Key Insights
Essential data points from our research
53.3% of all website traffic comes from organic search
The average click-through rate (CTR) in Google Ads across all industries is 3.17% for the search network
The #1 result in Google's organic search results has an average CTR of 31.7%
Businesses earn an average of $2 in revenue for every $1 they spend on Google Ads
SEO leads have a much lower cost per acquisition compared to PPC, often noted as costing 61% less than outbound leads
The average Cost Per Click (CPC) in Google Ads across all industries is $2.69 for search
PPC visitors are 50% more likely to purchase something than organic visitors
The average conversion rate for Google Ads on the search network is 4.40%
Organic search leads have a 14.6% close rate compared to 1.7% for outbound leads
70% to 80% of users ignore the paid ads focusing exclusively on the organic results
88% of consumers search on a smartphone for a local business within 24 hours visit or call that business
47% of consumers view 3-5 pieces of content before engaging with a company representative
61% of marketers say improving SEO and growing their organic presence is their top inbound marketing priority
66% of marketers plan to increase their PPC budget in the coming year
55% of marketers say blog content creation is their top inbound marketing priority
Conversion & Lead Generation
- 1PPC visitors are 50% more likely to purchase something than organic visitors
- 2The average conversion rate for Google Ads on the search network is 4.40%
- 3Organic search leads have a 14.6% close rate compared to 1.7% for outbound leads
- 465% of all clicks on paid Google ads are for commercial intent keywords (people looking to buy)
- 5The average conversion rate for organic traffic across industries is approx 2.4%
- 650% of search queries are four words or longer indicating specific intent that converts well
- 7Users who visit a website via PPC and then revisit via SEO are 3x more likely to convert
- 8Adding a call to action on a landing page generally increases conversion by 80%
- 9Local searches lead to a purchase 28% of the time
- 1070% of mobile searchers call a business directly from Google Search usually via paid extensions or local pack
- 11Financial services have a high conversion rate in organic search at roughly 5% to 6%
- 12The conversion rate for display ads (PPC) is much lower at roughly 0.57%
- 13Leads from search engines have a close rate that is 8x higher than that of traditional outbound marketing
- 1475% of people who find local, helpful information in search results are more likely to visit the physical stores
- 15Conversion rates for B2B consulting services are higher in SEO (3%) than PPC (2%)
- 16Video content on landing pages increases conversion rates by up to 86%
- 1752% of people who click on a PPC ad call the advertiser
- 18Search ads can boost top-of-mind awareness by 80% leading to later conversions
- 19Ads with sitelinks have a 10–20% higher CTR which correlates to higher conversion volume
- 20Optimizing page load speed by 1 second increases conversion rates by 7%
Interpretation
Think of search marketing as a tag team: PPC wins the quick buys—driving 65% of paid clicks for commercial intent, converting about 4.4% with visitors 50% more likely to purchase and roughly half of clickers calling the advertiser—while SEO wins the long game, converting around 2.4% but delivering organic leads that close about 14.6% versus 1.7% for outbound (search leads close roughly eight times more), and together they supercharge results—PPC-first visitors who return via SEO are three times more likely to convert—especially when you target long, intent-rich queries, add strong CTAs (+80%), video on landing pages (+86%), sitelinks (+10–20% CTR), faster pages (+7% conversion per second) and local/extension features that capture phone-heavy mobile intent, because display and outbound channels (display ~0.57% conversion) simply can’t keep up.
Cost & Return on Investment
- 1Businesses earn an average of $2 in revenue for every $1 they spend on Google Ads
- 2SEO leads have a much lower cost per acquisition compared to PPC, often noted as costing 61% less than outbound leads
- 3The average Cost Per Click (CPC) in Google Ads across all industries is $2.69 for search
- 4The legal industry has the highest average CPC in Google Ads at nearly $6.75
- 5Small businesses spend between $9000 and $10000 per month on PPC on average
- 6The average cost of a custom SEO project is between $1500 and $5000 per month
- 741% of marketers say that SEO provides the best ROI of any marketing channel
- 8The average CPA (Cost Per Action) in Google Ads for search is $48.96
- 944% of companies focus more on SEO than PPC due to long-term cost benefits
- 10Retargeting ads (a form of PPC) can lead to a 1046% increase in branded search terms which helps organic lift
- 11E-commerce sites see an average CPC of $1.16 in Google Ads
- 12While SEO is free per click the estimated value of organic traffic is often calculated based on equivalent PPC costs
- 13Reducing CPC by 10% requires a significant increase in quality score often achieved through SEO-aligned landing pages
- 1465% of small-to-midsized businesses run a PPC campaign meaning competition drives up costs
- 1582% of marketers report that SEO effectiveness is on the rise relative to cost
- 16The insurance industry faces some of the highest CPCs often exceeding $50 per click
- 17Companies spend over $106 billion on search advertising globally per year
- 18For local businesses the average CPC is roughly $1.50 to $2.00
- 19Using negative keywords in PPC can reduce wasted spend by over 20%
- 2048% of digital marketing budgets are allocated to Google Ads according to small business surveys
Interpretation
Think of PPC as a high-octane engine that reliably returns about two dollars for every ad dollar and powers a $106 billion search ad market with average clicks near $2.69 and much higher in verticals like legal and insurance, while SEO is the fuel-efficient hybrid that typically cuts acquisition costs by roughly 61 percent, builds lasting organic value equivalent to expensive clicks, and lowers long-term ad spend when paired with SEO aligned landing pages, retargeting, and negative keywords, which is why nearly half of budgets still funnel into Google Ads even as more companies chase the cheaper, rising ROI of organic.
