88 SEO Statistics and Facts

SEO statistics and facts should not just be a list of meaningless numbers and figures, but should be more like a story that can help you better understand what is going on in your industry and how you can apply these facts to your own marketing strategy or job if you’re an SEO specialist.

Welcome to Bounce Rank, My name is Raj Clark and in this post we are going to explore 88 SEO statistics and facts from 2023.

The stats are as recent as possible, I made sure to reference articles and research on Google as often as possible to ensure that my numbers are accurate, and up to date.

Also I made sure to include unique facts that I have never seen written before in an SEO post, because I think it is important for you to know what is happening in the world and not just a lazy rehash of old information.

Let’s get into it!

Chat-GPT Usage Statistics

Okay, I want to start the list off with sharing stats on the most talked about thing right now in SEO, and tech in general; Chat-GPT!

Chat-GPT is the latest in artificial intelligence technology, used for natural language processing and understanding. 

As you know, it’s quickly becoming a popular tool for SEO. Chat-GPT prompts for creating SEO content can help streamline many mundane SEO tasks like writing meta tags, or writing outreach pitches.

Hands down it is quickly becoming the most popular AI product on the market.

Let’s take a look at some of the key Chat-GPT statistics: 

  1. It took Chat-GPT only five days to grow their user base to over 1 million users. (Brockman)
  2. Chat-GPT founders are expecting 200 million dollars in revenue in 2023, and 1 billion in 2024. (reuters)
  3. Chat-GPT is banned in 6 countries; China, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Venezuela and Belarus. (Wepc)
  4. GPT-3, the paid version of the tool , launched the first week of January, and has over 9,000 signups as of today. (NBCnews)
  5. The software has a 175 million parameter language model.(Nvidia developer)
  6. The worldwide chatbot market is projected to hit 454.8 million U.S. dollars in revenue by 2027. (Statista)

Infographic showing the countries that Chat-GPT is banned in

 

TikTok SEO Statistics

Next to Chat-GPT, TikTok is another rather new advancement in the tech world that is shaking things up. As the platform is gaining more and more traction with each passing day. 

Especially with Generation z!

With this surge in popularity, SEOs like you and me are taking notice and trying to figure out how to best capitalize on the platform’s potential. 

Here are some key TikTok SEO statistics worth knowing:

  1. 40% of young people, when they’re looking for a place for lunch, go to TikTok or Instagram instead of Google maps (Techcrunch)
  2.  20% of the videos presented as search results on TikTok contained misinformation. (Newsguardtech)
  3. TikTok has over 1 billion active global users. (TikTok)
  4. The hashtag #TikTok SEO grew by 2800% in 2022. (Explodingtopics)
  5. Most TikTok users are Males 61.32% and in comparison 38.68% for female. (Similarweb)
  6. 19.27% of TikTok users are from the United States. (Similarweb)
  7. TikTok’s ad reach has grown by 14.6% over the past year, and the platform’s ads now reach more than 1 in 6 adults on Earth every month. (Hootsuite)
  8. The average American viewer watches TikTok for 80 minutes a day. (Washingtonpost)

Chart showing the growth of the hastag TikTokSEO

 

YouTube SEO Statistics

YouTube is Google’s best answer to TikTok’s growth. With billions of users, the amount of time people spend watching videos on the platform is growing every day. 

Here are some significant YouTube SEO statistics to pay attention to:

  1. 52% of videos ranking for “how-to” keywords have more than 100 words in their descriptions (SEMrush)
  2. Youtube Shorts garnered over 30 Billion plus average daily views, which is 4X times compared to a year back. (Mygreatlearning)
  3. Google reported online video watching per day has risen over 34%. (Mygreatlearning)
  4. The average number of views for a YouTube video sitting in the second position is 74% less than the average number of views for a video in the first spot. (SEMrush)
  5. 59% of Gen Z agree that they use short-form video apps to discover things that they then watch longer versions of. (ThinkWithGoogle)
  6. The average length of a first page YouTube video is 14 minutes, 50 seconds. (BacklinkO)

Graphic showing the average length of YouTube videos on the 1st page of results

 

Google search statistics

Despite all the competition Google is receiving from Chat-GPT, it is still the most used Search engine in the world.

Here are some recent statistics about Google’s usage that you should know about.

