With every new Google core update, there is a slight change in digital marketing as an industry. This is a space that constantly experiences transformation. It is a requirement and a necessity to evolve to stay relevant and competitive.
But the question is not the change, but rather which change do you accept because of the sheer number of new things introduced every day in digital marketing. The answer becomes evident if you observe the statistics about digital marketing.
They can indicate the strategies to implement and the ones to avoid. We have compiled a list of the top 100 SEO & digital marketing statistics that can help you guide in 2020.
SEO
1. High-quality Content Can Increase The Blog Traffic by 2000 %
Content is the cornerstone of any SEO strategy. Ideally, the content on the website should be comprehensive on a topic, informative, and high-quality. The quality of the content determines the traffic and the bounce rate of a website. Churning high-quality content is the best strategy for your business.
2. 96% Of All Smartphone Search Traffic And 94% Total Organic Traffic Originates from Google
Google is the single largest player in the search traffic market regulating 94 % of the total organic search and 96 % of the smartphone searches. Hence, your website must be optimized for Google.
3. Search Engines Drive 300% More Traffic than Social Media and 93% of All Website Traffic
More and more companies are incorporating social media as a crucial part of their digital marketing strategy, but the emphasis should still be on the search engines as they generate several times more traffic than social media.
4. 84% of People Would Abandon a Purchase If the Website Does Not Have HTTPS
Google has started cracking down on websites without the HTTPS, it’s displaying the not secure text next to the URL. 84% of website visitors abandon the purchase if the data is sent over an HTTP connection. An SSL certificate is a must for your website if you are selling products or handling the sensitive information of customers.
5. 27% of Websites Around the World Use WordPress, but only 40% are updated
WordPress is the most popular CMS platform sharing more than 60% of the total CMS market share. Some of the top websites around the world use WordPress, but surprisingly, a large number of WordPress websites are outdated and simply parked with no new update.
6. According to 65% Marketers, Link Building is the Most Difficult Aspect of SEO
Developing a diverse backlink profile for a website poses the most difficulty for a digital marketing professional. Getting other people to link to your website takes a lot of effort from content, psychology to outreach.
7. The Conversion Rate of SEO is 14.6% Compared to 1.7% of Cold-calling and Email
If you are still rethinking whether to implement SEO or go with the email marketing campaign. Here is another statistics to help you decide.
8. SEO is 5.66 Times Better Than Paid Ads
A lot of companies invest big bucks on paid ads, but the stats show that organic SEO is better than paid ads any day. 70-80 % of the search engine users completely avoid paid ads and move on to the organic results.
9. SEO is the Biggest Priority of 61% of Companies
As the advantages of ranking high on Google is becoming apparent, companies want a piece of the pie. 61% of companies consider SEO as their biggest priority, while the remaining 39% want to incorporate an SEO strategy.
10. 51% of Content Consumption is Driven Through Organic Search
Organic traffic generates more traffic than all the other sources combined such as paid ads, social media, etc.
Social Media
11. Infographics are the Most Engaging Content on Social Media Shared 3X More than Any Other Type of Content
Infographics are a new and attractive way of presenting your content to social media users who completely ignore the old textual format of content.
12. With Six Hours a Week Invested in Social Media, 81% of Marketers Experienced an Increase in Traffic
A large number of users on social media platforms (Facebook – 2.41Billion monthly users, Instagram – 1Billion monthly users, LinkedIn – 303Million monthly users, Twitter – 330Million monthly users, Quora – 300Million monthly users) and its ability to generate traffic has made social media a key part of marketing.
13. Average Attention Span of People Online is 8 Seconds
Over the past 2 decades, the average attention span of people has reduced from 12 seconds to 8 seconds. Even your average goldfish has an attention span of 9 seconds.
14. 71% of People with Good Experience on Social Media with Brands are Likely to Recommend it to Others
Social media is a great tool to engage existing customers and win new. Most brands that use social media regularly have witnessed an increase in leads and conversion.
