Key Insights
Essential data points from our research
68% of online experiences begin with a search engine
Google currently holds approximately 91.54% of the global search engine market share
The #1 result in Google’s organic search results has an average CTR of 27.6%
90.63% of content gets no traffic from Google
The average top-ranking page generally ranks in the top 10 results for nearly 1,000 other keywords
The average page in the top 10 is 2+ years old
The average word count of a Google first page result is 1,447 words
Companies that blog get 55% more web visitors
Marketers who prioritize blogging are 13x more likely to see a positive ROI
46% of all Google searches have local intent
76% of people who search on their smartphones for something nearby visit a business within a day
28% of local searches result in a purchase
SEO drives 1,000%+ more traffic than organic social media
53.3% of all website traffic comes from organic search
SEO leads have a 14.6% close rate compared to 1.7% for outbound leads
Content Strategy
- 1The average word count of a Google first page result is 1,447 words
- 2Companies that blog get 55% more web visitors
- 3Marketers who prioritize blogging are 13x more likely to see a positive ROI
- 4Updating and republishing old blog posts with new content and images can increase organic traffic by as much as 106%
- 5Articles with H1 H2 and H3 tags have higher performance than those without
- 6Content with at least one image gets twice as much traffic as content with only text
- 7Blog posts with more than 3,000 words get 3x more traffic than those with 900-1,200 words
- 8“How-to” articles are the most popular content format for bloggers (77%)
- 9Video is the #1 form of media used in content strategy overtaking blogs and infographics
- 10Posts with lists get 2x more traffic and 1.5x more shares than other formats
- 1172% of marketers say that content creation is their most effective SEO tactic
- 12Adding video to a post increases the average time on page by up to 2.6x
- 1361% of marketers have replaced an agency with internal staff for content marketing
- 14Headlines ending with a question mark get 23.3% more social shares
- 15Emotional headlines are shared more often even if the emotion is negative
- 1647% of buyers view 3-5 pieces of content before engaging with a sales rep
- 17Only 29% of blogs allow for comments
- 1873% of people admit to skimming blog posts while 27% consume them thoroughly
- 19Content marketing generates over 3x as many leads as outbound marketing and costs 62% less
- 20Using "Because" in your content title can increase engagement by 31%
Interpretation
Think of content as a long, image- and video-rich how-to that’s been freshly updated, sectioned with clear headings and list-friendly chunks, and packaged with an emotional, question-topped headline or even the word "Because", because those ingredients double traffic, triple leads and dramatically boost ROI while remembering most readers will skim and rarely comment.
Industry & ROI
- 1SEO drives 1,000%+ more traffic than organic social media
- 253.3% of all website traffic comes from organic search
- 3SEO leads have a 14.6% close rate compared to 1.7% for outbound leads
- 449% of marketers report that organic search has the best ROI of any marketing channel
- 5B2B companies generate 2x more revenue from organic search than any other channel
- 660% of marketers say that inbound (SEO blog content etc) is their highest quality source of leads
- 770% of marketers see SEO as more effective than PPC
- 8The global SEO services market is expected to reach $103.24 billion by 2025
- 9Small businesses spend an average of $497 per month on SEO services
- 1044% of companies say better ROI is their top reason for using SEO services
- 1127.5% of clients feel that SEO agencies don’t track the right metrics
- 1265% of digital marketers state that link building is the hardest part of SEO
- 1388.2% of SEO professionals charge $150 or less per hour
- 1438.7% of SEO clients stay with an agency for 1-2 years
- 15The average SEO agency charges $134.66 per hour
- 16Organic search delivers 20x more traffic than PPC on desktop
- 17Organic search delivers 10x more traffic than PPC on mobile
- 1861% of B2B marketers stated that SEO and organic traffic generate more leads than any other marketing initiative
- 1975% of businesses invest in SEO
- 2041% of large companies expect their SEO budget to increase in the next 12 months
Interpretation
If you still treat SEO like background noise you’re missing the headliner, because organic search drives over 1,000% more traffic than organic social, supplies 53.3% of all website visits, delivers 20 times the desktop PPC traffic and 10 times on mobile, converts at a 14.6% close rate versus 1.7% for outbound, generates twice the B2B revenue of any other channel, is widely viewed as the highest quality lead source with the best ROI, supports a $100 billion plus services market while small businesses spend about $497 a month and agencies charge roughly $135 per hour, and yet clients still gripe about tracking and link building even as 75% invest in SEO and many plan to increase budgets.
