How to check Google Keyword rankings?
-
Hey,
So I recently watched the DuckDuckGo commercial about Google's results bubble. My question is how can you get the actual keyword rankings of relevant key phrases without Google taking your locations and search history into account?
Would it just be a case of clearing your cache & history from the beginning of time or is there an accurate tool (other than SEOmoz ofc that I can use?
Best regards,
Dan
-
One note -- de-personalized results are not your "actual" rankings. The majority of Google searches are personalized. Meaning the average searcher will NOT see the SERP that comes up on a de-personalized search. It's still extremely useful to know where you stand when location and history are taken out of the equation.
-
Thanks for the detailed reply. I've been using incognito mode this morning which has worked pretty well. I'll give this a try too
Dan
-
Personally I don't like GMT for tracking keywords - outside of SEOmoz, i have used and had no problems with SheerSEO - pretty nifty site and tracks words and phrases nicely - plus there is a 60 day free trial
-
Hi Dan,
As Andy said, Incognito is a great way.
If you need to search loads of queries, you might be better off with Google Webmaster Tools. You can see a wider range of details and gain insight into your change in rankings.
How to do it
Go to the left hand tool bar, select "Traffic", then click "Search Queries".
Here is the Link - but you need to be signed in.
This should give you a fairly comprehensive list of:
- Search Queries
- Impressions
- Clicks
- CTR
- Average Position
What you can also do is just above the queries select the "With Change" tab which will give you movement over time.
There is also a 'Filters' tab at the top that allows you to filter by specific search queries.
The draw back is that you can't go back more than 3 months and the data is aggregated, unlike in Bing Webmaster Tools where you can get exact figures.
To overcome this loss of data due to only being able to go back 3 months it's worth checking out this post on Automating Search Query Downloads written by Ben over at Distilled.
Hope this helps.
Ed
-
You're welcome Dan
-
Ah totally forgot about Incognito mode.
Thanks!
-
I use Google Chrome and just open an Incognito window that clears all cache, history, sign-ins etc.
Shift+Cmd+N on the Mac
Andy
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
How do we find keyword opportunities - but not just against 3 competitors...
Hello everyone! How can I find out what might be a keyword opportunity against a competitor but make sure it's still a realistic opportunity in SERPS generally?* After all, we are not just competing with 2 or 3 competitors. We are competing against everyone! Perhaps there is a part of the keyword research process that helps? I can't help but think there's a wasted effort to just beat a couple of competitors unless you can rank well generally - especially if it's a competitive sector. (*I'm not in the position of making lots of pages as part of a long-tail keyword/ content strategy so I need to focus on just a few and make them count) Thanks in advance. Mp
Competitive Research | | mark_seomoz10 -
Domain Name Keyword Change
Hello. I have a question. I currently have a client who is exploring the option of changing his domain name to one which includes a key word and his company name. Currently he is using a domain name which does not include a keyword and does not include his company name. I understand that with proper redirects we can keep a significant amount of the juice behind it and we aren't so concerned about the domain name change. However my clients only concern is this. His company and new domain have the words Best Buy in it. He is concerned about the words best buy being in the domain name as it would be directly competing with the electronics giants. Should this even be a concern? He isn't in the electronics business and the remaining of the domain would include a keyword which directly relates to his business. Any input would be appreciated.
Competitive Research | | Imagination0 -
What To Focus On SEO / Link Building for this campaign to rank again..
Hi All; I recently joined Moz and I am really starting to learn a lot here. I am still finding it difficult to figure out what to focus on the most to improve my rankings (although I do have some page 1 ranks) I have one strong competitor who has a SOLID spot in the top 5 of google for the past few years for the keyword I would like to be ranked for again. (as they have always been a competitor of mine either 1 spot above or 1 spot below). then i fell off google in January and finally made it back to page 1. But their links are thousands higher than mine. What parts of my SEO Link Building should I focus on the MOST to improve my ranking to move up a few spots? Followed links vs No Followed Links Followed Linking Root Domains vs NoFollowed Linking Root Domain Any help would so greatly be appreciated; also please explain why you would focus on that part of my campaign so I can better understand as well. Thanks again
Competitive Research | | Circa
(there are 3 images total) t4klvWZ,I9R9BsC,fbDoF3L#20 -
Why does this site atlantapestcontrol.com rank so high?
