Why it matters
Most keyword work lives in scattered spreadsheets. The Keywords page keeps your priority keywords, their owned pages, their ranks, and their search-console performance in one place — so the question “is this page winning the keyword we want it to win?” is one click away.Where to find it
In the Slate sidebar, open Insights → Keywords. The module has three tabs:- Overview — a dashboard summarizing how your tracked keywords are performing.
- Keywords — the full list of keywords with filters, search, and bulk actions.
- Alerts — notable rank changes to review. The tab label shows how many alerts are open.
Prerequisites
Connect this before you start so the columns populate correctly:- Google Search Console — required. Powers the clicks, impressions, CTR, and query data behind every keyword.
Step 1: Add a keyword
You can add keywords one at a time or import a list from CSV.Add a single keyword
- On the Keywords tab, click Add Keywords > Add a single keyword. On the Overview tab, the same option is under Add keyword.
- Enter the keyword text — for example,
best crm for agencies. - (Optional) Enter the Primary page URL — the page on your site that should rank for this keyword.
- Leave Track this keyword on, then choose:
- Country (default: United States)
- Device (Desktop, Mobile, Tablet)
- Frequency (Daily or Weekly)
- Click Add & start tracking. With tracking off, the button reads Add keyword.
Import a list
Click Add Keywords > Import from CSV and drop a .csv, .xlsx, or .xls file. Only a keyword column is required. Slate maps your columns, shows a preview, and tracks every row by default (Track all · daily). If the file has Country or Device columns, each row uses its own values. Use two-letter country codes, such asGB.
Step 2: Set up tracking
Each keyword can have one or more tracking targets. A tracking target is the combination of country, device, and frequency that Slate uses to fetch rank. If you turned tracking on when adding the keyword, Slate already created one. To track the same keyword in another country or on another device, import it again with different Country or Device values. In the keyword drawer, Pause stops scheduled checks without deleting the target, Enable tracking resumes them, and Run now checks rank immediately. If a keyword has several targets, pick one from the Market menu first.Step 3: Read the Overview tab
The Overview tab summarizes the last 30 days for your keywords:Step 4: Use the Keywords tab
The Keywords tab is the working list. Three status tabs split your list:- Tracked — keywords with at least one active tracking target.
- All Keywords — every keyword in the workspace.
- Paused — keywords whose tracking targets are paused.
Columns
Select rows with the checkboxes to run bulk actions: Enable tracking, Disable tracking, Change country, Run now, or Delete. Delete permanently removes the keywords and their rank history.
Click Export to download the keywords in your current view with their rank history. Pick a date range and a format (Excel workbook or ZIP of CSVs), click Start export, then download the file when it’s ready.
Step 5: Drill into a keyword
Click any row to open the keyword detail drawer. The header has Run now, Pause (or Enable tracking), and a menu with Refresh volume & difficulty and Archive keyword. Archiving removes the keyword from your list but keeps its rank history. Below the header, pick a date range and country. The drawer then scrolls through:Map a page
On the Your pages card, click Add page. The first page becomes the target page, and later pages become backups. Click Make primary to promote a backup.Map Search Console queries
The Search Console queries card holds the Google searches behind this keyword’s clicks and impressions. Click Auto-map to find matches, then Map to this keyword on each good suggestion. Use Add query to pick queries yourself, Remove query to drop one, and Restore to bring back an ignored query.Step 6: Review alerts
The Alerts tab lists notable changes to your tracked keywords, grouped by day. Once a day, Slate reviews the previous day’s rank checks. It flags, for example, drops of 3 or more positions, lost rankings, and the wrong page ranking. Filter by status (Open, Acknowledged, Snoozed, Resolved, All), severity, or event type. On each alert, click Acknowledge, Snooze (one day), or Create action.Use cases
Catch a ranking drop early
Check the Alerts tab, or click Declined on the Keyword movement card. Open a keyword’s Recent rank checks to decide whether the drop is your problem or Google volatility.Find quick-win refresh candidates
In the Keywords tab, filter to Tracked keywords and sort by Avg rank ascending. Keywords sitting at positions 8–15 with strong impressions are typical refresh wins — small content updates can push them onto page one.Audit which page owns each priority keyword
On the Keywords tab, click Add filter → Target page and choose No target chosen or Different page ranking. Open each keyword and fix the mapping on the Your pages card.Compare your rank against competitors
Open a keyword’s detail drawer and switch to Competitor Rank. SERP Composition shows which page types fill the top 20 results — useful when planning what to publish or refresh.Tips
- Add a keyword without tracking when you’re researching. You can turn tracking on later from the keyword detail.
- Use Run now on a tracking target after a major content update to capture the new rank without waiting for the next scheduled check.
What’s next
- Pages — see how each ranking page is performing across search, AI, and engagement.
- Content Updates — log refreshes so you can attribute rank gains to specific updates.
- AI Visibility — connect a keyword to a tracked AI prompt so the same query is measured in both Google and AI engines.
- Google Search Console integration — set up the source that powers clicks, impressions, and CTR.
- Semrush integration — learn about the source behind volume and difficulty.