Keywords: Add or Delete

This video is intended to be a quick start guide, please refer to the description of the settings, and step-by-step instructions on this page for complete details regarding rank tracking campaign optimization.

There are 2 ways to add Keywords in Campaign Settings:

• Keywords can be added manually in the Add Keywords field - keyword or keyword phrases, one per line and click the Add button.
• Import Keywords, Tags, and Target URLs by using the sample file format provided and uploading your file via this screen. Tags should be entered in lower case characters. Learn more about how to use Target URLs, Tag Manager and Tag Groups.
  

You can also add Keywords via API or directly from:

• Keyword Research Tool
• Search Analytics Keywords report

Import Keywords, Tags, Target URLs, and Search Volume
Bulk Import is the fastest method for adding Keywords to a campaign. It also allows you to quickly add Target URLs and Tags, as well as localized search volume that you've collected from another source.

At the bottom of the Keywords screen, in the Bulk Import or Update Keyword Data section, you'll find sample spreadsheets that provide the required format. 

Create a separate import file for each batch of 300 keywords, importing more than 300 at a time may cause your browser to time out, and will disable the options screen.




The keyword data must be correctly formatted in order to complete the import successfully.



Keywords are imported in lower case format and can be multiple word phrases with spaces between them. For example:

• cars
• trucks
• new cars
• used cars for sale

Tags can be entered as a single phrase, multiple phrases with commas between them, or in tag groups, for example:

• brand:trucks,brand:suv
• hybrid:cars,hybrid:trucks
• promo:cars,promo:trucks,promo:suvs
• ads:magazine,ads:twitter,ads:adwords

Tag Groups must be created prior to uploading Tags with this spreadsheet (learn more).

Search Volume displayed in Rank Ranger reports represents the accumulated total monthly number of times that people have searched for the tracked keyword for all locations and all languages.  You can obtain local search volume from Google Ads Planner (learn more) and upload those numbers in this spreadsheet.

Target URLs are especially helpful when the rank tracking service or location-based businesses that have multiple locations (e.g., real estate, hotels, restaurant chains, etc.), as well as YouTube videos and Apps in Apple iTunes or Google Play Store (learn more about Target URLs).  Because the Import Sheet is a Comma Separated Values (CSV) file, URLs cannot contain commas in them. If your URLs contain commas, then you need to convert the comma to URL encoding by replacing them with %2C (learn more)

After you've prepared the spreadsheet with the keyword data that you want to add to the campaign:

• Click the Upload button 
• Click the Choose File button
• Locate and select the file on your computer
• Click the Upload button
• If the file contains 300 keywords or less, you will see this screen pop up. Verify the keyword, tag, search volume, and target URL data: check the boxes of the keywords & tags you want to import.


IMPORTANT!  For YouTube, App Store, and campaigns using Target URL for specific locations or services within the same website, it is important that you check the "Track Target URL(s) Only" box.

When uploading this file for the purpose of updating existing Keywords, check one or both of these boxes (as applicable)


• Delete and replace existing Tags
• Check to replace the existing Search Volume
• Track Target URL(s)Only
  
  
• After you have verified that all settings and data are correct, click the Import button.

Add Keywords

Keywords can be added manually in the Add Keywords field - keyword or keyword phrases - enter one per line and click the Add button.

Crawl Newly Added Keywords

The Crawl Keywords option is only available for the campaigns with the following restrictions:

• The campaign is assigned to a subscription package that is set to track weekly or monthly instead of daily, and therefore wouldn't otherwise be crawled until the following week or month.
• The campaign has never been crawled before
• The keywords are added to the keyword list

The keyword crawling process takes from a few minutes up to an hour depending on the number of keywords to be crawled and on the Search Queue data volume.

Note: The Crawl Keywords button should be clicked once after the list of keywords is added either manually or in bulk. Once the first batch of keywords has completed crawling the Crawl Keywords function will no longer be available.

 

Search Volumes can be manually adjusted after the completion of the campaign setup and the first reports are generated. This allows you to change the amounts based on your location and traffic preferences.

