
Are you looking to boost your website’s visibility in search engines?
Do you want a clear, actionable plan to use a powerful SEO tool?
In the dynamic world, having a robust SEO strategy is more important than ever.
SE Ranking stands out as an all-in-one platform designed to simplify complex SEO tasks.
This guide will walk you through how to use SE Ranking in a step-by-step format.

Join over 1 million SE Ranking users who track 10 M+ keywords daily and save 3.6 B+ positions yearly.
Getting Started: Your Initial Setup in SE Ranking
Getting your website set up in SE Ranking is easy.
Think of it like preparing your car for a long trip: you need to set your destination and make sure all your maps are connected.
1. Creating Your Account
- Step 1: Sign Up for SE Ranking. Head over to their website. You’ll see options to start a free trial. This lets you try out the tools before you commit.
- Step 2: Pick Your Plan. SE Ranking offers different plans, often called “Essential,” “Pro,” or “Business.” Each plan has distinct limits on things like how many keywords you can track or how many projects you can manage. Think about what you need right now. Are you a small business, or do you handle many websites?
- Step 3: Finish Signing Up. Just fill in your details and confirm your email. It’s a simple process to get you going.
2. Setting Up Your First Project
- Step 1: Add Your Website. Once you log in, SE Ranking will likely ask you to “Add Project.” This is where you put in your website’s address (like yourwebsite.com). This tells SE Ranking which site you want to work on.
- Step 2: Tell SE Ranking Your Target. Where are your customers? Are they in your city, your country, or all over the world? You’ll choose the locations and languages you want to track your website for. This helps the tool give you the most accurate data.
- Step 3: Connect to Google. This is a really important step! You need to link your Google Analytics and Google Search Console accounts. Why? Because these Google tools have tons of information about your website’s visitors and how it performs in search. Connecting them lets SE Ranking pull that data in, giving you a much clearer picture of your SEO. It’s like having all your important numbers in one place.
- Step 4: Name Your Rivals. Think about who your main online competitors are. You’ll add their website addresses here. This helps SE Ranking do competitive research, showing you how your site stacks up against theirs.
3. Navigating the SE Ranking Dashboard
- Your Main Screen: After setup, you’ll see your project dashboard. This is your command center. You’ll find a menu on the left side with all the different tools, like keyword research, website audit, and more.
- Quick Look at Your Project: The dashboard gives you a fast overview of your website’s health and performance. You’ll see quick stats, like how visible your site is in search results.
- Making It Your Own: You can often change what you see on this main screen. Want to see your keyword list first? You can move things around so that the most important information for you is always easy to find. This helps you focus on the most important metric for your goals, whether it’s search volume for new content or how your competitor’s keyword strategy is working.
Core Features
Now that your project is set up, it’s time to dive into the powerful tools SE Ranking offers.
Think of each tool as a special instrument in your SEO toolkit.
Ready to help you improve your website’s performance.
As a digital marketing professional, knowing how to use these effectively makes a real difference.
1. Keyword Rank Tracker: Watching Your Positions
This tool helps you see exactly where your website ranks on Google for your important keywords.
- Step 1: Add Keywords. Go to “Rankings.” You can type in your keyword list or upload a file. SE Ranking also suggests keywords from your site.
- Step 2: See Your Ranks. The tool shows your current keyword ranking for each term.
- Step 3: Understand Your Numbers. See your “Visibility Score,” “Average Position,” and if you’re getting “SERP Features” like featured snippets.
- Step 4: Check Competitors. You can see your contender keyword rankings right next to yours. This helps you spot where they’re strong.
2. Keyword Research Tool: Finding New Opportunities
This is your go-to research tool for discovering what people are searching for online.
- Step 1: Start with an Idea. Type a broad word related to your business into the keyword research tool.
- Step 2: Get New Ideas. The tool gives you many ideas: similar keywords, related terms, and questions people ask.
- Step 3: Look at the Numbers. For each idea, you’ll see its search volume (how many monthly searches) and keyword difficulty (how hard it is to rank). A good seo and content marketing expert looks for a balance.
- Step 4: Discover Competitor Keywords. Find out which keywords your competitors rank for, helping you find new ideas.
- Step 5: Save Your List. Save promising keywords for your content marketing.
3. Website Audit: Checking Your Site’s Health
Think of the Website Audit as a check-up for your website. It finds problems that might be stopping your site from ranking well.
- Step 1: Run an Audit. Start a new audit in the “Website Audit” section. SE Ranking will scan your website.
- Step 2: See the Results. You’ll get a “Health Score” and lists of “Errors,” “Warnings,” and “Notices.” Errors are most serious.
- Step 3: Fix What Matters Most. SE Ranking explains each problem and how to fix it, guiding you to improve your organic traffic.
4. Backlink Checker: Understanding Your Links
Backlinks are links from other websites to yours, like votes of confidence. This analysis tool shows you these links.
- Step 1: Check Any Website. Put your site or a competitor’s site into the Backlink Checker.
- Step 2: Review Links. See your “Domain Trust” score and how many links you have.
