Keyword tracking isn’t a once-off process. The SERPs are ever-changing, so you must continuously adjust and refine your keyword tracking strategy to stay ahead of the competition. Here are five ways to do so:
Use SEO tools to track your keyword rankings and identify any fluctuations or changes in the SERPs. In Keyword.com, for instance, you can see position changes over time for specific keywords, as well as Share of Voice (SoV) data.
Say you notice that a specific keyword consistently loses ranking in search results. In that case, you can optimize a piece of content containing that keyword to improve its chances of ranking higher for relevant search queries. You can also remove and redirect it altogether if you find that it’s no longer relevant to your target audience or industry.
Google Analytics and Search Console are great tools for analyzing your SEO performance too. Google Analytics, for example, lets you know the top pages driving organic traffic to your website and vice versa. You can further analyze the poor-performing pages to know what’s wrong and how to improve them.
Search Console, on the other hand, shows you the average position of your website’s keywords in the SERPs. You can filter the data to show the average keywords’ position of a specific page — like an article or landing page — on your website.
Based on these insights, you can eliminate low-performing or irrelevant keywords to focus your efforts on those with higher potential.
Regularly review and update your keyword list to ensure it aligns with your target audience’s search intent.
Use keyword research tools to analyze search trends and identify new relevant keywords. For example, you can set up Google alerts for your industry:
You can also use Keyword.com to get real-time keyword suggestions. It’s pretty straightforward:
Narrow down your keyword targeting by using long-tail keywords instead of obsessing over short-tail keywords with a high amount of competition.
Long-tail keywords typically have lower search volume but higher conversion rates because they are specific. For example, someone who searches for “Which SEO tool should I use for my small business?” is closer to making a purchase than another user searching for “SEO benefits.”
You can find long-tail keyword ideas in Google’s People Also Asked section and through keyword suggestions in third-party SEO tools like Seobility and Keyword.com. Seobility, for instance, lets you filter keyword research results for related terms and searches, autocomplete, and similar keywords.
Looking at what keywords competitors rank for can be a great way to help you refine your keyword targeting strategy. Keep an eye on your competitors and analyze the keywords they are targeting. Identify any gaps or opportunities where you can improve your keyword strategy. Look for high-performing keywords that you might have missed and consider incorporating them into your content if they are relevant to your goals and target audience.
Search engines frequently update their algorithms, which can impact keyword rankings. For example, Google recently retired some of its legacy ranking parameters, causing some degree of disruptions in the SERPs.
Some signs of algorithm-related ranking drops include:
If your rankings drop due to algorithm updates, assess the changes first and wait for a week or two to see whether the changes even out. If there’s no improvement, consider updating your content and keyword strategy to align with the new requirements.
