undefined
Skip to content
Moz logo Menu open Menu close
  • Products
    • Moz Pro
    • Moz Pro Home
    • Moz Local
    • Moz Local Home
    • STAT
    • Moz API
    • Moz API Home
    • Compare SEO Products
    • Moz Data
  • Free SEO Tools
    • Domain Analysis
    • Keyword Explorer
    • Link Explorer
    • Competitive Research
    • MozBar
    • More Free SEO Tools
  • Learn SEO
    • Beginner's Guide to SEO
    • SEO Learning Center
    • Moz Academy
    • SEO Q&A
    • Webinars, Whitepapers, & Guides
  • Blog
  • Why Moz
    • Agency Solutions
    • Enterprise Solutions
    • Small Business Solutions
    • Case Studies
    • The Moz Story
    • New Releases
  • Log in
  • Log out
  • Products
    • Moz Pro

      Your all-in-one suite of SEO essentials.

    • Moz Local

      Raise your local SEO visibility with complete local SEO management.

    • STAT

      SERP tracking and analytics for enterprise SEO experts.

    • Moz API

      Power your SEO with our index of over 44 trillion links.

    • Compare SEO Products

      See which Moz SEO solution best meets your business needs.

    • Moz Data

      Power your SEO strategy & AI models with custom data solutions.

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
    Moz Pro

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

    Learn more
  • Free SEO Tools
    • Domain Analysis

      Get top competitive SEO metrics like DA, top pages and more.

    • Keyword Explorer

      Find traffic-driving keywords with our 1.25 billion+ keyword index.

    • Link Explorer

      Explore over 40 trillion links for powerful backlink data.

    • Competitive Research

      Uncover valuable insights on your organic search competitors.

    • MozBar

      See top SEO metrics for free as you browse the web.

    • More Free SEO Tools

      Explore all the free SEO tools Moz has to offer.

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
    Moz Pro

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

    Learn more
  • Learn SEO
    • Beginner's Guide to SEO

      The #1 most popular introduction to SEO, trusted by millions.

    • SEO Learning Center

      Broaden your knowledge with SEO resources for all skill levels.

    • On-Demand Webinars

      Learn modern SEO best practices from industry experts.

    • How-To Guides

      Step-by-step guides to search success from the authority on SEO.

    • Moz Academy

      Upskill and get certified with on-demand courses & certifications.

    • MozCon

      Save on Early Bird tickets and join us in London or New York City

    Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints
    Moz API

    Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints

    Find your plan
  • Blog
  • Why Moz
    • Small Business Solutions

      Uncover insights to make smarter marketing decisions in less time.

    • Agency Solutions

      Earn & keep valuable clients with unparalleled data & insights.

    • Enterprise Solutions

      Gain a competitive edge in the ever-changing world of search.

    • The Moz Story

      Moz was the first & remains the most trusted SEO company.

    • Case Studies

      Explore how Moz drives ROI with a proven track record of success.

    • New Releases

      Get the scoop on the latest and greatest from Moz.

    Surface actionable competitive intel
    New Feature

    Surface actionable competitive intel

    Learn More
  • Log in
    • Moz Pro
    • Moz Local
    • Moz Local Dashboard
    • Moz API
    • Moz API Dashboard
    • Moz Academy
  • Avatar
    • Moz Home
    • Notifications
    • Account & Billing
    • Manage Users
    • Community Profile
    • My Q&A
    • My Videos
    • Log Out

The Moz Q&A Forum

  • Forum
  • Questions
  • Users
  • Ask the Community

Welcome to the Q&A Forum

Browse the forum for helpful insights and fresh discussions about all things SEO.

  1. Home
  2. Moz Tools
  3. Moz Pro
  4. Best method for tracking true keyword ranking overtime?

Moz Q&A is closed.

After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.

Best method for tracking true keyword ranking overtime?

Moz Pro
6
4
2.2k
Loading More Posts
  • Oldest to Newest
  • Newest to Oldest
  • Most Votes
Reply
  • Reply as question
Log in to reply
This topic has been deleted. Only users with question management privileges can see it.
  • ajranzato9
    ajranzato9 last edited by Mar 7, 2017, 12:36 PM

    It seems as though week to week ranking monitoring can be very volatile, and comparing over the course of a month only takes into account the absolute change and not whether the rank has been jumping up and down in the 3 weeks between.

    What is a good method (Moz tool or not) for tracking a true change in average rank?

