⚠️ Hybrid Tracking is being retired
Keyword.com is gradually migrating projects from Hybrid Tracking to our new tracking models:
Consistent Tracking – Top 50 results collected on every update
Enhanced Tracking – Top 100 results collected on every update
Existing Hybrid Tracking projects will continue to function during the transition period. However, all projects will be migrated in the coming months.
If your project has already been migrated, some sections of this article relating to Hybrid Tracking, OTR (Out of Tracked Range), and OTR behaviour settings may no longer apply.
What it is
This article explains:
What each ranking position means in Keyword.com
How ranks are collected (Top 20 vs Top 100)
What OTR and >100 mean
How movement columns (1d, 7d, 30d, Life) are calculated
How historical charts work
How the Maintain Continuous Rank (MCH) setting affects your data
This is your reference guide to understanding how ranking data behaves across the platform.
Why it matters
Rank data is only useful if you understand:
What depth was scraped (Top 20 vs Top 100)
Whether a keyword was actually found
How gaps are treated
How movement is calculated
Without this context, rankings can look inconsistent when in reality they are behaving exactly as designed.
1. What “Rank” actually means
The Rank column shows your current Google position for the tracked keyword and URL.
Important:
Rank is device-specific (desktop, mobile, maps)
Rank is region and location-specific
Rank is tied to your tracking settings
If you change device, region, or location, you are effectively running a different search.
2. How deep we track
Keyword.com offers different tracking depths depending on your project settings.
Consistent Tracking
Consistent Tracking collects the Top 50 Google results on every update.
This means:
The same tracking depth is used every time a keyword is refreshed
Ranking data remains consistent across updates
Rankings outside the Top 50 appear as >50
Out of Tracked Range (OTR) is not used
For most users, Consistent Tracking provides the right balance between ranking visibility and tracking efficiency.
Enhanced Tracking
Enhanced Tracking collects the Top 100 Google results on every update.
This means:
Full Top 100 visibility on every refresh
Greater insight into keywords ranking beyond the first few pages
More complete competitor and SERP analysis
Rankings outside the Top 100 appear as >100
Enhanced Tracking is recommended for highly competitive industries, large keyword portfolios, and teams that require complete SERP visibility.
Legacy Hybrid Tracking
Some projects may still use Hybrid Tracking during the migration period.
With Hybrid Tracking:
Top 20 results are collected more frequently
Top 100 results are collected less frequently
Keywords outside the tracked depth may appear as OTR (Out of Tracked Range)
Hybrid Tracking is being retired and all projects will be migrated to Consistent Tracking or Enhanced Tracking.
3. Understanding rank values
The meaning of ranking values depends on your tracking model.
Consistent Tracking
Consistent Tracking collects the Top 50 results on every update.
Positions 1–50 indicate the exact ranking found
>50 means the keyword was not found within the Top 50 results
Enhanced Tracking
Enhanced Tracking collects the Top 100 results on every update.
Positions 1–100 indicate the exact ranking found
>100 means the keyword was not found within the Top 100 results
Legacy Hybrid Tracking
Projects that still use Hybrid Tracking may also see:
OTR (Out of Tracked Range)
OTR means the keyword was found outside the depth collected during that update.
For example:
The keyword ranked #34
Only the Top 20 results were collected
The keyword would be shown as OTR
OTR is only applicable to Hybrid Tracking projects and will disappear as projects migrate to Consistent Tracking and Enhanced Tracking.
4. Movement columns (1d, 7d, 30d, Life)
Movement columns compare your current rank to a previous point in time.
1d → compared to yesterday
7d → compared to 7 days ago
30d → compared to 30 days ago
Life → compared to when the keyword was added
Important behaviours:
If there was no data on the comparison day → movement may show N/A
If a project is archived and restored → movement resets
If MCH is enabled → filled ranks affect movement values
5. Maintain Continuous Rank (MCH)
MCH controls how missing days are displayed. You can toggle this in Settings > Table
Note: For projects using Consistent Tracking or Enhanced Tracking, Maintain Continuous History primarily affects how historical charts are displayed. OTR-related behaviour described below only applies to projects that still use Hybrid Tracking.
