In today's digital landscape, search engine optimization (SEO) is pivotal in driving organic traffic and boosting online visibility. One of the critical aspects of an effective SEO strategy is rank tracking, which involves monitoring a website's position or specific keywords in search engine result pages (SERPs).
While manual tracking can be time-consuming and impractical, rank tracking APIs can help to go by another way for businesses to analyze. This article will explore the best rank tracking APIs and services available and delve into their features and benefits, empowering you to make an informed decision for your SEO research.
What is Rank Tracking in Search Engines
Before diving into the specifics, let's define a rank tracker API. It is an application programming interface (API) that enables developers and businesses to retrieve real-time search engine ranking data programmatically. With these APIs, you can automate tracking keyword positions across various search engines, empowering you to gain valuable insights into your SEO performance.
Of course, there are keyword ranking APIs and special services that can provide you with all the information. However, using such services can have several disadvantages. For example, the lack of the level of flexibility that you need, or too high a cost and several limitations. You can get the data using rank tracking API and create your unique tool, ideally suited to your needs.
Criteria for Choosing Rank Tracking APIs
Before we move on to the list of significant APIs and services for rank tracking, let's look at the criteria you should consider when choosing a tool. We will consider only the leading and most essential points, and after that, we will move on to the best rank tracking APIs and services at the moment.
Functionality and Features
And the first thing to look at is functionality and features. If the service offers only the ability to find out the current position of your site in the search engine, it may not be enough. For a full-fledged SEO analysis, you may need other information, for example, to find out with whom you compete on the current query, to get links to competitors' pages with similar content, to get a summary for some period, and much more. Therefore, before you choose a particular rank tracking API, consider whether you can use it to get all the information you need.
Data Accuracy
The next thing to look at is the accuracy of the data provided. For example, if the service performs a scan of your requests once a week, you cannot respond to changes in time. The data provided must be up-to-date at the current moment under precisely defined conditions.
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User Interface and Ease of Use
Next, you should pay attention to the interface and the convenience of using the selected tool. Although services that provide an API do not always offer an interface for working with it, pay attention if they have well-written documentation and can view examples of using the provided API.
Integration and Ecosystem
The following criterion may be integrating the selected API into your service. This can be very useful if you want to create a customized tool or develop your rank tracking service.
Pricing and Availability
Besides all the above, the API or service should be accessible enough to use. In addition, when choosing, pay attention to whether a trial period is provided. It can be very useful for you to learn the capabilities of the service and the functionality it offers in advance. If not, then you should think about choosing another service. After all, if it does not suit your purposes, you will waste time and money.
Customer Support and Service
User support is an important part of running any service. But if the service is very large and has been running for a long time, the support may not respond in time and react to user problems promptly. And if you are using a service that is new to you, support can be essential.
The Best Rank Tracker APIs
Now that you know what to pay attention to, let's look at the top ten rank tracking APIs and services. Consider their advantages, disadvantages, and features. If you don't want to read a detailed description of all the services, here is the comparison table of rank tracking tools.
Later, we will give you a thorough breakdown of the cost of using each service. But for now, let's look at how much it costs to use each service for 1000 keywords daily checking, so you can compare them more easily. We will also show you the price of the best plan, which is perfect for Rank Tracking.
| Service | Cost for 1000 Daily Checks (Monthly) | Optimal Plan Cost/Month |
|---|---|---|
| HasData | $13.5 | $90 |
| Semrush | $166 | $249.95 |
| Accuranker | $129 | $129 |
| Authority Labs | $99 | $450 |
| GeoRanker | $330 | $490 |
| SE Ranking | $50 | $99 |
| SheerSEO | $37.5 | $40 |
| Nightwatch | $99 | $99 |
| DataForSEO | $36 | $100 |
| BrightData | $69 | $500 |
When it comes to tracking keyword positions in Google searches, you can use popular SEO tools such as Moz or Ahrefs. These platforms offer a full suite of SEO features, including backlink analysis, site audits and competitive research, making them powerful tools for digital marketers and SEO specialists. However, if we're just focusing on position tracking and don't need the full suite of additional features, the cost of these tools can be prohibitive for our specific needs.
