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on Jan 13 2013 10 comments6 DISCUSSING
Love the rank index idea. Certainly a better indicator of overall performance than cherry picking random keywords performing well.
Thanks Kane. I like the index approach much better. And having multiple indexes for different query spaces lets you have intelligent conversations about how your tackling your business objectives.
I was just thinking about this. Exporting from a rank tracker that included tags/categories as an extra column would allow you to filter the pivot table by tags, allowing you to segment keywords, e.g. a specific geographic area. Pretty sure this is what you mean by multiple query spaces?
Exactly Kane. You could use the tags in any way you wish to create an index that translates into something meaningful.
Pick a basket of keywords that match a business goal (rank for product names, rank of geographic modifiers, rank by page type etc.) and use the tag as your pivot table filter.
Then you can report progress on each area. Tags is where this really gets powerful for larger sites.
Have you used Linkdex, they do similar kind of thing to rank index i.e. overall picture of a group of keywords compared to the competition or just you. I actually use my own version of their "Click Share" formula to calculate visibility of a keyword group in Excel.
We use "thematic groups" - same idea as ranking indexes - and similarly bucket by rank. It's incredibly gratifying (and a clear demonstration of my group's effort) when your +10 and 5-10 rank buckets have emptied, filling the 1 and 2-5 buckets with all your target terms.
Of course, traffic/demand have to grow in conjunction with a lower average rank. Lucky for me they generally do.
Yes, thematic groups is another good way to think about it.
I've seen it done with rank buckets as well but that creates moving targets which make long-term tracking difficult. In the end, I prefer the index with the ability to see movement in the top 10, 5, 3 or 1 spots when necessary. Same sort of concept really but it keeps things focused on the business instead of the individual rank.
Thank you for sharing! I will try this!
Let me know how it works out Vince. I'm eager to get feedback.
What a fantastic idea! To move away from individual keywords and their positions is such a logical move, yet so overlooked and underused. Thank you AJ.