I wouldn't use it as my main rank checker, but webmaster tools is still a good way to identify improved ranking opportunities within Google.

Plus, I would say Google's suggested rank isn't any further off than a lot of the other tools out there. And now with customized search results and geo graphic search results what I see may not be what you see.

Hope that helps.

I read here on WF that if you don't log out from your Webmaster account Google gives you a higher ranking when you do a search check on your main keywords.

For example, you might have a page 1 ranking in Google when you are still logged in your Webmaster account, and a page 2 ranking when you are logged out.

Or do I have this wrong?

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I use Webmaster tools quite a bit. I'm not sure how accurate it is, but I like that it shows impressions and clicks for my keywords.

Also, per the comment about your pages showing higher when you're logged into your google account, you can select the option at the bottom of the page for "View customizations" and select "see this page without customizations" to see your position as anyone else would.

Thanks,
Adam

I've seen many SEO experts use Google webmaster as a rank checker.

Still the best and accurate way for me is to search it manually.