- Step 3: Find New Link Ideas. See where your competitors get their links to find opportunities for your site.
5. Competitor Research Tool: Learning from Rivals
This tool gives you a deep look into what your rivals are doing right.
- Step 1: Enter a Competitor’s Site. Input any rival’s website address.
- Step 2: See Their Traffic & Keywords. The tool estimates their organic traffic and shows the keywords your competitors rank for.
- Step 3: Compare Yourself. Compare your site with theirs to find shared keywords or new target keywords you’re missing.
Advanced Strategies and Tips for Power Users
Once you’re comfortable with the basics, you can use SE Ranking in even smarter ways.
Think of it like moving from driving a car to knowing how to fine-tune its engine.
This section will help you understand how to get more out of this powerful SEO platform.
1. Connecting All the Dots for Deeper Insights
You’ve got lots of data in SE Ranking. The trick is to connect it.
- Finding Connections: Look at your “Website Audit” results. Did your rankings drop for a specific keyword right after a new technical seo problem appeared? SE Ranking can help you understand these links.
- Content Gaps: Use the “Competitor Research” tool to find keywords your competitors rank for that you don’t. This shows you exactly what new content you should be creating.
- User Intent from Search Queries: Dive into the search queries data from your linked Google Search Console within SE Ranking. This shows you the exact phrases people use to find your site, helping you refine your site target keywords and content marketing strategy. You can see how each specific keyword brings people to your site.
2. Smart Ways to Use All Your Data
Don’t just look at numbers; use them to make decisions.
- Prioritize Fixes: If the audit shows many problems, focus on the ones that affect your most important target keywords first.
- Monitor Google Ads (PPC) Performance: If you’re running ads, SE Ranking’s competitive research can show you which keywords Your rivals are bidding on your ad copy. This helps you refine your own Google Ads campaigns.
- Track Local SEO Efforts: If you’re a local business, constantly check your local seo rankings within SE Ranking for your target areas. The tool helps you ensure you’re visible in local map packs and results.
- Set Up Alerts: Get notifications for big changes. For example, if your keyword ranking Suddenly drops for an every keyword You track, SE Ranking, can alert you right away so you can investigate.
3. Working Smarter with Teams
If you work with others, SE Ranking makes teamwork easier.
- Invite Team Members: You can give different team members access to your projects. This means your content writer can focus on keyword research and content marketing tasks, while your web developer looks at technical seo audit issues.
- Assign Tasks: Use the “Marketing Plan” to give specific tasks to specific people. This keeps everyone on the same page and moving forward.
4. Staying Current
The world of SEO is always changing.
- Check Updates: SE Ranking often adds new features or improves old ones. Keep an eye on their announcements to use the latest capabilities of this. seo platform.
- Adapt to AI: In 2025, AI will play a bigger role in search. Pay attention to any new ways SE Ranking helps you track or optimize for AI-powered search queries or features like AI Overviews.
- Analyze Every KeywordWith new trends, it’s important to keep checking every keyword for changes in keyword difficulty or search volume to ensure your strategy stays effective.
Real-World Applications
SE Ranking isn’t just for one type of person or business.
It’s a flexible tool that can help you understand and improve your online presence, no matter your role.
Let’s look at how different people can use it.
1. For Small Business Owners
- If you run a local shop or a small service business, SE Ranking is perfect for you. You can easily track your local seo rankings to see if people nearby are finding you.
- It helps you find keyword opportunities what your local customers are searching for.
- The audit tool can quickly show you any technical problems on your website that might be hurting your local visibility. It’s a simple way to manage your online reputation without being an SEO wizard.
2. For SEO Agencies
- Agencies manage many websites for different clients. SE Ranking makes this much easier.
- You can create custom reports for each client, showing them their progress in a clear way.
- The competitive research Features are gold. You can quickly see what competitors are ranking for and what you keywords your competitors are using, which helps you plan strategies for your clients.
- It also enables you to track and fix technical seo issues across many sites, keeping everything organized.
3. For Content Marketers
- If your job is to create articles, blog posts, or videos, SE Ranking is a huge helper.
- The keyword research tool It’s fantastic for finding new ideas and keyword opportunities for your content.
- You can see what keywords your competitors are writing about, and what competitors are ranking for helping you create even better content.
- The on-page seo checker enables you to make sure your articles are perfectly optimized before you even publish them.
4. For E-commerce Websites (Online Stores)
- Running an online shop means you need lots of product pages to rank well.
- SE Ranking helps you track every keyword related to your products.
- You can use it to find out what competitors are ranking for with similar products.
- The It audit tool is super important here for finding technical seo problems that might stop your product pages from showing up in search results. You can also see what google ads your competitors use.
Common Questions and Troubleshooting
Even with a great tool like SE Ranking, you might hit a few bumps or have common questions. Don’t worry; that’s normal!
Here are some quick answers to help you out.
A. “My rankings aren’t updating. What’s going on?”
- First, check your project settings inside the SE Ranking platform. Make sure you’ve selected the correct search engines (like Google) and locations (like your country or city) for tracking.
