Keyword order and serps

Hi

On google.com my website ranks on page 3 for a set of keywords - x y

but ranks on page 5 when i search for - y x

On google.co.uk the difference is page 4 for x y and page 7 for y x

Why is there such a significant difference regarding SERPS and keyword order?

Thanks

 

There could be various reasons for this difference in rankings:

1. Check out the competition for both the keywords. If "yx" is more competitive as compare to "xy" then you have to do more work to achieve the same rankings.
2. May be your site seems to be more optimized for "xy" as compare to "yx" , try to build some good links with anchor yx.
3. For the country specific optimization, try to get some backlinks from country specific (.co.uk) sites.

 

Your keywords may have a different meaning when the order is changed - this can affect rankings. Also, if your site doesn't include the other word order at all, it won't rank as well as if it had.

 

The global Google data centres give different results based on the different loacations.

 

Something with the way of how Google works. I have noticed different rankings for keywords who only differ by one letter 's' only.