Issue Nº 1 · Vol. 1 · London
Tuesday 30 April 2026 · Established 2026 · Price · Nil

A diagnostic platform, in plain English

Tools for
people who
do search
for a living.

Search Principle is a diagnostic platform for Google Ads and SEO practitioners — built by people tired of dashboards that mistake activity for insight.

No password. 10 free keywords forever.

▲ Live Rank Tracker · in the workshop today. Three more tools on the press.
app.searchprinciple.com / rank-tracker
Refreshed 06:01 GMT
Tracking · 7 keywords · UK · daily Δ 7 days · ▲ 4 movers
shopify cro audit #7 ▲ 11
liquid theme developer #14 ▲ 3
shopify plus partner uk #9 — 0
technical seo audit london #22 ▼ 4
Next check in 23h 58m View all 7 →
Built on infrastructure that doesn't apologise
☁︎Cloudflare Workers 𝓢Stripe billing ⌗DataForSEO 𝓒Clerk auth · SOC 2 𝓓D1 · edge-native
01
Editorial · the case, briefly

A note from the founders.

By Hamza M.
April 2026

Most SEO tools are built for selling SEO tools. They optimise for screenshots in proposals, not decisions on Monday mornings. We've been on the receiving end of that for a decade, and we'd like to stop.

Search Principle is the platform we wished existed when we started agencies — light enough to open ten times a day, opinionated enough to tell you what's actually moving, and priced like software rather than a salary. A diagnostic, not a deck.

We're starting with the Keyword Rank Tracker because rankings are the most lied-about metric in the trade. Then we'll add the Audits, the Keyword Research, and the Shopping Feed work. Every tool unlocks for everyone — your plan defines the limits, not the toolset.

— Filed from London · still very much in beta

02
The workshop · current inventory

One tool live. Three on the press.

Updated weekly
No vapourware
Live · today

Rank Tracker
that tells the truth.

Live Google SERPs, watched daily, cached for cost. See your position and — more importantly — the nine results above it.

  • Daily check, hourly on Pro
  • Live SERP preview (top 100)
  • Position history, sparkline trends, distribution
  • Competitor tracking · top 20 per term
  • Mobile + desktop SERPs
  • UK, US, EU, AU locations
Start free · 10 keywords →
Q2 · 2026

SEO Audit.

A diagnostic crawl that prioritises by revenue impact, not by impressing a CMO.

  • One-page report, not 400
  • Severity ranked by traffic loss
  • Core Web Vitals, indexation, schema
Notify me at launch →
Q3 · 2026

Keyword Research.

The terms you should be tracking. Not 50,000 of them — the ones with revenue attached.

  • Intent-classified, not volume-sorted
  • Commercial value estimation
  • Gap analysis vs. tracked competitors
Notify me at launch →
Q4 · 2026

Shopping Feed Audit.

For Google Shopping practitioners. Catches the feed errors that quietly kill ROAS.

  • GMC disapproval pattern detection
  • Title and image quality scoring
  • Schema and GTIN coverage
Notify me at launch →

Every tool we ship lifts the same single plan you're already on. No "Audit add-on", no "Research bolt-on", no enterprise sales call. Your limits scale with the plan — the toolset doesn't.

03
Method · three steps, roughly

From signup to signal in ninety seconds.

No card
No salescall
i

Drop your email.

We send a one-tap magic link. No password to forget, no security questions about your first pet. You're inside in twenty seconds.

Step · 0:00 to 0:20
ii

Add ten keywords.

Paste them in, one per line. Pick a location. Pick a device. We start watching them within thirty seconds and check daily after that.

Step · 0:20 to 1:00
iii

Read the diagnosis.

See the live SERP. Read the trend. Watch the competitors. Catch the algorithm-update moment when half your portfolio shifts at once.

Step · 1:00 onward · daily
04
The lead feature · Rank Tracker

A position is a number. A SERP is the story.

Backed by DataForSEO
Cached on Cloudflare D1

See the
whole page,
not just the rank.

Knowing you rank #7 isn't the answer. Knowing who outranks you, with what title, and on which intent — that's an answer.

