Dynamic Depth Crawling (DDC) is how SEOmonitor checks where your website ranks on your primary device. It works through Google’s results page by page, adjusting how far it searches according to where your site appears. The “depth” is the number of results pages collected, rather than a fixed number of positions checked every day.
All SEOmonitor accounts use DDC. It combines daily tracking focused on your own website with a full weekly collection of the top 100 results, so you can follow your position and analyse the wider competitive landscape.
How does DDC work?
For each keyword, SEOmonitor searches using your campaign’s location, language and primary device. It works through the results to find your website within the first ten pages.
If your site appears on the first page, the dynamic collection can stop there. If your site appears on the fifth page, DDC can continue to that page. This is why one keyword may show one page crawled today while another shows five.
The depth can change as your position changes. DDC lets you track your site beyond the first two pages without collecting every deeper competitor position again each day.
What is collected daily, and what is collected weekly?
The daily collection follows your website’s position on the primary device. It may contain fewer than ten pages because DDC will stop after finding your site.
The full weekly collection runs on Saturday and targets the first ten results pages. This provides the broader set of ranking pages used to analyse competitors. You can explore that data through the keyword’s Competition tab; see top 100 results and their performance.
The daily and weekly collections answer different questions. Today’s collection helps you inspect your current rank. The weekly collection helps you explore the wider results, including pages beyond the depth reached by today’s check. Compare their collection dates when investigating a difference.
The secondary device is collected weekly. Grandfathered accounts receive top 20 coverage on that device, while other accounts receive top 100 coverage. The primary-device DDC and weekly top 100 collection apply to all accounts. You can check your plan in Billing or read the rank-tracking FAQ for the plan differences.
Which device is my primary device?
SEOmonitor selects your primary device using the highest search volume across your campaign’s tracked keywords. It can be desktop or mobile, and you can change it in campaign settings if another device better reflects the demand you want to focus on. The secondary device is the other device.
Open Rank Tracker and check which device is selected by default. That is your primary device. The labels describe the role each device plays in your campaign, so mobile is not always primary and desktop is not always secondary.
How can I view and download the daily and weekly results?
Go to Rank Tracker → All Keywords, open the keyword, and select Performance. In the Primary card, click the row showing the number of pages crawled. This opens the SERP Viewer.
The Today / Dynamic tab shows the pages collected for the daily result. Use the numbered page buttons to move through the collection, then select Download SERP to save a copy of that result.
The dated Weekly tab shows the last weekly collection from Saturday. It has its own Download SERP button. Select this tab before downloading if you want the weekly results rather than today’s dynamic collection.
Why might the weekly SERP contain fewer than ten pages?
Top 100 describes a collection depth of up to ten Google results pages. Google does not always show ten organic results on each page, and it may stop returning results before the tenth page.
For example, if the weekly SERP contains seven pages because Google returned no results beyond page seven, those seven pages are the available collection. Check the page count and date shown in the viewer when interpreting or sharing it.
How do I request a fresh check?
In the primary-device SERP Viewer, open Today and select Recrawl. This requests a fresh check of Google’s results.
Recrawl is available only for today. If the new results differ, they overwrite the current day’s results. The Weekly tab shows the last weekly collection and does not offer a recrawl of that earlier date.
What happens if Google returns incomplete results or a sudden drop?
SEOmonitor checks for signs that a result may be incomplete before recording it. For example, if Google unexpectedly stops after four pages, SEOmonitor can check again before accepting that shorter set of results.
There are also checks for some unusually large rank drops. In certain cases, earlier data may remain visible while a suspicious change is checked. Our rank-tracking safeguards guide explains these checks and what you may see in your account.
When are daily results available?
Scheduled primary-device collection starts from midnight in the campaign location’s timezone. Our 99.9% service-level commitment targets results by 8 AM. Campaign and group metrics are released after processing, rather than as partially processed totals. Check our Status Page for maintenance and published incidents.
How can I investigate a difference from my browser?
Compare the same keyword, device and precise location in an incognito window, and check when each result was collected. A manual search is a new observation and may differ from the saved result.
The SERP Discrepancy Checker Chrome extension lets you compare your browser’s results with SEOmonitor’s crawler checks side by side.