As any SEO practitioner will tell you, significant and sudden fluctuations in Google SERP (Search Engine Rank Page) positions can be caused by unforeseen Google algorithm updates.
As well as less frequent general algorithm updates (known as “broad core” updates, which can occur just a few times per year), Google also tweaks and makes smaller changes to specific pieces of its search ranking algorithm on an ongoing basis.
The term, “SERP volatility” is used to describe the greater or lesser extent of these constant ranking changes, and it is a crucial metric to watch since these changes can significantly affect your website’s organic search traffic. Sometimes, your site may experience a boost in search rankings and an influx of traffic, and at other times, just the opposite may be true. Sometimes, even a tiny change in Google’s algorithm can have a huge impact on your rankings.
A low volatility score means that rankings are unusually stable – for example, a particularly calm day in the SERPs might signal factors such as major public holidays when not much is happening.
A high volatility score might indicate that a major Google algorithm update has either just been implemented, or is about to take place. Usually, Google does not warn of these updates in advance. There is occasionally a notification on the official Google blog after the event has taken place, but even this does not happen very often.
So, what can be done about all of this? Well, we may not be able to influence or control when and how Google makes changes to their algorithms, fortunately, there are numerous online tools available which can help us to keep a watchful eye on things. These SERP volatility tools attempt to track Google’s algorithm changes by monitoring selected keywords and identifying fluctuations in the SERPs.
Here is a round-up of what we consider to be the best-of-the-best of these tools.
The comedically-named Google Grump is a free SERP volatility tool developed by Accuranker. The grumpier Google is deemed to be, the greater the fluctuations in the rankings.
The tool’s intuitive interface gives daily updates and allows you to segment data by time. Google Grump also helpfully displays a ‘G’ symbol above the graph whenever Accuranker is aware of an impending Google algorithm update.
Data is available for both desktop and mobile search results. At the time of writing, the tool gives results across seven countries, including US, UK, Netherlands, Denmark, France, Germany and Australia.
Check out Accuranker's Google Grump here.
As you might expect from the name, the developer behind the Algoroo tool (Dejan SEO Agency) is Australian. Presumably, the idea is that the volatility of the SERPs can be likened to a kangaroo bouncing through the outback.
Algoroo’s SERP flux metric is known as ‘roo’. Roo is calculated by adding together positive and negative movements for specific keywords in the SERPs. The higher the roo value, the higher the level of volatility. Whenever Google announces an internal update or algorithm change (which, needless to say, doesn’t happen very often), an annotation is displayed on the daily roo graph.
Tracking SERP volatility for Google.com and Google.com.au only, Algoroo offers a few interesting features, such as listing weekly ‘winners’ and ‘losers’, and giving examples of the webpages most affected by SERP volatility each week.
There is also an interactive feature which enables users to view different time periods, going back up to two years. This long-range historical data can be useful for analysing whether historical Google algorithm changes correspond to dates when your own rankings may have fluctuated significantly.
Check out Algoroo here.
Cognitive SEO’s alerts system can be set to automatically send you, your team or your client notifications of any sudden changes to your tracked keywords. This means it is possible to react on the spot to address and fix any potential issues, or to take advantage of opportunities that might otherwise be lost.
Based on 170,000 tracked keywords, Cognitive SEO is available in 12 countries, including the US, the UK, Australia, Canada, India, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Netherlands, Romania and Turkey.
Updated daily, the tool tracks and analyses global search data. Local search data is also available for the US market. Data is available for both desktop and mobile search results in the US and the UK.
Check out Cognitive SEO's "Signals" tool here.
Mangools’ SERP volatility index tracks global changes daily, and is most useful for giving insights into the percentage of keywords with stable rankings compared with the previous day.
The tool includes almost 2 million keywords, and breaks down flux data for both desktop and mobile search results. The free version of the tool allows you to view daily data for the last 30 days.
Check out Mangools here.
If you think of the Google algorithm being a little like the British weather – i.e. difficult to predict and changeable – then you’ll understand why Moz chose to call their volatility tool Mozcast. The hotter and stormier the ‘weather’, the more change and potential turbulence in the SERPs. Mozcast tracks global changes daily, and you can also view up to 30 days’ history.
Another cool, interactive feature of Mozcast is the Google SERP Feature Graph. This allows you to track fluctuations across some of the major Google SERP features (e.g. local packs, knowledge panels and PAA boxes) for deeper insights.
Check out Mozcast here.
Rank Ranger’s ‘Rank Risk Index’ carries out daily analysis of keywords from more than 10,000 domains globally. It offers a 90-day data history, and also breaks the data down into desktop versus mobile search results.
Find out more about Rank Ranger here.
SEMrush Sensor tracks the daily rankings of millions of keywords, and is one of the most detailed SERP volatility tools in the market. Available in nine countries at the time of writing, results for the past 30 days can be accessed at any one time with the Free version.
The Sensor tool displays a daily volatility score (1-10, where 10 is a very high level of volatility), which can be viewed either in real-time, or retrospectively. A volatility score above 5 is generally considered to be high, and indicative of a possible Google algorithm update. When a change is detected, SEMrush shares any known information about the update.
SEMrush Sensor is a feature-rich tool offering many different ways to cut the data for a more granular analysis. It is possible to segment and compare the data by a number of SERPS features (including featured snippets, local packs, top stories and knowledge panels), specific subject categories (covering 25 industries), types of device (desktop or mobile), country, and HTTPS results.
Premium options enable even deeper insights, and if you are an existing SEMrush subscriber, you can also compare the data to your own website rankings, to better understand the impact of any algorithm changes.
Check out SEMrush Sensor here.
Serpwoo aims to engage users by emphasising how their volatility tool is different from all the others available online. Serpwoo’s tool promises a more relevant deep-dive analysis of the SERP volatility data. By tracking the movement of websites within the top 10 over time, Serpwoo gives users the ability to discover exactly what is happening to specific keywords in their chosen country.
This can work particularly well when monitoring the performance of a brand name, for instance. Users can log in daily to determine whether the SERP fluctuations are moving their positive properties up or down. They can also see how much new information is breaking into the top 10 search results for their specific keyword.
Check out Serpwoo here.
Although it is important to keep an eye on SERP volatility, it is worth remembering that there’s always a certain amount of volatility in search rankings, and that this is normal. RankBrain – Google’s machine learning system - is becoming increasingly complex each day, and it would be impossible to keep up with the hundreds of algorithm changes that occur every year.
However, SERP volatility tools can be extremely useful as an aid in helping to diagnose SEO problems that may otherwise make no sense. We would recommend regularly checking multiple tools from the sources above, to ensure you have as complete a picture as possible.
