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:
#1. Backlinks
Backlinks are hyperlinks from other websites to yours, crucial for SEO as they signal trust and authority to search engines, impacting rankings.
| Statistics | |
| 66% of pages have zero backlinks | Source |
| 41% of marketers view link building as the most difficult part of SEO | Source |
| 26% of pages have fewer than three backlinks | Source |
| $361 is the average price for a backlink | Source |
#2. Behavior
Behavior involves optimizing website content with relevant keywords, building backlinks from reputable sites, and ensuring technical and user experience optimization to improve visibility and ranking on search engine results pages.
| Statistics | |
| 8% of searches are framed as questions | Source |
| 71% of business-to-business shoppers start their research with a search engine | Source |
| 70% of users use more than three words when searching online | Source |
| 59% of people using the web on a given day will use a search engine | Source |
| 53% of U.S. consumers conduct research with a search engine before purchasing | Source |
| 47% of users interact with three to five piece of content before connecting with a company | Source |
| 44% of searches use a single search engine regularly | Source |
| 40% of users will leave a site that takes longer than three seconds to load | Source |
| 3-4 searches is the average number of daily searches per user | Source |
| 12 searches take place for business-to-business shoppers before interacting with a website | Source |
#3. Ecommerce SEO
Ecommerce SEO focuses on optimizing online stores’ content, structure, and user experience to increase visibility and attract more organic traffic, ultimately driving sales and revenue.
| Statistics | |
| 82% of smartphone users use their phones to research a purchase they’re about to make in-store | Source |
| 63% of shopping starts online | Source |
| 43% of people research a product while in a brick-and-mortar store | Source |
| 43% of ecommerce traffic comes from organic Google search | Source |
#4. Google
Google Search optimization aligns website elements with Google’s algorithms to boost visibility and ranking, driving organic traffic and online presence.
| Statistics | |
| 70,000 searches are processed by Google annually | Source |
| 500-600 times is how often Google changes its search engine algorithm annually | Source |
| 2+ trillion is the average number of annual Google searches | Source |
| 1+ billion people use Google monthly | Source |
#5. Keywords
Strategically integrating relevant keywords into website content, metadata, and other elements to improve search engine ranking and attract targeted organic traffic.
| Statistics | |
| 39% of marketers view keyword research as the most difficult SEO task | Source |
| 1.5 spots is how much higher businesses with a strong keyword rank than their competitors | Source |
#6. Local SEO
Local SEO focuses on online optimization to improve local search visibility, helping businesses attract nearby customers searching for products or services.
| Statistics | |
| 97% of consumers learn more about a local business online more than anywhere else | Source |
| 88% of mobile searches for a local business result in a call or visit to the business in 24 hours | Source |
| 76% of users who search on their smartphones for something nearby visit a company within 24 hours | Source |
| 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 | Source |
| 56% of local retailers have not claimed their Google Business Profile listing | Source |
| 46% of Google searches relate to finding local information | Source |
| 28% of local searches result in a purchase | Source |
#7. Mobile SEO
Mobile SEO is about optimizing a website to enhance its visibility and performance in search engine results on mobile devices, ensuring a user-friendly experience for mobile users.
| Statistics | |
| 87% of smartphone users use search engines at least once a day | Source |
| 61% of users are more likely to buy from a mobile-friendly site | Source |
| 58% of Google searches come from smartphones | Source |
| 54% of the world’s traffic comes from mobile devices | Source |
| 51% of smartphone users find new products or companies via mobile search | Source |
| 40% of people search exclusively on their smartphones daily | Source |
| 30%+ of mobile searches relate to location | Source |
#8. Ranking Factors
Ranking factors are criteria utilized by search engines to evaluate web page relevance and authority in search results. These include content quality, page speed, user experience, mobile-friendliness, among others.
| Statistics | |
| Three-fourths of users focus on organic search results over paid search results | Source |
| Long-tail queries have a 3-5% higher click-through rate | Source |
| Link building is one of the most important ranking factors used by Google to generate search results | Source |
| 97% of voice answers rank in the top 10 of organic search results | Source |
| 95% of search traffic goes to the first page of organic search results | Source |
| 95% of new content does not reach the first page of search results in its first year | Source |
| 80% of voice search answers are from the top three search results | Source |
| 8 is the average number of pages on the first page of Google search results | Source |
| 75% of clicks go to the top three organic search results | Source |
| 71% of Google search result clicks happen on the first page of search results | Source |
| 68% of clicks go to the first five organic search results on Google | Source |
| 60% of URLs in the top 10 search results on Google are three years old or more | Source |
| 6% of clicks on Google search results go to the second and third page of results | Source |
| 6% of clicks go to the second page of search results | Source |
| 52% of users say search results have gotten more relevant and useful over time | Source |
| 49% of marketers credit organic search for providing the highest ROI | Source |
| 34% is the average click-through rate (CTR) for the first organic position on Google desktop search results | Source |
| 30% is the average click-through rate increase when increasing organic rankings by one spot | Source |
| 3 is the average number of site pages visited from search results | Source |
| 22% of pages created in the previous year now rank on the first page of search results | Source |
| 21% of users click on multiple results in the search results | Source |
| 200+ ranking factors get used by Google’s search engine algorithm to rank search results | Source |
| 1890 words is the average word count for content on page one of Google search results | Source |
| 10x is how much more likely the first organic search results is to earn a click than the #10 organic search result | Source |
| 10% is the average click-through rate for ranking number two on Google | Source |
#9. Search
Organic search refers to free, natural search engine results on platforms like Google. These results are driven by relevance and quality.
