SEO has three main measurements of importance. If you participate in Google Adwords, that’s one area. Then there are 1) traffic, which is measured with Google Analytics, and 2) keyword rank, which can be measured in various ways and is virtually impossible to pinpoint. Identiwrite Creative focuses on these last two points, and today I want to talk about keyword rank.
Measuring Keyword Rank
There is no accurate method to determine where a site comes up in search results for all users.
In Google Analytics you can click on Organic Search Traffic to see some keyword phrases, but many (or most) will be grouped into a category marked “(not provided).”
You can use a paid service, like SerpFox or RankTracker, to provide ranking results. I’ve read that some SEO experts believe these reports are more accurate than most. I don’t agree with their opinion, based on my own research.
Chrome’s Incognito Mode used to provide reliable information. In theory, opening an Incognito page in Chrome allows a user to see the results for a keyword, without any of the user’s personal search history, preferences, or habits factoring in. Today, this is simply not the case. Google is extremely robust, and Incognito has not kept up with the technology. Most often, two users in Incognito mode will get different results for the same search, whether they’re sitting next to one another or thousands of miles apart.
If you use GoDaddy, there’s an SEO measurement tool for keyword tracking. If a site is hosted at GoDaddy, you’d think that the results would be accurate – unfortunately, that assumption does not hold not true.
An Accurate Formula for SEO Rank
So what’s the solution? How can you know whether people are seeing your site pop in first-page results when they search for a given keyword phrase?
The long and short is, you can’t. However, we can leverage the tools we have to create an average of the data provided, then base SEO tactics on those findings.
I believe we should look at all at least three of the resources’ results each month: GoDaddy’s SEO tool, Google Analytics, Incognito Mode, and a third-party service, paid service. If we notice an overall upswing in rankings for a keyword list, we’ll know that across the board, our strategy is paying off. We never want to see the rank get higher of course, but if two or all three resources show positive motion, I think we’ll be on the right track.
How Organic Keyword Ranking Works
Usually, Google search engine results pages (SERPs) show a few ads, perhaps a box with a map and three map listings, then 10 organic results. There may be ads on the sidebar and the bottom of the page, as well.
Organic listings are the ranks earned by websites, based on their total SEO credit. This includes quality and originality of content, age of site, updates to site, incoming links and the quality of those links, size of site, and other factors.
You want to see your site rank on page one (position 1-10) as close to position one, position 1 as possible. A webpage that ranks with a position in the teens (11-20) will be on page two SERP. A webpage that ranks in the 20s (21-30) will be on page three, and so on. Research shows that most users don’t scroll past page one SERPs, though some do. For instance, someone searching for a dentist may not click through on Yelp, Health Grades, Moz, Yellow Pages, and other listing or social websites. They may only want to see actual dentists’ sites. If page one is cluttered with listing sites, the user will likely seek results near the top of page two.
For more information on how to optimize your dental website with keywords, so it will rank on page one SERPs, call Shauna Duty at Identiwrite Creative now, at 940-395-5115. Request a complimentary competitive analysis. Email [email protected].
