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DazzlinDonna’s take on SEO news, tips and theories.
Why I Check Rankings
I’ve been getting some heat lately for checking rankings. So, I decided to think about it to determine if maybe I was crazy for doing so. I mean, hey, maybe I’m just doing things out of habit and it’s not necessary, right? Well, as it turns out, most people might not need to check rankings. I can understand where Sebastian is coming from, and it makes sense.
However, I’ve never changed my ways for some pretty good reasons. I have seasonal sites. Let me give you an example. Let’s pretend I had a site that was tightly focused on the Rugby World Cup. Now, in reality, I know nothing about Rugby or it’s World Cup, but I’m assuming it probably happens once a year. I’m also assuming that for a few weeks before and up to the end of the Cup, much traffic would be going to the site, but for the rest of the year, the site would generally get little to no traffic.
If I were to just analyze my log files during the 21 days or so that I actually had traffic, then by the time I had a clear picture of what was happening, and how I needed to react, add content, change strategies, etc., it would all be over.
I don’t have the luxury of time on my side. My logs only give me information for a short burst of time. Therefore, they are only of limited use, mainly as a guideline for what I should think about doing for the NEXT year. The next 11 months are spent making guesses, making changes, and yes…CHECKING RANKINGS for keyword phrases that I believe will be the big converters the next time the event happens. I can’t check the logs during those 11 months. So, the best thing I can do is check rankings.
In summary, I know, based on past years, what phrases are important to my conversions for my seasonal sites. Using that knowledge, I carefully watch the rankings of those phrases over the year to make sure nothing goes awry before each big event takes place.
You, on the other hand, may find more value in analyzing your logs than in analyzing rankings. If so, then by all means, please ignore any comments I may make about rankings, and concentrate on log file analysis instead. That may be a much better use of your time than it is for mine.
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11 Responses to “Why I Check Rankings”
Trackbacks
- Search Engine Land: News About Search Engines & Search Marketing
- Analyzing search engine rankings by human traffic
August 7th, 2007 at 10:03 am
Always been both for me… I get the points you have made…
New sites I always check the rankings far far more than older sites..
I love using the “pages from the UK ” button to see more filtered results and watch um climb
(hopefully)
August 7th, 2007 at 10:16 am
That’s a very good point. I had a few seasonal sites too and did exactly what you did, I checked the rankings and fine tuned things months before the event. Since I sold these sites long ago this reason to check rankings was out of my scope.
You’ve proved that (my) unconditional statements are flawed by design. Can I take back the “ego food” piece?
August 7th, 2007 at 11:33 am
LOL, I’ll pretend I never saw the “ego food” bit.
August 7th, 2007 at 12:59 pm
Thanks for your understanding
August 7th, 2007 at 11:47 pm
OT - Just in case anyone was wondering, the Rugby World Cup only occurs once every FOUR years
August 8th, 2007 at 5:05 am
Oh, wow, Burgo, remind me NOT to create a site focused on that, then. That would drive me crazy.
August 9th, 2007 at 1:17 pm
It make sense, for the reasons you stated. Personally, I gave up after around site number 25. At this point I figure, you win some and you lose some.
August 13th, 2007 at 4:38 pm
I agree with Darren: you win some and you lose some, it’s not an all-win situation. It’s very dynamic and thus challenging!
August 13th, 2007 at 4:42 pm
True, but when winning one phrase means an extra $60K or so, it’s worth playing.