Keyword Ranking Report

The Keyword Ranking Report shows you how each page ranks during a search for its Specific Keyword. Please note this important point, before we go any further...

The Keyword Ranking Report Process

Clicking on the Update It! button in the Keyword Ranking Report column of SE HQ initiates updates of both the Submit-Spider-List Report (Listing Report) and the Keyword Ranking Report.

The Listing Report runs first, followed by the Keyword Ranking Report, which could take a few hours. An e-mail will confirm completion of the Listing Report, followed by another e-mail when the Keyword Ranking Report is complete. A visit to SE HQ at that time will show you the current rankings for your pages.

Interpretation of Ranking Numbers

If you see a number (from 1 to 30) in a box, a search for that Specific Keyword, at that specific Search Engine, found a page ranked at that spot (i.e., at #1 down to #30) for that Specific Keyword.

• If this page's number is blue, the page ranks at that number in the Top 30 for a non-quoted search for its Specific Keyword. Ranking anywhere in the Top 10 is great, in the Top 20 is good and in the Top 30 is so-so.
• If this page's number is plain, it actually ranks at greater than 30 for a search for its Specific Keyword. However, some other page on your site does rank at that number for that keyword. The plain number is the best ranking that was found from all pages on your site. This number will be reported for each page that uses that search term as its Specific Keyword (if it does not have a blue number to report).

The reported number (if plain) is the best ranking result that was found for any page from your domain for a non-quoted search for that Specific Keyword.

That means that any page, even one that does not focus on that keyword as its Specific Keyword, may account for the plain rank-score that you see for a given page. For example, let's say that you find several "plain 19s" for pages that have the Specific Keyword "anguilla villas." If you can't find the corresponding blue number, then those particular pages are not being found for that term as their Specific keyword.

If you don't find another page with the same Specific Keyword showing the blue number, a higher-tier page is the most likely "winner." The Keyword Ranking Report does not report a page found in the Top 30 for a non-quoted search term if its Specific Keyword does not match the search term. (SBI! "saves" the report for that page for its actual Specific Keyword.)

The ultimate goal is to get one page in the Top 30 for a given keyword (a blue number). Other pages with the same Specific Keyword basically play a useful, supporting role. But most engines will not rank more than 1 page from the same domain (2 if you really dominate!) in the Top 10.

However, even though it's rare that a Search Engine will give two Web pages from the same site two Top 10 spots, that is not a reason not to write more than one page per keyword, if each page is best served by that keyword. Think of each page on the same topic (but with different material) as "emphasis" at the engines.

Proper Interpretation of Blue vs. Plain

Blue vs. plain is key information. The report tells you how each page is doing for on-page criteria. And it also tells you that even if this page did not score for a given keyword (no blue number), another one did. (So don't worry about it!)

And since it reports for non-quoted searches, it also gives you a better indicator of what surfers actually see when they search.

Any number that is blue is a link to Search It's "no quotes" search for that Search Engine for that keyword. Run that query to see your Web page in the results.

You may find discrepancies between SE HQ's reporting and what Search It! shows you, for a few reasons...

• This report is updated no more often than every three weeks, when you run the report in conjunction with updating the Submit-Spider-List Report. That means the actual result for any keyword may vary from what you find.
• Results can also vary from country to country.
• Results at the engines themselves can sometimes vary from search to search, during periods when they are less stable.

The more you consider this report as an "overall snapshot" and the more you focus on building more Content, the better you'll do overall. (We'll discuss "tweaking" below.)

The Other Ranking Possibilities

The first possibility discussed (above) was a number from 1 to 30.

Other possibilities depend on whether you have up to 300 pages on your site, or more than 300 pages...

Up to 300 Pages

1. If you see a dash (-) in a box, it means this page has not been indexed yet by the spider of that Search Engine, or it has been dropped from the index (your page won't appear on any search results page).

   Check the Submit-Spider-List report's Date Listed for this page name. If you see a Not Yet link for that engine, click on it for advice on how to improve the page. If you see a Dropped link for that engine, click on it for advice.

2. If you see ">30" in a box, it means that a search for this page's Specific Keyword, at that specific Search Engine, ranked beyond the #30 spot. It will always be plain (i.e., not bold), because it was not found. And if a keyword is not found...

