools. This can help you to automate your SEO workflow and save time.
Conclusion
SERP tracking is a practice you want to embrace if you haven’t already, and SERP tracking software is the best and easiest way to do it.
Any next SEO-related implementations of yours that are based on the understanding of your website’s performance in the SERPs will perform better than whatever you have done before.
See you on the SERPs.