Keyword Tracking Reports

[cliclocal]

I'm curious if anyone is supplying them to their clients. We use BrightLocal and track 100 city+service keywords, I have mixed feelings on this because the client tends to get hung up on the keyword if it's not ranking.

Meanwhile they are getting a good amount of traffic from the long tail and it's resulting in business. I just think supplying this report is an old world SEO tool and it opens you up to issues.

Agree or disagree, would love some feedback on this.

Dean

 

[Linda Buquet]

Hi Dean,

Thanks for bringing up a good Q. Hope some other consultants weigh in, but Friday's and weekends on forums are pretty slow.

We've discussed quite a few times. Here is a couple other threads that will give you some food for thought in the meantime.

<a href="http://localsearchforum.catalystemarketing.com/local-search/10871-ranking-reports.html">Ranking Reports</a>

<a href="http://localsearchforum.catalystemarketing.com/local-seo-ranking/6693-ranking-reports-how-report-serps-changing-so.html">Ranking Reports - How to report with SERP's changing so much?</a>

 

[cliclocal]

Thanks Linda, do you have any thoughts on it?

Dean

 

[Linda Buquet]

Sorry Dean, I've been sick for 6 weeks, drugged and can't think right now.

If I had a brain, I'd have thoughts, but right now have no brain.

 

[sergiuliano]

Hi Dean,

My suggestion is to use the local rank tracker report as a marketing tool, to better explain the end clients that each different location needs a simillar local SEO campaign, in case you are targeting multiple locations at once.

In the same time the local insights will help you to build an optimized local SEO strategy, by analizing who are your competitors , what they have done and what can be done in order to outrank them. Your client shall understand also this point.

Last but not least, better you rank for a generic keyword from a local perspective, higher the chances are to rank well for some related long tails.

Hope that my answer covers your question


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Greg Schueler]

I run all my clients through BrightLocal's ranking report too, but don't necessarily deliver that report to them. It's just more of a guideline/overview for us. If I do show it to a client, I always emphasize that these are 'mechanical' results based on keywords that I entered to be tracked, not what people have actually typed in their search bars. (Though they can be actual search terms).

(By mechanical, I mean machine generated, from an external IP address, so results may not be 100% accurate compared to an actual local search)

I also use Raven Tools, which can import actual keyword (average) rankings from Google Webmaster Tools (and Bing if used). These are actual terms that Google users search and provide a really nice overview of their rankings. (I think you can also export these directly from WMT, but I like the Raven Report as a whole as it combines a lot of other data.)

I do agree though that I try to focus on traffic and conversions more than just a ranking position.

 

[MarkW]

I provide these for clients still but we are mostly looking at the big picture and larger trends. It's not wise to worry about certain types of movement in the rankings.

The biggest value of these reports is internal within our company; they help us assess the health of the website after any large algorithmic updates and spot any issues as we go along.

We used to use Moz for these, we have switched to the rank tracker from link-assistant(dot com). Moz doesn't let you run on command, it runs automatically once per week. The one we use now can be run on command so we can check for damage if we hear there was a big Google update. It is also top of the line for keyword research as a side function. Only downside is when Google starts asking it for the captcha because you have run too many auto queries, this takes a real person to type these in through the tracker interface... or some API knowledge.

I have used Raven tools in the past as well. I know they have a good reputation, but I think I was a bit disappointed at the time.

I hope this helps.

 

[Margaret Ornsby]

My feeling on ranking reports is that they're not really helpful to business owners. You can't take a page 1 ranking, or 1st in the pack ranking to the bank.

Letting them get sidetracked on positions for keywords takes them away from what I'm wanting to help them do - grow their business.

So if they're getting more business, more customers - that's something that they can bank.

The reports are good for internal purposes for measuring our own success, good for analysis to turn into intelligence than be reported to clients.

My two cents.

 

[Myles Anderson]

Hi guys

Firstly a big thank you to those of your using BrightLocal - we appreciate you putting your trust in us and hope we're doing a good job for you

Ranking reports have become maligned over the past 12-24 months because the don't show the whole picture & high rankings don't = customers.

Our advice & take on reporting is as follows -

1. Rankings provide evidence of performance improvement that can't be seen by traffic & revenue. It takes time to get to page 1 and until you do clicks & calls won't start ramping up. But you need to know that the work your doing is moving you in the right direction. Some people think of them as an early warning system showing movement before it can be felt in harder metrics. Imagine a scenario where you spend 4 weeks working hard for a client but they just don't see any increase in traffic or sales so you give up. But if you were tracking rankings you would have seen them move up from p4 to p2 and with some more effort you can hit p1.

2. Ranking reports should be part of a suite of reports, not used as standalone. Good marketers know that they need to view & report on the end to end performance to provide the whole picture. Reporting on ranking improvement, traffic, leads & calls provides evidence of success (or failure) at all key stages in marketing/sales cycle.

3. Rankings are tangible and business owners understand them. Many small business owners are swamped with tasks & data in their own business, and presenting tones of marketing data isn't helpful. Rankings represent a simple, tangible metric for them to quickly get their heads around.

4. 'Not Provided' - with GA no longer displaying search term data, rankings provides data that can fill in the gaps so you understand which terms are performing best and which to focus your energies on optimizing for.

I could go on but i think these 4 points demonstrate that while ranking data isn't perfect, and shouldn't be looked at in isolation, it still provide lots of value to SEOs & SMBs.

I'd love to here any questions & thoughts on this that anyone has. Thanks, Myles

 

[cliclocal]

Thanks everyone for the feedback, really appreciate it. We use BrightLocal as well and also supply a analytics report via Raven Tools. I'm just trying to get away from those clients that tend to hang their hats on a single keyword, it's been a challenge no matter how much you educate them.