15. Facebook Ad Spend by Companies is Growing at a rate of 62%
Statistics reflect that the average monthly users of Facebook are growing every year. This allows businesses to advertise their products to a large number of users. Facebook remains the most preferred destination for advertisers with immense potential.
16. Top Brands are Receiving an Engagement of 4.21% Per Follower on Instagram, which is 58 Times More Than Facebook and 120 Times Higher than Twitter
Instagram has turned out to be a real powerhouse for engagement and interactions. Instagram has such a high potential, every marketer should be leveraging it for their business.
17. Influencer Marketing could reach the $2 Billion Mark in 2019
With one billion-plus users on the platform, Instagram is one of the best platforms for influencer marketing.
18. In Q1, 2018, Snapchat Witnessed a 234% Increase in Ad Spend
This growth is unlike any seen before across social media and mobile platforms. Thus, making Snapchat a desirable platform for paid ads for your business.
19. Every Month More than 2 Billion Messages are Exchanged Between Brands and Customers
Personalization is a growing trend. Businesses are using direct messaging as a tool to deliver personalized messages and experience to customers.
20. According to a study, 40% of Customers would Spend More Money on Companies with a Social Media Presence
Social media is essential whether you are a startup, SME, or a large multinational. With such a large number of social media users, it is highly likely your customers use one or the other social media. Hence, to fully market your product, a social media presence is crucial.
21. Posts longer than 1500 Words have 22.6% More Facebook Likes and 68.1% more Tweets
This stats is true for SEO as well, everyone loves comprehensive content on a topic. Your goal should be to generate content with more than 1500 words.
22. Including Photograph in Article receives 94% More Views
Appropriate visuals that go along the content makes the article or blog appear more attractive. Processing information also becomes easy with visuals.
23. Infographics Help Grow the Traffic by 12% on Average
Infographics are great for social media sharing, SEO, and driving traffic to the website. It is a powerful tool to increase the conversion rate and build social relationships. Long story short, infographics are essential for the equity growth of a business.
24. 78% of Chief Marketing Officers believe Personalized Content is the Future
Personalized content is the future of online marketing, started in 2017, you will see more of this in 2020. This can increase the traffic to the website and increase conversions.
Mobile Marketing
25. 69% of Digital Media Usage Time is on Mobile Devices
With the popularity of smartphones, the number of people using the internet using mobile devices has increased many folds. So much so that Google has started to index the mobile version of a website first. This is a cue to make your website mobile responsive.
26. By 2020, the Mobile Ads Spent would Touch $247.4 Billion
Mobile devices allow users to conveniently access the internet and social media from any location. Due to this, marketers put so much value on mobile ads.
27. By 2022, Location Targeted Mobile Ad Spend is Expected to Grow to $38.7 Billion
Going by the current data, it becomes evident that native and programmatic advertising and remarketing will be popular marketing techniques in the future.
28. 52.52% of All Searches Originate from Mobile Devices
As emphasized earlier, people are preferring mobile devices over desktop. Over the coming years, this trend will grow even further.
29. Local Businesses Account for 88% of Mobile Searches
People go online for advice or specification about products or services be it a local restaurant, dentist, or any other local service. An outstanding mobile version of the website can give a local business the edge and increase conversion.
30. 46% of People Check the Online Information About a Product Before Purchasing it On the Desktop or Laptop
As mentioned earlier, mobile devices play an important role in lead capture and conversion. People use mobile devices to research products and services.
31. Compared to Desktop, Mobile Traffic Grows at a rate of 113%
Mobile traffic plays an essential role in business. It’s growing at an astounding rate when we compare the traffic of desktop. Another digital marketing statistic that proves the growing importance of a mobile-friendly website.
32. Currently, there are 13.09 Billion Mobile Devices Worldwide
Another statistic that reflects the importance of mobile devices for business. To be successful in 2020, every online website should provide a mobile-friendly version of the website.
33. 81% of People Research About Products and Services on Smartphones
Ever since smartphones came into existence, their use has grown tremendously and it has allows people to use the internet in a new way. Users use smartphones to research brands, products, read reviews and testimonials. Most of the young generation, people below 35 years of age use smartphones to access the internet. Hence, targeting smartphones with your website can increase traffic and conversion.
