Google now blocks third-party organic ranking tracking tools. Here’s how to track rankings in Search Console.
1. Enable ‘Average Position’
By default, ratings are not displayed in the Search Console “Performance” reports. To activate, click on the “Average Position” option at the top of the performance chart. Once checked, you will see the position of your site for each search query.
Click on the “Average Position” option at the top of the performance chart.
2. Understand “Average Position”
Google’s “average position” can be confusing. Occasionally, the average position will show, say, “1” or “2” and yet there is no actual traffic for the query. This is because Google search results are dynamic and personalized, resulting in:
- Current content temporarily at the top of search results.
- Page at the top for searchers who have recently visited it.
In these examples, a rating of “1” or “2” on the performance graph is usually short-lived.
A “1” or “2” rating on a performance chart is often short-lived.
3. Exclude branded search
Create a filter to exclude brand name queries from organic search ranking reports.
- Click the “filter” icon above the reports.
- Select “Frequently Asked Questions”.
- Select “Does not contain” from the drop-down list.
- Enter your brand name and click “Done”.
Filter brand queries so they don’t appear in rating reports.
4. Message limit
By default, the Average Position report lists all URLs. To analyze specific pages:
- Click “Add Filter” above the performance graph.
- Select “Site”.
- Select “URL Containing” from the drop-down menu.
- Enter the URL string (except the domain name) and click “Apply”.
Performance reports will now only include pages containing that URL string.
Add a filter to analyze specific pages in reports.
5. Export rating data
Search Console keeps data for 16 months. To maintain access after this period, please export your reports regularly.
Search Console can directly export data to Google Sheets, including average positions and clicks over a given period. Unfortunately, the exports aren’t particularly useful because they don’t contain the URLs that are evaluated for these queries.
“Search Analytics for” is a Google Workspace application that exports Search Console data, including query and ranking URL, to Sheets.
The Search Analytics for feature can export data with a ranking URL to Tables.
To create an export:
- Install the app.
- Open a new Google Sheet.
- Click on “Extensions”.
- In the list, click “Search in table analysis”.
- Click “Open Sidebar”.
- Select a time period and add “Query” and “Page” to the Group By field.
Optionally add additional filters. The screenshot below limits the overview to search queries that contain the term “free”.
Select a time period and add “Query” and “Page” to the Group By field.
Filters are the same as the native versions of Search Console, such as (i) limiting exports to any keyword in queries or URLs, (ii) excluding queries with a specific word, and (iii) limiting data to country or device.
In addition, the application provides automatic backups, each on a new tab. The app’s free plan allows unlimited backup requests of 25,000 rows each – more than enough for most sites.