    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
    • Joe_Stoffel
      Joe_Stoffel last edited by Mar 8, 2017, 4:54 AM Mar 8, 2017, 4:19 AM

      I agree with Elliott and Oleg's answers, it is better to measure performance with changes in organic traffic to the landing page that you are optimizing.  With all the personalization and increased importance on device and location, it is very difficult to measure a 'true' ranking.

      However, if you are set on tracking rankings, I would recommend (and use) the following:

      - Search Analytics Report in Google Search Console: Unfortunately only shows 90 days worth of data but it is free and will provide you data on your site's average ranking position (Avg. Position). You can adjust the filters to see the average ranking position for a specific query (or query set) or individual landing pages.

      - SEMRush: Personally, my favorite keyword tool (no offense Moz!). This will require signing up for a paid subscription (as the free subscription does not take you very far) but you will be able to track individual keyword rankings in 'projects'. Their least expensive plan ($99.95/month or $999.40/year) allows you to track up to 500 keywords and will provide you with organic visibility trends, individual keyword rankings (over time), average position, estimated traffic, ranking distributions, landing page reports, and more. If you are willing to spring for the 'guru' package, you can look up historical ranking and search volume data as far back as January 2012.

      - Moz Rank Tracker: Another great tool for tracking keyword performance over time. If you are willing to upgrade to Moz Pro, you will be able to track rankings here. What I like about Moz's rank tracker is that it allows you to track rankings against specific competitors, it allows you to track both mobile and desktop rankings side by side, and you also have the option to track keywords nationally or in a specific location. I am also a fan of the SERP features report, great for identifying featured snippet and instant answer opportunities that you may not have known were there. Moz is offering a 30 day trial, may as well give it a shot!

      Hope this helps, good luck finding the tool that is right for you!

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
      • elliott.brown
        elliott.brown last edited by Mar 7, 2017, 5:11 PM Mar 7, 2017, 5:11 PM

        I agree with Oleg's point: your KPI should be traffic, not SERPs. Over time your traffic data will give you a very clear read on how well your article is performing organically.

        With that said, we're antsy SEOs and when we drop from number 7 to number 22, it's pretty hard to sit there and wait calmly for the next Moz report to come out next week. This isn't scalable, but when I see keywords that I really care about performing in a surprising way, I like to go throw them in this free tool: http://www.whatsmyserp.com/serpcheck.php.

        Refresh the results a few times and you'll get a sense of the range of your SERP, rather than just a single snapshot. Google seems to be moving things around constantly, so the single snapshot may not make the most sense anymore. I wonder if Moz is thinking about taking several snapshots and averaging them -- or doing a rolling average over time -- to level out some of the volatility we now see.

        Or we can all learn to be more patient and take SERPs with a grain of salt!

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
        • OlegKorneitchouk
          OlegKorneitchouk last edited by Mar 7, 2017, 3:05 PM Mar 7, 2017, 3:05 PM

          Organic visits to landing page would probably be the most useful

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
          • 1 / 1
          1 out of 4
          • First post
            1/4
            Last post

          Got a burning SEO question?

          Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.


          Start my free trial


          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.

          • See all categories

          Related Questions

          • RavenBhutan

            Unsolved Questions about travel industry keywords

            travel industry

            My question is regarding my current learning of SEO and keyword research. I have been leaning towards Keyword Everywhere, SEMrush, and Google Keyword Planner for keyword research. What do you recommend? I know you might suggest Moz, but I'm looking for something that will enhance and help me find valuable keywords for the travel niche. If I sign up with Moz, will someone from the team help me with keyword research for the travel niche and my website? I haven't found any resources or lessons specifically focused on travel websites and their keywords.

            Moz Pro | Nov 30, 2024, 7:37 AM | RavenBhutan
            0
          • iamgreenminded

            Keyword Research and Planning Flow

            Hello, First post here. I am a IT infrastructure engineer that does application and deployment work mostly,  but new to SEO. That being said, I am a firm believer in demming wheel and defined process/flow charts. I have a website up, built as best practice, its a Magento CE open source Ecommerce store.  After some initial research,  it seems I really need to define my keywords before I start branding my landing pages and such. So i am going to have to go back and implement the keywords and evaluate. But as I am reading it seems most SEO people try their keywords in google ad words first? Then implement? I am hoping to find some flow or process sheets on how successful Keyword research is done via step by step process and evaluation. And explanations of each. How many keywords to start with per landing page, how many to try and get in the H1 headers, paragraphs, URL. How long to leave keywords in to test? Also, I am a start up company that is competing with the big boys in my market space. I know I cant compete for the big keywords in my market? What is my best strategy for getting any kind of ranking as a small business in a global market? SEO is a mysterious, intriguing thing to me! Very much reminding me of one of my favorite whimsical quotes I will leave you will now, and thanks for reading. -Alex "Invention, my dear friends, is 93% perspiration, 6% electricity, 4% evaporation, and 2% butterscotch ripple." - Willy Wonka

            Moz Pro | Feb 11, 2015, 10:06 PM | iamgreenminded
            0
          • allyunit

            Rank Tracker For IRAN?