Content Marketing
34. 71% of People are Turned Off by Content that Sounds Like a Sales Pitch
The primary objective of content marketing is to attract customers to the website, but in an attempt to drive traffic we fail to provide value and make the content salesy. However, only providing informative content will not provide any value to the business. The key is the right balance between informative and sales pitch.
35. Ad-blocking Technology is Used by 615 Million Devices
A large number of people use ad blocks that prevent publisher websites from advertising to those users. It is estimated that 11% of internet users use ad blocks. This has significantly impacted the ad revenue of publisher websites. So, if you are running ads on your website, this statistics is something that shows the future.
36. 40% of Customers want Brand Emails to be More Informative than Promotional
On average, people check their inbox 74 times a day. They want to see informative content instead of promotional emails.
37. 84% of People Want Brands to Generate Content
They also want the content to be highly informative and relevant. The content should add value to the lives of people and inform them about the specification they did not know before.
38. 91% of Ad Spend Goes to Waste as People View it Less Than A Second
It’s a gruesome fact, people do not like ads on the digital platform and immediately skip over them if they have the option, which results in $38 Billion of wasted money on ads. This makes you think if ads are the best way to present your brand to the customers.
39. It Takes 11.4 Pieces of Content to Motivate a Purchase Decision
If you think a customer would read your blog and immediately make the decision to purchase, you are wrong. It takes a lot of time and content before the customer starts to trust your brand and make a purchase.
40. 95% of B2B Customers Consider the Trustworthiness of Content When Researching a Company and its Products
Content is important for every business with a website; it’s the first point of interaction between your brand and the customers. Credible content allows you to build credibility with the customers.
41. 75% of Customers Expect Consistency in Experience
Machine learning and Artificial intelligence can help businesses provide consistency across various platforms where they engage with customers.
42. 85% of Users Prefer Organic Search Results over Paid Ads
This is the reason why all companies focus so much on SEO and another statistic that proves ads are not preferred or entertained by users. To be successful in 2020, you need to rank for the organic search, this will increase the traffic to your website and subsequent conversion.
43. 88% of B2B Marketers Claim Content as an Essential Part of Marketing
Content offers a wide range of benefits for business from SEO, visibility, to improving the credibility of the brand. It also provides customers with adequate information to understand the product and services of the business before making a purchase.
Email Marketing
44. 41% of Email Opens Happen Using Mobile Clients
Mobile clients account for the largest percentage of email opens followed by webmail which stands at 39.9% and desktop at 18.2%.
45. For Every Dollar Spent on Email Marketing It Yields $42
Undoubtedly, email marketing is one of the oldest forms of marketing and still very strong in 2019 and the following years. It provides the most return compared to any other marketing technique. With email marketing, you have the opportunity to follow-up which boosts the sales.
46. Number of Email Users are Expected to Grow to 4.2 Billion by 2022
One would imagine that due to the popularity of social media, the communication between brands and customers through email would decline, but that is not the case. Communication via email is one the rise.
47. In 2019, 293.6 Billion Emails are Sent and Received Everyday
By 2020, this figure is expected to grow to 306.4 Billion emails per day. This statistic shows the importance and popularity of emails.
48. Email Marketing Spending in the US is Expected to Touch 3.07 Billion in 2019
Email offers a personalized experience, relevance, and benefits that make this one of the most desired marketing technique by businesses. However, email marketing requires a large investment which reflects the increase in spending.
49. Email Marketing ROI is 122% Higher than Other Marketing Techniques
Emails marketing takes the customers from one stage to the other quicker than other marketing techniques such as content marketing, paid ads, or video creation. In other words, email marketing generates the most revenue for a business.
50. 86% of Professionals Prefer Email as the Primary Form of Business Communication
As mentioned earlier, there are so many other forms of communication, but email is still vibrant and will remain in 2020 and several years that follow.
