HOW TO CHECK RANKING OF KEYWORDS ON GOOGLE

Diving a little deeper into how to check ranking of Keywords on Google is a great investment for anyone seeking to sell goods or services online. In Australia it is more important than most countries to be wining in the Google Search Engine Rankins race. SEO it is all about Google for Aussies,  Similarweb 12-month research of over 500 billion pageviews shows that Google’s search market share in Australia is 93.67%, as of February 2023.  Google is by far the most popular and most used search engine in Australia.

INTRODUCTION

Search engine optimization (SEO) is an essential part of any website’s digital marketing strategy. Knowing how your website ranks in comparison to the competition on Google can help you adjust your SEO and content strategies accordingly to optimise visibility and increase traffic. In this article, we will discuss the steps involved in checking the ranking of keywords on Google. We will also explain why understanding keyword rankings is so important to improving your website’s online presence.

WHAT IS KEYWORD RANKING?

Keyword ranking is an essential aspect of search engine optimization (SEO). It refers to the position or rank of a website in the search engine results pages (SERPs) for a specific keyword. The better the keyword ranking, the higher the visibility and traffic your website will receive from organic search.

Search engines use complex algorithms to determine a website’s relevance and authority for a particular keyword. These algorithms take into account various factors such as content quality, backlinks, user experience, and more. By optimising your website for specific keywords, you can improve its chances of ranking higher on SERPs.

Keyword ranking is not just about achieving high rankings but also maintaining them over time. As search algorithms are constantly evolving, it’s important to stay up-to-date with SEO best practices and adjust your strategy accordingly.

IDENTIFYING TARGET KEYWORDS

Identifying target keywords is a crucial aspect of any successful online marketing campaign. Keywords are the words or phrases that people use when searching for products or services online. By identifying these keywords, businesses can optimise their website content to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs), ultimately leading to increased traffic, leads and sales.

The first step in identifying target keywords is to understand your business niche and target audience. What are the most important topics related to your business? Who is your ideal customer? Once you have a clear understanding of this, you can start brainstorming potential keywords that align with these topics and audience interests.

Next, it’s time to conduct keyword research using tools such as Google Keyword Planner or SEMrush. These tools help identify high volume and low competition keywords that are relevant to your business niche.

RESEARCHING COMPETITOR RANKINGS

Researching Competitor Rankings is a crucial step in developing an effective digital marketing strategy. By analysing your competitors’ rankings in search engines, you can gain valuable insights into their strategies and identify areas where you can improve.

To begin with, start by identifying the top competitors in your industry. Use tools like Google AdWords Keyword Planner to find out which keywords they are ranking for and how much traffic they are generating. This will give you a clear idea of which keywords to target and how competitive they are.

Once you have identified your top competitors, use tools like SEMrush or Ahrefs to analyse their backlinks and content strategy. This will help you understand what type of content is resonating with their audience and which sites are linking back to them. Armed with this information, you can create a content plan that focuses on creating high-quality content that targets those same keywords and appeals to similar audiences.

USING GOOGLE SEARCH CONSOLE

Using Google Search Console can be a powerful tool for any business owner or marketer looking to improve their website’s search engine optimisation (SEO) efforts. The platform provides valuable insights into your website’s performance in search results, allowing you to identify areas for improvement and track progress over time. With Google Search Console, you can monitor your site’s overall search visibility, organic traffic, and keyword rankings.

One of the main benefits of using Google Search Console is the ability to identify technical issues that may be hindering your site’s SEO efforts. The tool lets you view crawl errors, broken links, and other issues that could be negatively affecting your ranking in search results. This allows you to quickly address any problems and ensure that your site is being crawled effectively by search engines.

Another key feature of Google Search Console is the ability to submit sitemaps and individual pages for crawling by Google.

ANALYSING RANK TRACKING TOOLS

Rank tracking tools are powerful weapons in the arsenal of any website owner or SEO professional. They allow you to monitor your website’s search engine rankings for various keywords and phrases over time, providing critical insights into the effectiveness of your optimisation efforts. However, with so many rank tracking tools available on the market today, it can be challenging to determine which one is right for you.

Before choosing a rank tracking tool, it’s important to consider your specific needs and goals. Some tools specialise in local keyword tracking, while others focus on global search engine rankings. Additionally, some tools offer advanced features such as competitor analysis and SERP feature tracking that may be essential depending on the nature of your business.

Another crucial factor to consider when analysing rank tracking tools is accuracy. No tool can provide perfect results all of the time due to constantly changing search algorithms and personalised search results. Make use of any free trial periods to experience the rank tracking tools and compare results

UNDERSTANDING SERP FEATURES

If you want to improve your website’s visibility on search engines, it is essential to understand SERP features. As we noted earlier, SERP stands for Search Engine Results Page and refers to the page that displays results after a user enters a query into the search engine. The SERP features are additional elements that appear on top of the organic search results, such as featured snippets, knowledge panels, local packs (the 3-Pack) and more.

Featured snippets are boxes that show a brief summary of information relevant to the user’s query. They usually appear at the top of the page and can significantly increase traffic to your website if optimised correctly. Knowledge panels contain detailed information about entities such as people or organisations and often appear on the right-hand side of the page. Local packs display businesses related to specific locations and include reviews, addresses, phone numbers, maps, and more.

TRACK & IMPROVE RANKINGS

Track & Improve Rankings is an essential aspect of any SEO strategy as it helps you understand how well your website is performing in search engine results pages (SERPs). Tracking rankings involves monitoring the position of your website’s pages for specific keywords over time to see if they are improving or declining. By doing so, you can identify areas where you need to improve and develop strategies to increase traffic or maintain your position in the ranking.

To track and improve your rankings, we have already suggested that you start by identifying the keywords that are most relevant to your business. Once you have a list of these keywords, you can use tools like Google Analytics, Ahrefs or SEMrush to track their performance over time.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, for every one selling in Western Countries and particularly Australian online sellers, it is important to understand the Google algorithm and how to check your target keyword rankings. By following the steps outlined in this article, you can, with a little time and dedication, easily monitor and track your keyword rankings on Google. Additionally, using the various tools and analytics programs we have discussed, you can gain a better understanding of how your keywords are performing on Google. Finally, by regularly checking your keyword rankings, you can make necessary adjustments to stay on top of organic search results.

We hope that this article has helped you get on top of the core concepts and tools you can use to  check ranking of keywords on Google and identify when you need to be doing more.  If you have decided that you are too busy doing what you are an expert in your day job and do not want to learn how to setup and manage your own SEO and Digital Marketing, you can always book a free initial consultation with #thePOSITIVE Digital Business Agency, let us do it all for you!

Author: Kimmaree Thompson | First Published 14 March 2023