Now, let’s describe each of these services in more detail.
HasData
HasData is a service that provides various web scraping APIs. For example, you can use it to scrape any data from any website (or search engine) or choose a specific tool. For example, you can use Google SERP API to create your service - google rank tracking API, which provides many functions and features.
Pros and Cons
Among the pros are flexibility and easy integration into any program. In addition, HasData provides the ability to use proxies to get up-to-date data for the country you need.
This service also offers JS rendering and will solve CAPTCHA while scraping instead of you. When using this API, you just need to specify the target resource, and the API will take care of all the difficulties related to data collection.
The only con is that HasData returns data in JSON format. However, to collect data from Google SERP or Google Maps, you can use the no-code scraper and get ready data in CSV or XLSX file.
Features
As mentioned, you can get data from any resource in the form you need. The service has detailed information, a lot of no-code scrapers, and several APIs with examples of their use.
In addition, the service has a request builder that will help you compose a request to API in one of the popular programming languages. Ease of use and free test period make this API a good option for creating your rank tracking service.
Pricing
HasData offers a 30-day free trial. Price plans start at $29/m.
Let's explore the 'Business' plan of this API provider, priced at $99 per month, which offers 1,000,000 API credits, equivalent to 200,000 API requests. With this plan, you can track up to 6,666 keywords every day. Thus, the cost of tracking 1000 keywords per day comes out to approximately $13.5, making it an optimal choice for users with a significant volume of keywords to track.
SE Ranking
SE Ranking is a popular SEO platform that provides a standard set of features and is suitable for both individual use and companies.
Pros and Cons
SE ranking offers comprehensive keyword research and ranking tracking features, on-page optimization recommendations, and site audits.
On the downside, there are some difficulties working because of the unintuitive interface. In addition, some advanced features require higher-level plans to access.
Features
SE ranking features include keyword research and rank tracking, on-page optimization recommendations and website auditing, backlink analysis, and monitoring, white-label reporting, and client management.
Pricing
SE Ranking price plans start at $49/m.
SE Ranking has a great subscription option called "Pro," priced at $99, which includes rank tracking for 2000 keywords. So, the cost of rank tracking 1000 keywords will be around $50.
Semrush
Semrush is a service that aims to help with SEO, content marketing, market research, advertising, and social media promotion. It allows you to solve most marketing-related tasks but not all of them.
Pros and Cons
Semrush provides comprehensive keyword research, competitive analysis, robust backlink analysis, and link-building SEO tools. However, if you are a beginner, you might get confused because of the wide range of features. Also, the pricing plans can be relatively high for smaller companies.
Features
On the features page, you will find many options divided into blocks. The most interesting ones are keyword research and tracking, competitor analysis and domain comparison, site audit and page optimization recommendations, and social media management and tracking.
But if you need only rank tracking this service might be featured-riched.
Pricing
The minimum plan costs $129.95 but it provides only 500 keywords checking. So, let's take a look at a more expensive plan, which costs 249.95$ per month and offers rank tracking for 1500 words. With this plan, the cost of monitoring 1000 keywords would be around $166.
Accuranker
Accuranker is a SERP rank tracking and analytics platform for SEO researchers. It has a lot of convenient features, but it has no API, so you can't implement it in your project.
Pros and Cons
The service provides daily rank tracking for best keywords and local and mobile position tracking capabilities. However, Accuranker has limited keyword research and analysis features, and the interface may not be as user-friendly as other tools.
Features
Like other services, Accuranker provides daily rank tracking for keywords and local and mobile rank tracking.
A big plus is the ability to integrate with Google Analytics and Google Search Console. You can also customize reporting and data visualization.
