Knowing where your pages rank for their target keywords is fundamental to understanding whether your SEO efforts are working. Without rank tracking, you are operating blind — you cannot measure progress, identify which content is gaining ground, or spot pages that have dropped and need attention.
Paid rank tracking tools like Ahrefs, Semrush and SERPWatcher are excellent but expensive. The good news is that for most small to medium sites, a combination of free tools provides accurate enough tracking to make good decisions without spending anything.
Google Search Console — Your Primary Free Rank Tracker
As we covered in depth in our Google Search Console guide, the Performance report is the most accurate source of keyword ranking data available — because it comes directly from Google itself rather than from a third-party estimation.
To track specific keyword rankings in Search Console:
- Go to Performance → Search Results
- Click "New" → "Query" → enter your target keyword
- Switch the date range to the last 3 months
- Look at Average Position — this is your ranking for that query
The limitation of Search Console is that it shows an average position across all searches for that query over the selected date range, which can mask daily fluctuations. But for trend tracking — is my ranking improving or declining? — it is perfectly accurate.
Google Search — Manual Checking
For spot-checking specific rankings, search Google directly. However, personalisation and location mean your results may differ from what a typical user sees. To get more neutral results:
- Use an incognito/private browsing window
- Add
&gl=au(or your target country code) to the URL to force a specific country - Use the
site:operator to check if specific pages are indexed at all
Google Trends
Google Trends does not show rankings but is invaluable for understanding whether search volume for your target keywords is growing or declining over time. A keyword with rising trend data is worth prioritising — your ranking improvements will compound with growing search volume. A declining keyword may not be worth optimising for even if you rank well.
Free Tier Tools
Ubersuggest (free tier) — shows estimated rankings and traffic for up to three projects with daily rank tracking for a limited number of keywords. Sufficient for tracking your 10-20 most important keywords.
Google Looker Studio — connect your Search Console data and build a custom rank tracking dashboard that visualises position trends over time for your key pages and queries. Free, and more visual than Search Console's native interface.
What to Track and How Often
Rank tracking is only useful if you act on what you find. Track your top 20-30 target keywords — one or two per key page — and review weekly. Look for:
Pages improving from positions 11-20 — these are approaching page one and a targeted content improvement or internal linking boost could push them over. Review your internal linking for these pages first.
Pages dropping from their previous position — a sudden drop often indicates a competitor has improved their content, you have a technical issue, or Google has updated an algorithm. Use our broken link checker to rule out technical issues immediately.
Pages stuck at positions 3-10 — these are performing but a title tag or meta description improvement could significantly increase CTR without changing your ranking.
Summary
Google Search Console provides accurate, free keyword ranking data directly from Google. Supplement it with manual checks in incognito mode, Google Trends for volume context, and Ubersuggest's free tier for additional tracking. Review weekly and prioritise pages approaching page one — they offer the highest return on your optimisation effort.
Missed the previous article? Read: What Is Google Search Console and How Do You Use It?