Position 21 for all competitive key phrases

[Quinn]

I have a feeling this has been asked before but I couldn't find the answer. Apologies.

My site is in the same position for the most competitive phrases in the niche. #21.

The site has never risen above that position but has remained there for months now even though original content is added every day.

Ceiling? Penalty?

[tedster]

It sounds like a penalty - but I haven't run into one quite like this since the early days of the -30 penalty [webmasterworld.com] and that one faded into the background, no longer showing its characteristics as a fixed position.

Does your site still rank #1 for a search on example.com -- your domain name?

[Quinn]

Yes the site is still #1 for the domain name.

[tedster]

I would look first at link problems - both "unnatural" backlinks and any outbound links on your site that point to potentially bad neighborhoods.