Key Insights
Essential data points from our research
The #1 result in Google's organic search results has an average CTR of 27.6%
The top 3 Google search results get 54.4% of all clicks
Moving up one spot in the search results usually increases CTR by 30.8%
15% of all Google searches have never been searched before
91.8% of all search queries are long-tail keywords
50% of search queries contain 4 or more words
63% of Google’s organic search traffic comes from mobile devices
Mobile users are 50% less likely to click on the top-ranking result than desktop users
58% of consumers have used voice search to find local business information
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
Around 65% of Google searches end without a click to another web property (Zero-Click)
Featured Snippets appear in about 19% of SERPs
When a Featured Snippet is present the #1 organic result CTR drops below 20%
Local SEO & Maps
- 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
- 497% of people learn more about a local company online than anywhere else
- 5Google Business Profiles with 100+ images get 1065% more clicks
- 6The average business is found in 1,009 searches per month mostly via Discovery searches
- 784% of searches for a business are Discovery searches (not searching for brand name)
- 85% of Google Business Profile views result in a website click, call, or direction request
- 9Businesses with significantly more reviews generate 54% more revenue
- 1087% of consumers read online reviews for local businesses
- 11Only 48% of consumers would consider using a business with fewer than 4 stars
- 1273% of consumers only pay attention to reviews written in the last month
- 13Google Maps is the preferred navigation app for 67% of consumers
- 14The average local business receives 59 interactions from their GBP listing monthly
- 1592% of searchers will pick a business on the first page of local search results
- 16Search interest in "open now" has tripled in the past two years
- 1716% of Google Business Profiles receive more than 100 calls per month
- 18Positive reviews make 73% of consumers trust a local business more
- 19Responding to reviews correlates with a higher ranking in the Local Pack
- 20Roughly 62% of consumers use Google to find photos of a local business
Interpretation
Think of your Google Business Profile as your digital storefront: with nearly half of searches having local intent and most customers discovering businesses on mobile and Maps, great photos, plenty of recent positive reviews, timely responses, accurate "open now" info and first‑page visibility are what turn discovery into visits and revenue—because while only about 5% of profile views trigger an immediate action, profiles with strong images and reviews get exponentially more clicks, trust and sales.
Mobile & Voice Search
- 163% of Google’s organic search traffic comes from mobile devices
- 2Mobile users are 50% less likely to click on the top-ranking result than desktop users
- 358% of consumers have used voice search to find local business information
- 4Voice search results typically load in 4.6 seconds, 52% faster than average pages
- 527% of the global online population uses voice search on mobile
- 640.7% of all voice search answers come from a Featured Snippet
- 7The average voice search result is at a 9th-grade reading level
- 875% of voice search results rank in the top 3 for that query
- 9Mobile searches for "where to buy" + "near me" have grown over 200%
- 1053% of mobile visits are abandoned if a site takes longer than 3 seconds to load
- 11"Near me" mobile searches have increased by 500% in recent years
- 12Pages with high social engagement tend to perform better in voice search
- 1330% of web browsing sessions will be screenless by late 2024
- 14Mobile organic search produced 23% of all site visits
- 15Keywords for mobile voice search are typically 29 words long
- 1651% of smartphone users have discovered a new company or product using mobile search
- 1770% of mobile searchers call a business directly from Google Search
- 1820% of mobile queries on the Google App are voice searches
- 19Sites with strong HTTPS implementation appear in 70.4% of voice search results
- 2056% of voice search users use voice to search for a local business
Interpretation
With over 60% of organic traffic coming from mobile, exploding "near me" and voice queries that favor quick conversational answers in featured snippets, and users ready to abandon slow or unsecured pages in three seconds, businesses that are not fast, mobile-first, snippet-optimized, local-aware, and HTTPS-secure are essentially invisible to the customers most likely to discover, call, and buy from them.
