Learning SEO in 2023 can be quite challenging especially when everything is changing every year. Therefore B2B SEO statistics will lead you to what works today and what does not and improve your B2B SEO.

B2B SEO Statistics are a great way for you to stay up to date and learn about the best practices from marketers all over the world.

That’s why I brought you the most important B2B SEO statistics you should know to create an effective content marketing plan.

Because wasting your money on trying SEO techniques you don’t need to do. Unless you have plenty of money to spare and want to try a new untried marketing tactic, then go ahead.

But then do not forget to generate reports and statistics to share with others. ;)

So let’s dive in and improve your digital marketing and content marketing with the best B2B SEO Statistics for your organizations.

B2B SEO Statistics of Search Engine in 2023

  • For B2B, the top SEO strategies used recently are overall content strategy (17.2%), topic clustering (9.7%), and link building (11.4%). (SEJ State of SEO, 2024)
  • The top metrics used by high earning B2B SEO professionals (over $100k) are qualified leads (8.3%), click-through rate (7.8%), and organic pageviews (7.7%). Lower earners focus more on CTR, keyword rankings, and branded vs. non-branded traffic. (SEJ State of SEO, 2024)
  • The top three areas participants spent the most time this year were: technical SEO (15.0%), SEO strategy and planning (13.5%), and keyword research (13.5%). (SEJ + Moz, 2023)
  • Marketers using both organic SEO techniques and pay-per-click ads see an average of 25% more clicks and 27% more profits compared to using a single technique.
  • Having a video on the landing page of your site makes it 53% more likely to show up on page 1 of Google. (41 Stories)
  • Integrating PPC and organic SEO efforts results on average in a 25% increase in clicks and a 27% increase in profits over isolated or disconnected efforts. (Digital Marketing Philippines)
  • Organic search drives 51% of all visitors to business-to-business and business-to-consumer Web sites, whereas paid search drives 10% and social 5%. (MediaPost)
  • 56% of participants expect SEO budgets to increase next year. 38.1% expect budgets to remain the same, and only 5.9% expect budget decreases. (SEJ + Moz, 2023)
  • The monthly SEO budgets for B2B and B2C/ecommerce are generally similar, with around 50% in both categories falling between $1,001-$10,000. However, more B2B SEO professionals (23.4%) work with higher budgets over $10,000 compared to B2C/ecommerce SEO professionals (17.4%). (SEJ State of SEO, 2024)
  • On the first page alone, the first five organic results account for 67.60% of all the clicks.
  • Long-tail keyword searches have a click-through rate of 3% to 5% higher than generic searches.
  • 50% of search queries are four words or longer. (IMPACT)
  • More than 50% of all searches end with no click. (Sparktoro)
  • 45% of enterprise-level companies invest more than $20,000 a month in SEO. The majority of small businesses invest less than $1,000.
  • 20% of online searches are image searches. (Sparktoro)
  • 75% of internet users never scroll past the first page of search engines. (Junto)
  • It’s also become clear that content with a specific topic tends to rank higher than broader alternatives, so zeroing in on an area of expertise is worth the effort.
  • The first organic desktop listing gets 19.3% of clicks (SEOClarity)
  • The first organic mobile listing gets 27.7% of clicks (SEOClarity)
  • When asked for their top three selections, forward-looking SEO professionals chose these options most frequently: Search Intent (10.4%). User Experience (UX) (9.7%). On-Page Factors (9.0%). Lead Generation (8.8%). Link Building (8.2%). Content Production (8.0%) (SEJ + Moz)

B2B SEO AI Statistics for 2023

  • Getting the most from generative AI (13.6%), backlink analysis (8%), and content audits (6.5%) are the top automation priorities for B2B SEO directors and above. (SEJ State of SEO, 2024)
  • 68% of B2B SEO professionals plan to invest in AI-powered services in 2023. The most interest comes from larger teams. (SEJ State of SEO, 2024)
  • Generative AI (21%), E-E-A-T & Trusted Sources (13.5%), and Automation Tools (10.7%) are expected to cause the top three disruptions in SEO performance in 2024, indicating SEO professionals are concerned about the impacts of new technologies like ChatGPT and Google’s Generative Search. (SEJ State of SEO, 2024)
  • With Google’s new E-E-A-T standards and the rise of generative AI, content production and strategy was named the #1 most difficult aspect of SEO by 13.8% of respondents, indicating acquiring organic traffic and competing with AI-generated content are top challenges for SEO professionals. (SEJ State of SEO, 2024)
  • However, despite challenges from AI and Google’s E-E-A-T, content strategy and production remains the top priority in 2023 for 13.5% of SEO professionals, who also plan to focus on understanding audiences, building subscriber lists, and determining search intent, indicating a shift to audience-focused content.

