Alternatives to SEO Book's Rank Checker

[TomRayner]

A free alternative (with upgradable options) is ProRankTracker - which will give you all of the same info as with SEO Book.  I've found it to be very accurate.  AdvancedWebRanking is another, but it does not have a free option.

I think you'd be happy with either of them (I am!)

[David-Kley]

I agree with Tom. Using Advanced Web ranking is probably the answer you are looking for. AWR  allows you to set up your own keyword lists, based upon what is important to you, schedule out when the reports run, export a csv, and check rankings when you want.

One thing to remember about AWR. Use the advanced proxy server option. This will have proxy servers ping the results for ranking results. I would highly advise against running the report consistantly more than once every two weeks. Why? Running the report daily will make your impressions (impressions are the times your site appears after a user does a search query, but does not click) soar. This is not a good thing, as high impressions with no clicks looks suspicious.

We have used AWR before. Works very well, but does not have a free option.

[VanguardCommunications]

Thanks for the responses guys.  I actually have access to AWR cloud. It's a decent tool, but it's just not the no frills "quick, dirty and simple" spot check kind of tool SEO Book Rank Checker is.  I still have to go through the hassle of creating a new campaign, waiting for keyword results (even on demand can be slow sometimes) and creating a report.  AWR is an excellent tool for historical keyword data though.

I'm going to look into ProRankChecker (but it's limited to 50 queries?)

I'm almost willing to look into hiring a developer to create new spot check tool similar to what Aaron wall used to have.

[aaronwall]

Not sure if my opinion matters much here, [redacted].

He demands I (and my employees) work for him for free. He ignores our requirement that he donates to a charity if he wants our business to do charity work for his business.

Then when we have enough self respect to not value our lives at nothing, working effectively as an unpaid slave for an [redacted], he then goes on to other sites & talks about how our business has died.

Our tools are regularly updated, we just don't prioritize [redacted]. When that changes, he'll be the first to know.

[jennita]

Hey Aaron,

Your opinion always matters here, and it's totally fair for you to jump in and respond to this thread. I also do tend to agree that it's not ok to request changes to a tool if you're not helping to pay for it, which is probably why we give away education for free but 95% of our tools are paid.

However, if you jump into the Moz Q&A we do ask that you stick to our rules and be as TAGFEE as possible. This means not calling people names, and putting people down. I've edited your response to remove those pieces, but have left everything else. Please know that we value your opinion and appreciate you jumping in here.

Thanks,

Jen

[jennita]

Hmm I don't think it's fair to say that SEObook has died over the past few years. Aaron may have focused on other things, but that doesn't mean it's dead. Knowing how difficult it is for our team to keep our rank tracker working well at all times, I'd say you'd be pretty hard pressed to be able to hire a developer to create a tool similar to Aaron's. There are a lot of intricacies you have to take into consideration, and it's probably smarter to simply help Aaron's team improve, rather than start from scratch, eh?

[benjaminmarcinc]

I just installed the moz bar and i love it, it even emails you when you changed rankings if you put your keywords within the panel, really cool bar definitely download it.

[VanguardCommunications]

The SEO Book rank checker tool has been updated and is showing Google ranking data again. 
Aaron Wall.  Thank you for doing this update, I am even willing to make a donation to SEOBook for the rank checker tool you provided that has benefit countless SEOs & online marketers.  In retrospect I should of worded this original question differently and refrained from insulting comments such as "SEO Book is dead."  And of course, I don't expect you or your programmers to be "unpaid slaves".

With that said I am extremely disappointed by how you responded to this thread.   I have always respected what you accomplished for the SEO community.  I have even met you in person at a Pub Con conference a few years ago and am shocked that you would lower yourself to calling me names on a public forum.  Of course your opinion matters (heavily) but I would expect better from a renowned professional such as yourself.

[VanguardCommunications]

Jen

Thank you for responding to Aaron's post and I appreciate that you took the time to edit his comments.   I do highly value Aaron and what he has accomplished with SEO Book.  In hindsight I should have worded my original question differently.  I did not intend to insult SEO book. In fact free rank checker plugin has already been fixed and is now working properly.

Aaron: I have posted a response to your lashing out to below.  I can understand that you are pissed off about my comments "SEO Book is dying out" but responding to me with name calling does not exactly bolster your reputation or your company brand.   I do respect that you run a business and mean much more to the SEO community than a "unpaid slave".

[aaronwall]

"In retrospect I should of worded this original question differently and refrained from insulting comments ... With that said I am extremely disappointed by how you responded"

When people are rude the best path to is to ignore them. But in some cases if you ignore it, you invite more of the same behavior while they escalate & harm your reputation. At some point it makes sense to skip the b/s and be direct. It saves everyone time.

Life is finite. You get so many breathes.

"I am even willing to make a donation to SEOBook"

I never asked for a donation to me. Our support software requests donations given to http://www.charitywater.org/ which is a cheap way to really make a difference in someone's quality of life.

[VanguardCommunications]

I understand your directness, but for future reference I would be careful about name calling.  It's fuel for the fire for some people (trolls).  My original comments were not intended to be malicious, they were just ignorant.

Besides that I have donated to www.charitywater.org.   I'm glad to see that your company is involved with humanitarian efforts and I'm glad I can help out.    And thanks again for getting rank checker updated.  Love that tool.