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
53% of all trackable website traffic comes from organic search
The average word count of a Google first page result is 1,447 words
Content with at least one image gets 94% more views than content without images
Articles with H1, H2, and H3 headers perform better in terms of traffic
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 for something nearby result in a purchase
61% of marketers view improving SEO and growing their organic presence as their top inbound marketing priority
Leads from search engines have a 14.6% close rate, compared to 1.7% for outbound leads
49% of marketers report that organic search has the best ROI of any marketing channel
The #1 result in Google gets approximately 31.7% of all clicks
90.63% of content gets no traffic from Google
The top 3 Google search results get 75.1% of all clicks
B2B & Strategy
- 161% of marketers view improving SEO and growing their organic presence as their top inbound marketing priority
- 2Leads from search engines have a 14.6% close rate, compared to 1.7% for outbound leads
- 349% of marketers report that organic search has the best ROI of any marketing channel
- 4B2B buyers conduct an average of 12 searches before engaging with a specific brand's site
- 570% of marketers report that SEO generates more sales than PPC
- 6Brands that appear in mobile search results see a 45% increase in brand awareness
- 757% of B2B marketers state that SEO generates more leads than any other marketing initiative
- 845% of total enterprise marketing budget goes to creating and optimizing content
- 941% of marketers say link building is the most difficult part of SEO
- 1089% of customers begin their buying process with a search engine
- 11SEO spending in the US is estimated to reach $80 billion annually
- 1260% of marketers say that inbound (SEO/Blog content) is their highest quality source of leads
- 13The average cost-per-acquisition (CPA) for organic search is lower than paid search and social
- 1470% of marketers see SEO as more effective than PPC for driving awareness
- 15B2B companies that blog 11+ times per month get 4x more leads than those blogging 4-5 times
- 16Only 30% of businesses have a documented SEO strategy
- 1744% of companies say better measurement of SEO ROI is a top priority
- 1871% of business buyers begin their research with generic, unbranded searches
- 19Small businesses spend an average of $497/month on SEO services
- 2081% of people perform some type of online research before making a large purchase
Interpretation
With 89% of buyers starting their journey in search, organic leads closing at 14.6% versus 1.7% for outbound and 61% of marketers already prioritizing SEO, the data delivers a clear and slightly terrifying message: invest in content, links, mobile optimization, frequent blogging and better measurement with a documented strategy to lower CPA, boost ROI and multiply leads, or essentially leave revenue on the search results page.
Backlinks & Ranking Factors
- 1The #1 result in Google gets approximately 31.7% of all clicks
- 290.63% of content gets no traffic from Google
- 3The top 3 Google search results get 75.1% of all clicks
- 466.31% of pages have no backlinks
- 5Only 5.7% of pages will rank in the top 10 search results within a year of publication
- 6The number of domains linking to a page correlates with rankings more than any other factor
- 799.2% of all top 50 results had at least one external link pointing to the website
- 8Moving from position #3 to position #2 will usually boost CTR by 30.8%
- 9The average top-ranking page is 2+ years old
- 1043.7% of the top-ranking pages have some reciprocal links
- 11Pages with the exact keyword in the anchor text correlate with higher rankings
- 12Backlinks sold for an average of $361.44 each in 2018
- 13A high bounce rate typically correlates with lower search rankings
- 14The average #1 ranking page also ranks in the top 10 for nearly 1,000 other relevant keywords
- 1573.6% of domains have reciprocal links
- 16Direct website traffic is the most impactful ranking factor according to SEMrush data
- 17Ranking in position #1 on mobile gets 27.7% of clicks, slightly lower than desktop
- 1825.02% of top-ranking pages don't have a meta description
- 19Domains with high Domain Authority (DA) tend to rank higher in Google
- 20Links from sites with a different C-Block IP address suggest a stronger ranking signal
Interpretation
These SEO statistics bluntly show that search is a winner-take-most game: the top three results grab about 75 percent of clicks while over 90 percent of content gets none, most pages have no backlinks yet nearly every top result has external links so domain-diverse, keyword-rich anchors plus strong direct traffic and older content predict rankings more than anything else, moving up a single spot can boost clicks by roughly 30 percent and only a tiny fraction of pages actually crack the top ten within a year.