Google Itself B2B SEO Statistics for 2023

  • Google (currently) has 71.98% of the search engine market share. It pays to learn its platform and optimize for Google search engine.
  • Google has received nearly 2.3 trillion searches this year.
  • Of the billions of searches that happen on a given day, 15% of daily searches are new to Google.
  • According to Andrey Lipattsev, Search Quality Senior Strategist at Google, high-quality content and link building are the two most important signals used by Google to rank your website for search. (SearchEngineWatch)
  • 91% of all pages never get any organic traffic from Google, mostly due to the fact they don’t have backlinks.
  • Google accounted for nearly 40% of all U.S. digital ad spending last year, while Facebook’s share was about 8%; and Google’s advertising revenue is larger than that of the entire U.S. print industry.
  • Google estimates that the Internet now contains roughly five million terabytes of data – but the search giant has indexed only 0.04% of it all. (The Wonder of Tech)
  • 55.24% of pages don’t have a single backlink.
  • The more backlinks a page has, the more search traffic it gets from Google.
  • Getting to the top of Google’s first page is still a top priority for most B2B firms, and the strategy is still well worth the effort.

B2B Organic Search Statistics

  • Text will be always the foundation of search. Thus making sure you optimize your website asset with description and SEO best practices helps you to improve ranking. (HubSpot, 2022)
  • Mobile performance is the Top technical SEO aspect for marketers to improve site performance. (HubSpot, 2022)
  • Google uses 810 features, and 161 are found on more than 0.2% of keywords. (SEOClarity, 2022)
  • 50.33% of all searches are zero-click. (SEOClarity, 2022)
  • On both desktop and mobile, there was an 8% drop in CTR for rank position one. Interestingly, position two had a 4% increase. (SEOClarity, 2022)
  • Organic Search share of traffic increased to 53.3% on average across industries. (BrightEdge)
  • In average 68.3% of all traffic comes from search engines. (BrightEdge)
  • In B2B Combined Search averages 76% of traffic. (BrightEdge)

Biggest Challenges & Disruptions B2B SEO Statistics

  • Competition for talent (16.7%), generative AI/ML (16.5%), and Google updates (16.5%) are essentially tied as the top expected shifts in the SEO industry in 2024, indicating concerns about hiring experienced candidates and adopting new technologies like AI. (SEJ State of SEO, 2024)
  • SEO professionals pointed to a lack of resources as their biggest challenge this year, giving it the top spot (14.9%). Last year, budget cuts were the biggest challenge, which fell to sixth place this year. (SEJ + Moz)
  • 12.2% say budget cuts were a top barrier to success in 2022, along with competition in SERPs (11.1%) and client issues (10.8%). (SEJ State of SEO, 2024)
  • One of the biggest challenges in SEO is providing ROI. (SEJ + Moz)
  • Almost half of the SEO pros we surveyed (41.4%) said the ROI from their SEO investments either stayed the same or decreased this year. (SEJ + Moz)
  • Those who saw a reduction in ROI only saw nominal losses, with 16.4% saying ROI decreased “a little” and only 3.7% indicating it had decreased “a lot.” (SEJ + Moz)
  • What’s standing in the way of SEO success? When providing their top three, participants identified these as their greatest challenges over the last 12 months: Lack of resources (14.9%). Strategy issues (12.3%). Scaling processes (11.9%). (SEJ + Moz)
  • Budget cuts fell from the number one challenge SEO professionals faced in 2021 to number six this year. (SEJ + Moz)
  • This year, pandemic-related issues remained in the fourth spot as a major concern, with 11.2% of responses. (SEJ + Moz)

Local B2B SEO Statistics in 2023

  • 51% of Google searches are local. (Hubspot, 2021)
  • “Where to buy” + “near me” mobile queries have grown by over 200% in the past two years.
  • There has been a 900% increase in searches that contain “___ near me today/tonight” over the last two years. (Think with Google, 2023)
  • Germany has the highest average conversion rate by country, followed by the U.S. (Growcode, 2023)
  • 78% of location-based mobile searches result in an offline purchase. (Junto, 2021)
  • 86% of people look up the location of a business on Google Maps. (Junto, 2021)

