Keyword Research and Daily Rank Tracking Guide

What Is Keyword Research?

Keyword research is the process of finding the words and phrases your potential customers type into Google when looking for what you offer. Targeting the right keywords is the foundation of good SEO — if you are not visible for the searches that matter to your business, no amount of other optimisation will bring in new customers.

RnkRocket's keyword tools cover everything from discovery through to daily tracking.

Discovering Keywords

To find keywords, go to the Keyword Research section and enter a seed term — for example, "plumber Bristol" or "wedding photographer London". RnkRocket will return a list of related keywords along with:

Search Volume: How many times per month people search for this term
Keyword Difficulty: How competitive the term is (0-100, lower is easier to rank for)
Opportunity Score: A combined rating that balances volume against difficulty — higher is better

Start with terms that have a reasonable search volume and a difficulty score you can realistically compete with. For most small businesses, targeting keywords with a difficulty below 40 is a sensible starting point.

Keyword Credits vs Keywords Tracked

These are two separate quotas and it is important to understand the difference:

Keyword Credits are used when you look up keyword data (search volumes, difficulty scores). Each keyword lookup uses one credit.
Keywords Tracked is the number of keywords you can monitor daily for your Google position. This is a fixed limit set by your plan.

You can research hundreds of keywords, but only add the most important ones to your tracked list. Your monthly credit allowance refreshes each billing period.

Organising Keywords Into Lists

Once you have found keywords you want to work with, save them into Keyword Lists. Think of these as folders — you might have one list for your main services, one for your local area pages, and one for blog content ideas.

Keeping your keywords organised makes it easier to plan content and spot gaps in your strategy.

Keyword Tracking

Keyword tracking monitors where your website appears in Google's search results for your chosen keywords — checked every day.

To start tracking a keyword:

Find it in your keyword research results or type it directly into the tracking section
Click Track to add it to your monitored list
RnkRocket will start recording your daily position

You will be able to see:

Your current position (e.g. page 1, position 4)
Your position over the past 7, 30, or 90 days
Whether you are moving up or down
Which pages on your site Google is showing for each keyword

Keyword Clustering

Keyword clustering automatically groups related keywords together. This is useful for planning content — if ten keywords all relate to the same topic, you can create one thorough page rather than ten thin ones.

RnkRocket identifies clusters based on search intent and topic similarity, and shows you which cluster each keyword belongs to. Use the Content Studio to turn your keyword clusters into structured content briefs.

Practical Tips

Start by tracking your most important 10-20 keywords before expanding your list
Focus on long-tail keywords (three or more words) — they are less competitive and often convert better because the searcher knows exactly what they want
Check your rankings weekly to spot trends and identify pages that need attention
Use the opportunity score to prioritise where to focus your content efforts

For an in-depth keyword methodology, see our Keyword Research Masterclass.