Just curious if there is a site that you can go to that will tell you where you rank with Google for certain key words?

Here you go

http://www.searchenginegenie.com/google-rank-checker.html
http://www.googlerankings.com/
http://tools.seobook.com/general/rank-checker/
http://www.mikes-marketing-tools.com/ranking-reports/
http://www.web-ceo-ranking-checker.com/index.htm?source=adsense&kwd=search+engine+ranking

There's a few but there are plenty more. They're not always the exact same because they pull data from different data centers but they'll give you a real close estimate.

Great, not even in the top 1,000...

http://www.google.com/ie?q=Keywords&num=100&hl=en&lr=&btnG=Search

go to that search and replace the word "keywords" with the keywords you are wanting to rank for. You have to have visited your site or page since you cleared your cache last so your site will show a "purple" link since it is a link you have visited. That makes it easy to find your site on the list. You will get 100 results per page in a one line format. Usually it will go 500-800 results deep. The nice thing about this is it isn't an automated link checker program (which Google frowns upon). Its quick and easy and you can bookmark it so you can check every day....

Thanks for the links. Very helpful

Use the ones that compare all of the major search engines at the same time. I check them weekly to see how I am doing in my areas of concern.

i have no affiliation to them what so ever but i have been working with an SEO company that only charges me when i achieve a ranking http://www.rankpay.com has anyone else used them or heard of a similar structure? tell me what you think

These types of search engine positioning companies usually recommend (or accept) a long list of keywords that include general terms and those that on the surface seem to be what searchers may use but in reality are seldom searched for.

These terms are easier to place in top positions than the actual targeted terms used by searchers because there is less competition in the search engines for these terms. The general keywords may send traffic to your site but it is not usually the type of traffic that is looking for what you have to offer.

it actually lets you choose any keyword you want

That is what I meant when I said (or accept). Most people who would hire such a company do not have a clue what a good keyword is - they do not do the actual research to find out what words prospects actually use. They just guess. Positioning companies are happy to accept unresearched keyword lists because they are easy to position. You are happy because you think you have good positions - and they are happy because they make easy money.

I bet almost 100 % of their customers are paying to be optimized for their company name for example. Guess what? there is zero competition for company names - so almost 100% of their clients hand over money for nothing.

Thanks for the link deepsea. That's a nice and easy tool - best I've seen for Google so far. The rankings are off just like the other tools but it gives you a nice starting point.

Its just one datacenter, and it seems to me like its always the same one! You will always find different results in different datacenters, generally a little better!

The most important thing, to me, is that Google frowns on the automated rank checkers because they waste bandwidth. I am not sure how they catch you but if you have the Google toolbar and analytics, I think they must be able to tell if you use the rank checking programs and you will be penalized. Just my guess but that's all anyone has with Google is guesses.

The idea of a Google penalty for using an automated rank checker has sort of morphed into a something it is not as the story was retold and retold over the years. The idea has some basis in fact but it is not what you fear.

The "penalty" results from the overuse of rank checking programs such as Webposition (which reside on your computer and not on the web). Google will block access to your IP to prevent you from searching. That is the "penalty".

There is no website penalty for using rank checkers. So check all you like

They use the tool bar to track where I go on the net but they can't use it to penalize me. If that was the case then my competitors could use the automated rank checkers to look at my sites and get me penalized.