WhiteSpark is a rank tracker that takes on a rather interesting approach. Instead of trying to offer a robust, all-in-one rank tracking tool that does a little bit of everything, WhiteSpark hones in one specific aspect of rank tracking and aims to cater to a narrow target audience.
In a market crowded with dozens of rank trackers, the approach WhiteSpark took makes perfect sense. Instead of trying to compete with every rank tracker out there, the company created a tool specifically for local businesses that seek advanced local search capabilities such as citations and reviews.
About WhiteSpark
WhiteSpark isn’t your typical rank tracker. Instead, this tool puts the emphasis on local search and offers advanced capabilities that help businesses that target a specific geographic area get the most out of their SEO efforts.
The tool only does one thing, but it does it well. Through precise local rankings and a variety of features, WhiteSpark gives you valuable insights to help you both understand and improve your local search visibility.
There are two ways to check out the tool before making a commitment and paying the monthly subscription. From WhiteSpark’s homepage, you can either start a free trial or click a preview to get a quick idea of what type of information WhiteSpark provides and how the tool displays it.
At a glance, you can see that the tool provides a pie chart of the ranking distribution for the keywords the business is ranking for (Action Muffler, in the example they provide), as well as the visibility score and keyword progress. You can also select the timeframe you’d like to see the rank changes for, as well as set up various filters and get more insights for each individual query.
Apart from the rankings, the preview shows competitor and keyword comparison, both of which can be incredibly useful for tracking the progress of your SEO campaign and improving your rankings.
WhiteSpark Tools & Features
Given WhiteSpark’s interesting take on rank tracking, we have to slightly deviate from the standard rank tracker review structure we typically stick to.
We’ll be reviewing the different “tools” the company offers and talking about the features/capabilities each of them offers.
We’ve already listed the six different tools users have at their disposal in the section above, so let’s jump right in.
Local Citation Finder
The Local Citation Finder, as one would assume, allows you to find all online mentions of your brand, address, or phone number. The tool lists all of your citations, alongside the links to the domain that is citing you, their domain authority, and the date of each citation.
Whitespark also allows you to discover new citation opportunities. It does so by providing you with a list of citations for your highest-ranking competitors. With a single click, you can reach out to domains that are citing content within your niche and submit your website to gain new citations.
The results are sorted by “submitability” — a variable that’s WhiteSpark’s way of showing you which domains are the most likely to accept your submission and generate new citations for your business.
The tool also includes competitor citation analysis, as well as reporting and tracking features, so you can always stay on top of your citations and take actionable steps towards improving your business’ online visibility.
Local Rank Tracker
We’ve gotten to the meat of things, and the primary reason why anyone would choose WhiteSpark over any other rank tracker — its location tracking tool.
The main features of WhiteSpark’s Local Rank Tracker are:
Geo-location tracking
Competitor monitoring
Keyword segmentation
YouTube and social rankings
Screenshot capturing
White-labeling
Geo-Location Tracking
The Local Citation tracker supports Google and Bing, allowing you to search the results for Local Pack, Local Finder, Maps, and organic rankings.
One thing to note is that the tool will show results for the first five pages of Google and Bing only. If the tool doesn’t show a particular keyword you’re tracking, you’ll have no way of knowing if your business ranks for it under 50, or if it doesn’t rank for that particular keyword at all.
The localization is where WhiteSpark truly shines. The Local Rank Tracker enables you to filter your search and narrow it down to a specific country, city, zip or postal code, or even specific geo-coordinates.
Another thing worth mentioning is that the tool enables you to track from multiple locations to see how you rank in different areas of a particular city, for example. While the tool supports unlimited locations, each of them will count as a separately tracked keyword towards your monthly maximum. The cheapest option allows you to track up to 100 keywords, so you’ll quickly reach the limit if you’re tracking for multiple locations.
Competitor Tracking
This feature allows you to add your top competitors and see how they rank for the keywords you’re tracking.
You can also run a quick comparison report to see how your business stacks against theirs, as you’ll be able to see both your and your competitors’ rankings for every keyword on the list.
Keyword Segmentation
This feature goes a bit beyond simply creating keyword groups and generating separate reports for specific groups for convenience.
It also enables you to see how your rankings differ across each pack type:
Organic
Pack
Local
Maps
This will show you how each keyword is performing in different areas, so you can identify optimization opportunities and take action to improve your overall rankings.
YouTube and Social Rankings
The ability to track how you’re ranking in YouTube search is invaluable for local businesses that heavily rely on promoting their brand and products on the platform and driving traffic from YouTube to their website.
WhiteSpark’s Local Rank Tracker supports these capabilities and shows you how your YouTube videos are ranking in Google and Bing.
Apart from that, it also allows you to see how your brand’s social media profiles are ranking in these search engines. It doesn’t provide any insight apart from the rank itself, such as impressions and engagement, which practically means that this feature simply performs the Google/Bing search for you.
Screenshot Capturing
Another feature of the Local Rank Tracker is screenshot capturing. It’s a simple built-in screen capture tool that allows you to screenshot graphs, charts, and lists, and save them for future reference.
White-Labeling
The Local Rank Tracker allows you to generate fully customizable reports. You can either save them as PDFs or generate a unique URL that you can quickly share with anyone.
While this feature can be useful for agencies working with a lot of clients that want to add their brand’s name, logo, and colors to the reports, we don’t see how it’s relevant for small businesses that are predominantly interested in local rankings.
Unless you’re an agency primarily working with local businesses, you’ll likely just ignore the white-labeling option.
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