When you optimize your B2B website, you are more likely to reap the benefits of being visible in the search results! I am writing this article to help you understand how effective B2B SEO has been and how it stands going forward.
I have studied many recent studies, surveys, reports, and research papers and have gathered the relevant points for you.
So, without any further ado, let us get into it!
Top Picks: B2B SEO Statistics
- 66% of B2B buyers prefer using internet search results to research products they intend to purchase (Statista)
- A B2B buyer spends 27% of the time in the purchase journey independently researching online, potentially using at least one search engine during the online research. (Gartner)
- 49% of B2B companies incorporate SEO into their marketing strategies, making it one of the top tactics in their overall approach.
In 2022, 31% of marketing budgets were allocated to Search Engine Marketing and optimization, making it one of the top spending areas.
34% of the most qualified sales and marketing leads in 2022 came from Search Engine Optimization (SEO), making it the top source of leads.
(Sagefrog)
- In the B2B sector, combined search (organic and paid) represents 76% of trackable website traffic.
B2B companies generate twice as much revenue from organic search compared to any other marketing channel.
Organic search generates 44.6% of revenue in B2B, making it the largest revenue generation channel.
B2B SEO 2024 Trends
- 29% of brands with a great customer experience (CX) intend to increase their spending on organic search marketing. (WPROMOTE)
- 67.6% of organic online traffic clicks come from the first 5 organic results on the 1st search engine results page (SERP).
Organic placement among those search engine results helps a B2B company gain visibility and credibility and improves marketing outcomes. (Gartner)
- Organic and paid search dominate website traffic, accounting for 68% of all trackable traffic.
Despite changes in consumer behavior and search engine results page (SERP) layouts, organic search delivers the most website traffic.
- Half of the companies in a survey said they monitor their rankings daily, with about 80% tracking both drops and increases. This practice enables them to identify effective strategies and adjust their tactics accordingly.
In the same survey, approximately 55% of companies revealed that a single person oversees SEO activities, while the second most common response indicates that the entire team shares responsibility for managing SEO efforts.
(Databox)
- Despite the ongoing importance of SEO, only 35% of B2B marketers currently identify it as a top content creation challenge, a significant decrease from 45% in the previous year. (Content Marketing Institute)
I recommend using Semrush to calculate traffic for your website. Learn here how Semrush calculates traffic.
B2B SEO Revenue
- The B2B sector’s average organic revenue share is 52.7%, indicating that organic search efforts drive significant revenue.
| Segment | Avg of Organic Share of Revenue | Avg of Other Share of Revenue | Avg of Paid Search Share of Revenue | Avg of Social Share of Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| B2B | 52.70% | 23.40% | 22.90% | 0.90% |
(Brightedge)
- In 2024, SEO achieved the highest ROI at 16%. (Hubspot Report)
- According to the latest reports, while organic search remains a valuable revenue-generating channel, its effectiveness decreased slightly from 2022 to 2023.
SEO effectiveness for driving revenue has fluctuated:
| Year | SEO Effectiveness On Revenu |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 25% |
| 2022 | 26% |
| 2023 | 23% |
SEO contributes to 19% of marketers’ efforts in achieving top-of-funnel goals.
SEO contributes to 17% of marketers’ efforts in achieving bottom-of-the-funnel goals.
SEO saw a 4% year-over-year (YoY) increase in effectiveness at the bottom of the funnel.
(WPROMOTE)
- In a SaaS founders survey, 90% of respondents said SEO was a “major driver of brand awareness and leads for their business. (Growfusely)
- Most Google searches now trigger one or more Search Engine Results Page (SERP) features, according to Semrush Sensor, underscoring the importance of optimizing for these elements in B2B SEO strategies. (Growfusely)
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Effectiveness Of B2B SEO
- Content creation leads as the most effective tactic, with 93% of marketers rating it as either very effective or somewhat effective.
Here is a table portraying the effectiveness of various SEO tactics in B2B marketing in the U.S. –
| SEO Tactic | Very Effective (%) | Somewhat Effective (%) | Not Effective (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Content Creation | 53% | 40% | 2% |
| Title Tags | 44% | 47% | 3% |
| Keyword and Keyphrase Research | 43% | 43% | 6% |
| SEO Landing Pages | 40% | 48% | 5% |
| URL Structure | 34% | 50% | 5% |
| External Link Building | 34% | 52% | 7% |
| Meta Description Tags | 33% | 44% | 12% |
| Blogging | 30% | 48% | 10% |
| XML Sitemap | 29% | 50% | 4% |
| Digital Asset Optimization | 27% | 55% | 9% |
| Internal Linking | 25% | 53% | 12% |
| Social Media Integration | 21% | 50% | 18% |
| Competitor Benchmarking | 11% | 60% | 17% |
(Statista)
Future Trends In B2B SEO
- 75% of marketers believe that AI-enabled search engines will positively impact their blogs, and 68% predict that their site will get more traffic. Only 9% believe this will harm blog traffic (Hubspot)
- 67% of respondents in a 2024 survey reported utilizing AI tools for content marketing and/or SEO, highlighting a significant trend toward automation and data-driven strategies in B2B marketing. (Semrush)
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- AI is transforming B2B SEO.
65% of respondents in research who use AI-generated content reported an improvement in their SEO results.
Among companies rated as very effective in their SEO efforts, 82% utilize AI tools.
(Research and Market)
- 70% of B2B marketers believe that SEO is more effective than PPC in driving sales. (Kurve)
- The average duration of the B2B sales cycle is about 2.1 months, but larger enterprise sales can take six months or longer.
This situation emphasizes the importance of having strong SEO strategies in the future to engage and nurture potential customers over these extended timeframes.
A successful B2B SEO strategy for the future involves creating substantial content across various marketing funnel stages.
A recommended segmentation for successful B2B SEO includes:
Top of the Funnel (ToFU): 15-20 informative articles
Middle of the Funnel (MoFU): 5-8 articles
Bottom of the Funnel (BoFU): 3-4 articles
This diverse content approach helps guide potential customers through their buying journey.
