Why does the order of the keywords affect my SERP? And what can I do to improve?

[NickHatster]

Hi all,

So, if you google "london life coach" my site appears #2 (www.nickhatter.com)

But if you google "life coach London" my SERP seems to fluctuate between #3 up to #6.

If you google "life coach in London" my SERP is a solid #2/3.

I don't get it all. Would someone care to explain?

Also, if you have any tips on how I might improve the EAT of my website please do feel free to weigh in!

Many thanks,
Nick

[Chris.Menke]

Nick,

It's kind of a head smacker when you think of it.  It makes sense that the order of the words in the query would make a difference in ranking. Different orders may mean different things. Also, since google is trying to match the searcher's words to potential websites that satisfy the searcher's intent, the order of words on a website definitely a site's ranking for specific keywords.  Those these may be only subtle differences between  site's copy, but still, someone has to rank at the top for a particular order and someone still has to rank at the bottom for that same order.   It's the algorithm.

[Vanderlindemedia]

I have the same going on with one particular keyword. The best way is to get a good link for that keyword thats having a lower or different ranking then the other keyword. Then it should be solved.

[willcritchlow]

The answer Google would like you to believe is that it's possible for the word ordering to imply different intents. In reality though, I think it's mainly an artefact of them not fully understanding meaning, or not being able to classify all pages and keywords perfectly.

My colleague Sam Nemzer wrote a post with research on this topic that you might find interesting.