What is local rank tracking?

Whenever you conduct a Google search, Google uses your location to provide you with the most personalized and applicable search results possible. Depending on your search term, the SERP that’s served up may include a local pack or a local teaser pack, which displays information from the Google Business Profiles of local companies related to your search.

Google tailors SERPs to all locations, from as broad as country to as narrow as neighborhood.

Local rank tracking or local SERP tracking is monitoring the SERPs and your rankings as they appear to searchers in your target locations.

Local SEO and a local rank tracker go hand in hand. The goal of a local rank tracker is to measure the effectiveness of your local SEO strategies, and the goal of local SEO is to achieve the high rankings you’re working for.

What local rank tracking options does Nozzle offer?

Nozzle operates on what we call “locales.” Locales are a combination of search engine, language, and location: for example, “Google – United States – English – City – Houston, Texas.” Nozzle lets you track searches in any language and from any location that Google supports.

At a minimum, you can select your desired language and country. But if you want to track more specific locations, you can narrow down your tracking by location type, then select your desired location. Nozzle’s location types include:

• Borough
• City
• National Park
• Neighborhood
• Postal Code
• State
• Other

In addition, Nozzle lets you track as many locales as you want.

For more strategic local rank tracking, Nozzle offers a Template Generator keyword mode that makes it easy to append phrases such as “near me” or “in [city]” to the keywords in your original keyword list. This approach is one of the benefits of a local ranking SERP tool, and it’s essential if you’re serious about local SEO.

What are the benefits of local rank tracking?

Local rank tracking is great for businesses with a physical location.

Local rank tracking is most beneficial if you have a physical location that you want to attract people to or if you are targeting an audience located in a specific place.

Local SEO, measured with a local rank tracker, increases the number of physical customers your store receives. And more customers means more money.

Local searches have higher buyer intent.

Local searches often have higher buyer intent than other searches. A person who searches for a car wash in their area probably doesn’t want to learn about the history of car washes or explore the idea of a car wash. The end goal is to get a car wash—and soon.

This means high rankings on local searches are very valuable and profitable, and a local ranking SERP tool is a huge aid.

Local rank tracking cuts through the noise.

Local rank tracking excludes a lot of noise and zooms in on the searches that are most applicable to your business. Regular rank tracking gives you a broader view, but a local rank tracker looks at the data where it matters most. It’s a more targeted approach in terms of location, which means less waste of time and resources.

Local packs are prime real estate.

Local packs are groups of listings based on Google Business Profiles that often appear within the top 3 positions for local searches. These are prime real estate—they are magnets for both online and offline traffic. By tracking local-focused keywords and monitoring searches based in your target locations, you’ll be able to measure your performance in local packs and set a strategy to climb to the top.

The results of local rank tracking are fascinating.

Have you ever wondered how well your website ranks in a different country? It’s not hard to find out. There are many actionable insights to be gleaned from analyzing your rankings in different locations.

When is local rank tracking not necessary?

1. Local rank tracking can be suboptimal for online-only businesses.

Local rank tracking may not be the best choice if you’re an online-only seller. If you sell software or digital products or services, there’s not much of a reason to track locally. There may be individual exceptions to this, like for online sellers who get a disproportionately high amount of revenue from one location—hey, you know your business better than we do—but for the most part, broader tracking works just as well or better.

And sometimes international rank tracking—tracking keywords in multiple countries—is best, to get an even broader view in terms of location. International rank tracking is built on the same principles as local rank tracking: track exactly where you want, with no restrictions.

2. Local rank tracking can exclude the bigger picture.

Because local rank tracking is more specific, it can obscure the bigger picture. If you’re worried about this, you can see the big picture in a broader location for cheap by tracking on a monthly or quarterly schedule in Nozzle.