Working with Keyword Lists
Adding Keywords to Project
Rank Tracker lets you expand/modify the initial list of keywords you have entered to your project. There are two ways to do it: by hand and with the help of an automatic suggestion feature.
Adding Keywords Manually
To add new keywords by hand, simply click the Add button on the Keywords toolbar.
Alternatively, you can choose the Add Keyword(s) option from the Tools menu.
Once the option is selected, Rank Tracker will pop up a wizard that will guide you through the process of adding new keywords.
Step 1: Enter Keywords
Type in your keywords one per line or paste them from an external file, for example a .csv file from Google Analytics. Click Next if you wish to check rankings for these keywords, or click Finish to add them to the project straight away.
Step 2: Choose Search Engines
Rank Tracker will show you the list of preferred search engines. These are the search engines you've chosen previously for use within the current project. You can mark/unmark the ones you want to check this time. If needed, you can add more to the list by clicking the Add More SEs button.
Step 3: Search Process
Just sit back and relax while Rank Tracker is checking the keywords. The process can take a while depending on how many search engines you've selected, how many keywords you've added, whether or not the Human Emulation feature is being used, the speed of your Internet connection and some other factors. You can interrupt the process at any time by clicking the Stop button.
When done, Rank Tracker will show you a brief keyword check summary. You can click the Finish button to complete the wizard and add the new keywords to the project, or you can click Cancel to discard the statistics you've just collected.
Getting Keyword Suggestions
Rank Tracker is equipped with powerful keyword suggestion functionality that lets you discover new keywords you've probably been missing. You can then use these keywords to optimize your landing pages for organic search or leverage them in your PPC campaigns.
All you need to do is select some keywords describing the product or service you are promoting and click the Suggest button on the Keywords toolbar, in the Tools menu or in the context menu (it's activated by a right click on a group of keywords).
Once you do that, Rank Tracker will pop up a wizard that will guide you through the process of getting keyword suggestions.
Step 1: Choose Keyword Research Method
You need to select one of 20 supported keyword research methods (Google AdWords, Wordtracker, Competition Research, SEMRush, Google Suggest etc.).
To better understand a keyword research method, select it from the dropdown menu, and Rank Tracker will show you a detailed description of how it works.
Step 2: Specify Initial Keywords
Rank Tracker will automatically populate the text area with the keywords you've selected in the main view. You can edit the list or go with the current one. These should be generic keywords related to your niche or business. Rank Tracker will use them to generate suggestions using the chosen keyword research method.
Step 3: Search Process
Just sit back and relax while Rank Tracker is generating suggestions using the keyword research method you've chosen at step 1. The process can take a while depending on how many initial keywords you've entered, and the speed of your Internet connection.
You can interrupt the process at any time by clicking the Stop button.
Please note that most keyword research databases tend to deny robots unrestricted access to their services. This is done to reduce traffic load on their servers. For this purpose a keyword tool may ask a visitor to verify his/her human identity by displaying an image of distorted letters or numbers (called "captcha"). Unless the user correctly deciphers the code that appears on the screen, the keyword tool may refuse to process his/her search query.
Since Rank Tracker obtains all keyword research statistics in the real time, it can face a captcha pop-up just like any other user. Whenever it happens, Rank Tracker will show the image to you on the Enter CAPTCHAs screen.
Simply type in the characters you see and hit OK. Rank Tracker will be able to continue searching after that.
Would you rather not enter any captchas? Then you can get an anti-captcha key and have all captcha codes entered for you. Another solution is to create an account with your favorite keyword research database (Google AdWords for example). Using this account in Rank Tracker, you will be able to query the database without any interruptions.
Step 4: Go through Raw List of Keyword Suggestions
Rank Tracker will show you a list of keyword suggestions it has just generated. You can arrange them alphabetically or by the length by clicking on the header of the respective column.
There is also Quick Filter for easy navigation through the list. Type in a word or a word combination and Rank Tracker will show you all keyword suggestions containing it.
Just click the checkbox next to a keyword to mark it for further analysis. You can use the Select All and Select None buttons to quickly mark/unmark all keywords. At least 1 keyword needs to be selected if you wish to proceed further.
Step 5: Update Keyword Research Statistics for Chosen Keywords
Please hold on while Rank Tracker is collecting various analytical data for the keywords selected at step 4.
Step 6: Choose Keywords to Check Rankings for
Rank Tracker has calculated keyword research statistics for the chosen keywords and arranged the findings in several columns:
- Competition (the number of competing pages)
- # of Searches (the number of monthly searches)
- KEI (Keyword Efficiency Index)
- Estimated Visits (approximate number of monthly visitors a keyword can bring to a top-ranking page from search engines)
You can re-arrange the list by clicking on the header of any column. There is also Quick Filter for easy navigation through the list.
To select a keyword, please click a checkbox next to it. You can also use the Select All and Select None buttons to quickly mark/unmark all keywords. At least 1 keyword needs to be selected if you wish to proceed further.
Once you've narrowed down the list to the most relevant and efficient keywords, click the Next button to check your current rankings for these keywords in the preferred search engines, or click Finish to add them to your project straight away.
Step 7: Choose Search Engines
If you have clicked Next at the previous step, Rank Tracker will display the list of preferred search engines. You can add more search engines by clicking the Add More SEs button.
Step 8: Check Rankings for Chosen Keywords
Rank Tracker will need some time to check the rankings of selected keywords in the chosen search engines. Search duration can vary depending on the number of results to check.
Sometimes (especially when you update a lengthy list of keywords) Rank Tracker can show you a screen with a captcha code on it. Please type in the characters you see and click the OK button (or Enter on your keyboard) to continue searching. There is a set of built-in search safety settings to help you decrease the number of captcha pop-ups during searches. If you would rather not type in the captchas yourself, you can have it done for you.
Once the search has been completed, Rank Tracker will show the Congratulations window with a summary of completed tasks.
You can use the View logs link to access search details.
Removing Keyword Data from Project
Removing Keywords
To remove unnecessary keywords from a project, please select them in your work area.
Then delete the selection in any of the following ways:
- press the Delete key on your keyboard
- select the Remove Keyword(s) option from the Tools menu
- select the Remove Keyword(s) option from a context menu (you'll need to right-click on the selection to activate it)
The keywords you have selected will get removed together with all of their ranking history, traffic and KEI data. So if you feel you might need these records sometime in the future, it could be a good idea to create a back-up copy of your project file before the removal.
Removing Historical Records
Ranking positions on the main screen are automatically updated each time you update your project. Nevertheless, all previous results are stored in Rank Tracker's memory. You have the option to remove any of these records if you like.
Firstly, you will need to select keywords you would like to apply the deletion to.
After that please right-click on your keyword selection (it will activate a context menu) and choose the Remove Unnecessary History Records option.
You can also use the Tools menu for this purpose in the same way.
Once the option has been selected, a pop-up wizard will offer you to specify the records you would like to remove.
Step 1: Specify Date Range
Please select a date range containing unneeded history records. Click Next to proceed further or click Cancel to exit the wizard.
Step 2: Choose Search Engines
At this step you will see the list of your preferred search engines. Please choose the search engine(s) that you wish to remove ranking data for. If the search engine you would like to clear some records for does not appear on the list, please click the Add More SEs button to access the full list of search engines and select the right one from there.
Click Next to delete the selected records or click Cancel to stop the deletion.
Step 3: View Task Completion Summary
If you have clicked Next at the previous step, Rank Tracker will have removed the ranking data you have chosen. You will get a confirmation message after that.
Please click Finish to complete the deletion and exit the wizard. If you would like to undo the task, please use the Cancel command.
