In this article, you'll learn how to read the Ranking report: where your business shows up in Google Maps results for each of your five keywords, point by point across a grid around your location, and how that's changing scan to scan.
The Ranking report is part of the SEO plan. On other plans it isn't in the Reports list, and the Reports page opens on the Reviews report instead.
To open the Ranking report:
- In your dashboard menu, click Reports.
- Under it, click Ranking.
Your keywords
The SEO Keywords panel at the top lists the five searches we track. Each one gets its own grid scan around your business. Change a keyword any time and click Save. The change takes effect on the next scan, and a keyword you swap out keeps its past scans under Old (more on that below).
The two headline cards
- Best pin this scan is your single best position anywhere on the grid in the latest scan, with the keyword it was for. Next to it, a green up arrow with a number means that best pin improved by that many places since the previous scan. A red down arrow means it slipped. no change means it held. The arrow only appears once two scans have found you.
- Last scan shows the date the latest scan finished, the grid size, and how many of your keywords finished in it.
Picking a keyword
The row of tabs above the map picks what the map, slider, chart and numbers show.
- Best of all shows, at each grid point, the best rank across every keyword you track.
- Click a keyword tab to see that keyword on its own.
- A greyed-out tab means that keyword hasn't been scanned yet.
- A small yellow dot on a tab means the latest scan didn't measure that keyword, but it has earlier scans. Pick it and you'll see its last grid, with a note under the map saying which date it's from and that the next scan picks it up again.
Reading the map
Every pin is one point on the grid, and the number on it is your position in the Maps results at that spot. The colours match the legend beside the tabs:
- Green: ranked 1 to 3.
- Gold: 4 to 10.
- Orange: 11 to 20.
- Grey, marked 20+: outside the top 20, or not found at all.
The dark dot in the middle is the centre of the grid, your business location.
Going back to earlier scans
The Scan date slider under the map has one stop per scan of whatever you've picked, oldest on the left. Drag it and the map redraws with that scan's grid. The date under the handle tells you which scan you're on, with latest beside the newest one. The slider only moves once there are two or more scans.
The trend chart
Under the slider is Best pin trend (for Best of all) or the trend for the keyword you picked. Rank 1 is at the top of the chart, so a line going up is good news.
- The solid green line is Best pin, your best position in each scan. With Best of all picked it's labelled Best pin (any keyword).
- The dashed gold line is Average rank, your average across the whole grid. With Best of all picked it's Average of all pins.
- The dashed green Top 3 line marks rank 3, so you can see at a glance when you're in the top three.
- A thin vertical line marks the scan the slider is on.
Hover a point to see the date and values. With only one scan done so far, the chart says One scan so far. The trend fills in as more scans run.
The three numbers
When a single keyword is picked, the bottom of the card shows Scan of followed by a date, then three numbers for that scan. They follow the slider, so drag it to compare scans.
- Average rank is your average position across the grid points.
- Average top rank is the same idea, but a point where you weren't found counts as 21, so misses pull it down.
- Share of voice is the percentage of grid points where you ranked in the top 3.
Best of all doesn't show these numbers. Pick one keyword to see them.
Keywords you tracked before
If you've ever swapped a keyword out, an Old drop-down sits at the end of the tab row. Pick a keyword from it and the map, slider, chart and numbers show that keyword's full history. The drop-down turns green with the keyword's name while it's picked, and clicking any tab clears it. Put a keyword back in your SEO Keywords list and it moves back into the tabs with everything it had.
Before the first scan
Until your first scan finishes, the page shows your SEO Keywords panel and the message Your first ranking scan hasn't completed yet. Once it runs, your grid will show up here. Nothing to do but wait for the scan.
On the phone app
The app has the same report. In the app, tap Reports, then Ranking under Review Monster reports. You'll see the same cards, keyword chips, map, slider, trend and numbers. Pinch to zoom the map. Tapping Old opens a list called Keywords tracked before. Only an admin on your team can edit the keywords in the app. Everyone else sees them read-only with a note saying an admin can change them.