We are often asked whether the SISTRIX Visibility Index is comparable with the key performance figures of other tool providers. We can say this much in advance: No, generally they are not.
In this article, we explain why this is the case and why this does not have to be a bad thing. We also explore the special features of the SISTRIX Visibility Index.
Differences to the Google Search Console
Google Search Console is a free service offered by Google that helps you monitor, maintain, and troubleshoot your site’s presence in Google Search results.
https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/9128668?hl=en
While the aim of the Visibility Index is to measure SEO success, the Google Search Console is an extension of web analytics data, such as from Google Analytics, to web search. You can use it to examine your own website, for example, how many people visit your website using which keywords.
This means that no competitor comparisons are possible. Since you can only analyse your own website with the Google Search Console, you can use it to see whether you are getting more clicks today compared to 4 weeks ago, but not whether your competitor is, perhaps, generating ten times as many clicks.
The ability to compare across competitors is one of the core features of SISTRIX. We show you how well you rank in comparison to your competition. This way, you can assess whether you are currently above, or below average.
The SISTRIX data also differs from the Google Search Console. For the Search Console, Google measures when someone retrieves a Google results page. We, on the other hand, measure the rankings for each keyword, regardless of whether a result is clicked or not.
As a result, Google Search Console results are driven by demand. So, if you are a seller of winter tyres, your graph in the Google Search Console will rise in winter. This is different in the Visibility Index.
If nothing has changed in the rankings, your visibility will remain stable. If someone searches for winter tyres on Google in summer, they would find you as a provider just as good or bad as in winter – because you are equally visible. And this is exactly what you see in the graph of the Visibility Index.
The bottom line is that SISTRIX and the Google Search Console are two different tools with different goals and methods that you can use complementarily for your SEO success.
You can find out more about the differences between SISTRIX and the Search Console in this detailed article.
Differences Between SISTRIX and Other SEO Suites
SISTRIX is a comprehensive SEO tool with which you can extensively measure and control your success in the Google search results. In 2008, we were the first SEO tool to start calculating an index value for the visibility of a domain in Google’s search results.
Besides SISTRIX, there are also several other SEO tools available today. However, the calculation methods and especially the underlying data basis differ, so that the data can lead to wrong decisions. Furthermore, a direct comparison of key figures and their development over time is not possible between different SEO tools.
The providers Ahrefs and Semrush, for example, do not report visibility, but rather organic traffic. Similar to the Google Search Console, you can draw completely different conclusions with these figures than with the SISTRIX Visibility Index.
Furthermore, they differ from SISTRIX in their European coverage – in terms of data, but also in terms of European data protection standards..
Tools for Individual Areas of SEO Work
Aside from all-round SEO suite solutions, there are also various providers that offer tools for different areas of daily SEO work.
Screaming Frog, for example, is a crawling tool that helps with onpage optimisation, Ubersuggest a tool for keyword research and Similarweb a tool specifically for website performance statistics. We also offer a comprehensive tutorial on keyword research using SISTRIX tools and data.
Nevertheless, we want SISTRIX to support you in your entire workflow. From keyword research to competitor analysis, to onpage testing up to the Content Planner. With reliable, comprehensible data for the targeted management of search engine optimisation.
