You check your rankings by hand, one keyword at a time, in one location, and the numbers are stale by the time you finish. You also have no record of what moved last month or who overtook you. Rank Tracker from Link-Assistant.Com is a desktop program built to take over that routine: it checks positions on a schedule, keeps the history, and helps you find new keywords.
Quick facts
- Version: 8.51.11
- Platforms: Windows, Mac (Apple) and Linux
- Price: a free edition with no time limit; paid Rank Tracker plans are Professional at $179 per year and Enterprise at $419 per year, billed as subscriptions
- Competitors per project: 1 on Free, 5 on Professional, 40 on Enterprise
Key features
Rank checks with no cap on keywords or websites
The program puts no limit on the number of websites or keywords you track. You can scan the top 10, top 50 or even 1,000 results, and run checks monthly, weekly or daily.
Desktop and mobile positions side by side
You can add Googlebot Mobile as a separate search engine and switch between desktop and mobile results, so you see how the same keyword performs on each.
Local rankings down to a street address
You pick the location to check: country, state, city or an exact street address. This helps if you serve customers in specific places.
Google, Bing, Yahoo, Yandex, Naver, Baidu and YouTube
Google is covered, and you can add other engines as you need them. YouTube is treated as its own search engine, so you can check video rankings and build video ranking reports.
Rich results and SERP history you can look back on
Besides organic listings, it records featured snippets, paid ads, FAQs, image packs, review snippets and Google Maps listings. Each check saves the top 30 results, so you can see how you and your competitors changed over time, and it calculates online visibility changes for a keyword or a group of keywords.
Keyword research tools in the same window
Research sources include Google suggestions, Amazon suggestions, related searches and questions, Google Ads Keyword Planner, YouTube autocomplete, Keyword Gap and TF-IDF analysis. Ideas are grouped by topic automatically. You also get search volume, competition, keyword difficulty, expected visits and cost-per-click for each one.
Google Analytics and Search Console data
Connect Google Analytics and Search Console to pull in impressions, clicks, organic traffic and keywords you would not have found elsewhere.
Reports for clients or your boss
The program builds customizable ranking reports. On the Enterprise plan you can save, email and schedule reports, and export data to CSV, SQL and HTML.
Who it's for
It suits in-house marketers and site owners who want to track a lot of keywords without paying per keyword. The Enterprise plan is aimed at agencies and client work because of its report scheduling and export options. If you only need an occasional check, the free edition has no time limit.
Pros and cons
Pros
- No limits on keywords or websites to track.
- Local, mobile and YouTube tracking are included.
- Ranking history is kept for as long as you need it.
- A free edition lets you evaluate it first.
- Runs on Windows, Mac and Linux.
Cons
- It is a desktop application you install, not a web dashboard.
- Paid plans are annual subscriptions, billed yearly.
- The free edition limits you to 1 competitor per project.
- Report emailing, scheduling and data export need the Enterprise plan.
- Cancelling does not bring a refund for the unused part of the subscription.
FAQs
Is there a free version?
Yes. The free edition has no time limit. It includes saving projects, scheduled SEO tasks, captcha-free query processing, copying data to the clipboard and printing reports.
Which operating systems does it run on?
Windows, Mac and Linux.
Can I track mobile rankings?
Yes. You add Googlebot Mobile as a search engine and switch between desktop and mobile views.
Can I track YouTube videos?
Yes. YouTube is handled as a separate search engine, and you can build video ranking reports.
How is it paid for?
Paid plans are subscriptions billed every year. Professional is $179 per year and Enterprise is $419 per year.