Looking for the latest SEO statistics?
SEO statistics help you understand the behavior of your target audience, including how they interact with your website which, in turn, allows you to make data-driven decisions to improve your ranking.
In this article, the SEO statistics will help you identify the latest search engine optimization trends so you can adjust your strategy to continue improving your site’s organic ranking.
Let’s begin!
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Keep an eye out for: Common Types of Misleading Statistics in Advertising – And How to Spot Them
General SEO Stats
- 53.3% of total website traffic comes from organic search. (G2)
- Just 0.78% of people click on page 2 of Google’s SERPs. (G2)
- The first website in the organic results in Google has an average clickthrough rate of 28.5%, which drops to 2.5% for the 10th position. (Search Engine Journal)
- Google uses more than 200 organic ranking factors in its algorithm, the most important of which are backlinks, high-quality content, page speed, responsive site design, website security, keyword usage in the content, and SEO-friendly site structure. (Monster Insights)
95% of search traffic goes to the first page of the search results. (Rockcontent)
- On average, it takes 3-6 months for a site to rank on Google (though the more competitive your industry, the more time it will take to rank your site). (Clearscope)
- Over 77% of searches from mobile are zero-click searches (i.e. when Google returns a direct answer to a query that does not lead to a click, but does improve branding). (Devrix)
- Almost 60% of the top 10 results ranking on Google are three years or older, meaning Google trusts sites with some authority and experience for ranking. (Monster Insights)
- Organic search drives 53% of all website traffic, while paid search stands at 15%. (Search Engine Land)
- Around 23% of users click on Google’s autocomplete suggestions, indicating that you should always analyze the auto-complete search terms to find the best keywords for your website. (99firms)
- Users are 20X more likely to click on organic search results than paid ads. Another good reason to start investing in SEO! (Get Credo)
Want more than just stats? Check these out:
* 17 Effective SEO Techniques to Drive Organic Traffic in 2023
* 10 SEO Audit Tools to Maximize Performance (Free & Paid)
* 8 Off-Page SEO Strategies You Should Be Implementing Right Now
AI SEO Stats
- A significant 67% of small businesses have begun leveraging AI to enhance their content and SEO efforts. (Semrush)
- 39% of marketers believe that it typically takes 1 to 2 months for AI-generated content to achieve ranking. (Semrush)
- In the US, 58% of marketers indicated that their content creation efficiency improved after adopting AI tools, with 50% also noting enhanced cost efficiency and a greater variety of creative options. (Emarketer)
- 35% of marketers utilize AI to develop a content strategy focused on SEO. (HubSpot)
- A global survey conducted in March 2023 revealed that 84% of marketers consider aligning web content with search intent to be the most effective application of AI. (Statista)
Backlink Stats
Stats-based content attracts the highest number of backlinks. Some of the best ways you can create stats-based content include LinkedIn polls, market surveys, expert interviews, and market research.
