If you’re an SEO, you’re probably familiar with the term “SERP tracking.” But what is SERP tracking? What information is included in a SERP report? And how can you use it to improve your SEO strategy?
Keep reading to find out!
What is SERP tracking?
SERP tracking is the process of keeping tabs on your website’s search engine results page (SERP) rankings. You can track your website against a number of different keywords, and see how well it ranks against specific competitors in different locations. There are many tools and strategies for SERP tracking—keep reading to learn more!
What information is included in SERP reports?
SERP reports show you a great deal of information about your website’s performance in search engines. Generally, they will include the following:
Best Serp Tracking
- SE Ranking
- SEMRush
- ContentKing
- SEOMonitor
- Google Search Console
- Accuranker
- Nightwatch.io
- Ahrefs
- Wincher
- ProRankTracker
- SERPStat
- Visably
Note: I’m going to add some affiliate links where possible. This isn’t going to influence what I put on the list. I just want to make some money from my content, okay? You can also hire me to do your SEO and content. Or just use my affiliate links. Either way. But this content takes time!
1. SE Ranking
Ideal for: Small business owners, SEO pros, and agencies.
Pricing: The Essential plan starts at $39 per month, but with an annual subscription. SE Ranking also offers a free trial period for new users.
G2 Score: 4.8/5
I’ve only recently discovered SE Ranking, but I really like it. I think it’s the all around best SERP tracking tool.
We do a lot of reporting for clients at my agency, and this one hits all of the features I need.
First, it’s one of the most accurate and comprehensive rank trackers out there. It tracks pretty much every search engine, including Google, Google Mobile, Bing, Yahoo, YouTube, Yandex, Yandex Mobile, etc. They also include keyword search volume estimates as well as relative traffic forecasts for your content.
They’ve got a whole suite of SEO tools, though, as well. So they’ve got data on Google Ads, Maps and local search results, and SERP features (like featured snippets, sitelinks, people also ask).
Another thing I like is they have historical SERP data. You can go back in time and see performance differences in your tracked keywords, and you can also see how the SERPs have changed over time.
UI-wise, it’s easy to use even for beginners. Easy to export data, but they’ve got great visualizations and features in their product as well.
2. SEMRush
Ideal for: Businesses of all sizes. They have a million tools but you don’t have to use them all.
Pricing: The Pro and Guru plans offer a free trial that lasts seven days. For the annual billing, plans start at $119.95/month (The Pro plan). The most expensive plan—The Business plan—costs $449.95/month. If you purchase the plans annually, you can save 16% as opposed to purchasing them monthly.
G2 Score: 4.5/5
SEMRush is one of the biggest names in SEO, so I probably don’t have to acquaint you to the tool.
I will, however, because that’s the type of comprehensive blogger I am.
They’re a full suite digital marketing platform. Mainly focused on SEO, but they also have tons and tons of data for PPC marketers and general market research.
Their core features include a keyword research tool and domain analysis, rank tracking, competitor analysis, and analysis of PPC advertisements.
They also have a ton of mini tools like their SEO writing assistant.
Of course, their rank tracker is solid. But I wanted to put them on this list for a new tool they’re launching.
This tool, which I think will be called the Surround Sound tool, lets you analyze the SERP for a given keyword, say “best live chat software.” Then you can see, of the top 10, 20, 50, etc. ranking pages, how many of them mentioned your domain? And of those who mentioned your domain, how many linked to it?
This introduces another element to SEO: SERP monopolization.
Ideally, you don’t want to only rank your page. You want to be included on all the lists, review sites, and other ranking pages. This way, when someone searches for “best kettlebells,” your name repeatedly comes up (thus, the “surround sound” effect).
Read more on the surround sound strategy here.
3. ContentKing
Ideal for: Medium-sized businesses and enterprises
Pricing: unavailable on site but free trial available
G2 Score: 4.8/5
ContentKing just got acquired by Conductor, an all-in-one enterprise SEO suite. So we’ll see how that affects the product.
But generally speaking, people love it. Especially hardcore SEO nerds.
It’s a great product. Makes sense.
What does it do? Real-time SEO monitoring.
This is particularly useful for the technical SEOs among us, as you can monitor thousands of pages to identify rank drops and crawling issues. This lets you quickly identify bugs and optimization opportunities.
