Keyword ranking by word order

[Cistrust.com]

If we have a keyword with 2 words like "SSL Audit". Will it rank in the same position the other way "Audit SSL" ?

[TimKelsey]

Hi Reda,

Not exactly. Google doesn't determine rankings just by looking at how well optimized a site is for individual words. They look at many other factors both on and off the site, so it's really hard to say why you're ranking slightly higher for one.

To be honest, I wouldn't stress over individual keyword rankings too much. You'll end up driving yourself insane. With so much personalization in search results today, what you see in search results isn't necessarily what someone else will see. I think its better to look at overall trends and just make sure you're moving in the right direction.

Tim

[Cistrust.com]

Hi Tim,

I see your point and thank you very much for your assistance with that matter. So, does my position in google: 38th for "audit ssl" and 44th for "ssl audit" imply that "audit" is ranked better than "ssl" ?

Reda

[TimKelsey]

Hi Reda,

Not necessarily. In most cases, switching the word order like that will return similar, but not exactly the same, results. Take a look at these searches:

• https://www.google.com/search?pws=0&q=ssl+audit
• https://www.google.com/search?pws=0&q=audit+ssl

The Top 10 basically contains the same pages for both searches but they appear in a slightly different order. So if you're ranking well for one keyword, chances are you'll be ranking well for the re-ordered phrase but you might not be in the exact same position.

Hope this helps

Tim