First of all, some helpful FAQs to explain the basics;
Due to the continuous updates and refreshes of Google’s ranking algorithm, pages from your website will have a Google ranking that fluctuates often – from day to day and from week to week. Even in one day, a page on your site might rank in different positions for the same keyword. Website ranking fluctuations within a day are normally just a position or two (up or down), but over the course of a month, your Google rankings for a single keyword could change a lot (15th to 8th to 5th to 9th to 3rd, etc.).
As well as algorithmic updates, where your website ranks in Google will also vary due to localisation and personalisation.
Localisation
Localisation is where Google returns different search results, or the same results in a different order, depending on the location (country or city) of the searcher and the website. For example, someone based in Manchester who types ‘Accountants’ into Google will see different sites listed in the search results to someone based in Birmingham who searches for the same keyword. That is because Google will assume that webpages relating to businesses physically close to you or that talk about your specific location will be more relevant to you.
Personalisation
Personalisation is where Google alters the search results they display for a keyword, based on what they know about the searcher from their previous searches. This can happen if the searcher is signed into Google (including Gmail or YouTube) or is using Google Chrome. For example, if someone has visited a site many times before, when they search for a keyword that’s relevant to that site, the site may show up higher in the search results for that searcher than it would do for other people searching for the same keyword.
As a business owner this is crucial information as you might believe your own web page is performing better in the search results than it actually is if you rely on your own search experience. You need to use incognito mode, web proxies, tracking tools like Google’s Search Console or third party software to get an accurate picture of performance.
Average Position Data Is Most Useful
Due to algorithmic updates, localisation and personalisation, knowing your average Google website ranking for keywords over a range of time and locations is of more value than knowing exactly where your site is ranking for keywords at a specific time and from a specific location.
You can check what keywords your site has a Google ranking for, and the average position in the search results for each of those keywords, via Google Search Console, which is free, quick, accurate, and comprehensive.
Check Google Ranking of my Website
Want to know where does my website rank on google? It’s easy and free. Just follow these instructions which will help you use Google’s Search Console.
- Sign in to Google Search Console.
- Click on the name of your website (or click ‘Add Site’ if you haven’t already done so).
- Click on ‘Performance’ (in the left-hand sidebar)’.
Note: The impressions, clicks and CTR numbers shown in Search Console are approximations rather than precise numbers. Also, they may differ from the data displayed in Google Analytics due to technicalities and a time lag between the numbers being calculated and the data being made available.
A) Metrics To View – Each of the 4 boxes can be clicked (‘Total Clicks’, ‘Total Impressions’, ‘Average CTR’, and ‘Average Position’). Click it once and the background is coloured in and the corresponding metrics appear on the graph and in the data table. Click it again and the data is hidden. You can look at one metric at one, all four at the same time or any combination.
B) Data To View – ‘Queries’, ‘Pages’, ‘Countries’, ‘Devices’, ‘Search Queries’ and ‘Dates’ actually tab so click on any of them to see different information about your organic search traffic. To view website ranking data, select the ‘Queries’ option which is the default view.
C) Filters – Click the ‘Search Type’ box to choose between Web, Image, Video, or News results. Click on the Date filter to select a custom date range. Click on ‘+ New’ to add more filters for things like a specific country, device, or search query. To remove a filter just click the small cross next to the filter box.
A) Totals & Averages – The combined totals and averages for all keywords that your site has ranked for during the date range chosen for your filters.
D) The underlying data used to draw the graph. A maximum of four columns can be shown based on which metrics you clicked in A. You can also change these columns by clicking on the funnel next tot eh D above. Clicks – How many times someone has clicked through to your site from the search results after searching for a specific keyword or term. Impressions – How many times your site has been displayed in the search results for a specific keyword. CTR (Click Through Rate) – Clicks ÷ Impressions x 100. The higher the CTR, the better, and the higher the position your site is ranking for a particular keyword, the higher the CTR for that keyword should be. Position – The average position that your site has been ranked in the search results for a specific keyword. As this number is an average, your site may not actually have ranked in that exact position – either before or now. For example, if your site ranked 3rd for a keyword half of the time and 9th for the same keyword the other half of the time, then it’s average ranking position would be 6th.
So now you armed with the the knowledge you know how to check website ranking in google search. Google’s Search Console is a fantastic resource for website owners but in my experience it is very underused. Sign in, get your website registered and investigate your top performing terms. Can you update or improve your page content to make it more relevant for these searches and get even more traffic?