- Over 65% of pages have no backlinks. Identify all your target landing pages that don’t have backlinks and try to acquire some backlinks to them. (Demand Sage)
- The #1 result in organic search has 3.8X more backlinks compared to positions #2-#10. (On The Map)
- Ranking your website on Google for high search volume keywords without links is nearly impossible. Instead, divide 50% of your SEO budget into link building since sites with more backlinks tend to rank higher in search results. (Moz)
- Most search engine optimizers spend anywhere from 0% to 10% of their SEO budget on link building. (Thrive My Way)
Long-form content receives 77% more links compared to shorter content pieces. (Backlinko)
- More than 60% of digital marketers agree that link building is the most difficult element of SEO. (Userp)
- Over 40% of marketers believe content marketing is the best way to generate passive links. (Adam Connel)
- Link-building agencies have the highest number of experienced link builders, with 59.4% having over five years’ of experience. (Authority Hackers)
- Question-based articles like “Why” or “What” posts and infographics get 25.8% more links compared to videos and “How-to” posts. (Backlinko)
Want more than just stats? Check these out:
* How – and Why – to Build a Backlink Portfolio
* The Ultimate Guide to Link Building with Content for SEO
* Domain Authority: How to Increase Your Ranking Score from Scratch
Keyword Stats
- The average keyword is 1.9 words and 8.5 characters in length. (Backlinko)
- 36.3% of SEO experts say they allocate most of their time to keyword research. (Search Engine Journal)
- Less than one percent (0.16%) of keywords are responsible for over 60% of searches each month, while over 94% of keywords get ten or fewer monthly searches. (Adam Connel)
15% of all Google search terms have never been searched for before. (Startup Bonsai)
- Popular search terms have higher average keyword difficulty scores than keywords with low search volume. (Backlinko)
- Around 70% of search queries contain four or more words. Long-tail keywords are more specific and are known to provide better conversions. (Adam Connel)
- Having a keyword in your title tag remains an important on-page SEO signal. (First Site Guide)
- 43.9% of marketers look at keyword rankings to measure SEO success. Most SEO companies use automatic rank checkers to track organic keyword rankings daily. (Adam Connel)
Want more than just stats? Check these out:
* SEO Keyword Research Made Easy in 2023
* Why You Should Use Long-Tail Keywords in Your SEO Campaign
* How Zero Search Volume Keywords Can Generate a Ton of Traffic
Mobile SEO Stats
- Google has 94% of the mobile search engine market share. Therefore, optimizing your site for Google is crucial to acquire organic traffic from mobile devices. (Statcounter)
- Faster pages not only offer an excellent user experience, they convert 20% more on mobile devices. Make sure to check your mobile site speed, as slower sites lead to lower conversions. (SEO Sandwitch)
- Around 72.6% of internet users (nearly 3.7 billion people) will access the web solely via their smartphones by 2025. (CNBC)
- Mobile searches for “image search” have grown by over 60% in the last few years. The number one reason for this change is that people increasingly turn to image search for ideas and inspiration. (Google)
61% of mobile searchers are more inclined to connect with a local company that has a mobile-friendly responsive website. (HubSpot)
- For an excellent mobile searching experience, add the max-image-preview:large meta tag to the header of each page. This indicates that Google can feature publishers’ images in large formats, creating a more compelling and engaging user experience. Kirbie’s Cravings, a food blog, saw its CTR increase by 79% by leveraging this tag. (Google)
- Mobile marketing will reach $57 billion by 2030. (Statista)
Want more than just stats? Check these out:
* 11 Brands That Are Doing Mobile Advertising Right
* Top 10 Mobile Optimization Best Practices for E-commerce Sites
* App Store Optimization (ASO) Strategies for New Mobile Apps Launching in 2023
Local SEO Stats
- Based on a study of 580,853 images across 15,191 Google My Business listings, businesses with more than 100 images get 1,065% more website clicks than the average business. (Search Engine Land)
- Complete and accurate Google My Business listings receive 7X more clicks than those missing essential business information and are 70% more likely to attract location visits. (Webfx)
- 91% of marketers agree that reviews impact local rankings. (Finances Online)
80% of local searches convert. (Webfx)
- 96% of customers look for negative reviews while browsing the customer reviews. (Search Engine Journal)
