Jungle Scout Rank Tracker Tutorial: Track Amazon Keywords

The quick answer

What is Jungle Scout Rank Tracker?

Jungle Scout Rank Tracker shows where an Amazon product appears for specific shopper searches and how those positions change over time. Track your own ASINs and competitors, compare organic and sponsored ranks, review keyword demand, and annotate important changes. Use the history to decide what to investigate in your listing or advertising—not as proof that any one action caused a ranking change.

Amazon keyword rank vs. Best Sellers Rank: know the difference

Before interpreting the graph, separate two numbers sellers often call “rank.” Organic keyword rank describes where an ASIN appears among unpaid results for a particular search term. Best Sellers Rank (BSR) compares a product's sales performance with other products in an Amazon category. They are not interchangeable.

For example, your washable pad might rank organically at position 13 for “reusable pee pads for dogs” and at position 132 for “puppy pads pet training pads.” Its category BSR is a separate number. The video briefly mixes BSR with search position; Amazon's BSR explanation clarifies why the distinction matters.

How to set up Jungle Scout Rank Tracker

The older video begins with an existing product and a row of tabs. In the newer setup, Jungle Scout organizes tracking through tabs and product groups. Here is a practical way to prepare a clean group before you start interpreting the results.

1. Open Rank Tracker. Sign in to Jungle Scout and find Rank Tracker under Keyword Optimization.
2. Create a tab. Select the plus sign, give the tab a useful name, and choose whether to share it with your team if that option applies.
3. Create a product group. Give the group a descriptive name, such as “Washable Dog Pads – US,” and select the correct Amazon marketplace.
4. Add your products. If your Seller Central account is connected, select your listings. You can also add competitor ASINs without claiming they belong to your store.
5. Choose relevant keywords. Use the option to add related keywords through a reverse ASIN search, and bring in carefully chosen terms from Keyword Scout or Keyword Lists.
6. Complete setup and check back. Ranking data may take time to populate. Once available, review the tracked products and keyword history.

Jungle Scout's official setup instructions also describe adding up to ten competitor ASINs in the additional-products stage, with options to include variants and discover related keywords. These are useful when you want to compare products against the same search terms.

Which Amazon keywords should you track first?

I would not start by adding every term the research tool finds. Build a shorter list around search intent. For a reusable dog pad, “reusable pee pads for dogs” is much closer to the product than the broad phrase “potty pads,” which could describe a different type of item. Tracking unrelated phrases adds noise and may tempt you to optimize for shoppers who do not want your product.

Use Keyword Scout to investigate demand and discover searches that comparable ASINs appear for. I like to keep three groups: primary purchase-intent phrases, closely related variations, and a small number of discovery terms worth testing. If a competitor ranks for a term that accurately describes your product, it can become a candidate—not an automatic instruction to copy that competitor.

If you manage a busy catalog, star the most important keywords to make your weekly review easier. Jungle Scout's starred-keyword feature lets you filter the phrases that deserve attention first.

How to read the Rank Tracker history graph

In the video, Ed opens the washable dog pad listing and shows historical lines for its top ten tracked keywords. Hovering over a line makes it easier to isolate that keyword, while the vertical scale places stronger ranks toward the top. A line moving upward therefore generally signals an improvement in position; one moving downward signals weaker visibility.

The demonstration uses a 60-day view. Jungle Scout still describes 30- and 60-day comparisons on its feature page, while its newer help instructions describe a per-keyword View panel with organic rank, sponsored rank and search-volume history. The available weekly, monthly and longer lookback options depend on your plan and screen.

What do the Rank Tracker table columns mean?

The graph shows direction. The table gives you context for deciding which movement deserves action. Jungle Scout's current column guide distinguishes organic, sponsored and overall positions, plus keyword demand and listing coverage.

Example: reusable dog pads ranking at 13 vs. 132

One of my favorite moments in the demonstration is the contrast between two search terms for the same product. The washable pad appears around organic position 13 for “reusable pee pads for dogs,” but around 132 for “puppy pads pet training pads.” Those are historical examples from the walkthrough, not live rankings for a product today.

The first phrase describes the reusable product much more precisely. The second may include shoppers looking for disposable training pads. It would be a mistake to assume that the second phrase deserves a bigger advertising budget simply because the rank is lower. First ask whether someone searching it is likely to choose what you actually sell.

