With how much we’ve all come to rely on search engines to find all kinds of content, it’s no surprise that it’s important for marketers to understand the ins and outs of the search engine market.

With that in mind, we’ve put together this cheat sheet of critical search engine marketing statistics you need to know in order to see growth over the coming year.

Let’s dive in with a few key search engine statistics before we take the plunge into the specifics of search engine marketing.

Search Engine Stats Critical to Your Digital Marketing Strategy

• Almost 93% of web traffic arrives through search engines.
• Google accounts for 76% and 86% of global desktop and mobile device searches, respectively.
• More than 2 trillion searches are processed through Google every year.
• For every $1 that a business spends on Google Search and Ads, the business makes $8 in profit.
• Google’s 2018 ad revenue exceeded $116 billion.
• 46% of all Google searches are for something local.
• Only 12.6% of all clicks on Google go to one of the top 100 domains.
• Businesses that combine organic search engine optimization and PPC ads in their digital marketing strategy see an increase of 25% more clicks and 27% more profits.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) Statistics You Need to Know

1. The average click-through rate (CTR) for the first position on a Google search query is 19.3%.

What’s more, the average CTR for the second position is nearly half of that at 10.57%. Add to that the fact that 75% of all Google users don’t look beyond the first page of results.

With this in mind, it’s no surprise that businesses try to rank as close to the top as they can. Additionally, the average CTR for the first position is even higher on desktop than it is on mobile searches. Branded searches offer even higher CTRs on the first half of Google’s first page of results.

2. Adding a video to your site’s landing page can increase your chances of appearing on Google’s first page by more than 50%.

Using video or image content has continued to prove itself to be an excellent way to optimize your site for different search engines. That said, make sure heavy content doesn’t impact the loading time of your page so much your bounce rates go up.

What’s more, businesses need to make full use of metadata details to stand out. And don’t forget about the text! The average word count for sites appearing on Google’s first page is nearly 2,000. The full character limit for your page should be utilized so you can give each visitor as much information as possible while using your keywords effectively.

3. 63% of internet users will click on a Google paid search ad.

That number, 63%, is a whopping four times higher than on any other search engine! For reference, the corresponding rates for other sites are:

• Amazon: 15%
• YouTube: 9%
• Bing: 6%

No wonder Google can promise a better return for businesses! Moreover, 55% of people who click on Google search ads say they prefer these ads to be text-based.

Key Search Engine Marketing Statistics Takeaways

While Google continues to be the top dog in the search engine game with a massive market share, an internet search on other platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, and Bing has continued to grow steadily despite Google’s overwhelming dominance.

That said, Google search trends offer incredible opportunities for businesses to improve their CTR and conversion rates.

Looking for a little help boosting your search engine marketing numbers? Give Asset Digital Communications a call today, and we can get you on the path to success!