Search Engine Rankings Software Not Working on Google

Many SEOs are feeling the pain not being able to automatically check search engine rankings in Google for themselves and their clients. Web Position and other ranking software have not been able to retrieve rankings from Google lately.

Has Google finally decided to ban this software, as suspected in the past? It’s well known that Google does not like automated queries of their database because of the amount of resources it uses and they would rather see these resources used by searchers. Google has to realize that even without automated queries there are an enormous amount of queries performed every minute by users not searching for information but checking their own rankings. I’m sure it’s not as vast as the automated queries but perhaps they should measure this.

Why doesn’t Google provide access to this information? They are opening up search volume numbers through the use of Google Trends, Keyword Tool and the new Google Insights. The information comes from a portion of worldwide Google web searches from all Google domains so they aren’t providing the real volume numbers. However, what they provide is great and very worthwhile for analysis. They could structure the rankings checker the same way. And they can monetize it!!!

The main reason Google would not want to do this is the fear of making it easier for SEOs, white hat or black hat, to figure out their algorithm and manipulate the rankings. Cmon Google – isn’t that your job to outsmart us and constantly be changing things to ensure this can’t be done. We can hope that Google will figure out an acceptable way for us to automatically check rankings just as we hope their system remains democratic and their rankings aren’t skewed toward Google properties like Knol.

Lynn Jebbia is a Senior Project Manager at ArteWorks SEO. Her focus is
SEO Strategy, Keyword Analysis, Competitive Analysis, Web Site Audits, Pay Per Click Management and Client Account Management.

Google Opens Another Door With Insights for Search Tool

Last week Google launched a tool that many online marketers will find very valuable. They continue to open up their data for more perusal and I, for one, hope it continues. Google Trends, search volume information available with the external keywords tool and now Google Insights for Search Tool are all useful tools to assist in search engine optimization efforts.

Google Insights for Search allows you to enter a search term or terms and shows you a list of the top related search terms over time and region. It analyzes a percentage of searches on all Google domains worldwide to provide this information so it’s not giving you the exact number of searches. It allows you to compare results based on a scale of 0 to 100. The highest point, or most searched term, is 100 and all other numbers are in relation to this number.

Let’s do an example which will illustrate the power of this tool. We will compare LL Bean to Eddie Bauer. Which is more popular? What key phrases are people using? What region are these people from and what cities?

The graphs below show Eddie Bauer in blue and LLBean in red. Eddie Bauer has more searches over the time period from 2004 to 2008: 53 to 36. Notice the wide gap for 2004 and most of 2005. Eddie Bauer received a lot more searches during this period. Also notice the seasonal peaks during the Christmas season. LL Bean has been searched more often during the last three Christmas seasons. This shows that more people are probably looking to find LL Bean to purchase gifts during the holiday season.

Regional interest

The graph below shows what regions most searches are coming from. The top region for Eddie Bauer is Alaska, followed by Montana and Wyoming. The top region for LL Bean is Vermont, followed by Alaska and Montana. This makes sense as they are all states who purchase a lot of outdoor products. Notice that the red line shows the comparison of search term volume for each. This can be used to determine what regions are best to focus advertising efforts on to increase sales.









The next graph shows the top search terms related to Eddie Bauer. The top related search term is eddie bauer outlet.









The graph below shows the top search terms related to LL Bean. The top related search term is lands end.








Regional Interest Cities

The next two graphs show regional interest by city. As you might expect for Eddie Bauer the top city is Seattle and for LL Bean the top city is Portland, Maine. Notice Washington and New York in the first graph. LL Bean and Eddie Bauer are about par in these two markets which are large markets. Either one could use this data for a targeted marketing campaign to increase brand exposure in these markets.










LL Bean









These are just a few examples of the power of this tool. This is a limited example as these are two brand names. Explore the power of this tool in comparing two or more generic key phrases. You not only can see and compare search volume patterns across regions and cities, but across categories and time frames. You see search volume patterns plus the top related and rising searches. Google says that this new tool can help marketing and advertising users better analyze Internet search patterns. Google’s goal is to add more tools to allow adwords users to mine more of their data to further optimize their campaigns and hopefully spend more money.

Lynn Jebbia is a Senior Project Manager at ArteWorks SEO. Her focus is
SEO Strategy, Keyword Analysis, Competitive Analysis, Web Site Audits, Pay Per Click Management and Client Account Management.