The Rank Tracker plugin tells you which phrases people have used to find your site, the page from your site that is listed in Google for the search phrase used, and the position in the results. And it does all of this in real-time. There’s no waiting for Google Analytics to update or logging into a stats account to see what phrases people are using to find your site.
It’s all there in the WordPress admin area.
I’ve had the plugin installed on a few sites for almost a week and I’ve found it really useful. The idea is to find phrases that a site is ranking quite well for, and then target those phrases to try to improve their rankings.
Watch the video for a full demonstration:
Click here to buy Rank Tracker
As you can see from the video the plugin only records results from a few Google search engines (.ca, .com, .com.au, .co.uk, .de and .ie). And it will only record the results from one of those search engines at any time. But that still provides enough information for you to make changes to your content to target lucrative phrases; such as the ones that convert or make you money.
You can do this by increasing the number of times relevant phrases exist in your content (keyword density), adding or amending header tags (h1, h2 etc), changing the title tag (but not the URL) building links to the pages that are ranking, either from external sources or from your own pages, that contain keywords in the anchor text or by adding some bold, italics or underlines to the keywords you’re chasing.
Variety is the spice of life
I’m always amazed at the amount of variations on a phrase for which a page can rank. Here is a list of some of the phrases people have used during the past few days to find this site:
- blog post title format
- how to handle wordpress comments
- google adsense allowed sites
- wordpress plugins that cause your site to slow down
- wordpress plugins too many slows
- see who you follow and doenst follow you back
- who doesn’t follow me back on twitter
- know who doesn\’t follow you back on twitter
- twitter see who doesn\’t follow you
- how to tell who doesn\’t follow you on twitter
- see who doesn\’t follow you back on twitter
- how many stories will instapaper save in folder
- twitter inactive accounts
- twitter release usernames 2011
- claim abandoned twitter account
- abandoned twitter name june 2011
- contact twitter abandoned username
- how much you earn per click adsense countries
- find out who doesn\’t follow you back on twitter
- who doesn\’t follow me back on twitter
- htaccess comment out a line
- blogger awesome template
- inspiron 1525 +dust
- what to do if social plugin slows down site
- who doesnt follow me back on twitter?
- who follow that doesnt follow you
- how to see who you follow that doesnt follow back
- release all inactive usernames twitter
- how to set up 301 redirect cpanel
One of the most interesting things about the list is the number of words people use in their search phrase. Hardly any of these phrases contain one, two or three words. Most have more. (Although search engines tend to ignore common words such as it, you, the etc.) It also shows that a lot of people are not using Google suggest when searching.
Rank Tracker plugin data
Rank Tracker records several pieces of data – the keywords used, the number of visits your site has had for those keywords, the position your page was ranking, the URL, the PageRank of the page and the date last checked.
If you wish to do so you can export all the data into a spreadsheet, and if you want to, you can set up the plugin so it emails you notification of the keywords used when somebody finds your site through a search engine. This is ideal for smallish sites that don’t get much traffic, but not ideal if you have a busy site.
Personalized Results and False Positives
To test the accuracy of the Rank Tracker plugin data I opened up an incognito window in Google Chrome and searched for phrases the plugin says my sites are ranking well for. It comes close with a lot of the results and gets quite a few dead on, but there are also a few false positives. For example, the plugin will say my site is at number one for such a phrase, yet when I search I’m at position three or four. It may also say that my site is at position four, but when I search I’m at position one.
In a world of personal search and Google trying to second guess what people search for I’m not going to become downbeat about little inaccuracies like this. Instead I am taking the data as a reference point. I’m using the plugin-in as an in-house guide and real-time data collector that helps me track and target the keyword phrases people use to find my sites. I don’t think any tool like this can be 100% accurate all the time.
Bang on the money
Here are a few screenshots of Rank Tracker getting it right.
Is Rank Tracker worth the money?
Rank Tracker costs $27. To me, that’s an investment. You can install it on as many sites as you like and you can use the data it gathers to try to improve rankings. It’s ideal for people running a large network of niche sites (especially if you make use of the email notification), a smaller hub of high content sites or your own business/personal blog. I haven’t had the plugin long enough to test the results over an extended period and to see if the tweaks I make help with rankings and traffic, but I’m sure they will.
What I like most about Rank Tracker is the real-time data captured within the WordPress admin area. I can see what phrases people are using to find my sites and when you see lots of pages listed at number one on Google it gives you a real morale boost, and for the pages that aren’t ranking so well, it shows you where to go to make improvements.
[...] Evolved! | Keyword Rese.. Interview with Children’s Illustrator and Artist David Galchutt | Improve rankings using the Rank Tracker WordPress plugin | My Digital Inter.. Free Business Hosting Coupon Peluang Bisnis 2012 | Info Usaha 2012 Google Adsense Modal Kecil | [...]