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
Only 0.63% of Google searchers click on something from the second page
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
The average first-page result on Google contains 1,447 words
Updating and republishing old blog posts with new content and images can increase organic traffic by as much as 106%
69.7% of search queries contain four words or more
Top-ranking pages rank in the top 10 search results for nearly 1,000 other relevant keywords
The #1 ranking page will typically have 3.8x more backlinks than positions #2-#10
95% of all pages have zero backlinks pointing to them
57% of B2B marketers state that SEO generates more leads than any other marketing initiative
81% of shoppers conduct online research before making big purchases
SEO leads have a 14.6% close rate, compared to 1.7% for outbound leads (like print ads)
Business ROI & Conversion
- 157% of B2B marketers state that SEO generates more leads than any other marketing initiative
- 281% of shoppers conduct online research before making big purchases
- 3SEO leads have a 14.6% close rate, compared to 1.7% for outbound leads (like print ads)
- 4Companies that blog get 55% more website visitors than companies that don't
- 589% of B2B researchers use the internet during the B2B research process
- 633% of ecommerce site traffic comes from organic search
- 7Inbound marketing (including SEO) costs 61% less per lead than outbound marketing
- 8B2B companies that blog generate 67% more leads per month than those that do not
- 944% of people start their online shopping journey with a Google search
- 10SEO has a 20X higher traffic opportunity than PPC on both mobile and desktop
- 1170% of marketers see SEO as more effective than PPC for driving sales
- 1261% of B2B decision-makers start the decision-making process with a web search
- 13Organic search is the top channel for revenue for 44.6% of businesses
- 1488% of consumers examine online reviews before making a purchase
- 1580% of major purchases start with online research, even if the purchase happens in-store
- 1643% of ecommerce traffic comes from organic Google searches
- 17Small businesses with blogs get 126% more lead growth than those without
- 1860% of marketers say that inbound (SEO/Content) is their highest quality source of leads
- 19Conversion rates for organic search traffic are approximately 5.3 times higher than paid search traffic
- 2071% of B2B researchers start their research with a generic search, not a branded one
Interpretation
Think of SEO as the Swiss Army knife of modern marketing: it delivers the most and highest-quality leads at far lower cost than outbound or paid tactics, dominates the research and discovery phase across B2B and consumer purchases, drives a huge share of ecommerce traffic and revenue, and when paired with blogging and reviews it turbocharges visitors, conversions, and lead growth, so ignoring it is a business risk.
Content Strategy & Keywords
- 1The average first-page result on Google contains 1,447 words
- 2Updating and republishing old blog posts with new content and images can increase organic traffic by as much as 106%
- 369.7% of search queries contain four words or more
- 4Content with at least one image gets 2x more traffic than content with no images
- 594.3% of pages get no visitors from Google because they have no backlinks/keywords
- 6Video content is 50 times more likely to drive organic search results than plain text
- 772% of marketers describe content marketing as their most effective SEO tactic
- 8Long-form content generates 77.2% more links than short articles
- 9Headlines with 14-17 words generate 76.7% more social shares than shorter headlines
- 10Posts with listicles get 2x more traffic and 1.5x more backlinks than other formats
- 1150% of search queries contain 4 or more words (long-tail keywords)
- 12Including a video in a post increases organic traffic from search results by 157%
- 1340.7% of all voice search answers come from a featured snippet
- 14Articles with H2 and H3 tags have higher performance 36% of the time compared to those without
- 15Websites with a blog have 434% more indexed pages
- 1636% of SEO experts think the headline/title tag is the most important SEO element
- 17Aligning content with search intent can increase organic traffic by 40%
- 1839% of purchasers are influenced by a relevant search
- 19Only 0.16% of the most popular keywords are responsible for 60.67% of all searches
- 20URLs that contain a keyword have a 45% higher click-through rate
Interpretation
Think of SEO like hosting a dinner party: serve long, well structured posts with images, video and listicles, refresh your classics, use keyword rich URLs and 14 to 17 word headlines that match search intent, and earn backlinks, because most pages without keywords or links get no guests, multimedia and long form content double traffic and shares, featured snippets win voice answers, and a tiny handful of keywords account for most searches.