Pricing
Accuranker price plans start at $116/m.
Accuranker has a very convenient widget that calculates the cost based on the number of keywords you want to track. The minimum subscription cost is $129 for 1000 keywords.
Authority Labs
Another company that provides SEO rank-tracking software is Authority Labs. They do not have as comprehensive a set of features as the previous options but allow for a reliable functionality for keyword rank tracking.
Pros and Cons
The service provides the ability to track local and global rankings and features to track and compare competitors.
However, it also has limited additional SEO analysis and optimization features. If you are a beginner, the interface may not be as intuitive as other tools. Some users have noted occasional discrepancies in data.
Features
The service provides keyword rank tracking, local and global rankings, and competitor tracking. You can set up reporting and data visualization yourself, and if necessary, you can integrate the service with Google Analytics and Google Search Console.
Price
Authority Labs price plans start at $49/m.
Authority Labs offers a very convenient subscription for $99, which includes rank tracking for 1000 keywords. However, if you want to use the API, it is only available with the subscription costing $450.
GeoRanker
GeoRanker is a service that provides various features to help with SEO and marketing needs. They have a keyword rank tracking API that allows you to gather large amounts of accurate SEO data.
Overall, GeoRanker appears to be a comprehensive toolset for gathering SEO data and insights, making it valuable for businesses and marketers alike.
Pros and Cons
The pros of GeoRanker include a huge number of tools for SEO, as well as the availability of an API. However, on the other hand, the service has a rather high price, and a wide range of functions can overwhelm small companies with basic needs.
Features
One of their main features is the SEO Tools section, which includes tools like Rank Tracker for keyword rankings, Competitive Intelligence for analyzing competitors, Keyword Research Tools, and Local Citation Sources.
GeoRanker's services have found applications in various areas like Market Research, Brand Protection, Travel Aggregation, Ad Verification, Pricing Intelligence, and SEO Monitoring.
Pricing
Georanker price plans start at $99/m.
The most suitable plan for our needs is the Enterprises plan for $490. With this plan, we get rank tracking for 1500 keywords. So, if we calculate the approximate cost for 1000 keywords, it will be around $326.
SheerSEO
Sheer SEO is a program that can automate SEO efforts including ranking tracking and link building. Unfortunately, it cannot integrate with any services, but it is excellent for simple SEO tasks.
Pros and Cons
SheerSEO offers a free version that provides valuable information about your website's SEO, including ranking keywords, keyword ideas, and organic traffic data. It also allows limited optimization of specific posts. This free account gives users a preview of the full version before deciding to upgrade.
While SheerSEO has received positive feedback for its features, user-friendly interface, and customer support, it's important to note that individual experiences may vary. Evaluating different SEO software options based on your needs and requirements is always recommended.
Features
SheerSEO is an online SEO software that provides automation for various SEO tasks, including rank tracking and link building. It offers a range of features and capabilities to help improve website optimization and competitive analysis.
This service provides accurate and localized rank tracking for Google, Bing, and YouTube. It allows you to monitor your website's performance in search engine rankings and track keyword positions over time.
Pricing
SheerSEO price plans start at $10/m.
SheerSEO offers rank tracking at affordable prices. However, the number of keywords they allow tracking is limited. The best plan they have provides rank tracking for 400 keywords at $15. So, if you need around 1000 keywords, it will cost about $37.5.
Nightwatch
NightWatch is a valuable SEO tool that allows you to track rankings and get data on your website's search engine traffic and sales.
Pros and Cons
NightWatch allows you to view both local ranking data as well as in different regions of the world. You can also choose the device for which you want to view positions. However, some users may find it difficult to figure out how to set up Google Analytics and Search Console.
Features
In addition to rank tracking, the service provides the ability to audit the site to find and fix problems. Rankings in major search engines are monitored daily, so you won't miss important changes. You can create customizable reports to track all the necessary parameters.
