Build a Custom SEO Tool with the Google SERP API

In this tutorial we'll build a minimal rank tracker that polls Google SERP daily and stores positions in SQLite. By the end you'll have a working tool you can extend into a full SEO product.

What we're building

• A Python script that fetches Google search results for a list of keywords
• Stores rank positions in SQLite with a timestamp
• Generates a simple report showing rank changes week-over-week

The Google SERP endpoint

GET /search?q=<keyword>&country=<cc>&num=10

Returns structured JSON with organic results, featured snippets, People Also Ask, and related searches. No HTML parsing required.

Step 1: Set up the database

import sqlite3
db = sqlite3.connect("ranks.db")
db.execute("""
  CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS ranks (
    keyword TEXT, domain TEXT, position INTEGER, captured_at TEXT
  )
""")

Step 2: Fetch and parse

import requests

def fetch_rank(keyword: str, domain: str) -> int | None: r = requests.get( "https://google-serp-by-helix-api.p.rapidapi.com/search", headers={ "X-RapidAPI-Key": "YOUR_KEY", "X-RapidAPI-Host": "google-serp-by-helix-api.p.rapidapi.com", }, params={"q": keyword, "num": 100} ) results = r.json()["data"]["organic_results"] for i, result in enumerate(results, 1): if domain in result["link"]: return i return None # Not in top 100 ```

Step 3: Track over time

Run this script daily via cron or GitHub Actions, and you'll quickly have a rank history dataset that rivals paid SEO tools costing $200+/month.

The full code is on our GitHub examples repo.