Set up keyword rank tracking with Semrush

Track the searches that matter to your website in one market and device, then save a first baseline with the pages actually ranking.

• Outcome: SEO delivery
• Tools: Semrush, Google Sheets
• Responsible: The person who needs a repeatable view of where a website appears for its chosen searches and which pages appear.
• Estimated time: 35 minutes

Scope

This SOP covers:

• Select a useful tracking set from an existing keyword plan and name the desired page or planned topic for each phrase.
• Configure one Google target with one location, search language and device.
• Save the first completed ranking baseline, compare observed pages with desired pages, and plan later reviews.

This does not cover:

• Researching a keyword strategy from scratch or writing and publishing pages.
• Multiple markets or devices, local-map rankings, paid-ad tracking and automated email alerts.
• Using estimated visibility or traffic as measured visits, leads, sales or proof of future ranking improvement.

Requirements

• Access to Semrush Position Tracking with permission to configure this website's campaign and enough available keyword and folder allowance.
• An existing keyword plan with phrases, page topics or URLs, the website's goal, and the intended audience country and language.
• The website domain and a person who can confirm the actual audience location and main device to track.
• A Google account that can make and edit a worksheet copy.

Related SOPs

• SOP 097: Research and prioritize SEO keywords with Semrush
• SOP 041: Choose your next SEO content-planning step
• SOP 098: Find pages to improve using Semrush
• SOP 073: Run a monthly SEO review and create a client report
• SOP 113: Audit a website with Semrush and prioritize fixes

01. Choose a useful tracking set

A keyword is a phrase someone searches for. Start with the existing plan and choose phrases that will help you check important page work.

1. Make one editable copy of the Semrush Keyword Rank Tracking Baseline. Use it for this website and one tracking target.

2. Choose useful phrases from the existing keyword plan rather than importing every suggested keyword.

   1. In Setup, enter Website root domain, Business goal and Keyword plan source. Use the plan's actual offer or visitor task, such as helping people buy stocked starter kits.

   2. In Keywords, add the leading phrase for each important page or topic you will work on. Add supporting phrases when they check a useful search variation for that same task. Use one row per exact phrase; extra template rows are not a reason to add irrelevant searches.

   3. Fill Track / park and Selection reason. Use Track for a phrase that checks an important live or specifically planned page/topic. Use Park for irrelevant phrases, exact duplicates, unsupported offers or a market this campaign does not serve. Explain the choice using the fictional example.

   4. Fill Topic / goal and Keyword type. Nonbranded phrases describe the offer or topic without the business name. Branded phrases use its name. Keep them distinct so existing-name searches are not mistaken for reaching new searchers.

3. Choose the page, audience location and device the tracking should represent.

   1. For each Track row, open the existing page from the plan and check that it answers that phrase's task. Enter its full URL in Desired page URL. For a planned page that is not live, leave the URL blank and write Page not live yet plus its planned topic in Selection reason; do not invent an address.

   2. In Setup → Target location, choose the actual audience country for national work or the city/area served for local work. Match Search language to that audience. For example, a national UK shop uses the UK; a service offered only in Bristol needs Bristol, not the whole country.

   3. Fill Setup → Device and Why this location / device using website traffic evidence or the owner's choice of Mobile or Desktop. If either target decision is unknown, ask the owner before starting tracking. Continue selecting phrases while waiting; your own computer does not decide the audience device.

   4. Count only rows marked Track and enter that number in Setup → Expected tracked keywords. Check for exact duplicates and spelling errors before copying them to Semrush.

02. Configure the tracking campaign

Position Tracking collects results for the target you choose. Root-domain tracking keeps another ranking page visible instead of hiding it with a narrow URL filter.

1. Open Semrush, select Position Tracking, and open or set up the folder for this website.

   • Warning: Changing a target changes the results you collect. On some plans, removing a campaign requires deleting its entire folder and other monitoring data. Check the folder's contents before choosing it for a new setup.

   1. Choose the website's folder or create one for this tracking setup. Put its name in Setup → Semrush folder / project and confirm the displayed domain matches Website root domain.

   2. In Targeting, choose Root domain and enter the website's root domain. Choose Google as the search engine.

   3. Set the location, language and device to the exact choices in Setup. Check these together before continuing to Keywords.

2. Add only the selected phrases and start collecting their results.

   1. Copy the Track phrases whose Keyword type is Nonbranded, one per line, into Keywords → Only Keywords. Use Add common tag to label them Nonbranded, then select Add keywords to campaign.

   2. If you selected branded phrases, add that Track set the same way with the Branded tag. Keep the spelling used in Keywords.

   3. Review Added to campaign against every Track row and Expected tracked keywords. Remove any unwanted starter or duplicate phrase. Turn off weekly email updates and select Start Tracking.

03. Record the first completed baseline

The first completed collection is your starting snapshot. A new campaign may need up to an hour to gather data; a collecting screen is not a baseline.

1. Wait for the first collection to finish, then read back the saved target and keyword set.

   1. Open the campaign report and check its collection state and Last Update. Put the actual completed date in Setup → Baseline last update and the report link in Campaign URL. If it is still collecting, keep the baseline unfinished and explain the delay in Known limits.

   2. Check the saved root domain, Google target, location, language and device against Setup. Check the tracked phrase list and tags against Keywords, then enter Saved tracked keywords. Resolve any mismatch before using the report as the baseline.

2. Open Overview and use the organic Rankings Overview table to record every tracked phrase on Baseline.

   1. Copy each tracked Keyword and the actual completed Baseline date. When the report gives a position, use Rank status → Ranking and put its number in Rank. When the completed report shows no top-100 ranking, use Not in top 100 and leave Rank blank. Do not use 0 or invent 101.

   2. For a ranked phrase, hover over its position to see the full URL and copy it into Actual ranking URL. Open that URL to check the page. The Pages report can also show which pages rank and the keywords behind each page.

   3. Compare that URL and page with Keywords → Desired page URL. Use Matches desired page when it is the intended page, or Different page when another page answers the search. In Baseline note, explain a mismatch and the page-review question; keep both URLs visible.

   4. For a completed no-ranking result, leave Actual ranking URL blank and use Page check → No ranking page yet. If the desired page is not live or its fit is unclear, use Needs investigation and name the planned topic or owner question in Baseline note. A no-ranking result does not prove zero visits.

04. Check the setup and plan the next review

Finish this setup with an accurate baseline and a clear review owner. Later improvements need later evidence.

1. Check the workbook against the campaign before calling setup complete.

   1. Confirm that Expected tracked keywords and Saved tracked keywords match, and that Baseline has each Track phrase once. Each row must have the collected date, rank status and the appropriate actual URL or no-ranking explanation.

   2. Confirm the saved domain, engine, location, language and device again. In Setup → Known limits, explain any planned pages or unresolved page question. Keep Still collecting rows unfinished; do not call them a completed first baseline.

2. Enter the next review date and responsible person in Setup, then use the routine below when new collected data is available.

   1. Fill Next review date and Reviewer / owner. Position Tracking updates automatically, generally daily within 24–48 hours; choose a useful review date for the website's work rather than repeatedly refreshing for a better rank.

   2. At that later review, use the same target and organic report. Add the observed date, rank status, rank, actual URL, next action and owner to Review Log. Keep Baseline unchanged. Compare the same phrases and targets; explain changed settings or sets in Known limits before drawing conclusions.

   3. At later reviews, inspect repeated important losses, a different ranking page or a newly completed planned page before choosing work. A fictional move from 15 to 12 is three places toward the top; it does not prove more visits or sales. Visibility and estimated traffic are estimates for the chosen set, so use website measurement for business results.