Rank tracker mechanics – the short answer
If Google shows everyone different sets of results, how do rank trackers work? Well, rank trackers tend to take an average over whatever geographical area you choose. So if you want to know how you rank in the UK, that might not actually be as useful as knowing how you rank locally.
Do rank trackers really matter?
The difference between national and local rankings.
The difference between national and local website rankings can be huge. It’s not unusual to want to look at the rankings for an entire country. But you might be really disappointed that they aren’t as good as you might have hoped they would be,
You have to consider that when you’re checking your national rankings, you are putting yourself up against every single company in your niche in the entire country.
There will almost always be somebody with a bigger marketing budget than you, or somebody who has found an SEO angle you have yet to discover.
The real question to ask yourself is whether you actually need to rank at the top for an entire country. If you are providing services locally, this might cause more problems than it solves. If you are a dentist in Cornwall, do you need lots of phone calls from people in Scotland?
What local area should you track?
I’m sometimes asked how companies should choose the geographical area they target for SEO. If you are a service-based business, you probably already know the answer.
But what geographical area should you track for your rankings? If possible, I would check your town and your county. These will be separate ranking reports giving you useful information for moving forward with your SEO strategy.
If you are marketing a business that can serve the whole country, I would still recommend focusing on a smaller geographic area. This is particularly useful for benchmarking yourself against local competition.
While a lot of businesses will get leads through their website, which is the whole name of the game in SEO. The reality is that search SERPs are just one channel and one touchpoint for potential clients and customers before they make the decision to contact you and create an enquiry that you can track.
If you have premises or offices in multiple geographic locations, it is particularly important to check your rankings in each of those locations. Competition intensity will differ in each location, and your SEO strategy must be adapted accordingly.
Don’t obsess over your rankings
It’s important to remember that rankings aren’t the ultimate success metric when assessing and adapting your SEO strategy.
High traffic numbers alone won’t make your business grow. We want more leads, more enquiries, and more sales.
Ranking reports are a useful and interesting part of an overall measurement strategy, but they are just that – one part of the jigsaw puzzle.
Different rank trackers will give you different results, this reminds us of the importance of taking ranking results with a pinch of salt.
Tracking your rankings is important, but don’t get too fixated with the results.
Last Updated on December 14, 2023
