Đoàn Lê Minh Anh
Keyword rankings fluctuate over time depending on location, device, and even how search engines display results. That’s why manual rank checks don’t always reflect SEO performance accurately. SEMrush Position Tracking helps businesses monitor keyword positions using consistent criteria, identify trends, and evaluate competitors in the same target market.
This guide explains how to configure a project, interpret key metrics such as share of voice, and compare competitors. Set up correctly from the start, SEMrush Position Tracking data can help you set SEO priorities instead of adding yet another hard-to-act-on spreadsheet.
What is SEMrush Position Tracking, and what does it track?
Position Tracking is a tool in the SEMrush suite that monitors a website’s keyword rankings in search results over time. Users can choose the search engine, country, region, device, and keyword groups to track. The tool updates data periodically, helping you monitor position changes and compare your website with selected competitors.
Unlike searching for a keyword in a browser and noting its position, a tracking project uses specific measurement conditions. For example, a website may rank differently on desktop and mobile, or across different locations. Without a fixed scope, data from separate checks is difficult to compare.
Reports typically support tracking positions, visibility, upward and downward trends, and search result features. Depending on your subscription and configuration, the interface or metric calculations may vary. Treat the data as a system for tracking trends and measuring them against your SEO goals—not as a reason to consider one ranking number the final verdict.
How to set up Position Tracking from the start
First, create a project for the domain you want to track and select the appropriate search engine and market. If your business serves customers in Vietnam, select Vietnam as the country. If you focus on a particular province, city, or region, choose a more specific geographic scope when the tool supports it. Defining the right market matters more than adding as many keywords as possible.
- Choose the domain scope: Decide whether to track the entire domain, a subdomain, or a specific URL path. Apply the same rule when comparing data across periods.
- Choose the device: Track desktop, mobile, or both if search behavior and business goals differ significantly.
- Add keywords: Enter keywords relevant to your products, services, brand, and customer journey. You can add them manually or import keywords from other research sources.
- Choose the location and language: Set the correct country, city, or target region and search language so the data reflects the market you serve.
- Add competitors: Enter direct competitors’ domains or those of competitors appearing in the SERPs for your important keywords.
- Tag keywords: Group them by topic, product, search intent, or priority to make reports easier to read and delegate.
Don’t start with an overly broad list of every keyword you can think of. Choose a representative set that includes branded keywords, core product or service terms, purchase-intent keywords, and several strategic content topics. Expand it once you understand how to read the reports and what your account can track.
Set up keywords and a reliable baseline
Report quality depends heavily on the quality of your keyword set. Each keyword should serve a specific goal: attracting potential customers, supporting brand awareness, or building topical coverage. Avoid adding overly broad queries that are unrelated to your services or unlikely to convert just because they have high search volume.
Before evaluating performance, note the tracking start date and define the comparison period. If you’ve just added keywords, changed the location, or switched devices, data from before and after may not be based on the same conditions. When evaluating a campaign, note the dates of content launches, technical changes, landing page updates, or link-building activities so you can compare them with ranking fluctuations.
If your website has several service lines, use tags to group keywords—for example, “website design,” “mobile apps,” “ERP,” or “brand.” This lets you review performance by group rather than mixing keywords with different goals. Your business can also flag priority keyword groups so the marketing team focuses on opportunities with a direct impact on revenue.
If your business needs a standardized SEO process, LilyTech can help connect rank tracking with content goals, website structure, and your digital marketing plan. The key is to establish a consistent measurement approach so every team understands the data and knows what to do next.
How to interpret share of voice and ranking metrics
Share of voice (SOV) in Position Tracking indicates your website’s relative visibility across the keyword set you’re tracking. Think of it as the share of search results visibility your brand earns compared with competing websites. A rising SOV often suggests that your website is becoming more visible across the selected keywords, but it does not directly equate to revenue or actual traffic.
To interpret SOV meaningfully, review it alongside other metrics and check the scope of your keyword set. If you’ve just added many new keywords—especially terms for which your website has no rankings—overall visibility may change even if rankings for existing keywords remain stable. Conversely, a small keyword set made up only of queries where your website performs well can make SOV look very high without representing the broader market.
- Average position: Shows the overall trend but may obscure large differences among keywords.
- Ranking distribution: Helps you see how many keywords rank in top positions, mid-range positions, or beyond the first pages.
- Visibility: Helps track overall presence in search results based on the tool’s calculation method.
- Changes over time: Shows trends after content updates, technical optimizations, or campaign launches.
If SOV falls, don’t immediately conclude that your SEO has failed. Check for changes to the keyword set, device, location, new competitors, or search results. Then identify which keyword groups are pulling the metric down, check whether the ranking page is the intended landing page, and assess the pages moving ahead of yours. Analyzing groups usually helps you find the cause faster than looking at a single overall number.
Compare competitors and turn data into action
Competitors in Position Tracking aren’t necessarily just businesses you compete with directly. A publisher, e-commerce marketplace, or directory can also rank for the same queries. So choose a group that includes both direct business competitors and websites competing for visibility in the SERPs.
When comparing competitors, use the same keyword set, search engine, location, and device. The report can show which competitors have a higher SOV, which keyword groups they lead, and how those trends change over time. This can reveal content gaps, topics with limited coverage, and queries where your page already ranks but could stand out more.
- Find keyword groups where competitors outperform you: Check queries closely related to your products and your customers’ search intent.
- Evaluate the ranking pages: Compare how well they match the query, their content structure, the clarity of the information, and the page experience.
- Choose realistic opportunities: Prioritize keywords that align with your business capabilities, have a suitable landing page, and can be improved with your available resources.
- Define specific actions: Update content, add missing information, adjust internal links, or address technical issues.
- Measure results regularly: Track performance after allowing enough time for changes to take effect, record the results, and adjust your plan accordingly.
Don’t copy competitors’ content or tactics just because they rank higher. Rankings reflect many factors, and tracking data doesn’t explain every cause on its own. Use the report to form questions, then review landing pages, search intent, content, user experience, and relevant SEO factors before deciding what to do.
Conclusion
SEMrush Position Tracking delivers the most value when configured for the right market and device, with a keyword set built around clear goals. Combining rank tracking with share of voice, competitor analysis, and records of SEO activities helps businesses understand trends, find opportunities, and allocate resources more effectively.
If you need to build an SEO process, improve your website, or connect ranking data to a broader marketing plan, contact LilyTech for advice on a solution tailored to your business goals and resources.