While this one is less focused on SERPs and SERP features, I wanted to include it because it can identify issues other tools on this list can’t
4. SEOMonitor
Ideal for: SEO agencies and small businesses
Pricing: There is no free version. A free trial is available. The cost depends on the number of keywords and websites you want to track.
G2 Score: 4.7/5
SEOmonitor is really the go-to tool built for agencies.
They’ve got the full SEO suite – keyword research, rank tracking, organic traffic estimates. But they’ve also got added features particularly built for freelancers and agencies working with many clients.
One of these is SEO forecasting. This allows you to build forecasts from your initial models and audits, which can help close or retain clients.
They’ve got robust reporting features, shareable reports, and great visualizations.
They also include client management functionalities like follow-ups and a sort of CRM.
If you’re a services provider, this is a great solution.
5. Google Search Console
Ideal for: pretty much everyone with a website
Pricing: free
G2 Score: 4.6/5
Since Google Search Console is free, and if you’re doing SEO you’re likely to be caring a lot about data from Google, this one is a no brainer.
I don’t think I’ve ever come across a company that doesn’t use Google Search Console. Well, I’ve seen many who *have* Google Search Console but don’t use it to its full capabilities. But everyone at least has the tool set up.
You can submit sitemaps to Google for crawling, measure the performance of your keywords, see the engagement and click-through-rate of your content, and track all of this based on location and device.
Also, it’s great for identifying website issues like site crawling, site speed and page speed, security, indexation, mobile usability, and structured data.
Overall, I like to use Google Search Console, but it’s not amazing at reporting. So I like to use it in conjunction with other tools on this list. One big positive, also, is that you can hook this up directly to Google Data Studio for reporting (other tools you need to use a 3rd party integration tool).
By the way, if you’re wondering, here’s my exact stack:
- SE Ranking
- Google Search Console
- Ahrefs
- SEMRush
- Google Analytics
Plus Surfer and Clearscope. Good stack!
best free serp tool
11. SERP Surf
SERP Surf is one of the top free SERP tools that checks the search engine ranking position of your website. This SERP checker allows you to enter one domain and up to five keywords to rank check for free. You can also enter up to three domains of your competitors to see how you rank against them.
The free to use tool then allows you to choose the region and device (desktop, mobile, or tablet) to search for. Once you press “Check SERPSurf” you can expect to see your results within about 2 minutes. Additionally, SERP Surf will also show you the top ten rankings for each keyword that you enter.
One of the downsides to using the free version of this tool is that it only allows you to search up to 5 keywords at a time. Other SERP tools will usually allow 10+ keywords for their free version. The tool also only shows the top 10 results for each keyword. The biggest disadvantage of using this tool is that it doesn’t track your rank positions overtime on the website. You will have to monitor how you are performing over a period of time on your own.
Pricing:
Currently, this tool only offers a free version with no option to pay for an upgraded version of the tool.
10. SERP Robot
The next SERP tool we tested was SERP Robot which is a quick and accurate way to check your search engine ranking position. SERP Robot allows you to check up to 10 keywords at a time using their free version. You can then search your domain’s rank as well as up to 3 of your competitors.
Once you search, SERP Robot will give you the top 10 results for each keyword that you searched. 10 keywords and 10 results are about the average of the top free SERP tools that we researched. The advantage of using SERP Robot, however, is that it allows you to search an unlimited amount of times.
We calculated that the wait time for the tool to display results can take anywhere from 1 – 3 minutes if busy. One of the downsides we noticed about SERP Robot’s free version is that it only allows you to check desktop search results, not mobile or tablet. It lacks this key feature which is present in most other free to use SERP tools.
Another disadvantage we noticed is that it can’t track domain rank positions over time for each keyword. This means you would have to track your progress externally on your own. These disadvantages can be removed however by upgrading to the paid version of the software.
Pricing:
Free Version: $0/year, unlimited searches, 10 keywords, 10 results
Pro Version: $59.88/year, unlimited projects, unlimited keywords, 300 searches a day, 365-day history graphs, check different locations and languages, automatic daily checking
9. Search Engine Report’s Keyword Rank Checker
First on our list is Search Engine Report’s Keyword Rank Checker. This fast and easy to use tool will check the search engine rank position of 1 of your domains. This program will check your domain ranking for up to 10 keywords of your choice. You can easily import and export your keywords by copying and pasting directly into the tool.
