What’s new in the world of SEO? How can yourcompany use this strategy to connect with its target audience and make sales?And what specific challenges will keep you from doing so?
These are the kinds of questions I wanted answersto. But I didn’t want to scour the internet, only to find years-oldinformation. Instead, I took matters into my own hands and ran an SEO surveyfor 2025. What I learned was both enlightening and somewhat surprising.
Keep reading to learn where people get their SEOinformation in 2025, the strategies they like to use (and how successful they are), commonchallenges they face, the most popular SEO software, and more. We have a lot to get to, so let’s getstarted!
Before I dive into my SEO survey findings, I wantto talk about the folks who participated. Who are these good people, what SEOqualifications do they have, and how do they deploy their skill sets? Here’s aquick rundown of my SEO survey participants in 2025:
First, I polled 280 people, of which 134 met mycriteria and were included in my research.
Next, 65.34% of survey participants are between theages of 30 and 60, with just over half of them (33.57%) clocking in at 45 yearsor older. Another 19.49% of participants are between the ages of 18 and 29,while 15.16% of them are at least 60 years old.
As for gender, 54.15% of participants are female,and the remaining 45.85% are male.
When it comes to professional roles, 26.87% ofsurvey participants claim to be business owners, 21.64% are marketingprofessionals, 20.15% are content creators, and 18.66% are SEO specialists.12.69% of participants fall into an indiscriminate “none of the above”category.
What about experience levels? When asked, “Howwould you describe your level of experience with SEO?” 43.28% of surveyparticipants said “Intermediate”, 26.87% said “Advanced”, and 22.39% said“Beginner”. An additional 7.46% answered this question with “Expert”.
As you can see, my survey participants run the gamut. This speaksto the widely known power of search engine optimization. Many people want toknow how to build effective SEO campaigns—not just digital marketers.
Now, let’s dig into the actual SEO insights that I was able to uncover with this survey.
The first thing I wanted to find out was wherepeople learn about SEO. So I asked them, “What are your primary sources of SEOinformation?” and gave them nine options to select from.
The majority of participants, 61.94% to be exact,claim to learn about SEO from online courses. 43.28% of participants haveattended SEO-related webinars and 38.06% of participants get SEO informationfrom blogs. Rounding out the top five, 33.58% of participants read industryreports and 29.85% attend conferences to level up in this field.
As mentioned above, the power of SEO is widely understood. Becauseof this, many people will pay for quality information via online courses andconferences. That doesn’t mean free information has gone by the wayside,however. Blogs and webinars are popular channels for SEO information, too, anda great introduction to the topic.
What about tactics? I was curious to learn whichSEO strategies are most popular in 2025. And more importantly, whether thesestrategies actually work. Here’s the survey data:
Most marketers use keyword research and content optimization tactics. In fact, 48.51% and 41.79% ofsurvey respondents use these respective SEO strategies.
In addition, 32.84% of participants use mobileoptimization techniques, 32.09% of participants engage in technical SEO bestpractices, and 29.85% of participants integrate their social media.
Unfortunately, only 20.15% of those who use thesestrategies say they’re “Very Effective”. In fact, 50.75% of participants, aslight majority, find them to be either “Neutral”, “Somewhat Effective”, or“Very Ineffective”. This is obviously less than ideal.
(I should mention, the most popular answer to thisquestion was “Somewhat Effective”. A full 29.10% of survey respondents answeredthe question this way.)
Keyword research and content optimization techniques are obviouslyimportant, but they aren’t differentiators. A majority of companies use thesetactics to support their SEO campaigns. This is probably why 50.75% of thosesurveyed say their SEO efforts aren’t very effective.
To find success in the competitive world of searchengine optimization, companies need to invest in lesser-used strategies,like backlinking and voice search, in addition to the standard keyword and contentoptimization tactics they already use.
Also, social media integration will be critical in2024. Google isn’t the only relevant search platform these days. TikTok andYouTube have become relevant search engines, too. Companies must use them toreach their target audiences and boost search results.
SEO is a fantastic opportunity, but it’s notwithout its challenges. I wanted to know which challenges affect our industrythe most. So I did the smart thing and asked survey participants:
The biggest challenge that my SEO surveyparticipants face is content creation. 52.24% of respondents struggle withthis—almost 16% more than the next closest answer.
36.57% of participants struggle with algorithmchanges, which makes sense. Experts say Google adjusts its algorithm thousands of times a year.
