🗺️ Overview
The Keywords tab inside Site Explorer gives you a detailed breakdown of the keywords your domain ranks for, along with performance data pulled directly from search engine results. Understanding what each column measures helps you make accurate decisions about your SEO strategy.
To reach this view, go to Left sidebar → Site Explorer and select the Keywords tab from the top navigation within the page.
📋 Column Definitions at a Glance
The Keywords tab contains several columns, each measuring a distinct aspect of keyword performance. Here is what each one means:
- Keyword — The search query for which your domain has a tracked or detected ranking.
- Position SERP — The organic ranking position your page holds for this keyword in the standard, unpaid search results (the classic blue-link listings). A value of 1 means your page appears first in organic results. This number reflects only where your page sits in the core organic listings, not in any special result format.
- SERP Features — Indicates whether your page or domain appears inside one or more enhanced result formats on the same search results page. These are non-standard placements such as Featured Snippets, People Also Ask boxes, Image Packs, Video Carousels, Local Packs, Site Links, and similar formats. A keyword may show a Position SERP of 4 but also carry a SERP Feature badge if your content was pulled into a Featured Snippet at the top of the page.
- Traffic — The estimated organic traffic of the analyzed domain (per country) for this keyword. It is an estimate, not a direct measurement from your analytics account.
- Search Volume — The average number of times this keyword is searched per month across all users.
- Keyword Difficulty (KD) — A score from 0 to 100 indicating how competitive it is to rank organically for this keyword. Higher scores mean more competitive.
- CPC — The average cost per click advertisers pay for this keyword in paid search. Useful as a signal of commercial intent.
- URL — The specific page on your domain that holds the ranking for this keyword.
🔍 Position SERP vs. SERP Features: Key Differences
These two columns are closely related but measure completely different things. Confusing them is one of the most common misreads in this tab.
- Position SERP tells you where your page ranks among standard organic listings. It is a single number reflecting your place in the traditional ranked list of results.
- SERP Features tells you whether your page or domain appears in any enhanced or special result format on that same page. This is not a ranking position — it is a presence indicator for non-standard placements.
A practical example: Your page may rank at Position SERP 6 for a keyword, meaning it is the sixth organic result. At the same time, the SERP Features column may show a Featured Snippet icon, meaning your content also appears at the very top of the page inside an answer box. Both facts are true simultaneously because they measure different elements of the same results page.
This distinction matters because SERP Features can drive significant traffic even when your organic position is not in the top three. Always review both columns together when evaluating a keyword's true visibility.
📈 Understanding the Traffic Estimate
The Traffic column shows an estimated monthly visit count, not a live analytics figure. It is produced by this calculation:
- Take the keyword's average monthly Search Volume.
- Apply the average CTR associated with your current Position SERP. Pages at position 1 receive a much higher CTR than pages at position 10.
- The result is the estimated monthly organic sessions attributable to that keyword.
Because CTR benchmarks vary by industry, device, and whether SERP Features are present on the page, treat this number as a directional indicator rather than an exact count. It is most useful for comparing keywords against each other and prioritising optimisation efforts.
💡 Tips for Using These Columns Effectively
- Sort by Traffic (descending) to find the keywords currently driving the most estimated visits, then check their Position SERP to identify quick-win opportunities where you rank between positions 4 and 15.
- Filter for keywords that have active SERP Features to understand where your content is already being surfaced in enhanced formats — and where competitors might be displacing you from those features.
- Use Position SERP alongside Search Volume to find high-volume keywords where your ranking has slipped and where improving your position would yield a meaningful Traffic increase.
- Combine insights from this tab with Left sidebar → Keywords → Rank Tracker to monitor position changes over time for your most important keywords.
🆘 Need Help?
If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.