70+ Must-Know SEO Statistics to Power Your 2025 Strategy

Now that AI has made its way into SEO, over 57% of marketers are reporting that the search engine space has gotten more competitive. It also doesn't help that Google's AI Overviews and LLMs like Perplexity.ai are giving people the answers they previously scrolled through organic search results to find.

So, it's more important than ever to be on top of your SEO game right now. You must know the best SEO practices and new trends to stay relevant. Then, there's the complexity of balancing the benefits of AI-generated content with human creativity while still appealing to algorithm crawlers.

As crucial as a solid SEO strategy is now, you also need to learn from statistics and industry reports. These findings reveal what's working in the SEO space and which tactics you need to take forward in 2025. We've put together a list of SEO statistics that can help inform your campaigns.

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Google SEO Statistics 

Google has been the leader in the search engine space for as long as we can remember. Even now, it maintains its top spot, evolving with new features like semantic search and AI Overviews. The following Google SEO statistics shed light on the search engine's popularity and search trends.

1. According to StatCounter, Google has an 89.79% market share, compared to 3.93% of Bing, 2.73% of Yandex, and 1.27% of Yahoo.
2. Google accounts for 93.82% of the global mobile search engine market, followed by Yandex at 2.5%. Smaller competitors like Baidu and Yahoo contribute less than 1% to the global mobile search engine market.
3. Google generated a revenue of $348.16 billion in 2024, an increase of over $43 billion since the previous year.
4. India has the largest share (90.81%) of desktop search traffic coming from Google, followed by South Korea with 86.72% and Brazil with 84.48% of desktop traffic.
5. Google generated around 85.5 billion visits in March 2024, which indicates the search engine's popularity and the potential for driving organic traffic to your website.
6. The topmost searched term on Google around the world and the US is ''YouTube.'' While ''Amazon'' is the second most searched term in the US, ''Facebook'' takes this place in the global rankings.
7. About 50% of Google users click on a result within 9 seconds of running the search. On average, it takes Google users 14.6 seconds to click on a result after their search.
8. Most Google users (59%) only visit one page during a search session, and only 9% of searchers go to the bottom of the first page.
9. The first result on Google gets nearly 27.6% of all clicks.

SEO Marketing Statistics and ROI Trends

The way we do SEO marketing has changed a lot, with the most prominent shift being from keyword-driven optimization to intent-driven one. In fact, only 6% of AI Overviews actually contain the search query, which makes it clear that intent is the number one focus of SEO marketing now. The following SEO marketing statistics and SEO ROI statistics provide more insights.

1. According to 49% of marketers, organic search has the best return on investment (ROI) of all marketing channels.
2. RulerAnalytics analyzed websites across 14 industries and found the average conversion rate among them to be 2.9%.
3. The average conversion rate for eCommerce websites is between 2% and 5%, with the food and beverage industry having the highest conversion rate of 4.9%, followed by electronics and home appliances at 3.6%.
4. More than half of SEO professionals allocate a budget of $500 to $5,000 to SEO, and 28.6% of them have a budget between $1,000 and $5,000.
5. The average ROI of basic content marketing is around 16%, while thought leadership and SEO collectively have an ROI of 748%. In contrast, the ROI of technical SEO stands at around 117%.

Ranking and SERP Insights

More and more Google users are getting their desired information from the rich snippets and AI Overviews. So they do not have to scroll down to click on the other search results. This makes it imperative for websites to rank in the top few results or, even more importantly, to appear in the rich snippets section. The following statistics highlight the importance of this.

