Intro
Keyword research is the process by which you find and analyze search terms that people enter into search engines intending to use that data for a specific purpose. Most SEO campaigns start with keyword research, and it’s useful to know how people search online, especially if you want to make your website more visible on Google.
In this blog post, we’ll examine some of the many aspects of keyword research and SEO.
Top Keyword Research Statistics
These are some of the most interesting stats we think will be useful:
- In 2019, long-tail keywords comprised 70% of searches online
- In the two years ending March 2019, there was an increase of 200% in searches for “where to buy” and “near me”
- 53% of shoppers research online before making a purchase
- Keyword research is used by an average of 75.5% of marketers when creating content for consumers and businesses
- The top three keywords searched in Google in 2022 were “Cricbuzz”, “Weather”, and “Facebook”
- “How many ounces in a cup” ranked #1 among questions most searched in Google in 2022
- In 2020, “COVID-19” topped worldwide searches, with a 3650% increase in March compared to previous months
- Google is more likely to rewrite meta descriptions for long-tail keywords than fat-heads
- 50% of search queries contain four words or more
- There are over 63000 Google searches per second
- Google Search Console “hides” 46.08% of keywords that bring traffic to a website
- A tool like Rank Lightning the best local SEO tool can help you perform keyword research easily.
Keyword Statistics
Keyword research requires an understanding of the types of queries people are using in Google search:
- The top 500 most popular search terms make up 8.4% of all search volume
- The average keyword gets 989 searches per month
- 14.1% of searches take the form of a question
- The most common type of question keywords are “How” keywords, followed by “what”, “where”, and “who”
- The average keyword is 1.9 total words and 8.5 characters in length
- News-related searches make up nearly 1 out of 5 Google searches
- On average, keywords with 5+ words get 10x fewer searches
- The highest search volume industries are: news and media, internet and telecom, consumer electronics, and arts and entertainment
- The average keyword has a CPC (cost per click) of $0.61
- Keywords with the highest average CPC are in the finance, real estate, health, home, and legal industries
- Americans search using Google more than any other English-speaking country
Ranking Statistics
You may find the following stats about ranking on Google surprising:
- 90.63% of pages get no organic search traffic from Google
- The average top-ranking page also ranks in the top 10 search results for almost 1000 other relevant keywords
Search Engine Statistics
It’s very important to understand where search engines are right now and what direction they’ll be taking.
- The top three Google search results get 54.4% of all clicks
- Every day, there are an estimated 3.5 billion searches on Google
- 39% of purchasers are influenced by a relevant search
- Google accounts for around 83% of the global search market
- Mental health searches globally increased by 2000% in four years as of March 2023
- The top 10 keywords in the US for mental health disorders totaled 1299.5 million searches as of March 2023
Local SEO Statistics
If you’re a business that serves customers locally, it’s important to understand local search and know how to improve your presence. The following stats relate to the importance of good local SEO.
- Almost one-third of all mobile searches are related to location
- When people search on their smartphones for something nearby, 76% of them will visit that business within 24 hours
- 28% of searches for something nearby result in a purchase
- Mobile searches for “on sale” and “near me” have grown by over 250% year on year from 2017 to 2019
Organic SEO Statistics
Most businesses prefer to use organic SEO because it’s inexpensive. Optimizing content takes a lot of effort, and you have to keep innovating to make your content stand out online. Here are some organic SEO statistics that highlight its importance.
- More than 53% of a website’s traffic comes from organic search
- If you update your website with fresh content, it’s likely to increase its organic traffic by over 110%
- In the US, around 63% of Google’s organic search is from mobile devices
- 55% of marketers consider blog content creation a top inbound marketing priority
- Since 2020, there have been more than 11 major rollouts, updates, and significant bug fixes in Google search algorithms. One was regarding AI use, but even if you use it, you can humanize AI content and make it good and useful enough for the readers.
SEO and Marketing Statistics
The experts are saying that SEO can boost your online presence, imagine what you can achieve if you integrate it with your marketing strategy and put your keyword research to good use.
- 43% of users admit they skim blogs when reading them
- In 2019, users spent 3 hours and 30 minutes daily browsing the internet using their mobile devices
- In 2020, video was used as a marketing tool by 86% of companies
Searcher Behavior Statistics
If you want to optimize your content, the first thing to learn is how internet users perform queries. Here are some search habit statistics worth noting:
- In 2020, Google was still the leading search engine, with a market share of 91.38%
- More than 246 million people search online at least once per month
- One-quarter of the time, users consider Google’s autocomplete suggestions
- During the pandemic, some of the most popular search topics were home delivery, short-term work employee, retail, mortgage rate suspension, and “can you freeze” various food types
- There was also an increase in “with me” searches on YouTube such as “cook with me” or “study with me”
- Around 49% of people watch more than 5 online videos per day
- 75% of searchers don’t scroll past the first page of the SERPs
- Sites that are on the first page of Google have an average of 1447 words
- “YouTube” and “Amazon” were the most searched keywords in the Top 100 Google Searches in the US as of July 2023
Keyword Research Trends
Source: Gecdesigns
Knowing the latest keyword trends will help you stay ahead of the curve because you’ll understand the shifts and patterns shaping the future of keyword research.
- Long-tail keywords are gaining in popularity in keyword research as they provide more focused and relevant results for users
- Voice search optimization is an important aspect of keyword research trends
- With the rise of smart speakers and virtual assistance, voice search is becoming increasingly popular
- Traditional keyword research techniques may need to be adapted to account for voice search queries
- With the rise in mobile usage, optimizing keywords for mobile devices has become increasingly important
- When optimizing keywords for mobile, the focus should be on relevance and user intent
- To align with user intent, natural language, and conversational keywords must be used
- Semantic keyword research is another important trend in keyword research
- AI-powered keyword tools are revolutionizing the way keyword research is done
Final Thoughts
Keyword research plays a key role in optimizing online content. It helps identify what users are searching for, thereby allowing businesses to create relevant and valuable content. By understanding popular search terms, businesses can tailor their content to match user intent and improve their visibility in search engine results.