51. 89% of Marketers Rely On Email as a Primary Lead Generation Tool
Email marketing is one of the most result-driven digital marketing techniques and a large percentage of marketers rely on email marketing for lead generation and conversions.
52. 78% of People Unsubscribe from a Mailing List Due to Excessive Emails
Too many emails might irritate the customer and prompt them to unsubscribe from the mailing list. 78% of customers opt-out of the mailing list of business due to too many emails. Personalized emails can help you avoid this problem. If you aim at providing value to the customers instead of promotion, you can avoid people unsubscribing from the mailing list.
53. 80.3% of Email Receivers Delete the Email If It’s Not Optimized for Mobile Devices
With the popularity of smartphones, a large number of people check their emails using mobile devices. An email that is not optimized for mobile will not display all the elements of the email and the appearance of the email will be partial. This leads to 80.3% of people deleting the email. Hence, an email marketing campaign should be mobile responsive.
54. 3 out of 10 Customers Unsubscribe If the Emails are Not Mobile Responsive
For an effective email marketing campaign, it’s necessary that the emails you send to the customer must be optimized for mobile. According to this statistic, every time you send an optimized email to 10 customers, 3 opt-outs of the email list. The campaign will not be very fruitful and the subscriber list will grow slim if people keep unsubscribing.
55. Segmented Campaigns Provide a 760% Increase in Revenue
Dividing the customers into various segments based on age, interest, location, gender, and serving them curated content offers better engagement and makes them more likely to act.
56. Segmented Campaigns Deliver 100.95% More Clicks and 14.31% More Opens
Although developing content based on various segments takes time, it does create more relevant content for the receiver and effective email marketing campaigns. It gets you 100.95% more clicks and 14.31% more opens.
57. 51% of Marketers Consider Segmentation as a Personalization Technique
In an attempt to deliver effective email marketing campaigns, 51% of marketers consider segmentation as a personalization technique. Personalization allows you to deliver more relevant content to the receivers.
58. Triggered Emails Perform 8X More Than Bulk Emails
Triggered emails have an open rate of 45.70%, and click-through of 10.75%. There is a significant increase in the open rate and revenue when we consider triggered an email with regular bulk email. The unsubscribing and spam rate of the email is considerably low at 0.58%.
59. Personalized Subject Line Gets 62% More Opens
Only a mere 2% of customers open the email due to discounts, whereas, a personalized subject line enables a 62% more open rate.
60. 47% of Emails are Opened Due to the Subject Line
A powerful subject line is the most important part of the email marketing campaign. Based on the subject line, 47% of email recipients decide whether to open the email or not.
61. 68% of Customers Report the Email as Spam Based on the Subject Line
The subject line is the first message the recipient receives. If it is promotional and generic, the users would spam mark it even before opening the email, making all your email marketing effort in vain.
Blogging
62. The Average Length of the Top 10 Pages is 2000 Words
Gone are the days when a 500-word blog could get you a spot on the SERP. These days Google prefers comprehensive posts that exceed 2000 words. Readers also prefer posts that are more than 1500 words. Posts that are long also get more shares on social media.
63. An image in the Blog Gets 94% More Views than Blogs that are Text Only
There are plenty of statistics that show that images, videos, and infographics get more engagement than the text. But, that does not mean text is not valuable, it has its own place. Combining text with an image that complements the topic can get your blog 94% more views.
64. Videos in the Blog can Get 157% More Organic Search Result
Videos are an attractive and convenient way of content consumption. Users are more likely to remember a video than a piece of text. In a move to promote video content, Google is increasingly favoring video content on websites. In 2020, if you include videos in your blog, it stands to gain you organic traffic.
65. Email Newsletters are Used by 80% of the Blogs to Reintroduce Content
Newsletters are important for a blog, they allow you to inform the customer about any new blog you have published and build trust. For the newsletter to be effective, it should be crafted considering the preferences of the audience.
66. On Average People Spend 37 Seconds on a Blog
As we highlighted in one of the above statistics, the attention span of people on the internet is very small, they do not read blogs rather skim through them. Hence, optimize the blog for readability to capture the attention of the reader and effectively communicate the message.
