Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an ever-changing industry. What's hot and relevant one month might not be the next. Business owners and marketers need to stay current on trends in SEO if they want to be at the top of their game. One of the best ways to stay informed is to track (and learn from) key statistics. We've rounded up some of the best SEO statistics to help you form your ongoing strategy.
These stats are sourced from various studies found around the web, all of which provide unique ways to hone your SEO skills.
50% of Search Queries are 4 Words or Longer
Are you only targeted short keywords? You may want to reconsider that strategy. According to this study, half of all searches are long tail keywords. Add some to your keyword mix to maximize results!
Source: WordStream
57% of B2B marketers say SEO has the biggest impact on lead generation
Now this is an important stat to take note of. Not social, not email, not WOM. SEO has the biggest impact on lead generation.
Source: NewsCred
Search is the starting point for 60% of travelers
Are you a travel blogger? Good news, your audience loves to search
Source: Search Engine Watch
81% of B2B purchase cycles start with web search, and 90% of buyers say when they are ready to buy, "they'll find you."
Let's be honest, we all kind of knew this information the whole time. EVERYONE goes online to search before they consider a major purchase. Make sure your products and services are easy to find and that they answer your customer's questions. If your site does that, you'll be in good shape.
Source: Freely.net
Search is the #1 driver of traffic to content sites, beating social media by more than 300%
Social great, but search is better. Rather than making social the focus of your strategy, consider it a tool to help with search.
Source: IronPaper.com
60% of all organic clicks go to the organic top 3 search results
Makes you want to be on page 1, right? If it's at all possible, you need to strive to get to the top 3 results to truly maximize your leads from search. If it's simply not possible for a particular keyword, move on to another and focus on it.
Source: HubSpot
Local searches lead 50% of mobile visitors to visit stores within one day
This is nice to know if you're a brick and mortar location. Optimize your site for mobile search, and lead users through the funnel until they end up at your door!
Source: Search Engine Land
66% of best-in-class companies involve search in their content creation process from the beginning
Want to be best-in-class? This is how you get it done! Make search a priority from the get go and you'll have results that last a lifetime.
Source: Contently
Companies that blog have 434% more indexed pages than those that do not
Think you can't afford a blog? This stat says you can't afford not to. Creating content that is optimized for search is of absolute importance. Get started today to start increasing your business' searchability.
Source: Search Engine Land
Wikipedia links show up on the first page of Google on over 60% of search queries
Source: Mark Traphagen
Have an SEO stat that caught your eye? Please share below in the comments.
This post originally appeared on the Search Decoder blog. Main image via Shutterstock.