12 B2B SEO Stats to Inform Your Strategy + Get Buy-In for It

10 months ago 314
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SEO tin truly assistance your B2B business.

So, cheque retired the beneath database of B2B SEO statistic to animate your hunt motor optimization efforts. And perchance unafraid buy-in and fund for your ain SEO strategy. 

1. SEO Is the Most-Used B2B Marketing Tactic

Nearly 50% of B2B companies usage SEO arsenic portion of their selling strategies, according to a 2023 study from Sagefrog. Which makes it the most-implemented B2B selling tactic and up of different activities similar video selling (21%) and integrated societal media (43%).

This means your competitors are apt doing immoderate signifier of SEO. And if you aren’t, you’ll privation to commencement incorporating it into your selling activities to outrank them successful hunt results.

Here’s a much broad database of B2B selling activities that Sagefrog evaluated:

Marketing Activity

% of B2B Companies

Search motor optimization

49%

Content marketing

43%

Organic societal media

43%

Email marketing

36%

Paid societal media

35%

In-person tradeshows

35%

Virtual events and webinars

28%

Search motor marketing

27%

Public relations

27%

Video marketing

21%

Direct marketing

20%

Telemarketing

20%

Print advertisements

12%

2. 66% of B2B Buyers Use Search arsenic Their Main Product Research Method

A survey from BigCommerce shows B2B buyers successful the U.S. often crook to hunt engines erstwhile they statesman their customer journey—the process buyers spell done earlier buying products

Here’s a simplified mentation of what that process looks like:

The 3  stages of the buyer’s travel  are awareness, past    consideration, past    decision

Other apical channels buyers usage see online marketplaces (50%) and manufacture associations (42%):

Channel 

% of U.S. B2B Buyers

Internet hunt results

66%

Online marketplaces (e.g., Amazon)

50%

Industry associations

42%

Product catalog

43%

Referrals

33%

Online advertisements 

35%

Industry publications

29%

Trade shows

23%

Physical advertising

24%

Social media advertising

23%

TV advertising

14%

You tin people B2B buyers astatine the commencement of their journeys by optimizing your tract with top-of-funnel keywords—terms your perfect customers are searching erstwhile they’ve go alert of their problems.

To find top-of-funnel keywords, usage Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool

Open the instrumentality and participate a effect keyword—a wide keyword applicable to your niche. Enter your website successful the barroom below, set your state (optional), and click “Search.”

Keyword Magic Tool's commencement  leafage   with "office furniture" successful  the hunt  barroom  and "wayfair.com" successful  the URL space

Click the “Intent” filter, prime the checkbox adjacent to “Informational,” and click “Apply.”

Keyword Magic Tool with the informational intent filter selected

You’ll spot lone presumption that person informational search intent

This means the main crushed idiosyncratic is searching those presumption is to larn astir a topic. And those types of searches thin to beryllium astatine the apical of the funnel.

The instrumentality volition besides show each term’s monthly hunt measurement and Personal Keyword Difficulty (PKD%) score—how hard it volition beryllium for your circumstantial tract to fertile good for those keywords. 

Go done these keywords and take ones that are astir applicable to your concern (and comparatively casual to fertile for).

list of keywords with the hunt  measurement   and idiosyncratic   keyword trouble  people     columns highlighted

Then, make pages connected your website that people these keywords. 

3. B2B Organizations Allocate 15% of Marketing Spend to SEO

B2B businesses walk the bulk of their selling budgets connected activities similar events (25%) and nonstop selling (23%), according to Sagefrog probe from 2024. While lone 15% of their budgets spell toward SEO.

Here’s Sagefrog’s breakdown of however B2B businesses allocate their budgets:

Marketing Activity

% of Marketing Spend

In-person tradeshows and events

25%

Direct marketing

23%

Content marketing 

23%

Directories and sponsorships

23%

Print advertisements

22%

Public relations

21%

Paid societal media 

21%

Email marketing

20%

Branding

20%

Marketing technology

17%

Search motor marketing

17%

Search motor optimization

15%

Virtual events and webinars

15%

AI chatbots

12%

Video marketing

9%

Market research

9%

Website development

8%

4. SEO Is the Top Source for Quality B2B Leads

Over 50% of B2B businesses recognition integrated hunt for generating tons of leads, according to research by Databox.

SEO sits supra sources similar email selling and integrated social. And the bottommost 3 activities for bringing successful leads are sponsorships, in-person events, and affiliates. 

That said, your chances of generating leads are higher if you absorption connected creating the champion contented you can.

Semrush’s SEO Writing Assistant tin assistance you make high-quality contented by scanning your penning for readability, SEO, originality, and code of voice. To summation your accidental of ranking precocious successful hunt results.

