In the ever-changing SEO industry, you have to find a healthy balance between keeping up with updates and sticking to core practice that delivers proven results. How do you know when to apply innovative-yet-risky advice not to affect your long-term strategy?

We’ve collected the most interesting and up-to-date SEO statistics and facts to paint a clear picture of this matter.

Let’s get right into it.

Fascinating SEO Stats & Facts

  • Almost 30% of searchers click on the first result of the first page.
  • Moving only 1 spot on the first page is known to improve your CTR by more than 30%.
  • From all nearby searches, mobile accounts for 84% of them.
  • Almost 90% of those who conduct a local search visit a store within a week.
  • Blogging is known to bring 55% more traffic to companies.
  • Australia is one of the fastest-growing smart speakers’ markets.
  • 60% of Aussies who use voice search do so to play music.
  • The average cost of publishing a single guest post is around $125.
  • According to 43% of AU marketers, videos are known to boost traffic.
  • More than ¼ of all online payments are done via mobile devices.

General SEO Statistics

1. Google has almost 95% share of Australian search engine traffic. 

(Stat Counter)

At the end of 2021, the search engine traffic across all platforms in Australia looked like this:

  • 93.95% Google
  • 3.9% Bing
  • 0.98% DuckDuckGo
  • 0.81% Yahoo
  • 0.18% Ecosia
  • 0.07% Yandex.

The Google search engine is a favourite for tablet owners, but its significance slightly drops down across other platforms.

3. Almost 30% of searchers click on the first result of the first page. 

(LinkedIn)

The first position on Google strongly beats all the latter places, which means that most users will only click on the first result. More precisely, the average CTR looks like this:

4. First page results on Google get 95% of traffic. 

(Digital Synopsis)

Newest data by Digital Synopsis suggest that the first search engine results page takes up to 95% of all traffic, meaning that the rest of the pages only get 5%.

5. Meta description is crucial for over 60% of users.

(Ignite Visibility)

A strong meta description can raise the click-through rate of your organic search results. Namely, around 62.9% of users stated that meta description is why they clicked on a certain result.

6. Less than 3% of people click on a GoogleAd result. 

Only around 2.6% will click on a GoogleAd result, meaning that organic results that rank highly on Google are still at a huge advantage.

7. Moving only 1 spot on the first page is known to improve your CTR by more than 30%.

(Backlinko)

If you manage to surpass your upper rival on the first page, your CTR can improve up to 30.8%.

8. Questions in title tags improve your CTR by 14%. 

When it comes to CTR, title tags that include a question perform 14.1% better when compared to those that don’t. Most examples have proven that title tags with 15-40 characters perform the best  CTR.

9. Adding a keyword to your URL improves CTR by 45%. 

One of the best ways to boost your CTR is by adding a keyword to your URL. This way, you can almost double your CTR.

10. Over ¾ of Australian marketers are using inbound marketing. 

(CDN2)

Around 76% of ANZ marketers reported using inbound marketing as a primary approach to marketing.

11. Generating traffic and managing a website is in the top 5 challenges for ANZ marketers. 

When asked what their biggest marketing challenges are, ANZ marketers said Generating traffic and leads (63%) and Managing the website (19%).

12. Only 5% of marketers think SEO is overrated. 

Only a small percentage of marketers (5%) think SEO is overrated, whereas the rest see its great benefits.

(Bright Edge)

Organic search still generates the most web traffic, reaching 53.3%.

14. The average SEO cost in Australia is $750-$2,000 per month.

(Webapex)

Hiring an SEO expert in Australia may cost you somewhere between $750 and $2,000. Per hour, the SEO rate is $125-$250.

SEO Statistics & Social Media

15. Australian businesses reached a record high in social media presence. 

(Yellow)

Businesses in AU are present on social media more than ever:

  • 51% of small businesses
  • 58% of medium businesses
  • 85% of large businesses.

16. ¾ of large businesses have a social media strategy. 

Businesses of all sizes have a social media strategy:

  • 30% of small businesses
  • 45% of medium businesses
  • 80% of large businesses.

