Carter's Rank Tracking Filters CheatSheet

Here are some of my favorite filters I've created within the brand new Rank Tracking Interface. I give a quick explanation for each one AND what next steps you can take after seeing the data.

#1. 🤣🤣 Jumping into Top 10 From Page 4 and Below

Perfect for after a major Google update.

This filter shows URLs that have jumped into the Top 10 positions (#1 through #10) today BUT were previously at positions #31 and below (page 4). These are huge wins!

Filter: Only Ranking Data Last Seen Since: 1 Day(s) Ago Current Rank Max: 10 Yesterday Rank Min: 31 Ranking: Rising Positive Tags

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What this filter does:

1. Shows only ranking data (keywords against domains/URLs that have ranked in the top 100+ in the last 90 days)

2. Was last spotted yesterday and more recently (today) within the top 100+ SERPs

3. Currently has a ranking position of 10 or better (#1 through #10 SERP position)

AND

4. The previous rank (yesterday or day before) was ranking in position 31 or worse (Page 4)

5. The current trajectory is upward - rising

6. And is a positive tag (my domain, not my competitor who we tag negative)

Next Step: This is a situation where I would first increase the internal links going to these pages to push them to the top 3 positions. I would then wait about 72 hours to see if there were any improvements.

Afterward, I may need to add content to some of these, so I'll open up ZORA and throw the keywords through with the URL to see if there is anything I'm missing that the top results have.

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#2. 🤬🤬 Stagnate High-Value Keywords

These are rankings that are on Page 4 recently AND were there the previous day.

These are high-valued keywords based on the traffic volume (I use 10,000 monthly visitors). Moving these keywords to page 1 (#1 through #10 SERP positions) will bring in a lot more traffic AND "lift the tide" of secondary keywords (long-tailed variations). Improving the SEO for these pages will give you the biggest ROI.

Filter: Only Ranking Data Current Rank Min: 31 Yesterday Rank Min: 31 Positive Tags Traffic Volume Min: 10,000

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What this filter does:

1. Shows only ranking data (keywords against domains/URLs that have ranked in the top 100+ in the last 90 days)

2. The current ranking is on Page 5 and worse (Position #40 and lower)

AND

3. The previous rank (yesterday or day before) was on Page 5 and worse (Position #40 and lower)

4. And is a positive tag (my domain, not my competitor who we tag negative)

5. The traffic minimum is 10,000 monthly visitors (adjust according to your niche)

Optional. You can add in the Ranking: Dropping filter to see keywords continuously slipping.

Next Step: The first thing I would do is throw these keywords and URLs through ZORA to see what my page is currently missing which the current top results have.

You'll probably need to add content since there is something critical missing that the top pages do have. Optimized the pages and then wait 72 hours. If there is an increase I then start adding backlinks and increasing the internal links to these posts. I use a spreadsheet to monitor how many new internal links each page is getting to keep me organized.

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#3. 💩💩💩 Dropping out of Top 10 to Under 30

Perfect for after a major Google update.

Uh oh... These are terms that dropped out of the Top 10 position to Page 4 (#31 and worse). I use this filter after Google Algo Updates to get a better glimpse of my losses.

Filter: Last Seen Since: 1 Day(s) Ago Current Rank Min: 31 Yesterday Rank Max: 10 Positive Tags Traffic Volume Min: 1,000

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What this filter does:

1. Was last spotted yesterday and more recently (today) within the top 100+ SERPs

2. Currently has a ranking position of 31 or worse (Page 3 and below)

AND

3. The previous rank (yesterday or day before) was ranking in position 10 or better (Page 1)

4. And is a positive tag (my domain, not my competitor who we tag negative)

5. The traffic minimum is 1,000 monthly visitors (adjust according to your niche)

Next Step: Figure out the reason for the drop. The first step for me is to find any lost backlinks. The next step is to figure out if something drastic has changed on-page like a drastic increase in PageSpeed that's causing your page to load slower for users.

Also think on-page SEO, Title tag or H1 tag changes. If nothing obvious comes up I would put the keyword and page through ZORA to see what my page is currently missing which the current Top results have.

