Importance of Tracking SERPs: 5 Reasons Why You Must Do it

Intro

Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) contain all the information you need about evaluate the effectiveness of your SEO (Search Engine Optimization) strategy.

They determine how well-recognized your website is by search engines and the performance of your keywords.

To remain at par with competitor websites, tracking SERPs like a hawk and understanding their significance is non-negotiable.

In this article, you'll learn:

• Why it's important to track SERPs
• How to track SERPs with proper tools
• Answers to other frequently asked questions

What are SERPs?

SERPs are the pages that search engines like Google display due to a user's query. When someone enters a search term or a keyword into a search engine, the SERPs show a list of relevant web pages ranked based on

• Relevance
• Location
• Browsing History
• Personal Settings

They provide users with a summary of the web page content, including the title, URL, and description.

Why Is Tracking SERPs Important for SEO?

Tracking SERPs is a search engine giving you direct feedback on how your website and individual pages are performing.

This allows you to constantly iterate, tweak and optimize your activities for the best SEO performance.

Here are 5 reasons why you must track SERPs.

1) Understanding How Search Algorithms Work

The algorithms for search engines like Google are kept in a black box, and nobody truly knows how they actually work. However, by observing the results on the first page, you can get a rough idea of what Google deems as the "best" content.

2) Tracking Competitors' Performance

The SEO game is competitive, and every webmaster constantly tries to outperform each other. By looking at the SERPs either manually or with an AI SEO tool, you can get a quick glance at what on-page elements they are using.

These include:

• Title tag
• Meta description
• URL slug

Take a look at the screenshot below. Notice how all the top results for the keyword "Top Blogging Tips" have the exact keyword in their URL, meta description, or URL?

This clearly indicates that you should do the same if you want to rank. Any deviation from these best practices will result in hours of hard work going down the drain.

3) Knowing How To Optimize for the Featured Snippet

Getting the converted featured snippet will automatically put you in position zero, the best spot for organic searches.

There are currently 4 types:

• Paragraphs
• Tables
• Lists
• Videos

By looking at the SERPs you'll know exactly what it takes to get it. Let's take the search query "How to tie shoes" as an example.

Notice how the featured snippet is a YouTube video?

Both Google and users are telling you exactly what kind of content they want to see to rank for this particular keyword.

Even if you wrote the ultimate step-by-step guide on how to tie a shoe, it’s unlikely you’ll earn the top spot.

This is evident by well-established sites like wikiHow and Nike ranking below Mike Shake's YouTube channel.

4) Knowing When To Update Content

Website pages are living and breathing creatures that require constant nurturing. Search rankings don't last forever as trends change, new algorithms get implemented, and users' search habits evolve.

Observing the SERPs will tell you exactly when to update your content to meet SEO demands.

If your rankings have been consistently on a downward trajectory, it's a good sign that it's time for a content refresh.

It's one of the easiest ways to get a boost without writing a new article or building a ton of backlinks.

5) Mastering Search Intent

Most new SEOs get confused with search intent. But I'll keep it simple. Just look at the SERPs.

Everything you need to know about search intent is on page one of Google. Look at what kind of articles the top performers are, and you’ll know exactly how to satisfy users.

For example, if the top 3 articles are listicles, users are clearly looking for a list of ideas to choose from. Writing a How-to guide will never rank.

As someone who runs an affiliate marketing blog, this is absolutely the most vital reason to be tracking the SERPs.

If my articles don’t rank, I don’t earn.

How To Track SERPs Effectively?

Now that we have understood the importance of tracking SERPs, let me go over how to do it.

Using SERP Tracking Tools

Tracking SERPs manually is possible, but it's extremely time-consuming and inefficient.

Fortunately, numerous SERP tracking tools like Ranktracker's SERP checker can make your life much easier.

These tools allow you to monitor your keyword rankings, track changes in organic search results, and analyze the performance of your web pages on different search engines.

Using a dedicated SERP checker allows you to view all results in a single dashboard with additional metrics.

Ranktracker specifically displays items like:

• Page visibility
• Above the fold: Yes/No
• RS (Ranktracker score): a proprietary score using the number of backlinks as base
• DA (Domain authority): a score between 0-100 that measures the root domain developed by Moz
• PA (Page authority): a score between 0-100 that measures individual pages developed by Moz
• CF (Citation flow): a score between 0-100 that measures influence by the number of backlinks developed by Majestic
• TF (Trust flow): a score between 0-100 that measures the quality of backlinks developed by Majestic
• Traffic: measures the estimated number of organic search traffic per month
• Backlinks (number of backlinks to the target page)
• FB (Facebook shares)
• AR (Alexa rank)
• mIPs (Majestic IPs)
• RD (Referring domains): number of unique sites to the target page

You get all of these in a single dashboard by just typing your target keyword.