B2B Buyers and Research SEO Statistics in 2023

  • The internet the source of unlimited information made the B2B buying journey is hard and 77% of B2B buyers stated that their latest purchase was very complex or difficult.
  • 89% of B2B researchers use the internet during the B2B research process. (Google, 2022)
  • B2B researchers won’t get in touch with a salesperson until they’re 57% of the way through their buyer’s journey. In translation, they’re ready to make a decision and look for the best price they can find.
  • 61% of B2B buyers visit review sites before deciding on a service provider. A study performed by Clutch showed that each review a company gained on their site resulted in 20 new profile views. Asking existing customers to write reviews could result in a significant increase in lead-bearing traffic.
  • 96% of B2B buyers look for content backed by thought leaders, reflecting the importance of research and authority in converting leads.
  • The average person will only spend 37 seconds reading your article. (foundationinc.co)
  • 71% of B2B researchers begin their research with generic Google searches.
  • 90% of B2B researchers who are online use search specifically to research business purchases. (Google, 2022)
  • On average, B2B researchers do 12 searches prior to engaging on a specific brand’s site. (Google, 2022)
  • 52% of B2B search queries today are made on smartphones, and this percentage will grow to 70% by 2023.
  • B2B buyers typically consume between three and seven pieces of content before speaking with a salesperson
  • Over 90% of B2B users say they’re likely to buy again from the same vendor if they have a superior mobile experience. Only 50% will buy again if they report a poor mobile experience.

What B2B Marketers Say About SEO in 2023

  • Click-through rate (9.2%), keyword rankings (7.7%), and branded vs. non-branded traffic (8.3%) are the top metrics used. (SEJ State of SEO, 2024)
  • 65% of digital marketers state that link building is the hardest part of SEO. (SEO Tribunal, 2022)
  • 57% of B2B marketers say that SEO generates more leads than any of their other marketing initiatives in 2023. (Junto, 2022)
  • 61% of marketers say improving SEO and growing their organic presence is their top inbound marketing priority. (HubSpot, 2022)
  • The top challenges in SEO are link building (cited by 41% of corporate marketers) and keyword research (39%). (MediaPost)
  • 70% of marketers see SEO as more effective than PPC
  • 59% of SEO specialists reported that technical onsite optimization was their most effective SEO strategy.
  • 86% of B2B companies maintain a blog. (foundationinc.co)
  • 64% of B2B marketers hire freelancers to outsource writing projects. (foundationinc.co)
  • 59% of B2B marketers say SEO has the biggest impact on their lead generation goals. (Marketing Charts)
  • 29% of marketers repurpose existing content. (foundationinc.co)
  • 87% of US-based B2B organizations use digital content marketing. (emarketer)
  • 36% of SEO experts think the headline/title tag is the most important SEO element.
  • 45% of enterprises are investing more than $20,000 on SEO each month. (B2BMarketingZone, 2021)
  • 72% of marketers say the single most effective SEO tactic is creating relevant content. (SearchEnginePeople, 2021)

B2B Blog SEO Statistics

  • Adding a blog to your website can increase its chances of ranking in search engines by 434%.
  • 43% of people admit to skimming blogs when they read them. (Impact, 2022)
  • B2B (business-to-business) marketers receive 67% more leads if they have a blog. (SearchEnginePeople, 2023)
  • Republishing and updating information on old blogs can increase traffic by more than 100%. (SearchEnginePeople, 2023)
  • Blogs posts with images in them are viewed 94% more than those without. (Impact)
  • Companies with a blog receive 97% more links to their site. (Hubspot, 2021)
  • Marketers who prioritize blogging are 13 times more likely to experience positive ROI. (Hubspot, 2022)

Results of Good B2B SEO Marketing Strategy

  • 55.9% say Google algorithm changes in 2022 positively impacted their SEO efforts. But 62.7% say SERP competition has become more difficult. (SEJ State of SEO, 2024)
  • Forward-looking SEO professionals expect to focus on search intent (10.4%), user experience (UX) (9.7%), and on-page factors (9%) next year. (SEJ + Moz, 2023)
  • When asked to select their three top success metrics in 2022, SEO pros picked these most often: keyword rankings (15.0%), pageviews/ sessions (12.4%), and conversions & goal events (9.0%). The discrepancy between these results and the most-requested SEO services suggests difficulty in tracking ROI. (SEJ + Moz)
  • SEO has ~20X more traffic opportunities than PPC on both mobile and desktop. (Sparktoro, 2023)
  • The average click-through rate for B2B websites is 2.55 percent. Of all the researchers that encounter your content, 2.55 percent will take further action and follow a link. Get one hundred views on your post, and you’ll see two and a half people taking the next step down your sales SEO funnels. If it’s a thousand people, you’ve got 25. Get more traffic and the leads will follow. (articulate marketing)
  • Just over half of the SEO practitioners (58.0%) reported an increase in the ROI for their work. Still, many SEOs struggled with ROI, especially freelancers, and 29.0% of SEO professionals reported feeling ambivalent about their ROI. (SEJ + Moz)
  • SEO experts (57%) believe that content creation drives the best results.
  • Content creation leads to 434% more indexed pages than websites without updated content.
  • B2B Companies generate 2X more revenue from Organic Search than any other channel.
  • The overall top three services that agency SEOs were asked to provide were: Increased website traffic (21.8%). Lead generation (19.5%). Better search rankings (18.1%). 

