One of the most significant drawbacks of using a desktop rank tracking app is that you must download it to a computer to start using it. This limits you to using the one device in which you’ve installed the tracker whenever you want to check your keyword movements. If you travel a lot or like to share the data remotely with other people, this can be quite inconveniencing.

Cloud-based trackers on the other hand? A browser and active login details are all you need to access your projects and data.

Want to check how your client’s keywords are faring while out having coffee? No problem! Just sign in to your account using your mobile or PC to view the developments. You can even share the news with your business partner or client using a report link or by sending them your account login information. Desktop rank tracking tools gobble up quite a lot of computing resources, hence the need to invest in a high-performance computer. In most cases, you’re forced to dedicate the PC to this process alone to avoid interrupting it.

So, what happens when you lose the computer or your hard drive crashes?

Well, chances are you will break your rank tracking continuity, or worse lose your historical data. To mitigate such risks, you need to invest in dependable automatic backup services – another expense that can run into hundreds or even thousands of dollars annually depending on the size of your projects.

Cloud-based trackers take away all your data worries by storing your data in the cloud. SEOlium, for example, gives you access to keyword ranking data dating back to several years.

As with most downloadable software, you need to manually update your desktop tracker any time the provider releases a new version. Failure to do this could mean less than accurate results or in worst cases, leave your computer exposed to malware infections.

Cloud-based rank trackers work differently when it comes to software updates. For example, in the case of SEOlium, you probably won’t even know when we implement new changes. Unless it’s a major upgrade, most updates complete discreetly, sometimes multiple times in a week. Quality support is rare on desktop apps. In fact, most of the tools we’ve come across have non-existent support. Couple this with the fact that updates are few and far between, and you’ll see why these apps are almost always a timebomb.

Reputable cloud-based rank trackers invest heavily in customer support. At SEOlium, we offer round-the-clock support and have an on-call engineer to resolve technical issues as soon as they arise. Pricing is one of the few areas where desktop rank trackers beat their cloud-based cousins. Some are even advertised as free, although we recently deconstructed them to show why this impression is not always true!