SEARCH TESTER Quick Start Guide + Google Ranking Keyword Cheat Sheet ======================================================= WHAT IT DOES ------------ Search Tester helps you check whether your website appears in Google search results for a keyword you choose. When it finds your site, it can open the result, inspect the page, and follow internal website links if guided browsing is enabled. This is a visibility and site-browsing diagnostic tool, not a promise of higher Google rankings. QUICK START ----------- 1. Open Search Tester on your Windows PC. 2. Under Search engine URL, leave https://www.google.com unless you want to test a different supported search engine. 3. Enter your website in Target URL (example: yourbusiness.com). 4. Enter a search phrase in Search keywords (example: event AV technicians Orange County). 5. Choose whether to use Incognito browsing and Auto-interact: guided site browsing. If guided browsing is on, Max site pages per run limits the number of distinct pages visited ON YOUR WEBSITE; it is not the number of Google results pages to scan. 6. Click Run Test. Watch the Status and Test Log for what was found. 7. Click Stop if you need to end the session. CHROME AND THE SECOND BOOKEDAV BROWSER -- IMPORTANT -------------------------------------------------- * Chrome may briefly open and close while the program checks its installed version. Avoid using your mouse and keyboard during startup and initial search entry. Once the searches are running, you can minimize Chrome and use your PC normally. * Clicking Run Test also starts a flashing yellow, 30-second countdown. The SECOND Chrome window (currently used for a BookedAV ranking check) opens automatically when that timer finishes. * KEEP THE BOOKEDAV / SECOND BROWSER OPEN. Closing it stops the Search Tester session, including your main search. Minimize it if you like; just do not close it while the session is active. * BookedAV is the current secondary search target. A future update may change the second browser's target or purpose. * If Google asks for verification, complete it manually when appropriate. ChromeDriver errors or site loading problems may interrupt a run. IF GOOGLE CANNOT FIND YOUR SITE ------------------------------- Do not assume your website is missing from Google just because one keyword search did not find it. Results differ by keyword, location, search settings, and time, and your site may rank beyond the pages scanned. Try progressively more specific search phrases: BROAD: AV technicians LOCAL: AV technicians Orange County TARGETED: corporate AV staffing Orange County CA VERY LOCAL: AV technician staffing Anaheim California BRANDED: corporate AV staffing Orange County YourBusinessName DOMAIN: YourBusinessName yourbusiness.com Suggested approach: 1. Start with a specific service + city or county. 2. Add your business name if the service-only phrase does not find your site. 3. If needed, add your actual domain to the phrase as a discovery check. 4. Watch the Test Log to see if your result is found and which page it is on. 5. As you begin to appear for more targeted, unbranded service keywords, test those phrases on their own and gradually try broader keywords. IMPORTANT: Finding your site with its brand or domain included does NOT mean it ranks for the original unbranded keyword. Keep branded and unbranded results separate when checking progress. GOOGLE SEARCH CONSOLE CHEAT SHEET: FIND KEYWORDS YOU ALREADY APPEAR FOR -------------------------------------------------------------------- Official Google Search Console: https://search.google.com/search-console/ 1. Sign in and select the verified property for your website. 2. In the left menu, open Performance > Search results (sometimes shown simply as Performance). 3. Choose a date range, such as Last 3 months. 4. Scroll down to the Queries tab and the Top queries table. 5. Look for searches that are relevant to your services and location. 6. Check their Impressions, Clicks, and (if enabled) Average position. 7. Copy a promising query EXACTLY into Search Tester's Search keywords box. 8. Run the test and compare what Search Tester observes with Search Console. WHAT 'TOP QUERIES' MEANS ------------------------ Top queries are search terms for which Google has shown your site in search results (impressions), and sometimes received clicks. They are excellent starting points because Google is already associating your site with those phrases. However, they do NOT guarantee that a live search will find your site near the top or within Search Tester's available result pages. Results may vary by location, device, personalization, and date. KEYWORD FORMULA / MINI CHEAT SHEET --------------------------------- [service] + [city] [service] + [county or region] [specific specialty] + [customer need] + [city] [business name] + [service] [business name] + [domain] (branded/domain discovery only) Examples: AV technicians Orange County live event audio technician Irvine video production crew Anaheim AV staffing for corporate events Orange County YourBusinessName AV services Prefer accurate, relevant phrases a real customer would type. Keep a list of the terms you tested and whether the site was found, including any branded wording used. Do not treat a result from one location as a universal ranking. BOOKEDAV CHECK (CURRENT VERSION) -------------------------------- The second Chrome window performs a separate BookedAV Google visibility check using one of the program's predefined keywords. It checks up to 7 Google result pages for the original keyword. If no matching result is found, it tries the same keyword with 'bookedav' added, checking up to 7 result pages again. A branded retry is NOT an unbranded ranking result. If a Google result leads to BookedAV, the program may scroll/inspect the site. Leave this second browser open while the session is running. UPDATES ------- Use Check for Updates inside Search Tester to see whether a newer release is available. Automatic installation for the distributable Windows .exe requires a correctly published, verified update from the official release repository. Do not download random replacement executables or Python files from unofficial sources. The BookedAV second-browser behavior may change in a future version. PLEASE USE RESPONSIBLY ---------------------- This tool was created and shared for FREE. Please do not abuse it. Use it for reasonable website visibility checks, not mass automated searches, traffic inflation, ranking manipulation, or overloading search engines and other websites. Respect website terms, security checks, and rate limits. Remember: Search Tester is a diagnostic aid. Building genuine search visibility still depends on useful content, a healthy website, and relevant real-world search demand.