There's no way you'll get all this information without using it.

Metrics aside from:

• Above the Fold
• Facebook shares
• Backlinks (limited)

Cannot be measured manually. You'll be at a significant disadvantage otherwise.

For example, if you were trying to rank for a specific keyword as a new website but all the top articles had high domain authority.

You couldn't decipher that by simply performing a Google search because that’s not a native scoring metric.

Continuing to write the article is fighting a losing battle.

Tracking SERPs Manually

Though inefficient, here are some tips if you want to perform SERP analysis manually.

Enter the keyword you want to rank for and observe what the top results are.

Here are a few questions you want to ask yourself:

• Is there a feature snippet? If so, what type is it?
• What kind of articles is ranking in the top 3-5 spots? If they are majority how-tos, then you need to write a how-to article as well.
• Is it above the fold? After entering your query and without scrolling down, what are the top articles you can see on your screen? Is it worth targeting or is it dominated by sponsored posts?
• How authoritative are the top articles, and do you stand a chance? You can use Ranktracker's Free Backlink Checker to figure this out.

Now tabulate all the information into a Google sheet to visualize all the data.

You can get additional stats like the word count using a free Chrome extension called Word Counter Plus.

And if you are lucky, you'll be able to see the number of social shares if the site has a plugin.

So as you can see, it's possible but highly inefficient.

You don't get nearly enough information to craft a highly effective SEO strategy that can consistently get you results.

Importance of Tracking SERPs (FAQs)

What is a SERP feature?

A SERP feature refers to any special element or result that appears on a search engine results page (SERP) in addition to the organic search results. Examples of SERP features include featured snippets, knowledge panels, image carousels, and local pack listings.

How does tracking SERPs benefit my SEO efforts?

Tracking SERPs helps you understand how your website performs in search and allows you to make informed decisions regarding your SEO strategy. By monitoring SERPs, you can identify opportunities to optimize your website for SERP features, improve your click-through rate (CTR), and gain more organic traffic.

How can tracking SERPs help me outrank my competitors?

You can analyze your competitors' performance in search and identify areas where you can outperform them. You'll know which keywords they are ranking for, their targeting URLs and the SERP features they are winning. This information helps you develop a competitive base strategy while focusing most of your efforts on providing extra value to outrank them.

Can tracking SERPs help with keyword research?

Yes, tracking SERPs can provide valuable insights for keyword research. By analyzing the search results for your target keywords, you can see the types of content that are ranking well and the SERP features that are being displayed. This information can help you identify new keyword opportunities and discover content marketing ideas for better rankings.

How can tracking SERPs help me improve my website's click-through rate?

By tracking SERPs, you can identify opportunities to improve your website's click-through rate (CTR). For example, if you see a competitor appearing in a featured snippet for a keyword you are targeting, you can adjust your content strategy to try and appear in the featured snippet as well. Appearing in SERP features can significantly increase your CTR and drive more traffic to your website.

Does tracking SERPs help with monitoring algorithm updates?

Yes, tracking SERPs can help you monitor algorithm updates and understand how they may be impacting your website's rankings. If you see a sudden change in your rankings, you can investigate if it's related to a recent algorithm update. This information can help you adjust your SEO strategy and stay ahead of any ranking fluctuations.

Is tracking SERPs only relevant for Google search?

No, tracking SERPs is relevant for any search engine, including Google and Bing. Different search engines have their own algorithms and SERP features. Performing multiple analysis will provide a better understanding of your website's performance across other platforms.

How can tracking SERPs improve my website's relevancy?

By tracking SERPs, you can identify the types of content that are ranking well for your target keywords. This can help you understand what search engines consider to be relevant for those keywords and guide your next article.

How should I use the data from tracking SERPs?

You can use it to identify keyword opportunities, optimize your website for SERP features, monitor your website's performance in search, and analyze your competitors' rankings. Use all of these to make data-driven decisions and improve your website's visibility and rankings.

Conclusion

To recap, we have reviewed my top 5 reasons you need to track SERPs.

These are:

• Understanding How Search Algorithms Work
• Tracking Competitors' Performance
• Knowing How To Optimize for the Featured Snippet
• Knowing When To Update Content
• Mastering Search Intent

All of which play a vital role and not only getting higher rankings but maintaining them.

I've also gone over why using a tool like the Ranktracker SERP checker is one of the best ways to analyze search results.

You get way more useful metrics than simply performing it manually, which gives you an advantage over others.