How to track a client's keyword rankings

Each client has a SEO → Keywords tab with two views. Organic Search tracks where the client ranks in Google's normal results. Local Search holds the map pack scans (see Local map scans). Use Organic Search to show a client their rankings moving, and to spot keywords that are close to page one.

What gets tracked

Every tracked keyword is a rank check each cycle, so only these are tracked:

• The client's services and the keywords listed under each service on Client Details. They're added when the client is created, and when you add or rename a service and save.
• Keywords you type in with Add Keywords.
• The target keyword of every blog that's been created. When a blog is written from a Content Strategy item, its target keyword is added. Its long-tail keyword isn't, and neither is an idea that was never written. A blog post made through a connected app adds its primary keyword too.
• Anything you choose to add from another tool: Sync from Search Console (below), Track in Keyword Forge, the competitor tools, the map scan results, or asking Zeus in chat.

Nothing else adds keywords on its own. The Source column says where each one came from: Service, Typed in, Blog, Search Console, Competitor, Keyword research, Map scan, Zeus chat or Connected app. Older keywords may show Added from a tool.

How to add keywords

On Organic Search, use either of these:

• Add Keywords: type keywords in Keywords (comma separated), with an optional Target Rank and Geo Target (such as "Arcata, CA"; left blank it uses Auto from client). Click Add Keywords.

• Sync from Search Console: lists the searches the client's site already shows up for in Google, from the last 90 days, with impressions, clicks and average position. Nothing is tracked until you choose:

  1. Tick the searches to keep. A search that reads as a question, or isn't about any of the client's services, starts unticked and says why. You can still tick it.
  2. Click Keep ticked, or Keep all. They're tracked with the source Search Console.
  3. Click Dismiss ticked for the ones you don't want. A dismissed search isn't offered again on the next sync.

  The list leaves out searches for the business's own name or website, searches where the site sits below position 50, searches with under 10 impressions, and anything already tracked (paused or archived too) or dismissed. Close variants such as "plumber denver", "denver plumbers" and "plumber in denver" are one row: the one with the most impressions, with the others listed under it. The client needs Search Console linked (see Connect Google). Without it the list says so, with a Connect Search Console button.

How to check rankings

1. Click Track Rankings. It refreshes every active keyword's position.
2. Wait while it runs. Each keyword is saved as soon as it's checked, and with many keywords a note shows how many are left.

A keyword that can't be checked is tried again, up to 3 times: the second try a minute later and the third three minutes after that, so a busy moment doesn't use up all three. The note says when the next try is. If it still fails, the note names it and says why, such as "The SEO data service didn't answer within 120 s". It keeps its old rank but isn't marked as checked. Checking twice on the same day doesn't move the previous rank twice. Zeus also refreshes rankings during his scans, so turning on monthly auto-scans keeps them current.

Which location rankings are checked for

Rankings are checked as if searching from the client's town: the client's city and state on Client Details (a service-area business uses its first service area). A keyword with its own Geo Target is checked there instead.

When the town isn't on the list of places Google searches can target, the nearest one is used, never the whole United States while the state is known:

1. The town without a village word, such as Hollis for "Hollis Center, Maine".
2. The client's ZIP code.
3. A town or the county at the business's map pin.
4. The state.

The same location is used for People Also Ask questions, citation searches and keyword volumes.

The keyword table

Columns: Keyword, Volume, Rank, Competitors, Prev, Target, Geo, Source and Actions. Click a target to change it. From Actions you can pause, resume, archive or delete a keyword.

The rank shown is the organic position. Map packs and AI Overviews above the results don't push it down.

Filters, left to right:

• Status: Active, Paused, Archived or All Statuses.
• Rank: All Ranks, Top 3, Top 10, 11-30 (Opportunity), Not Ranking (50+).
• Source: All Sources, or one source such as Service, Typed in, Blog or Search Console.
• AI Overview: Has AI Overview (Google shows an AI Overview for the search) or Client in AI Overview (the client is cited in it).
• Sort: Sort: Keyword, Sort: Rank, Sort: Volume, Sort: Biggest gap.

Rankings over time

Under the summary cards, Rankings over time charts the client's active keywords at each rank check:

• Average position of the keywords that rank (higher on the chart is better, with the top 3 shaded), In the top 3 and In the top 10. Switch between them above the chart.
• The tiles show each one at the first check and now, such as "23.4 → 4.1". Green means better.
• Each numbered dashed line is something done for the client: a blog post or press release that went live, an item added to work done, or a Zeus Edict marked as done. The list under the chart says what each number was. Routine checks aren't shown.
• Hover, or click the chart and use the arrow keys, to read each check.

A keyword that wasn't re-checked on a given day counts with its last check, so checking one keyword doesn't make the average jump. A keyword outside the top 100 counts as not ranking. The chart starts after the second check.