  1. Google accounts for 85.4% of the global search market. (Statista).
  2. 90.63% of webpages get zero traffic from Google, and 5.29% of them get ten visits per month or less according to. (Ahrefs)
  3. Google processes about 2 trillion searches per year. (Truelist)
  4. Most pages in Google’s top ten results, 60% are 3 or more years old. (Ahrefs)
  5. There are 8 billion visual searches per month on Google Lens. (Arinsider)
  6. Most Google searches are performed by Males 58.67% and in comparison to 41.33% for females. (Similarweb)
  7. Millennials and Generation Z make up the largest age groups of Google users, with 30.52% of users age 25 – 34 and 23.75% of users aged between 18 and 24.(Similarweb)
  8. Google accounts for 61.7% of desktop searches and 93.22% of Mobile searches in 2021.(Statista)
  9.  The #1 result in Google’s search results has an average click through rate of 27.6%. (BacklinkO, 2022)
  10.  (38%) of shoppers around the world said they use Google to find out about new products. (Think With Google)
  11. On average users visit 9 pages per visit on Google. (Similarweb)
  12. According to Neil patel’s Ubersuggest keyword research tool, Google.com has over 1 billion backlinks. (Ubersuggest)
  13. The #1 result in Google’s organic search results has an average CTR of 27.6%. (BacklinkO)
  14. In 2020, more than 68% of Google searches in the United States were zero-click searches. Out of the remaining 32%, 29.8% resulted in clicks on organic search results and 1.9% in paid search results.(Statista)

Pie chart showing the Global Search Engine Market Share since 2022

 

Search Engine Usage Statistics

While Google may be the most popular Search engine in the world, there are other Search engines that have significant influence and importance. Such as Bing, Yahoo, and DuckDuckGo 

Here are some of the most relevant Search engine stats to consider:

  1. As of 2022, DuckDuckGo has processed over 3 billion searches. (DuckDuckGo)
  2. As of July 2022, online Search engine Bing accounted for nearly nine percent of the global search market. (Statista)
  3. In May 2022, close to 1.2 billion unique global visitors had visited Bing.com. (Statista)
  4.  As of July 2022 Yahoo accounted for 2.55% of search market share. (Statista)
  5. 2021, search advertising spending in the United States amounted to 84.7 billion U.S. dollars. (Statista)
  6. 53% of shoppers say they use a Search engine to research products they are interested in buying. (Think with Google)
  7. Most marketers 49% say that organic search has the highest return on investment of all digital marketing channels. (Searchenginejournal)

Now let’s explore stats for Voice search.

 

Voice Search Statistics

Voice search is rapidly becoming the norm for online searches. With the rise of digital assistants like Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and Apple Siri, more and more people are using voice commands to search for products, services, and information

Voice search is also becoming an increasingly important part of performing SEO.

Here are some key voice search statistics that you should be aware of to stay ahead of the curve:

  1. 27% of global users use voice search to find information about products and services according to. (ThinkwithGoogle)
  2. 40% of the United states total population uses voice search features. (eMarketer, 2020)
  3. 21% of the United states population owns at least one smart speaker. (NPR, 2018)
  4. 52% of people use voice search while driving. (Social Media Today, 2018)
  5. The average voice search result contains only 29 words. (Backlinko, 2018)
  6. 40.7% of all answers from voice search are pulled from a Featured Snippet. (Backlinko, 2018)

Pie chart showing the percentage of voice search users

 

Keyword Search Terms Statistics

When it comes to optimizing your website for search engine rankings, keywords are a key factor. 

Knowing which keywords are the most relevant  and how to use them effectively can help you gain visibility and traction in search results.

Here are some pretty cool keyword statistics:

  1. Almost 30% of people have to redo their Google searches, either by refining or extending queries, according to research published earlier this month by. (SEMRush)
  2. Most keyword search volumes in Google keyword planner; 54.28% are overestimations, while just under half; 45.22% are roughly accurate. (Ahrefs)
  3. Keywords between 10-15 words in length get 1.76 times more clicks than single-word terms. (BacklinkO)
  4. 46.8% of Search terms are hidden in your Google Search Console report. (Ahrefs)
  5. According to Google 15% of all searches have never been searched before on their platform. (Google)
  6. There are 3.8 billion keywords that have fewer than 10 searches per month. (Ahrefs)
  7. 25.6% of desktop, 17.3% of mobile searches are zero-clicks on Google. (SEMrush)
  8. keywords between 10-15 words in length get 1.76 times more clicks than single-word terms. (BacklinkO)

Mobile SEO Statistics

Mobile SEO is no longer an option – it’s a necessity. According to recent studies, mobile devices account for over half of all web traffic, and the number is only going to increase. 

However, mobile SEO isn’t just about optimizing for the small screen. It requires a different approach, and understanding the mobile landscape is essential for success. 

