Review: SEO Tool “Rank Tracker”, Part of “SEO PowerSuite”
As a professional search engine optimization (SEO) consultant I’ve tried many, many SEO software packages. For the past several months I’ve been using SEO PowerSuite (www.link-assistant.com) and have come to love how easy it is to use. If you’re working to optimize your own site, it’s suite of software definitely will help.
The suite consists of four tools: Rank Tracker which helps out with keyword research and rank monitoring; Website Auditor for site auditing and on-page optimization; SEO SpyGlass which helps with backlink research; and finally, LinkAssistant to aid in link building and management.
I thought I would share my experience with one of the tools over the next few months. Naturally, I started testing the software by putting the Rank Tracker tool through the paces. It’s excellent for determining a “baseline” ranking for each of the various search phrases for which you are optimizing your site.
But that’s just the start of its capabilities. Here are a few that make it stand out from the rest of the SEO tools available today.
It can collect data from 593 different search engines. OK, I know what you’re thinking… who needs all of them? But just recently I worked with a photographer in Paris, France and it was fantastic to simply check the boxes for google.fr, yahoo.fr, and Bing FR, to be able check his rankings. Plus, it supports each of the engine’s localized versions as well.
The software is 100% search engine friendly. Along with the standard security feature Human Emulation, Rank Tracker supports Google, Yahoo! and Bing API keys for safe queries. As with any automated search “look-up” software, the repeated requests to a search engine can be problematic and result in your IP address being banned from making further inquiries. For this reason, Rank Tracker includes a Proxy Rotation feature (requires additional proxies at additional cost) that makes it the quickest and safest tool among modern SEO software.
Click image to view workspace.
The coolest feature?
Rank Tracker can automatically check your search engine rankings. Instead of spending time manually checking your site’s positions in search engines, let the software do it behind the scenes while you’re tackling your other items in Things (www.culturedcode.com, you do use Things right?). By setting a few parameters, the Rank Tracker will do the boring job for you and even send you or your clients a PDF report showing the results!
And the absolute best feature?
As you probably know, the search engines are now updating their algorithms more than ever before. In addition to the major updates, the algorithms undergo less significant updates more frequently. Rank Tracker monitors the search engines every day and whenever the algorithms change, they release an update the same day. This ensures you always get accurate, relevant ranking results. The automatic updates are available free for six months, after that a paid subscription is required in order to continue receiving the updates.
What could they improve?
When you run a report, the difference in ranking from the last time the report was run is shown. This is a great feature because it shows you how your site’s rank is trending for each of your keyword phrases. What I wish it showed is the date of the last report you ran. It would be helpful to have the information in the new report instead of having to look back in your archive pf printed or saved reports to determine the last-run date. Other than that one admittedly minor wish, it’s an extremely well thought out product. They offer a free trial of Rank Tracker that never expires but has some limited functionality.
In conclusion…
I haven’t even listed all the features, just the ones I use or appreciate the most. All in all, Rank Tracker is an outstanding part of an awesome suite of tools for anyone working to improve their own rankings, or doing so for clients.
Evaluation and review is based on software provided by the software author.
