Key Insights
Essential data points from our research
68% of online experiences begin with a search engine
Google currently holds 91.9% of the total search engine market share
53.3% of all website traffic comes from organic search
The average top-ranking page on Google contains 1,447 words
Content with video attracts 157% more organic traffic from search engines
Updating and republishing old blog posts with new content and images can increase organic traffic by as much as 106%
46% of all Google searches are seeking local information
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 leads have a 14.6% close rate, compared to 1.7% for outbound leads
61% of marketers say improving SEO and growing their organic presence is their top inbound marketing priority
70% of marketers see SEO as more effective than PPC
91% of all pages on the web get zero organic traffic from Google
The number one result in Google has an average of 3.8x more backlinks than positions 2-10
66.31% of pages have zero backlinks pointing to them
Backlinks & Off-Page
- 191% of all pages on the web get zero organic traffic from Google
- 2The number one result in Google has an average of 3.8x more backlinks than positions 2-10
- 366.31% of pages have zero backlinks pointing to them
- 494% of the world's content gets zero external links
- 5A high number of backlinks is the factor most strongly correlated with high Google rankings
- 643.7% of the top-ranking pages in Google have some reciprocal links
- 7The average cost of buying a link is $361.44
- 856.4% of businesses hire external agencies for link building
- 9Long-form content generates 77.2% more backlinks than short content
- 10Why posts, What posts, and Infographics receive 25.8% more backlinks than other formats
- 1173.6% of domains have reciprocal links, meaning they link to a domain that links back to them
- 12Companies who engage in consistent link building see a 45% increase in traffic
- 1352% of marketers say link building is the hardest part of SEO
- 14Only 2.2% of content generates links from multiple websites
- 1585% of aggressive link building tactics (like buying links) negatively impact rankings eventually
- 16Guest posting is used by 53% of SEOs as a main link building strategy
- 17Content longer than 3,000 words gets an average of 77.2% more referring domains
- 1890% of marketers use content marketing to generate backlinks
- 1913% of search experts say link building is the most valuable SEO tactic
- 20Pages with many backlinks rank above pages with fewer backlinks in 77% of cases
Interpretation
Think of Google as an exclusive club where backlinks are the VIP pass: most pages never get in, so if you’re not consistently creating long, shareable content and earning ethical links instead of buying risky shortcuts, you’ll probably stay invisible while domains that invest in link building dominate the rankings.
Business & ROI
- 1SEO leads have a 14.6% close rate, compared to 1.7% for outbound leads
- 261% of marketers say improving SEO and growing their organic presence is their top inbound marketing priority
- 370% of marketers see SEO as more effective than PPC
- 4Companies that publish 16+ blog posts per month get 3.5x more traffic than those that post 0-4 monthly
- 549% of marketers report that organic search has the best ROI of any marketing channel
- 6B2B companies realize revenue from their SEO efforts on average within 6 months
- 757% of B2B marketers state that SEO generates more leads than any other marketing initiative
- 865% of small business owners have worked with at least one SEO provider
- 9The average hourly rate for SEO agencies is between $100 and $150
- 10SEO spending in the US is estimated to reach $80 billion by 2020
- 1181% of shoppers conduct online research before making big purchases
- 1237% of businesses spend between $1000 and $2500 per month on SEO
- 13Only 30% of small businesses have an SEO strategy in place
- 14B2B tech companies spend an average of 15% of their revenue on marketing including SEO
- 1544% of businesses say they intend to increase their SEO budget
- 16Top-ranking pages on Google have an average domain authority of 49
- 1789% of customers begin their buying process with a search engine
- 1844% of companies say that better measuring the ROI of their demand generation initiatives is their top priority
- 1934% of companies allocate more than $1,000 per month to link building
- 20Brands that blog generate 55% more website visitors
Interpretation
If marketing were a sales team, SEO would be the MVP, with SEO leads closing at 14.6% versus 1.7% for outbound, 70% of marketers favoring it over PPC, brands posting 16 or more blogs earning 3.5 times the traffic, organic search initiating about 89% of buying journeys and delivering the best ROI for nearly half of marketers, yet only 30% of small businesses actually have an SEO strategy despite rising budgets and agency demand.