1. The first result on Google SERPs has a click-through rate (CTR) of 39.8%. However, this number increases to 42.9% if a featured snippet is present and lowers to 38.9% if the search results are a part of an AI Overview. In comparison, the 10th result on the first page has a CTR of 1.6%.
2. On average, when a search result moves one place up in the SERPs, its CTR increases by 2.8%. However, this is subject to the position, as moving up at the bottom of the page doesn't have as significant an effect as moving up at the top.
3. While featured snippets get 35.1% of all clicks, the People Also Ask section only receives 6% of clicks.
4. Nearly 79% of SERPs show the same domains in the featured snippets on both mobile and desktop, which means that the competition for featured snippets is relatively similar across devices.
5. AI Overviews and featured snippets occur for 60% of the searches and take up 67% to 76% of the users' screens.
6. About 80% of desktop and 76% of mobile AI Overviews target informational content, which means that businesses should focus on creating informative and valuable content to increase their chances of appearing in these sections.
7. 84.72% of AI Overviews link to at least one website on the first page of Google, indicating the importance of ranking on the first page to be featured in AI results. 

Keyword Statistics and Research Patterns

As we've mentioned, search engines now focus on user intent rather than excessive keyword usage to rank content. So, using long-tail, conversational keywords is becoming increasingly important, especially to increase your content's chances of increasing featured snippets and voice search results. Here are some statistics about keyword usage and research patterns that you should keep in mind.

1. Around 8% of search queries on Google are phrased as questions, so they include words like "how," "what," and "why."
2. Longer keywords (between 10 to 15 words) get 1.76x more clicks compared to their single-world counterparts.
3. The top-ranking search results for short-tail searches (with one or two keywords) have shifted in intent from transactional to informational.
4. On average, the keywords that the top 10% of sites rank for are 3.2 to 3.5 words in length.
5. Using keywords in the title tag and ranking high on SERPs is not correlated, which further proves our point about focusing on user intent rather than keyword usage.
6. The majority of keywords (56.5%) ranking on the SERPs have an informational intent, with transactional intent being the second most common(22.4%).

Backlink and Link Building Statistics

Backlinks are a strong ranking signal since they indicate to search engines that your content is valuable and trustworthy. Even the AI Overviews tend to show domains with a strong number of backlinks in their top-ranking results. These statistics further emphasize the importance of a strong backlink profile.

1. 92.3% of all domains ranking in the top 100 search results have at least one backlink. The same study found that half of the qualified websites without a single backlink never appeared on the first page.
2. The number of domains linking to a website is the factor with the highest correlation to the ranking position.
3. Longer content gets 77.2% more backlinks compared to shorter articles, which is why SEO blogging can be a key strategy for acquiring backlinks.
4. In a survey, 51% of marketers revealed that they use Semrush for backlink analysis and link building. The tool's expansive link database, combined with its features for identifying and disavowing toxic links, makes it a popular choice for backlink management.
5. After Google, Facebook, YouTube, X, Microsoft, and LinkedIn have the most number of backlinks, respectively, making them the most connected websites.
6. The first search result on Google has 3.8x more backlinks on average than results ranking in positions 2 to 10. It's best if you get backlinks from multiple websites since the number of unique referring domains is also a factor in ranking.

Technical SEO Statistics

Technical SEO is just as important as content and backlinks in optimizing a website for search engines. From site speed to Core Web Vitals and mobile optimization, technical SEO can complement your SEO strategy to boost your website's rankings. Here are some statistics related to technical SEO.

1. Google rewrites 61% of all page title tags, changing things like the length and keywords used. Your content's title is likely to be rewritten if it has separators, the same keyword more than once, titles with brackets, or overly long titles.
2. Web pages that have at least one exact match anchor text have 5x more traffic compared to those that don't have any.
3. According to 32% of SEOs, it takes them 1 to 2 hours to build a single link. In comparison, 24% of professionals said that it takes them 3 to 5 hours to do the same.
4. Of the websites using structured data, 67.8% use Open Graphs, 52.7% use X Cards, 49.9% use JSON-LD, and 39.1% use generic RDFa.
5. Authority Hacker found that 74.3% of SEOs pay for links, with an average link costing $83. However, paying for links isn't really fruitful since it only yields 2 additional links compared to those who don't pay for links.

