99 Key SEO Statistics to Rank Higher

I know that the thought of going through so many technical SEO statistics sounds rather boring, but bear with me for a moment, and I’ll explain why it’s worth doing.

We all know that old saying about how “all roads lead to Rome,” right? Well, in the online world, all roads lead to Google. I’m not joking!

Just think about it. Whenever people research brands, shop for products, or simply look for information, they look to Google for answers. But if you want the search engine to put your page in front of your users, you need to optimize it.

In this piece, I’ll share with you 99 key statistics and SEO facts that will help you understand the latest optimization trends, evaluate business opportunities, and even get started with new tactics.

 

Top SEO Statistics and Facts

Here are ten of the most interesting SEO statistics I think you should know to understand why optimization can be a game-changer.

1- 68% of online experiences begin with a search engine. (Source)

2- Google is the most frequently used search engine worldwide. (Source)

3- YouTube is the second biggest search engine. (Source)

4- 68% of marketers use SEO statistics to guide their paid search campaigns. (Source)

5- Over 50% of online traffic comes from organic search. (Source)

6- 70% of online marketers say that SEO is more effective than PPC for generating sales. (Source)

7- 61% of large companies confirm outsourcing digital content marketing work. (Source)

8- 65% of SEO marketers believe that link building is the most challenging SEO strategy, while 39% say keyword research is more difficult. (Source)

9- Case studies have shown that the average SEO ROI falls somewhere between 5x and 12.2x the marketing spend. (Source)

10- Google uses more than 200 factors to rank websites. (Source)

 

Google SEO Facts

A marketing strategy powered by SEO stats is becoming more of a necessity than an option nowadays. Just check these Google SEO facts and see for yourself:

11- Google currently holds almost 85% of the search engine market while its closest competitor, Bing, holds roughly 9% of it. (Source)

12- The United States accounts for 26.9% of traffic distribution while India ranks second with 4.5% of web visits. (Source)

13- Google processes 3.5 billion searches per day. (Source)

14- But a surprising 49% of Google searches result in zero clicks. (Source)

15- On average, 20% of daily queries have never been asked before. (Source)

16- 84% of users visit Google at least 3 times a day. (Source)

17- 21% of Internet users check more than one search result.  (Source)

18- Only 25% of all internet users visit the second page of a search engine’s results. (Source)

19- The top 2 Google ranking factors are high-quality content and link building. (Source)

20- However, Google changes its search engine algorithm about 500 times per year. (Source)

 

Ranking Statistics

Some people are still unsure of the benefits of improving their SERP rankings, so I’ve compiled these technical SEO statistics to clear any remaining doubts about its usefulness.

21- A study shows that 90% of people are more likely to click on the first set of results. (Source)

22- 75% of Internet users never go past the first page of search results. (Source)

23- Only 7% of users will explore the third page of search results. (Source)

24- The #10 position in Google’s SERP has a mere 2.5% CTR. (Source)

25- SEO statistics confirm that Core Web Vitals is considered the most important emergent ranking factor by more than 36% of SEO marketers. (Source)

 

Backlink SEO Statistics

Getting high-quality backlinks to your page is proven to improve your ranking exponentially, so here’s some information to keep in mind if you want to leverage this SEO technique:

26- It’s been found that most #1 pages get about 5% to 14.5% new backlinks per month. (Source)

27- A study has found that 66% of web pages don’t have any backlinks. (Source)

28- Over 70% of SEO marketers believe that relevant links from sites in your niche are more likely to positively impact organic rankings. (Source)

29- Blogging accounts for 97% of a website’s backlinks. (Source)

30- The average website in the SERP’s top position has over 35,000 external backlinks. (Source)

31- The average cost of paid backlinks is around $350. (Source)

32- Backlinks account for 30% of the overall Google website score. (Source)

33- Companies that blog get 97% more backlinks than those that don’t. (Source)

34- Over 70% of sites have reciprocal links. (Source)

35- An astounding 99% of sites in Google’s top search results have at least one external link. (Source)

36- Due to a lack of backlinks, 91% of websites don’t get any organic Google traffic. (Source)

 

Keyword Statistics

Keyword optimization is one of the most popular SEO strategies, so here are some keyword statistics that can guide your efforts going forward:

37- Keyword density stays around 0.5% to 2.5% in most blog posts. (Source)

38- Long-tail keyword searches have a 3% to 5% higher CTR than generic searches. (Source)

39- Half of all search queries are four words or longer. (Source)

40- Almost 40% of SEO marketers believe keyword research is the most difficult part of SEO. (Source)

41- It’s been reported that 75% of the top-ranking pages have keywords in their body, and about 60% of them have keywords in the title. (Source)

42- Questions make up 8% of all search queries. (Source)

43- Unsurprisingly, 43.9% of surveyed respondents said that the most popular metric for measuring SEO performance is keyword ranking position. (Source)

44- A study has found that including a keyword in a page’s URL leads to a 45% higher CTR.  (Source)

 

SEO Industry Statistics

The SEO industry keeps growing and doesn’t show any signs of slowing down any time soon. Here are some numbers that prove it:

45- SEO statistics show that this strategy is the fourth most popular marketing one. (Source)

46- According to 57% of B2B marketers, SEO strategies drive more leads than any other marketing efforts. (Source)

47- About 62% of SEO marketers find SEO algorithms extremely important. (Source)

48- In 2021, 36% of marketers believe the headline/title tag to be the most important SEO element. (Source)

49- Approximately 57% of SEO marketers affirm that SEO generates the most leads compared to other marketing strategies. (Source)

50- Off-page SEO accounts for 75% of a website’s overall SEO, whereas content accounts for only 25% of the optimization. (Source)

51- The average price for SEO services cost ranges between $100 to $150 per hour. (Source)

52- It’s estimated that business owners spend about $72 billion on SEO services. (Source)

53- SEO efforts seem to be very time-consuming, 65% of SEO professionals reported spending an average of 5 hours per day on SEO-related research activities. (Source)

 

Mobile SEO statistics

Everyone’s on their mobile phone nowadays, and this trend is reflected in SEO statistics.

