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You've heard your business should take more initiative and extend its reach as far as possible on the Internet, but do you really know why?

Every year, the number of people connected to the Internet increases. At the same time, the number of businesses benefiting from connectivity between their brands and customers increases as well. The Internet is only just beginning to mature, but the new developments in digital marketing, mobile devices, and social media outreach have really changed the world of business.

For your business to find success in 2018 and beyond, you should study up on these fascinating statistics about the Internet and the predictions for the near future.

General Statistics

• As of March 2017, there were an astounding 3.74 billion Internet users, up from 3.26 billion in 2016.
• There are more than 5.5 billion searches performed on Google each day.
• There are 1.24 billion websites on the World Wide Web.
• 93 percent of online experiences begin with a search engine, and 47 percent of those people click on one of the first three results.

Social Media & Content Marketing

• 81 percent of the United States' population has at least one social media profile.
• There are more than 2.7 billion active social media users worldwide as of January 2017.
• 77.6 percent of small businesses use social media in their marketing strategy, while only 32 percent of those seriously invest in it.
• Facebook has more than 2 billion users. Its advertising revenue grew by 59 percent in 2016.
• Social media ad revenue will surpass $40 billion by the end of 2018.
• More than 2 million blog posts are published every day online.
• 53 percent of marketers say blog content creation is their top inbound marketing priority.
• Companies now allocate an average 32 percent of their marketing budgetsfor content creation.
• Social media content is the top content marketing tactic used among B2B businesses, at 93 percent.
• 94 percent of B2C businesses rely on Facebook for content marketing.

E-Commerce

• In 2016, the Internet helped to influence a record $2.1 trillion in sales.
• On average, $0.56 of every dollar spent in a brick-and-mortar store is influenced by an online interaction with the brand in question.
• 95 percent of Americans shop online at least once per year.
• If your website runs slowly, you may be in trouble. Slow sites lead to a loss of more than $500 billion a year.
• An increase in site loading speed from 8 seconds to 2 seconds can boost your conversion rate by a whopping 74 percent.
• In 2015, worldwide B2C e-commerce sales reached $1.7 trillion. By 2018, that number is estimated to reach $2.35 trillion.
• Between 70 and 80 percent of people research a company online prior to visiting or making a purchase with them.
• 83 percent of small business owners with a website feel they have a competitive advantage on those without a website.
• 75 percent of small business owners see digital marketing as an "effective" or "very effective" tool to attract new customers.

Mobile

• Mobile internet traffic reached 52.64 percent in 2017, and that number should only increase as we proceed into the future.
• 80 percent of Internet users around the planet have a smartphone.
• 56 percent of online traffic comes from mobile devices.
• 51.7 percent of the world's population should have a smartphone by 2018.
• 72 percent of digital ad spending is expected to go to mobile advertising by 2018.
• 78 percent of mobile searches for local business information result in a purchase.
• 47 percent of small businesses plan to have a mobile application by 2018.
• Average smartphone conversion rates are up 64 percent compared to average desktop conversion rates.
• 80 percent of smartphone users use mobile phones for shopping research, and 80 percent of those shoppers perform that research in store.
• 75 percent of mobile shoppers have used a mobile coupon.

By studying these statistics, you can gain a pretty clear picture of the way things are going for the Internet and online businesses in 2018 and beyond.

For more information on how your business can join the rest of the world and succeed on the Internet, contact GroupM7 today!

Sources

• https://www.statista.com/topics/779/mobile-internet/
• https://websitesetup.org/news/internet-facts-stats/
• https://devrix.com/tutorial/small-business-marketing-statistics-trends-2018/
• https://www.bluecorona.com/blog/29-small-business-digital-marketing-statistics
• https://blog.kissmetrics.com/surprising-mobile-ecommerce/
• https://www.socpub.com/articles/the-5-mobile-marketing-mistakes-infographic-14849
• https://blogs.adobe.com/digitalmarketing/social-media/stop-debating-death-organic-social-media/
• http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/2016_B2B_Report_Final.pdf
• https://www.hubspot.com/marketing-statistics
• https://thenextweb.com/insights/2017/01/24/digital-trends-2017-report-internet/

Aaron Dunn

Aaron is a writer by trade with several years of professional experience under his belt. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Political Science. Before joining the Group, he worked as a freelancer and tech reviewer in Las Vegas, Nevada. Aaron currently lives in Pittsburg, TX.