You won’t get very far in the world of digital marketing without hearing about SEO keywords.
In a nutshell, SEO keywords are specific phrases that customers are likely to type into a search engine when looking for certain answers, products, or services.
The idea is to strategically place these keywords throughout your content so that your page is more likely to be presented at the top of search engine result pages (SERPs).
These days, using such tactics to improve SERPs ranking has become an art form in itself.
But how are you supposed to know which keywords to use? That’s where the magic of a keyword ranking report comes in.
What is a keyword report?
A keyword ranking report is a popular tool that digital marketers use to find out which keywords people tend to use the most when searching.
This valuable knowledge can help you figure out how effectively your site is or isn’t at attracting traffic through the use of keywords.
It can also help you see how your SEO strategy ranks against the competition and why.
Why is keyword ranking important?
Before you can sell potential customers on your product or service, you’ve got to get them to your page in the first place.
Search engines like Google can go a long way toward helping you achieve this goal – but only if you play your cards right.
Research shows that when Google presents a list of search results, 67.60% of users are likely to click on one of the first five organic results.
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From that point on, things tend to go downhill very quickly.
The 6th – 10th results that appear on the first page only score 3.73% of the total clicks.
Not only can a keyword ranking report help you drive more traffic to your site, but it also contains valuable insight into your target audience.
Understanding what potential customers are looking for and how they’re attempting to find it can help you ensure that your website delivers.
What does an SEO report contain?
There are now plenty of SEO tools available that can generate a keyword ranking report for your website.
What each report contains depends entirely on the specific tool you decide to use.
In general, however, the average keyword ranking report will reveal:
- The most commonly searched keywords that surround a certain topic or industry.
- The keywords that customers use the most often.
- Keyword difficulty, which is how hard it is to rank in a good position on the SERP using a specific term.
- The amount of organic traffic that specific words or phrases tend to pull in.
- The keywords your URL uses can factor into how relevant a search engine will deem your page to a given search.
How do I find my keyword ranking on Google?
There are many different tools you can use to generate a keyword ranking report, among them being Google itself.
If you’re a website owner, then head over to Google Search Console, where you’ll be able to set up a free account.
After validating that you are indeed the site’s owner, Google will then begin tracking your site’s performance.
This could take a few weeks, but eventually, it will pay off in the form of a performance report. You’ll access it by clicking “performance.”
Your performance report will show you all kinds of useful information, including how well your keywords are performing.
You’ll also gain insight into the total number of clicks your site has received over a certain period, your average CTR, and total impressions.
How do you analyze keyword rankings?
When it comes to analyzing keyword rankings on Google Search Console, you’ll want to focus on the “queries” section.
This is where you’ll find the search words and phrases that have drawn the most traffic to your site through Google.
You’ll also get a look at where your website ranks in Google SERPs based on each different keyword.
Aside from being free, one of the biggest perks of Google Search Console is that it’s incredibly accurate – which makes sense given that it was designed by Google itself.
The only downside is that it doesn’t give you much insight into your competition, but there are several ways around this.
The first is figuring out which keywords are bringing you the most traffic and then typing them into Google to see how your page fares.
Be sure you also notice which sites are ranking higher than yours and give them a good once over to see if you can figure out why.
Your second option is to use an SEO platform that will generate a far more in-depth keyword ranking report.
What SEO platforms do you use for reporting and tracking?
There are many amazing SEO platforms out there that can help you track which keywords to focus on over time.
Let’s check out the most popular and what they have to offer.
- Ahrefs
Not only is Ahrefs one of the top SEO keyword tracking tools out there, but it’s also one of the easiest to use.
The platform’s Keyword Explorer can tell you how popular a keyword is and recommend thousands of others that may be even more useful.
It will also keep you up-to-date on which keywords shift in popularity over time, suggest choices for every page on your site, and even track your ranking against competitors.
- SEMrush
SEMrush is also a popular choice when it comes to generating a next-level keyword ranking report and more.
It can help you determine which keywords to focus on and track how much traffic they generate on a regular basis.
SEMrush will also alert you to shifts in keyword popularity and alert you if any competitors should manage to outrank you.
Overall, understanding a keyword ranking report can largely come down to the features offered by the tool you decide to use.
The good news is that most are pretty straightforward.
Want to explore more keyword tools firsthand? Check out this list of 11 Free Keyword Tools you can use to increase organic traffic today.
