90 Essential SEO Statistics for 2024

SEO is forever changing, especially with the emergence and increasing popularity of AI and LLMs. However, contrary to popular belief, SEO is anything but irrelevant in 2024! It is split into many subcategories that each business needs to tackle while paving its way to success.

Key SEO Statistics for 2024

Since SEO is an essential ingredient to the digital recipe of success, we, the experts at Ajroni Web Agency, have rounded up the most important SEO statistics for 2024 that you must know! They’ll answer the eternal question of any business owner - do I need SEO for my business?

53% of all traffic is driven by SEO, compared to 15% by paid and 5% by organic Social Media (BrightEdge Research);

92.3% of users access the internet via a mobile phone, highlighting the importance of mobile responsiveness and optimization (Exploding Topics);

84.2 billion visits were made to Google.com during December 2023 - during a single month (Statista);

27.6% is the average CTR of the 1st Google organic result, the same result being ten times more likely to be clicked on by a user (Backlinko);

59% of consumers carry out research online before buying a product or a service, be it an online or in-store acquisition (Google).

Almost everything starts online nowadays. According to BrightEdge, roughly 70% of everything we do online starts with a query done on a search engine, most likely Google, as about 92% of all global traffic is driven by this digital colossus.

In other words, if you’re a business owner or want to make a name for yourself in the digital field, SEO is something you should focus on - besides social media and whatnot.

Search Engine Usage Statistics

98% of all customers analyze the Google Business Profile and business-specific reviews to assess trustworthiness and reputation (BrightLocal);

On average, each user does a minimum of three search engine searches every day, with Google processing almost one hundred thousand searches every second (SEO.AI);

Only 15% of search engine users modify their initial query. This indicates that the results are highly relevant, Google deciphers search intent properly, and users know how to search effectively (Backlinko);

86% of consumers say that search engines are the most effective when it comes to answering their queries, followed by social media (53%) and AI chatbots (35%) (HubSpot);

41.5% of all searches end with a click, while 58.5% of searches are zero-click searches. Of the latter, 37.1% of search sessions end presumably with an answer given on the results page of Google (SparkToro).

Users know what they want - now more than ever. This makes Search Engine Optimization a rather difficult task, especially given that almost 60% of all US searches are zero-click. However, business owners and marketers shouldn’t ignore the fact that, of the 41.5% of searches that end with a click, over 70% of clicks are to unpaid, organic search results.

Search Engine Traffic Statistics

• 96.55% of content and pages don’t get any organic traffic, while only 0.07% of all pages get more than 1,001 visits monthly, and roughly 3% of all pages get only between 1 and 100 monthly visits (Ahrefs);
• 61.95% of all website traffic comes from mobile devices; this percentage has almost doubled compared to 2015 and has increased roughly ten times since 2011 (Exploding Topics);
• Websites owned by Google receive more than 270,000 visitors every month, followed by web properties of Yahoo (almost 250,000) and Microsoft (245,000) (Statista);
• 5.9 million every minute, and 8.5 billion every day, 3.1 trillion every year - that’s how many searches are processed via Google, which owns roughly 92% of the global search engine market (Semrush);
• 27.03% of all desktop traffic on Google comes from the U.S., followed by India and Brazil with a little over 4.40%, and then by the United Kingdom with 3.85% (Semrush).

There is a lot of traffic going to and coming from Google, and business owners need to implement SEO strategies in order to access less than 1% of the web receiving more than 1,001 visits monthly. At the same time, business owners and marketers should take note and not ignore the continuous and solid increase of mobile traffic - optimization for mobile is paramount!

Search Engine Trends Statistics

• 381 million households own and use a smart speaker regularly, while 125.2 million users worldwide use voice search, highlighting an SEO trend that must not be ignored - the rise and prevalence of voice search (Statista; Yaguara);
• 7.98% of commerce URLs contain pure AI-generated content, while categories such as travel, food, and news contain less than 2% pure AI-generated content each (Graphite);

• YouTube (226 million search volume), Amazon (124 million), Facebook (124 million), and Google (83 million) are the most googled terms of the year. Other notable terms that reached the list are Food Near Me (20 million) and Restaurants Near Me (11 million) (Backlinko);

• Over 70% of all searches are for long-tail keywords, and this percentage is bound to increase as LLM-powered search engines are able to understand longer queries and provide accurate, useful results (Embryo);
• Images appear 12.5 and videos 3 times more often on mobile search results than on desktop, highlighting the need for proper image optimization and video tagging (Semrush).

