WordTail: Building a SaaS Keyword Rank Tracker

Overview

Between 2016 and 2019, I co-founded and built WordTail, a SaaS keyword rank tracking platform aimed at mid-market digital agencies and SEO teams. We raised £350k in investment and operated the platform for over 3 years.

The goal was simple: create an affordable, automated keyword tracking tool that wasn't too expensive or complex for growing agencies.

The Problem

When I was running Click Perform, my digital marketing agency, I saw the same problem repeatedly:

Enterprise keyword tracking tools were too expensive. Platforms like BrightEdge and Conductor charged thousands per month. Great for large enterprises, but completely out of reach for mid-sized agencies managing 10-20 clients.

They were too complex. Most enterprise tools included features agencies didn't need - content calendars, social media integration, enterprise reporting. Agencies just needed one thing: accurate, automated rank tracking.

Manual tracking didn't scale. Some agencies were still checking rankings manually or using basic scrapers. This broke constantly as Google changed their systems.

We thought there was a gap in the market for a mid-priced, focused solution. We were partially right.

The Solution

We built WordTail using Django and Python, which gave us:

• Fast development cycles - Django's batteries-included approach let us launch quickly
• Reliable automation - Python's excellent libraries for web scraping and API integration
• Easy scaling - Cloud infrastructure meant we could handle growing data demands
• RESTful APIs - Agencies could integrate our data into their own reporting tools

How It Worked

1. Automated daily tracking - We checked keyword positions across Google search results automatically
2. Multi-location support - Track rankings in different cities, countries, and languages
3. Historical data - Charts showing ranking changes over time
4. Competitor tracking - See who else ranks for your target keywords
5. API access - Pull data into agency dashboards and client reports

We deliberately kept it simple. No content planning. No social media. Just tracking keywords and showing results.

Technical Approach

Architecture

We built a multi-tenant SaaS platform where each agency had their own secure account:

• Django backend handling user accounts, subscriptions, and data storage
• Distributed tracking system running keyword checks across multiple servers to avoid detection
• PostgreSQL database storing millions of ranking data points
• RESTful API allowing agencies to access their data programmatically
• Cloud infrastructure that scaled automatically as we added customers

Key Technical Challenges

Google's anti-scraping measures. Google doesn't want automated rank checking. They change their systems constantly to break scrapers. We had to:

• Rotate IP addresses
• Vary our checking patterns
• Use real browser requests, not simple HTTP calls
• Build systems that adapted when Google changed things

Data accuracy. Rankings vary by location, device, personalisation. We had to:

• Use consistent checking methods
• Account for local results
• Handle personalised results
• Validate data quality

Scale. As we added customers, the number of daily keyword checks grew exponentially. We went from thousands of checks per day to hundreds of thousands.

Business Model

We positioned WordTail as a mid-market solution:

• Subscription pricing - Monthly or annual plans
• Tiered by keyword volume - Pay for what you need
• Agency-friendly - White-label options for client reporting
• No long contracts - Month-to-month to reduce risk for agencies

Pricing was roughly 30-40% of enterprise tools, but significantly more robust than cheap consumer tools.

What We Learned

Product-Market Fit Is Hard

We found customers, but not enough to reach sustainable growth quickly. The mid-market was harder than we thought:

Small agencies couldn't afford us. They still used free tools or manual checking.

Large agencies wanted enterprise features. They'd rather pay more for a comprehensive platform.

The market was crowded. While we launched, several well-funded competitors entered the space with similar positioning.

SaaS Sustainability Requires Scale

To make SaaS profitable, you need:

• Low customer acquisition cost - Ours was too high for mid-market pricing
• High customer lifetime value - Churn was higher than we'd modelled
• Efficient operations - Running keyword checks cost more than expected

We were operationally profitable but couldn't grow fast enough to justify the investment.

Technical Excellence Isn't Enough

We built a reliable, accurate tracking system. Technically, it was solid. But:

• Marketing matters more - We were engineers who underestimated how hard customer acquisition would be
• Differentiation is critical - "Better and cheaper" wasn't enough in a crowded market
• Timing is everything - We launched just as several competitors did

What Worked

Django was the right choice. Fast development, easy maintenance, strong ecosystem. We built features quickly and spent time on the tracking algorithm, not framework problems.

API-first approach. Agencies loved pulling data into their own systems. API customers had much lower churn.

Focusing on agencies, not direct clients. B2B SaaS has better unit economics than B2C.

Results

• 3+ years operation - We kept WordTail running profitably for over 3 years
• £350k investment - Raised from angel investors
• Hundreds of agency customers - Across UK, Europe, and US
• Millions of keyword checks daily - At peak operation
• Valuable experience - Understanding SaaS, product-market fit, and competitive markets

Why We Closed

In 2019, we decided to wind down WordTail:

1. Market consolidation - Larger competitors dominated
2. Customer acquisition costs - Too high for our pricing
3. Opportunity cost - Other projects offered better returns
4. Strategic focus - I was building Vendably, which had better traction

We returned remaining capital to investors and transitioned customers to alternative platforms.

Key Takeaways

If I were to build a SaaS product again, I'd do several things differently:

1. Validate demand first - We built before truly validating the market size
2. Focus on a niche - Target one specific vertical (e.g., e-commerce only) rather than all agencies
3. Invest in marketing early - We spent too much on product, not enough on customer acquisition
4. Watch unit economics closely - Make sure the numbers work before scaling

That said, WordTail was a valuable experience. I learned about:

• Building and scaling SaaS platforms
• The importance of product-market fit
• How to raise investment and work with investors
• When to pivot and when to close

These lessons directly influenced how I built Vendably, which has now operated successfully for 8 years.

Technologies Used

• Django 1.11+ - Web framework
• Python 3.6+ - Backend language
• PostgreSQL - Database
• Redis - Caching and job queues
• Celery - Distributed task processing
• RESTful APIs - Data access
• AWS - Cloud hosting
• Docker - Containerisation

Interested in building a SaaS platform? I offer consulting on Django development, SaaS architecture, and product strategy. Get in touch to discuss your project.