Insights | Search Engines

SEO Sweet Spot – Three-Word Searches

25 June 2010 By

How many words does it take to get to the center of good search traffic?  According to a new study by online ad network Chitika, three – as in, three-word search queries drive the most traffic from search engines.

To determine the optimal word count, Chitika looked at a sample of 41,103,403 impressions of search traffic coming into their network between June 13th and 19th.
  Within the sample, 10,710,579 impressions – some 26% of all search traffic – came from three-word searches.  The next top word counts were two-word (19%), four-word (17%), and finally one-word (14%).  Any query beyond five words will see dramatically lower traffic, throwing into perspective just how fragmented traffic from long queries really is.

Traffic by Word Count

Additionally, Chitika looked at the advertising click rate by word count to see how visitors’ intent was reflected by how many words they searched for.  The highest ad click rates were for queries of 5, 6 and 4 words.  The implication is that a more complex search is more likely to convert into revenue for a publisher, up to a point.

CTR by Word Count

What does this mean for SEO professionals and web publishers?  It means that there is a very definitive sweet spot in search optimization – ranking high for popular queries between three and five words long should see both optimal traffic and conversions.

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  • Ad Agency

    The estimated search volume generated by keyword tools, such a Adwords, appears to be different than these results.

  • Comprar online

    I think that the number of keywords depends of the type of website…
    Thanks!!

  • Ravi@ homepc

    I think 3-words searches/queries makes sense. I also think to keep the search keywords in between 3-4 for the maximum search traffic.
    Thanks

  • Suresh Chowhan

    Its good analysis, thanks to share. Its true, there are many search queries of one word that does not make sense or don’t shows you appropriate results. But having of combination words like 3/4 words queries, provides better and relevant results.

  • Gary Chiro

    I would agree that we speak to search engines more now. This information follows what other companies like HitWise are finding – http://weblogs.hitwise.com/alan-long/2009/11/searches_getting_longer.html

    Thanks for the good stats.

  • Carmen Brodeur

    This makes sense. People are lazy and want quick answers. Most people don’t type in more than 3 words.

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  • Top1 Oli Sintetik Indonesia

    great example…

    all my readers, lend me your years please…