What is the Importance of Tracking SERPs and How to Do it?

Tracking search engine results pages is crucial as it forms an awareness of the websites/content that gets featured and the elements that are significant in this regard. Understanding the importance of tracking SERPs is, therefore, necessary. However, one should have an overview of these pages. This collective knowledge can guide marketers in the process of SERP tracking. Mainly, it can involve using tools/checkers or making manual efforts to monitor and study the pages. Following this, useful observations can be made regarding keywords, content structure, and more. Through these, search engine optimization (SEO) and content marketing strategies can be enhanced.

What are SERPs?

SERPs or search engine results pages, in simplest terms, are responses to the queries of users. They show up on the search engine when particular topics, queries, or concerns are searched. Note that the types of responses can be varied, depending on the query and the engine, i.e. Google, Bing, etc.

• Hence, SERPs can mainly consist of: 
  • Textual content,
  • And, videos.
• At times, the results shown can indicate featured snippets.
• Further, they can include sponsored responses or results from Google Ads, usually at the top.
• Aside from these, users can majorly find organically sourced search results.

What is the Importance of Tracking SERPs?

The importance of tracking SERPs can be realized when SEO performance has to be enhanced. Monitoring these can give insights regarding how the pages of a website change their positions to receive online visibility. Additionally, it becomes possible to know which pages have outranked them. 

• Overall, via SERP tracking, one can observe the nature of results, whether positive or negative, yielded by current SEO practices.
• Understanding that these results are negative, one can improve the current practices.
• Also, an analysis of the pages outranked can be performed. 
• On the basis of this analysis, elements to rank the pages again can be worked on.

Tracking SERPs is important for additional reasons as well:

To Improve Content Marketing Strategies

Considering search engine results pages to be a feature, content marketing strategies can be improved. The element is responsible for making organic snippets to be perceived as rich. Through these featured snippets, a marketer can observe relevant keywords or terms to pick. 

• Based on the information obtained, marketers can adjust their strategies.
• Incorporating these in content can result in its betterment. 
• It can provide a broader presence online. 
• All in all, it can strengthen the content marketing strategy to focus better on the target audience.

Detect Drops in Traffic

Tracking the rankings of a particular website in search engine results pages can help in detecting drops in traffic. Furthermore, doing so can hint at the reasons for a decline in organic traffic. Search engine algorithms get regularly updated with new changes to offer users better and more relevant results. Hence, it can be beneficial to go through these.

• Owing to the importance of tracking SERPs, site owners can get insights into traffic
• They can focus on how effective the current keywords in the content are.
• Besides, they can obtain insights regarding the positions of pages, URL columns, etc.

Create an Effective Keyword Strategy

Tracking changes in a search engine results page via a tracker can eventually provide insights to help create a keyword strategy. It can comprise the usage of the most searched keywords. Adding these to website pages can broaden the scope for visibility on Google, Bing, etc. 

In addition, note that to form a keyword strategy, conducting research is crucial. Observing SERPs can simplify the same. Along with keywords, it can make one aware of phrases searched by the target audience. Adding these to content can make it more natural/relevant to readers. 

Form Awareness Regarding Competitors

SERPs can present organic search results, indicating who the top competitors of a specific website are. The importance of tracking SERPs goes beyond this. They can reflect upon their strategies that are positively influencing their ranks, causing them to stay at the top and master marketing. 

• A careful analysis of the results can help identify which elements to add to the web pages. 
• Further, the content of the competitors can be studied in detail to understand:
  • The structure of the information, 
  • Its quality, 
  • And, the approach to optimization implemented.

• Particularly in the structure, ensure the analyze:
  • The title,
  • As well as the description. 
• Not only those ranking above but also below a specific site’s pages should be analyzed.
• Those that rank below can indicate the practices to avoid.

Tip: It is important to consistently analyze competitors’ content via SERPs for constant improvements.

How to Track SERPs Effectively?

To track search engine results pages effectively, marketers can use a combination of various tools and techniques. They can track a website’s rankings. Knowing the importance of tracking SERPs, the process needs to be properly executed for the best results and insights.

Select an Appropriate SERP Tool

Firstly, to check SERPs, choose a tracking tool that seems the most appropriate. The most common ones are Google Search Console, Ahrefs, and Moz. From the numerous options available, shortlist the search engine results page tracker that offers accuracy. Besides, it should be able to track results across several devices.

Manually Track Results

Along with identifying the importance of tracking SERPs, one should know that it is possible to manually monitor search engine results pages. This approach is devoid of using a specific tool. For this, Bing, Google, or any other search engine can be preferred. 

• Simply open a browser. Then search for a keyword. 
• On the first page, of all the results, focus on the top 10 that are organic.
• While going through these results, observe the:
  • Page URL,
  • Meta title,
  • And, meta description.
• A marketer can notice whether his/her site is ranking on the first page.
• If not, run through the results on the next page or subsequent ones.
• Identify the elements that negatively or positively influence the ranking of the website.

Focus on Key Metrics 

In the next step of tracking SERPs, focus on the key metrics that matter the most. Some of the top key performance indicators are the ranking position, search volume, and estimated traffic. They can help in providing more clarity on a website’s presence in search engine results pages.

Identify Target Keywords 

Going through the importance of tracking SERPs, it is revealed that identifying target keywords is crucial. Hence, to monitor the results pages, they should be detected. Moreover, to get a deeper idea about them, segment these keywords.

• The approach to keyword segmentation can be on the basis of:
  • Intent, 
  • Difficulty, 
  • And, the type of content they represent. 

• Be aware of the keywords to track. Their types can include the ones that:
  • Generate traffic,
  • Drive conversions,
  • And are brand-related.

Stay Proactive in Tracking SERPs

While checking and monitoring search engine results pages, it is important to stay proactive. This is because these results can often change. Also, note that tracking them is not similar to creating any fixed strategy.

• Along with being proactive, adjusting content, marketing, and SEO strategies is vital.
• Maintain adaptable strategies, incorporating the insights obtained through monitoring. 
• In case of any drops in rankings, look for the possible causes to modify the strategies. 
• For impactful modifications, be aware of recent Google algorithm updates and increased competition too. 

Note that tracking these updates from time to time is beneficial, especially in creating the best SEO strategies for business.

Conclusion

SERPs are significant for the beneficial observations they facilitate. The importance of tracking SERPs is further seen when they unfold who the emerging competitors are and what strategies they are using. Depending on how search engine results pages are monitored, marketers can obtain relevant insights.

This content is updated on 18 Dec 2024.