100+ Most Memorable SEO Statistics for 2023

  • Sarah Berry SEO Consultant
  • October 25, 2023
  • 9 min. read

Looking for search engine optimization (SEO) statistics to fuel your SEO knowledge? You’ve come to the right place. Below, you’ll find dozens of SEO stats from different areas of SEO, like SEO trends, user behavior, and Google. Check out our findings now:

Area Statistic

Backlinks

66% of pages have zero backlinks
Backlinks 41% of marketers view link building as the most difficult part of SEO
Backlinks 26% of pages have fewer than three backlinks
Backlinks $361 is the average price for a backlink

Behavior

8% of searches are framed as questions
Behavior 71% of business-to-business shoppers start their research with a search engine
Behavior 70% of users use more than three words when searching online
Behavior 59% of people using the web on a given day will use a search engine
Behavior 53% of U.S. consumers conduct research with a search engine before purchasing
Behavior 47% of users interact with three to five piece of content before connecting with a company
Behavior 44% of searches use a single search engine regularly
Behavior 40% of users will leave a site that takes longer than three seconds to load
Behavior 3-4 searches is the average number of daily searches per user
Behavior 12 searches take place for business-to-business shoppers before interacting with a website

Ecommerce SEO

82% of smartphone users use their phones to research a purchase they’re about to make in-store
Ecommerce SEO 63% of shopping starts online
Ecommerce SEO 43% of people research a product while in a brick-and-mortar store
Ecommerce SEO 43% of ecommerce traffic comes from organic Google search

Google

70,000 searches are processed by Google annually
Google 500-600 times is how often Google changes its search engine algorithm annually
Google 2+ trillion is the average number of annual Google searches
Google 1+ billion people use Google monthly

Keywords

39% of marketers view keyword research as the most difficult SEO task
Keywords 1.5 spots is how much higher businesses with a strong keyword rank than their competitors

Local SEO

97% of consumers learn more about a local business online more than anywhere else
Local SEO 88% of mobile searches for a local business result in a call or visit to the business in 24 hours
Local SEO 76% of users who search on their smartphones for something nearby visit a company within 24 hours.
Local SEO 72% of users who did a local search visited within a five-mile range if the business had images of the product they were looking for
Local SEO 56% of local retailers have not claimed their Google Business Profile listing
Local SEO 46% of Google searches relate to finding local information
Local SEO 28% of local searches result in a purchase

Mobile SEO

87% of smartphone users use search engines at least once a day
Mobile SEO 61% of users are more likely to buy from a mobile-friendly site
Mobile SEO 58% of Google searches come from smartphones
Mobile SEO 54% of the world’s traffic comes from mobile devices
Mobile SEO 51% of smartphone users find new products or companies via mobile search
Mobile SEO 40% of people search exclusively on their smartphones daily
Mobile SEO 30%+ of mobile searches relate to location

Ranking Factors

Three-fourths of users focus on organic search results over paid search results
Ranking Factors Long-tail queries have a 3-5% higher click-through rate
Ranking Factors Link building is one of the most important ranking factors used by Google to generate search results
Ranking Factors 97% of voice answers rank in the top 10 of organic search results
Ranking Factors 95% of search traffic goes to the first page of organic search results
Ranking Factors 95% of new content does not reach the first page of search results in its first year
Ranking Factors 80% of voice search answers are from the top three search results
Ranking Factors 8 is the average number of pages on the first page of Google search results
Ranking Factors 75% of clicks go to the top three organic search results
Ranking Factors 71% of Google search result clicks happen on the first page of search results
Ranking Factors 68% of clicks go to the first five organic search results on Google
Ranking Factors 60% of URLs in the top 10 search results on Google are three years old or more
Ranking Factors 6% of clicks on Google search results go to the second and third page of results
Ranking Factors 6% of clicks go to the second page of search results
Ranking Factors 52% of users say search results have gotten more relevant and useful over time
Ranking Factors 49% of marketers credit organic search for providing the highest ROI
Ranking Factors 34% is the average click-through rate (CTR) for the first organic position on Google desktop search results
Ranking Factors 30% is the average click-through rate increase when increasing organic rankings by one spot
Ranking Factors 3 is the average number of site pages visited from search results
Ranking Factors 22% of pages created in the previous year now rank on the first page of search results
Ranking Factors 21% of users click on multiple results in the search results
Ranking Factors 200+ ranking factors get used by Google’s search engine algorithm to rank search results
Ranking Factors 1890 words is the average word count for content on page one of Google search results
Ranking Factors 10x is how much more likely the first organic search results is to earn a click than the #10 organic search result
Ranking Factors 10% is the average click-through rate for ranking number two on Google

Search

70% of search result clicks are for organic listings
Search 6% of clicks go to the featured snippet
Search 53% of website traffic comes from search engines
Search 50% of searches are four words or longer
Search 40% of marketers cite algorithm changes as the biggest SEO challenge
Search 26% of clicks go to the first search result when a featured snippet is not present
Search 19% of featured snippets appear for search queries with a question
Search 19% of clicks go to the first search result following a featured snippet
Search 17% of featured snippets happen for searches with prepositions
Search 12% of searches generate featured snippets

