New Guy With A Question, Tracking positions Options

[jlkoen]

Hello All,

As you can see this is my first post. I've been lurking for a while soaking up the great information on this forum. I own a site (osCommerce backend) that is in desperate need of SEO. I was reading the [url=http://www.highrankings.com/advisor.htm]High Rankings® Advisor[/url] #87 that talked about the different stages of learning. This is very true, especially for me. Now I plan to buckle down and do it right.

Anyway, to my question. I have read the good and bad about WebPosition Gold, and am questioning if I really need to use it. Besides WebPostion, how does everyone track positions for keywords/websites they own? I know WP Gold can do it easily and is considered against the rules of Google. I'd like to track the results of my work.


Thanks,

John

[seafoam]

I used to use WPGold to check rankings on a regular basis, for a whole slew of keywords and engines. Then I got a life. (IMG:http://www.highrankings.com/forum/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

I check a handful of important keywords manually every few weeks. I also check my stats for visits, and to a lesser extent referalls by engine and referalls by keyword.

[Randy]

Welcome John !

Personally, I don't track rankings per se. I may (manually) look at a handful of phrases I'm targeting with a site every now and then, but that's a bit different than what you're talking about I think.

Some people do full rank tracking I'm sure, but I have better things to do with my time. Rankings alone do not a successful business make. Since I optimize for literally hundreds of phrases per site, and I have a slew of sites I run, I wouldn't have any time for anything else but running and analyzing ranking reports if I chose to follow that path.

What do I track? Two things. Sales and Conversion Ratio.

First, let me know how much money is being put into my bank account every single day. That's the single most important factor that gets totally overlooked far too often IMO.

The second most important factor is what percentage of new visitors to my sites become customers. Conversion-To-Sale or CTS in Randy-speak. For every 1,000 unique visitors who hit my site, how many of them turn into customers. And why did Joe Blow become a customer when Jane Doe didn't.

Analyzing this type of data, why one person becomes a customer and postulating why another doesn't, is what makes one site successful and another a bust. If you can get any sort of handle on the why's and wherefore's of CTS you can always do something to convert more of your traffic into customers.

That's probably not the answer you were looking for. Hopefully it gives you a different vector think about things though.

[Jill]

Welcome, John! (IMG:http://www.highrankings.com/forum/style_emoticons/default/bye1.gif)

You definitely do not need to use WPG. Simply go to Google and Yahoo and type in your targeted keyword phrases to see if your site shows up in the top 10 or 20 or so. Easy enough!

Jill

[jlkoen]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I've been trying to talk myself out of buying WPG. My next investment is going to be in WordTracker.

[anthonyparsons.c...]

And if you want total marketing analysis, you could possibly look at ClickTracks further down the track. This will give you the info that Randy was talking about.

[datazen]

Anthony,

This may be off topic but your signature link doesn't resolve. Returns Not Found error.

Thought I'd let you know (IMG:http://www.highrankings.com/forum/style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[mcanerin]

Welcome John and Micheal! (IMG:http://www.highrankings.com/forum/style_emoticons/default/cheers.gif)

Ian

[Deverill]

I was tracking one of my sites daily with Advanced Website Position Reporter which works on Google, but after charting the placement of the keyword phrases and getting seasick from the ups and downs I now only use it about once per week to see if my work is doing any good. It uses the Google API so it shouldn't have the problems as Web Position Gold does.

To talk yourself out of it, just look at Google: www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html

Web Position Gold is mentioned by name: "Google does not recommend the use of products such as WebPosition Gold™ that send automatic or programmatic queries to Google."

That pretty much tells me it's on the evil list since there are tons of these programs (or programmes for all of the non-Yanks (IMG:http://www.highrankings.com/forum/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) ) out there and Google specifically mentions this one. It was enough to make me stop using it.

[jlkoen]

Deverill - that Advanced Website Position Reporter looks great. Google is the main engine I want to monitor anyway.

I've talked myself out of WPG thanks to this forum. Now I can spend more of my time/resources with WordTracker!

[anthonyparsons.c...]

Thanks datazen, it is merely changing servers at present.

[jimmer]

Wow Thanks jlkoen

Ive been reading for hours on so many things. Just lite the wrong end of my last cigarette at 3:30am and found informatin I can use. GGeezz Ive been looking for so many things and ways to test our site and seems like the best way is the way I have been doing it LOL well thanks folks and good nite or good morning just another newbee signing off. Take care folks.

Jimmer

[BrianR]

Welcome to the forum, jimmer!

Hope you enjoy it - it's wonderfully addictive!

BrianR

[jimmer]

Thanks for the welcome, BrianR. Nice to feel welcomed to a new place.

I was going to use a tag line Grumpy Old Curmudgeon anyways it's late again. Nite folks. I'll be back, just a warning.


It is addictive.


Jimmer

[AussieWebmaster]

I have been using www.digitalpoint.com, which is a free tool for tracking movement of site for keyword terms. But today the site is down... curious...