   It's invisible, basically. Not good, especially if that page is scoring badly at all engines.

   If a keyword ranks ">30" for all engines and for all pages that use it as a Specific Keyword, click on the A (Analyze It!) button. This triggers the Analyze It! function to pop up a report to see how well you've managed the "on-page" criteria for that keyword for that page...

   • If it fails the test, make the changes suggested to rank higher. Just click on the E (Edit) button to start editing that page.
   • If it passes the test, it's best to leave it alone. Use your time to create new Content instead. Why? Because if it passes the test, you have a good chance at ranking high the next time the engine shuffles its algorithm a bit. And, as you'll see below, you have more important things to do than "chasing an ever-changing algorithm."

More Than 300 Pages

The Search Engines only provide results for a maximum of 300 pages when we run this report. Since your site has more than 300 pages, there will be incomplete information available for a number of pages.

1. If you see ">>>" for an engine, this page didn't make it inside that 300 page limit. The page may rank for a blue number (1-30), a plain number (1-30), a dash (-), or >30, but since the page wasn't one of the 300 returned, the Keyword Ranking Report has no position to offer. So it uses ">>>" instead. Use Search It!'s Indexed Pages queries (Google, Yahoo!, Live and Ask) to see if this page is indexed.

2. If this page uses the same Specific Keyword as one or more other pages, and at least one of them has a blue rank, the report will show the highest blue number inside two angle brackets for this page. For example, if a page using the keyword "Anguilla condos" did not make it into the 300 pages returned by Google, and shares that keyword with another page that received a blue 5, this page will display ">5>" in the Google column.

   We report it this way to tell you that, although this page did not make it into the 300 pages, another page did, and it is ranked in the top 30 for the shared keyword. As discussed above in Interpretation of Ranking Numbers, as long as one page with a shared keyword is ranking well, you don't need to worry about the other pages.

   From testing, we've found that many of the pages not returned due to the 300 page limit do share a keyword. For example, there are 15 pages on anguilla-beaches.com that share the keyword "Anguilla art." Google ranks one of them at #3. The other 14 were not returned in the 300 pages. Why? The likely explanation is that Google would rather give information about as many pages with different topics as possible, or ones that are more important (higher priority in your sitemap, for example). Pages that share a keyword have very similar topics (all about art on Anguilla, for example) and usually have the same importance. So Google does not report on the other pages.

Tips

• It's tempting to tweak a page if it does not rank well. But, assuming you have passed the Analyze It! test (which gives the engines enough info to let them know what the page is about), you're wasting your time. The SBI! approach is "keep it real." Keep building Content, Content, Content. Review "To Tweak or Not To Tweak... That Is the Question" for more details.
• As you build Content, start the "off-page" snowball rolling by seeding some off-page criteria as outlined in "Make Your Links WORK!" ("MYLW!").
• Explore the "Building a Links Program" section of the TNT HQ... Link-Building Strategies and Link-Building Buzz.
• If your pages were ranked at a Search Engine, and you suddenly notice that all, or most, of them have dashes ("-"), don't panic. The SE may have changed its reporting system. Use Search It!'s Indexed Pages searches to check if any (and how many) of your pages are indexed. If they're listed in the Search It! results, please let Support know, so that changes can be made to SE HQ. You'll then see them again in a week or two in the Keyword Ranking Report, after we update our reporting algorithms.
• If some of your rankings drop, follow the advice in the "What To Do If Your Rankings Drop" TNT HQ article.
• If Google has never listed any of your pages, there may be another issue. Check "Wayback Machine" to see if your domain name has ever been used before you registered it. If it has, Google may have banned your site from the index. Use Google Webmaster Tools to "Request reconsideration" to let them know that you now have the domain name and to remove any ban that they may have on the domain name. Be absolutely certain that you have a great site with no broken links before you do that, or you may waste your one chance to get listed.
• The single best tip to succeed with SBI! is to ignore all the noise about "how to succeed" that's found online at third-party sites. Commit to the Action Guide. Ask questions at the forums. And put on blinders and focus on your business.

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