The AWR units are the resources that come with every available subscription.
Each plan includes a given number of keyword units, calculated considering the volume of ranking updates.
1 keyword unit = 1 keyword updated weekly, on 1 search engine unit* (default update preferences).
*1 search engine unit = 1 search engine, a single device (e.g. Google Desktop, Google Mobile, Yahoo, or Bing).
Each search engine location and device added to the project is counted as a separate SE unit (e.g. Google Desktop + Google Mobile equals to 2 search engine units)
The number of units required for a ranking update is computed using the following factors:
number of actual keywords to be updated
number of search engines added to the project
update frequency or update type (scheduled vs on-demand) selected
Your account unit consumption can be accessed in the Resources section.
What is the difference between manual and scheduled ranking updates?
Manual ranking updates can be triggered from your account at any time. These updates can either be partial (affecting specific keywords or search engines) or applied to the entire project (1-hour, 12-hour, or 48-hour on-demand options).
Scheduled ranking updates are running automatically at a predefined frequency, based on the schedule you select for the project.
When updating a project on the scheduler, the application automatically reserves the keyword units required for a month's time updates:
for daily scheduled projects, a ranking update will be completed each day
for weekly, 4 updates will take place
for biweekly, 2 updates will be completed
for monthly, 1 update will take place.
On the other hand, when running a partial or an on-demand update, the application immediately consumes the resources for that one-time update.
The units for manual updates are reimbursed when the subscription is renewed / the billing cycle is refreshed, while the ones used for scheduled updates will remain reserved as long as the project is on the scheduler.
For yearly plans, the billing cycle is refreshed on the day of the month when the invoice was issued, so this is the date when the units spent for on-demand updates are replenished.
What is the difference between ranking and difficulty updates?
While ranking updates are used to retrieve your keywords’ position on SERPs, difficulty updates assess how challenging it would be for your website to rank for the set of keywords you are tracking. Similar to ranking updates, running difficulty updates requires units from your subscription's available resources, as follows:
2 keyword units = 1 keyword updated for difficulty, on 1 search engine (single device)
Difficulty updates can either be scheduled or triggered manually. Depending on the type of update - scheduled or on-demand - the units are either reserved or replenished when the billing cycle refreshes, just like with ranking updates.
Do you have any other questions? Don’t hesitate to get in touch and we will keep building the FAQ.