6. DataForSEO: keyword data and rank tracking
Search volumes, rank tracking and competitor data come from DataForSEO, a data provider you pay per use. You use your own DataForSEO account: SEO Control Center adds no markup, and you only pay for what you use.
Connect
- Create an account at dataforseo.com, verify it, and top up credit.
- In the DataForSEO dashboard, open API Access and copy the API login and API password. They are not your website password.
- In SEO Control Center, go to Integrations → DataForSEO, paste both values and click Connect. The credentials are checked for free and stored encrypted.
If the connection is refused, the page shows DataForSEO's reason, for example an account that is not verified yet. Fix it at DataForSEO, then click Test connection.
Costs
What SEO Control Center uses, at DataForSEO's current list prices. Your DataForSEO dashboard shows the exact prices.
| Action | Roughly |
|---|---|
| Keyword metrics (volume, CPC, competition) | about $0.075 per request of up to 1,000 keywords per country, reused for 30 days |
| Rank check | about $0.015–0.02 per keyword and check (top 100 results) |
Examples:
- 100 keywords, checked weekly: about $1.50–2 per week.
- 100 keywords, checked daily: about $10–14 per week.
Competitor tracking costs nothing extra: it uses the results of your rank checks.
Budgets
Integrations → DataForSEO → Budget sets:
- a daily limit;
- a monthly limit;
- a maximum per request.
Before every paid request, SEO Control Center reserves the estimated cost against these limits. A request that would exceed a limit is not sent. The page also shows what was spent today and this month.
Rank tracking
- Open the project → Rankings → Tracking settings.
- Switch tracking on and choose the device (desktop or mobile) and how often to check (daily or weekly).
Checks run in the background. Check now starts one immediately; keywords already checked today are not checked again.
What the Rankings page shows:
- Visibility: your estimated share of possible clicks, weighted by search volume. 100 % means position 1 for every keyword.
- Winners and losers compared with the check about a week earlier.
- History per keyword: click a keyword to see its position chart, the ranking URL, the SERP features and the Search Console clicks for that exact query.