How Many Words in a Keyword Phrase?
The wrong keywords bring lookers; the right ones bring willing buyers. Choosing the right keywords will bring targeted traffic. They look for the product or service that satisfies their need. The number of words in a keyword phrase is an important part of your keyword strategies.
Keyword Psychology
Is it better to focus on phrases of one or two words? Should you choose phrases with three to five words? It really depends on your goals. First we need to look at the psychology behind how people search.
When people use one or two words they are researching. They are trying to learn and understand a subject. In this phase they are not ready or likely to buy something. If your goal is to educate, then one or two word phrases should be your focus.
When people use three to five words they are in a buying mode. They will use more specific terms, frequently with manufacturers’ names or model numbers. If your goal is to sell, then your focus should be on three to five word phrases.
How Words do People Actually Use?
In 2007, I have looked at two separate studies by oneStat.com and rankstat.com on how many words people use when they search, both with very similar results. Below are the average numbers of words being typed in by searchers.
- one word 14.4%
- two words 30.1%
- three words 27.1%
- four words 15.6%
- five words 7.3%
- Over five words 5.5%
This means about 44% of the searches are from people using 1-2 word phrases and 56% use phrases of 3 or more words. We don’t recommend phrases of over 5 words because the search volume for any one phrase is so low.