| Statistics | |
| 70% of search result clicks are for organic listings | Source |
| 6% of clicks go to the featured snippet | Source |
| 53% of website traffic comes from search engines | Source |
| 50% of searches are four words or longer | Source |
| 40% of marketers cite algorithm changes as the biggest SEO challenge | Source |
| 26% of clicks go to the first search result when a featured snippet is not present | Source |
| 19% of featured snippets appear for search queries with a question | Source |
| 19% of clicks go to the first search result following a featured snippet | Source |
| 17% of featured snippets happen for searches with prepositions | Source |
| 12% of searches generate featured snippets | Source |
#10. SEO
SEO boosts a website’s visibility in search engine result pages (SERPs), aiming to attract organic traffic, achieve high rankings, and ultimately drive revenue growth.
| Statistics | |
| 50-60 characters is the optimal length for URLs | Source |
#11. Spend
Spending refers to budget services allocated to SEO activities such as content marketing, website optimization, link building, and other strategies to increase search engine visibility and organic traffic.
| Statistics | |
| Businesses spending $500 per month on SEO are 75% more likely to be dissatisfied than those spending at least $500 per month | Source |
| 74% of small businesses will invest in SEO | Source |
| 65% of small business owners have worked with at least one SEO provider | Source |
| 60% of small-to-midsized businesses that use SEO use pay-per-click advertising | Source |
| 40%+ of revenue is driven by organic traffic | Source |
| 38% of marketers cite budget as the biggest SEO challenge | Source |
| 30% of people would recommend their SEO provider to a friend or co-worker | Source |
| 2% of small businesses in the U.S. spend more than $25,000 annually on SEO services | Source |
| 14% of small businesses in the U.S. spend $5000 annually on SEO services | Source |
| $79 billion is overall spend on SEO services | Source |
| $497 is the average cost for monthly SEO services for U.S. small businesses | Source |
#12. Traffic
Organic traffic is visitors who find a website through unpaid search engine results, not through paid ads. Content quality also impacts search engine ranking.
| Statistics | |
| 91% of pages never get organic traffic | Source |
| 90% of pages get zero organic traffic | Source |
| 90% of pages get no organic traffic | Source |
#13. Trends
Trends are evolving strategies in SEO that reflect changes in algorithms, user behavior, and technology. These inform businesses on adapting strategies for better SEO performance.
| Statistics | |
| 91% of online adults use search engines to find information on the web | Source |
| 90%+ of the search market share belongs to Google | Source |
| 89% of marketers view SEO as successful | Source |
| 83% of searches use Google more often than other search engines | Source |
| 82% of marketers see SEO as becoming more effective | Source |
| 57% of marketing executives see content development as the most effective strategy for SEO | Source |
| 44% of companies use SEO | Source |
| 61% of chief marketing officers consider search engines as an effective marketing channel | Source |
#14. Voice Search SEO
Voice Search SEO optimizes online content for queries made through virtual assistants like Siri or Alexa, focusing on natural language and short answers to improve visibility in voice search results.
| Statistics | |
| 71% of people use voice assistants for directions | Source |
| 70% of voice answers occupy a search feature, like the featured snippet | Source |
| 66% of searches say search engines provide fair and unbiased information | Source |
| 65% of 25-49 year olds speak with their voice-enabled devices at least once a day | Source |
| 62% of business-to-business marketers say SEO algorithms are important to them | Source |
| 60% of voice search answers are the featured snippet | Source |
| 56% of users use voice assistants to find a place to eat | Source |
| 55% of teenagers use voice search each day | Source |
| 52% of people use voice search while driving | Source |
| 48% of the voice search market is owned by Apple | Source |
| 46% of people use voice assistants | Source |
| 20% of searches happen through voice search | Source |
| 2/5 adults use voice search at least once a day | Source |
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