SEO Facts and Figures
Just a random collection of facts and figures about SEO, Google searches, traffic etc, collated from Search Engine Journal. Some may be slightly out of date, but I am sure they will still give you an idea of the stats.
Let's start with perhaps the most disheartening ones. The sites listed on the first Google search results page get 91.5% of the traffic share, and the first site listed organically (not a paid ad) gets 32.5% of that. Now you know why WA teaches us that getting your content on the first page of Google is so important.
The average length of a post that makes it to page 1 is 1890 words. Of course, here at WA the minimum suggested word count is 1000, but clearly Google prefers longer content as it shows you are an authority on your niche. That's not to say that a shorter post can't be successful, providing it has thoroughly covered the topic. Don't just rely on the Jaaxy results, actually look at Google to see what your competition has done.
The average number of words that a user types in Google when searching is just 3.
Just 8% of searches are phrased as questions. This one surprised me to be honest, I thought it would have been higher.
Only 8% of users bounce back to the Google results, which implies that all the rest are happy with the suggested site and the information it offers.
2 trillion searches are handled by Google every year, which equates to 228 million searches every hour. Pretty mind-boggling really!
15% of searches have never been seen by Google before.
So, follow the training, write long, informative posts, check out the competition and grab yourself a share of that page 1 Google traffic!
Recent Comments
66
Great post Diane, I always love stats ;-)
The one about average keyword length and the percentage of searches that are phrased as questions, is one that we should be taking note of. Not from the point of view that we should change what we're doing though, but from the point of view that we should continue targettng longtail keywords, as these are the low hanging fruit that our competitors are not targeting, allowing us to appear far quicker and more easily on the first page of the SERPs.
Once a website matures over time with quality content, it will then naturally start ranking for the shorter keywords and non question searches, as Google now see's the website as a trusted authority on the subject.
This will then be part of the snowball effect that we see :-)
Also, these stats are starting to change due to Voice Search, and it won't be long before these numbers go up to accommodate new technology such as Amazon's Echo or Google Home etc, where searches are naturally more longtail and based on questions.
Hi Diane,
How interesting, intriguing, and informative.
As long as the numbers are correct (depending on who and how they were gathered) they should guide the way toward a more profitable website.
Such as the numbers for our individual websites provided within the Google Analytics platform.
Success can be had if you work hard enough for it,
Calvin
Hi Diane,
I must admit a couple of these stats really surprised me.
The "average number of words" and "searches phrased as a question".
I would've (wrongly obviously) assumed that with the advent of Smart-type voice searches, e.g. Alexa, Amazon Echo, Google Home Smart Speaker, etc. that the complete opposite would be true.
I know I tend to waffle on and ask long-winded questions whenever I use these devices, but I guess I must be in the minority.
Plenty of food for thought here, as I often write articles based on a question.
Thank You
Partha
I've added a response to this that ties in with your comment here, if you want to take a look ;-)
1890 words? If I can’t find the answer in 30 seconds I’m moving on.
I wonder if the question needs to end with a question mark to count because most people don’t add it when asking a question in Google.
Bing is a much better search engine but people are too brainwashed to try it.
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Hi Diane,
Thank you for writing this post.
My articles are over 2000 words so I'm ok in that department and I make them informative and helpful posts... least I think I am. The statistics are very helpful and I'm going to work on better keywords based on this.
I haven't really spent much time checking out my competitors outside of Jaaxy so I'll definitely be looking into Google for that.
Have a Blessed week.
Monica