New data from HitWise shows that web search users are using more words in their search queries compared to behavior from a year ago. The Marketing Pilgrim, Andy Beal, compares the recent HitWise data to a OneStat report from 2004.
I used the data from Feb, 2004 and Feb, 2009 to create the following graph. It’s visually clear that in the past 5 years, users are increasing the number of words in their search queries. In 2004, more than 50% of the searches had only 1 or 2 words. In 2009, the trend has reversed. Now more than 50% of searches contain 3 or more words. Â
While it’s great to rank for 1 or 2 word search phrases, in order to maximize impact, your seo efforts need to include a variety of phrases that contain 3 or more words.
June 22nd, 2009 at 4:31 am
thanks for the great chart! Nice to have, when explaining the worth of a good longtail-optimization to a customer!
Regards
Nicolas
September 25th, 2009 at 8:05 am
The number of words used in search queries has increased greatly as well as the keywords in domain names. Just last night, while watching a TV show, I saw a 3,4 and 5 word domain name advertising commercial. I also have noted more and more ads with longer domain names. I believe this is a coming trend since all the one and two word domains are long gone. I have also seen an increase in the number of .net ads. There are only so many .com’s available.
October 8th, 2009 at 10:21 am
Thanks for chart
February 10th, 2010 at 5:54 pm
Nice chart, long term is where the money AND volume is
February 28th, 2010 at 10:31 am
Longtails are the best thing to make money with new and not so strong sites. They bring some traffic and good customers.