Organic CTR & Ranking Factors
- 1The #1 result in Google's organic search results has an average CTR of 27.6%
- 2The top 3 Google search results get 54.4% of all clicks
- 3Moving up one spot in the search results usually increases CTR by 30.8%
- 4Only 0.63% of Google searchers click on something from the second page
- 5The average top-ranking page generally also ranks in the top 10 search results for nearly 1,000 other relevant keywords
- 690.63% of pages get no organic search traffic from Google
- 7The average page in the top 10 is 2+ years old
- 8Only 5.7% of pages will rank in the top 10 within a year of publication
- 9Titles with a question mark have a 14.1% higher CTR vs. pages without one
- 10URLs that contain a keyword have a 45% higher click-through rate than URLs that do not
- 11Use of emotional titles can increase CTR, but power words often decrease it by 12%
- 12The average text length of a first-page Google result is 1,447 words
- 13Domains with authority typically correlate more strongly with rankings than page authority
- 14Pages with faster loading speeds rank significantly higher in Google
- 15HTTPS correlates moderately with higher rankings on the first page of Google
- 16Direct website visits are a strong ranking factor according to SEMrush data
- 17Bounce rate correlates with lower rankings on Google
- 18At least one external backlink is present on 99.2% of all top 50 results
- 19Title tags that start with the keyword have a higher CTR
- 20Descriptions that are meta-truncated get roughly 5% fewer clicks
Interpretation
Want clicks? Fight for the top three—especially number one with its ~27.6% share—because moving up a spot nets roughly a 30.8% CTR lift and the second page is basically invisible at 0.63%, so earn that placement with an authoritative, fast HTTPS site, lengthy useful content (first-page results average ~1,447 words), at least one external backlink, keyword-rich URLs and titles (ideally starting with the keyword and framed as a question), avoid heavy-handed power words that can backfire, and keep your meta description from being truncated, or you’ll join the 90.63% of pages that get no organic Google traffic.
SERP Features & Paid vs Zero-Click
- 1Around 65% of Google searches end without a click to another web property (Zero-Click)
- 2Featured Snippets appear in about 19% of SERPs
- 3When a Featured Snippet is present the #1 organic result CTR drops below 20%
- 4Video carousels appear on nearly 37% of desktop search results
- 5People Also Ask (PAA) boxes appear in 48.4% of all search results
- 6Paid advertisements account for 1.41% of all clicks in search results
- 775% of users say paid search ads make it easier to find the information they need
- 8The average CTR for a Google search ad is 3.17%
- 994% of users skip search ads and go directly to organic results
- 10Knowledge Panels appear in roughly 38% of desktop searches
- 1141% of clicks on the SERP go to the top 3 paid ads
- 12Featured snippets are stolen from the #1 ranking result only 30% of the time
- 1399% of featured snippets are sourced from pages already ranking in the top 10
- 1412.6% of US Google search results contain shopping ads
- 15Organic results are 5.66x more likely to be clicked than paid results
- 16Users click on Google Maps listings in the SERP 12% of the time
- 1770% of Featured Snippets are paragraph types
- 18PPC visitors are 50% more likely to purchase something than organic visitors
- 1946% of people cannot differentiate between paid ads and organic results in SERPs
- 20Removing ads from the SERP increases clicks to the #1 organic result by 30%
Interpretation
Google is increasingly keeping answers on the results page, with featured snippets, knowledge panels, videos and People Also Ask fueling a 65% zero‑click landscape, so marketers should stop worshipping the number one rank and instead fight for SERP real estate and user intent because ads take only a sliver of clicks yet convert better and many users cannot even tell paid from organic.
Search Behavior & Keywords
- 115% of all Google searches have never been searched before
- 291.8% of all search queries are long-tail keywords
- 350% of search queries contain 4 or more words
- 48% of search queries form lines of questions (phrased as questions)
- 5Google processes over 8.5 billion searches per day
- 684% of respondents use Google 3+ times a day
- 7The average search session is less than 1 minute long
- 821% of users access more than one search result
- 9Roughly 60-70% of search queries are one or two words only
- 10"How to" searches have grown by 70% year over year
- 11Around 12.3% of search queries contain a Featured Snippet
- 1296% of Americans use Google as their primary search engine
- 13Image search constitutes about 22.6% of all search volume
- 14Searches for "best" have grown by over 80% in the past two years
- 1539% of purchasers were influenced by a relevant search
- 16Only 9% of searchers make it to the bottom of the first page
- 1759% of people start their research on a search engine before making a purchase
- 18Google Lens is used for over 10 billion searches per month
- 19Searches involving "avoid" have increased 150%
- 2044% of online shoppers start their product search on Amazon not Google
Interpretation
Search has become a roaring, impatient marketplace; Google handles over 8.5 billion queries a day, 15% of them are brand new and 91.8% long-tail, queries are polarized between short one- or two-word bursts and a rising tide of four-plus-word questions and "how to" searches, image and Lens use is surging while "best" and "avoid" queries spike, the average session is under a minute and only 9% of users reach the bottom of page one, so brands that don't deliver concise, snippet-ready visual answers will lose customers to competitors and to Amazon.