67. 29% of Marketers make a Plan to Reuse their Blog
Repurposing the old content to match the changing need of the customers is practiced by a large number of marketers. You can use the old blog post in a variety of ways to attract traffic to the website such as posting on social media, and Q&A sites, etc.
68. 61% Conversions take Place Due to Blog Recommendations
Blogs with authority and reputation are trusted by people. Customers consider these blogs as a source of information and recommendation on the blog leads to 61% conversion.
69. 5% of the Videos Gets 77% Engagement
Well drafted content with videos of the product gets 28% more engagement. People will spend the most time of the visit on the top 5% of videos on the site.
70. 81% of Internet Users Consider Blogs as a Trusted Source of Information
Blogs are the first place people look when they want to make a decision about buying a product or service. They want to read reviews, comparisons, and customer experiences. Blogs are a great opportunity to present your brand as an option and inform the readers about the specifications of your product.
71. Blogs Generate a Massive 97% of Inbound Links for a Company
Without a doubt, blogs are a great way of organic link building. If you write informative and facts rich blogs, people will link to your blog and within no time, you will generate a lot of inbound links without doing much.
72. 55% of Blog Owners Regularly Check Analytics to Identify User Behavior
Facts and statistics play an essential role in identifying what is working or not on the website. 55% of bloggers check the analytics on a regular basis. This helps them gain website traffic insights that help improve marketing efforts.
Video Marketing
73. Compared to Text Content Video Content is 50 Times More Likely to Drive Traffic
Video content is not only entertaining and the easiest form of consuming content, but there is also relatively less competition. This makes video content easy to rank and thus, provides 50 times more traffic than text content.
74. 70% of B2B Clients Decide to make a Purchase After Watching a Video
Videos play an essential role in every stage of the buyer’s journey. More than 70% of B2B clients watch a video before making a purchase. This statics shows the importance of videos in 2020.
75. Videos Receive 1200% More Shares than Text and Link
Videos show while the text tells is the main reason behind the popularity of videos. Videos allow a brand to interact with the customers on multiple levels and prompts viewers to connect with the company on an emotional level.
76. Videos Content will Account for 80% of All Online Traffic by 2021
In 2016, videos represented 67% of internet traffic. This number is expected to rise to 80% by 2021. Video is a rapidly growing market. The future for videos looks bright. Hence, as a business, you should think of producing video content besides textual content.
77. 58% of Users Abandon a Video Within 90 Seconds
Online users skim through content, the same applies to video content. Users do not spend more than 90 seconds on a video. Only 37% of the visitors watch the video to the end. Hence, the ideal size of the videos should be less than a few minutes. Videos should not include fluff.
78. Only 20 Percent of the Users Read Text While 80% Watch Videos
Videos are increasing in popularity as they are easily digestible and memorable. If your website is not catering to video content, it is high time you rethink your marketing strategy.
79. 64% Customers are More Likely to Buy a Product After Watching a Video
Now, with all these stats, you must think simply creating videos will get you the traffic and the leads, but you would be disappointed. The video needs to informal and engaging. 75% of people do not purchase a product due to the annoying voice on the video. Hence, you need to make the video pleasant and likable.
Web Pages
80. 40% of SMEs Do Not Have An Online Presence
Most businesses that do not have a website or an online presence consider it irrelevant to their business. However, the stats show the contrary. Regardless of the type of business, if there are customers, a website can help.
81. Ecommerce Grows at 23% Every Year and 51% Americans Prefer to Shop Online
Due to this, a large number of retailers are building new websites and doubling their eCommerce efforts. In 2020, the global share of eCommerce websites is expected to grow exponentially as more and more people realize the benefits of eCommerce purchases.
PPC/Ads
82. Average Revenue Per Click on Bing Shopping Ads is More than Google Shopping Campaign
The average revenue for Bing Shopping ads is $4.43, which is higher than Google Shopping Campaigns that stands at $3.58. As Bing is used by lesser people when compared to Google, it results in lower cost-per-click.
