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

SEO

By Chris Barnhart Last updated Sep 13, 2024

0

Share

SEO can really help your B2B business.

So, check out the below list of B2B SEO statistics to inspire your search engine optimization efforts. And potentially secure buy-in and budget for your own SEO strategy. 

1. SEO Is the Most-Used B2B Marketing Tactic

Nearly 50% of B2B companies use SEO as part of their marketing strategies, according to a 2023 report from Sagefrog. Which makes it the most-implemented B2B marketing tactic and ahead of other activities like video marketing (21%) and organic social media (43%).

This means your competitors are likely doing some form of SEO. And if you aren’t, you’ll want to start incorporating it into your marketing activities to outrank them in search results.

Here’s a more comprehensive list of B2B marketing activities that Sagefrog evaluated:

Marketing Activity	% of B2B Companies
Search engine optimization	49%
Content marketing	43%
Organic social media	43%
Email marketing	36%
Paid social media	35%
In-person tradeshows	35%
Virtual events and webinars	28%
Search engine marketing	27%
Public relations	27%
Video marketing	21%
Direct marketing	20%
Telemarketing	20%
Print advertisements	12%

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

A survey from BigCommerce shows B2B buyers in the U.S. often turn to search engines when they begin their customer journey—the process buyers go through before buying products

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

Other top channels buyers use include online marketplaces (50%) and industry associations (42%):

Channel	% of U.S. B2B Buyers
Internet search 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 can target B2B buyers at the start of their journeys by optimizing your site with top-of-funnel keywords—terms your ideal customers are searching when they’ve become aware of their problems.

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

Open the tool and enter a seed keyword—a general keyword relevant to your niche. Enter your website in the bar below, adjust your country (optional), and click “Search.”

Click the “Intent” filter, select the checkbox next to “Informational,” and click “Apply.”

You’ll see only terms that have informational search intent. 

This means the main reason someone is searching those terms is to learn about a topic. And those types of searches tend to be at the top of the funnel.

The tool will also display each term’s monthly search volume and Personal Keyword Difficulty (PKD%) score—how hard it will be for your specific site to rank well for those keywords. 

Go through these keywords and choose ones that are most relevant to your business (and relatively easy to rank for).

Then, create pages on your website that target these keywords. 

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

B2B businesses spend the bulk of their marketing budgets on activities like events (25%) and direct marketing (23%), according to Sagefrog research from 2024. While only 15% of their budgets go toward SEO.

Here’s Sagefrog’s breakdown of how 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 social media	21%
Email marketing	20%
Branding	20%
Marketing technology	17%
Search engine marketing	17%
Search engine 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 credit organic search for generating lots of leads, according to research by Databox.

SEO sits above sources like email marketing and organic social. And the bottom three activities for bringing in leads are sponsorships, in-person events, and affiliates. 

That said, your chances of generating leads are higher if you focus on creating the best content you can.

Semrush’s SEO Writing Assistant can help you create high-quality content by scanning your writing for readability, SEO, originality, and tone of voice. To increase your chance of ranking high in search results.

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

Growth-mode companies are those that focus on scaling operations. And in a Wpromote report, 30% of those companies say SEO considerably contributes to bottom-of-funnel goals—like converting traffic to customers.

Companies in growth mode should focus on transactional keywords—keywords that indicate the user’s intent is to buy.

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