SEO Writing Assistant's unrecorded  editor, penning  people     (5/10), and penning  recommendations

5. 30% of Growth-Mode B2B Companies See SEO arsenic a Major Conversion Contributor

Growth-mode companies are those that absorption connected scaling operations. And successful a Wpromote report, 30% of those companies accidental SEO considerably contributes to bottom-of-funnel goals—like converting postulation to customers.

Companies successful maturation mode should absorption connected transactional keywords—keywords that bespeak the user’s intent is to buy.

You tin find transactional keywords with Keyword Magic Tool. Use the “Intent” drop-down, prime the checkbox adjacent to “Transactional,” and click “Apply.”

Keyword Magic Tool's intent filter with "Transactional" selected

Then, make contented for these keywords with the SEO Writing Assistant.

6. 49.7% of Clicks Originate from the First 5 Search Results connected Desktop 

The archetypal 5 integrated (unpaid) hunt results relationship for 49.7% of clicks connected desktop devices, according to research by Semrush. With the archetypal presumption getting 22.2%. 

The click-through rates (the fig of clicks divided by the fig of radical who spot the hunt result) connected mobile are somewhat higher, with 58.2% of clicks coming from the archetypal 5 hunt results.

This means you tin inactive thrust postulation by ranking wrong the archetypal 5 results. Even if you aren’t capable to unafraid the archetypal position.

Here’s each effect and its click-through complaint connected desktop and mobile:

Organic Position

% of Clicks (Desktop)

% of Clicks (Mobile)

Search presumption 1 

22.2%

22.4%

Search presumption 2

9.3%

13%

Search presumption 3

8.1%

10%

Search presumption 4

5.8%

7.2%

Search presumption 5

4.3%

5.6%

Search presumption 6

3.3%

4.5%

Search presumption 7

2.7%

3.7%

Search presumption 8

2.3%

3%

Search presumption 9 

1.9%

2.6%

Search presumption 10 (if present)

1.6%

2.3%

7. 19% of B2B Marketers Say SEO Drives Their Top-of-Funnel Goals

Almost 20% of B2B marketers accidental SEO is simply a apical operator for their top-of-funnel goals (like expanding marque awareness), according to Wpromote

The highest-performing transmission for top-of-funnel goals is societal media (50%). And the lowest-performing transmission is converged TV (the operation of accepted tv with integer and streaming content).

Channel

% of B2B Marketers

Social media

50%

Email

43%

In-person/live events

34%

Video

30%

Interactive content

30%

Influencer marketing

30%

Paid search

28%

Site contented (e.g., blog posts)

26%

Direct mail

24%

Virtual events

23%

Account-based marketing 

22%

SEO

19%

Podcasts

16%

Converged TV

11%

8. The Average ROI of SEO for B2B SaaS Is 702%

The ROI of SEO varies crossed industries, according to research from First Page Sage. And B2B SaaS sees a 702% ROI from SEO tactics. While industries similar existent property spot the highest instrumentality connected concern (1,389%). 

As you tin see, SEO tin beryllium a worthwhile concern for galore industries:

Industry

Average ROI

Addiction treatment

736%

B2B SaaS

702%

Biotech

788%

Construction

681%

Ecommerce

317%

Financial services

1,031%

Higher acquisition and college

994%

HVAC services

678%

Industrial IoT

866%

Commercial insurance

758%

IT staffing

612%

Legal services

526%

Manufacturing

813%

Medical device

1,183%

Oil and gas

906%

PCB plan and manufacturing

1,101%

Pharmaceutical

826%

Real estate

1,389%

Solar energy

770%

9. 30% of B2B Buyers Engage with Blog Posts

Writing blog posts is often a cardinal portion of an SEO strategy. And for bully reason—Gartner’s research shows 30% of B2B buyers work blog posts astatine antithetic stages successful the buyer’s journey.

This is much than those who click connected ads (24%) and ticker virtual merchandise demos (29%).

And you tin usage blog posts to nexus to different pages connected your tract (known arsenic internal links). Which is the astir important channel—37% of B2B buyers prosecute with a supplier’s website.

Channel 

% of B2B Buyers

Supplier's website

37%

Supplier's societal media

36%

Online hunt for suppliers

35%

Supplier’s interactive tool

35%

Supplier's lawsuit portal

34% 

Supplier's virtual product

30%

Training supplier's email

30%

Supplier's virtual event

30% 

Supplier's blog

30%

Supplier's video ad

29%

Virtual merchandise demo

29%

Clicked connected supplier's ad

24%

Plus, adding strategical interior links tin assistance you fertile higher. As interior links from authoritative pages tin walk ranking authorization to different pages connected your site.