Here are some key mobile SEO statistics worth knowing:

  1. As of November 2022, 60.28% of all web traffic came through mobile phones. (oberlo)
  2. Mobile accounts for 54.4% of searches in 2021. (statista)
  3. In 2023, the number of global smartphone users is estimated at 6.8 billion, marking a 4.2% annual increase. (Oberlo)
  4. Nearly 60% of all Online Searches are now carried out on a mobile device. (Hitwise)
  5. Visits on desktop devices were 40% longer than those on mobile devices in 2020. (SEMrush)
  6. Almost three quarters 72.6% of internet users will access the web solely via their smartphones by 2025. (CNBC)

Local SEO Statistics

Local SEO is becoming increasingly important for businesses of all sizes. With more and more customers searching online for local businesses, having a strong local SEO strategy is essential for success.

 Here are some key statistics to consider.

  1. 40% of shoppers use Google before making a purchase in-store or online. (ThinkWith Google)
  2.  There was a 100% year over year growth for Google Maps searches for “shopping near me”. (ThinkWithGoogle)
  3. 76% of people who search on their smartphones for something nearby visit a business within a day. (ThinkWithGoogle)
  4. 25% of all small business websites are missing an H1 tag. (Freshchalk)
  5. After searching on a smartphone for something nearby, 76% of people end up visiting the business within 1 day (ThinkWithGoogle)
  6. 46% of all searches on Google are for local businesses or local services (Searchengineroundtable)

Backlink Statistics

Backlinks are an essential part of SEO. They help establish credibility, increase visibility, and boost rankings on search engines. But it can be hard to measure the effectiveness of backlinks. 

That’s why it’s important to stay up-to-date on the latest backlink SEO statistics. 

Understanding the data can help you build a better SEO strategy and maximize the impact of your backlink efforts.

Here are some of the most important backlink statistics:

  1. 74.3% of link builders pay for links. (Authorityhackers)
  2. 33% of marketers say backlinking is the most important ranking factor for SEO (Growthbarseo)
  3. Long form content tends to receives 77.2% more backlinks than short articles. (BacklinkO)
  4. 89.1% of link builders say no-follow links have an impact on rankings. (Authorityhackers)
  5. 66.31% of webpages do not have any backlinks and 26.29% have links from three websites or less according to. (Ahrefs)
  6. 53% of digital marketing specialists say that guest blogging (or guest posting) is the most effective way to build backlinks according to. (SEMrush)

Technical SEO Statistics

Technical SEO is all about optimizing the underlying code and structure of your website, and making sure that Search engine crawlers can access your content with ease.

Here are some cool technical SEO statistics that every SEO specialist should know.

  1. 6.76% of websites are below Google’s minimum speed and performance recommendations. (Ahrefs)
  2. 33% of SEO professionals said that getting their recommendations implemented was the hardest part of their job. (Aira)
  3. When a site meets the Core Web Vitals thresholds, research showed that users were 24% less likely to abandon the page while it was loading. (Chromium blog)
  4. 15.0% of SEOs said that Technical SEO was the highest priority in 2022. (Searchenginejournal)
  5. 92% of SEO professionals said that Google search console was their most used technical SEO tool (Searchengineland)
  6. 28% of SEO professionals said that an organization’s lack of resources was the biggest impact on SEO results according to. (Aira)

SEO Job Market Statistics

If you are interested in becoming a professional SEO expert, it may be worth exploring some stats first, so you fully know the scope of the field and what it takes to be successful in it! 

Here are some interesting SEO job market stats:

  1. TechBehemoths surveyed 997 IT companies and digital agencies across 40 countries regarding their SEO activity in 2022, and found that 67% of IT companies have an SEO manager within the company. (hackernoon)
  2. 78.2% of SEOs charge monthly retainers for some or all of their services. (Ahrefs)
  3. The market size of the SEO & Internet Marketing Consultants industry is expected to increase 5.7% in 2023. (IBISWorld)
  4. The market size, measured by revenue, of the SEO & Internet Marketing Consultant industry is $75.0 billion in 2023. (IBISWorld)
  5. Neil Patel is currently the highest paid SEO Expert with a networth of over $30 million (bloggerpassion). Next is Rand Fishkin at $20 million (Affliatebay), and then Brian Dean’s at $5 million (Bloggingbeats).
  6. As of 2023, the average SEO specialist salary in the United States is $60,186. (Glassdoor)
  7. 32.8% of senior search engine optimization specialists are women and 67.2% of senior search engine optimization specialists are men. (zippia)
  8. 63.4% of SEO jobs want a candidate with experience with a specific SEO tool or technology. (BacklinkO)
  9. 54.5% of SEOs only offer one form of pricing. (Ahrefs)

Bar graph showing the average salary of an SEO specialist in each state of the United states

Conclusion

The SEO field has evolved a lot in the last few years, and appears to show no signs of slowing down. I hope this information has helped you either run your own business or improve a client’s website if you are an SEO expert. 

 

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