seo – the statistics behind the research

Last week our SEO expert Ken Berkley provided his 10 Top SEO Tips. Below, Ken delves a little deeper and highlights some of the statistics and trends which assisted him with his findings.

Search Engine Optimization Stats

– YouTube has become the second largest search engine eclipsing Bing, Yahoo and Ask and AOL combined. Source: Social Media Today.

– 44% of online shoppers begin by using a search engine. Source: Interconnected World – Shopping and Personal Finance, 2012.

– SEO leads have a 14.6% close rate, while outbound leads (such as direct mail or print advertising) have a 1.7% close rate. Source: Search Engine Journal.

– 50% of all mobile searches are conducted in hope of finding local results, and 61% of those searches result in a purchase. Source: Search Engine Watch.

– On average, there are 12 billion searches per month on the web in the USA alone. Source: Comscore, July 2014.

– 86% of consumers state that using a search engine allowed them to learn something new or important that helped him/her increase his/her knowledge. Source: Pew Research Center, Search Engine Use.

– If a post is greater than 1,500 words, on average it receives 68.1% more Tweets and 22.6% more Facebook likes than a post that is under 1,500 words. Source: QuickSprout .

Looking ahead: SEO In 2015

– Focus On The User – User-friendly websites will rank higher on a search engine results page.

– Mobile Optimisation – Poor mobile optimisation can lead to a spike in bounce rates, which can have a negative impact on SEO results.

– Secure Encryption – Currently, HTTPS is a fairly weak ranking signal, but Google has indicated that it may become more significant in the near future.

– Refine Your Website’s URL Structure – A streamlined URL structure will improve your search rankings.

– Google’s Hummingbird Matters – It’s becoming more common for users to start a search by asking a question.

– Look At Other Search Engines Besides Google – Other search engines are becoming more widely accepted, so you need to consider focusing on them in order to attract a wider client base.

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