Local SEO Statistics

When optimizing your website for local SEO, you have to account for proximity-based behaviors and ''near me'' keyword searches. Local searches also tend to be longer since people use voice search and question-based keywords. Here are some local SEO statistics you should know.

1. 76% of consumers who make a ''near me'' search on Google visit the business within 24 hours.
2. Nearly 2 in 10 local searches on a mobile phone result in a purchase in a day.
3. In a survey, marketers gave Google Business Profile the highest score (192) for an impactful ranking factor.
4. A BrightLocal survey found that 66% of consumers believe Google to be the most trusted platform for researching local businesses, followed by Google Maps, selected by 45% of consumers.
5. The number of Google Map searches for ''shopping near me'' has seen a 100% year-over-year increase, which is indicative of the growing importance of local SEO.
6. Consumers are 2.7x more likely to think of a business as reputable if it has a complete Google Business Profile. They are 50% more likely to consider buying something from such a business and 70% more likely to visit it. 

Mobile SEO Statistics

As most people access the web using their mobile devices, mobile SEO needs to be a top priority for SEOs. Besides intent-based content, mobile user experience is also important for search engine rankings. The following mobile SEO statistics will give you an insight into the importance of mobile optimization.

1. In a survey, 4.9% of SEOs said that mobile optimization was their most effective strategy for improving their search rankings.
2. According to Google, 60% of users discover a new product or company when searching the web on their smartphones.
3. Google accounts for 95% of the mobile search market in the US, followed by DuckDuckGo with a 1.84% share and Yahoo! with 1.54%.
4. Over 70% of online shoppers use their smartphones to buy products online, making mobile optimization crucial for eCommerce websites.
5. Mobile phone users use Google Lens to answer around 8 billion questions every month.

Voice Search Statistics

Part of the reason the search engine landscape has changed is the increasing use of voice search. Instead of typing, people now use voice assistants and long-tail, conversational terms to search. Here are some notable voice search statistics.

1. Nearly 50% of US consumers use voice search every day. ''Near me'' searches are the most common, with most people searching for the news and the weather.
2. An analysis of 10,000 Google Home search results found that 40.7% of all answers for voice searches come from featured snippets.
3. On average, a voice search has 29 words, which means people are asking more detailed and specific questions.
4. Mobile-conducted voice searches are three times more likely to be about something local than text searches.
5. About 35% of US consumers own a smart speaker, which they use to search for information, listen to music, and control their smart home devices.

Video SEO Statistics

Google SERPs now show videos, and there's even a separate tab for short videos from Shorts, Reels, and TikTok. Video SEO comprises the use of keywords, video titles, descriptions, and tags to get your videos to rank higher in search engine results. The following video SEO statistics show how popular video as a content type is among SEOs and digital marketers.

1. 89% of businesses use video SEO as a marketing tool, while 95% of marketers consider video an important part of their overall strategy. Around 68% of marketers who do not already use video plan to start using it in 2025.
2. In a HubSpot survey, 91% of marketers said that a marketing video's optimal length is less than 10 minutes, while 36% said that 1 to 3 minutes is a sweet spot.
3. 93% of marketers say that video has the same conversion rate as other content types, so it's just as effective in driving conversions. That's why 80% of sales teams see the importance of combining their sales management and video creation technology.
4. In a Vidico report, 49% of marketers said that the main challenge they're solving with video is explaining their product and service, while 39% of marketers use it for improving brand awareness.
5. On average, a video under 1 minute has the highest engagement rate of 50%, while videos ranging in length from 1 to 3 minutes have an engagement rate of 48%. Videos over 60 minutes long have the lowest engagement rate of 17%. 

B2B and Enterprise SEO Statistics

B2B SEO comes with a host of challenges, like longer sales cycles and multiple decision-makers. Content marketing and enterprise SEO strategies can assist in building brand trust and traffic to your website. Here are some B2B SEO statistics that shed light on this. These enterprise SEO statistics also show how B2B SEO is different from B2C.