- 75% of smartphone users expect to get immediate information while using mobile devices. (Google)
- Around 86% of people go straight to Google Maps to search for a business. (99Firms)
- Reviews are one of the most crucial Google local SEO factors: They account for 15% of the local SEO pack rank. (99Firms)
- Page titles that start with how, what, why, and who have a 14.1% higher clickthrough rate than titles that are not written as questions. (Startup Bonsai)
- 72% of local searchers visit a store within five miles of their current location. (Graffiti)
- 49% of all consumers say they trust the reviews they read online as much as personal recommendations. (Oberlo)
- Verified businesses on Google are 2X as likely to be considered reputable. (Google)
- Local SEO has a 15% closing rate, so opting for local SEO services will help your business generate more local leads. (Localiq)
- Businesses that have a strong keyword in the business name rank 1.5 spots higher than if there is no keyword in the name. (Business2Community)
Want more than just stats? Check these out:
* 9 Factors that Can Immensely Boost Your Local SEO
* The Complete Guide to Local SEO
* How to Do a Comprehensive Local SEO Audit
Video SEO Stats
- Online videos reached 92% of internet users worldwide, making video SEO crucial for all businesses. (Statista)
- Articles with videos get a 157% increase in search traffic compared to text-only blogs. (G2)
- Over half of the videos that rank in the first position have more than 50 words in the description. (Semrush)
- 78% of B2B marketers plan to invest in video marketing during 2023, up from 69% the previous year. (Content Marketing Institute)
- 93% of marketers agree that video has helped them increase brand awareness. (Wyzowl)
- 52% of videos that rank for “how-to” keywords use more than 100 words in the description, while for non-how-to videos, it’s only 33%. (Semrush)
- 52% of marketers say that videos between 1-3 minutes long have been most successful for their content marketing. (Content Marketing Institute)
- Blog posts with videos see a 157% increase in search traffic compared to text-based blog posts. (Zupo)
Videos add 2 minutes to the average time a user spends on your site. (Zupo)
- 47% of B2B marketers create training videos (how-to, explainer, product). (The Social Shepherd)
- 88% of video marketers are satisfied with their video marketing efforts and the ROI generated from them. (Oberlo)
- Among the most popular types of videos businesses are creating are: 42% live-action videos, 33% animated videos, and 15% screen-recorded videos. (Wyzowl)
- Video marketers get 66% more qualified leads per year (likely because of the quality of education that video content provides). (Oberlo)
- 63% of marketers say that engagement is the most crucial video metric they track, with traffic, conversion rate, watch time, impressions, and clickthrough rate almost being tied for second place. (Lemon Light)
- Having a video on your landing page increases conversions by 80%. (Neal Shaffer)
- In general, people watch an average of 5 online videos every day, while the 18-24 age bracket watch an average of 10 online videos a day. (Take Note)
Want more than just stats? Check these out:
* 9 SEO Areas to Focus On to Boost Your Video’s Visibility
* 17 Engaging Video Content Types that People Love to Watch
* The Types of Videos to Use at Each Stage of the Marketing Funnel
Voice Search Stats
- 48% of people use voice search for general queries, and more than 40% of all voice search responses result in a featured snippet. (G2)
- The top devices used for voice search are Siri (36%) and Google Assistant (36%), followed by Alexa (25%), Cortana (19%), and Other (1%). (Blogging Wizard)
- Around 58% of consumers use voice search to find information about local businesses. (Startup Bonsai)
- Voice queries have increased by 3,400% since 2008. (Business2community)
Siri relies on businesses that have a Yelp rating of at least 4.5/5 more than those with a poorer Yelp rating. (Search Engine Journal)
- 72% of consumers in the US prefer engaging with voice search. (Pepper Content)
- The average word count of an answer from a voice search was 41.4. (Semrush)
Want more than just stats? Check these out:
* Beginner’s Guide to Voice Search SEO
* How to Optimize Your Website for Voice Search and Wearable Tech
* VSEO: How Voice Search and Conversational AI Are Changing SEO
SEO Industry Stats
- The global SEO market size was $65.25 billion in 2020 and is expected to increase at a CAGR of 10.5% from 2021 to 2028 and will reach $122.11 billion by 2028. (MarketsandMarkets)
- Businesses spending more than $500 per month on SEO services are 53.3% more likely to be more satisfied with their results. (Search Engine Journal)
