Tracking the SEO ranking of a website is essential for understanding its visibility, measuring SEO success, and identifying areas for improvement. Knowing where your website ranks for target keywords helps you adjust your strategy, target more competitive terms, and drive more traffic. Fortunately, several tools and techniques make it easy to monitor SEO rankings effectively.
This guide explains how to find your website’s SEO ranking and analyze it to improve your overall search engine performance.
Use Google Search Console
Google Search Console is one of the best free tools for monitoring a website’s performance on Google. It shows keyword rankings, click-through rates, impressions, and other valuable data.
- How to Access: Go to Google Search Console and set up your website if you haven’t already.
- Where to Find Rankings: In the “Performance” section, you’ll see a report with “Queries,” “Pages,” “Countries,” and “Devices.” Click on “Queries” to view the keywords for which your site is ranking, along with average positions.
- Benefits: This data shows which keywords drive traffic, how well pages rank, and how rankings change over time. It’s an ideal tool for tracking progress on specific keywords.
Try Ubersuggest for Keyword Tracking
Ubersuggest is a popular SEO tool for keyword research, site audits, and rank tracking. It offers free access with limited features, making it ideal for smaller websites or initial SEO research.
- How to Use: Go to Ubersuggest, enter your website’s URL, and choose “Keyword Rankings.”
- What It Shows: Ubersuggest displays keyword positions, search volumes, estimated traffic, and competition levels. It also highlights how rankings have shifted over time.
- Advantages: Ubersuggest is user-friendly and offers insights into competitor rankings, which can be useful for refining your strategy.
Check Rankings with Ahrefs Webmaster Tools
Ahrefs Webmaster Tools provides free access to valuable SEO data, including keyword rankings, backlinks, and site health reports.
- How to Get Started: Go to Ahrefs Webmaster Tools and sign up with your website URL. Ahrefs will verify your ownership and show your rankings and other data.
- Ranking Data: The tool displays keyword positions, search volume, and ranking changes. You can also analyze competitor keywords and backlinks.
- Pros: Ahrefs offers in-depth keyword data, allowing you to monitor which keywords bring in traffic and track shifts over time.
Monitor Rankings with SEMrush (Free Trial Available)
SEMrush is a comprehensive SEO tool with a free trial period, providing data on keyword rankings, backlinks, site audits, and more. It’s ideal for businesses that want to test SEO tools before committing to a paid plan.
- How to Use: Go to SEMrush and sign up for a free trial. Once registered, enter your website’s URL and go to “Position Tracking” to view rankings.
- Insights Provided: SEMrush shows keyword rankings, position changes, traffic trends, and competitor rankings.
- Pros: SEMrush offers detailed insights and tracks your website’s ranking history. After the trial, consider a paid subscription if you need advanced SEO tracking.
Use Moz Pro with a Free Trial
Moz Pro is another powerful SEO tool that provides rank tracking, backlink analysis, and site audits. While it’s a paid tool, it offers a 30-day free trial for users to explore its features.
- How to Access: Visit Moz Pro and sign up for a free trial. Use the “Rank Checker” feature to monitor your site’s ranking for target keywords.
- What It Tracks: Moz Pro offers data on keyword rankings, domain authority, page authority, and ranking history. You can also track keywords specific to mobile or local search.
- Benefits: Moz Pro’s Rank Tracker allows you to monitor long-term ranking changes, making it easier to track progress over time.
Install the MozBar Extension for Instant Rank Checks
The MozBar browser extension is a free tool that provides instant on-page SEO metrics, such as domain authority, page authority, and link metrics. While it doesn’t track rankings over time, it’s great for checking individual pages.
- How to Use: Download the MozBar extension for Chrome and activate it. Visit any page on your site, and MozBar will show the domain authority and page authority.
- How It Helps: MozBar is useful for checking page authority and competitive metrics, giving you a quick snapshot of a page’s SEO strength.
Check Keyword Rankings with SERPWatcher by Mangools
SERPWatcher by Mangools is an intuitive tool for tracking keyword rankings. While it’s a paid tool, it offers a free trial with access to keyword tracking, competitor analysis, and ranking trends.
- How to Use: Sign up for a free trial on Mangools SERPWatcher, then enter your website URL and keywords.
- What You’ll See: SERPWatcher provides position tracking, keyword search volumes, and a performance index showing how well each keyword performs.
- Benefits: The tool is beginner-friendly and displays keyword tracking data visually, making it easy to analyze and act on the information.
Utilize Screaming Frog for On-Page SEO and Technical Analysis
While Screaming Frog SEO Spider doesn’t directly track rankings, it’s excellent for on-page SEO and technical analysis, which influence rankings.
- How to Use: Download the Screaming Frog SEO Spider and use the free version to crawl up to 500 URLs.
- What It Analyzes: Screaming Frog checks for issues like broken links, duplicate content, missing meta tags, and other on-page elements that can impact ranking.
- Advantages: This tool helps ensure your site is optimized, which can improve rankings over time.
Use Google SERP Preview Tool for Manual Rank Checking
If you want to manually check where a specific keyword ranks on Google, use a SERP Preview Tool to simulate search results without bias from your browsing history.
- How It Works: Google “SERP Preview Tool” or use one from platforms like Yoast or Merkle. Enter your keyword and location to see where your page might rank.
- Why Use It: This tool helps you check specific keyword rankings without the influence of personalization, making it ideal for checking real search positions.
Track Rankings with a Free Chrome Extension like SEOquake
SEOquake is a free Chrome extension that provides instant data on keyword density, ranking, and on-page SEO factors.
- How to Use: Install SEOquake and enable it while browsing your website or competitor sites. The extension will show metrics like domain authority, internal and external links, and keyword density.
- Benefits: SEOquake helps you analyze specific pages and provides a quick overview of SEO metrics, which is useful for both ranking analysis and competitive research.
Choosing the Right Tools for Your SEO Tracking Needs
Each of these tools provides unique SEO ranking data, and many of them can be used in combination for a more comprehensive view. Here’s a quick guide on how to maximize your tracking efforts:
- For Basic Tracking: Use Google Search Console and Ubersuggest to monitor key ranking data and identify high-performing keywords.
- For Competitor Research: SEMrush or Ahrefs Webmaster Tools will give you insights into competitor performance, keyword rankings, and backlinks.
- For Technical SEO: Screaming Frog and SEOquake are great options to identify technical issues and improve on-page SEO.
Tracking your SEO rankings regularly will help you understand the impact of your SEO strategy, identify areas for improvement, and achieve better results over time.
Ready to track your SEO success? Discover where your website stands and find ways to improve your ranking with these essential tools. Visit our site to get started and boost your visibility today!