            Hello dear. I have a client in IRAN and I want to track Persian keywords.But the MOZ tracker keywords doesn't support that country. Please help and advise me how can I use track keywords in IRAN?

            Moz Pro | Aug 3, 2014, 3:43 PM | allyunit
            1
          • SummitCom

            Why are my keyword rankings dramatically changing week to week?

            I have a site (actual several) that has been up for many years now. Content is changed monthly - regularly. It would always rank in the top 5 positions for 5 or 6 keywords. Now all of a sudden (without any dramatic changes to the website) my ranking results from my weekly Moz reports are dramatically different from week to week - every week. One Keyword will be #1, then the next week it will drop 49 positions, the 3rd week it might be #5, then Not in the Top 50, then #1 again, and so and so on. This happens to all my keywords on my site. I was waiting for Google to finish it's changes to it's algorithms but it's now been long enough and I can't get a handle on what's happening, why it's happening, and what to do about it, and what direction to take with my SEO. My Traffic has actually improved over last year by approx. 25%, but I have also started a PPC campaign for this client. Any suggestions would be great.

            Moz Pro | Sep 19, 2013, 2:05 AM | SummitCom
            0
          • Local-Interactive

            Any Other PAID Keyword Difficulty Tool?

            Why is The Keyword Difficulty Tool so unreliable? Anyone know of another PAID Keyword Difficulty Tool? Right now I feel like I am getting ripped off for $99 a month for a tool that I have no confidence in...PLEASE HELP ANYONE

            Moz Pro | May 10, 2013, 1:31 AM | Local-Interactive
            0
          • Rokas

            How to track all domain keywords?

            Hello, lets say I have domain www.example.com I want to track rankings of www.example.com/product and www.example.com/anotherproduct with different keywords, so do I have to set up 2 different campaigns? Or is it possilble to track whole root domain with paths? Thanks!

            Moz Pro | Jan 7, 2013, 12:19 AM | Rokas
            0
          • trainsimple

            Why do my Rankings Report show different results than the Rank Tracker tool?

            I noticed that my ranking report puts be at 33 in google for one term, but when I use the Rank Tracker under Research tools it places me at 15.

            Moz Pro | Nov 7, 2012, 10:18 PM | trainsimple
            0
          • DRTBA

            Colors in keyword Difficulty Report

            Hi Everyone Two quick questions today 1. How can I find out hat the different colors within the keyword Difficulty Report represent and how can I see examples of how this information can help us with our data analysis? 2. The second question I have is regarding the Term Extractor. Seems when I ran a domain it provided the wrong data. For example, it stated that a certain keyword exists certain number of times within the description and title of the page but when I looked at the source this was not the case so it made studying the competition harder.
            Any suggestions or has anyone else noticed this? Thanks in advance for all your help.

            Moz Pro | Dec 21, 2011, 9:23 PM | DRTBA
            0

          Get started with Moz Pro!

          Unlock the power of advanced SEO tools and data-driven insights.

          Start my free trial
          Products
          • Moz Pro
          • Moz Local
          • Moz API
          • Moz Data
          • STAT
          • Product Updates
          Moz Solutions
          • SMB Solutions
          • Agency Solutions
          • Enterprise Solutions
          Free SEO Tools
          • Domain Authority Checker
          • Link Explorer
          • Keyword Explorer
          • Competitive Research
          • Brand Authority Checker
          • Local Citation Checker
          • MozBar Extension
          • MozCast
          Resources
          • Blog
          • SEO Learning Center
          • Help Hub
          • Beginner's Guide to SEO
          • How-to Guides
          • Moz Academy
          • API Docs
          About Moz
          • About
          • Team
          • Careers
          • Contact
          Why Moz
          • Case Studies
          • Testimonials
          Get Involved
          • Become an Affiliate
          • MozCon
          • Webinars
          • Practical Marketer Series
          • MozPod
          Connect with us

          Contact the Help team

          Join our newsletter
          Moz logo
          © 2021 - 2025 SEOMoz, Inc., a Ziff Davis company. All rights reserved. Moz is a registered trademark of SEOMoz, Inc.
          • Accessibility
          • Terms of Use
          • Privacy

          Looks like your connection to Moz was lost, please wait while we try to reconnect.