SERP Tracking with Free Tools: A Beginner’s Toolkit

Looking for a more reliable way to check search engine results pages (SERPs) without spending a dime?

Each of these free tools lets you check your rankings in different locations without having your results “contaminated” by Google’s personalization algorithm.

Here’s the first one. SERP Checker lets you check the top 10 pages for any keyword in 243 countries in a matter of seconds, with no registration required. It’s powered by Ahrefs keyword database with a total of 28.7 billion keywords and shows sample SEO data for the top pages.

Just enter your keyword, set the country and click Check SERP.

The SEO toolbar allows you to set your language and country and depersonalize your Google search results. It works as a browser extension that can be added to Chrome, Firefox, and Safari.

Set your country, local Google domain, language, and device to display the type of SERP you want to check. Then simply click the local search icon to enable or disable SERP simulation.

Users with an Ahrefs subscription can also see essential SEO metrics in the toolbar, such as a keyword’s traffic potential, a site’s domain score, or page traffic, which can be useful for other SEO tactics like link building.

These features are just a fraction of the toolbar’s functionality. You can learn more and download the tool here.

Ahrefs Webmaster Tools (AWT) is a free tool to monitor your website health and track all your incoming links and keywords with useful SEO metrics.

With AWT you can see which keywords are driving traffic to your site, how you rank for those keywords, and which pages are displayed for them.

The tool has many convenient data filters. For example, you can track keywords in the top 10, keywords containing a specific phrase, or keywords from a specific page on your site. You can also check your rankings in SERP features and change the country.

• Download AWT for free here.
• Create a project (only for sites where you can verify ownership).
• Click the Organic Keywords tab in the Control Panel.

• You’ll see your keywords, your ranking, and which page is ranking for a given keyword. Apply filters to refine your report.

If you’re up-to-date to Google Search Console (GSC), it’s a free tool that provides you with organic traffic information directly from Google and alerts you to potential issues that could be affecting your site’s performance.

Apply GSC to track your rankings in video, news, and image search results pages—no other free tool offers this type of data.

1. Set up GSC for free Here.
2. Once GSC has finished preparing your data, go to Performance > Search Results > Search Type Filter.

GSC also lets you track the click-through rate your pages are getting in the SERPs. This can be useful for improving your page titles and meta descriptions (see our guide).

Need even more features and data? Free tools are just a fraction of what you get with an Ahrefs subscription.

In Ahrefs’ Rank Tracker

Ahrefs’ Rank Tracker is part of the Ahrefs suite, designed to be a solid position tracking tool for your and your competitors’ sites. Here are a few ways the tool can lend a hand you track and analyze SERPs.

First, you can track your competitors’ rankings and compare share or voice. The share of voice metric shows how much traffic your pages are getting compared to your competitors, and is great for comparing how you stack up regardless of changes in search demand or Google SERP features.

With Rank Tracker, you can track your rankings with greater precision. Set up keyword tracking by zip code to see how you rank in specific parts of the country.

For even greater precision, take advantage of daily ranking updates, which provide more detailed reporting and allow you to quickly respond to any changes in your site’s search results.

You’ll also find useful filters here, like the “Multiple URLs” filter, which lets you monitor your search engine results for potential cannibalization issues and take action if two or more pages are competing with each other.

If you need more reporting capabilities, you can bring your site data into reports using the Looker connector or API, making it easier to analyze and present insights.

You can also receive regular updates on your performance straight to your inbox without having to log in or manually generate reports.

Finally, integration with Google Search Console allows you to exceed the 16-month data limit and more easily spot trends in weekly and monthly data ranges.

In Ahrefs Keyword Explorer

Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer is a powerful keyword research tool in the Ahrefs suite. Backed by one of the world’s top 50 supercomputers, it offers access to a massive database of 27.8 billion keywords across 243 countries. Here are a few other ways you can explore SERPs with this tool.

Analyze SERPs by comparing peak, rankings, and search intent across dates. This allows you to see if you can rank for two keywords with the same content, see which pages gained rankings when yours fell, and check SERPs for changes in dominant search intent.

You can also see the ranking history for any keyword and any domain. One way to utilize this report is to check SERP variability.

With Keywords Explorer, you also have access to search volume history and forecasts. This allows you to track changes in keyword demand and see how this correlates with changes in your website traffic, or make more informed keyword choices.