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#4. 🥳🥳 Jumped Into Top 3 🎁🎁🎁

Perfect for after a major Google update.

This filter shows all my keywords across all my projects that have jumped into the Top 3 positions but were not previously there since the last Google crawl.

Filter: Only Ranking Data Last Seen Since: 1 Day(s) Ago Current Rank Max: 3 Yesterday Rank Min: 4 Positive Tags

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What this filter does:

1. Shows only ranking data (keywords against domains/URLs that have ranked in the top 100+ in the last 90 days)

2. Was last spotted yesterday and more recently (today) within the top 100+ SERPs

3. Currently has a ranking position of 3 or better (#1 through #3 SERP position)

AND

4. The previous rank (yesterday or day before) was ranking in position 4 or worse

5. And is a positive tag (my domain, not my competitor who we tag negative)

Next Step: Send some links (3 internal links equals 1 external inbound backlink according to Kyle Roof) to the particular pages to see if you can boost them up a bit more.

Also though - jumping into the top 3 is definitely something worth celebrating.

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#5. 🥺 Dropped Out of Top 3

Perfect for after a major Google update.

These are all your rankings that were in the Top 3 which have now dropped out of the Top 3 SERP position. Very Bad News.

Filter: Only Ranking Data Last Seen Since: 1 Day(s) Ago Current Rank Min: 4 Yesterday Rank Max: 3 Positive Tags

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What this filter does:

1. Shows only ranking data (keywords against domains/URLs that have ranked in the top 100+ in the last 90 days)

2. Was last spotted yesterday and more recently (today) within the top 100+ SERPs

3. Currently has a ranking position of 4 or worse

AND

4. The previous rank (yesterday or day before) was ranking in position 3 or better (#1 - #3 SERP Position)

5. And is a positive tag (my domain, not my competitor who we tag negative)

Next Step: Export this data and create a spreadsheet of the URLs and the keywords. Sort the spreadsheet by the rankings positions. The worse drops I would throw through ZORA right away, the not so bad ones I would look to see if there have been any new competitors using the SERP View.

Example: A keyword dropping from #3 to #4 might simply indicate that a new competitor has risen and taken one of the spots above everyone in the Top 3. However, a drop from #3 to #45 means YOU are the problem.

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#6. 🥇 1st Place Winners

This shows ALL our #1 positions. I mean why not pat ourselves in the back a bit?

Filter: Last Seen Since: 1 Day(s) Ago Current Rank Max: 1 Positive Tags

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What this filter does:

1. Was last spotted yesterday and more recently (today) within the top 100+ SERPs

2. Shows domains/URLs ranking #1 for our keywords

3. And is a positive tag (my domain, not my competitor who we tag negative)

Optional. You can add in a Traffic Volume Min: 1,000 filter to showcase rankings resulting in real traffic.

Next Step: Schedule a holiday. It's what we do across the pond.

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#7. 🥈 2nd Place Risers

These are keyword terms that you have just conquered and are #2 in the search results.

Filter: Only Ranking Data Last Seen Since: 1 Day(s) Ago Current Rank Max: 2 Current Rank Min: 2 Ranking: Rising Positive Tags

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What this filter does:

1. Shows only ranking data (keywords against domains/URLs that have ranked in the top 100+ in the last 90 days)

2. Was last spotted yesterday and more recently (today) within the top 100+ SERPs

3 & 4. Currently has a ranking position of EXACTLY #2

5. The current trajectory is upward - rising.

6. And is a positive tag (my domain, not my competitor who we tag negative)

Next Step: The first step I would do is visually look at what the #1 position has which you don't. Next look at the dominance of the domain and URL, do they have significantly more backlinks than you? If yes then you may have to stick with #2 spot.

BUT if you are a psychopath like me and aren't simply satisfied with being second best, it's time to try some new title tags to improve your click-thru rate of users. If Google sees the #2 spot getting better clicks than the #1, they'll wonder if they made a mistake. 😉

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#8. 🔥🔥 Page 2 Risers

These URLs are rising upward while on page 2 (#11 through #20 SERP position). With a little boost, we might be able to get them into the Top 10.

