As well as algorithmic updates, where your website ranks in Google will also vary due to localisation and personalisation. Localisation is where Google returns different search results, or the same results in a different order, depending on the location (country or city) of the searcher and the website. For example, someone based in Manchester who types ‘Accountants’ into Google will see different sites listed in the search results to someone based in Birmingham who searches for the same keyword.
Personalisation is where Google alters the search results they display for a keyword based on what they know about the searcher from their previous searches. This can happen if the searcher is signed into Google (including Gmail or YouTube) or is using Google Chrome. For example, if someone has visited a site many times before, when they search for a keyword that’s relevant to that site, the site may show up higher in the search results for that searcher than it would do for other people searching for the same keyword.
Due to algorithmic updates, localisation and personalisation, knowing average rankings for keywords over a range of time and locations is of more value than knowing exactly where your site is ranking for keywords at a specific time and from a specific location. You can check what keywords your site is ranking for, and the average position in the search results for each of those keywords, via Google Search Console, which is free, quick, accurate and comprehensive.
- Sign in to Google Search Console.
- Click on the name of your website (or click ‘Add Site’ if you haven’t already done so).
- Click on ‘Search Traffic’ (in the left-hand sidebar) and then ’Search Analytics’.
Note: The impressions, clicks and CTR numbers shown in Search Console are approximations rather than precise numbers. Also, they may differ from the data displayed in Google Analytics due to technicalties and a time lag between the numbers being calculated and the data being made available.
A) Metrics To View – Tick all 4 boxes (‘Clicks’, ‘Impressions’, ‘CTR’ and ‘Position’).
B) Data To View – To view website ranking data, select the ‘Queries’ option.
C & D) Filters – Set the ‘Countries’ filter to ‘United Kingdom’ and the ‘Search Type’ filter to ‘Web’. Leave the other filter options set to ‘No Filter’.
E) Dates – The shorter the date range, the more up-to-date the ranking data will be, as high/low rankings from the past won’t be pulling up/down the data shown for your current rankings.
F) Totals & Averages – The combined totals and averages for all keywords that your site has ranked for during the date range chosen.
G) Queries – The specific keywords that your site has been ranking in the search results for.
H) Clicks – How many times someone has clicked through to your site from the search results after searching for a specific keyword.
I) Impressions – How many times your site has been displayed in the search results for a specific keyword.
J) CTR (Click Through Rate) – Clicks ÷ Impressions x 100. The higher the CTR, the better, and the higher the position your site is ranking for a particular keyword, the higher the CTR for that keyword should be.
K) Position – The average position that your site has been ranked in the search results for a specifc keyword. As this number is an average, your site may not actually have ranked in that exact position – either before or now. For example, if your site ranked 3rd for a keyword half of the time, and 9th for the same keyword the other half of the time, then its average ranking position would be 6th.
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