101 SEO Stats for You to Master the Game

As you likely know, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is an ever-evolving field, and understanding its nuances can mean the difference between online obscurity and powerful visibility for businesses and charities alike. SEO has proven to be a non-negotiable component of any successful digital strategy as the internet becomes increasingly competitive. This is especially true after the 2020-2021 lockdowns when having a strong online presence became a game-changer.

SEO stats keep changing but we thought we ought to bring you 101 of the more important ones so you can use and share them online for your benefit.

So, here are some 101 statistics and facts to illustrate the power of SEO.

101 SEO Statistics and Facts

1. Google is the leader of the search engine market, boasting an overwhelming 92.47% market share as of January 2023. (Source: Statista)
2. Approximately 53.3% of all website traffic comes from organic search, underscoring the importance of SEO. (Source: BrightEdge)
3. 71% of consumers begin their journeys by using a search engine to discover new products and services, and 74% reported using a search engine for consideration and purchasing. This shows the critical role of SEO in the customer journey. (Source: Forrester)
4. Research shows that 75% of users never scroll past the first page of search results. This highlights the necessity of strong SEO practices to rank high on Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). (Source: HubSpot)
5. Keywords in a title tag appear to have a significant impact on SEO. 36% of SEO experts think the title tag provides the most substantial SEO benefit. (Source: Databox)
6. 90.63% of pages get no organic search traffic from Google. This statistic underlines the importance of proper SEO tactics to improve visibility. (Source: Ahrefs)
7. Google’s top organic search result gets a 27.6% click-through rate (CTR), emphasising the value of ranking first on SERPs. (Source: Backlinko)
8. 57% of marketing executives say on-page content development was the most effective SEO tactic. (Source: Convince and Convert)
9. 67% of consumers say their online purchasing has increased since the start of the pandemic, with 27% saying it has increased considerably. (Source: Stackla)
10. Businesses with a strong keyword in the business name rank 1.5 spots higher than if there is no keyword in the name. This shows the power of keyword optimisation even in business naming. (Source: Local SEO Guide)
11. Over 40% of revenue is captured by organic traffic. Hence, it’s crucial for businesses to invest in improving their organic search presence. (Source: BrightEdge)
12. About 39% of all global e-commerce traffic comes from search, underlining the importance of SEO for online stores. (Source: SEMrush)
13. Updating and republishing old blog posts with new content and images can increase organic traffic by as much as 106%. It’s not always about creating new content but making the most of what you already have. (Source: HubSpot)
14. 70-80% of users ignore paid ads and only focus on organic results. This underscores the importance of organic SEO efforts over paid advertising. (Source: Search Engine Land)
15. The average first-page result on Google contains 1,447 words. Detailed content tends to perform better in search results, showing that quality beats quantity. (Source: Backlinko)
16. Google has a market share of 92.18% as of 2021, making it the most used search engine worldwide. This is why businesses often focus their SEO efforts primarily on Google. (Source: Statista)
17. SEO leads have a 14.6% close rate, while Outbound leads (such as direct mail or print advertising) have a 1.7% close rate. This clearly shows the effectiveness of SEO as a sales tool. (Source: Search Engine Journal)
18. 70% of marketers see SEO as more effective than PPC. This indicates a shift towards organic methods of increasing visibility online. (Source: Databox)
19. Google receives over 75,000 searches per second on any given day. That’s a lot of potential customers! (Source: Internet Live Stats)
20. 88% of searches for local businesses on a mobile device either call or visit the business within 24 hours. This underlines the importance of local SEO for businesses. (Source: Nectafy)
21. The average Google first page result contains 1,890 words. This shows the value of in-depth content for ranking on the first page. (Source: Backlinko)