🟢 MCH = ON
Missing days are filled with the last known rank
Charts look smooth
Movement is calculated using filled values
Best for:
Client reporting
Clean charts
Visual consistency
🔴 MCH = OFF
Only actual scraped data is shown
Missing days show gaps
Movement shows N/A if comparison data doesn’t exist
Best for:
Maximum transparency
Technical SEO analysis
6. Historical Charts
You can access historical charts by clicking the chart icon next to a keyword.
Features include:
Multiple timeframes (10 days → all time, depending on plan)
Competitor comparison
Google update incident markers
SERP History
Ranking URL history
Export as PNG, JPEG, PDF, SVG
You can also compare multiple keywords on 1 Historical Chart by selecting multiple keywords (max 10) from the table and then clicking the Historical Chart in the Keyword Action list.
Chart with multiple keyword histories.
SERP history
You can view the Top 100 results for your keyword on previous dates. You can access this from the Keyword Ranking Table or from within the Historical Charts.
From the Ranking Table:
From the Historical Chart:
This is useful for:
Investigating ranking drops
Understanding competitor movement
Debugging algorithm impact
Fill rank drop gaps
If MCH is enabled:
Chart lines connect missing periods
This does not mean the keyword ranked during that time
It visually links the last known rank to the next confirmed rank
7. Why rankings may differ from manual searches
Differences can occur due to:
Google data center variance
Personalization
Device differences
Location/IP differences
Time difference between refresh and manual check
You can verify any keyword using the Spyglass tool, which shows the exact snapshot we collected.
For deeper troubleshooting, see Ranking Inaccuracies Explained .
8. What “Last Updated” means
The project-level “Last Updated” timestamp reflects the most recently updated keyword, not all keywords.
Individual keyword update times are visible inside the table.
9. Out of range behaviour (Legacy Hybrid Tracking)
⚠️ This setting only applies to projects using Hybrid Tracking. Projects using Consistent Tracking or Enhanced Tracking do not use OTR and are not affected by this setting.
What it is
Out of range behavior controls how keywords marked as OTR (Out of Tracked Range) are handled in performance metrics.
As a reminder:
OTR means the keyword was found, but outside the tracked depth for that day (e.g. ranked #34 when only Top 20 was scraped)
It does not necessarily mean the keyword is completely unranked
Why it matters
This setting directly impacts how your performance metrics reflect ranking changes.
Without it:
Keywords that drop from Top positions to OTR may be ignored
Metrics like Movement since start or Top 3 / Top 10 changes can appear artificially positive
This can create confusion or reduce trust in dashboard data
With this update:
You can choose whether OTR represents a neutral gap or a real ranking drop
Metrics now align with how you interpret ranking performance
How it works
You can choose between two modes:
1. Exclude (default)
OTR keywords are ignored in comparisons
Preserves existing behaviour
Best for:
Cleaner trend reporting
Avoiding noise from partial tracking (Top 20 vs Top 100 days)
2. Count as dropped
OTR keywords are treated as not ranked
Drops are fully reflected in:
Movement metrics
Top N distribution changes
Best for:
Accurate performance tracking
Competitive / high-volatility keywords
Identifying real losses
Where this applies
This setting affects all performance calculations across the platform:
Dashboard metrics
Project overview
Weekly email reports
PDF exports
API outputs
How to set it
Go to your project settings
Find Out of range behavior
Select your preferred mode:
Exclude
Count as dropped
What to expect
Switching to Count as dropped may:
Decrease Top 3 / Top 10 counts
Show more negative movement
Reveal previously hidden ranking losses
Switching to Exclude will:
Smooth out fluctuations
Remove OTR-related noise from metrics
Best practices
Use Exclude for:
Client reporting
High-level trend tracking
Use Count as dropped for:
Internal analysis
Competitive keyword monitoring
Diagnosing ranking losses
If you track mostly Top 20, expect more OTR fluctuations—choose based on how strict you want your reporting to be