Mobile B2B SEO Statistics

  • Mobile devices now drive over 52% of web traffic and account for nearly two out of every three minutes online.
  • Speed helps conversions. Mobile pages that load a second faster than otherwise-identical pages have 20% more conversions.
  • Mobile-optimized sites are more trusted by 51% of consumers.
  • Google drives 96% of mobile search traffic. (Jody Nimetz Co., 2022)
  • The average U.S. adult spent 3 hours, 35 minutes on their phones every day in 2022.
  • Out of the 100 billion searches Google receives a month, more than half of those come from mobile devices. (Google, 2022)
  • 61% of mobile searches end in no click at all, and 33.7% of desktop searches end in no click at all. (Sparktoro, 2023)
  • Of those who own smartphones, 87% of them use a search engine daily. (Junto, 2022)
  • More Google searches come from mobile devices than on computers in 10 countries, including the U.S. (Hubspot, 2023)
  • 51% of smartphone users have discovered a new company or product when searching on their phones. (Hubspot, 2023)
  • 68% of b2b companies have integrated mobile marketing into their marketing strategy. (Salesforce, 2022)
  • 60% of smartphone users say they’ve discovered a new company or product when conducting a search on their smartphones. (Google, 2023)

Website Speed SEO Statistics

  • Conversion rates fall by 12% for every extra second that it takes your website to load.
  • 46% of people say waiting for pages to load is what they dislike most about browsing the web on mobile.
  • Pages that load within two seconds have an average bounce rate of 9%, while pages that take five seconds to load have a bounce rate of 38% (Pingdom)
  • On average, it takes 15.3 seconds to load a mobile landing page. (think with google)
  • 79% of web shoppers who have trouble with website performance say they won’t return to the site to buy again. (Neil Patel)
  • Sites that load in five seconds (compared to those that load in 19) see 70% longer average sessions. (think with google)
  • A 100-millisecond delay in load time can cause conversion rates to drop by 7%.
  • 73% of mobile users have encountered websites that take too long to load. (Neil Patel)

Salaries, Budgets & Experiences B2B SEO Statistics

  • Growth had different effects on salaries in different regions. In the U.S., 62.0% of respondents had fewer than five years of experience, but the average salaries remained high. (SEJ + Moz)
  • Over a quarter of all SEO professionals surveyed (28.7%) had two years of experience or less. More than half (53.9%) who are managers and department heads had less than five years of experience. (SEJ + Moz)
  • In countries with significantly different currencies and economic conditions – such as India, Bangladesh, and Spain – average SEO salaries were much lower. (SEJ State of SEO, 2024)
  • 51.6% of all SEO professionals have fewer than 5 years of experience. This indicates high demand for experienced talent. (SEJ State of SEO, 2024)
  • 27.5% of SEO managers have 2-4 years of experience, showing early advancement is possible. But 49.8% of managers have 5-10 years of experience.  (SEJ State of SEO, 2024)
  • 77.9% of freelancers have fewer than 5 years of experience. 69.2% are looking for new positions, with 31.9% desiring agency roles. (SEJ State of SEO, 2024)
  • Most notable was the 7.5% increase in SEO practitioners earning $34,000 or less. (SEJ + Moz)
  • There was also a 3.1% reduction in the number of people reporting salaries in the $54,000-$74,000 range. (SEJ + Moz)
  • SEO professionals in Australia had the highest average salary ($91,989). But, 46.0% of practitioners had fewer than five years of experience. This could indicate a high demand for qualified professionals in Australia. (SEJ + Moz)
  • In the U.S., 62.0% of SEO professionals had fewer than five years in the industry but had an average salary of $78,431, potentially indicating growth in both the industry and businesses’ willingness to pay more for SEO talent in the U.S. (SEJ + Moz)
  • Just over one-third (34.3%) of SEO pros earning $200,000 or more had over 20 years in the industry. (SEJ + Moz)
  • When asked for their top three tactics for finding new SEO clients, they relied mostly on: Network referrals (9.5%). Their personal networks (8.7%). Search (8.9%). Paid social advertising (6.1%) was the least popular tactic.  (SEJ + Moz)

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Disclaimer

This article was created by Eduard Dziak and may contain affiliate links. The following were used to optimize the article for the best user and search engine experience include:

  • SE Ranking for keyword research and on-page SEO optimization
  • Surfer SEO for SEO-friendly content creation for users and search engines.
  • Jasper AI for grammar correction and information enhancement.

The article is based on the author’s own experience and knowledge, drawn from both their own work and that of their clients, to provide the latest, proven methods.