A look back at 2018 & big plans for 2019

Over the past year, the Website Audit tool has probably seen more changes than any other SE Ranking tool. Besides getting a facelift, the following updates to the tool are noteworthy:

• • The tool is now capable of scanning every page of a website. Plus, you can select the sources of scanned pages (subdomains, XML sitemap, your own list of URLs) and configure the parser settings (ignore robots.txt rules, scan blocked domains).
  • You can now access a list of scanned site elements (pages, images, and links), where you can select parameters and filter elements per the parameter.
  • An XML sitemap of the scanned website can now be generated in a single click.
  • The option to configure the scanning schedule and determine what is to be considered an error is now available.
  • New audit categories have been added that check the number of redirects, the hreflang attribute, pages with duplicate H1 tags, and more.

On the whole, the Website Audit tool has become completely flexible and configurable. You decide what, how, when and how deeply to check.

For more information, read this post.

The “Rankings” module got almost as many updates as the Website Audit. Here are some of the things that were changed:

• • Module redesign.
  • Google Ads ranking position tracking.
  • Google SERP features tracking.
  • Calendar update — compare ranking positions not only for a specific period of time but for individual dates as well.
  • The “Add Keywords” button is now available right on the Rankings page.
  • Ranking dynamics can be viewed for every keyword.
  • Simultaneously add target URLs to multiple keywords.
  • Requests can be sorted by URLs.
  • Ranking positions can be sorted in the reports.

This tool saw the following releases:

• • 14 new Google databases: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Singapore, Sweden.
  • New sections: pages and subdomains in organic and paid search.
  • New filter by country. When evaluating a domain, you can now see the number of keywords found in organic and paid search across all databases available in the tool.
  • Filters have been added to each section of the tool: domain, URL, and keyword analysis.
  • Keyword suggestions tool update: the “Related” keywords section has been added in addition to the “Similar” and “Long-tail” keywords sections.

It’d be wrong to say that the Marketing Plan got updated since it was actually completely rebuilt from the ground up. This tool serves as an excellent guide for novices and a checklist for seasoned SEO pros. Agencies can also use it as a basic list of instructions.

• • 5 sections (on-page and off-page optimization, content strategy development, mobile optimization, and social media management) and 44 tasks.
  • A new structure of each plan item: we explain why a particular task needs to be completed and how to do it. Plus we share links to useful articles to supplement the knowledge and provide tips on how to complete the task.
  • Added the “Business listings” section. Here, you can keep track of the business listings, catalogs, and directories your site’s been added to, and which ones you still need to sign up to.

The new version of the API is easier to integrate and work with, and it gives access to a greater number of tools.

• • Almost all sections of SE Ranking are now accessible via the API (it used to be limited exclusively to the “Rankings” section).
  • The process of getting an API key has been significantly simplified. The API section is available to all Enterprise Plan subscribers under the account settings menu, where the API key can be generated as well.
  • New methods have been added for working with the following sections: “Projects”, “Project groups”, “Keyword groups”, “Competitors”, “URL Tags”, “Analytics & Traffic”, “Account”, “General data”, “Marketing Plan”, “Business listings”, “Website audit”, “Backlinks”, “Competitor SEO/PPC Research” and “SEO data”.

Find out more about the new API.

Or watch this short video.

This is a brand new section that supplements the arsenal of SE Ranking’s competitor analysis tools.

This module has the capacity to store the history of the TOP 100 sites for each keyword added to a project.

• • History is stored for 1 year starting from the date when the project was created. With this feature, you can track the dynamics of the position change of your site as well as the first hundred competitors.
  • You can evaluate and compare results, analyze the SERPs for any country and for any keyword over a selected period of time.
  • Your domains and that of your competitors can be tagged in the SERPs.
  • And, of course, all data can be exported.

We will create a detailed review of the new tool in the near future. To find out how to use this tool for SERM, read this article.

In the meantime, you can find and test the TOP 100 tool in the “Rankings” section:

In addition to everything mentioned above, we have updated, improved and enhanced the work of all our modules:

• • simplified the process of adding and setting up sub-accounts;
  • added new ways of customizing the Lead Generator;
  • completely revamped our Blog;
  • localized the site into Dutch, Spanish and Japanese;
  • released an iOS app (currently only available in English);

…. and many more similar updates that may seem local, but in fact optimize the entire platform’s UX.

2018 was an incredibly successful and event-packed year that inspired us to set even higher standards and goals in 2019.

One of our major modules, Rankings, was flooded with comments from our users. So the following features will be among the first ones to be added:

• • Add color-coded tags to the keyword table.
  • Create folders for different nesting depth levels.

Moreover, the interface of the main Dashboard will be completely redesigned.

Besides tweaking the design, additional features will be added as well. For example, the project data summary table will include the audit score of each website. Plus, you’ll be able to see the ranking position dynamics for every keyword in the TOP 5/10/30 column. Furthermore, it’ll be possible to delete or rearrange the table columns, ultimately customizing it exactly the way you want.

We are effectively planning to relaunch the tool, giving it a brand new look.

In addition to updating the interface, the following features will be available:

• • Simultaneous Google Analytics and Bing Webmaster Tools integration.
  • Advanced traffic and traffic source data.
  • New report format.

At the request of our users, the following features will be added:

• • Editing text, images, and tables in the reports.
  • Exporting data in .doc format.
  • Adding comments to all report sections.
  • Adding information from the “Competition SEO/PPC Research” module.
  • Including data from all platform sections in the reports.
  • Creating a single report for multiple projects.

In 2019, we plan to expand Google’s database in the Competitor SEO/PPC Research tool to include all European countries, long-awaited Brazil, India, Thailand, other popular regions.

First of all, we will work on the tool’s performance, focusing on speed and data accuracy. In addition, we will add the ability to view:

• • Incoming link data in real time without having to update and download a new report.
  • The history of backlink profile changes.

We are also planning dozens of small (and not so small) fixes, improvements, and updates. The most notable ones are:

Android app. Last year, our platform application became available on the App Store. In 2019, we are going to release the app for owners of Android devices.

Update website localization. This year, we will also improve the quality of the Italian, French and Portuguese versions of our site.

Facilitate the process of adding keywords to projects. For example, you will be able to add keywords to a project directly from the “Competitor SEO/PPC Research” module.

Improving the data loading speed in all modules.

Oh, almost forgot… The only goal we didn’t manage to cross off of our list for 2018 was the release of a video guide series on how to work with the platform — that’s something we are busily working on at the moment. You can also check out the first video we released recently to tutor users on how to use our newly updated Website Audit tool.

It’s safe to say that this year, you can expect a lot more videos explaining all the great things we have in SE Ranking.