Content & On-Page SEO
- 1The average word count of a Google first page result is 1,447 words
- 2Content with at least one image gets 94% more views than content without images
- 3Articles with H1, H2, and H3 headers perform better in terms of traffic
- 4Refreshing old content with new information can increase organic traffic by as much as 106%
- 5Long-form content generates 77.2% more links than short articles
- 636% of SEO experts think the headline/title tag is the most important SEO element
- 7Pages with videos are 53 times more likely to rank on the first page of Google
- 8List posts get 2x more shares and 1.5x more backlinks than other formats
- 969% of marketers say they used content marketing to successfully generate leads for SEO
- 10Companies that blog get 55% more website visitors
- 1147% of buyers view 3-5 pieces of content before engaging with a sales rep
- 12Shortening title tags to under 60 characters prevented truncation in 90% of cases
- 13Posts with 10–12 minute read times get the most engagement
- 14Including a video in a post increases organic traffic from search results by 157%
- 1572% of marketers describe content creation as their most effective SEO tactic
- 16Updating and republishing old blog posts with new content and images can increase organic traffic by 111%
- 17Title tags containing a question have a 14.1% higher CTR
- 18Content with a high readability score (easier to read) correlates with higher rankings
- 19Websites with active blogs have 434% more indexed pages
- 20Using 'best' or 'review' in title tags increases CTR by over 35%
Interpretation
Treat SEO like a dinner party: serve long, well-structured posts garnished with images and videos, label them clearly with H1, H2, and H3 headers, refresh old favorites often, and write readable titles that ask questions or include words like "best" and "review", because that combination consistently wins more traffic, shares, links, and leads.
Search Behavior & UX
- 168% of online experiences begin with a search engine
- 2Google currently holds approximately 91.54% of the global search engine market share
- 353% of all trackable website traffic comes from organic search
- 4Organic search drives more than 1000% more traffic than organic social media
- 515% of all Google searches have never been searched before
- 6Nearly 60% of Google searches are done on mobile devices
- 712.29% of search queries have featured snippets in their search results
- 8Only 0.78% of Google searchers click on results from the second page
- 958% of all Google searches result in zero clicks due to paid ads or instant answers
- 10Video search results have a 41% higher click-through rate than plain text results
- 1127% of the global online population uses voice search on mobile
- 12Google Images accounts for 22.6% of all search queries
- 1339% of purchasers were influenced by a relevant search during their customer journey
- 14Approximately 8% of search queries are phrased as questions
- 15Mobile searches for 'best [product] to buy' grew by 50% year over year
- 16Users spend an average of 14.6 seconds waiting for a mobile site to load before abandoning the search
- 1721% of searchers access more than one of the search results
- 1896% of people increase their video consumption on mobile devices, impacting video SEO
- 19People are 4 times more likely to use a search engine than a site's internal search function
- 2030% of mobile searches are related to a location
Interpretation
With Google commanding roughly 91.5% of the search market and 68% of online experiences beginning with a search, organic search, responsible for about 53% of trackable traffic and driving over ten times more visits than organic social, remains the primary gateway to customers, yet the reality is brutal: nearly 60% of searches are on mobile, users abandon slow pages after about 14.6 seconds, 58% of queries end without a click, only 0.78% of searchers click results on page two, and formats like featured snippets, video and images now command disproportionate attention, so optimizing for speed, mobile, local, multimedia and snippet-friendly content is no longer optional but essential.
Technical & Local 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 for something nearby result in a purchase
- 4Mobile pages that load 1 second faster see up to a 27% increase in conversion rate
- 592% of searchers will pick businesses on the first page of local search results
- 6Near me' or 'buy now' searches have grown by over 500% in recent years
- 788% of local business searches on a mobile device are for either calling or visiting the business within 24 hours
- 842% of local searchers click on the Google Map Pack results
- 9Slow-loading websites cost retailers $2.6 billion in lost sales each year
- 1082% of smartphone shoppers conduct 'near me' searches
- 11Google drives 96% of mobile search traffic
- 12Conversions fall by 12% for every extra second a website takes to load
- 1356% of local retailers have not claimed their Google My Business listing
- 1461% of mobile searchers are more likely to contact a local business if they have a mobile-friendly site
- 1540% of people will abandon a website if it takes more than 3 seconds to load
- 16Websites with SSL (HTTPS) are preferred by Google as a ranking signal
- 1797% of people learn more about a local company online than anywhere else
- 1886% of people look up the location of a business on Google Maps
- 1942.5% of websites have broken internal links
- 2050% of websites face duplicate content issues
Interpretation
With 46% of searches carrying local intent, 'near me' queries up over 500%, 76% of smartphone searchers visiting a nearby business within a day and 28% actually buying, yet 56% of local retailers haven't claimed Google My Business and slow, insecure, broken-link-filled sites (Google drives 96% of mobile search traffic and 92% of searchers pick first-page results) cost retailers billions while slashing conversions by up to 27% for a single faster second or 12% for every extra second, speed, mobile-friendliness, HTTPS, map-pack optimization and technical hygiene are not optional—they are the difference between being found, called and bought from and being forgotten.