Use Semrush’s Site Audit to find pages connected your tract that request much links pointing to them. 

Open the tool, participate your domain, and click “Start Audit.”

Site Audit commencement  leafage   with yourdomain.com successful  the hunt  bar

Configure the instrumentality for your site. (Follow our configuration instructions if you request help.)

Once the audit is done, find “Internal Linking” and click “View details.”

site audit overview study  with the nexus  to the interior   linking study  highlighted

Look for the substance “Pages with lone 1 interior link” and click “# issues.”

internal linking study  with the announcement  "pages with lone  1  interior   link" highlighted

You’ll present spot a database of pages that lone person a azygous nexus pointing to them. 

Site Audit issues tab with a database  of URLs with lone  1  incoming interior   link

Add much links to these pages from elsewhere connected your site. To summation these pages’ visibility and likelihood of ranking successful hunt results.

10. SEO Typically Converts Better Than PPC Ads

Pay-per-click ads—a benignant of selling wherever you wage for each click connected your ads—usually person little than SEO, according to research by First Page Sage.

And SEO’s mean conversion complaint for B2B SaaS is 2.1%, portion the mean PPC conversion complaint for B2B SaaS is lone 1.0%.

Here are antithetic conversion rates based connected industry: 

Industry

Average SEO Conversion Rate

Average PPC Conversion Rate

Addiction treatment

2.1%

1.1%

Biotech

1.8%

0.7%

B2B SaaS

2.1%

1.0%

Commercial insurance

1.7%

0.9%

Construction

1.9%

1.9%

Ecommerce and retail

1.6%

1.3%

Financial services

2.2%

0.3%

Higher acquisition and college

1.4%

1.7%

HVAC services

3.3%

1.8%

Industrial IoT

2.2%

0.9%

Legal services

7.5%

2.2%

Manufacturing and distribution

3.0%

1.0%

Medical device

3.1%

0.9%

Oil and gas

1.7%

1.5%

PCB plan and manufacturing

2.3%

1.4%

Pharmaceutical

2.0%

1.4%

Real estate

2.8%

0.8%

Solar energy

2.7%

1.9%

Transportation and logistics

1.4%

1.1%

This means SEO mightiness beryllium amended to prosecute implicit PPC if you person a constricted budget.

11. B2B SaaS Companies That Publish Original Research See a 50% Improvement successful Rankings

B2B SaaS companies that people archetypal probe fertile higher (with a 50% betterment successful leafage 1 Google rankings) and spot a 41.2% betterment successful integrated traffic, according to Stratabeat.

Plus, B2B SaaS sites with archetypal probe pull much backlinks (links that travel from different sites). The probe shows these B2B SaaS websites spot an mean summation of 27.1% successful referring domains. 

And prime backlinks mightiness assistance you fertile higher. Since Google tends to presumption sites with tons of prime backlinks arsenic trustworthy.

You tin build backlinks to archetypal probe (and different pages connected your site) with Semrush’s Link Building Tool.

Our configuration guide volition assistance you get the instrumentality acceptable up. So it tin springiness you the astir close information for your site. 

Once you’ve configured the tool, caput to the “Prospects” tab.

Which has a database of applicable websites you tin effort to get backlinks from. 

After picking an accidental you’d similar to pursue, click “To In Progress.”

List of prospects generated by the Link Building instrumentality   for illustration   tract  "yourdomain.com"

Then click the “In Progress” tab and click “Contact” to scope retired to the website.

contact fastener  utilized  to scope   retired  to prospects

You tin constitute and nonstop your backlink petition straight successful the editor.

email outreach signifier  with recipients from the imaginable    institution  and an email outreach template

Follow our backlink outreach tips to summation the accidental of gaining backlinks from your requests.

12. Only 26% of B2B Companies Prefer to Outsource SEO/SEM Activities

B2B companies privation to support hunt activities similar SEO and SEM in-house, according to Norvell Jefferson

Companies similar to outsource activities similar run originative (51%) and contented instauration (45%). 

Here’s a implicit breakdown: 

Marketing Activity

% Who Prefer to Outsource

Campaign creative

51%

Content creation

45%

Branding and design

43%

Market probe and analytics

38%

Social media management

36%

PR and outreach

32%

SEO/SEM

26%

Event conception and management

17%

Marketing strategy

13%

Thankfully, keeping your SEO in-house is achievable with robust B2B SEO tools similar those from Semrush.

Start Your SEO Strategy Today

These B2B SEO statistic beryllium that hunt motor optimization is simply a invaluable concern for B2B businesses.

And Semrush has tools to assistance simplify each the tactics involved.

Ready to spot however you tin usage them to amended your B2B selling strategy?

Try Semrush today.