17. Almost 95% of large businesses use their social media strategy to drive users to sites.

Businesses develop social media strategies to improve web traffic:

  • 70% of small businesses
  • 88% of medium businesses
  • 94% of large businesses.

18. More than half of AU marketers believe social media posts are the most effective content marketing. 

(Lush)

Insights show that 56% of Australian marketers see social media posts as the most effective content marketing form. Moreover, the top choice for 46% of them were case studies because customers who speak from their own experience bring rock-solid credibility to your content.

19. Infographics are a necessity for more than ¼ of AU marketers.

Approximately 28% of Australian marketers claimed infographics are necessary for their content marketing strategies, especially for their shareability.

20. Not only that, but infographics are 30x more likely to be read when compared to only text articles, resulting in a 12% increase in traffic growth. 

(Smash Digital)

Since infographics are faster to read than a text article, they are 30x more likely to reach your customers. As a result, your traffic growth can be increased by 12% on average.

Mobile Search Stats in Australia

21. In 2021, there were almost 19 million mobile users with internet access in AU. 

(Statista)

The year 2021 ended with approximately 18.94 million mobile owners who have access to the internet in Australia. By the end of 2022, that number is expected to reach 19.27 million.

22. Apple is the dominant smartphone brand among Aussies.

In the 1st quarter of 2020, around 843,000 Apple smartphones were sold, with the Samsung coming in second, with 364,000 units sold.

23. An average Aussie spends around 6.8 hours online, with 55% of them preferring browsing on their mobile devices. 

(RED Search)

More than half of Australian web users are browsing from mobile, and they usually spend nearly 7 hours per day on the internet.

24. In 2020, 60% of the AU population were Facebook users. 

(Social Media News)

Facebook is the most popular social media platform in Australia, with 60% of the population being active users. These are the most used platforms by Aussies:

  • Facebook – 16.5 million
  • Youtube – 16 million
  • Instagram – 9 million
  • Whatsapp – 8 million
  • LinkedIn – 6.5 million.

25. 65% of all searches are zero-click, while that percentage is 22% on mobile. 

(Forbes)

Most of the time, Google queries give answers to users without them even having to enter the website. This means 65% of searches stay on Google or 22% in the case of mobile devices.

26. For almost 50% of users, the speed of getting an answer is a priority. 

When it comes to search queries, users are pretty clear about what’s the most important to them:

  • 48.9% get a result that quickly answers their question
  • 40.9% page speed
  • 40.3% getting thorough answers.

27. The search result date is important for almost 50% of users.

Including a date on your pages is important to 25.5% of users, whereas another 23.6% said it was essential as it shows if the information is still relevant.

28. From all nearby searches, mobile accounts for 84% of them. 

(Think with Google)

When users search for something nearby, it’s on mobile devices in almost 85% of cases.

Local SEO Statistics & Blogging

29. Almost 90% of those who conduct a local search visit a store within a week. 

From the total number of users who searched for a local store, 88% made a visit within a week.

30. Moreover, ¾ of those who searched for a nearby business visited it within 24h. 

If users are looking for a nearby visit, they’re likely to visit it within a day, according to 76% of them.

31. More than ¼ of nearby searches result in a purchase. 

(Think with Google) (RED Search)

28% of nearby store searches lead to a purchase. On the other hand, Over 60% of users won’t make purchases from a business that doesn’t exist online.

32. Blogging is known to bring 55% more traffic to companies. 

(Hubspot)

Companies that blog can generate up to 55% more traffic than those that don’t.

33. The average blog post has nearly 1,500 words. 

(Orbit Media)

Blogging statistics from 2021 show that an average blog post has around 1,416 words, which is the longest format compared to previous years.

34. Most bloggers write between 500-1,500 per post.

There are different blog length preferences among bloggers, but most of them:

  • 32% write 500-1,000 words
  • 31% write 1,000-1,500 words
  • 18% write 1,500-2,000 words

35. Half of all bloggers are posting weekly or several times a month. 

When it comes to frequency, about a ¼ of bloggers are publishing weekly, while another ¼ is publishing several times a month.

