Number of words in keyword phrases

[AussieWebmaster]

There is a lot of standard articles about the percentages of number of words in search...
What is the longest string you are using.. I have a handful at 5 a bunch at 4 but 3 seems to be where my concentrations lie... though 1 and 2 words still get the bulk of the hits...
Others want to weigh in?

[rustybrick]

I find it easier going for 12 words in a keyword phrase. ;) just kidding.

2, 3, 4 drive the most qualified traffic.

[Anthony Parsons]

I find it easier going for 12 words in a keyword phrase. ;) just kidding.

2, 3, 4 drive the most qualified traffic.

Same same here.

[Jeff Martin]

For my clients I prefer to use 1 and 2 and sometimes 3 word phrases. I combat irrelevant click-thrus by writing specific targeted ads. I operate under the premise that the most important goal is to get the ad infront of as many users as possible that have a basic intrest in my keywords, and let the ad text be the deciding factor. Of course I use converison tracking, which allows me to gauge the performance and make changes as needed.

[AussieWebmaster]

For my clients I prefer to use 1 and 2 and sometimes 3 word phrases. I combat irrelevant click-thrus by writing specific targeted ads. I operate under the premise that the most important goal is to get the ad infront of as many users as possible that have a basic intrest in my keywords, and let the ad text be the deciding factor. Of course I use converison tracking, which allows me to gauge the performance and make changes as needed.

Then you have to be using negatives as well... though there are a few single words that are very niched but don't know of too many off top of head...

[Jeff Martin]

I'm not currently using negatives. Currently my clients are not retail based and they want to bring in as many people as possible who have a general interest in what my client's sites are about. I wuold place it just the other side of branding.

However, running a retail/consumer focused PPC campaign using 2 word phrases or less, without negative keywords, is marketing suicide.

[St0n3y]

I usually target 2-4 words for my clients, depending on the industry. Here (http://www.pole-position-web.com/images/roi-keywords.jpg) is an image we put together to explain selecting targeted keywords, and here (http://www.pole-position-web.com/keyword-analysis.htm) is the article written to accompany the image. (Moderators: not trying to self promo here, it goes along with the topic, but if I've crossed a line please let me know)

Personally, however, when I search I am usually looking for somethign quite nuanced and use 5 or more words.

[Jeff Nienaber]

The Aussie is dead right about negatives.

I add negatives to all my 1's & 2's. Especially the obvious negative words that could never align with my brand, (i.e. sex, adult, etc...). It helps keep my ctr high, cpc low, brand in tact, & client happy.

[AussieWebmaster]

I usually target 2-4 words for my clients, depending on the industry. Here (http://www.pole-position-web.com/images/roi-keywords.jpg) is an image we put together to explain selecting targeted keywords, and here (http://www.pole-position-web.com/keyword-analysis.htm) is the article written to accompany the image. (Moderators: not trying to self promo here, it goes along with the topic, but if I've crossed a line please let me know)

Personally, however, when I search I am usually looking for somethign quite nuanced and use 5 or more words.
Actually love the graphic... a picture says a thousand words there...

[OptimizeOnline]

According to the most recent report from OneStat (http://www.onestat.com) the number of keyword phrases the average searcher is typing into a search engine has increased in the last twelve months - so targeting ever-longer keyword phrases is a good idea.

When measuring the number of words used in search phrases worldwide between December 2003 and January 2004 the breakdown is listed below. Figures in brackets show figures from the same time last year.

1 Word - 19.02% (24.76%)
2 Words - 32.58% (29.22%)
3 Words - 25.62% (24.33%)
4 Words - 12.83% (12.34%)
5 Words - 5.64% (5.43%)
6 Words - 2.32% (2.21%)
7 Words - 0.98% (0.94%)

[AussieWebmaster]

According to the most recent report from OneStat (http://www.onestat.com) the number of keyword phrases the average searcher is typing into a search engine has increased in the last twelve months - so targeting ever-longer keyword phrases is a good idea.

When measuring the number of words used in search phrases worldwide between December 2003 and January 2004 the breakdown is listed below. Figures in brackets show figures from the same time last year.