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
- 498% of consumers used the internet to find information about local businesses in 2022
- 5“Near me” or "buy now" searches have grown by over 500% in recent years
- 687% of consumers read online reviews for local businesses
- 761% of mobile searchers are more likely to contact a local business if they have a mobile-friendly site
- 8Mobile searches for "open now" have tripled in the past two years
- 958.99% of all global website traffic comes from mobile devices
- 10The average smartphone user uses a search engine daily
- 1142% of local searches involve clicks on the Google Map Pack
- 12Businesses with a star rating of between 4.0 and 4.5 earn an extra 28% in annual revenue
- 1354% of smartphone users search for business hours
- 1410% of local SEO experts say citations are a top ranking factor
- 15Mobile queries for "where to buy" + "near me" have grown by over 200%
- 1668% of searchers use the "call" button in Google Business Profiles
- 1763.6% of consumers say they are likely to check reviews on Google before visiting a business location
- 1857% of local search queries are submitted using a mobile device or tablet
- 19Listings with photos are 2x as likely to be considered reputable and get 35% more clicks
- 2086% of people look up the location of a business on Google Maps
Interpretation
Nearly half of Google searches have local intent, "near me" queries have exploded by over 500%, and with 76% of smartphone searchers visiting a business within a day, 28% converting on local searches, and the vast majority checking reviews, photos and Google Business Profiles before they call or visit, neglecting local, mobile-first SEO is the fastest way to hand high-intent customers to your competitors.
Organic Search Performance
- 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
- 3Only 0.63% of Google searchers click on something from the second page
- 453.3% of all website traffic comes from organic search
- 5Moving up one spot in the search results will increase CTR by an average of 30.8%
- 668% of online experiences begin with a search engine
- 792.96% of global traffic comes from Google Search, Google Images, and Google Maps
- 8Organic search drives more than 1000% more traffic than organic social media
- 9A featured snippet gains 8.6% of clicks while the result below it receives 19.6%
- 1012.29% of search queries have featured snippets in their search results
- 1191% of content gets no traffic from Google
- 12The average top-ranking page continues to rank in the top 10 for nearly 3 years
- 1315% of all Google searches are distinct queries that Google has never seen before
- 14Titles with questions have a 14.1% higher CTR compared to pages that don't have questions in their title
- 15Combining SEO and PPC advertising leads to 25% more clicks and 27% greater profits than using one technique alone
- 1665% of Google searches result in zero clicks (ended without clicking to another web property)
- 17Organic search delivers the highest ROI of any marketing channel according to 49% of marketers
- 18On average, ranking #1 generates a typical CTR of 39.6% for branded queries
- 19Only 5.7% of pages will rank in the top 10 within a year of publication
- 20Ranking in position #1 receives nearly double the traffic of position #2
Interpretation
These stats spell a blunt truth: Google is the main street of the internet, so if your pages are not fighting for the front-window spots on page one, where a single leap in rank can boost clicks by about 31 percent and the top result captures roughly a quarter of clicks, you'll miss the vast majority of organic traffic and ROI, while smartly leveraging featured snippets and pairing SEO with PPC can be the practical cheat code that turns fleeting searches, many of them new or ending with no click, into long-term, high-value visitors.
Technical SEO & Backlinks
- 1Top-ranking pages rank in the top 10 search results for nearly 1,000 other relevant keywords
- 2The #1 ranking page will typically have 3.8x more backlinks than positions #2-#10
- 395% of all pages have zero backlinks pointing to them
- 443.7% of the top-ranking pages have some specific reciprocal links
- 553% of mobile site visits are abandoned if a page takes longer than 3 seconds to load
- 625.02% of top-ranking pages do not have a meta description
- 7A site that takes 2.9 seconds to load is faster than 50% of the web
- 8HTTPS is a confirmed ranking factor, and now over 90% of browsing time on Chrome is on HTTPS sites
- 9Backlinks are one of the top 3 ranking factors for Google
- 10The average reading level of a #1 result is appropriate for an 8th-grade student
- 11Pages with faster load times result in 16.5% higher conversion rates
- 12Removing toxic backlinks can lead to a recovery in rankings within 3-4 months
- 1366.3% of pages usually have no generic anchor text in their backlinks
- 14Only 2.2% of content generates backlinks from multiple websites
- 1556.8% of pages in the top 10 search results use Schema.org markup
- 16Websites with a Domain Authority over 50 are 4x likely to rank in position 1 than sites with DA 20
- 1751% of SEOs report that broken links are the most common technical SEO issue
- 18Core Web Vitals optimization showed 24% less page abandonment for sites meeting thresholds
- 19Pages with many backlinks rank above pages with none 99.2% of the time
- 2073.6% of domains have reciprocal links, meaning they link back to sites that link to them
Interpretation
Think of SEO as a popularity contest where speed, security and basic manners matter: authoritative backlinks overwhelmingly win votes (the No. 1 page typically has 3.8 times more links and pages with many links outrank those with none 99.2% of the time), while fast mobile load times, HTTPS, Schema markup, readable content and tidy technical housekeeping like meta descriptions and broken link cleanup materially boost conversions and recovery, and the stark fact that 95% of pages have no backlinks and only 2.2% of content attracts links means success demands deliberate outreach, great content and relentless technical care.
