Rank Checking Software

Introduction

Ranking software is a great tool for those looking to get quick information about a site and its' position in the search results.

What ranking software is not, is a silver bullet to the top spot of the results. In fact it could very well be the opposite.

I won't mention any software brands because I don't want to plug their products and I don't want to get myself into trouble.

Marketing Propoganda

I find it quite amusing when people with little or no search engine optimisation experience laud the effectiveness of their newly purchased software by repeating the products' marketing blurb to me. They also fully believe it. It's not their fault, they just don't know any better or fully understand what is going on.

Benefits

The software does have some benefits.

1. You can run your reports while you go to the toilet and come back refreshed to study your latest positions in the SERPs.
2. You don't have to trawl through hundreds of SERPs to find your site buried on page 14 for your keyword.
3. It could even keep a history and indicate the improvement or decline in your sites' SERPs.
4. You can run reports in a jiffy and charge clients a fee for useless information that you do not understand nor can do anything about.

Reality

So the software gives you raw data. What do you do with this data? If you are clueless about SEO then nothing and the software was a big fat waste of money. If you have a clue, then you optimise your site even better.

The worst thing is that search engines don't like automated queries. Check their webmaster guidelines to see how they feel. It's probably a better investment to learn properly about SEO then let some software package teach you the wrong way and in the process get you banned from the major indices.

Summary

Don't use the software. If you really have to use it, then do so sparingly. Learn the real tools of the trade and do them manually. You'll learn more and be able to apply your new found SEO techniques that could eventually get you to the top. The software alone won't do it for you.