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Keyword Monitoring Guide

Keyword Monitoring goes beyond basic uptime checks by verifying that your website content is displaying correctly and contains expected text, ensuring content integrity.

What is Keyword Monitoring?​

Keyword Monitoring takes HTTP monitoring one step further by actually reading your web pages to make sure they contain the right content. Think of it as having someone who not only checks that your website loads, but also reads it to verify everything looks correct.

This intelligent monitoring combines all the HTTP monitoring features you need with smart content analysis that ensures specific text appears on your pages exactly as it should, alerts you immediately when important content disappears or changes unexpectedly, confirms that critical information like prices, contact details, and calls-to-action are displaying properly, and detects when pages get corrupted or fail to load their content completely.

Key Features​

✅ All HTTP Monitoring Features​

You get everything from basic HTTP monitoring built right in - URL availability checking to ensure your site is reachable, response time measurement to track performance, HTTP status code validation to catch server errors, daily automatic SSL certificate monitoring to prevent security warnings, and support for custom headers and request bodies for API testing.

✅ Keyword/Phrase Detection​

This is where keyword monitoring really shines. We can monitor for specific text strings that must appear on your pages, offer both case-sensitive matching (for exact brand names) or case-insensitive matching (for general content), support multiple keyword monitoring per page so you can check several important elements at once, and include regular expression support for complex text pattern matching.

✅ Content Change Notifications​

Sometimes your website loads fine but something important has changed or broken. We send immediate alerts when expected content disappears from your pages, detect unauthorized modifications that might indicate hacking or defacement, monitor for page corruption where content fails to load properly, and track how your content changes over time to help you understand normal vs. concerning patterns.

✅ Advanced Text Validation​

Beyond basic presence checking, we help you verify that prices and product information display correctly on e-commerce sites, monitor legal disclaimers and policy pages to ensure compliance requirements are met, check that contact information remains accurate and up-to-date, and ensure promotional content like sales banners and special offers are showing when they should be.

Setup Process​

Step 1: Basic HTTP Configuration​

Standard Fields:

  • Name: Descriptive monitor name
  • URL: Full HTTPS URL to monitor
  • Check Interval: Monitoring frequency
  • Monitor Type: Select "keyword"

Step 2: Keyword Configuration​

Keyword Settings:

  • Search Text: Exact phrase to find
  • Case Sensitivity: Match exact case or ignore
  • Match Type: Contains, equals, or regex
  • Required/Optional: Fail if missing vs. informational

Step 3: Choose Check Intervals​

Same as HTTP Monitoring:

  • Free Plan: 10min, 20min, 30min, 1hr
  • Premium Plan: 1min, 5min + all free intervals

Use Cases​

1. E-commerce Product Monitoring​

Monitor For:

  • Product availability ("In Stock")
  • Pricing accuracy ("$99.99")
  • Promotional messages ("50% Off")
  • Shipping information ("Free Shipping")

Example Setup:

Name: Product Page - iPhone 15
URL: https://store.com/iphone-15
Keywords: ["In Stock", "$799", "Free Shipping"]
Interval: 10min

2. Content Integrity Monitoring​

Monitor For:

  • Copyright notices ("© 2024")
  • Legal disclaimers ("Terms of Service")
  • Contact information ("+1-555-0123")
  • Security badges ("SSL Secured")

Example Setup:

Name: Homepage Content Check
URL: https://mycompany.com
Keywords: ["© 2024 MyCompany", "Contact Us", "SSL Secured"]
Interval: 20min

3. API Response Content Monitoring​

Monitor For:

  • Success messages ({"status": "success"})
  • Data presence ("users": [...])
  • Version information ("api_version": "v2")
  • Health indicators ("healthy": true)

Example Setup:

Name: API Response Validation
URL: https://api.myapp.com/health
Keywords: ["\"status\":\"healthy\"", "\"version\":\"2.1\""]
Interval: 5min (Premium)

4. Security and Defacement Detection​

Monitor For:

  • Absence of malicious content
  • Presence of security headers
  • Proper authentication flows
  • Unauthorized modifications

Example Setup:

Name: Security Content Check  
URL: https://mycompany.com/login
Keywords: ["Login", "Secure Login", "Privacy Policy"]
Fail Keywords: ["hacked", "defaced", "malware"]
Interval: 5min (Premium)

