11 Mind-Blowing B2B SEO Statistics to Inspire you to Greatness in 2017

Yes, 2016 is almost upon us—which means it’s time to start thinking about your B2B SEO strategy for the New Year. We’ve hand-picked a selection of incredible statistics covering all things SEO, set to inspire your B2B SEO strategy for 2016 and beyond. 

1. Organic search leads have an average 14.6% close rate, compared to a 1.7% for outbound marketing leads

Your prospects don’t like to be sold to and nothing stresses this point better than the above statistic. Effective SEO enables relevant prospects to find you at a time that is suitable for them – rather than interrupting them with ‘fog-horn’ marketing methods.

2. Organic search drives 51% of traffic to websites

While some businesses continue to pour their budget into securing paid search results, consumers are much more likely to click on organic search results. 

3. 89% of customers begin their buyer’s journey with a search engine

The internet has turned the buyer’s journey on its head. Prospects now begin their journey by researching their pains via a search engine – it’s time to get seen or never be heard.

4. 87% of smartphone owners use a search engine at least once a day 

The infamous ‘mobilegeddon’ algorithm update rocked businesses this year, penalising websites that hadn’t been optimised for mobile. With mobile usage set to eclipse desktop in the next couple of years, businesses cannot afford to ignore their mobile audience, both in terms of website design and local mobile SEO. 

5. 71.33% of searches resulted in a page one Google organic click

Your prospects are extremely busy. Chances are they’re not going to scroll onto the third, fourth or fifth page to find your search result listing. Securing a first page ranking is the crème de la crème of B2B SEO.

6. 50% of search queries are four words or longer

Prospects are becoming more descriptive in their search terms, and so your SEO strategy should reflect this. 

7. Search drives more than 300% more website traffic than social

While social media is an excellent platform for creating discussions and engagement opportunities with prospects, it can’t match search’s ability to drive website traffic. 

8. 70% of search traffic comes from long-tail keywords

Unless you are a well-established global brand, short-tail keywords are too competitive to be able to rank for. Instead, it is best SEO practice to use long-tail keywords that are structured around your prospects’ pains.

9. 45% of companies say content marketing is highly integrated with their SEO strategy

Content marketing and SEO cannot exist in isolation. Without an effective SEO strategy, the visibility of your content is severely reduced. 

10. Every day 20% of terms typed into Google have never been searched before

SEO is constantly evolving. If you ignore new search trends among your prospects, your website traffic is likely to suffer. 

11. Websites with 30 or more pages generate 7x more leads than those with less than ten

However, a higher quantity of web pages will only encourage lead generation if the pages are high in quality and relevant to your prospect pains.

Don’t waste a second of your time – or a penny of your marketing budget – on SEO tactics that won’t help you achieve your goals.  Click the banner below to get our tech marketers’ guide to SEO fact and fiction, and discover the 11 SEO myths you can leave behind in 2016.