Order of words in search

does it matter

[graywolf]

I am getting referals from google for

Big Company Red Widget

When I go to google and check, I am number number 2. The company who is above me has the product listed as Big Company Red Widget on my site have it listed as Red Widget by Big Company. Does the order of the words have anything to do with lower ranking?

(I know i shouldn't be complaining about being number 2 I'm just curious)

[Quinn]

In a word...yes.

[JayC]

Yes, having the words on the page in the same order as in the search query does help. But that doesn't mean that changing the order of those words in that description will move you up, since so many other factors are involved in ranking as well. Right now, though, the best thing would probably be if you could have the words in the "correct" order in the title of that page, not just in body text.

And of course you have to keep in mind that some people will search for "Red Widget Big Company," and you don't want to lose any traffic from that either.

[fathom]

Adding to that - yes - with a twist.

With the most competitive term totally agree, however, all rankings are not created equal.

example: Big Company >> Red Widget

Big Company would likely not be very competitive at all and therefore from a ranking perspective not normally required on a "high interest" page... better used on some support page (since "by name" only people knowing you would ever use your company name - like an existing customer who forget the URL).

Red Widget vs Red Widgets

Widgets (any kind) is likely more competitive than Widget (any kind)since search habits reflect comparative shopping habits... the searcher doesn't normally want to be "stuck" with one widget they want to compare. (although results brings up many singular "widget" the mindset is "many selections at one place".

So:

Red Widgets > Widget... and whatever else that makes the title appealing.

The out of order Red Widget would likely achieve a higher ranking than an out of order Red Widgets.

[Brett_Tabke]

Yep, the "order of words" is known as search proximity.