Do you want to see the keywords people use to find your WordPress website?
Keywords are the phrases users type in search engines to find the content they are looking for. You would want your website to rank for the right keywords that describe what you are offering.
In this guide, we will show you how to easily see the keywords people use to find your WordPress site.
What is Keyword Tracking and Why is it Important?
Keyword tracking is basically the activity of monitoring the position of your website for specific keywords in search engines like Google, Bing, etc.
Keyword tracking helps you see important metrics such as which specific keywords people use to find your website, so you can focus on what’s working and stop spending time on what’s not.
When it comes to WordPress SEO optimization, we often recommend users to do keyword research and add proper meta description / keywords to their website. This helps your website rank higher in search engines.
But what many beginners don’t know is that search rankings change quite often. If a new competitor enters the market or your previous competitor further improves their SEO, then you can lose the rankings that you previously had and thus the traffic along with it.
Sometimes Google algorithm updates can also cause your website to increase or decrease in rankings for your top keywords.
At WPBeginner, we believe that its easier to double your website traffic and sales when you know exactly how people find and use your website.
With that said, let’s take a look at how to see the keywords people use to find your website.
Tracking Keywords People Use to Find Your Site
The best way to track keywords people use and the keywords where your website ranks is by using Google Search Console.
Google Search Console is a free tool offered by Google to help website owners monitor and maintain their site’s presence in Google search results.
We’ll show you how to connect search console to your Google Analytics along with how to bring those reports right inside your WordPress dashboard.
Finally, we’ll cover how to track not just your own keywords, but also the keywords your competitors are ranking for.
Sounds good? Let’s get started.
Tracking Your Website Keywords in Google Search Console
If you have not already done so, then you need to add your website to Google Search Console. We have a detailed tutorial on how to add your WordPress site to Google Search Console.
You can simply visit the Google Search Console website and follow the instructions in our tutorial.
Once you have added your website to Google Search Console, you’ll be able to use it to monitor your search rankings.
To view your keyword positions, click on the Performance report and then click on the average position score.
Search Console will now load your reports with the average position column included.
Next, you need to scroll down a bit to see the full list of keywords your website ranks for.
You will see a list of keywords with number of clicks, impressions, and position of that keyword in search results.
You can sort the data by clicks, impressions, and position columns. You can see your top ranking keywords by sorting the data by position.
As you scroll down, you will be able to see keywords where your site appears deeper in search results. You can optimize your content to rank higher for those keywords as well.
Method 2. Track Your Keywords Inside WordPress with MonsterInsights
For this method, we’ll be using MonsterInsights to fetch our Google Search Console data inside the WordPress dashboard.
This method has two advantages.
- You get to see your keywords right inside WordPress admin area
- You’ll see it along with your other MonsterInsights reports which will help you plan more effeciently
MonsterInsights is the #1 Google Analytics plugin for WordPress. It allows you to easily install Google Analytics in WordPress and shows you human-readable reports right inside your WordPress dashboard.
First, you need to do is install and activate the MonsterInsights plugin on your website. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.
For step by step instructions, see our complete guide on how to install Google Analytics in WordPress.
Once you have installed and set up MonsterInsights, the next step is to connect your Google Analytics account to your Goole Search Console account.
Simply, login to your Google Analytics account and then click on the Admin button from the bottom left corner of the screen.
Next, you need to click on ‘All products’ under the property column and then click on the ‘Link Search Console’ button.
This will take you to the Search Console settings page where you need to click on the Add button. After that, you’ll see a list of websites added to your Google Search Console account.
Click on the OK button to continue and your Analytics and Search Console accounts will now be linked.
You can now view the keywords your website ranks for inside the WordPress admin area.
Simply go to Insights » Reports and then switch to the Search Console tab.
You’ll see a list of keywords where your website appears in the search result. Next, to each keyword you’ll also see the following parameters:
- Clicks – How often your site is clicked when it appears for this keyword
- Impressions – How often it appears in search results for that keyword
- CTR – Click through rate for this keyword
- Average position – Your site’s average position in search results for that particular keyword
Method 3. Tracking Your Keyword Rankings in Google Analytics
In the previous method, we showed you how to connect Google Search Console to your Google Analytics account and view the reports inside your WordPress dashboard.
However, you can also view your keyword rankings inside Google Analytics.
Simply, login to your Google Analytics dashboard and go to Acquisitions » Search Console » Queries report.
Your search keywords will be listed under the Search Query column. For each keyword, you’ll also see its CTR, impressions, and average position.
Method 4. Tracking Competitor Keywords using SEMRush
Do you want to track not just yours but also the keywords your competitors are ranking for? This method allows you to do that with actual tips on how to outrank your competition.
We’ll be using SEMRush for this method. It is one of the top SEO tools on the market because it helps you get more search traffic to your website.
We use it on our many websites to gather competitive intelligence.
First, you need to sign up for an SEMRush account. Note: You can use our SEMRush coupon to get a better deal.
After you have created an account, you can enter your domain name at the top search bar under SEMRush dashboard.
Next, SEMRush will show you full keyword report with a list of your top ranking keywords.
Click on the View Full Report button to get the full list of keywords.
Next to each keyword, you’ll see its position, volume of search, cost (for paid advertisement), and the percentage of traffic it sends to your website.
You can also enter your competitor’s domain name to download a full list of all the keywords where they rank.
Tips on Improving The Keywords Where Your Website Ranks
As you go through the list of keywords, you’ll notice some of your results rank quite well (under top 10) with significant impressions but very low CTR.
This means that users didn’t find your article interesting enough to click on. You can change that by improving your article’s title and meta descriptions. See our guide on how to improve blog post SEO to rank higher.
You’ll also see keywords where your website can easily rank higher. You can then edit those articles and improve them by adding more helpful content, adding a video, and making it easier to read.
If you are using SEMRush, then you can use their Writing Assistant Tool which helps you improve your content by making it more SEO friendly for that particular keyword. See our guide on using the SEO writing assistant for more details.
We hope this article helped you learn how to see the keywords people use to find your WordPress site. You may also want to see our guide on how to easily increase website traffic with practical tips for beginners.
If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.
The post How to See the Keywords People Use to Find Your WordPress Site appeared first on WPBeginner.
