A couple of months ago I came across two programs that looked useful
for checking rankings, RankMeter,
and checking links and indexed pages, RankSpy.
Alone, each of these programs is useful, but together they give you
a very good picture of how your site is positioned in the search engines.
Both programs are developed and marketed by Tweak
Marketing, Ltd. We'll look at each of these programs separately,
starting with RankMeter.
RankMeter
RankMeter is a basic rank-checking program designed to locate web pages
in the search engines. It can do this in one of two modes of operation:
check one domain for numerous keywords, or numerous domains for one
keyword. To date, it can check rankings in 336 different search engines
from 37 different countries, including USA, Canada, Ireland, Germany,
France, Japan, Italy, Spain, Russia, Chile, Estonia, Latvia, Czech Republic,
Iceland, Israel, India, Argentina, Bulgaria, Netherlands, UK, Finland,
Brazil, Portugal, China, Taiwan, Hong-Kong and other search engines.
It covers all of the major search engines and many minor ones with one
exception: US LookSmart is notably absent.
The program is amazingly simple to set up. For one URL, multiple keywords
mode, select "New" from the menu or toolbar, and choose the
operation mode desired. Then type in your URL and the number of positions
you want to check. I suggest leaving the checkbox for a substring search
checked; check it if it isn't checked. Finally, type in the keywords
for which you want to search. Lastly, select the search engines that
you want to query in the main window. Then start your search. For multiple
URLs, single keyword mode, the set up process is very similar. Either
way, set up takes just a few minutes.
If you need a comparison, the one URL, multiple keywords mode is like
the Page-Keyword report in WebPosition Gold. The multiple URLs, one
keyword mode is similar to the Competitive Analysis report in WebPosition
Gold.
The report is simple and uncluttered. After your first search is complete,
you'll see your current rankings for each keyword in each search engine.
An "N" means that your site was not found within the parameters
you specified. A question mark means that the program was unable to
get a result. On subsequent searches, results will be green for rankings
that improved, red for rankings that decreased, and black for those
that stayed the same. The colors are customizable. If you wish you can
see the results from your last search by toggling a button. By doing
so, you will be able to see your current ranking, an up or down arrow,
and the previous ranking.
The interesting feature of the report is that when you run your mouse
cursor over the various rankings you get a little box that pops up.
This box shows you the details for that particular ranking and search
engine: overall current ranking, page number on which your listing is
found, position of that listing on the specific page and URLs for the
top five in the search. Unfortunately, these details cannot be imported
into another format.
You can save the results in three different formats: HTML (.html),
Comma Separated Value (.csv) and Text (.txt). The multiple formats are
very useful as you can use the HTML version to post to the web for clients,
comma separated value to import into a spreadsheet program for analysis,
and text to e-mail to clients.
There is no built-in scheduling function, but it does support command
prompt so that you should be able to use Windows' Task Scheduler to
automate report generation. The help file can assist you with setting
this up.
RankMeter costs $69 for program registration and first year usage.
You must extend the license each year at a cost of $20 per year. You
can get more information and download the free 30-day trial at http://www.searchutilities.com/rankmeter/.
The trial is fully functional although this unregistered version has
limited search depth and search engine set.
The $20 annual renewal fee is required because the search scripts used
by the programs are located on and run from the SearchUtilities.com
servers. They do it this way so that they can quickly update their scripts
when things change with the search engines and not have to issue as
many patches or software updates.
RankSpy
RankSpy is designed for indirect assessment of site indexation in search
engines, for revealing unindexed pages, and for creating a list of pages
that contain links to your site. So what does that really mean? RankSpy
can create the following two reports: a list of pages on your site that
have been indexed by the program's supported search engines, and a list
of pages that contain links to your site.
The program works similarly to RankMeter and is extremely simple to
set up. Type in your domain, the search depth (number of results to
check), select the type of report, select the search engines in which
you want to check and the set up is complete. Set up takes less than
five minutes. Note that RankSpy supports significantly fewer search
engines than RankMeter. This is because not all search engines support
these types of queries.
After you run the search, the reports will show you which pages from
your site have been indexed or pages from other sites that have linked
to you and been indexed by the search engines. Right clicking on a page
brings up a few options such as sorting and opening the link. On subsequent
searchs, pages that are no longer in the search engines are highlighted
in red, and new pages are in green.
As with Rankmeter, you have the option to save reports in HTML, comma
separated value and text formats for analysis or sending to clients.
RankSpy does not appear to support the command prompt, so you might
not be able to use Windows' Task Schedule to automate the program. This
isn't all that important as you probably won't need to run these reports
on a regular schedule.
RankSpy is also available as for a 30-day free trial with search depth
and search engine set limitations. The cost for registration and first
year usage is $40 with an annual license renewal fee of $20.
The $20 annual renewal fee is required because the search scripts used
by the programs are located on and run from the SearchUtilities.com
servers. They do it this way so that they can quickly update their scripts
when things change with the search engines and not have to issue as
many patches or software updates.
For more information and to download the 30-day free trial, see http://www.searchutilities.com/rankspy/.
Final Thoughts
While RankMeter
isn't as robust as the ever-popular WebPosition Gold, it wasn't designed
to compete with it. It is strictly a rank checker, while WebPosition
Gold has many other functions included. RankMeter does check rankings
quickly and presents them in a clear and concise report. I only found
three minor drawbacks to RankMeter:
- Unless your page is in the top five there is no way to find out
which page on your site is achieving the ranking by looking at the
report.
- You cannot insert a your logo into the HTML version of the report
without having to modify the source code.
- You cannot change search parameters (adding or deleting keywords
or URLs) without losing previous data. Note: this is apparently an
issue that will be fixed and included in a future version.
Other than that, I liked what RankMeter does: easy and quick setup,
and clear, concise, and clean reports with several saving options. While
you can use RankMeter as your primary rank-checking tool for your clients,
I found that it might be most useful for quickly checking prospective
client sites while you are developing the proposal.
RankSpy
is truly a gem. To my knowledge, no other program currently available
checks for indexed pages on your site or checks for indexed inbound
links from other sites. Yes, WebPosition Gold does perform URL verification
checks, but it only checks for the domain and does not list individual
pages that have been indexed regardless of ranking. I have absolutely
no complaints with RankSpy as I found it extremely useful for checking
pages on my site(s) for indexing and checking indexed inbound links
from other sites. This program is a veritable time saver and makes checking
this information a breeze.
At $69 and $40 respectively, plus the $20 annual license renewal, RankMeter
and RankSpy are very affordable for anyone, even the person who is only
interested in checking his or her own site's rankings, pages, and inbound
links. I recommend taking a look at these two easy to use and helpful
programs.
[Editor's Note: Remember that using software
to send automated queries to Google violates its terms
of service. While it is entirely up to you how to use this software,
we strongly suggest that you refrain from using this software to automatically
query Google's database. Using this software to query Google could result
in Google blocking your IP address or even banning your site.]
***About Bill Gentry:
Bill Gentry has been a professional Web designer since 1999 and a Search
Engine Optimization and Online Marketing specialist with Look Sharp
Designs since February 2000. Earning a Bachelor's of Science in Geology
and a Master's of Business Administration in addition to his employment
as an Aircraft Armament Systems Specialist for 10 years contributed
to his attention to detail.
Review may not be reprinted without permission of Look Sharp Designs.
To request permission for reprinting rights, please contact Look Sharp Designs.
