How do i know if my domain has given penalty by Google and why?

[ersaky]

I have problems with my website to google search results. Some of the important keywords frequently and sharply rankings vary a lot lately.

For example;

07-14-2012    Term1     Position #12

07-20-2012    Term1     Position #38

07-24-2012    Term1     Position #10

07-26-2012    Term1     Position #40

I wonder what is the cause of this incident? Is there any Penalties? If there is then how do i know this?

[Audiohype]

Whenever I notice big fluctuations in rankings the first thing I do is note what changes I have made directly to site around the time of the change.

I also check for any recent algorithm changes to see if anything coincides with the drop.

There's an articles on the SEOmoz blog which you may want to look at:

http://www.seomoz.org/blog/identifying-link-penalties-in-2012

[ersaky]

Hi Ben,

I am using Google Webmaster Tools and SeoMoz Tools for tracking and ranking, and also doing it manually. I am using a temp-cleared and unlogged browser for checking results.

On the other hand, this is not a new issue. I have come across with this problem for about 3 months.

[William.Lau]

If you are penalized you would get a notification in Google Webmaster Tools.

Also is you do a site search for your domain, it should come up. If not at all, it might mean it was impacted by Penguin.

[Audiohype]

There could be so many causes for these fluctuations. First off, are you using software to track the rankings or doing it manually?

Note that there's lots of personalisation that can affect rankings such as location, if you're signed in to a google profile and if you have visited the site before. If you were doing this manually these could be affecting the results.

If it's not this then it may have been caused by changes to the site. Have you made any recently?