22. SEO is the largest driver of traffic to content sites, beating social media by more than 300%. This underlines the importance of SEO over social media for traffic generation. (Source: Outbrain)
23. 92.96% of global traffic comes from Google Search, Google Images, and Google Maps. This indicates the sheer dominance of Google in online search. (Source: Sparktoro)
24. More Google searches take place on mobile devices than on computers in 10 countries including the U.S. and Japan. This shows the importance of mobile-friendly design for SEO. (Source: Google)
25. On average, conversion rates are 10 times higher from search than from social on desktops. (Source: Go Gulf)
26. 18% of local mobile searches lead to a sale within one day. It highlights the importance of local SEO for businesses. (Source: Junto)
27. 60% of marketers say that inbound (SEO, blog content, etc.) is their highest quality source of leads. (Source: HubSpot)
28. For local listings, 68% of searchers were found to have used get directions or click to call in a mobile ad. (Source: Think with Google)
29. 50% of search queries are four words or longer. This signifies the importance of long-tail keywords in SEO strategies. (Source: HubSpot)
30. Updating and republishing old blog posts with new content and images can increase organic traffic by as much as 106%. (Source: HubSpot)
31. 82% of marketers report the effectiveness of SEO is on the rise. (Source: MarketDive)
32. 65% of 25-49 year olds speak to their voice-enabled devices at least once a day. This signifies the rise of voice search SEO. (Source: PWC)
33. “Where to buy” + “near me” mobile queries have grown by over 200% from 2017-2019. (Source: Think with Google)
34. 61% of mobile searchers are more likely to contact a local business if they have a mobile-friendly site. (Source: Junto)
35. 70-80% of users ignore paid ads and only focus on organic results. (Source: Search Engine Journal)
36. The first organic search result on Google gets a 32.5% average click-through rate. (Source: Advanced Web Ranking)
37. 61% of marketers say improving SEO and growing their organic presence is their top inbound marketing priority. (Source: HubSpot)
38. 84% of people will not make a purchase if they are dealing with an unsecured website. (Source: Blue Corona)
39. 58% of all website visits in 2018 were from mobile devices. (Source: SimilarWeb)
40. Organic search equates to 94% of all web traffic. (Source: MarketingDive)
41. SEO leads have a 14.6% close rate, while outbound leads (such as direct mail or print advertising) have a 1.7% close rate. (Source: Search Engine Journal)
42. 72% of consumers who did a local search visited a store within five miles. (Source: WordStream)
43. 46% of all searches on Google are seeking local information. (Source: Go Gulf)
44. 97% of page-one results have at least one image on the page. (Source: Backlinko)
45. The average first-page result on Google contains 1,890 words. (Source: Backlinko)
46. 50% of search queries are four words or longer. (Source: WordStream)
47. 70% of marketers see SEO as more effective than PPC. (Source: Databox)
48. 57% of B2B marketers stated that SEO generates more leads than any other marketing initiative. (Source: Junto)
49. Updating and republishing old blog posts with new content and images can increase organic traffic by as much as 106%. (Source: HubSpot)
50. 61% of internet users do research on a product online before making a purchase. (Source: TechJury)
51. Google’s search algorithm uses more than 200 factors to rank websites. (Source: Backlinko)
52. High-quality content and link building are the two most important signals used by Google to rank your website for search. (Source: Search Engine Watch)
53. Only 2% of web pages that rank in the top 10 were created within a year. (Source: Ahrefs)
54. 45% of enterprises are investing more than $20,000 on SEO each month. (Source: North Star Inbound)
55. 78% of local searches conducted on a mobile device result in a purchase. (Source: Search Engine Land)
56. 46% of all Google searches are local. (Source: HubSpot)
57. 71% of consumers visit a local business website after reading positive reviews. (Source: BrightLocal)
58. 18% of local mobile searches lead to a sale within one day. (Source: Google)
59. 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. (Source: Search Engine Land)
60. 72% of consumers say that positive reviews make them trust a local business more. (Source: BrightLocal)
