What tools to use
LittleWarden can track this, but you can also use tools like ChangeTower or VisualPing. Screaming Frog and Sitebulb can track it too, but setting up email alerts requires extra steps.
Get the newsletter search marketers rely on.
On-page ranking elements
On-page SEO elements refer to factors on your pages that users and search engines can see.
If you’re in local SEO, you might not encounter many site changes. However, when you add more team members with site access, someone may inadvertently make marketing changes that could affect your rankings.
This is why tracking on-page elements is crucial.
6. Heading tag changes
Heading tags are any text that is formatted using formal heading HTML (<h1>,<h2>,<h3>, etc.). There has been some debate over how Google uses these.
Google reps say they don’t matter that much for rankings, but they do for accessibility.
Many SEOs, including myself, believe that a well-optimized H1 and heading structure can improve rankings, but that’s a discussion for another time.
For now, it’s important to track changes to your H1 tags on your most important pages.
What tools to use
This is where the variety of tools we can use really opens up. You can test out any of the following below with reliable consistency:
Little Warden.
Versionista.
Wachete.
Visualping.
ChangeTower.
Again, you can technically use Screaming Frog and Sitebulb, but configuring email alerts from this will be a pain.
7. Internal linking changes
Tracking changes to your internal links can be critical to maintaining a strong internal link graph.
If a well-placed internal link with optimized anchor text gets removed or changed, it could affect your rankings.
Will it affect it a lot? Probably not. But are you really willing to test that out for us?
What tools to use
Little Warden.
Versionista.
Wachete.
Visualping.
ChangeTower.
8. Keyword changes
Tracking changes to your keyword usage on your site is vital to your SEO success.
If another marketer on your team tries their hand at sprucing up your content, they could unknowingly tank your rankings for your page.
What tools to use
Little Warden.
Versionista.
Wachete.
Visualping.
ChangeTower.
SERP visibility
Tracking how you appear in the SERP may not directly affect your rankings, but it could affect your organic click-thru rates (CTR).
9. Title tag changes
Title tags are the code we provide to search engines that suggest what we think our displayed title should be.
Yes, Google changes title tags, but that doesn’t mean we should ignore them.
What tools to use
Little Warden.
Versionista.
Wachete.
Visualping.
ChangeTower.
10. Meta description changes
Meta descriptions may be one of the most contentious topics in SEO. Some things that make this such an interesting topic include, but are certainly not limited to:
They’re not technically ranking factors, but they are critical to our sales pitch in the SERP.
SEO tools warn us about pixel and character length, but Google will change them anyway to match search intent.
I’ve directly heard Gary Illyes at a conference tell an SEO point blank that optimizing title tags and meta descriptions is a waste of time. (I take umbrage with this.)
However, if you’re already tracking unintended changes to your site, clicking the meta description box is worth the extra second.
What tools to use
Little Warden
Versionista
Wachete
Visualping
ChangeTower
11. Schema validation
Schema markup is a powerful tool. It can send important structured data to Google and help us create interesting SERP features for our results.
Creating and implementing schema markup takes time, so it’s important to track any changes, especially since SERP features can boost your organic CTR.
What tools to use
Little Warden.
Versionista.
Wachete.
Visualping.
ChangeTower.
Happy tracking
Now that you have your comprehensive list of SEO elements to track, it’s time to add some robust monitoring for your SEO campaigns.
Trust me, it’s better to be prepared than to find out about a change that happened days later.
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