36. How-to articles are the most common type of content for ¾ of bloggers. 

Bloggers are putting out different types of content. These are the most common ones:

  • 76% How-to articles
  • 54% Lists
  • 45% Guides and ebooks
  • 41% News and trends
  • 41% Opinion
  • 34% Interviews
  • 27% Gated content
  • 24% Roundups
  • 24% Webinars.

37. However, the most successful content for 30% of bloggers is roundups. 

Surprisingly, the most common blog content doesn’t necessarily generate the most traffic. This is how different formats perform:

  • 23% How-to articles
  • 24% Opinion
  • 24% Webinars
  • 26% News and trends
  • 27% Lists
  • 27% Infographics
  • 27% Interviews
  • 29% Gated content
  • 30% Roundups.

38. Almost half of all bloggers include 2-3 images per post. 

Approximately 47% of bloggers make their posts more visual by including 2-3 images, while only 5% includes between 5 and 10 images.

39. Over 40% of bloggers are doing original research for their posts. 

In 2021, around 41% of bloggers were conducting original research when writing a post, which slightly declined compared to 2020 (42%).

40. Near to 50% of bloggers edit their own blog posts. 

One extensive study showed that 44% of bloggers don’t work with editors when writing posts for their websites. Only 17% do so with the help of a formal editor.

41. An astonishing 90% of bloggers use social media to drive website traffic. 

90% of bloggers reported using social media to generate traffic to their website, while 68% do so with SEO.

42. SEO is the most important traffic source for over 70% of bloggers. 

When asked about their biggest challenges, 49% of bloggers said they struggled to generate website traffic and attract visitors. In 2021, content that is search optimized was the most important source of traffic for 71% of bloggers.

43. In the last 12 months, more than 70% of bloggers have been updating their old content. 

As a part of their blogging strategy, 71% of bloggers update their older posts and are therefore 3x more likely to achieve strong results.

Voice SEO Statistics

44. Around 20% of the total search queries are made via voice assistant.

(Media Smiths) Bandt)

Smartphone users globally are making 20% of their Google searches through voice. One study found that in 2020 around 57% of Australians used voice search, with clear indications that this trend will continue to grow.

45. There are more than 5.7 million owners of smart speakers in Australia.

(The Conversation)

By the end of 2018, there were around 5.7 million smart speakers owners from Australia, surpassing the number of owners in the US.

46. What impact does voice search have on SEO? 

Australia is one of the fastest-growing smart speakers’ markets. In only 18 months, there was a rise from 0 to 29% of smart speakers owners in Australia. Around 43% of smart speakers owners in Australia reported they are using voice search more frequently on their mobile devices.

47. 60% of Aussies who use voice search do so to play music. 

(NAB)

Around 61% of Aussies use voice search to play music, whereas a similar percentage (60%) use it to check the weather or news (49%).

48. Voice search delivers results 52% faster than other types of searches. 

(Impressive)The imperative for internet users is getting the results quickly, so it’s no wonder they’re enjoying voice search, which delivers results 52% faster than other search types.

49. SERP is the best but not the only indicator of SEO success. 

(Ahrefs)

From all the indicators of SEO success, SERP position still has the highest correlation, but other factors are just as important:

  • 0.66 SERP position
  • 0.52 Number of referring domains
  • 0.5 Number of backlinks
  • 0.5 URL rating
  • 0.48 Number of “dofollow” referring domains
  • 0.46 Number of “dofollow” backlinks.

50. Google.com is the dominant search engine host in Australia.

The year 2021 ended with google.com being the dominant Australian search engine host. The market share looks like this on all platforms:

  • 60.41% google.com
  • 21.51% google.com.au
  • 3.9% bing.com
  • 0.98% duckduckgo.com
  • 0.49% r.search.yahoo.com
  • 0.28% au.search.yahoo.com.

51. It costs around $10-$20 to purchase the .com.au domain. 

(GoDaddy)

Many AU businesses opt for .com.au domain, with an annual price of $10-$20. Domain Money.com.au was sold for $400,000, making it the most expensive .com.au domain ever sold.

52. The average cost of publishing a single guest post is around $125. 

(Globex Outreach)

The cost of publishing guest posts varies depending on which service you choose, but they usually go from $125 for a single post, to $3,500 for 20 posts.