Strategy, Budget & Trends
- 161% of marketers say improving SEO and growing their organic presence is their top inbound marketing priority
- 266% of marketers plan to increase their PPC budget in the coming year
- 355% of marketers say blog content creation is their top inbound marketing priority
- 460% of marketers practice a hybrid strategy where SEO and PPC data is shared
- 5Google drives 96% of mobile search traffic making it the primary strategic focus
- 672% of online marketers describe content creation as their most effective SEO tactic
- 7Global spending on SEO is forecasted to reach $80 billion
- 850% of advertisers budget for mobile-first ads over desktop-only ads
- 992% of marketers believe that content creation is a very effective or somewhat effective asset for SEO
- 10By 2024 mobile advertising is expected to make up 77% of total digital ad spend
- 1131% of marketers say that link building is their hardest SEO task
- 12The top three SEO factors are content user experience and links
- 1364% of marketers actively invest time in search engine optimization
- 1458% of digital ad spend is now programmatic showing a shift in PPC strategy
- 1520% of all mobile searches are voice searches requiring a shift to conversational keywords
- 16Repurposing content is a tactic used by 60% of marketers to improve SEO efficiency
- 1793% of online experiences begin with a search engine
- 1870% of marketers see SEO as more effective than PPC for driving awareness
- 19Budgets for localization in search strategy have increased by 40% in global companies
- 2089% of marketers say that SEO is successful at driving cross-channel synergy
Interpretation
Marketers are essentially hedging their bets—investing in content-driven SEO as the durable engine for awareness and cross-channel synergy while simultaneously ramping PPC and programmatic, mobile-first ad spend for immediate reach, sharing SEO and PPC insights, repurposing and localizing content to chase Google’s mobile and voice dominance, and gritting through the hard work of link building because content still proves to be the most effective tactic.
Traffic & Click-Through Rates
- 153.3% of all website traffic comes from organic search
- 2The average click-through rate (CTR) in Google Ads across all industries is 3.17% for the search network
- 3The #1 result in Google's organic search results has an average CTR of 31.7%
- 4Paid search drives only about 15% of all web traffic
- 5Moving up one spot in the search results increases CTR by 30.8% on average
- 6Top paid search ads get 19% of clicks on the first page
- 7Organic search drives more than 1000% more traffic than organic social media
- 8On the first page of search results the first five organic results account for 67.60% of all the clicks
- 994% of clicks in search results go to organic links versus paid ads
- 10The average CTR for display ads is only 0.46%
- 11Long-tail keywords (3+ words) have a 3% to 5% higher click-through rate than generic searches
- 12Websites rank for 1000+ keywords receive 98% more traffic than those that don't
- 13Only 0.78% of Google searchers click on results from the second page
- 14PPC ads can increase brand awareness by 80%
- 15Featured snippets receive approximately 8.6% of clicks
- 16Less than 10% of people click on paid search results
- 1715% of all Google searches are unique and have never been searched before affecting both SEO and PPC targeting
- 18URLs that contain a keyword have a 45% higher click-through rate than URLs that do not
- 19Images in search results get clicks from 3% of users
- 20Title tags with questions have a 14.1% higher CTR
Interpretation
If search were a nightclub, organic would be the headliner—pulling about 94% of clicks and over half of all site traffic with the top spot alone snagging roughly 31.7% and the first five results nearly 68%—while PPC is the flashy neon sign that boosts brand awareness by 80% but only nets around a 3.17% CTR and about 15% of traffic, so prioritise ranking for lots of relevant keywords, long-tail queries, keyword-rich URLs and question titles to capture clicks because display ads, images and featured snippets offer only modest lifts and the second page is essentially invisible amid 15% of searches being brand new and unpredictable.
User Trust & Behavior
- 170% to 80% of users ignore the paid ads focusing exclusively on the organic results
- 288% of consumers search on a smartphone for a local business within 24 hours visit or call that business
- 347% of consumers view 3-5 pieces of content before engaging with a company representative
- 460% of smartphone users have contacted a business directly using the search results
- 591% of 18-34 year old consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations affecting local SEO
- 661% of internet users browse the web on a mobile device requiring responsive design for both SEO and PPC
- 725% of people use ad blockers affecting PPC visibility
- 875% of users never scroll past the first page of search results
- 986% of people look up the location of a business on Google Maps
- 1040% of users will leave a page if it takes more than 3 seconds to load impacting both SEO rank and PPC quality score
- 1146% of all Google searches are seeking local information
- 1230% of mobile searches are related to a location
- 1345% of shoppers buy online and pick up in store relying on local search accuracy
- 14Users spend an average of 15 seconds on a page before deciding to stay or leave
- 1572% of consumers who did a local search visited a store within 5 miles
- 16Users trust search engines 2nd most as a source of information behind only health professionals
- 1777% of searchers conduct research on Google while they are in a store
- 1895% of Millennials expect brands to have a Facebook presence but rely on Search for specific answers
- 1986% of B2B marketers utilize content marketing as a tool for organic trust building
- 20Voice search users are 3x more likely to be looking for a local business
Interpretation
SEO is the long game local concierge that customers find, trust, and act on within seconds on their phones, while PPC is a costly spotlight many scroll past, so invest in fast, mobile-friendly local content, reviews, and accurate maps to capture the majority of searches and in-store visits.
