Monitoring keyword rankings on a regular basis can help identify and act upon SEO improvements. This can boost client satisfaction, foster effective collaboration and communication within your agency, and improve SEO strategy effectiveness over time.
While ranking fluctuations are normal, major dips and spikes may indicate that Google has rolled out an algorithm update that has affected your ranking. The Position Changes tab can highlight these changes and alert you to them.
Keyword Research
Using a keyword research tool like Moz’s Keyword Explorer or Ahrefs’ Site Explorer, you can input keywords and track their performance over time. This allows you to identify trends and make improvements to your SEO strategy.
It also helps you understand the intent behind a search query (users seeking information, comparing products, researching an individual or brand, etc.). You can use this data to create content that better matches what your audience is looking for and help them take the next step towards converting.
It can also give you a sense of the competitiveness of a particular keyword and what it will take to rank highly. For example, if you want to target the keyword “vegan,” your website may be competing against big players with high domain authority and hundreds of linking root domains. In this case, you’ll need to put in a lot of work to beat them. For this reason, it’s usually best to focus on long-tail keywords with less competition.
Keyword Analysis
Analyzing keywords involves looking at their popularity and competitiveness. The most obvious factor is monthly search volume, which can be found through tools like Google Keyword Planner or paid SEO tools like Ahrefs and Semrush. However, this metric is only one piece of the puzzle. Even if a term gets lots of searches per month, this doesn’t necessarily mean that it will attract the right kind of traffic — buyers, for example.
Search intent is also important to consider. For instance, if someone searches for “dishwasher” but your website doesn’t have this model available, they might turn to another online store that does.
The final aspect of analyzing keywords is competitor analysis. Taking note of what your competitors are doing can help you identify new opportunities. You can use this information to create more targeted content and achieve better results. Using a tool like Ahrefs Site Explorer can make this process easier. This tool allows you to analyze your competitors’ URLs and see which keywords they’re targeting.
Keyword Tracking
Tracking keyword rankings is essential to SEO success. It reveals the progress of your campaigns, helps you find new opportunities and identify problems. It also reveals how much visibility you’re getting for specific keywords, which is the most valuable metric in the SEO world.
Using a tool like AuthorityLabs, you can easily create a rank report and check how your keywords are doing on a daily basis. This helps you understand what your competitors are doing, such as creating content targeting specific keywords and improving their backlink profiles.
Tracking keyword rankings can also help you spot sudden drops in your ranking position, such as when a competitor suddenly outranks you. This can be a sign of a technical error or a penalty, and spotting it early on allows you to take action to reclaim your ranking.
Keyword Reports
Once you’ve honed in on keywords with high purchase intent and crafted compelling content, your goal is to get your content in front of searchers. That’s why keyword ranking reports are such a valuable part of digital marketing — they provide insights into how effective your content is in driving traffic and sales.
Understanding a keyword ranking report can largely come down to the features offered by the tool you use. While there are plenty of free options, some tools offer more advanced solutions for both beginner and expert SEOs.
Crafting a keyword ranking report doesn’t have to be difficult or labor intensive. In fact, it can be automated with a reliable SEO reporting solution like AgencyAnalytics. This helps you generate powerful reports that showcase your SEO achievements to clients. Learn how to get started here.
