Three is the magic number for search queries
According to ad network Chitika, while the highest ad click rates were for search queries of 4, 5 and 6 words, it was three-word search queries that drove the most organic traffic.
The number of searches involving just one word has slipped over the last few years from 24.5% in 2007 to 20.4% in 2009. Meanwhile, approximately 23.6% of 2009 queries involved two words. Just over 45% of the searches tracked by Hitwise last year consisted of 3, 4 or 5 word searches.
Based on a sample of 41,103,403 impressions of search traffic coming into their network between June 13th and 19th 2010, Chitika found 26% of organic search-driven traffic was the result of searches containing three words. Shorter queries failed to produce quite as much:
Two words: 19%
Four words: 17%
One word: 14%
What does this all mean? According to Chitika’s blog, “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”.
When it comes to ad click rates, Chitika found longer queries in the 4, 5 and 6 word range resulted in the highest click rates at over 1%, tailing off as queries lengthened.