• Hover over the number and click the pencil icon
• Enter the new search volume
• Click the checkmark to save or X  to cancel

Once you have established your own local search volume, Rank Ranger will not update the values. You may update them as described above or if you wish to revert to the global keyword volume, you may select the keywords and click the Reset button. Please review our Search Volume FAQ prior to contacting customer service regarding local search volume.

Add Tags to Keywords individually or by using Tag Manager



Tags make it easier to group keywords within particular keyword groups. Click the Tag + button if you'd like to add an internal note to a particular keyword, or check several keywords you want to tag with the same note, enter the tag in the box below the keyword list and click the Add button. If Tag Groups have been created, then when you click the + button, you'll be able to choose from a Tag Group and Tag Name. Tag Groups can be configured to restrict the user from creating random Tags or creating a Tag outside of the Tag Manager framework.

Keyword Filter

You can filter your Keyword List to locate the ones that contain a common keyword. Simply begin typing the keyword in the filter field.

Tag Filter

You can filter your Keyword List to locate all the keywords that have a specific Tag applied by entering the Tag name into the Tag filter field.

This section has the following options:

• Global Search Volume Reset for the selected keywords
• Delete selected Keywords
• Export either selected or all Keywords (if no keywords are selected then all keywords will be exported)
• Apply Global Target URLs to the newly added keywords (this function only works if the Global Target URL toggle is ON and set up with the list of URLs)
• Add a Tag (and Tag group) in bulk to the selected keywords

Export Keywords
If you need to change the Tags, Search Volume, or Target URLs that are assigned to keywords, you can export the Keyword List.

1. Select all or specific keywords
2. Click the Export Keywords button (if no keywords are selected, the entire keyword list of the campaign will be exported)

Save and View Keyword List
Save the Keyword List CSV file to your computer and open it in Excel or similar software. 



You can make the necessary changes, save the file and update the campaign by following the instructions for bulk importing keywords.

Apply Global Target URLs
This functionality is applied in bulk to the Target URL list to the newly added keywords. However, this is applied only in case when the Target URL toggle is ON and the Target URL list is set up. Otherwise, the Global Target URL list has to be set up

 

Read more on how to set up the Global Target URLs.

Add Tag and Tag Group in Bulk
Select the list of keywords from the keywords list and choose a Tag Group and enter a Tag or just Enter a Tag and click Add. The Tag and/or Tag group will be added to the selected list of keywords.



Scroll down to read about Bulk Delete Keywords from the keyword list.

Change from Global to Country-based Search Volume
The Local Volume Settings option is available at the bottom of the Campaign Settings > Keywords screen and you can:

Select a source (Google Keyword Planner or SimilarWeb) and a country and click the Set button




To get the new Search Volume results, click the Refresh Search Volume Date button  

Status: In Queue
While local volume data is being collected, the Local Volume status will indicate that it is "in queue". 

Local Volume Service Limit Reached
If you attempt to update the local volume more frequently than the plan allows, you will receive a message indicating that a volume update request was already completed during the period. 

Warning!

Keyword deletion is permanent!  If you delete keywords, you will lose all rank history for those keywords.  Please understand that if you (or any authorized account user) click the Delete button, then a warning message displays on the screen and that requires a second click to accept deletion, once that Delete button is clicked it is not possible for us to recover the data. We recommend that Campaign Rank Backup be run and file downloaded prior to any deletion within a campaign's settings.



Delete Keywords individually by clicking the trash can icon.

To delete keywords in bulk you can check the boxes beside multiple keywords or filter a batch of keywords based on a common tag, word, or a search volume threshold.

1. Click the filter icon and enter the common text in the keyword or tags field or a number in the search volume field.
2. Check the select box in the header row and this will select all the keywords currently displayed on the screen (you can confirm this by removing the filtered text or number and you should see all keywords with only these checked).
3. Click the Delete Keywords button in the Bulk Options for Selected Keywords section below.





Keyword Recovery

If a user ran and downloaded the campaign backup prior to deleting keywords and the keywords need to be restored, it is possible to do so from that backup file by manually converting the data to the historical rank import file format. 

To avoid any confusion regarding who deleted keyword(s), we recommend that each user only be given access to an account with their own individual User login credentials.