The field of search engine optimization is ever-evolving. Whether you are new to the SEO world or a veteran, the two most important things are keeping up with the updates and knowing the latest SEO statistics.
By understanding the SEO impact and growth, you can build a strategy and bring your brand closer to your potential clients. Luckily for you, you can find every useful statistic below.
Let’s study the SEO world through some numbers.
source: res.cloudinary.com
Top 10 Search Engine Marketing Statistics
- 29.8% of Google searches done in the last quarter of 2020 were organic search results.
- The average click-through rate of the first SERP in 2023 is 27.6%.
- 92.66% of search queries worldwide are made on Google.
- On average, 55% of Google searches are zero-click searches.
- 39% of websites pass the Core Web Vitals metrics.
- The average load speed of the top-ranking sites worldwide is 2.5 seconds on desktop and 8.6 seconds on mobile.
- The average cost of buying a link is $361.44.
- 65% of the overall e-commerce sessions were from search traffic.
- 47% of SEO professionals charge $75 to $200 per hour.
- Video SEO can increase the site’s conversion rates by 80%.
General SEO Statistics
1. Organic search results have an 8.5 times higher chance of being opened than paid search ads.
One of the biggest benefits of SEO is that it can give you bigger visibility. Plus, the results are long-term. SEO had a 53% share of the overall website traffic in 2019, which is 2% more than in 2014.
2. 29.8% of Google searches done in the last quarter of 2020 were organic search results.
(Statista)
Comparing the Google search percentage, we can notice that almost 30% of the Google searches are organic search results.
On the other hand, paid search results have the lowest CTR and represent 1.9% of Google searches.
3. According to 32.8% of SEO professionals, on-page elements are the most important factor for SEO.
(Statista)
Every third SEO professional who participated in a survey conducted in 2021 believes that on-page optimization is the leading factor for higher ranking.
Another almost equally important SEO ranking factor, mentioned by 30.9% of the experts, was organic user behavior.
4. The average click-through rate of the first SERP in 2023 is 27.6%.
First-ranked pages on Google have almost 30% CTR. As the search results go further down, the CTR decreases. For instance, the second search result on a given keyword has almost two times lower CTR, with an average of 15.8%.
Here are the average click-through rates of the top 10 Google searches.
Summarizing the data for all Google search results, we will see that 55.4% of all clicks are from the three highest-ranked web results.
5. The first-ranked snippet has the highest CTR of all Google Search elements, counting 42.9% on average.
The Google SEO statistics from 2023 show that the first snippet has the highest CTR among the Google Search elements. Next comes the first organic result, which has a 39.8% CTR on average, and the second-ranked snippet has a 27.4% CTR.
The list goes on with:
- People Also Ask Box with a CTR of 3%.
- Video Results with CTR between 2.3% and 6.4%.
- Image Results with CTR between 1.4% and 4.9%.
- Ad Results with CTR from 1.2% to 2.1%.
- Knowledge Panel with 1.4% CTR.
6. The average CTR increase from moving one spot in the Google search results is 2.8%.
Your possible click-through rate increases as you move up in the SERPs. However, it is really important from which position you are moving up.
For instance, if you have a position change from the second to the first place, you might get a CTR change of 74.5%.
Understandably, you can expect a double-digit CTR change if the website is in the first 10 searches and goes one position up.
| Previous position | New position | CTR change |
| 2 | 1 | 74.5% |
| 3 | 2 | 43.4% |
| 4 | 3 | 31.9% |
| 5 | 4 | 32.6% |
| 6 | 5 | 29.3% |
| 7 | 6 | 23.5% |
| 8 | 7 | 20.5% |
| 9 | 8 | 23.6% |
| 10 | 9 | 11.2% |
According to the SEO statistics, some of the ways you might increase your CTR are:
- Writing title tags between 40 and 60 characters.
- Targeting keywords between 10 and 15 words because they get 1.76 times more clicks compared to one-word keywords.
- You might increase your CTR by 4% if you write positive titles.
Search Engine Statistics
7. 92.66% of search queries worldwide are made on Google.
Google is steadily holding the first place as the most used search engine in the world. In June 2023, nine in 10 internet users chose Google as their primary search engine.
Other less-used search engines worldwide are Bing, YANDEX, Yahoo!, Baidu, and DuckDuckGo. Each one of these search engines represents less than 3% of the global market share.
