General SEO Facts and Figures
1. 93% of all online activities start with a search engine.
(Forbes)
Want to buy a new phone? You search its specs online. Hungry? You search for restaurants near you. Going on vacation? Chances are you’ll book your next trip online rather than going to a travel agent.
We have become highly reliant on the internet to meet almost all our daily needs for information. So it comes as no surprise that practically all online activity begins with a good old search engine.
2. The two most popular activities people engage in online are search and email.
(SMA Marketing)
In fact, according to SMA Marketing’s SEO data, surfing the web after doing a browser search and checking emails are the two most common activities for internet users.
3. Google receives 40-60 billion searches per month in the US alone.
(Moz)
On average, Americans use the world’s most popular search engine to conduct 3.4 searches per user, per day. This amounts to anywhere between 40 and 60 billion monthly searches in our country, as Google search statistics published by Moz recently revealed.
4. There are 236.5 million search engine users in the US.
(Statista)
OK, so 93% of all internet activity begins with a search engine. But how many people actually use search engines in the US? Statista informs us that this number is a staggering 236.5 million in 2019, a substantial increase from 213.6 million back in 2014 when the data was first collected. What’s more, the number of search engine users is projected to grow even further the following year, reaching 239.1 million according to these search engine statistics. This means nearly every adult in America uses internet browsers by now.
5. Search engines generate 300% more traffic for websites than social media.
(SMA Marketing)
Even though social media is wildly popular, search engines like Google, Yahoo!, and Bing are responsible for driving 300% more traffic to sites than social networks. As social media and SEO statistics show, creating engaging content that will rank well has the power to bring in a lot more business than social media posts. Don’t get us wrong, though – you shouldn’t forsake website content for social media, or vice versa. The best game plan is to have a balance between the two, posting regularly on both.
6. Search engine optimization marketing spending in the United States is projected to reach nearly $80 billion in 2020.
(Statista)
Bearing in mind the previous SEO stat, it makes perfect sense that the industry is worth billions in the US alone. In 2010, American marketers spent $22.1 billion on professional SEO services to optimize their websites so their companies would rank on the first page of Google. In the almost 10 years since, the importance of ranking among the top results has only increased. As has total spending on SEO – it’s nearly quadrupled.
7. 14.6% of SEO-generated leads are converted into sales.
(Crazy Egg)
SEO statistics point to the amazing conversion power of search engine marketing. As many as 14.6% of website visitors who discover websites thanks to successful search engine optimization end up becoming customers. This is huge compared to the 1.7% conversion rate of traditional outbound strategies like emails and print advertising. In other words, the leads you get from SEO are eight times more likely to become paying customers than the ones you generate through traditional ad campaigns.
8. 61% of marketers say growing SEO and organic presence on their websites is one of their top inbound marketing priorities.
(HubSpot)
Inbound marketing is all about creating meaningful connections with your clients. And what better way of doing just that than delivering the content your clients want to see? HubSpot’s SEO stats show marketers are mostly on the same page when it comes to ranking SEO on their list of inbound marketing priorities. As a matter of fact, six in 10 marketers consider it priority number one, with only 5% of them viewing SEO as an overrated marketing tactic.
9. Half of all search queries contain four words or more.
(HubSpot)
Internet search statistics highlight the fact that people tend to search for longer terms, including four or more words in half of their searches. One-word search queries account for 21.71% of all queries, while two-word searches make up 23.98%. Searches containing three words comprise 19.60% of overall results.
10. The average length of first-page content on Google is 1,890 words.
(Backlinko)
Just as people like entering long search terms into their favorite browser, they also enjoy getting lengthy, comprehensive answers to their queries. Google search stats published by Backlinko after thoroughly analyzing 1 million Google search results indicate that that longer content delivers better results. Posts around 2,000 words long tend to rank higher than their shorter counterparts on the same subject.
11. 93% of mobile users are likely to click on the first set of results when doing a “near me” search.
(Uberall)
When asked how likely they were to click on the first two to three search results after conducting a “near me” search, 60% of respondents said they were “very likely” to do so, and another 33% said they were “likely” to click on the top results. Only 5% responded they “weren’t sure what they would click” and 2% said they “wouldn’t click on the top results.”
12. 21% of Google users access more than one result of a search.
(Moz)
According to search engine traffic statistics, only a fifth of all Google searches result in more than a single click. This stat only emphasizes the importance of ranking highly on Google, since most people clicks only on the top results and nothing else.
13. 51% of all website traffic comes from organic searches.
(BrightEdge)
When looking to bring people to your website, regardless of whether you’re in the B2B or B2C niche, nothing beats organic traffic. Judging by BrightEdge’s websites traffic stats, it’s by far the most successful method as it generates more than half of all website traffic on its own. Paid searches are responsible for a lean 10% of website traffic, social networks attract only 5% of visitors, and the remaining 34% come from all other sources combined (including emails, displays, and referrals).
14. 70% to 80% of users completely ignore paid advertisements.
(SMA Marketing)
And while content is king, responsible for the better part of website traffic and lead conversion, paid advertisements deter most users. A Google result that shows at the top of the search results page marked with a tiny “Ad” sign will be overlooked by up to 80% of people hunting for information.
15. An average Google search session takes less than a minute.
(Moz)
Google is the preferred search engine in the world for a reason. It requires just under a minute from when you enter your query to when you get the result you’re after.
16. 75% of searchers never click past the first page of results.
(SMA Marketing)
Search engine traffic stats published by SMA Marketing confirm what most of us know from first-hand experience: most people never check the second page of Google results. Three quarters of internet users focus on the results listed on the first page, mostly at the top of it. Only a quarter of searchers peek around the corner to see what’s on the second page.
17. 8% of search queries are entered into a browser in the form of a question.
(Search Engine Journal)
Google keywords stats tell us that even though many people are used to looking up terms by entering keywords only, some 8% still enter full questions into the search bar. There’s nothing wrong with this method of browsing, and you should actually keep it in mind when forming your SEO plan.
18. YouTube is the second largest search engine.
(SMA Marketing)
Considering its number of users, daily searches, and time people spend on the website, it’s no surprise that YouTube is the world’s second largest search engine. This video giant is owned by the same company as Google – Alphabet Inc. – so it’s safe to say these two platforms dominate the top spots, leaving their competition far behind.