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.”
Then, create content for these keywords with the SEO Writing Assistant.
6. 49.7% of Clicks Originate from the First 5 Search Results on Desktop
The first five organic (unpaid) search results account for 49.7% of clicks on desktop devices, according to research by Semrush. With the first position getting 22.2%.
The click-through rates (the number of clicks divided by the number of people who see the search result) on mobile are slightly higher, with 58.2% of clicks coming from the first five search results.
This means you can still drive traffic by ranking within the first five results. Even if you aren’t able to secure the first position.
Here’s each result and its click-through rate on desktop and mobile:
| Organic Position | % of Clicks (Desktop) | % of Clicks (Mobile) |
| Search position 1 | 22.2% | 22.4% |
| Search position 2 | 9.3% | 13% |
| Search position 3 | 8.1% | 10% |
| Search position 4 | 5.8% | 7.2% |
| Search position 5 | 4.3% | 5.6% |
| Search position 6 | 3.3% | 4.5% |
| Search position 7 | 2.7% | 3.7% |
| Search position 8 | 2.3% | 3% |
| Search position 9 | 1.9% | 2.6% |
| Search position 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 say SEO is a top driver for their top-of-funnel goals (like increasing brand awareness), according to Wpromote.
The highest-performing channel for top-of-funnel goals is social media (50%). And the lowest-performing channel is converged TV (the combination of traditional television with digital and streaming content).
| Channel | % of B2B Marketers |
| Social media | 50% |
| | 43% |
| In-person/live events | 34% |
| Video | 30% |
| Interactive content | 30% |
| Influencer marketing | 30% |
| Paid search | 28% |
| Site content (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 across industries, according to research from First Page Sage. And B2B SaaS sees a 702% ROI from SEO tactics. While industries like real estate see the highest return on investment (1,389%).
As you can see, SEO can be a worthwhile investment for many industries:
| Industry | Average ROI |
| Addiction treatment | 736% |
| B2B SaaS | 702% |
| Biotech | 788% |
| Construction | 681% |
| Ecommerce | 317% |
| Financial services | 1,031% |
| Higher education 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 design 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 key part of an SEO strategy. And for good reason—Gartner’s research shows 30% of B2B buyers read blog posts at different stages in the buyer’s journey.
This is more than those who click on ads (24%) and watch virtual product demos (29%).
And you can use blog posts to link to other pages on your site (known as internal links). Which is the most important channel—37% of B2B buyers engage with a supplier’s website.
| Channel | % of B2B Buyers |
| Supplier's website | 37% |
| Supplier's social media | 36% |
| Online search for suppliers | 35% |
| Supplier’s interactive tool | 35% |
| Supplier's customer 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 product demo | 29% |
| Clicked on supplier's ad | 24% |
Plus, adding strategic internal links can help you rank higher. As internal links from authoritative pages can pass ranking authority to other pages on your site.
Use Semrush’s Site Audit to find pages on your site that need more links pointing to them.
Open the tool, enter your domain, and click “Start Audit.”
Configure the tool for your site. (Follow our configuration instructions if you need help.)
Once the audit is done, locate “Internal Linking” and click “View details.”
Look for the text “Pages with only one internal link” and click “# issues.”
You’ll now see a list of pages that only have a single link pointing to them.
Add more links to these pages from elsewhere on your site. To increase these pages’ visibility and likelihood of ranking in search results.
10. SEO Typically Converts Better Than PPC Ads
Pay-per-click ads—a type of marketing where you pay for each click on your ads—usually convert less than SEO, according to research by First Page Sage.
And SEO’s average conversion rate for B2B SaaS is 2.1%, while the average PPC conversion rate for B2B SaaS is only 1.0%.
Here are different conversion rates based on 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 education 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 design 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 might be better to pursue over PPC if you have a limited budget.
11. B2B SaaS Companies That Publish Original Research See a 50% Improvement in Rankings
B2B SaaS companies that publish original research rank higher (with a 50% improvement in page one Google rankings) and see a 41.2% improvement in organic traffic, according to Stratabeat.
Plus, B2B SaaS sites with original research attract more backlinks (links that come from other sites). The research shows these B2B SaaS websites see an average increase of 27.1% in referring domains.
And quality backlinks might help you rank higher. Since Google tends to view sites with lots of quality backlinks as trustworthy.
You can build backlinks to original research (and other pages on your site) with Semrush’s Link Building Tool.
Our configuration guide will help you get the tool set up. So it can give you the most accurate data for your site.
Once you’ve configured the tool, head to the “Prospects” tab.
Which has a list of relevant websites you can try to get backlinks from.
After picking an opportunity you’d like to pursue, click “To In Progress.”
Then click the “In Progress” tab and click “Contact” to reach out to the website.
You can write and send your backlink request directly in the editor.
Follow our backlink outreach tips to increase the chance of gaining backlinks from your requests.
12. Only 26% of B2B Companies Prefer to Outsource SEO/SEM Activities
B2B companies want to keep search activities like SEO and SEM in-house, according to Norvell Jefferson.
Companies prefer to outsource activities like campaign creative (51%) and content creation (45%).
Here’s a complete breakdown:
| Marketing Activity | % Who Prefer to Outsource |
| Campaign creative | 51% |
| Content creation | 45% |
| Branding and design | 43% |
| Market research and analytics | 38% |
| Social media management | 36% |
| PR and outreach | 32% |
| SEO/SEM | 26% |
| Event concept and management | 17% |
| Marketing strategy | 13% |
Thankfully, keeping your SEO in-house is achievable with robust B2B SEO tools like those from Semrush.
Start Your SEO Strategy Today
These B2B SEO statistics prove that search engine optimization is a valuable investment for B2B businesses.
And Semrush has tools to help simplify all the tactics involved.
Ready to see how you can use them to improve your B2B marketing strategy?
Try Semrush today.