Here’s an interesting fact for SEO enthusiasts.
Hitwise reports that the length of our search queries has increased over the last 12 months. Comparing January 2009 to January 2008 reveals that longer search queries, averaging searches of 5 words or more in length, have increased by 10 percent.
During the same time period, shorter search queries, those averaging just 1 to 4 words in length, have decreased by 2 percent.
Take a look at this chart from Hitwise…
|
Percentage of U.S. clicks by number of keywords |
||||
| Subject |
Jan-08 |
Dec-08 |
Jan-09 |
Year-over-year percent change |
| 1 word |
20.96% |
20.70% |
20.29% |
-3% |
| 2 words |
24.91% |
24.13% |
23.65% |
-5% |
| 3 words |
22.03% |
21.94% |
21.92% |
0%
|
| 4 words |
14.54% |
14.67% |
14.89% |
2% |
| 5 words |
8.20% |
8.37% |
8.68% |
6% |
| 6 words |
4.32% |
4.47% |
4.65% |
8% |
| 7 words |
2.23% |
2.40% |
2.49% |
12% |
| 8+ words |
2.81% |
3.31% |
3.43% |
22% |
Especially impressive is the fact that long-tailed keywords of 8 words or more rose by a whopping 22 percent.
Are we finally figuring out how the search engines “think”, and are thereby providing them with more data so that more relevant search results are produced? Or are we just getting better at copying and pasting text into our search bar?
Related articles by Zemanta
- Hitwise: The Long Tail of Search is Much Longer Than Expected (readwriteweb.com)
- SEW Experts: Keyword Research for Search Engine Optimization (searchenginewatch.com)
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