Keyword Rank Tracking API: Optimize Your SEO

As search marketing professionals know, tracking keyword performance is vital for measuring the effectiveness of SEO strategies. It is also a time-consuming exercise. But with a keyword rank tracking API, you can optimize your SEO more efficiently.

If you notice your rankings going up, you can assume your content marketing, link-building, and technical-optimization efforts are paying off. On the other hand, if your rankings remain stagnant or start to decline, then your focus needs to change. Correcting your SEO strategy becomes a matter of urgency.

The traditional way of monitoring keyword performance is somewhat of a lengthy process. Not only do you have to log in every time you want to extract data, but you also need to manually specify which data you want to view and export.

In this post, we will explain the advantages of keyword ranking APIs and walk you through how to use one for your own business.

But first, let us start with a quick definition.

What is a Keyword Rank Tracker API?

A keyword rank tracking API (application programming interface) is a tool that lets you transfer keyword ranking data from one piece of software to another automatically.

An API acts as an intermediary between two software applications, allowing them to communicate simultaneously, regardless of the programming language. And in the context of a keyword rank tracking API, the two applications are the keyword rank tracker and the application it shares its data with.

For example, creating a custom ranking report for an SEO client in Google Sheets; In this case, you might use a keyword rank tracking API to automatically populate the relevant fields of your spreadsheet with the appropriate ranking data. At no point would you be required to log into your rank tracking tool and extract the data manually. The API does the processing for you.

What are the Benefits of Using a Keyword Rank Tracking API?

Keyword rank tracking applications are an indispensable part of any SEO professional’s toolkit. They make it easy to monitor how well pages are performing in SERPs across all targeted keywords.

At the click of a few buttons (and the tweaking of a few filters), rank trackers provide an instant, up-to-date snapshot of how well your site is ranking in the SERPs. Using this information, you can accurately measure the impact of your SEO efforts and monitor competitor activity. Thus, identifying new opportunities for improving your organic search strategy.

But this also raises an interesting question: Why use a keyword rank tracking API if keyword rank tracking software is already so powerful? The reason is a keyword rank tracking API offers some important additional benefits.

Here are some of the main advantages of using a keyword rank tracking API:

Customized Reports and Dashboards

Many in-house and agency-side SEO professionals are tasked with developing regular, customized performance reports for their SEO campaigns.

For example, suppose you manage the SEO program of an e-commerce client. In this case, you might need to create monthly reports. This would include a breakdown of the site’s ranking performance and an overview of organic traffic, conversions, and sales.

Using a keyword tracking API would allow you to selectively (and instantly) populate your report with ranking data. You could then combine this data with other important SEO metrics from other sources.

But rank tracking APIs are not only useful for generating tailor-made reports. You can also use them to populate custom internal dashboards to give you a real-time 360-view of how your various marketing campaigns are performing.

Remember, no two businesses are the same. The metrics that matter most to you depend on your unique business needs and specific SEO KPIs. One report might need to display mobile rankings. Another might display desktop rankings for the first quarter of the year.

A keyword tracking API gives you full control over which ranking data you retrieve. It also lets you determine how that data is displayed alongside other metrics in your custom reports and dashboards.

Speed and Efficiency Through API

We have already mentioned that a keyword tracking API allows you to transfer ranking data into another application without logging into the keyword tracker itself.

So instead of manually downloading, sorting, and importing your ranking data, a keyword rank tracking API will do it for you. This will funnel the information straight to where you need it (such as another app, dashboard, or reporting system). This is especially valuable when building reports or dashboards that use large volumes of data from various sources.

In other words, keyword tracking APIs eliminate the manual aspect of keyword data gathering and entry. This also makes it easier to monitor many keywords across multiple search engines and locations. The result? You and your team can be more productive.

Integrating a Keyword Rank Tracking API

A keyword rank tracking API can be integrated with other tools and platforms. These include analytics or reporting software such as google analytics, google search console, google sheets, etc. Overall saving you time and effort while providing accurate and useful data.

Keyword tracking APIs come with clear and comprehensive API documentation to guide developers through implementation. These guides cover everything from authentication to details about specifying query parameters.

Once the API is in place, you do not need any technical expertise to retrieve the data you want. Simply continue improving your SEO.

How to Use a Keyword Rank Tracking API

Now that we have covered the benefits of keyword rank tracking APIs, how do you use them?

Of course, the specifics of using a given rank tracking API will vary from one provider to the next. That said, the following steps are universally applicable.

1. Pick a Rank Tracking Tool

Before you can start using a keyword rank tracking API, you first need to choose a rank tracking platform that provides this functionality in addition to any other features your business requires. A suitable keyword rank tracking software like AccuRanker will provide you with the following:

• What kind of data does the tool provide? For example, does it provide both desktop and mobile rankings? Competitor analysis? How about other important metrics like click-through rates (CTRs), share of voice (SoV), and search intent?
• Does the tool offer multiple filtering and segmentation options to help you sort through big datasets?
• How extensive is the tool’s keyword database?
• How fast is the tool? This is an essential consideration for enterprise companies and SEO agencies that deal with high data volumes.
• How frequently does the tool update its data?
• Does the tool come with a user-friendly interface?
• Does the pricing make sense for your business?
• What level of customer support comes with a subscription?
• Does the platform offer a free trial or demo?

With over 24 billion keywords, easy-to-use filters, an AI-powered CTR, and a search intent model, AccuRanker is a powerful tool to improve your SEO.

2. Authenticate the Rank Tracker API

Once you have created an account with a keyword rank tracker that best meets your business needs, you will need to authenticate your API before you can start using it.

Generally, there are two ways to authenticate an API. The first and simplest method is to use a basic API authentication token. The provider generates these unique tokens to verify that the user or application accessing the API’s resources has the proper credentials to do so.

The second way to activate your API is with an OAuth access token. We recommend using this method if you create an API integration that more than one person will use. This is because, unlike a basic authentication token, the OAuth framework gives other users authorized access to the API without revealing your account credentials.

3. Set Up Your Tracking Parameters

Once you have connected the keyword tracking API to your application, you need to specify what information you want the API to retrieve.

For example, you might want to populate one column of a custom report with desktop rankings for the past 30 days. Or another with mobile rankings. And another with a list of your top 10 competitors.

By specifying your request parameters, you will ensure that the app only extracts the ranking data you need from the API.

4. Analyze Your Ranking Data

Here is the fun part!

Now that your most important metrics are automatically synced, you can start analyzing the data to help you develop a more effective SEO strategy.

The API provides real-time updates and accurate data, making it an essential tool for any business looking to improve its online presence and stay ahead of its competitors.

Final Thoughts

Keyword rank tracking APIs offer a flexible, time-saving alternative to the traditional approach of gathering keyword ranking data.

Instead of logging into your keyword tracking tool each time you want to export and analyze your data, an API lets you automate this process by funneling the data you need into an external application. Doing so lets you view your ranking data alongside other key SEO metrics, giving you a more comprehensive overview of your SEO performance.

Start increasing organic traffic with AccuRanker today.

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