Content & On-Page
- 1The average top-ranking page on Google contains 1,447 words
- 2Content with video attracts 157% more organic traffic from search engines
- 3Updating and republishing old blog posts with new content and images can increase organic traffic by as much as 106%
- 472% of marketers describe content creation as their most effective SEO tactic
- 5Creating a blog post for a B2B company produces 67% more leads per month
- 6Articles with H1 tags containing keywords generally rank higher than those without
- 7Long-reads (3000+ words) get x3 more traffic than articles of average length (901-1200 words)
- 836.3% of SEOs spend most of their time on content production
- 9Pages with a meta description get 5.8% more clicks than those without
- 1040% of marketers say original graphics perform best in their content
- 11Headlines with 14-17 words generate 76.7% more social shares than shorter headlines
- 12List posts get 2x more shares than other blog post formats
- 1357% of marketing executives say on-page content development was the most effective SEO tactic
- 14Using "Power Words" in title tags decreases CTR by 13.9%
- 1529% of pages with duplicate content are not crawled by search engines
- 16Titles with positive sentiment improve organic CTR by approximately 4%
- 1769.7% of search queries contain 4 words or more, indicative of long-tail keyword usage
- 1847% of buyers view 3-5 pieces of content before engaging with a sales rep
- 1950% of visitors are more likely to click a result if the brand appears multiple times content-wise
- 20Addressing audience intent in content leads to a 4x higher pipeline generation
Interpretation
Think of SEO as a long, strategic dating game: long, well updated and media rich pages win (the average top result is about 1,447 words; articles over 3,000 words get roughly three times the traffic, video can lift organic traffic by 157% and refreshing old posts can boost it by up to 106%), so craft intent focused, keyword rich H1s and positive titles with meta descriptions (nearly 70% of searches are four words or more and titles with positive sentiment improve CTR by about 4%), favor list formats and 14 to 17 word headlines for shares, use original graphics, avoid duplicate pages that might not be crawled and steer clear of gimmicky "power words" that can cut CTR by roughly 14%, and your content will appear more often across the three to five touch buying journey, generate more clicks and leads (blogging can produce about 67% more leads) and build a pipeline up to four times larger.
Technical & Local
- 146% of all Google searches are seeking local information
- 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
- 4Mobile searches for "where to buy" + "near me" have grown by over 200%
- 588% of potential customers look for online reviews before choosing local services
- 6As page load time goes from 1 second to 3 seconds, the probability of bounce increases 32%
- 753% of mobile site visits leave a page that takes longer than three seconds to load
- 827% of the global online population is using voice search on mobile
- 9The average voice search result is 29 words long
- 10A secure Website (HTTPS) correlates with higher rankings on the first page
- 1140.7% of voice search answers come from a Featured Snippet
- 1261% of mobile searchers are more likely to contact a local business if they have a mobile-friendly site
- 1397% of people learn more about a local company online than anywhere else
- 14Google Maps is the preferred navigation app for 67% of consumers
- 1558% of consumers use voice search to find a local business information
- 16Pages that load in 2 seconds have an average bounce rate of 9%
- 1786% of people look up the location of a business on Google Maps
- 18Websites with an average time on site of 3 seconds rank higher than those with less dwell time
- 19Schema markup is used by less than one-third of websites
- 2054% of Americans over the age of 18 use voice commands
Interpretation
Treat your website like a well-lit storefront on the busiest street: with 46% of Google searches seeking local information, mobile "where to buy near me" queries up over 200%, 76% of smartphone searchers visiting a business within a day and 28% buying, 88% checking reviews and 67% using Google Maps, a fast, secure, mobile-friendly site that loads in about two seconds, answers voice queries with concise, featured-snippet-ready copy, and leverages reviews and schema is the difference between winning a customer and watching them bounce.
User Search Behavior
- 168% of online experiences begin with a search engine
- 2Google currently holds 91.9% of the total search engine market share
- 353.3% of all website traffic comes from organic search
- 4Only 0.63% of Google searchers click on results from the second page
- 5The #1 result in Google’s organic search results has an average CTR of 27.6%
- 615% of all Google searches have never been searched before
- 7Google Images accounts for 22.6% of all search queries
- 812.29% of search queries have featured snippets in their search results
- 950% of search queries are four words or longer
- 10Organic search drives more than 1000% more traffic than organic social media
- 1121% of searchers click on more than one result
- 128% of search queries are phrased as questions
- 1375% of users never scroll past the first page of search results
- 1492.96% of global traffic comes from Google Search/Images and Maps
- 15Moving up one spot in the search results increases CTR by 30.8% on average
- 16Title tags containing a question have a 14.1% higher CTR vs pages that don't
- 1758% of all searches on Google are done from a mobile device
- 1818% of searchers change their search terms without clicking on any results
- 1999.2% of all featured snippets are already ranking in the top 10 positions
- 20Visual search lens usage increased by 140% one year after launch
Interpretation
With Google commanding about 92% of searches and organic results delivering over half of website traffic while the first page and especially the top spot capture almost all clicks, these statistics make it crystal clear that mastering SEO, from question-based titles and featured snippets to mobile, visual and long-tail optimization, is the single most effective way to be found online, and if you're not on page one you might as well be invisible.