How to compare with competitors

Every rank check also notes where the client's saved competitors rank on the same keywords. It reads the same Google results, so it costs nothing extra.

1. Click Compare (next to Track Rankings). Under Competitors to compare, tick which ones show in the table. The first 3 are shown by default.
2. To add one, type a Competitor name and its website, then click Add competitor. Remove sends one to the shadows; Restore under In the shadows brings it back.

This is the same list as the client's Local → Competitors tab, with up to 3 active.

• The Competitors column shows each one's position next to the client's, such as "Acme 3 ▲2 · Bolt 12 · Crest —". The arrow is the change since the last check. A red number means that competitor is ahead. A pin with a number is their spot in the map pack, shown only when Google showed one. "—" means not in the top 50.
• The cards above the filters show, for each competitor, how many keywords the client outranks them on.
• Sort: Biggest gap (or click the Competitors heading) puts the keywords where a competitor is furthest ahead first.
• Click a keyword's competitors to see the last 5 checks for the client and one competitor.
• On a phone, the competitors show under each keyword.

Positions start with the first Track Rankings (or Zeus scan) after a competitor is added. A competitor matches on its website domain, so "www." and subdomains count as the same site. When a competitor passes the client on a higher-volume keyword between two checks, Zeus adds an Omen such as "Acme passed you for 'roof cleaning santa rosa' (3 vs 7)". He adds at most 3 of these per scan.

Examples

• Monthly report prep: click Track Rankings, filter Top 10, and screenshot Rankings over time with its numbered markers showing the blog posts that went live.
• Quick wins: filter 11-30 (Opportunity) and sort by volume. These are keywords on page two or three that a new page or a few internal links could push onto page one.
• New client with Search Console: click Sync from Search Console, tick the searches that match their services, and click Keep ticked. Dismiss the rest so they don't come back. You have a real baseline in a minute.
• Who's beating us: add the 3 competitors the client names, run Track Rankings, then Sort: Biggest gap.

Limits and what it can't do

• A client can track up to 200 keywords. You can add up to 50 at a time.
• Track Rankings checks up to 200 active keywords, and can be started 10 times an hour and 50 times a day per agency. Continuing a run that's already going doesn't count again.
• Up to 3 active competitors per client. Others wait in the shadows.
• Sync from Search Console offers up to 100 searches at a time, from the last 90 days (up to two days ago, as Search Console runs behind).
• Rankings are Google's organic results only. Map pack rankings are on Local Search.
• Client portal people can't change keywords; what they see in the portal depends on its settings.

Credits

Free. Track Rankings, Sync from Search Console and competitor positions cost nothing. Zeus's scans also refresh rankings at no extra cost. Map scans on the Local Search view do cost credits (see Local map scans).

A connected AI assistant can read a client's tracked keywords. See Connect an AI assistant.

Who can use it

Agency team members with the Clients tool (Owners and Admins always have it; Members unless it's switched off). Members limited to some clients only see those clients. The Local Search view's map scans also need the Local Map Ranking tool. See SEO tools overview.

Troubleshooting

• "Search Console isn't connected for …": link the client's Search Console property in Client Details → Google (the Connect Search Console button opens it), then sync again.
• "No one in your agency has connected Google yet" or "Google stopped accepting your agency's connection": connect or reconnect Google, then sync again.
• "Search Console didn't answer for …": Google returned an error for that property. The message says what. Check the property is still linked to this client.
• "No new searches to review.": everything the site shows up for is already tracked, dismissed, a brand search, or too small. The line under it says how many of each.
• "Dismissing needs a database update first": the database update for this feature hasn't been run yet. Keeping still works.
• "Enter at least one keyword": type a keyword in the Add Keywords box.
• "One or more keywords already exist for this client": remove the duplicates and add again.
• "A client can track up to 200 keywords. Archive some to add new ones." or "Add at most 50 keywords at a time.": archive keywords you don't need, or add in smaller batches.
• "Rank checks run on up to 200 active keywords at a time — pause some keywords first.": pause some keywords, then track again.
• "You're going too fast — try again in …": you've hit the Track Rankings limit. Wait and try again.
• "Maximum 3 active competitors. Send one to the shadows first.": remove one competitor in Compare, then add or restore the other.
• A keyword kept its old rank: it couldn't be checked after 3 tries. The note says why. Click Track Rankings again later.
• A Strategy idea's keyword isn't tracked: only the target keyword of a blog that's been written is tracked. Write the blog, or add the keyword yourself with Add Keywords.
• Rankings look like they're for the wrong area: check the city, state and ZIP on Client Details. A small town not on the list uses the nearest place (see "Which location rankings are checked for").