I have been doing competitive research on the keyword phrase "atlanta pest control"  this website atlantapestcontrol.com is #1. Why? The number 2 website makes some sense for its rank, but this one does not.
Competitive Research | | SammyL300660 -
How on earth is this site ranking so highly?
I'm trying (& struggling) to rank for the keyword property in italy. Yet in the past 5 weeks I've seen this site -- betterpropertyitaly (dot) com -- rocket from about #30 to #2 for the keyword and am trying to figure out why. The obvious is that it's in the domain name, but that can't be the be-all-and-end-all, surely? It's a 2 yr 9 mth old site, so why the sudden spurt? I look in Open Site Explorer and the metrics look pretty weak: Domain Authority: 17 Page Authority: 29 Linking Root Domains: 9 Absolutely zero social shares. Good luck to him and all -- but I'm trying to figure out what he's doing right and I'm not. My site apart, he's beating some pretty big-hitters.
Competitive Research | | Jeepster0 -
Sending autmated queries to Google hurting SEO?
Anyone have any ideas whether there could be a chance that a site might get penalized if it is sending automated queries to Google (ie, to check rankings)? I was reading the recently updated Google Webmaster Guidelines and saw on the section - "Quality guidelines - specific guidelines" that mentioned about sending automated queries to Google... Just wondering what are the chances that Google will actually penalize a site that sends automated queries (if they are able to identify which site is doing so in the first place)..
Competitive Research | | globalsources.com0 -
Why would a specific Title page search not show up on Google?
I need help to solve an ongoing problem. I have been working to try to figure this out now for weeks. When you search a
Competitive Research | | rdominey
specific page title that has a low competition and all of the SEO checks indicate
that the page should rank in the top 10 if not #1 yet it is nowhere to be found
(not in top 200). I have looked at all of the suggested possible caused from
this and other forums. I have been told by Google that we are not being
manually penalized. I have taken action to correct all of the issues that have
been mentioned in forums; speed, links, SEOmoz crawl results are good, No major
problems for the site, page rank for the search keywords is A yet; Still the problem persists please let me explain with this simple test result: Search Google, Yahoo and Bing for; Gallery Wrap vs Museum Wrap Canvas Looking for this page: http://www.getyourphotosoncanvas.com/gallery-wraps-vs-museum-wraps/ Google = not in top 200 Yahoo = 2 Bing = 2 On the Google search if you drop the work Canvas the result is #2 With the exact title phrase; Gallery Wrap vs Museum Wrap Canvas We find the following pages, but not the correct page: Free Digital Proof from Get Your Photos on Canvas <cite>www.getyourphotosoncanvas.com/free-digital-proof/</cite> FREE Digital Proofs offered by Get Your Photos on Canvas before you ... form the Gallery Wrap or what the Museum Wrap will look like and much, much more! Rank 76 on search for Gallery Wrap vs Museum Wrap Canvas Photos on Canvas Online Gallery Photographs by Ray Dominey <cite>www.getyourphotosoncanvas.com/store/</cite> Photographs
on Canvas by renowned St. Augustine Photographer
Ray Dominey. Photographs ... Gallery Wrap vs. Museum Wrap · Before & Afters
That WOW! Rank 107 on search for Gallery Wrap vs Museum Wrap Canvas Photo on Canvas Triptych, Three Panel Canvas Split Wall Display <cite>www.getyourphotosoncanvas.com/.../split-panel-triptych-photos-on-... 21, 2012 – Photo on Canvas Triptych Split Panels are very popular today but the origin of ...
Gallery Wrap vs. Museum Wrap · Before & Afters That WOW!</cite>Feb Rank 128 and 132 on search for Gallery Wrap vs Museum Wrap Canvas I need help can anyone please help me figure this out?0 -
Whats the best way to see why your competitor is out ranking you?
I am trying to rank in the number on position for Part Time CFO. Currently we are in 2nd and 3rd. We have way more quality inbound links then the site in first position, more content etc. How would you go about investigating why they are ahead of us?
Competitive Research | | b2bcfo0