Ask HN: do you use a SERP ranking service ? Which one ?
18 comments
Hi, you are right thibaut_barrere. I was using Rank Checker by SEOBook, but it always gets me in trouble - Google refuses to serve any queries of mine at least half an hour after using it. Cheers. Kraz
We just started using Raven: http://raventools.com/
Still on the free trial, but I plan to stick with it.
Still on the free trial, but I plan to stick with it.
There are a bunch out there. If you would like one to view SERP's instantly I find Rank checker (the SEO book firefox plugin) handy. If you would like the keyword service to monitor the progress over time the best oout there Authority Labs (It has some of the best export and filter features available). SEOMoz also has a handy keyword tool: Keyword Tracker.
However, there are two things to keep in mind when using a SERP service: 1. Don't obsess over the position or rank of a keyword every week. Keep in mind that search engine rankings fluctuate often and the natural variation of a metric within control limits always takes place. At the same time, you should know when the keywords is losing rank consistently or when it has gained rank significantly due to your efforts.
2. Always ties in gains and losses shown by the keyword tool with your Analytics. Asking questions like I have improved my rank from 30 to 3 over this keyword, has it brought me improved traffic and most importantly has the traffic converted. This will help you distill out keywords over time to help you focus your efforts.
However, there are two things to keep in mind when using a SERP service: 1. Don't obsess over the position or rank of a keyword every week. Keep in mind that search engine rankings fluctuate often and the natural variation of a metric within control limits always takes place. At the same time, you should know when the keywords is losing rank consistently or when it has gained rank significantly due to your efforts.
2. Always ties in gains and losses shown by the keyword tool with your Analytics. Asking questions like I have improved my rank from 30 to 3 over this keyword, has it brought me improved traffic and most importantly has the traffic converted. This will help you distill out keywords over time to help you focus your efforts.
Wow - https://authoritylabs.com is both better and cheaper than the other ones I've seen so far. Thanks! I will definitely give it a try.
I really appreciate your advice, and it matches my early conclusions: simple optimizations do work, and do really affect the traffic (I'm using http://www.toutpourmonipad.com/ as a test-bed).
But there's no point in becoming obsessive about that either.
I will have a closer look at conversion monitoring with regard to the entrance keyword, I didn't think about that, but now it seems pretty obvious. Thanks!
I really appreciate your advice, and it matches my early conclusions: simple optimizations do work, and do really affect the traffic (I'm using http://www.toutpourmonipad.com/ as a test-bed).
But there's no point in becoming obsessive about that either.
I will have a closer look at conversion monitoring with regard to the entrance keyword, I didn't think about that, but now it seems pretty obvious. Thanks!
Thanks for the great recommendation Romy. Things are gonna keep getting better.
Chase Founder @ AuthorityLabs
Chase Founder @ AuthorityLabs
SEM Rush (http://semrush.com) is a great tool that we use. There's plenty of tools that track your own input keywords, but SEM Rush for it's ability to discover keywords you didn't know you were ranking for. Free version is pretty decent to get started.
We use Keyword Envy (http://www.keywordenvy.com). It's got a good API that we use to export rankings into our own reporting tools.
Market Samurai is a really great desktop (adobe air) tool to track rankings, research keywords, check out competition levels, etc.
It's also the nicest adobe air application I've ever used, hands down.
It's also the nicest adobe air application I've ever used, hands down.
I use Market Samurai and find it simple and easy to use.
I've seen other desktop apps for tracking rankings and they would make a UX designer cry. I don't know how fully featured Market Samurai is, but it does everything I want it to do.
I've seen other desktop apps for tracking rankings and they would make a UX designer cry. I don't know how fully featured Market Samurai is, but it does everything I want it to do.
My concern about desktop apps was that it could get issues with Google (eg: getting banned based on IP etc). Did anyone meet such an issue ?
Thanks otherwise for the comments on this product, I will give it a go!
Thanks otherwise for the comments on this product, I will give it a go!
you can use proxies with market samurai (admittedly, the way they handle proxies is awkward, but overall, you can avoid google issues completely with a handful of proxies)
Totally agree, best money spent in a long while
I'm totally biased since I worked on http://www.diyseo.com. It tracks your SERP rankings and backlinks and gives you suggestions on what to change about your site (with heavy use of backgroundrb ;)
You should check out my new app, Ginzametrics (http://ginzametrics.com). It has support for advanced users and agencies in addition to SERP tracking. It's still in private beta but I will be adding more invites over the next few weeks.
We use KPMRS.com, pretty satisfied.
Rank Tracker: http://www.link-assistant.com/rank-tracker/
Would you have other similar tools to suggest?