Filter: Only Ranking Data Last Seen Since: 1 Day(s) Ago Current Rank Max: 20 Current Rank Min: 11 Ranking: Rising Positive Tags

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What this filter does:

1. Shows only ranking data (keywords against domains/URLs that have ranked in the top 100+ in the last 90 days)

2. Was last spotted yesterday and more recently (today) within the top 100+ SERPs

3 & 4. Currently has a ranking position of #11 through #20

5. The current trajectory is upward - rising.

6. And is a positive tag (my domain, not my competitor who we tag negative)

Next Step: Start by using internal links to these pages. Use pages that have good traffic from Google organically and link from those pages to these 2nd-page risers. After a week or so do some outreach promotion to gain links from external sources.

If after 2-4 weeks things still seem stuck, run the page through ZORA and see if there is anything glaringly missing from your content versus the competition.

As well look at the intent, example: If you are going after a term with a review page but all the top positions are eCommerce landing pages for said product, then you are NEVER going to rank above them since your page is a review instead of a direct call to action for the product. Don't waste your time on things you cannot change.

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#9. 🤕🤕 Slowly Decreasing

These are pages that are starting to slip from Page 1, they have not dropped off the top 10 yet!

Filter: Only Ranking Data Yesterday Rank Max: 10 Yesterday Rank Min: 4 Ranking: Dropping Positive Tags

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What this filter does:

1. Shows only ranking data (keywords against domains/URLs that have ranked in the top 100+ in the last 90 days)

2 & 3. The previous rank (yesterday or day before) was ranking in position between #4 and #10 (bottom of Page 1)

4. The current trajectory is downward - dropping.

5. And is a positive tag (my domain, not my competitor who we tag negative)

Next Step: I would put these pages in next month's workflow for updating. I would start looking at the PageSpeed of the page and if you lost any major backlinks to the page. The pages might simply be slipping because of low click-thru, so your title might be bad.

HOWEVER look at the SERP View of the keyword - can you find any new competitors that jumped into the top position? If someone new jumped in above you then it's not entirely your fault that you are slipping, but should look at that page and ask yourself what you can do to update your current page to answer the intent of that searcher better than the new contender.

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#10. 🤡🔫 Competitors Rising on Page 1

Perfect for after a major Google update.

These are pages where the competition (I tagged competitors negative) is rising within Page 1.

Filter: Only Ranking Data Current Rank Max: 10 Ranking: Rising Negative Tags

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What this filter does:

1. Shows only ranking data (keywords against domains/URLs that have ranked in the top 100+ in the last 90 days)

3. Currently has a ranking position of 10 or better (#1 through #10 SERP position)

4. The current trajectory is upward - rising

5. And is a negative tag (a competitor I am monitoring who I tagged negative)

Next Step: First thing I do is go straight to ZORA and see what my page is lacking that the competitor is not. Most likely the competition has improved their on-page SEO, PageSpeed, or gained some significant backlinks.

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#11. 📱 Mobile and 🗺️ Location-Based Rankings

You can also create filters to view ranking based on locations if you have certain clients, offices, retail locations, or an interest in a specific region, city, suburb, or postal code. I have this one for mobile rankings since most users that request location-based data are using a mobile device.

Filter: Country: USA 🇺🇸 Device: Mobile Locality: Palm Beach, Florida, United States Only Ranking Data Positive Tags

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What this filter does:

1. Shows only keywords that have a USA setting (Google.com)

2. Shows only Mobile keywords

3. Shows only keywords that have a Palm Beach, Florida, United States location set.

4. Shows only ranking data (keywords against domains/URLs that have ranked in the top 100+ in the last 90 days)

5. And is a positive tag (my domain, not my competitor who we tag negative)

Next Step: Look at the ups & downs, and then create an action plan from there.

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As I come up with more filters I'll update this page.

🍻🍻 To Your Commitment To Success!
- CCarter

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