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Quote:When optimizing URLs for high rankings, little attention is given to optimizing the URL for maximum clickthrough. Yet the URL undeniably affects searcher clickthrough rates in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages), as demonstrated by MarketingSherpa in their eyetracking study published in the 2008 Search Marketing Benchmark Guide.

Specifically, MarketingSherpa found that short URLs get clicked on twice as often as long URLs (given that the position rank is equal). As you can see in the heatmaps below, experiment participants spent more time viewing the long URL, but less time viewing the entire listing. You could conclude from this that the long URL distracts the searcher from viewing the listing's title and description. Not a great outcome...