Patrick Altoft has noticed some changes in the referrer string used for Google natural search results this week which will change the face of position reporting technology. Reported on Blog Storm Altoft analysis the elements of the amended referrer string seen from Google natural search results and points out a variable in the new Google referrer string which indicates the position in the search rankings the website appeared in when the click occurred.

This is major news in the world of SEO as it aids in the tracking an monitoring of search engine positions. Currently specialist tools are utilised for the tracking and monitoring of natural search positions but this change in Google referrer strings could be the beginning of the end for these tools. There is always an element of inaccuracy in position monitoring software due to the various data centres used by Google for serving search results. An update in one data centre means that users of Google would see your website in different positions depending on where and when they search. This issue has been magnified as Google has begun to introduce personalised search results and also the wiki search results for users signed in to Google services. Google has also made a step change recently to less major, more frequent updates to its algorithms which means that smaller variances in search results are more likely, but on a more frequent basis. Add in with this the introduction of universal search elements in sporadic testing stages on various results and the monitoring and predicting of positions has become a minefield and one which many softwares have struggled ot adapt to.

But with the introduction of this variable into the referrer string Google has provided users with a static, standard variable for use in monitoring SEO performance. Regardless of where you are seeing the website today, tomorrow, or yesterday you know exactly where it appeared when that particular click occurred. By including it in the referrer string with a clear indicator Google have also opened the door for analytics packages to begin including the position in their traffic reports. And you can be sure of course, that the Google Analytics team, as well as developers at all other major tracking and analytics tools, will be beavering away to release this functionality imminently.

With all the changes in SEO, and the emergence of universal and personalised search, over the past couple of years, the focus of any most professional SEO experts and companies has moved away from pure positions, and towards traffic volumes and resulting business. This move by Google follows on nicely and in a way is there way of acknowledging that your positions are going to change on a more frequent basis.  Where you see your website will be different to where your customers see it, effectively making the position at any one point in time, unimportant.  What becomes important to know in this ever changing landscape is knowledge of the position it appeared in when a click, ultimately a transaction occurred.

RIP position reporting tools, welcome the new age of SEO reporting.