1 Word - 19.02% (24.76%)
2 Words - 32.58% (29.22%)
3 Words - 25.62% (24.33%)
4 Words - 12.83% (12.34%)
5 Words - 5.64% (5.43%)
6 Words - 2.32% (2.21%)
7 Words - 0.98% (0.94%)

That was a handy little industry update.

[St0n3y]

wow, great info.

[Jeff Martin]

I hate to be the fly in the ointment, but The BBC reports that a study done by the Nielsen Norman Group found the following:

Six in 10 of those surveyed typed in just one word in order to find what they were looking for - a big ask, when market leader Google, for instance, indexes 4,285,199,774 documents.

Add in those who use two words, and that's four-fifths of searchers. Only 3% tie words together with quote marks, and 1% use other advanced search techniques to get better results.

Heres the full study (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3578149.stm).

Ever watch your spouse/mom/dad search? I have, they are as general as they can be. Remember people are lazy and always exert the littlest amount of effort to accomplish a task. Finding ways to allow people to be lazy has made many companies rich! :D

Now wheres that remote?????

[cuzco]

Most campaigns i run target two words.

Most people i observe(mainly my family) are not the best typists, if they can get away with a single word search then they will. These are the same people who enter the full URL in the search box, and click on the first result that appears regardless if its related or a sponsor :)

[geirjo]

What number to use to get out of the most fierce word competition?

Sincerely,
Geir Ivar

[St0n3y]

it all depends on the industry. There is no magic number. You have a good chance of getting a top ranking for 'signfeld' (as apposed to 'Sienfeild')

[Online]

same here, 2-3 words.. for a specific, highly targeted campaign it's 3-4 only

Then you have to be using negatives as well...

Using 3-4 word combinations along with negatives - it's rather targeted, isn't it? So is there a reason for using phrase or exact match in such situation?
I haven't found it yet - but really looking for a suggestion if there's one.. ))

p.s. :) hi to everyone in this trully "SE-watching" community..

[bwelford]

I think any keyword emphasis work has got to be aware that there are potentially three major search engines that will drive most of the traffic to you. Unfortunately Micro$oft is completely unpredictable at the moment so that's a crap shoot as far as that goes.

Yahoo! may be doing a degree of stemming currently but I have not seem them mentioned as being strong on semantic approaches. So you've probably got to be pretty precise with your keyword work.

The saving grace is that Google, the biggest and to my mind the best, does now try to do semantic analysis. In other words, it tries to serve up web pages that have the same 'meaning' as the keyword phrase you're searching on. I believe this is most likely to do what the searcher wants. It also means you're less likely to inadvertantly downgrade your page by using your rich command of the language.

[Online]

I think any keyword emphasis work has got to be aware that there are potentially three major search engines that will drive most of the traffic to you. Unfortunately Micro$oft is completely unpredictable at the moment so that's a crap shoot as far as that goes.

Yahoo! may be doing a degree of stemming currently but I have not seem them mentioned as being strong on semantic approaches. So you've probably got to be pretty precise with your keyword work.

The saving grace is that Google, the biggest and to my mind the best, does now try to do semantic analysis. In other words, it tries to serve up web pages that have the same 'meaning' as the keyword phrase you're searching on. I believe this is most likely to do what the searcher wants. It also means you're less likely to inadvertantly downgrade your page by using your rich command of the language.

Absolutely agree with you, bwelford, that's all very clearly put. For general SEO for Google rich kw content is certainly a big step to success. Being new to AdWords, though, I was doubting whether it works same, whether it's vital to have "phrase matches" and [exact matches], if you can similiarly target kws combinations with broad match and negatives.. As I can see today, broad and negative match work good together. Though, a couple of days is not a trusted experience.. with SEs :)

[AussieWebmaster]

Absolutely agree with you, bwelford, that's all very clearly put. For general SEO for Google rich kw content is certainly a big step to success. Being new to AdWords, though, I was doubting whether it works same, whether it's vital to have "phrase matches" and [exact matches], if you can similiarly target kws combinations with broad match and negatives.. As I can see today, broad and negative match work good together. Though, a couple of days is not a trusted experience.. with SEs :)
You will get a broader result... and a broader placement. Anyone who is using exact match and hits the word exactly will get a higher spot in the adword list (money being somewhat equal - CTR and CPC algo allowing).