Rankings Distribution
Rankings Distribution shows the shape of your search-engine real estate by counting how many distinct queries you rank for in each position band — top 3, 4–10, 11–20, 21–50, 51–100 and 100+. Where Top Queries answers "which queries drive my traffic", this report answers the broader strategic question: "what does my visibility actually look like?". A healthy site doesn't just have a few queries on page one; it has a fat middle that's gradually moving up.
What it measures
- Position band — 1–3, 4–10, 11–20, 21–50, 51–100, 100+.
- Query count — distinct queries whose impression-weighted average position falls in that band over the selected window.
- Impressions — total impressions originating from queries in that band, so you can see how visibility translates into demand.
How we compute it
- For the selected window, we compute each query's impression-weighted average position across the period.
- Each query is then assigned to a position band based on that average.
- Within each band we count the distinct queries and sum impressions.
- Results are presented as a stepped chart so the silhouette of your visibility is immediately readable.
Scenarios you'll see
Healthy site shape: a meaningful number of queries in the 1–3 band, a fat 4–10 band, and clear funnel down. Your top-of-funnel SEO is working.
The 4–10 band is your single biggest pool. Best-leverage opportunity in the report — every query you nudge from position 6 to position 3 disproportionately multiplies clicks per the CTR curve.
Most queries sit in 51–100 or 100+. Means Google sees you as relevant for a wide range of topics but not authoritative for any. Focus on topical consolidation, internal linking, and depth.
Lots of queries in 11–20 (the very top of page 2) but very few in 1–10. A common signal that one or two structural fixes (internal links, intent match, title tags) could promote a wave of queries to page one. See Striking Distance.
Compare to a previous window: counts climbing in every band, with the steepest climbs in 21–50 and 51–100, is the textbook signature of an authority-building phase.
Counts dropping across bands — especially in 51–100 and 100+ — often the first sign of a Helpful Content / quality update impact. Cross-check with Anomalies Snapshot and Content Decay.
What to do with it
- Read the silhouette first: where does your distribution have its centre of mass? That answers "what stage is my SEO actually at?".
- The 4–10 and 11–20 bands are almost always the highest-leverage focus areas — small ranking moves there produce large click moves per the CTR curve.
- Compare the distribution period-over-period to track whether your overall visibility is expanding, compressing, or just shifting bands.
- Pair with Striking Distance (the actionable subset of band 11–20) and Top Queries (the wins in band 1–3).
Caveats & limits
- The bands are computed from impression-weighted averages over the window; a query that bounced between positions 4 and 14 will land in one band based on its weighted average, not every band it touched.
- Anonymised long-tail queries (Google's privacy threshold) aren't visible here, so the 51–100 and 100+ bands undercount your true long-tail footprint.
- Sites with very few impressions will have noisy band counts; the report becomes truly meaningful once you have at least a few thousand monthly impressions.
Related reports
- CTR Curve — companion view: CTR achieved at each rank.
- Striking Distance — the actionable subset of the 11–20 band.
- Top Queries — the wins inside band 1–3.
- Anomalies Snapshot / Content Decay — when distribution shifts need root-causing.