Other common challenges relate to link building (35.07%), keyword optimization (32.84%), and technical SEO(31.34%). Surprisingly, only 27.61% of survey respondents struggle with budgetconstraints, which was quite a bit lower than I expected.
The majority of survey respondents struggle to create content, butonly 27.61% of respondents have budget constraints. In my mind, more companiesshould partner with respected marketing agencies and/or freelancers to improvetheir content marketing efforts.
This is especially true given the rise ofgenerative AI and the many poor articles now on the internet. Professionals whocan produce amazing, expert-driven content will be able to cut through thenoise, build trust with their target audience, and make more sales.
As an added bonus, many marketing agencies andfreelancers can also help manage algorithm changes, find new backlinks, searchfor relevant keywords, and solve technical SEO issues. Thismeans the potential ROI of their SEO services is likely too great to ignore.
Have you ever asked an SEO expert what their favorite tool is? If so, you probably got more than you bargained for. We SEOs love ourtools and can talk about them for hours.
Luckily, you won’t have to endure that. Instead,look at the results of my SEO report, which includes data about popular SEOsoftware:
The survey data is clear: more people in ourindustry use Google Analytics than any other tool. Honestly, it wasn’t evenclose. While 64.93% of survey respondents use Google Analytics, only 23.88% useYoast SEO (for WordPress), the second most popular solution.
Also of note, 23.13% of participants use Semrushand 22.39% of participants use Ahrefs. Both of these apps are advanced toolsthat require a relatively significant investment.
Interesting, right? Knowing which tools people useto achieve their SEO results is cool. But I took things a step further. Iwanted to know how satisfied users were with their SEO tools.
When asked, “How satisfied are you with [your SEO]tools on a scale of 1 – 10?” a large majority of respondents, 79.11% to beprecise, gave their chosen apps a score of seven or greater. In other words,people who use SEO tools tend to be pretty happy with them. Nice!
It’s clear that most people understand the importance of SEOtools. And many of them are willing to pay for access to the best ones.
At the very least, a majority of those in the SEOindustry will spend their valuable time learning to use free tools. Thisstatement is proven by the fact that 64.93% of respondents use GoogleAnalytics, which isn’t the easiest app in the world to master.
(Note: Looking for another free tool to helpimprove your SEO results? Take Google Search Console for a spin. It can dowonders for your company’s SEO strategy, assuming you use it the right way, ofcourse.)
There was one more thing I wanted to learn with mySEO survey: how much do companies spend on their SEO strategy? And how do theymeasure their success? Here’s what I found out:
22.39% of survey respondents spend less than $500 ayear on SEO, while 23.88% of participants spend between $500 and $1,000.Another 34.33% of participants spend between $1,000 and $5,000. Only 5.97% ofparticipants spend more than $10,000 annually on SEO related initiatives. Thiswas a surprise to me.
Continuing on, 47.76% of survey respondents analyzesearch engine results to measure their SEO efforts. In other words, the highertheir content ranks, the better they feel about their SEO strategy.
Of course, keyword rankings aren’t the onlyvaluable metric. 33.58% measure ROI by the increase in organic traffic theirwebsite gets. And another 33.58% of respondents measure it by lead generation.A final 33.58% of respondents track conversion rates to assess their SEOefforts.
After looking at the results of my SEO survey, there seems to be adisconnect between the value respondents place on SEO and the amount of moneythey invest in it. Why else would survey participants be willing to spend solittle?
In my opinion, those who are serious about theirSEO strategy should spend over $10,000 a year on SEO. This translates to about$833 a month. So, it’s not a minor expense, but it’s not prohibitive to mostcompanies, either—especially if they generate quality leads.
So, take a serious look at the top-rated SEO tools.Or partner with a marketing agency or freelance writer to generate qualitycontent. Or hire a virtual assistant (VA) to supercharge your backlinkingstrategy. The investment will likely benefit your brand.
Finally, I believe most businesses should measuretheir SEO efforts in different ways. While traffic-related metrics are fun tolook at, they don’t mean much in the grand scheme of things.
Instead, measure metrics that directly relate toyour company’s bottom line. The number of leads generated and the number ofsales made both qualify. (Note: These metrics will be critical as zero-clicksearches and Google search generative experience [SGE] rise in popularity.)
There you have it, the results of my SEO report,2024 edition.
I hope you found the information above useful. Or,at the very least, interesting. I know I sure did, and was surprised by a fewof my findings. Let’s recap the top takeaways:
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