DNA-binding proteins recognize their cognate sites on the template DNA more efficiently when the thermally driven flipping of their DNA-binding domains between the fast- and slow-moving conformations is coupled to the search dynamics. We show that there exists an optimum barrier height (kBT ln2) that separates these fast- and slow-moving states of DNA-binding domains, at which the efficiency associated with the thermodynamic coupling of thermally driven flipping and the overall search dynamics is the maximum. Furthermore, the dynamics of DNA-binding domains resembles that of typical downhill folding proteins at their midpoint denaturation temperatures. We further show that the average one-dimensional scanning lengths of slow- and fast-moving states of DNA-binding domains of LacI repressor protein are tuned to minimize the overall search time that is required to locate its cognate sites on DNA. © 2011 IOP Publishing Ltd.