Search Engine Report’s Keyword Rank Checker also gives you the option to include up to 3 of your competitor’s domains. It will then check those domains and compare their performance to your domain. The tool also gives you the ability to select which country and device you would like to search for. You can choose to search on either desktop or mobile for free.
A feature that Search Engine Report’s Keyword Rank Checker is lacking is the ability to track rank history. The program also doesn’t give you the option to export results meaning you would have to keep track of your rankings externally.
Pricing:
Currently, this tool only offers a free version with no option to pay for an upgraded version of the tool.
8. Ubersuggest
Ubersuggest is a free to use SERP tool made available but well-known marketer Niel Patel. This easy to use tool allows you to insert your domain and receive a list of keywords that your domain currently ranks for. Ubersuggest will also keep track of the history of your ranking for each keyword to analyze your progress.
Another benefit of this tool is that it suggests keywords that you should try ranking for. This can help you adapt your Search Engine Optimization appropriately to the keywords that you should be targeting. A downside to this tool is that you can’t search specific keyword rankings relative to your domain.
Pricing:
Free Version: $0/year, 25 keyword suggestions, rank history tracking, 20 top pages
Pro Version: $290/year, 100,000 keyword suggestions, 10,000 content ideas, 10,000 top pages, unlimited reports per day, etc.
7. Link Assistant Rank Tracker
Another one of the top free SERP tools that we found is Link Assistant’s Rank Tracker. Unlike other SERP tools we review in this post, Link Assistant’s keyword rank tracker is a tool that you are required to download. Link Assistant’s free version is extremely useful and includes many of the features that you receive for their paid version. This SERP program allows you to track an unlimited number of domains and keywords. You can easily import and export these keywords as well which saves a lot of time.
The tool also gives you an in-depth analysis of the best keywords to use. It does this by giving you a score on the difficulty of ranking for each keyword. When using the rank tracker you can search both desktop and mobile at the same time. This is very useful as many free versions of SERP checkers only allow you to search one or the other.
Although this tool has many features that other SERP tools would charge a premium for, it still doesn’t save your ranking history or search settings. This is a major inconvenience as you would have to import your search inputs and keep track of your data externally. Another downside to this program is that it only allows you to compare rankings with one other competitor.
These features can be fixed however by upgrading to the paid version of the tool. There are currently two paid options at $124/year and $299/year.
Pricing:
6. Thruuu
Thruuu is a free SERP tool that is very useful for improving your SEO. By typing in and searching a keyword, the tool will give you an overview of the top results for that keyword. You can choose whether to scrape between 10-100 pages of search results. It will also give you an in-depth analysis of the information in the top posts for that keyword.
Thruuu will tell you about the title of the page, meta description, number of words and images, heading structure, publication date, and the latest update for each result. The tool also gives you the option to search either desktop or mobile. Another useful function of the device is that you can easily and quickly export all the info into an excel file when you’re done. This makes it easy to keep track of past search results.
Unfortunately, the tool does not currently allow you to search your specific domain which is a disadvantage from other SERP tools. It also only allows you to search one keyword at a time which can make it very timeconsuming if you need data on a lot of keywords. That being said, Thruuu is still a very useful tool that enables you to effectively research how to target the keywords that you want.
Pricing:
Currently, this tool only offers a free version with no option to pay for an upgraded version of the tool.
5. Seobility
Ranked number 5 on our list of top free SERP tools is Seobility. In order to use Seobility, you are required to sign up for a free account on their website. Once signed up, this tool allows you to import and monitor up to 10 keywords at a time. It also limits you to only 1 domain per account.
When searching, Seobility lets you include up to 3 competitors to compare keyword search rankings with. The tool also shows your keyword rank history and displays it on graphs indicating whether your ranking is improving or declining. In addition to showing your rank position, the software will also display the search volume and CPC for each keyword. Seobility has some other free features such as page response time, most used keywords, and an indication of any errors present on your website.
One of the disadvantages we noticed with using Seobility is that its free version only allows you to search desktop, not mobile or tablet. The tool also only lets you do one search per day making it very time consuming to do research on more than 10 keywords. To increase the limits that Seobility has set on this tool you are required to upgrade to one of the paid versions below.