Trends are all over the place, to say the least, making it difficult for marketers to know exactly what to focus on. Voice search is constantly on the rise, AI-generated content is seen in more and more URLs, long, natural queries are becoming the norm, while mobile search results are providing users more content than desktop search results.

Ranking Factors Statistics

• The top 3 search engine ranking factors are still search intent, backlinks, and high-quality content, despite all emerging strategies and AI infiltration (AIOSEO);
• The very first organic search result receives roughly 19 times more clicks than the very first paid search result, continuing the trend that organic has more value than paid for the user. On the same note, the first three organic search results enjoy almost 70% of all clicks (First Page Sage);
• Google relies on 200 different factors for ranking, among which we can find multiple technical ones, such as technical SEO, Schema Markup, and UX (Backlinko);
• 50% to 65% of all first search results are Featured Snippets, highlighting the fact that Google pushes immediate answers, preventing readers from spending more time finding the information they’re looking for, thus limiting their clicks (Authority Hacker);
• Readability scores are not a ranking factor, but readability itself may influence the way users engage with content, increasing the bounce rate in the case of poor readability (Search Engine Journal).

We now know details and information for roughly 200 different Google ranking factors, making it easier for marketers and business owners to focus on what really matters - the top position. High-quality content, satisfying search intent, and backlinks are considered the most important ranking factors.

Keyword Statistics

• 15% of all keywords searched on Google on a daily basis are new and have never been searched before (AIOSEO);
• 91.45% of estimated Search Volumes displayed in Google Keyword Planner are overestimates (Ahrefs);
• Longer keywords usually have a higher CTR, with keywords of 10 to 15 characters receiving roughly 1.76 times more clicks (Backlinko);
• Keywords or similar terms in URLs can increase CTR by up to 45% compared to URLs that don’t feature a keyword or term similar to a keyword (Backlinko);
• The Search Engine Result Pages volatility has increased recently, showcasing that search results change more frequently (Semrush).

Keyword research might still be the most difficult task an SEO specialist has to complete. It is, however, extremely important, especially given that longer keywords now enjoy a higher CTR and zero-click searches are offered to users more frequently. Exploring and discovering search intent is just as important, given that Search Volumes are usually overestimated.

Search Intent and Behavior Statistics

• 50% of all Google users take roughly 9 seconds to click a search result from the moment they see the search results page (Backlinko);
• 46% of all searches made on Google have a local intent (Semrush);
• 18% of local searches made via a mobile phone end with a sale or at least a location visit within 24 hours (AIOSEO);
• Only 6% of Google users need more than three different page visits to get the answer they’re looking for. In comparison, 59% of users need only one page per session to satisfy their query (Backlinko);
• 19% of users click on a Google Shopping result when searching for a product, showcasing the trustworthiness this section receives from the users (Backlinko).

Search intent might sometimes be a mystery, but statistics show us that users know what they’re searching for. Almost half of them search locally and end up interacting with a Google Business Profile or contacting a business following a search.

AI SEO Statistics

• 3% of search results are purely AI-generated, while 87.6% of all search results feature almost no AI-generated content whatsoever (Graphite);
• 8.71% of searches feature the AI Overviews feature. Important is the fact that AI Overviews results do not appear for local searches/keywords (Search Engine Land);
• 75.7% of marketers use AI tools to improve their work, while 49.5% of marketers use AI tools frequently (multiple times per week) (Authority Hacker);
• 25% of marketers in eCommerce stated they use AI tools to generate product descriptions (HubSpot);
• 65% of businesses have better, improved SEO results thanks to the use of AI tools (Semrush).

From 2023 to 2024, the number of marketers who decided to use AI rose from a measly 21% to an impressive 74%. Even though almost 90% of all search results feature little to no AI-generated content, we must not forget that detecting such content can be difficult and that more than 90% of marketers review their content before hitting the publish button.

Organic Search Statistics

• 65% of all Google users click on organic search results, while only 19% of users click on a Google Ad (Backlinko);
• CTR rises to 42.9% for the first organic search result if it is a featured snippet, while video search results increase organic traffic by 157% (AIOSEO);
• Moving up a single position in organic search results can increase CTR by roughly 32.3%. Even moving from the 9th to the 8th position can increase CTR by 23.6% (Backlinko);
• 49% of marketers see organic search as the most profitable channel (Higher Visibility);
• 0.44% of users take their chances and visit the second page of Google (Backlinko).

