Is it always like a roller coaster ride?

[Joshua Sloan]

I've been checking where I rank for certain keywords such as "city real estate" about every other few days in google. Sometimes I rank within the top 50, then the next time I check it, I don't rank at all, then again within the top 50 in a few more days.

Can anyone explain why this is?

[sdhomes]

Different datacenters can show different results.

[Joshua Sloan]

Different datacenters can show different results.

How do you figure out your true ranking then? Or better, how can I make sure my website is always in that top 50?

[coastal]

Once you are on page one in a high position you tend to stay there. This has been my experience but it may just be my small market....

[Deuce]

Same with 'chicago real estate'...

[drewnick]

Boy I can't wait to be near the top - I'm not even ranked yet. That said, does anyone know of software to track your positions?

[ericbramlett]

It was my experience that, when I was hovering around the 50 mark, it would go up & down quite a bit. Think about how many possible positions there are in between you & the #1 spot. If you drop a couple of spots in the top 10 - that means that 1 or 2 sites hopped in front of you. At the 50 mark, there could be 5X that many sites hop in front of you. I never saw myself fall off completely, but I definitely hovered in the 50-70 range.

[coastal]

I actually paid for WebPosition 4 a year ago and still use it to track my stats. I also use a program called LPC (link popularity check) to check my inbounds compared to the rest of my market. I have the #5, #6 and #7 sites

[AaronSOLD]

This is the best tool for checking many DC's at once:

http://www.mcdar.net/dance/index.php

[JennSellsFast]

Drewnick the best tool for web positions is
Keyword Tracker
Set up a free account and check your stats as often as you like.
Its awesome!