When you run a website or smartphone site, "search rankings" are always on your mind.
Of course, the most important thing is whether the site attracts customers and leads to sales, but in order to be seen by as many people as possible, you can't help wondering where your site ranks when someone searches.

However, did you know that simply searching with your usual browser and search engine won't tell you your accurate search ranking?
"Accurate" is a bit vague, isn't it. What we mean here by an accurate search ranking is the same ranking that your prospective customers see.

The search results you're looking at are "personalized"

There's a term called "personalization."
Simply put, personalization is a feature where the search engine, based on your behavior such as your search history, thoughtfully shows results as if to say, "Isn't this the information you're looking for?" In other words, search results are customized for each individual, and different people see different things.

Think back for a moment.
You probably view your own company's website over and over as a matter of course—so when you search with keywords your site tends to rank for, isn't it always displayed near the top?

Of course, there are cases where you rank highly even without personalization, but what matters is being aware, as you look, that the search engine may be thoughtfully placing you at the top simply because you view it so often.

If you're relaxing and thinking, "Our website always ranks at the top, so we're fine," it may turn out that you were the only one seeing it at the top! That happens fairly often (unfortunately).

The people you want to see your website are your prospective customers, not you, so to know your search ranking you need to search in an environment as close as possible to theirs.

Use Google Chrome's "Incognito Window" to check your search ranking in an environment similar to your prospects'

So the feature we'd like to introduce this time is Google Chrome's "Incognito Window"! (That came out sounding like a TV shopping ad.)

It's very easy to use, yet it lets you check your search ranking in an environment close to that of your prospective customers.

You can do this not only on a computer but also on a smartphone in the same way, as long as you use Google Chrome, so please give it a try. Here are the specific steps (we'll use the computer version as the basis here).

① Launch Google Chrome.
(If you don't have Google Chrome, you can download it for free here → https://www.google.co.jp/chrome/browser/desktop/)

② Click the menu icon in the upper right of the screen.
It's a bit small—it's the icon with three dots stacked vertically.

③ Click "Open Incognito window," the third item from the top of the menu.

④ An incognito window will open, so start your search from there.

With this, you can search in a flat, non-personalized environment that's as close as possible to your prospective customers'.
It only takes four steps, so from now on make a point of using an incognito window.