SEO Stats for Local Businesses
Search engines utilize powerful algorithms to deliver content that meets the needs of the searcher. With these powerful algorithms comes a lot of uncertainty from digital marketers and business owners alike. SEO, or search engine optimization, is all about adjusting content and code on your website and optimizing local and off-site elements like Google My Business to try to perform better in search.
According to Hubspot, about 64% of digital marketers invest time in SEO. The following stats will give you insight into the influence of SEO and how your digital marketing efforts can impact your business:
Investing in organic search performance is vital to make the most of digital marketing. When competing for a spot in the 10 blue links, understanding what performs on search and how it influences consumer behavior can make the difference between making and breaking your SEO strategy.
Globally, Bing accounts for 6.7% of the desktop search market, while Google took 86.6%. (Statista, 2021)
Google dominates mobile in the United States with over 94% of mobile search engine market share. (StatCounter, 2021) – Even more than desktop, Google is the preferred search engine of mobile users in the U.S.
85% of Google users find an answer to their query with their initial search term. (Backlinko, 2020)
Title tags that contain a question have a 14.1% higher CTR vs. pages that don’t have a question in their title. (Backlinko, 2019) – Searchers are looking for answers to their questions, so keep this in mind when writing content!
Mobile searches containing “not working” have grown by over 65% in the past two years (Google, 2018) – These searches can include valuable keywords like “ac not working” that have a high indication someone needs repair.
The average top-ranking page also ranks in the top 10 search results for nearly 1,000 other relevant keywords. (Ahrefs)
The #1 organic result is 10x more likely to receive a click compared to a page in the #10 spot. (Backlinko, 2019) – Where you rank on search matters! The closer you are to the number one organic position, the more likely you are to gather clicks.
Only 0.78% of Google searchers will click on the second page. (Backlinko, 2019) – It’s no surprise many users don’t navigate to the second page, but this number tends to surprise people. Those top 10 spots tend to be very competitive, but they can make a huge difference when it comes to your traffic.
On the first page alone, the first five organic results account for 67.6% of all the clicks. (Impact, 2020)
50% of people are more likely to click on a particular brand name if that brand name shows up more than once on the search results. (Omnicore, 2020) – SEO is not just to strengthen your appearance for non-branded keywords. Your branded keywords depend on high-quality SEO too!
29% of search queries have featured snippets in their search results. (Ahrefs) – These helpful blocks of information pull from pages within Google’s index automatically. Featured snippets are often found for queries that contain questions.
In the majority of home services verticals, over 55% of consumers run a search before scheduling an appointment (Source: LSA) – Consumers researching services like moving, locksmiths, lawn care, and pest control are the most likely to use search engines.
Callers convert 30% faster than web leads. (Source: Forrester) – When a user needs emergency service or wants an immediate response, they tend to call. This is increasingly important to remember for home service brands where emergency and same-day service are a significant part of their business.
On average, ranking in position #1 on mobile gets you 27.7% of the clicks. Ranking in position #1 on desktop gets you an average of 19.3% of the clicks. (SEOClarity) – Where you rank matters, and it matters even more on mobile!