What Is SERP Tracking & Why It Is Important

Search engine visibility drives organic traffic and helps grow your business.

After all, that’s what Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is all about. And here’s where SERP tracking comes into play.

Read on to find out what SERP tracking is and how it can benefit your business.

What Is SERP Tracking?

SERP tracking is all about monitoring your website rankings for specific keywords in search engine results pages (SERPs) over time. Changes in rankings can occur due to algorithm updates, competitor outperformance, website modifications, etc. Analyzing your SERP performance helps you evaluate your overall SEO efforts.

Understanding SERP Tracking: An Overview

At its core, SERP tracking is a critical indicator of your SEO strategy success. But it is also a core digital marketing ROI metric.

In organic rankings, the 1st SERP result gets approx. 40% of the total 1st-page clicks. This is way higher than the first paid result (2.1% clicks) - which actually appears even higher - at the very top of a SERP.

Similarly, featured snippets get almost 42% of the total clicks, while in local search results, businesses at the top of the local pack get about 17.5% of clicks.

All in all, SERP tracking helps you gauge your positioning for your most targeted keywords and signals areas for valuable improvement. It helps you see if your keyword strategies work and how well they work. Along with it, it gives you valuable insights into your content optimization and backlink-building efforts.

For instance, it can help you answer crucial questions like:

• Do my pages show up high for my target audience queries?
• Are my most important pages optimized well enough to outrank my competitors?
• What do I need to do to maintain the top 3 positioning for my best keywords?

Tip: The top 3 organic results receive approx. 68% clicks on the entire first SERP page.

Tracking SERPs is an indispensable tool...

• for SMEs trying to monetize their organic presence.
• for agencies aiming to maximize their SEO clients’ ROI.

The Importance Of Tracking SERPs

SERP tracking measures how effective your SEO efforts are in real-time. Keeping up with such data leads to content and website improvements that align with changing algorithms, competitor activity, keyword trends, and audience preferences.

So, at the end of the day, you can really see whether your SEO investment is paying off.

In more detail, SERP tracking helps you to:

1. Evaluate Your SEO Performance

Without SERP tracking, you would essentially be operating in the dark - not seeing what’s working and what’s not. To outrank organic competitors, you need comprehensive data on how you rank for specific keywords, how your rankings fluctuate (and why), and whether your efforts drive positive (and profitable) outcomes.

2. Get Insights Into Your Competitor Strategies

SERP tracking is the perfect starting point to identify and observe your competitors. By listing those who rank above or below you or observing fast-rising ‘stars,’ you can analyze their strategies and adjust yours to rise ahead or stay ahead.

3. Adapt To Algorithm Changes - Quickly

Because search engine algorithms constantly evolve, automating SERP reporting helps you get prompt alerts on sudden ranking changes. This proactive approach is the key to maintaining your competitive edge and adjusting your SEO approach accordingly.

4. Refine Your Keyword Strategy - Continuously

All the keywords that drive your ranking are not static. SERP tracking helps you refine your keyword strategy based on which phrases yield positive results and which ones need improvement - which, in turn, fuels your content and optimization efforts.

How Τo Track Your Organic Positions: Essential SERP Tracking Tools & Techniques

Here are 3 common SERP tracking methods - each offering different levels of detail and accuracy.

Paid SERP Tracking Tools

Professional SERP tracking tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush, offer extended capabilities and varied information on your evolving keyword rankings and of your ‘nearby’ competitors.

They provide data on keywords, positioning, and SERP features - featured snippets, People Also Ask, image/video results, etc.

They also show usage data and related queries for practically any keyword you want to target. And pinpoint keyword gaps you can profit from.

Manual SERP Analysis

If you have a small website or want to start by doing SEO yourself, you can simply Google search your keywords and keep a spreadsheet with your website’s positioning over time.

This method does not allow you to go into much depth with your SERP tracking, but it lets you see results pages exactly as your users see them.

Tip: Because paid SERP tracking tools often present slight deviations on certain metrics, manual analysis is the best way to fill any usage data gaps.

Use Google Search Console

Google Search Console (GSC) is a free tool that provides multiple data on how your site performs in search results. You can use it to:

• Track your website's position for specific queries
• View which keywords drive the most traffic
• Pinpoint (multi-level) opportunities for improvement

Using SERP Position Spread Analysis To Streamline Your Digital Strategy

One of the most advanced approaches to understanding your SERP performance is via SERP position spread analysis, which analyzes shifts and spreads in rankings across multiple keywords.

This unified approach allows SEOs to:

Assess Changes In Ranking Positions

Tracking and analyzing your ranking positions over time, charts trends and fluctuations. A rising position is a clear indicator that your SEO strategy is working, while a drop signals the need for (immediate) adjustments.

You can also track position changes of your competitor keywords and get a more comprehensive view of your SERP landscape.

Explore Correlations In SERP Data

SERP position spread analysis allows you to correlate different types of data, such as keyword performance, on-page elements (e.g., meta descriptions), content updates, etc. You can thus uncover what’s truly driving changes and adjust your ranking strategy accordingly.

Analyze Your Competitor Content

Once you find valuable content gaps among your most prominent competitors, you can grab the chance and be the first to rank for them. But also, you can see what your nearby websites are doing for a coveted keyword and create similar or better content to try and outrank them.

Enhance Your Link-Building Approach

Quality link-building equals high rankings. Especially in highly competitive niches οr highly competitive keywords. So, analyze your competing backlink profiles in-depth and race them by attracting or buying more authoritative backlinks.

Focus On Low-Hanging SEO Opportunities

SERP position spread analysis helps you identify the ‘low hanging fruit’ - the easy wins that’ll quickly get you among the top three results.

In fact, prioritizing some low-hanging keywords can raise a good number of your website pages, which, in turn, can result in significant visibility and increased traffic for your entire website.

Maximum ROI: Using High SERP Rankings To Convert Traffic

High SERP rankings are one of the most effective ways to increase organic traffic to your website. Once you have a solid understanding of your SERP positions and a refined SEO strategy, you can start focusing on converting that traffic into paying customers - maximizing your ROI.

And that’s exactly what we do at Atropos Digital SEO Agency. We meticulously identify major keyword opportunities and skillfully raise your pages to your prospects’ eye level. Ready to get started? Give us a call.