Local & Mobile SEO
- 146% of all Google searches have local intent
- 276% of people who search on their smartphones for something nearby visit a business within a day
- 328% of local searches result in a purchase
- 4“Where to buy” + “near me” mobile queries have grown by over 200% in the past two years
- 586% of people look up the location of a business on Google Maps
- 661% of mobile searchers are more likely to contact a local business if they have a mobile-friendly site
- 772% of consumers that did a local search visited a store within 5 miles
- 8Mobile searches for “open” + “now” + “near me” have grown by 200%
- 997% of people learn more about a local company online than anywhere else
- 1058% of consumers use voice search to find local business information
- 1142% of local searchers click on results inside of the Google Map Pack
- 12Businesses with photos on their Google Business Profiles receive 42% more requests for driving directions
- 1388% of potential customers look for online reviews before choosing local services
- 14Positive reviews make 73% of consumers trust a local business more
- 15The average consumer reads 10 reviews before feeling able to trust a local business
- 1662% of consumers will disregard a business if they can’t find it online
- 17Searches for "shopping near me" have grown over 100% year over year
- 1854% of smartphone users search for business hours
- 1918% of local smartphone searches lead to a purchase within a day
- 20Over 50% of “near me” searches result in a store visit
Interpretation
Think of local SEO as your business's front door online; being easy to find on mobile and Google Maps, showing accurate hours and photos, and earning plenty of positive reviews converts the tidal wave of "near me", voice and mobile searches into store visits and purchases within a day, while being invisible or unfriendly on mobile hands those customers to a rival.
Search Behavior
- 168% of online experiences begin with a search engine
- 2Google currently holds approximately 91.54% of the global search engine market share
- 3The #1 result in Google’s organic search results has an average CTR of 27.6%
- 4Organically moving up one position in the search results increases CTR by 30.8% on average
- 5Only 0.63% of Google searchers click on results from the second page
- 615% of all Google searches have never been searched before
- 712.29% of search queries have featured snippets in their search results
- 850% of search queries consist of 4 words or longer
- 98% of search queries are phrased as questions
- 1091.8% of searches are for long-tail keywords
- 11On average users spend less than 1 minute on a search engine results page
- 1221% of searchers click more than one result on the SERP
- 13Approximately 5.6 billion searches are performed on Google every day
- 1458.99% of Google traffic comes from mobile devices
- 15Images are returned for 27.9% of search queries on Google
- 16People are 4 times more likely to click on a paid search ad on Google (63%) than on any other search engine
- 1765% of voice search users don’t want to go back to typing their search queries
- 1853% of US consumers say they research products using a search engine before deciding whether or not to buy
- 1992.96% of global traffic comes from Google Search, Google Images, and Google Maps
- 2061.5% of desktop searches and 34.4% of mobile searches result in no clicks (Zero-Click searches)
Interpretation
Google commands roughly 91.54% of the search market and about 5.6 billion queries a day while generating some 92.96% of traffic across Search, Images and Maps, and because 68% of online experiences begin with a search, brands that do not fight for the top spots where the number one organic result averages a 27.6% CTR and each position climbed boosts clicks by about 30.8% risk irrelevance given that second-page results get only 0.63% of clicks; with SERP attention under a minute, 61.5% of desktop and 34.4% of mobile searches ending without clicks, mobile accounting for 58.99% of traffic, 91.8% of searches being long tail and half of queries four words or longer, 12.29% of queries showing featured snippets and 27.9% returning images, 15% of searches being novel and 65% of voice users refusing to go back to typing, and paid ads pulling roughly 63% of clicks on Google or about four times the rate on other engines while 53% of US consumers research with search before buying, SEO that targets snippets, images, long-tail intent and mobile experience is no longer optional, and if you are not on page one consider yourself digitally invisible.
Technical SEO & Ranking
- 190.63% of content gets no traffic from Google
- 2The average top-ranking page generally ranks in the top 10 results for nearly 1,000 other keywords
- 3The average page in the top 10 is 2+ years old
- 4Websites with a superior mobile experience yield a 5% higher conversion rate via organic search
- 5Top-ranking pages load roughly 17% faster than pages ranking lower on page 1
- 696% of the top-ranking pages on Google are mobile-friendly
- 766.3% of pages usually contain at least one link without a follow attribute
- 843.7% of the top-ranking pages interact with some form of reciprocal links
- 9The number of domains linking to a page has the highest correlation with rankings in Google
- 1099.2% of all top 50 results had at least one external link pointing to the website
- 1125.02% of top-ranking pages don’t have a meta description
- 12Google rewrites meta descriptions for 62.78% of search results
- 1333.4% of link-building professionals use Core Web Vitals as a metric to evaluate link quality
- 1456.8% of URLs have a meta description that is truncated in the SERPs
- 157.4% of top-ranking pages do not have a title tag
- 16The probability of a bounce increases 32% as page load time goes from 1 second to 3 seconds
- 17Pages with Schema markup rank 4 positions higher in SERPs on average
- 1877% of SEOs believe user experience is an essential ranking factor for Google
- 19URL length has a slight negative correlation with rankings (shorter is better)
- 20Lower bounce rates correlate with higher Google rankings
Interpretation
If you want to avoid being part of the 90.63% of content that gets no Google traffic, treat Google like a picky, impatient librarian who rewards durable, authoritative pages—the average top result is over two years old and ranks for nearly 1,000 other keywords—by earning links from many domains (the factor most correlated with ranking, and present for 99.2% of top results), delivering a mobile-first, fast experience (96% of top pages are mobile friendly, top pages load about 17% faster, and a 1 to 3 second delay increases bounce probability by 32%), using Schema to climb roughly four positions, keeping URLs concise, prioritizing UX to lower bounce and lift conversions (about a 5% bump on superior mobile experiences), and not over-relying on meta descriptions since Google rewrites or truncates a large share of them.