(BASE Search Marketing)

The importance of quality backlinks is as relevant as ever. To help you rank, you’ll need approximately 10 backlinks if the keyword difficulty is 10, whereas if the difficulty is 50, you’ll need somewhat 100 backlinks.

Video SEO Statistics

54. According to 43% of AU marketers, videos are known to boost traffic.

(LUSH)

Different types of video content–such as corporate video, commercials, social video has provenly boosted traffic, according to 43% of Australian marketers.

55. Not only that, but 83% of marketers who use videos regularly said it increased the time users spend on-page.

(Wyzowl)

Videos helped increase the number of time visitors is spending on a web page, according to 83% of marketers.

56. For almost 50% of users, videos are essential in search results. 

One survey showed that ¼ of users consider videos a vital part of search results, while another ¼ see them as very important.

57. The most common types of business video are explainer videos. 

Video statistics show that this format is now used more than ever. The most common types of business videos are:

  • 73% Explainer videos
  • 67% Social media videos
  • 51% Presentation videos
  • 41% Sales videos
  • 41% Video ads.

58. There’s a 41% 5-year growth among businesses that use videos.

Since 2016, the number of businesses that use videos as a marketing tool has grown by more than 40%. The pandemic made marketers up their game and give a chance to videos, resulting in 20% of them using videos for the first time in 2020.

SEO Impact on Ecommerce

59. Australia is the 11th largest eCommerce market. 

(Trade)

When it comes to the largest eCommerce markets, Australia holds 11th place, with a 15.5% year-to-year growth.

60. E-commerce in Australia accounts for almost 10% of all retail. 

Online commerce accounts for around 9% of all retail trade in Australia. By the number of monthly visits, the most popular eCommerce platform in Australia are:

61. Almost half of all online payments are made via PayPal. 

PayPal accounts for around 48.8% of all online payments, with credit and debit cards second (39.9%). Additionally, around 26.4% of all online payments are made through mobile devices.

62. Traffic growth and customer conversion are priorities for most companies. 

When asked what their marketing priorities are, ANZ companies responded:

  • 75% Converting contacts/leads to customers
  • 53% Growing traffic to the website
  • 39% Proving the ROI of marketing activities
  • 34% Increasing revenue from existing customers and sales enablement.

63. 85% of your potential customers check for reviews online before deciding to purchase.

85% of customers have a habit of regularly checking online reviews before making a purchase.

64. By 2023, it’s expected that 8 billion people worldwide will be using voice assistants. 

(Media Smiths)

It sounds impossible but is actually very achievable–approximately 8 bn people will be using voice assistants by 2023.

65. Around 85% of users would appreciate more videos from companies. 

One research showed that 85% of participants wanted to see more video content coming from companies.

66. Ranking based on page experience is a top priority for 2022. 

(Developers)

As Google announced in June 2021, websites with good page experience will be ranked higher, and users who don’t enjoy the website will leave within 20 seconds. Website visitors take 2.6 seconds on average, to focus on a site’s section they find most important. Factors that influence this experience are:

  • Loading speed
  • Interactivity
  • Visual stability
  • Mobile friendly
  • HTTPS
  • No intrusive interstitials.

Bottom Line

Within an industry as vast as SEO, you have to watch various areas, such as eCommerce, social media, local behaviour, and more. In this extensive article, you can find all the relevant information to stay updated with current SEO practices. And if you ever run out of ideas, you can always come back to this article to get back on track.

  • Ahrefs

  • Backlinko

  • Bandt

  • Base Search Marketing

  • Bright Edge

  • CDN2

  • Developers

  • Digital Synopsis

  • Forbes

  • Globex Outreach

  • GoDaddy

  • Hubspot

  • Ignite Visibility

  • Impressive

  • LinkedIn

  • lush the content agency

  • Media Smiths

  • Media Smiths

  • NAB

  • Orbit media

  • RED search

  • Smash Digital

  • Social media news

  • Stat Counter

  • Stat Counter

  • Statista

  • The Conversation

  • Think with Google

  • Trade

  • webapex

  • Wyzowl

  • Yellow