Search Engine Positions: Easy Free Ways to Track Your Keyword Positions

Rank Checker

When I found these two tools, benchmarking where any business ranks in the search engines and how their search engine positions improve over time became really simple.

Once you know what your important keyword phrases are, there are very easy ways to track your progress at attaining first page search positions for them. I explained how to do that in my building-traffic post.

Go to SEOBook Tools and download the free SEOBook Toolbar. Don’t bother trying to figure out which tools to use right now. Just download the toolbar because everything I will be sharing in the future is already in it.

The first thing to start using is the Search Engine Ranking Checker built into it. When you have the toolbar installed look for the the red and blue red icon (shown above in this post) between the word “Competition” and the big red X. That is the Rank Checker.

It is really easy to set up and use. Just click on it, type in your domain (you don’t need the http:// or the www), and type in your keywords. You can add multiple keywords too. When you do you have to enter your domain name again (at least in this current version).

Save what you created with a unique name. I use the domain name or the site or company name and what that list is if I have more than one for that company. Any time you want to check the positions you can simply click on the icon, open your saved presets and click start.

For more details and another how-to on using Rank Checker read How to Check Your Search Engine Rankings.

Maze Core

I also recommend you get the free version of Mazecore and plug your main website and keywords into it. That sends you updates and graphs your progress.I wrote about Mazecore and did some screen captures in my post about backlinks.

The graphs they provide make it easy to see your positions over time and gain insights into how what you are doing affects your search engine positions.

If you have multiple domains you can upgrade to track 5 for $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year (two months free) or 10 for $14.99 or $149.99 a year.

Those new to Search Engine Optimization often ask what are serps so I am including this definition for them:

Short for search engine results page, the Web page that a search engine returns with the results of its search.

Now might be a good time for me to share that I believe SEO is good. It is simply making it easier for Internet users to find what they are seeking – and that improves results for searchers and grows business for the owners of the Web sites – whether they be bloggers or small businesses.