Keyword Study for SEO

We compiled 10 statistics surrounding Google search results in an effort to demonstrate the importance of SEO in generating traffic.

In particular, we looked into:

The types of queries being asked
What keywords are commonly used
The average amount of Google searches made per day
The average demographic for Google search users

Below is a summary of our research.

Key Findings:

16% to 20% of daily search queries have never been asked before.
3.5 billion Google searches are made every day: of these, 63% are done on mobile devices.
90% of Google users click on the first search result they see.
In 2020, 3 of the top 5 Google searches were related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On average, people perform 3-4 Google searches a day.
81% of Google searches are related to purchasing products.
Younger people are more likely to use Google than older people.
60% of Google users read reviews of local businesses on Google; 61% of all businesses that appear in Google search results have 4 or 5-star ratings.
As of 2019, “Google” is the 5th-most searched website on the internet, with over 85 million searches per month.
Google Images account for 20% of all search results

16% – 20% of Search Queries Haven’t Been Asked Before

This means that 5.6 million to 7 million search queries per day have never been asked before.

Every search query is processed by 1,000 computers simultaneously. This allows Google to generate search results in 0.2 seconds.

63% of Google Searches come from Mobile

Some search categories have a higher percentage than others. According to one report, 72% of mobile searches are related to food and beverages.

In contrast, banking searches only make up 39% of mobile queries due to the more sensitive nature of that information.

Studies show that when making a purchase, mobile queries are more likely to be used in the early stages of the buying process. Further research, and even the transaction itself, tends to happen following a shift from mobile to desktop.

Other topics, like breaking news stories or product recalls, are increasingly being designed to target mobile users first and foremost.

90% of Google Users Click the First Search Results Page

Forbes reported that only 6% of users click through the second page of results.

Google uses its algorithm to rank websites for a given query.

This algorithm consists of 250+ ranking factors that determine the following:

The relevancy of website content based on the search intent
Website performance and UX
Expertise, authority and trust (Well know as the acronym E-A-T)

3 of the Top 5 Google Searches In 2020 Were Related to COVID-19

Generally speaking, the top Google search queries are related to the news. The one-story that dominated the news cycle over the past year has been the COVID-19 pandemic.

Past outbreaks, like H1N1 and SARS, never really achieved the devastating impact of the coronavirus — Which shut down economies, permanently altered society, and changed elections.

Surprisingly, though, COVID-19 wasn’t the number 1 search result in 2020, although it did play an important role. That honor goes to the US presidential election, a tumultuous event in an already tumultuous year.

Joe Biden was also the most searched person in 2020, with his Vice President Kamala Harris being the 3rd-most searched individual. President Donald Trump, who was widely criticized for his lack of concern in regards to the pandemic, did not even make the top 10 most searched people.

81% of Google Searches are Related to Purchases

Online sales have been steadily increasing over the past decade and were only accelerated by the 2020 pandemic.

70% of buyers said that the ability to visit a physical store is what influences their search and buying decisions. People looking to buy new clothes, for instance, might look online for a certain style and then visit the store in-person to try on the clothing.

Buyers commonly conduct research before they make a purchase. 59% of shoppers look for products online to gauge the price, search product reviews, or browse similar products.

46% of buyers use Google to check inventory for a given item prior to making their purchase, to make sure that the item is currently stock.

Younger People Tend to Use Google More

All Google services collect data based on user demographics, such as age, gender, and location. Google also collects data based on the individual doing the search

The majority of Google users, according to one study, are in the 18-24 and 25-34 age brackets. People who are middle-aged are shown to prefer Google’s competitors, such as Yahoo or Bing.

The same study shows that Google skews more toward male users, while other search engines tend to attract female users.

60% of Google Users Read Business Reviews

Certain businesses, like restaurants or doctor’s offices, have their credibility established by customer reviews online. With Google, users can leave a review on a company’s business page.

Reviews can make or break a business, especially when the reviews are readily available online. 94% of users said that they chose not to look into a business with overwhelmingly negative reviews.

It’s becoming expected of businesses to respond to reviews and make changes based on customer feedback. 53% of customers expect a company to respond to negative comments within a week.

But 63% of users say that a business has never responded to any negative feedback they provided.

Google is the 5th Most Searched Website

So, where does Google rank in its own search engine?

Unsurprisingly, it’s in the top 5 search results according to this report.

The next highest searched site is Google’s Gmail service, which has 87,845,698 unique search results. Amazon and Facebook take the #3 and #2 ranks, respectively.

The most searched website on Google is Youtube, another Google-owned site. In a single year, 181,332,474 search queries were directed to the popular video-sharing platform.

Rounding out the Top 10 were the following sites:

Yahoo (#6)
Yahoo Mail (#7)
Netflix (#9)
Ebay (#10)

Note: the 8th-most searched term was simply “weather,” as opposed to a particular site. Thus, it is excluded from this list.

Google Images accounts for 20% of all search results

Not all Google searches are direct queries. Image searches are just as common, though they still lag behind Google’s main queries according to this report.

Google Maps and Youtube, two commonly used Google services, pull in smaller search numbers. When put together, the two sites only account for 10% of all Google searches.