83. Google Ads Land 65% Click with Buying Keywords; While Organic Results Receive 35% Clicks
“Purchase The Best” is the most popular and profitable keyword on Google. However, that does not mean other key phrases do not work. When it comes to selling products, Google Ads provides more traffic than organic results.
84. For Every $1 Spent on Google Ads, Businesses Obtain a Revenue of $2
Although people often avoid ads on any digital platform, these statistics prove that Ads are still very profitable for companies.
85. The Top 3 Paid Ads Account for 41% of the Clicks for a Search Term
With this digital marketing statistics, it’s clear that getting your ads placed among the top 3 is essential for maximizing the clicks and traffic to your website.
86. Visitors from PPC are 50% more likely to make a Purchase than Organic Visitors
Paid advertisement campaign and SEO drives different types of traffic. While SEO might drive a large number of visitors, the conversion is low. With PCC, visitors are 50% more likely to make a purchase.
87. LinkedIn Paid Ads have Helped 65% of B2B Companies Land a Client
LinkedIn is the best social media platform for B2B companies. Users on the platform are more likely to make a purchase from someone advertising on the platform. For any B2B company, LinkedIn is the best lead generation tool.
88. Display Advertising Increases Traffic by 300%
With this digital marketing statistic, we see that advertisements can increase the traffic to the website by 300%. It can help promote the products, services, or boost traffic to a new website.
89. Digital Ads Spend in 2019 will Touch $333.25 Billion
Digital ads spend will account for 50% of all ads in 2019. Every year digital ads spend increases by 17.6%. This shows how the advertisement is shifting towards digital platforms.
Future Trends
90. By 2021, $1 Trillion Will Be Spent Around the World in Making the Web Mobile Friendly
The whole internet is shifting towards being mobile-friendly. This digital marketing statistic shows the importance of a website being mobile-friendly.
91. Image and Voice Search Would Account for 50% of All Searches by 2020
With the launch of new search tools such as Google Assistant, Alexa, Siri, and others, the web is moving towards voice search. Optimizing the website for voice search would assure continued traffic in the future.
92. Digital Advertising in the US will Make $83 Billion this Year
Facebook and Google continue to be the most preferred destination for advertisers accounting for 57% of all spend on mobile devices.
93. Programmatic Advertising will Attract More than $65 Billion by 2020
With AI and other technologies, insights are becoming increasingly accurate; this is making more and more companies rely on programmatic advertising. Over the next few years, this trend will only grow.
94. In 2018, 2.5% of All Ads in the US was Bought Using Automated Channels
In 2020, this statistic will grow exponentially for the same reasons programmatic advertising is becoming such a hit.
Fun Facts of Digital Marketing
95. Most Facebook users are from India
There are 270 million active users of Facebook from India compared to 190 million in the US, 130 million in Indonesia, and 120 million from Brazil.
96. Every Week 8 New LinkedIn Groups are Created
Facebook and Instagram might be the best place for marketers, but when it comes to business communities, LinkedIn is leading the race.
97. Only 17% of Customers Would Use the Online Chat Feature
Although chat might seem a more ease way to communicate with a company, surprisingly, customers prefer emails with only 17% choosing the chat.
98. An Average Professional Sends 40 Emails and Receives 121 in a Day
When you think of this it’s a staggering amount. Most of the emails sent by a professional is within the same company.
99. Tweets with Image Gets 150% More Retweets
An image in the post is appreciated on all social media. On Twitter, image posts get 18% more clicks and 150% more retweets.
100. By 2020, $291 Billion would be Spent on Digital Ads
This is roughly the same amount of money that would be spent on offline ads. Thus, proving that offline advertising is dying and digital advertising is where the future lies.
Wrapping Up
Over the past decade when digital marketing really took off, it has experienced tremendous transformations. It is completely replacing the traditional forms of marketing. To be a successful business in 2020, your company needs to leverage the right digital marketing techniques to target audience and generate leads.
