Any time you set an important goal, tracking your progress is wise. If you wanted to lose 20 pounds in six months, you would probably weigh in several times a month. That way, you can identify challenges, switch up strategies as needed, and get better results. Monitoring search engine rankings helps you achieve website objectives in the same way, from traffic to conversions.
How To Monitor Search Engine Rankings With SEO Tools
Monitoring search engine optimization means measuring your current results, especially where keyword ranking positions are involved. The process isn’t as complicated as you may think, especially when you have state-of-the-art tools to help you.
1. Set Up Google Search Console for Your Website
Google Search Console is a free tool that gathers data about your website. It can show you:
- Traffic statistics and click-through rates
- Your highest-ranking keywords
- Your best-performing blogs and web pages
- Whether your content is eligible for rich search results and featured snippets
- Page backlinks and internal links
- Indexing problems and other problems that affect rankings
To set up GSC, you need to create a Google business account and verify that you’re the site owner. Follow the on-screen walkthrough for verification (our team is also happy to guide you if you need help).
2. Track SEO Rankings With GSC
GSC makes finding your ranking metrics easy. Follow these basic steps:
- Log into GSC and click on the “Search results” tab in the Performance section.
- Choose your preferred view modifiers (e.g., “last 3 months” or “last 6 months).
- Click on the “Queries” column to view your most relevant search terms.
- Click “Average position” to order results by your top-ranking keywords.
- You can also order results by traffic volume, impressions, and clicks.
- Choose the “Pages” tab to see keyword performance results for your site’s top-ranking or most-viewed pages.
To get even more granular results, click on a specific web page. You can view all of the keywords the page ranks for and the average position of each one.
3. Take Advantage of SEO Platforms
If your search optimization budget allows for it, using an SEO platform can significantly enhance your keyword research and monitoring abilities. True, some tools offer limited free functionality, but they usually limit you to 10 queries per month, which isn’t enough for serious metrics tracking.
Ahrefs
Ahrefs offers a full suite of keyword tracking and research tools. Keyword Rank Checker shows you who is ranking in the top positions, your own keyword performance, keyword difficulty, and the overall value of each keyword in organic traffic and search volume.
Semrush
Semrush makes setting up custom alerts, rank goals, and local keyword tracking easy. You can even see keyword cannibalization reports that let you improve your content marketing efforts.
Moz Pro
Moz generates comprehensive ranking reports and custom reports for your target keywords. You can compare your performance with competitor sites in seconds or view suggested keywords that can complement your current SEO strategy.
Yoast SEO for Shopify
Yoast doesn’t track keyword rankings directly but integrates with Semrush, Wincher, and similar tools. Yoast stands out in helping small business owners turn tracked keywords into high-quality content and an optimized sitemap.
How To Track Search Engine Rankings Effectively
Now that you have the technical resources to track keyword performance, it’s time to learn how to monitor your search engine positions correctly. The goal is to get the most essential information without investing too much of your valuable time.
4. Identify Your Essential Keywords
Start by tracking your pillar keywords. These are your most important search terms, the ones that drive the majority of your web traffic. You want to take special care of these money makers. Pillar keywords are usually related to your brand, main products, or core services (e.g., “best home remodeling companies in Phoenix” or “custom beds”).
5. Make a List of Current Target Keywords
Next, choose a set of target keywords that are critical to the success of your current SEO campaign. These terms depend on your primary objectives:
- Leads: Keywords that are trending with your target audience
- Traffic: Informational queries, such as how-to terms
- Sales: Transactional keywords (e.g., “women’s shoes near me” or “Black Friday laptop deals”)
Not all keywords are equally important. Prioritize the ones delivering the most conversions, not necessarily the most clicks.
6. Keep an Eye on Ranking Opportunities
Monitoring keyword performance can also help you know what types of SEO content to prioritize. Keep track of keywords that are currently ranking in positions number four to 10. With effort and optimized content, it’s often possible to break into the top three for these terms. Positions 11 to 20 are less urgent but show you potential ranking opportunities.