8. 27.03% of the desktop traffic to Google comes from the United States.
(Statista)
A little over one-quarter of the overall desktop traffic to Google in April 2023 was from the US.
Far behind, as the second-ranked country, is India, with a 4.46% share. Next, come countries like Brazil (4.41%), the United Kingdom (3.85%), and Japan (3.61%).
9. 86% of the queries made in 2023 were on Google.
(Statista)
The SEO statistics specifically for the USA show that more than 85% of the respondents in a survey mostly use Google as their search engine. The second place is taken by Yahoo!, which is used by 29% of Americans.
Next comes Bing with 21%, then DuckDuckGo with 15%, Search.com with 11%, and finally, Ask.com with 10%.
10. In December 2022, Google processed 9.9 million queries only from the United States.
(Statista)
Google is undoubtedly the leading search engine by the number of core searches since 2008.
However, since the end of 2011, Microsoft Sites have started answering more and more American search queries.
In December 2022, Microsoft Sites received 4.35 million queries, while Verizon Media and Ask Network processed 1.78 million and 0.12 million core search queries, respectively.
11. 89% of the adults in the US who participated in a survey see data privacy as one of the most important features when choosing a search engine.
(Statista)
Almost every nine in 10 Americans consider data privacy a crucial factor when selecting a search engine in 2023. Other important features for US adults are
- Ease of use (88%).
- Honest, unbiased, and imperial results (85%).
- Integration into a web browser (69%).
- Part of the same ecosystem as other online services they use (66%).
- Showing more relevant search results by remembering search history (63%).
- Use of AI to improve results (46%).
12. 54% of US adults wouldn’t switch to an AI-powered search engine.
(Statista)
Of all adult respondents to a survey conducted in 2023, 28% would change their primary search engine to an AI-powered one, 18% aren’t sure, and most of the respondents won’t make such a switch.
Among the different generations, Millennials (40%) are most likely to switch to an AI-powered search engine. On the contrary, 64% of the Baby Boomer respondents in America wouldn’t change to an AI-powered search engine.
13. 36.3% of the respondents will be motivated to switch search engines if it gives higher-quality results.
(Statista)
According to a survey conducted in 2019, 36% of the respondents are willing to change their primary search engine if another platform offers them search results with better quality.
Additionally, one-third of the respondents are concerned about their privacy. More specifically, they would change the search engine if it didn’t collect personal data.
Other reasons why internet users might change their search engine are:
- Fewer ads (16.62%)
- Options to search elsewhere (5.09%)
- Customizable layout and colors (5%)
- Better visual design (3.31%)
14. On average, 55% of Google searches are zero-click searches.
(Semrush)
More than half of Google searches are zero-click. More specifically, 57% of mobile and 53% of desktop searches were zero-click searches in 2022.
15. In one second, Google receives around 63,000 queries.
(HubSpot)
The volume of Google searches each second is around 63,000. In other words, Google gets approximately 5.6 billion queries daily. This translates to three or four searches per person in one day.
Ultimately, the number of worldwide Google searches each year is around 2 trillion.
16. 15% of the daily searches on Google are new.
(Google)
As per the Google SEO statistics, every seventh daily query hasn’t been googled before. That means a lot of work can be done to satisfy people’s queries, meaning the SEO field is expected to grow.
17. With a search volume of 1.2 billion, YouTube is the most searched keyword on Google.
(Semrush)
As of June, YouTube has been the most searched query on Google in 2023. The list of the top 10 most popular Google searches globally continues with the keywords:
- Facebook – 836 million
- WhatsApp web – 543.3 million
- Weather – 512.7 million
- Translate – 444.7 million
- Google – 444.7 million
- Amazon – 388.7 million
- Gmail – 363.3 million
- Google Translate – 363.3 million
- Instagram – 338 million
SEO Link Stats
18. 66.31% of pages have zero backlinks pointing to them.
(AhRefs)
Six in 10 pages have no referring domains. On the other hand, 26.29% of the pages in the study of AhRefs, have between one and three backlinks.
The numbers are drastically decreasing as the number of backlinks grows. Only 5.22% have four to 10 backlinks, 2.1% have between 11 and 100, and 0.08% or 945,595 pages have more than 101 referring domains.
