Q1: I think your keyword tool is broken. It says I’m at one position, but when I search on TPT, I’m at a different position.

Sometimes a keyword tool glitches. If TPT changes its site, the tool can’t find what it needs, so it shows nothing at all.

But what if the tool says our product is at rank #5, but when we search on TPT we can’t see it? Let’s check a few things.

1. Did we type the exact same keyword with the exact same filters—like grade level?​
Mixing up one letter—“activity” vs. “activities”—creates a whole new list.

If we’re using my keyword rank tool, just click the page number link. It opens the exact TPT search page so we can see the real results right away.

2. Same keyword, same settings, but still different results? TPT might be running an A/B test.

TPT, like any big company, is always trying tiny tweaks to make its search work better.
They run what’s called an A/B test:

• Version A of the search algorithm shows up for most shoppers.
• Version B shows up for a small test group.

After that, TPT checks which version brings in more sales (or whatever they’re measuring).

Here’s how that can confuse us:

1. Our keyword tool visits TPT and looks at page 1 for “TPT Seller.”
2. When the tool lands, TPT randomly hands it Version A, and our Ultimate Bundle sits at rank #5.
3. Later, we open TPT ourselves and search the same keyword. This time TPT hands us Version B, and our bundle is rank #1.

It feels like the keyword tool is “wrong,” but really we’re just seeing two different test versions of TPT’s search.

Q2: What’s the difference between your keyword tool and other keyword tools?

In many ways, every third-party keyword tool is the same.

We all pull the same keyword ideas and the same popularity numbers (how many people search a word) straight from TPT.
(Watch this video to find out how to get that information for free)

We also grab the same ranking spots you could find by hand.

We open the TPT search page for a word, look at each product’s place on the list, and write it down—either on paper or in a database.

Both keyword tools and real people can see different results if TPT sends us Version A of the search algorithm one time and Version B the next.

Other tools take an extra step.

They build a huge list of “popular” keywords and save the top five pages for thousands of words.
That lets them track trends and say things like,
“You show up on page 1 for 27 keywords and on page 2 for 14 keywords.”

Sounds cool, but here’s the problem: not all keywords are equal.

• If we rank on the first page for 100 words no one searches, is that really good?
• What if we rank on the first page for one word with medium traffic that results in more sales?

Which choice makes more money? We can’t always tell.

There’s another challenge.

To track “popular” words, the tool has to pick which words matter.
Their list might not match our niche.​
A tool could say, “You don’t rank for any keywords in our database.”
Yet we might still sell well because our niche is small, the traffic is low, but the teachers who need us love our stuff.

So, the number of keywords that your product ranks for may not mean your product makes money.

Q3: This other tool I’m using says my product ranks for 10 keywords on TPT. Is that good?

The main goal is not to show up for tons of keywords.
The real goal is to land on page one for smart keywords that real teachers search, so we make sales.

First, look at those 10 keywords.
Are they the words we actually want? If they match our keyword plan, then ranking for those 10 words is great.

But if they are 10 random words, ask a new question: How many people search each word?​
If your tool doesn’t show search traffic or “popularity,” ask the tool’s maker to add that data.

Knowing how much traffic the words bring is more helpful than just knowing the count of keywords.
Add up the popularity of keyword 1, keyword 2, keyword 3, and so on to see the total traffic.

Then watch that traffic over time.
If our traffic goes up or down, is it because:

• The words themselves got more or less popular in the last seven days?
• Or did our product appear or disappear from page one for certain words?

Tracking both popularity and ranking helps us find the true answer.

Q4: What’s the difference between the Keyword Rank Tool in the Ultimate Bundle and the PRO Keyword Tool in the membership?

Keyword Rank Tool (TPT Seller Tip 010, inside the Ultimate Bundle)

• Type any search word into the tool, and it shows the products on the first 10 pages of TPT.
• Your own products glow blue. One chosen competitor shows up in red.
• This helps us track where we sit and spot patterns. Do higher-ranked items have more reviews? Are they cheaper? By scanning the list, we can guess how the search system works.

PRO Keyword Tool (inside the membership)

• Does everything the Rank Tool does plus shows how popular each keyword is (when that data is available).
• Includes extra research tools that help you find keywords with high traffic but low competition, giving you live popularity scores so you can find the best targets faster.

Get an Unfair Advantage

Q5: I used to be on page one for a keyword, but now I’m not even in the top ten. What happened?

First, when were you on page one? Was it ten years ago or just last year?

In 2019, TPT switched to a new search system called Algolia.

• If you were number one in 2018, that was before the switch, so the rules are different now.
• Tricks that worked before 2019 often don’t work in 2025.

From August 2022 to April 2023, TPT tested something called “personalized search.”

• Rankings changed a lot during that test, so results from then may not match today.

Next, look at your own store:

• Did you update the product to keep it fresh?
• Did you remove or change important keywords?
• Did you stop running Facebook ads or sending website traffic?

The real question is how do we get our product back on to page one.

I wonder how we can get more sales of that product to start the TPT sales snowball rolling…

(get more recent sales… the algorithm ranks you higher… which helps you get more sales… which helps you rank higher…)

• Can you rank for longer tailed keywords and get sales? (TPT organic search)
• Can you bring your own buyers? (i.e. Email marketing or paid Facebook ads)

What did I miss? Hit reply with your questions or comments!

Cheers,
Mike