54- As you’d probably expect, 60% of mobile users are “very likely” to click on the first two or three search results they see. (Source)

55- A #1 mobile position is 3x more valuable than a #2 one. (Source)

56- Recent data suggests that 16% of mobile users prefer voice search or a search engine app. (Source)

54- A surprising 53% of mobile users abandon a website if it takes longer than 3 seconds to load. (Source)

55- Google drives 94% of all mobile search traffic. (Source)

56- Mobile devices drive 52% of global internet traffic. (Source)

57- More than 50% of people discover new businesses thanks to a mobile search. (Source)

58- About 18% of local mobile searches led to a purchase within a day. (Source)

59- Mobile device browsing accounts for 65% of clicks on paid search results. (Source)

60- In 2021, 55% of page views came from mobile phones. (Source)

61- More than 85% of mobile users use a search engine at least once a day. (Source)

62- Currently, mobile phones are responsible for 60.66% of traffic, whereas desktop devices generate about 37% of it. (Source)

63- Mobile searches are expected to increase up to 73% by 2025. (Source)

 

eCommerce SEO Facts

Search engine optimization can also boost your eCommerce marketing efforts significantly, and here’s why:

64- Over 45% of product searches begin on Google. (Source)

65- A recent survey has found that 38% of shoppers around the world use Google to find information about new products. (Source)

66- An astounding 55% of users are unaware that there are PPC ads on the result pages. Moreover, up to 50% of them couldn’t tell which were paid ads. (Source)

67- Almost 50% of consumers all over the world get purchase inspiration when they’re online. (Source)

68- Organic searches generate 33% of eCommerce visits. (Source)

69- Approximately 80% of consumers ignore paid search results and opt for organic listings instead. (Source)

 

Local SEO statistics

Businesses looking to improve their eCommerce marketing efforts can greatly benefit from local SEO statistics. Just check these facts:

70- It’s been found that 46% of all searches on Google are local. (Source)

71- A study discovered that 4 in 5 consumers use search engines to find local information. (Source)

72- Over 80% of consumers rely on search engines for information on local businesses. (Source) 

73- 30% of all smartphone searches are location-related. (Source)

74- 50% of all local searches end up in a store visit and 18% of searches lead to a purchase. (Source)

75- Global searches for “shopping near me” have grown by more than 100% every year. (Source)

76- Searches for “open now near me” have grown globally by over 400% year after year. (Source)

 

Website SEO Facts

These SEO facts will hopefully help you understand the importance of optimizing your website.

77- More than 30% of SEO professionals believe that on-page elements, such as meta descriptions and heading tags, are the most important ranking factors. (Source)

78- Compared to social media, search engines drive 300% more traffic to content sites. (Source)

79- A page’s loading time impacts its ranking significantly. (Source)

80- A one-second delay in page response can lead to a 7% decrease in conversion. (Source)

81- 40% of visitors abandon a website if it takes more than 3 seconds to load. (Source)

82- A survey found that 61% of marketers say growing their websites’ SEO and organic presence is one of their main priorities when it comes to inbound marketing. (Source)

83- The value of a blog visit can increase by 429% thanks to SEO. (Source)

84- 65% of people click through to visit a website after watching a video. (Source)

85- On average, internet users will spend 88% more time on a website that features video content. (Source)

 

SEO Facts about Content Marketing

It’s no longer a secret that a content marketing strategy powered by SEO stats is the key to success. Here are some facts that give you an idea of how to combine both strategies:

86- When it comes to content consumption, more than half of the total comes from organic web searches. (Source)

87- So, it’s no surprise that 76% of companies consider organic traffic to be a key metric for content success. . (Source)

88- 72% of SEO marketers agree that relevant content creation is the most effective SEO strategy. (Source)

89- Moreover, 78% of marketers use SEO statistics to complement their content marketing efforts. (Source)

90- A 111% increase in traffic was observed after updating old posts with new images and content. (Source)

91- The ideal length of an SEO-optimized blog post ranges between 1200 and 1500 words. (Source)

92- 7 out of 10 SEO marketers are currently optimizing video content for SEO. (Source)

93- About 40% of SEO professionals believe content marketing provides the best passive link building results. (Source)

94- 72% of marketers agree that relevant content is currently the best SEO tool at their disposal. (Source) 

95- Blog posts that include video content boast a 53x higher chance of ranking among the first search results. (Source)

96- It’s been reported that 62% of all Google searches include video results. Moreover, video is 50x more likely to rank organically than plain text results. (Source) 

97- SEO marketers who leverage video content get 41% more website traffic than those who don’t. (Source)

98- It’s been found that updating older content is an efficient SEO technique employed by 51% of businesses. (Source)

99- A survey demonstrated that more than half of successful content marketing strategies aimed at improving content, and 46% of those prioritized SEO. (Source)

 

Wrapping Up

If you’ve reached this point, congratulations! You’re not only an SEO expert now, but you’re also ready to start boosting your search engine rankings. Having hard data that can guide your strategy, maximize your efforts, and help you make wise decisions is crucial, so I hope you’ve benefited from this article.

And if you’re new to the SEO world, you should at least be able to pinpoint where to get started and continue learning more about this wonderfully effective strategy. Best of luck!