If we compare the number of backlinks and the organic search traffic, we can notice that only 5% of pages without backlinks get some organic traffic.
19. The average cost of buying a link is $361.44.
(AhRefs)
The cost of niche editing or link insertion on a blog is mainly correlated with the domain rating of the site. Hence, the higher the domain rating, the higher the average link insert cost.
The AhRefs study showed that sites with DR above 60 are likely to ask for more than $600 for a link in 2023.
20. Publication of a guest post costs $77.80, on average.
(AhRefs)
Search engine marketing statistics show that guest posts are typically cheaper than links. However, most of the sites that are willing to sell guest posts have DR between 0 and 39.
Core Web Vitals Statistics
21. 39% of websites pass the Core Web Vitals metrics.
Roughly 40% of websites pass the Core Web Vitals metrics. Furthermore, these websites have a higher chance of being ranked in Google organic search.
On the contrary, 60.83% of the websites analyzed by Advance Web Ranking have CWV below the threshold.
22. The average load speed of the top-ranking sites worldwide is 2.5 seconds on desktop and 8.6 seconds on mobile.
Generally, websites take 70.9% longer to load on mobile than on desktop. Interestingly, if a page has a mobile load time of 10%, its bounce rate will increase by 123%.
23. 45.4% of consumers are less likely to make a purchase if the website has a slow load time.
(Unbounce)
More than 70% of consumers consider load speed an important factor for purchasing or returning to the website. In fact, 45% stated they are less likely to purchase something from a website with a slow load time, while 36.8% said they probably wouldn’t return to the website.
Additionally, 11.9% would share their experience with a friend and tell them about the slow loading time of a particular website.
The good news is that half of the people will first blame the slow load time on their internet connection before thinking the website is the problem.
24. 53% of the pages are abandoned if they have a loading time longer than three seconds.
(Google)
Half of the people expect the page loading time to be less than two seconds. Additionally, for 46% of the survey respondents, mobile loading time is crucial for deciding whether they like the website or not.
SEO Business Statistics
25. 65% of the overall e-commerce sessions were from search traffic.
(Statista)
The SEO impact on e-commerce is significant. In fact, six in 10 e-commerce sessions are from search traffic.
More specifically, every third, or 33%, of e-commerce sessions in the world were from organic traffic in 2019. Paid search sites generated the remaining 32%.
26. 47% of SEO professionals charge $75 to $200 per hour.
(AhRefs)
34.8% of SEO professionals charge their clients by the hour. From those, almost every fifth professional charges between $75 and $100 per hour for their services.
Furthermore, 4.1% of the respondents in the AhRefs survey answered that their hourly rate is above $201.
27. SEO professionals from India are the cheapest in the world.
(AhRefs)
Overall, India has the highest percentage of SEO professionals (85.7%) with hourly rates of $30 or below. The other 14.3% charge between $51 and $60, which is still cheaper than the average SEO professional hourly cost worldwide.
28. Businesses set aside $500 monthly for SEO-related services.
The SEO budget typically depends on how big the business is. For instance, 38% of small businesses expect to pay $100 for SEO services, while 54% don’t have any SEO budget.
However, of all the businesses that invest in SEO, the average amount they spend is a little below $500. Unfortunately, this amount is insufficient for national or international campaigns, which can cost $2,500 up to $5,000 a month.
29. In 2022, the average monthly cost per click in the US was $2.61.
(Statista)
The USA has North America’s highest average Google Ads cost per click in 2022. On the other hand, the CPC in Canada was $1.69, whereas, in Mexico, it amounted to 51 cents.
30. The most expensive keywords in Google Ads are in the insurance field, with a cost per click of $54.91.
Keywords related to insurance have the highest cost per click of almost $55 in Google Ads. The second most expensive keyword category is loans, with a CPC of $44.28.
The table below shows the other keywords with the highest CPC.
| Keyword category | CPC |
| Mortgage | $47.12 |
| Attorney | $47.07 |
| Credit | $36.06 |
| Lawyer | $42.51 |
| Donate | $42.02 |
| Degree | $40.61 |
| Hosting | $31.91 |
| Claim | $45.51 |
31. The average PPC ranges between $2 and $5.
(HawkSem)
The average PPC monthly campaign can cost between $9,000 and $10,000. Comparing the SEO vs PPC statistics, we can say that SEO campaigns are more affordable than PPC campaigns.
