Why? Keyword ranking on Google go under and down regularly

[AdvanceSystems]

I have a group of keyword that constantly move within the Google SERP.

One week they are in the top 3 spots the next they fall down to position 7+ (in some cases they even fall 20 places) then after this they eventually go back to their most regular position within the top 3 spots.

Can anyone please explain why this keep happening?

[alsvik]

Hi there. Sorry for late reply. Been busy

Answered from ipad - so structure was totally messed up in my reply. Sorry!

From SeoConsult.com:

"But it’s not until a recent study was conducted by SEO Moz that we realised just how much fluctuation was happening on a daily basis. On average 80% of SERPS (Search Engine Results Pages) that were tracked changed every 24 hours over a period of 30 days. Granted most of these changes were small (1 or 2 positions) but for someone who is on page 1 for their favourite keyword this can have a big effect, everyone knows there’s a huge difference from position 1 to position 3. 4 out of 5 SERPS change every day which shows just how dynamic the ranking game has become in 2012."

This sounds like normal fluctuation, but what you describe is more than that. I have not seen this myself, but perhaps everybody is working hard at SEO - hence changes are ongoing:

This could be relevant for you:

http://www.seobook.com/rank-modifying-spammers

"So, Google may shift the rankings of your site, in what appears to be a random manner, before Google settles on a target rank"

Is it far fetched to believe that sometimes google "randomise" the fSERP to achieve more biased data to calculate from CTR?. If I had a hard time choosing which page to present for customers I would A/B-test it. Perhaps google is A/B-testing the SERP for your keyword?

By the way : I have keywords changing back and forward from 19 to 39 within a day. But I guess it is very different when it comes to first page SERP.

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Update: During the last week your rankings have been pretty steady for both keywords:

Turnstiles steady at #4-5

Time and attendance Software at #18-19

[AdvanceSystems]

Thanks for the reply:

I do a few things: Track within my SEOmoz campaign account, SEOpowersuite. Then when I manually check I use Google search incognito browser.

The keywords in question are Turnstiles it generally moves around the first 3 top spots of Google then some weeks falls down to position 7. (it's at 7 right now in Google.ie). The other term is time and attendance software (This fell from position 1 to 11).  Again usually hangs around the top of Google.

Your thoughts are welcomed.

[alsvik]

Do you solely track your SERP rankings through SEOMOZ, or do you test these rankings yourself on google?

I LOVE Seomoz-tools, but they have shown not to be quite precise all the time. So if a keyword drops rankings on Seomoz, i always test the SERP # on impersonal.me and ie. rankcheckerace.com.

That said some keywords are very volatile and can change within the hour. Can you post the site+keyword here?