Web Marketing Advice

TRACKING YOUR GOOGLE RANK WITH KEYWORD TRACKER

Using a free tool called Keyword Tracker you can track your Google rank even if your site doesn't appear on the first page...or the first hundred pages at Google.

With Keyword Tracker you can follow whether changes you've made to your site and the number of incoming links are having a positive or negative effect on your site's rank.

Keep in mind that your site's rank will vary for different searches. For example, you may rank well for "pet psychic," but not as well for "pet therapist." You will also have a different rank for "dog psychic," "cat psychic," or "Portland, Maine hamster psychic."

With that in mind, you're ready to start tracking.

1. Generate a list of keywords or key phrases you want to track. These are Google searches that you want your site to rank well for. You may have uncovered this list through a keyword analysis (recommended) or some educated guesses. You can always add more later, but you'll only be able to track a keyword's progress from the time when you add it. Come up with a list of five, ten or more to start tracking.
2. Create a free account at Google. All you'll need is an email account.
3. Google will send you an email to confirm your email address. Click on the link in the email and your free Google account will be created. When you login again your Google API will be emailed to you. (You don't need to understand what a Google API is, just that you'll need it. You can learn more about Google API's here.)
4. Create a free Keyword Tracker account. Complete the form and copy and paste your Google API where it's requested. I recommend changing "Search through first 50 results" to 200.
5. Once your Keyword Tracker account is created, you'll be able to enter in different key phrases and URL's that you want to track. You'll probably be most interested in tracking your home page, but you can also track other pages in your Web site, or your competitors' sites! You can track multiple Web sites for the same keyphrase, or multiple keyphrases for the same Web site. As you add each keyword/URL combination, Keyword Tracker will return the URL's rank for that particular search phrase.
   
   That's it! You're now able to track your rank at Google without having to search for it each time. There's only one more thing...
6. By default, Keyword Tracker won't automatically check your rankings for you. You must revisit the site and click on "Check All" which will begin Keyword Tracker's queries to Google. However, in the F.A.Q. under #18, there are instructions on automating the process...though it does requires some technical expertise. If you understand how to run crons, you should be able to set it up in less than 15 minutes.

What else can you do with Keyword Tracker?
You can track the Back Links (links to your home page or other Web page), your PageRank (Google's rank of how "popular" your page is based on the number and quality of incoming links), and the number of pages in your Web site (all according to Google). Just click on "Track Back Links" after you've logged in.

You can also create custom charts to track your progress for one or multiple keywords, all within the same chart. Setting it up is incredibly easy. Just click on "Custom Charts" after you've logged in. You can even save your custom charts for review later.

As you increase the number of incoming links to your Web site and optimize your site for different search phrases, you can measure how much impact these changes make to your Google rank.

If you'd like help improving your site's rank at Google or other search engines, please contact us.

--Rich Brooks
President, flyte new media