Organic search is still one of the most powerful channels that you can use to promote your business or even your personal website. According to Higher Visibility, company blogs can increase traffic by 57% and have roughly 97% more inbound links - highlighting the connection between the power of organic search and the presence of high-quality content on a website.

Mobile Search Statistics

• 4.32 billion people are marked as active mobile internet users - more than half of Earth’s population (Exploding Topics);
• 59% of all web traffic originates from mobile devices/users (AIOSEO);
• 70% of customers and shoppers rely on their phone and on eCommerce websites to make an online purchase (Semrush);
• 72.6% of all internet users will rely only on their smartphone to go online by 2025, highlighting the decline of desktop/laptop usage for daily/leisure tasks (AIOSEO);
• 33% of mobile users decide on their next search action within 5 seconds, while 18% take that decision in 5 to 10 seconds, compared to 45% and 20% respectively of desktop users, highlighting that mobile users take more time to make a decision (Semrush).

SEO for mobile is mandatory in 2024 and will become more and more important. Forget fancy and innovative visuals for desktop websites. If you sell products and services to customers, those won’t matter that much. What will matter will be a fast website that can be found on the first page of the search results.

Video Search Statistics

• 91% of businesses actively use video for their marketing efforts, showcasing a constant increase since 2017, when this percentage was only 63% (Wyzowl);
• The highest ROI in the video field is provided, in order, by short-form video content (39%), videos (16%), then videographics (11%), webinars (10%), and then live streams (8%) (HubSpot);
• 41% higher CTR is ensured by pages that feature video content on the web (AIOSEO);
• Large businesses create about 118 videos per year (one video every 3 days), while small businesses only 15 videos per year (one video every 24 days) (Wistia);
• Google pushes videos in search results for how-to, reviews, tutorials, fitness and sports, and funny videos types of keywords (Backlinko).

It has been said that there’s no correlation between optimized video descriptions and YouTube rankings. However, given that Google pushes video results for some types of keywords, it goes without saying that some sort of optimization must be done for those videos. Even if straightforward, the optimization of videos mustn’t be skipped - just as with the creation of videos being implemented in an effective marketing strategy.

Vocal Search Statistics

• 58% of consumers will use voice search in order to find and interact with a local business (Yaguara);
• 40.7% of answers given via voice search are from the featured snippets in search results, highlighting the importance of getting your content in that position (AIOSEO);
• 50% of the population of the United States uses voice search and its features on a daily basis (UpCity);
• Google Assistant was the most popular voice assistant in the US, with over 85 million users in 2023, bound to overcome Siri and Alexa (eMarketer);
• 54% of voice users search for retail information, 52% for food delivery and restaurants, 51% for healthcare and wellness, and 49% for local services (Yaguara).

Vocal search is used more often than one would think, especially when it comes to finding a business. Voice assistants are predominantly used on mobile devices, especially while people are driving and need to find some information quickly. Optimizing for vocal search is getting easier, however, as it is similar to optimizing for LLM-powered search engines - as in optimization for natural language queries.

Local SEO Statistics

• 77% of users rely on Google to find out information about local businesses (Statista);
• 78% of local searches conducted on a mobile device will result in an offline purchase or at least an in-store visit (Safari Digital);
• 42% of customers searching for local business information will click on one of the three results in the Google Maps Pack (Backlinko);
• 58% of businesses stated that they don’t include local search optimization in their SEO strategy (On the Map);
• 97 billion - that’s how many local searches are made every month (99firms).

Users have come to the conclusion that Google will help them find businesses and locations on a local level - nowadays, without having to type the city name in the search bar. This became a game changer for local businesses, especially with the implementation of the Google Business Profile, Google reviews, and so on. Businesses must optimize for local as their Google search results competition is now local only, in most cases.

Technical SEO Statistics

• 33% of all websites pass the Core Web Vitals thresholds, the percentage being lower for mobile versions, highlighting the difficulty in optimizing websites for mobile devices (Ahrefs);
• 72.3 of all websites feature at least one slow page (Ahrefs);
• 51.3% of websites have multiple H1 tags, and 59.9% of websites have missing H1 tags, leaving the number of websites that use H1 tags correctly very low (Ahrefs);
• Conversion rates are lost at a rate of 4.42% per second for websites and pages that load for longer than 4 seconds (HubSpot);
• CTR is 40% higher for pages that have structured data (Schema App).