7. Track Mobile Search Results
Google ranks searches differently on smartphones, prioritizing mobile-optimized sites. Because mobile users generally stay logged into their Google account, personalized searches are more common. Images and video content tend to rank higher on mobile, and so do sites with local search intent.
Considering that over 50% of all searches happen on smartphones, tracking mobile SEO performance is wise. Both GSC and SEO tools like Ahrefs let you separate results by desktop or mobile device.
8. Keep Track of Changes to Your SEO Strategy
The purpose of learning how to track search engine rankings is to use the data to improve your overall SEO performance. We recommend tracking the dates when you make any widespread changes to your target keywords, content length, or strategy. That way, you can compare year-over-year results to see which techniques deliver the best results.
9. Look for Trends, Warning Signs, and Positive Results
SEO takes time to work, but that doesn’t mean you should sit back and do nothing for six months. Search engines index pages more quickly than before, so you may catch warning signs or positive signals ahead of time. Sharp drops in traffic often signal technical SEO issues or changes in Google ranking algorithms.
Try to find patterns that indicate why certain pages and keywords give you good results, such as content length or topic format. Use what you see to tweak new web pages on the fly.
10. Regularly Check Competitor Rankings
Set aside some time during keyword analysis sessions for competitor research. By entering competing URLs into an SEO tool, you can see which keywords rank and drive traffic.
Pay special attention to competitor pages in the first three positions. They can show you valuable opportunities. Is the competition ranking at the top with an outdated or fluff article? Create a better version and snag that number-one position for your site.
How To Monitor Search Engine Positions
Your keyword ranking position makes a huge difference in SEO success. The top position gets nearly 40% of all clicks. The second and third positions have a click-through rate of 18% and 10%, all the way to position #10 with a CTR of 1.5%. Keeping an eye on search engine rankings can help you maintain your dominance or even move up a few positions.
11. Review SEO Metrics Regularly
How often should you monitor search engine rankings? For small businesses, we recommend tracking keyword rankings at least once a month. Look at other key performance indicators at the same time:
- Organic traffic conversions
- Search visibility/total impressions
- CTR
- Session duration and pages per session
- Bounce rate
- Total backlinks and referring domains
If you have the time for it, running a website audit once a week is even better.
12. Create a Custom SEO Dashboard
A great way to minimize the time required for keyword tracking is to set up custom analytics dashboards. Most SEO platforms offer this functionality, letting you pick and choose the metrics you care about.
For example, you can visualize your pillar keywords in one tab and campaign keywords in another. View how many new leads you’re generating, check organic conversions, see if your bounce rate is improving, and track other KPIs that align with your goals.
13. Set Up Ranking Alerts
Another advantage of paid SEO platforms like Semrush is the ability to create alerts for rank tracking. Set the keyword or web page to monitor, choose a position (up or down) that should trigger the alert, and you’re good to go. This feature helps you juggle digital marketing responsibilities with less stress.
14. Track Google SERP Features
In addition to learning how to track SEO results, give some attention to Google SERP features: local pack results, video carousels, featured snippets, reviews, People Also Ask queries, and Knowledge Panel. These special search results often enjoy high engagement, so if you win a spot, protect it. Semrush’s Position Tracker is one tool for checking keyword and page SERP.
Do More Than Monitor Search Engine Rankings — Improve Them
Search ranking success takes time. There’s keyword research, technical SEO, mobile optimization, and content creation to take care of.
Not all businesses have time to monitor search engine rankings and coordinate SEO strategy in-house. If you’re a small business owner juggling multiple hats, there’s nothing wrong with outsourcing SEO to professionals. In fact, we recommend it! At Digital Neighbor, we have decades of experience and an extensive portfolio of happy customers. Discover how our friendly team of digital experts can improve your site’s SEO rankings.