32. The average annual base salary as an SEO Analyst in the USA is $53,945.
(PayScale)
According to market research, the base salary of SEO analysts is between $41,000 and $76,000, depending on their experience.
In addition to the base salary, the bonuses are estimated to be between $700 and $7,000, and there is profit sharing from $1,000 to $4,000.
SEO and Social Media Statistics
33. Facebook holds the largest social media market share, counting 63.93%.
Facebook holds almost 64% of the social media market share in the world. Next are Instagram and Twitter, with 13.91% and 12.18%, respectively.
34. The highest traffic across all social media platforms is 9 AM PST on a Monday.
Generally looking, the best time to share on social media is 9 AM PST on Monday. However, each platform has its own time and day when the highest traffic is recorded.
| Social Media Platform | Day | Time |
| Monday | 10 AM PST | |
| Monday | 9 AM PST | |
| Friday | 9 AM PST | |
| Monday | 1 PM PST | |
| TikTok | Sunday | 1 PM PST |
35. Seven out of 10 consumers will likely purchase a product if it is reffed on social media.
(HubSpot)
71% of consumers are likely to purchase something if others recommend it on social media. That’s why US retailers seize this opportunity, and 86% of them have a Facebook fan page.
From the benefits of SEO for e-commerce, it is important to note that 61% of consumers inform themselves about a product before purchasing something.
36. 42.4% of respondents in 2021 said reviews are the most helpful content when purchasing a product.
(Statista)
Reviews are the most helpful content for customers. Other things people in the US search and rely on before purchasing a product are:
- FAQs about the product
- Tutorials
- Unboxing
- Visual media like images and videos of the product in use
- Images and videos of the product
Video SEO Statistics
37. Videos account for 65% of the Internet traffic.
(Sandvine)
The percentage of the Internet volume that videos are responsible for is growing each year. In 2022, in particular, global video usage recorded year-over-year growth of 24%.
38. Half of the shoppers stated a video has helped them choose between different brands or products.
(Google)
In a Google survey, 55% of respondents said they watch videos about the product online even if they shop in person.
When it comes to online shopping, every second shopper has stated that videos have been the tiebreaker when deciding between brands or products.
39. Video SEO can increase the site’s conversion rates by 80%.
Potential customers find companies more relatable if they include videos on their product’s page or sites. Additionally, adding a video can increase reach and boost the time speed on the page and engagement.
40. The ideal video length for sales is between 30 and 90 seconds.
How long a video should be depends on its purpose. For instance, the homepage and landing page videos should be between 30 seconds and one minute.
Regarding videos shared on social media, each platform has a different ideal video length.
- TikTok — 10 to 15 seconds
- YouTube – 5 to 15 minutes
- Facebook – 30 to 90 seconds
- Instagram – 30 to 45 seconds
- Twitter – 20 to 45 seconds
- LinkedIn – 30 seconds to 5 minutes
41. 86% of businesses have included videos in their marketing strategy.
(Wyzowl)
The majority of businesses use videos as marketing tools. Compared to the 2016 numbers, the percentage of businesses using videos has doubled in 2021.
Now, 93% of marketers believe videos are an important part of their marketing strategy.
As for the remaining businesses that don’t use videos in their marketing strategy, here are the main reasons behind their decision.
- 19% believe they don’t need videos.
- 17% don’t know where to start.
- 17% think it is too expensive.
- 16% lack time.
- 5% are unable to convince decision-makers.
- 7% aren’t familiar with the return on investment of videos.
42. 78% of marketers stated that sharing videos has increased their sales.
(Wyzowl)
Other video SEO benefits marketers have shared are:
- 87% believe videos have a good return on investment.
- 86% stated that videos had increased their website traffic.
- 83% stated videos have increased the average time spent on the page.
- 84% believe it helped them generate leads.
Conclusion
SEO statistics underscore the dynamic nature of the field. Knowing the latest numbers in the SEO world can help you adapt your strategies accordingly.
Remember to track and analyze the key SEO metrics and always let professionals lead your SEO strategy. Staying informed about the latest trends and updates is of significant importance in the SEO world.
Leverage the insights provided in our article about search engine marketing statistics to enhance your online presence and reach a larger target audience.