SEO

50-60 characters is the optimal length for URLs

Spend

Businesses spending $500 per month on SEO are 75% more likely to be dissatisfied than those spending at least $500 per month
Spend 74% of small businesses will invest in SEO
Spend 65% of small business owners have worked with at least one SEO provider
Spend 60% of small-to-midsized businesses that use SEO use pay-per-click advertising
Spend 40%+ of revenue is driven by organic traffic
Spend 38% of marketers cite budget as the biggest SEO challenge
Spend 30% of people would recommend their SEO provider to a friend or co-worker
Spend 2% of small businesses in the U.S. spend more than $25,000 annually on SEO services
Spend 14% of small businesses in the U.S. spend $5000 annually on SEO services
Spend $79 billion is overall spend on SEO services
Spend $497 is the average cost for monthly SEO services for U.S. small businesses

Traffic

91% of pages never get organic traffic
Traffic 90% of pages get zero organic traffic
Traffic 90% of pages get no organic traffic.

Trends

91% of online adults use search engines to find information on the web
Trends 90%+ of the search market share belongs to Google
Trends 89% of marketers view SEO as successful
Trends 83% of searches use Google more often than other search engines
Trends 82% of marketers see SEO as becoming more effective
Trends 57% of marketing executives see content development as the most effective strategy for SEO
Trends 44% of companies use SEO
Trends 61% of chief marketing officers consider search engines as an effective marketing channel

Voice search SEO

71% of people use voice assistants for directions
Voice Search SEO 70% of voice answers occupy a search feature, like the featured snippet
Voice Search SEO 66% of searches say search engines provide fair and unbiased information
Voice Search SEO 65% of 25-49 year olds speak with their voice-enabled devices at least once a day
Voice Search SEO 62% of business-to-business marketers say SEO algorithms are important to them
Voice Search SEO 60% of voice search answers are the featured snippet.
Voice search SEO 56% of users use voice assistants to find a place to eat
Voice Search SEO 55% of teenagers use voice search each day
Voice Search SEO 52% of people use voice search while driving
Voice Search SEO 48% of the voice search market is owned by Apple
Voice Search SEO 46% of people use voice assistants
Voice Search SEO 20% of searches happen through voice search
Voice Search SEO 2/5 adults use voice search at least once a day

Measure your own SEO stats with SEO experts

What are your SEO stats, like your average return on investment, ranking position, and conversion rate? Find out (and grow your results) with our award-winning team of search engine optimization experts. Complete our contact form today to learn more!


FAQs about SEO statistics

Learn more about SEO statistics below:

Where do SEO stats come from?

You’ll find SEO stats across the web compiled from businesses like:

  • Search engine companies
  • Software businesses
  • SEO providers, like consultants, agencies, and freelancers

Typically, these businesses conduct SEO research to learn the following:

  • How users interact with search engines
  • How search engines display results
  • How position and search features influence organic traffic
  • How search engine market share works
  • How users interact with online content
  • What similarities does top-ranking content share
  • And more

Whether you’re a journalist, SEO, or student, you can learn a lot from search engine optimization stats.

Are most SEO statistics for Google’s search engine?

Typically, SEO statistics that cite search behavior, like the number of clicks received by a page ranking on page one or the kinds of search features generated by a search, will base their data on Google search results vs. other search engines.

If an SEO stat bases its data on another search engine, like Bing, the study will mention this.

Are SEO stats accurate?

The accuracy of SEO stats depends on how the study was conducted.

In most cases, these studies will share their methodology and process for gathering the data, which is invaluable when researching how users interact with search results, like where they click, how often they return to search results, and more.

We’ve compiled search engine optimization statistics from across studies to provide you with a cumulative resource for browsing different SEO numbers. The above stats are not from original research conducted by our team.

How do you use SEO stats to measure SEO’s success?

SEO numbers that you can use to measure SEO’s success include the following:

  • Organic position increases
  • Organic traffic increases
  • Lead generation increases
  • Online sales increases

In most cases, businesses focus on rankings, traffic, and sales when it comes to their SEO stats. However, you might focus on other SEO metrics depending on your organization. No matter your focus, understand before you start working how your brand measures SEO success.

What tools can you use to generate SEO statistics?

When measuring your SEO stats, there are several tools you can use to gather this data like:

In most cases, Google Analytics and Google Search Console will provide the data you need, like:

  • Organic traffic
  • Average ranking position
  • Top keywords
  • Bounce rate
  • And more

However, some businesses will use third-party tools like Ahrefs or Semrush to evaluate their efforts further. For example, you could use these paid platforms to compare your SEO performance to your top organic competitors.

Again, discuss with your organization how they measure search engine optimization’s success. Based on their feedback, you can define the best path forward in compiling and sharing your SEO numbers.

Sarah Berry is an SEO Consultant at one of the largest SEO agencies in the USA — WebFX. With more than 10,000 hours of SEO experience, she offers practical insights and strategies you can use to grow your rankings, traffic, and revenue from search.

Add WebFX to your content marketing toolbox today

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