- Most businesses have SEO budgets between $500-$10,000 per month. (Foxxxr)
- Large SEO projects cost an average of $1,500-$5,000 per month. (Foxxxr)
- Average hourly SEO services costs $100-$300 per hour. (Foxxxr)
- 57% of SMBs do not have an SEO strategy. (Search Engine Journal)
SEO can reduce the cost of customer acquisition by 75% compared to online advertising. (Terakeet)
- The top goals for businesses running SEO campaigns are increasing organic traffic, increasing organic conversions, improving domain authority, acquiring more featured snippets, and increasing brand awareness. (Search Engine Journal)
- The top five SEO industry tools that small businesses use are Google Analytics, Google Search Console, Answer the Public, SEOquake, and Screaming Frog. (Search Engine Journal)
- When it comes to PPC spend for small businesses: 28% use Google Ads, 17% use Facebook Ads, 14% use Instagram Ads. 9% use Amazon Ads, 9% use LinkedIn Ads. (Search Engine Journal)
- The fastest growing segment in the SEO market will be the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) segment, growing at a CAGR of 17.23% during 2020-2025. (Businesswire)
- Companies prioritizing SEO and content marketing are 13x more likely to generate a positive ROI. (HubSpot)
- The ROI of search engine optimization depends on your industry, and those with the highest SEO returns on investment include financial services (1,031%), addiction treatment (736%), real estate (1,389%), medical devices (1,183%, and higher education/college (994%). (Source: G2)
- The value of the SEO industry is expected to reach up to $77.6 billion by 2023. (Finances Online)
- Around 42% of businesses subscribe to paid SEO software to execute their organic marketing tasks. (Visual Objects)
81% of businesses prefer hiring an SEO agency to hiring in-house marketers. (LSEO)
- Fixing website issues as per Google Search Console can increase your SEO ROI: Seramin, one of the largest job platforms in Korea, had a 102% year-over-year (YOY) increase in organic search by fixing the SEO issues GSC alerted them to. (Google)
Want more than just stats? Check these out:
* 9 Quick SEO Tactics That Only Take 10 Minutes to Implement
* How to Rank Your Brand-New Website When You Don’t Know SEO
* The Complete White Hat SEO Guide: Google-Validated SEO that Works like Magic!
SEO Content Stats
- 4.4 million new blog articles are published every day across all platforms. To ensure that your blog ranks high in the SERPs, produce content that clearly demonstrates first-hand expertise and a depth of knowledge. (Envisage Digital)
- 90.6% of content gets no traffic from Google – which is an excellent reason to start optimizing the content on your site. (Ahrefs)
72% of online marketers describe content creation as their most effective SEO tactic. (Wpforms)
- The top content marketing challenge is attracting quality leads, followed by generating traffic and creating user-intent focused content. (Semrush)
- 93% of marketers trust content created by real people. Google also trusts people-first content, which means content that’s created primarily for people, and not to manipulate search engine rankings. (Exploding Topics)
- The average word count for the top 10 results for any keyword is about 1,890 words. (Techjury)
- Google rewrites the meta description 62% of the time, and is 65.62% more likely to rewrite meta descriptions for long-tail keywords over fat-headed ones. (On The Map)
- Longer headlines – around 14-17 words – receive a higher number of social shares compared to shorter headlines. (Backlinko)
- The top three content types being created by digital marketing teams in 2022 included videos, blogs, and images. (Search Engine Journal)
- Short content pieces that are around 300-900 words attract 21% less traffic and 75% fewer backlinks compared to articles of average length that are around 900-1,200 words. (Search Engine Journal)
- Companies that blog have 434% more indexed pages than those that don’t – which generate more leads. Ideally, you should blog at least once a week. (Business2community)
Want more than just stats? Check these out:
* What Is a Content Optimization Tool and Why Do You Need It?
* How to Create a High-Performance Content Marketing Strategy in 2024
* How to Use Strategic Content Marketing to Grow Your Traffic From 0 to Millions
Conclusion
SEO stats are essential to track the progress of your website against your competitors and industry standards.
The search engine landscape is highly volatile, and it keeps changing, so plan to revise your SEO strategy after carefully considering the latest SEO statistics.
And remember that patience is the key to SEO. Create excellent content and acquire solid links; your website rankings will gradually increase, leading to more sales.