1. 66% of B2B consumers use Internet search results to explore a product they are planning to purchase rather than using trade shows or industry publications.
2. In a Sagefrog survey, 49% of respondents said they use SEO in their marketing strategies, making it the most used tactic in B2B companies. Meanwhile, 43% of marketers use content marketing, while 27% use search engine marketing.
3. B2B businesses spend 15% of their marketing budget on SEO, which is more than video marketing, market research, and AI chatbots.
4. According to 23% of marketers, organic search is the most effective tactic for driving revenue, followed by display advertising and paid search.
5. Gartner reports that B2B consumers spend 27% of the duration of the purchase journey searching for information online, making SEO and content marketing a must for B2B companies.

eCommerce SEO Statistics

Since eCommerce businesses primarily rely on website traffic, they have to get SEO right. The following eCommerce SEO statistics provide some insights into important metrics for online businesses.

1. According to eMarketer, clothing makes the largest segment of online purchases, with 67.1% of digital buyers purchasing apparel within the past month. It is followed by shoes (44%), beauty products (43.1%), and food and beverage (41.8%).
2. Nearly 17% of eCommerce buyers have abandoned their carts because the website crashed, indicating that good technical SEO can save businesses thousands of dollars in potential lost sales.
3. About 29.7% of online consumers use search engines as the starting point in their digital purchase journey, second only to marketplaces, used by 40.4% of customers.
4. The revenue from mobile eCommerce sales reached $2.07 trillion in 2024, making up 57% of global eCommerce sales. Thus, mobile optimization is a must for eCommerce businesses that want to remain competitive in the digital market.
5. The conversion rate for eCommerce purchases made using desktops is 3% compared to 2% for mobile devices.

AI and SEO Statistics

The advent of AI means that AI SEO optimization has now replaced traditional SEO. Generative AI tools have changed the pace and efficiency of content marketing, and AI is also poised to play a role in other SEO aspects, such as predictive analytics and keyword trend forecasting. The following AI and SEO statistics shed light on this.

1. Although AI is possibly the most popular technology at the moment, 72% of SEOs don't use it in their strategies. While 35% of businesses weren't aware of AI's potential for SEO, 71.7% haven't adopted it due to a lack of understanding and training, and 31% are worried about content originality and quality.
2. 83% of respondents to a survey said that AI has improved their SEO performance, and 82% of businesses plan to spend more on AI SEO.
3. In another survey, 52% of marketers said that using AI has increased the efficiency and speed of their workflows.
4. When asked to select the biggest shifts in the SEO industry, the majority (18.7%) of marketers cited machine learning and AI, followed by 18% who said Google updates will make all the difference.
5. An Influencer Marketing Hub report found that generative AI, such as for content writing, has led to transformative changes for 42.% of marketers, improving campaign efficiency and enhancing content creation.

SEO by the Numbers: What These Stats Mean for You

These SEO statistics make it clear that going forward, you need an AI SEO strategy rather than just an SEO strategy. Besides incorporating AI into your SEO campaigns and optimizing for AI Overviews and AI-driven search engines, you also need to shift the focus of your content from content optimization to intent satisfaction.

Plus, the use of video and a solid link-building strategy will help you stay on top of the SEO game. Advanced strategies like predictive SEO will further make your campaigns more proactive, giving you a favorable spot on the SERPs.

About the Author

Nadica Naceva

Writer

Nadica Naceva, Head of Content at Influencer Marketing Hub, is a seasoned writer and reviewer with in-depth expertise in digital and content marketing. Leveraging her extensive experience in guiding content creation and strategic direction, Nadica brings a critical eye and analytical approach to reviewing articles and educational pieces. Her commitment to accuracy, integrity, and innovation with each review helps IMH grow as a leading source in influencer marketing. Her insights are backed by first-party data, ensuring content meets the highest standards of relevance.