  • 01 Live top-100 SERPs. Pulled from real Google results, not estimated. UK, US, EU and AU locations included on every plan.
  • 02 28-day history, sparkline trends. 365 days on Pro, three years on Agency. Spot algorithm updates the moment they bite.
  • 03 Top-20 competitor tracking. Watch the same SERP fight unfold every day. Identify rising rivals before they sit at #2 permanently.
  • 04 Mobile + desktop, side by side. Because they're different SERPs, not the same SERP at a different width.
Start tracking 10 keywords · free →
05
Manifesto · five things we believe

What we will, and won't, be doing.

Take them or
leave them
№ 01

We will not build a "keyword universe".

You have maybe two hundred keywords that matter. The other forty-nine thousand, eight hundred are industry padding. We'll help you find your two hundred and watch them like a hawk.
№ 02

Position number is the worst single number in SEO.

Ranking #4 for one query and #4 for another can mean a tenfold difference in clicks. We show position alongside the actual page, the intent, the competitor mix, and the SERP features. Numbers without context are decoration.
№ 03

Pricing should be boring.

Three plans. Public prices. No "contact sales", no per-seat games, no annual discount that's actually a hostage situation. You can self-cancel in two clicks. The Stripe portal does it for us.
№ 04

Every new tool is free for existing customers.

When SEO Audit ships, it's already on your plan. When Keyword Research ships, ditto. The plan is the contract. If we can't add new tools without raising prices, we shouldn't ship them.
№ 05

If you're not using it, you shouldn't be paying for it.

We email you if your usage drops below 10% of your plan for two consecutive months. We'll suggest the cheaper plan. This sounds suicidal for an SaaS; we think it's the only honest thing to do.
06
Letters to the editor · early users

From the first ones in.

Unedited
Permission granted
★★★★★

"Finally, an SEO tool that doesn't make me feel stupid for not wanting 47 features. The rank tracker is the rank tracker — and it's the one I open every morning."

M
Maya R.
Solo SEO Consultant · Brighton
★★★★★

"I cancelled Ahrefs for this. I still use Ahrefs for research, but for daily rank-tracking across 80 client keywords, Search Principle is just better — and cheaper."

D
Daniel A.
Agency Owner · Manchester
★★★★★

"The SERP preview alone is worth the £12. I'd been guessing what Google was actually showing my prospects — now I just look. Stupid that this is novel."

T
Tomás H.
Head of Growth · Madrid
07
Subscription · three plans, public prices

Pick your altitude.

All prices GBP
VAT added if applicable

Pricing plans are loaded from the app-managed Pricing Plans source. Open the app or refresh shortly if plans are unavailable.

08
Frequently asked · honest answers

Questions, in the order you asked them.

Missing one?
hello@searchprinciple.com
What if I run out of keywords mid-month?

You'll see a clear prompt to upgrade — but nothing is auto-charged. You can also remove existing keywords to free up slots without losing the historical data; we keep it for 30 days even if a keyword is removed.

How is this different from Ahrefs or Semrush?

It isn't, in the same way a scalpel isn't different from a Swiss Army knife — except in price, focus, and how often you reach for it. We don't do backlinks, content gap analysis, or PPC management. We do one thing very well, and we charge accordingly.

Can I cancel any time?

Yes, in two clicks via the Stripe portal. Your access continues until the end of the period you've already paid for. There's no exit interview, no "are you sure?" gauntlet, and no annual contract unless you specifically ask for one (and even then you can cancel mid-year for a prorated refund).

Do prices include VAT?

UK VAT (20%) is added at checkout where applicable. EU buyers may have local tax obligations handled at checkout — Stripe takes care of the validation. Rest of the world: no UK VAT, your local tax rules apply.

Will future tools cost extra?

No. Every tool we build (SEO Audit, Keyword Research, Shopping Feed Audit, and whatever else we decide to ship) is included in your existing plan. Limits scale with the plan, not the tool count. If we ever break that promise, you can downgrade or cancel that day.

Where is my data stored?

In Cloudflare D1 — an edge-native database located in the region closest to you. Card data lives with Stripe, never on our servers. Auth tokens are issued by Clerk, who handle SOC 2 and the security audit theatre on our behalf. We don't sell, share, or train models on your tracking data.

Is there an API?

Yes — but only on the Agency plan, with a 10,000-request daily allowance. Free and Pro can export to CSV any time. We deliberately don't open an API on cheaper plans because integrations become a support black hole.

The work starts when you do

Ten keywords.
Zero excuses.

You can have your first keyword being tracked by Google before your kettle finishes boiling. We've timed it.

No card. 10 keywords on the house.