Technical SEO is the quintessence of any effective SEO strategy. One cannot start the optimization process without an initial SEO audit, without a proper website architecture, and without a website that meets at least some of Google’s Core Web Vitals thresholds. This is one of the main reasons why SEO leads are usually technical SEO specialists.

Link-Building/ Backlink Statistics

• Only 1 in every 6,671 pages with no backlinks gets more than 1,000 visitors per month, highlighting the importance of a proper backlink profile (Ahrefs);
• Content that has over 3,000 words can gain, on average, 77.2% more backlinks than short-form content, helping marketers sustain a healthy link-building strategy (AIOSEO);
• Link-building specialists that rely on social media for their strategy can build up to 22% more links, highlighting the need for SEO specialists to interact with multiple channels (Authority Hacker);
• Businesses that run a blog on their website can get up to 97% more inbound links and 55% more visitors than businesses without a blog page (BKA Content);
• 93.8% of link builders state that link quality is much more important than link quantity, highlighting the importance of link-building strategies and the minimal impact of buying backlinks in a competitive market (Authority Hacker).

Link-building is considered one of the most difficult steps in a comprehensive SEO strategy, especially when dealing with reputable brands. Buying links is already a gray area of SEO, so focusing on a natural link-building strategy is more important than ever - just as important as link builders using multiple channels to source backlinks for their clients.

eCommerce SEO Statistics

• eCommerce websites that feature videos enjoy up to 157% more organic traffic from Google and other search engines (Zipdo);
• eCommerce conversion rates drop roughly 0.3% for every second (over the 2 seconds recommended load time) a page takes to load (Higher Visibility);
• 44.6% of revenue in eCommerce (and retail) originates from organic search, highlighting the importance of SEO strategies for eCommerce (BrightEdge);
• 81% of all shoppers engage in online research before a purchase to find more information about a business or product, some of which do said research in-store (Zipdo);
• 72.4% of shoppers say that finding product information in their own language increases their likelihood of buying said product, highlighting the importance of localization in eCommerce (Charle Agency).

If one wants their business to succeed, one should not skip eCommerce optimization. This means mobile optimization, technical SEO, blog articles, videos and images, plenty of information about services and products, as well as localization where applicable/possible. For eCommerce, an SEO expert must sharpen all their skills!

Affiliate SEO Statistics

• Roughly 25% of US content creators earn, on average, $100-$500 from affiliate programs, via an affiliate blog, and SEO strategies (Statista);
• Beauty, travel, and education are the most profitable niches for affiliate marketing/SEO (Authority Hacker);
• Among the websites that earn six figures every year, 82% of them have monetization plans/strategies based on ads and affiliate products (Authority Hacker);
• The most popular website used by shoppers for product review questions and information is Reddit (Detailed);
• 78% of affiliate marketers state that SEO strategies improve their organic traffic, while statistics showcase that about 70% of all traffic to affiliate websites comes from SEO (WP Beginner).

SEO Industry Statistics

• SEO services have an average cost of $75-$100 per hour (AIOSEO);
• 9.9% of all SEO experts charge more than $150 per hour - luckily, the connection between rates and experience is a positive one (Ahrefs);
• The main specialization of SEO Leads, SEO Directors, and SEO Heads is technical SEO, highlighting the importance of technical SEO as the foundation of a comprehensive SEO strategy (Ahrefs);
• Technical SEO has an ROI of 117% and breaks-even in 6 months (and a ROAS of 1.35), while thought leadership & SEO (focusing on high-end content and strategic planning) has an ROI of 748%, breaks-even in 9 months, and a ROAS of 9.10 (First Page Sage);
• 94% of businesses and companies plan to increase their digital marketing budget in 2024 (Beyond Your Brand).

The great majority of SEO experts (94.6%) learn SEO on the job or through self-study, while only 5.4% of them have mastered the field with the help of an official SEO course. This points to the ever-changing nature of SEO, Google algorithm updates, and AI and Large Language Models. An SEO expert continuously learning and testing SEO strategies and never stops discovering search engine secrets!