Long Tail Searches Increased in 2009

Long tail keywords are usually three to six keyword phrases that are specific to their respective fields. For an example we are a “Los Angeles Web Design Company” so these five words used in a search would be considered long tail keywords. Long tails keywords also have a greater conversion rate because in most cases they are the most descriptive. If I use more words to describe what I am looking for then the chances are greater that my search will be more accurate.

Latest query results from Nielsen Online, Hitwise and comScore reported an increase in searchers using long tail keywords over previous years. Each year long tail keywords are getting longer. Shorter one or two word searches are becoming less frequently used. Three to six word phrase searches are increasing.

Words/Query 2009    2008    2007
1 word         20.4%  21.1%  24.5%
2 words       23.6%  24.9%  25.7%
3 words       21.8%  21.9%  20.7%
4 words       14.9%  14.5%  13.3%
5 words        8.7%   8.2%     7.5%

Four and five word queries have continued the increase since 2007