Rank tracking is an extremely important process in optimizing your website for search engines. If you want to get the most out of your website and improve your site’s conversion rate, you need to rank for keywords that are relevant to your business and popular within search engines. 

So, What is Rank Tracking?

Rank tracking is the process of monitoring keywords and their positions in search engine results pages. Those keywords include ones that are used on your site as well as ones your competitors use. So, if you notice that your rival site uses more popular keywords it might be a good idea to adopt those into your own content.

Rank tracking is based on both the current positions of keywords and historical data, which allows you to see how well keywords have been doing overtime. It also allows you to predict which keywords have the potential of ranking you on the very first page of search results. 

With this kind of information, you’re able to better optimize your website for search engines and as a result, improve the flow of traffic to your resource. 

Side note: However, regardless of what tools you use for rank tracking, you will never get reports that are 100% accurate since rankings depend on a variety of factors, including which search engine is used, your location, the type of device used and even time along with other search settings. 

How Do You Track Keyword Positions?

Rank tracking can be easily done with the help of a variety of SEO tools, which I will return to later. Let’s start with the easiest and most straightforward option - and that is the Google Search Console.

It is a completely free tool provided by none other than Google. To use it, you will have to log in with your Google account and enter your site’s domain name or URL. After a verification process that ensures that you’re the owner of your site, you will be able to access such information as your site’s average position on results pages, average clicks as well as the keywords your site is ranking for.

However, there is one downside to the Google Search Console. And that is the fact that it does not cover other search engines and only provides you with information relevant to Google itself. 

If you wish to get a fuller picture of how well your site is doing on the Internet, you would have to use a rank tracking tool that covers other search engines, as well. Besides, rank tracking tools offer more flexible functionality and would allow you to get more specific information such as: 

which countries you have the most visitors from, 

• daily updates on your rankings 

• and even metrics that display how your rankings influence your organic traffic.

• There is a whole variety of rank tracking tools and most of them offer subscription-based services with a free trial period. To save a bit of your precious time, here are a few of the best (in my opinion) tools for the job.

  Ahrefs

  Ahrefs is one of the most powerful SEO tools available out there. While not being strictly a keyword ranking tool, it comes with that functionality as well. It features a 7-days $7 trial, and a variety of subscription plans starting from $99/month. 

  Linkio

  Linkio is a powerful SEO rank tracking tool that helps users in their link building activities. Giving them the right anchor text percentage and usage in their campaigns will make sure that you will get ahead your competitors in a fast time. You can track your keywords position and it can automatically find your competitors based on your category. 

  DYNO Mapper

  DYNO Mapper is unique in the fact that it is the only rank tracking tool that creates a full visual sitemap of your resource. It will allow you to track individual keywords, specific areas of your site and even allow you to scan your competitor’s webpages to see what keywords they are ranking for. 

• WooRank

• WooRank will provide you with detailed feedback on all areas of your sites including comments on which parts could use some improvement and which ones are flawless in terms of search engine optimization. It will also give you suggestions on which keywords it might be worth to rank for.

• Pick one you feel is the most useful to you and enjoy advanced functionality that will help you keep an eye on your site’s and keyword rankings. 

• A Few Rank Tracking Tips

• The whole process is rather straightforward: you find the very best keywords that yield top rankings to improve your site’s search engine optimization. However, ranking for all #1 keywords is only part of what you should be doing. 

• Since the keyword position isn’t the only factor that determines your site’s popularity, you need to see the whole picture of what’s actually impacting your traffic. Sometimes it’s better not to rank for the very top keyword. Let me give you an example:

• You’re looking at the best-ranking keywords in your niche. There is number one, which has been consistently yielding the highest rankings in the past year. But you notice that its popularity is somewhat fading. In number four you see a keyword that hasn’t enjoyed the same kind of popularity over the past, but you notice that its ranking has been consistently growing over the past few months.

• Judging by its advancement in the ranking system, you estimate that it would reach #1 in just a few weeks. So, it would naturally be a great idea to integrate that keyword into your content. 

• Where Should You Place Your Keywords?

• So, now you’ve scanned the scene and picked the most fitting and popular keywords for your content. But where should you place them in order to get the most out of them?

• The most influential area for a keyword is, of course, your page title. Right after it comes to your page meta description, which shows up in search results. While it doesn’t influence your rank in search results, it can definitely influence your click rates since you’re engaging with your potential visitors before they even enter your page. 

• It is equally important to have variations of your target keyword throughout your content, but you should be careful not to plug it all over the place. Use synonyms, variations, and other similar phrases to avoid redundancy. You also should make sure to integrate your target keyword into your main header tag, URL, links, and even graphical elements.

• In Conclusion

• So, I hope that by reading this article you have learned a little bit more about rank tracking, why it is important and how it can benefit your website. Thank you for your attention and good luck with optimizing your website for search engines!

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