Longer Search Terms Becoming Popular

Search queries consisting of four to six words have become more popular, while one-, two- or three-word searches declined in popularity, according to a study from Hitwise.

Hitwise observed a direct correlation among longer the search terms and their use. Six-word searches made up 4.38% of all searches in February 2008. By February 2009 this had climbed to 4.71%. Five-word searches jumped from 8.29% to 8.72%, and four-word lookups moved from 14.53% of all searches to 14.98%.

Three-word searches slipped slightly, from 21.84% to 21.68%, while two-word searches experienced the biggest drop on a percentage basis, from 24.73% to 23.47%. One-word lookups dropped from 21.04% to 20.48%.

Google continued to hold the lion’s share of search. It’s share actually increased between February 2008 and February 2009, from 66.47% to 72.11%. Yahoo, MSN and Ask.com al lost search traffic.

This wasn’t the only good news for Google. The market leader’s share of traffic within a number of industries rose during the year. In February 2009, Google generated 34.06% of all health and medical queries, up 16% from February 2008. And it accounted for 27.08% of travel-related queries, up 22%. The company saw similar gains in the entertainment and business and finance categories, and even pulled in 17.49% of shopping and classifieds searches, up 7% from last year’s level.

The Opportunist’s Take: The longer search terms information underscores the importance of analyzing search terms that lead to Web page landings – or, more importantly, sales. Chances are the most detailed the search, the more likely a surfer is a knowledgeable shopper, and therefore closer to a purchase decision. Bonus for Web marketers: Longer search terms probably don’t have the same demand as shorter terms, and may be available for less. Gaining highly motivated buyers for less money is a good deal in any economy…