Pricing
NightWatch has pricing starting at $39 for 250 keywords. They also have a convenient widget to see the subscription cost for the desired number of keywords. As a result, the price for rank tracking 1000 keywords will be around $99.
DataForSEO
DataForSEO provides comprehensive SEO and digital marketing solutions with the help of APIs. The service offers various APIs for different purposes, such as SERP API, Keyword Data API, Backlinks API, etc. These APIs allow users to access data from search engines, marketplaces, review platforms and other websites, which makes it easy to create digital marketing solutions.
Pros and Cons
The service provides a wide range of APIs for solving various SEO and marketing tasks. With the help of DataForSeo, you can build effective and efficient SEO strategies. However, due to the large number of features and functions, it can be difficult to find specific information on any single feature.
Features
DataForSeo provides a variety of APIs for different data requirements including SERPs, keyword data, backlinks, reviews and more. It also offers access to databases containing data from Google, Bing, Amazon, App Store and other sources.
Pricing
The price of the services varies depending on the chosen options. Since we are interested in Rank Tracking on Google SERP, we will consider their specific rates. In this case, the cost of each request changes based on the priority level of the selected plan. The higher the cost of one request, the faster they will process it for you. For example, if you are willing to wait up to 5 minutes, the price for one request is only $0.0006. But if you want a response within 6 seconds, it's $0.002. We will go with the optimal option, where the processing speed is up to 1 minute, and the cost per request is $0.0012. With this choice, the cost for daily monitoring of 1000 keywords will be around $36.
BrightData
BrightData is a comprehensive web data platform that provides tools for web scraping, proxy networks, and datasets, catering to the needs of different industries and developers seeking structured data from websites.
Pros and Cons
BrightData has scraping solutions for developers with various tools and APIs. The service also provides datasets for various industries and the ability to create custom datasets. And, one of the biggest advantages is the availability of a proxy network with a large number of IP addresses and global coverage.
Features
BrightData offers a range of scraping solutions such asIDE Web Scraper, Scraping Browser, API Web Unlocker and API SERP for seamless and scalable web scraping. With these tools, you can make your own Rank Tracker that will collect the required data at any frequency.
Pricing
Even though there is a Pay as You Go plan, we won't consider it because it costs $0.003 per request, which is quite high. The minimum plan available costs $500 with a request cost of $0.0023. We need to make 1000 requests every day to collect positions for 1000 keywords. So, in a month, we need to make 30,000 requests. With this plan, the total cost for these requests would be $69.
Google SERP Scraper is the perfect tool for any digital marketer looking to quickly and accurately collect data from Google search engine results. With no coding…
Get fast, real-time access to structured Google search results with our SERP API. No blocks or CAPTCHAs - ever. Streamline your development process without worrying…
Benefits of Using Rank Tracking APIs
Ranking tracking APIs automate the process of obtaining search engine ranking data, which saves a lot of time and effort compared to manual tracking. This allows you to focus on analyzing the data and implementing effective SEO strategies.
Ranking tracking APIs allow you to access real-time ranking data and track changes in search engine positions as they occur. This allows you to react quickly to fluctuations and adjust your SEO tactics promptly.
By comparing your rankings with your competitors, you can identify weaknesses and opportunities to maintain your position in search results.
Using accurate and reliable ranking data, you can make informed decisions based on actual performance indicators. This helps optimize content, keywords, and link-building strategies to improve search engine visibility.
Conclusion and Takeaways
Rank tracking APIs have become indispensable tools for modern SEO practitioners and businesses aiming to optimize their online presence. By automating the tracking process of keyword rankings, these APIs enable data-driven decision-making and provide valuable insights for the refinement of SEO strategy. Evaluate the top-rank tracking APIs based on critical criteria, and choose the one that aligns with your needs to unlock the true potential of data-driven SEO and achieve remarkable organic growth.
