From experience, I can tell you: the only truly accurate rank checking method is manual checking.
Yes, rank checking tools – free or paid – are faster and easier. But they’re not always accurate, especially when you’re monitoring multiple websites and reporting to clients.
What Rank Tools Are Good For
Rank tools help you:
- Get a general idea of where to look
- Keep historical records of your rankings
- Track trends over time
- Get automated updates on ranking changes
But I’ve seen many cases where a keyword ranked on page one while the tool showed it as “not found.” The tools give clues, not certainty.
How to Check Rankings Manually
If your clients are in your country
Simple. Type the keyword and check the first 10 pages. Beyond that, the ranking doesn’t matter much anyway.
If your clients are in different countries
This requires extra steps. Just changing to google.co.uk or google.fr won’t give accurate results if you’re physically somewhere else.
Here’s the process:
- Use a VPN – Connect to a server in your client’s country
- Log out of Google – Personalized results will skew your data
- Clear history and cookies – Do this before every search session
- Use the local Google version – google.co.uk for UK, google.fr for France, etc.
- Search and check the first 10 pages
When switching to a different country, repeat the process: change VPN location, clear cookies, use the correct Google domain.
Pro Tips
- Don’t search too fast – Google will throw captchas at you if you click through results too quickly
- Use incognito/private mode – Adds another layer of anonymization
- Document as you go – Screenshot or note down what you find for your records
Is Manual Checking Worth It?
It’s exhausting, especially with many keywords across different markets. But when you report to a client, you know they’ll see exactly what you’re telling them.
That accuracy is worth the effort.
If you’ve found a faster method that’s equally accurate, I’d love to hear it.