Also, a numeric position does not map permanently to a specific Amazon results page. Page layouts, ad placements and product counts vary. Use the position as a comparison point across dates, rather than promising that rank 13 always means page one or that rank 132 always means page three.

How to track competitor keywords with Jungle Scout

Rank Tracker is useful before you even have a live listing. As I mention in the video, you can enter a competitor's ASIN, observe the search terms they appear for, and learn which positions they hold. The newer multi-ASIN grouping makes this particularly practical because you can compare related products against a shared keyword set.

Imagine I sell a grill brush. I might research “grill brush,” “bristle free grill brush,” and specific variations that genuinely describe my design. I would add a few competing brushes, then see whether their visibility is concentrated around a particular customer need. The goal is not to copy their title. It is to understand which searches matter in this niche and which of those searches my product can reasonably satisfy.

What does “In Listing,” “Partial” or “Not in listing” mean?

Ed points out a small indicator that can be easy to overlook. A green check means the tracked keyword phrase is present in the listing; Partial means some of its words are present, but not the complete phrase; Not in listing means the phrase is absent according to the tool's check. This is a content-coverage indicator, not a guarantee that Amazon has indexed a keyword or will rank your product for it.

Suppose the phrase is “bristle free grill brush.” Your title might contain “bristle free” in one place and “grill brush” elsewhere. That is relevant language, but it is not the same contiguous phrase. If the full phrase matches what the item is, including it naturally in a prominent location could make the listing easier for a shopper to recognize.

I would prioritize clarity over repetition. A title stuffed with nearly identical keyword variations is harder to read and may introduce claims your product does not support. Choose the most important, relevant wording, explain the product honestly in the bullets, and use available listing fields appropriately. Then monitor what happens instead of changing several major elements at once.

Use annotations to connect ranking changes with your actions

The View Annotations option shown under the graph is one of the most useful habits from the video. When you change your listing, begin a PPC experiment or adjust a budget, record what happened and when. Jungle Scout continues to describe annotations as a way to keep ranking history organized.

For example, I might note: “October 14 — added a clearer product-benefit phrase to a bullet,” or “October 21 — increased exact-match campaign budget.” When I review the graph a week later, I have a reliable timeline rather than a vague memory. Teams can use shared notes to avoid confusing a colleague's edit with a marketplace fluctuation, subject to the access available in their plan.

How often should Amazon sellers check keyword rankings?

In the conversation, I explain that I do not manually inspect every keyword every day. For active products, I generally want to review important rankings at least a few times each week. That cadence makes it easier to notice a developing problem without responding emotionally to every small movement. New launches and active advertising tests may call for closer attention; stable listings may need less.

Here is the repeatable routine I would use for a small product catalog:

1. Start with starred keywords. Review core phrases first; do not let a long list of low-relevance terms dominate your session.
2. Look for sustained movement. Compare recent positions with earlier days and confirm when each value was checked.
3. Separate organic from paid. A sponsored placement can improve while your unpaid position stays flat.
4. Check business context. Look at ad changes, conversion, stock availability, price, reviews and competitor listings.
5. Record one clear next step. Decide whether to monitor, investigate, test or make a justified listing change, then add an annotation.

Keep an eye on profitability too. A top organic position may be attractive, but buying it with unsustainable advertising spend is not the same as building a healthy Amazon business.

Which Jungle Scout plans include Rank Tracker?

Jungle Scout markets its smaller-seller platform as Catalyst. In its published plan comparison, Starter does not include Rank Tracker, Growth Accelerator supports tracking up to 500 keywords, and Brand Owner supports up to 5,000 keywords. These are account-plan allowances, not a promise that every marketplace, tool screen or historical view is identical.

Jungle Scout Rank Tracker FAQs

Final thoughts: track the keywords that matter

A good Amazon listing is not a set-it-and-forget-it project. The real advantage of Rank Tracker is being able to notice which searches bring your product into view, which positions you are losing, and whether a change deserves investigation. Keep the keyword list focused, make notes about meaningful actions, and compare rankings with conversion and profit before making a decision.

For the bigger picture, you can read my complete Jungle Scout walkthrough, which explains how keyword research connects with the rest of an Amazon selling workflow. Track consistently, but always give the numbers a business question to answer.