Have Google’s New Rules Killed Rank Tracking?

Boosting the odds of your website being visible online has always been a constant process of working to improve your position in search engine results and then measuring where it appears to gauge the effectiveness of your latest efforts. Rank tracking—using specialized tools to check where your website lands in search engine results pages (SERPs) for your target keywords—has been a time-tested method of doing just that. But in January Google introduced a change that has disrupted rank tracking, making it more complicated and potentially more expensive for popular SEO (search engine optimization) tools to gather this information.

Is rank tracking dead? That may not be the right question. Rank tracking has certainly become more complicated, and it may be less accurate. The real question is how much does it really matter?

What Happened and Why?

Early this year, Google suddenly introduced the requirement that users enable JavaScript to use search. This disrupted SEO tools that need to scrape SERPs to track keyword rankings. For those tools to continue providing the service they previously did, they now have to execute JavaScript, which adds cost and complexity, as well as potentially reducing the accuracy of their data.

Why did Google do this? According to their statement to TechCrunch at the time, “Enabling JavaScript allows us to better protect our services and users from bots and evolving forms of abuse and spamand to provide the most relevant and up-to-date information.” But that isn’t the whole story. Google has been pushing toward AI (artificial intelligence)-driven search functions, and this move supports that by:

In short, making traditional rank tracking through third-party SEO tools more difficult wasn’t the primary aim of this change. But before you start wondering what technological changes are necessary to recapture this metric in its traditional form—and how much that might cost—it’s time to take a step back and reassess. Is rank tracking what you really need to be relying on in this new AI-driven, Search Everywhere era?

What Is Rank Tracking Good For?

Rank tracking will tell you where your website stacks up on certain keywords, but it certainly doesn’t tell you if that position translates into more leads, more sales, or greater revenue. You may be able to glean information about what your competitors are doing and see what trends are brewing in your industry, but if your SEO approach is focused primarily on keyword position, you’re likely missing the big picture. As we have said before, online visibility is not a goal to strive for in and of itself—it has to be connected to a defined, well-integrated sales and marketing strategy that is aligned to what will drive profit and growth for your business.

Now is the time to reevaluate how you measure success in your online marketing by diversifying your metrics to measure holistic performance. For example, conversion rates and engagement metrics will give you more valuable information about what is connecting and what isn’t than knowing where you rank on a specific keyword. The changes that AI-driven search has already made to the search landscape are only going to keep making it harder to track rankings, even as many users are no longer consulting Google as their primary means of finding information. Rather than clinging to the past, online marketing strategies need to adapt to the new search paradigm to stay effective.

Innovative Digital Marketing for AI Search

At Iffel International, we understand that many business owners are simply stunned by the relentless changes that generative search has introduced into the world of digital marketing. If you’ve already seen your Google results tanking and you feel like you’re losing visibility into what’s going on, we can help. We not only understand how to connect our clients with their ideal market online, but we’re also experts in building a sales-focused marketing strategy that is driven by the metrics that really matter—increased growth and sales. Contact us here to schedule your consultation.