61. 92% of searchers will pick businesses on the first page of local search results. (Source: SEO Expert)
62. 97% of people learn more about a local company online than anywhere else. (Source: SEO Tribunal)
63. 86% of people look up the location of a business on Google Maps. (Source: SEO Expert)
64. The top 5 search results on Google get 75% of the clicks. (Source: Zero Limit Web)
65. Websites with a blog tend to have 434% more indexed pages. (Source: TechClient)
66. 70-80% of search engine users are only focusing on organic results. (Source: MarTech)
67. The average first-page result on Google consists of 1,890 words. (Source: Backlinko)
68. 50% of search queries are four words or longer. (Source: KoMarketing)
69. Updating and republishing old blog posts with new content and images can increase organic traffic by as much as 106%. (Source: HubSpot)
70. Images are returned for 27.9% of search queries on Google. (Source: SEO Tribunal)
71. Video content is 50 times more likely to drive organic search results than plain text. (Source: Omnicore)
72. Organic SEO is about 5.66 times better than paid search ads. (Source: New Media Campaigns)
73. 61% of marketers say improving SEO and growing their organic presence is their top inbound marketing priority. (Source: HubSpot)
74. Google “near me” searches have increased by two times over the past year. (Source: Search Engine Watch)
75. 72% of consumers who did a local search visited a store within five miles. (Source: WordStream)
76. 30% of mobile searches are related to a location. (Source: Google)
77. 97% of page-one results have at least one image on their page. (Source: Backlinko)
78. Bounce rate doubles if your website takes extra 2 seconds to load. (Source: Think with Google)
79. Conversion rate falls by 12% for every extra second that it takes your website to load. (Source: Portent)
80. 82% of marketers report the effectiveness of SEO is on the rise. (Source: MarketDive)
81. Voice search currently accounts for 10% of total searches. (Source: QuoraCreative)
82. Mobile searches for “where to buy” grew over 85% over 2 years. (Source: Think with Google)
83. Over 40% of online transactions are now done on mobile. (Source: Google)
84. SEO has a 14.6% conversion rate compared to 1.7% for traditional outbound methods such as cold-calling or direct mail. (Source: ImFORZA)
85. Google is responsible for 96% of all smartphone search traffic, and 94% of total organic traffic. (Source: Web Presence Solutions)
86. 61% of internet users do research on a product online before making a purchase. (Source: e-Tailing Group)
87. The top four ranking factors are website visits, time on site, pages per session, and bounce rate. (Source: Semrush)
88. Organic search drives 51% of all web traffic and 40% of revenue. (Source: BrightEdge)
89. 50% of all searches will be voice searches by 2023. (Source: Comscore)
90. 67% of all clicks go to the first five organic results. (Source: Zero Limit Web)
91. Google holds 92.07% of the search engine market share. (Source: StatCounter)
92. SEO leads have a 14.6% close rate, while outbound leads have a 1.7% close rate. (Source: Imforza)
93. 93% of all online experiences begin with a search engine. (Source: Imforza)
94. 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. (Source: Search Engine Land)
95. Local searches lead 50% of mobile visitors to visit stores within one day. (Source: Google)
96. Google receives over 63,000 searches per second on any given day. (Source: Internet Live Stats)
97. 70% of marketers see SEO as more effective than PPC. (Source: Databox)
98. Long-tail keyword searches have a click-through rate of 3% to 5% higher than generic searches. (Source: Smart Insights)
99. The average page in the first position on Google has over 2,000 words. (Source: Backlinko)
100. The average load time of a webpage on a mobile device is 22 seconds. (Source: Think With Google)
101. 82% of marketers report the effectiveness of SEO is on the rise and 42% state that the effectiveness is increasing significantly. (Source: MarketDive)

Bonus Fact

102. Google’s search algorithm uses more than 200 factors to rank websites. (Source: Backlinko)

What the Stats Mean

These compelling statistics and facts make it clear that SEO is not just a nice-to-have but a must-have for any serious online presence. As businesses and charities strive to make a meaningful impact in the digital sphere, a solid SEO strategy can provide the visibility and credibility necessary to reach their goals.