- Also, double-check that your Google Search Console account is still connected properly. If it gets disconnected, SE Ranking might not get the freshest data.
- Sometimes, there might be a small delay, so give it an hour or two. If it’s still stuck, their support team can usually help quickly!
B. “My website audit score is low. Where do I start fixing it?”
- Don’t panic about a low score! The audit tool breaks down problems into “Critical Errors,” “Warnings,” and “Notices.”
- Always start with the “Critical Errors” first. These are the biggest problems that hurt your website the most. SE Ranking will tell you exactly what each error is and often gives you simple steps to fix it.
- After errors, move to warnings, then notices. Fixing these will steadily improve your site’s health.
C. “How accurate is the ‘Keyword Difficulty’ score?”
- The “Keyword Difficulty” score is a fantastic guide, but remember it’s an estimate. It tells you how hard SE Ranking thinks it will be to rank for that keyword.
- For very important keywords, it’s always smart to do a quick manual check on Google. See what kind of websites are ranking on the first page. If they are huge, famous brands, it might be tougher for a new site, even if the score seems okay.
D. “Can I really see all the keywords your competitors are targeting?”
- While SE Ranking gives you amazing insights, no tool can show you every single keyword your competitors are targeting.
- However, the competitor keyword analysis feature within SE Ranking is incredibly powerful. It shows you a huge number of keywords your competitors rank for organically, and even those they bid on for Google Ads. This gives you a very clear picture of their strategy and helps you find out keyword opportunities for yourself. You can get a strong sense of what a competitor website is focusing on.
E. “What if I can’t find a certain feature?”
- The SE Ranking platform is always getting updates. If you’re looking for something specific and can’t find it, try using the search bar within the platform (if available) or check their help guides. They often have articles and videos explaining each tool in detail.
Conclusion
You’ve learned how to use SE Ranking step-by-step.
This powerful tool helps you manage your website’s online presence.
By using its features, you can easily track your keyword ranking, do competitive research.
And run a website audit. This helps you see what’s working and how to beat your rivals.
Ready to boost your website’s success?
Start using SE Ranking today to bring more visitors to your site!
Certainly! Here are some alternatives to SE Ranking, with a brief explanation for each.
Alternatives to SE Ranking
- Ahrefs: A powerful SEO platform, especially known for its backlink analysis and keyword research tool. Many consider it a competitor website analysis powerhouse.
- Semrush: A very comprehensive all-in-one digital marketing platform offering tools for SEO, PPC, content marketing, social media, and competitive research.
- Content Raptor: (Assuming this is a content-focused tool, as it’s not a widely known general SEO platform) This would likely help you understand how to generate and optimize content for target keywords.
- Surfer SEO: Focused heavily on on-page SEO and content optimization, helping you understand how to create content that ranks for specific keyword phrases. An seo and content marketing expert often uses it.
- Moz: Offers a suite of SEO tools, including keyword research, rank tracking, and a well-known “Domain Authority” metric. It’s a reputable seo platform.
- Ubersuggest: A simpler research tool offering keyword suggestions, content ideas, and backlink analysis, often a good choice for beginners due to its user-friendly interface and some free features.
- SpyFu: Specializes in competitor keyword analysis, allowing you to see keywords your competitors are targeting in both organic traffic and Google Ads campaigns.
- Similarweb: Provides broad website analysis and traffic analytics, helping you understand market trends and competitor website performance, though less focused on technical seo.
- Raven Tools: An analysis tool that combines SEO, social media, and reporting features, making it suitable for agencies managing multiple client campaigns.
- Mangools: A bundle of user-friendly SEO tools, including KWFinder for keyword research (focusing on keyword difficulty), SERPChecker, and LinkMiner for backlink analysis.
- Ranktracker: As its name suggests, it primarily focuses on rank tracking for every keyword, but also includes keyword research, SERP checker, and website audit capabilities.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is SE Ranking suitable for beginners?
Yes, the SE Ranking platform is designed to be user-friendly for all levels, including beginners. Its clear interface and step-by-step guides make it easy to start your SEO journey and understand key concepts like keyword ranking.
How often does SE Ranking update keyword rankings?
SE Ranking updates keyword rankings daily. This means you get fresh data target keywords every 24 hours, helping you quickly react to changes and analyze the impact of your SEO efforts.
Can I track my competitors’ SEO performance?
Absolutely! SE Ranking offers robust competitor keyword analysis tools. You can easily see what keywords your competitors are targeting, analyze their backlink profiles, and understand their organic traffic strategies.
What is the Website Audit feature for?
The website audit feature scans your site for technical SEO issues like broken links, slow pages, or missing tags. It provides actionable recommendations to fix these problems, improving your site’s health and search engine visibility.
How does SE Ranking help with local SEO?
SE Ranking allows you to track local SEO rankings for specific geographic areas. This helps businesses see how they perform in local search results and optimize their presence for nearby customers, including monitoring competitor website performance in local searches.