Small business research trends on the rise in 2022

Small business research trends on the rise in 2022 – A new report from Semrush reveals that searches related to small businesses, especially “opening” a small business, are on the rise.

The report details which business categories and specific search queries are gaining traction and provides insight into the areas of marketing in which businesses are investing.

The data in the report is based on keyword and search volume collected by Semrush.

After analyzing traffic growth trends to organic search performance over time, Semrush shares the categories of small business that have been able to do better online.

Here are some of the highlights of the report.

Research trends about opening a business

Looking at the search volume of various searches indicating an intent to open a business, the report finds the following:

• Over the past four years, the number of searches for “open business” has increased by 21%.
• The majority of searches for “open businesses” are in January and March.
• From 2018 to 2022, searches for all things related to starting a small business rose 76%.

Most Popular Small Business Categories

While public interest in starting a small business is growing, the volume of research indicates that aspiring business owners are looking to open stores:

• Nearly a fifth of all new entrepreneurs want to open a store.
• Starting a business on Etsy seems attractive to nearly a fifth of all researchers.
• Vending machines seem to be gaining the most traction, breaking into the second most-searched category of small businesses.

Analyzing research trends across regions, the report found:

• The “Etsy, cleaning, boutique” trio is present – in whole or in part – in the top 3 in every state.
• In exactly half the states, coffee shops are also in the top 3 researched small business categories.
• Researchers in Montana and Vermont also consider delivery services a potential task.

Most popular searches related to “small business”

Half of all major small business searches are related to finance.

Here are the top queries ranked by average monthly searches:

1. Small Business Loans
2. Small Business Grants
3. Small Business Administration
4. small business ideas
5. How to start a small business

Marketing related small business searches

Keyword stats indicate that small business owners are trying to embrace all the rising trends:

• Searches for digital marketing services are up 1,500% (especially quickly during the pandemic).
• Interest in creating short videos for small businesses has grown by 420%.
• The number of people searching for free text marketing increased by 600% in 2022 compared to 2018.

Small business website categories with the highest traffic growth

The report found that the average traffic growth for small businesses across the board was 2,900%.

Samrash says:

“This means that over the past four years, most of the websites under our client list have been able to expand their visitor base.”

Top 10 Small Business Website Rankings by Percentage of High Ranking Organic Keywords

The report explores which categories of small business websites have the largest share of organic, high-ranking keywords.

Here are the categories listed in order, followed by the average number of organic keywords where the domain ranks in the top ten

1. Spread: 45581
2. Online media: 10116
3. veterinarian – veterinarian: 9379
4. entertainment: 6,627
5. Consumer Services: 3518
6. Consumer Goods: 3339
7. Building materials: 2957
8. Music: 2,593
9. HR: 2,145
10. Food and drinks: 1,839

It is interesting to note here how the top 10 categories by highly ranked keywords do not align with the categories of the fastest growing sites by traffic. Semrush suggests that this may mean that ranking for a large number of keywords may not directly lead to traffic growth.