Some of the features described in this article might be available only for Tracked Campaigns. Learn more.
When setting up a campaign in SEOmonitor, you choose the location (market) for it. This is an initial setting, to specify how to get Google ranking and search volume data.
How does this work?
You choose the market level – global, country, region or city – and the specific location to be targeted. To preserve data consistency and relevance throughout the campaign lifecycle, this cannot be changed at a later time.
All Search Volumes are taken from Google Ads, according to the specified market, and all ranks are processed daily, for both desktop and mobile.
The various localization levels
Global campaigns get the broadest search volumes available – all Google markets summed up, and ranking data from New York City.
On country- and region-level campaigns, the search volume data is pulled for the specified market.
On country-level campaigns, the ranking data is provided from the largest city in the selected country. This helps you get the keyword ranks that "paint the bigger picture" – you see what most users see in the SERP for those keywords. For example, a keyword can have 2 million searches in the UK, with 1 million coming from London – the rank you get is from London, so you'd still see what most people see when performing that search.
On region-level campaigns, the ranking data is provided from the entire region, being localized to the region area.
City-level campaigns process search volumes and ranks from the specific city.
Note: The ranks are provided on a city-level basis, no matter the campaign localization level, because Google identifies the user location at least at a city level, based on the IP location (if not more precise than that). So even if technically it's possible to get ranks at the country level, a SERP not localized at the city level (at least) is very unlikely to be seen by a user.
Localization level | Search Volume | Rankings |
Global | global market | New York City |
Country | selected country market | largest city in the selected country |
Region | selected region market | selected region |
City | selected city market | selected city |
Multi-location campaigns
Within country-level campaigns, you can add multiple tracking locations – be it cities or regions – within that country. The keywords tracked on those locations will get corresponding rank and search volume data, while the "main" campaign keeps its country-wide data. More on this in the dedicated article.
FAQs
Can I change the localization set on a campaign at a later date, if I reconsider it?
No. Because the keyword data (ranks and search volumes) is localized accordingly, in order to maintain consistency and relevance in the campaign and the calculation of the website's Visibility, the location cannot be changed at a later time.
Why do I get city-level ranks when I set up a country-level campaign?
In any query we perform, from anywhere in the world, we would be localized based on our IP, at least at a city level (if not more specific even). So on campaigns set up at a country level, we show ranks from the largest city there to be sure we get a SERP that users actually see.
When is the "localized" label applied?
"Localized" labels are applied to keywords on country-level campaigns and they signal highly-customized SERPs depending on the location within that market.
You can easily find them in the predefined Issues folder, in the corresponding Localized group, or through the filters.
How do I set up a campaign on a multi-language market?
Some countries (Google markets) offer multiple languages, so you would just need to select the market and the language accordingly.
For example on Google Belgium, you would choose between Dutch, French, German or English, and on Google Canada between French and English.