Pricing:
4. Small SEO Tools’ Keyword Rank Checker
Small SEO Tool’s Keyword Rank Checker is a great SERP tool that you can use for free. This software allows you to import and track up to 10 keywords across either desktop, mobile, or tablet. You can also choose whether to search by specific keywords or to see what keywords your URL ranks for. This is a feature that is harder to find in most free to use SERP tools.
In addition to being able to search across different devices, this rank tracker displays your keyword position, the search volume of the keyword, and the total number of search results. You can also track your keyword position overtime and download an excel report from it. Furthermore, the software allows you to see an unlimited number of top URLs for each keyword that you search for.
Although this tool has a lot of great features that other sites would charge a premium for, we still ranked it below some of the other SERP tools we reviewed. The reason for this is because it doesn’t let you track results in comparison to your competitors’ websites. This is a function that almost all the tools on this list have for free.
Pricing:
Currently, this tool only offers a free version with no option to pay for an upgraded version of the tool.
3. What’s My SERP
What’s My SERP is another free to use SERP keyword tracking tool with great features. This tool allows you to search up to 25 keywords per domain. It allows you to search 10 times per day without having to make an account. Signing up for a free account will allow you to search an unlimited amount of times as well.
Once you make a free account you can also import and export keywords that you would like to search and track. When searching, this tool enables you to use a different domain each time with no limits. These elements make this tool more effective and time-saving than some of the other free tools we’ve reviewed.
One of the downsides to using this tool is that it only allows you to search desktop for free. In order to search mobile you are required to upgrade to the premium version of What’s My SERP. You are also required to upgrade your account if you wish to track your rank history on the website. If you do decide to upgrade your account What’s My SERP has some of the best prices of the top free SERP tools on the internet.
Pricing:
2. Rank Console
One of the top free SERP tools that we found is Rank Console. This free to use software offers features that many SERP tools charge a premium for. Rank Console allows you to search using an unlimited amount of domains. This is extremely useful and timesaving, letting you check keyword rankings for multiple pages on your website.
In addition to allowing you to use unlimited domains, Rank Console also allows you to use an unlimited number of keywords. This is a huge advantage over other top free SERP tools that only allow you around 10 – 20 keywords. Furthermore, this tool allows you to track an unlimited number of competitors for free. In comparison most free tools only allow you to track a maximum of 3 competitors.
Rank Console also has a feature built into the tool that tracks your rank history and will display your rank change on a graph. The tool will even use Google Trends to show you the rise and fall in interest for each keyword, as well as the subregions the interest is coming from. Once you sign up for a free account on their website you can gain full access to all of these amazing features.
Although the tool has some tremendous features included for free, we did notice a few downsides to using Rank Console. Unfortunately, when searching keywords you can only search desktop, not mobile or tablet. The tool also has no specific location searching such as by city or state. Lastly, although the tool allows you to use unlimited keywords, it has no way of importing or exporting them.
Pricing:
Currently, this tool only offers a free version with no option to pay for an upgraded version of the tool.
1. Rank Tank
After doing extensive research, we decided that Rank Tank was the best of the free tools that we found. Unlike other top free SERP tools that we reviewed, Rank Tank is a downloadable program that uses Google Sheets. This extremely powerful and useful tool allows you to search up to 100 keywords for free. With Rank Tank being on Google Sheets you can easily import and export your keywords by copy and pasting.
The program allows you to search across either desktop or mobile for free. Once your search is finished, you can save your results to a new tab. You can do as many searches as you want and track your rank history by looking back at past tabs.
It will also compute an overall score for you based on how you rank for all the keywords that you searched for. In order to get this program, all you have to do is sign up for a free account on Rank Tank’s website and download the software to Google Sheets.
Another useful feature included in the free to use tool is that it lists the top result, who’s above you, and whose below you for each keyword. Unfortunately, the tool doesn’t currently list the top 10 results for each keyword. The features Rank Tank includes for free more than make-up for this though.
Pricing:
Free Version: $0/month, 100 keywords, unlimited searches
Elite Version: $149/month, 100,000 keywords, unlimited searches
SERP Tool Comparison:
Conclusion
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