Advanced Configuration​

Multiple Keywords per Monitor​

Keyword Types:

  • Required Keywords: Must be present (fail if missing)
  • Optional Keywords: Track presence (informational)
  • Forbidden Keywords: Must not be present (fail if found)

Regular Expression Support​

Common Patterns:

# Price monitoring
\$[0-9]+\.[0-9]{2}

# Email addresses
[a-zA-Z0-9._%+-]+@[a-zA-Z0-9.-]+\.[a-zA-Z]{2,}

# Phone numbers
\+?1?-?\(?\d{3}\)?-?\d{3}-?\d{4}

# Version numbers
v\d+\.\d+\.\d+

Case Sensitivity Options​

  • Case Sensitive: "iPhone" ≠ "iphone"
  • Case Insensitive: "iPhone" = "iphone" = "IPHONE"

Monitoring Results​

Content Validation Dashboard​

Key Metrics:

  • Content Availability: Keyword detection success rate
  • Change Timeline: When content was modified
  • Response Performance: Combined HTTP + content check time
  • Content History: Track keyword presence over time

Alert Types​

Alert Scenarios:

  • Missing Required Keywords: Critical content disappeared
  • Forbidden Keywords Found: Unwanted content detected
  • Content Changes: Important text modifications
  • HTTP + Content Failures: Combined connectivity and content issues

Best Practices​

1. Choose Meaningful Keywords​

  • Specific and Unique: "Free 2-Day Shipping" vs "Free"
  • Stable Content: Avoid frequently changing text
  • Critical Information: Focus on important business content

2. Balance Sensitivity​

  • Too Strict: Minor content changes cause false alerts
  • Too Loose: Important issues might be missed
  • Test Keywords: Verify detection works as expected

3. Strategic Placement​

  • Above the Fold: Content visible without scrolling
  • Static Elements: Headers, footers, navigation
  • Key Messages: Value propositions, calls-to-action

4. Combine with HTTP Monitoring​

  • Layered Monitoring: HTTP availability + content integrity
  • Comprehensive Coverage: Technical and content issues
  • Faster Detection: Multiple validation layers

Troubleshooting​

Common Issues​

1. Keywords Not Found (False Positives)

  • Check for dynamic content loading (AJAX)
  • Verify case sensitivity settings
  • Ensure keywords are in rendered HTML
  • Check for content behind login walls

2. Too Many False Alerts

  • Use more specific keyword phrases
  • Implement case-insensitive matching
  • Monitor stable content areas only
  • Add delay for dynamic content

3. Performance Impact

  • Content checking adds 1-2 seconds to response time
  • Use longer intervals for content-heavy pages
  • Focus on key pages rather than entire site

4. Dynamic Content Issues

  • Modern websites use JavaScript loading
  • Keywords may load after initial page render
  • Consider monitoring API endpoints instead
  • Use HTTP monitoring for JS-heavy pages

Advanced Features​

Content Change Tracking​

Track Changes:

  • When keywords appeared/disappeared
  • Content modification timeline
  • Before/after comparisons
  • Change frequency analysis

Multi-Language Support​

  • Monitor content in multiple languages
  • Unicode and international character support
  • Region-specific content validation
  • Localized keyword sets

Integration with Notifications​

  • Immediate Alerts: Critical keyword failures
  • Daily Summaries: Content change reports
  • Weekly Reports: Content stability metrics
  • Custom Webhooks: Integrate with your systems

Getting Started​

  1. Start with HTTP Monitoring to ensure basic availability
  2. Identify Critical Content to monitor for keywords
  3. Set Up Test Keywords to verify detection works
  4. Configure Notifications for content changes
  5. Review and Refine keyword accuracy over time

Upgrade Options​

  • Advanced Page Monitoring: Full page analysis + performance
  • Email Domain Monitoring: Email infrastructure health
  • API Integration: Programmatic monitor management
  • Premium Features: 1min/5min intervals, POST/PUT/PATCH methods

Need Help?​

  • HTTP Monitoring Guide: Learn the basics first
  • Advanced Page Monitoring: Comprehensive analysis (Premium)
  • API Documentation: Programmatic setup
  • Support: Contact us for keyword configuration help