With advancements in digital marketing standards internationally, it is still evident that SEO is a valuable resource for companies that want to establish a solid presence on the internet. Saudi Arabia, in particular, is experiencing seismic shifts related to Vision 2030, the growth in web usage, and the ever-growing trend towards online trading. The continuing changes are opening up new prospects and risks for digital marketing agencies and trading companies. Saudi Arabia’s target is to grow and transform into a regional IT and digital Kingdom; consequently, it is imperative to forecast the future of SEO in Saudi Arabia to enhance competitiveness.
In this article, we look at major issues of discussion for SEO in Saudi Arabia as well as probable changes in the future and how digital marketing agencies can respond to those changes.
1. The Transition to Local SEO
As Saudi Arabia develops, there is a trend of focusing on local markets with targeted cities and areas of Saudi Arabia. In KSA, localized SEO is developing into a significant aspect of digital marketing since numerous businesses are striving to dominate the market of their city or region of operation, such as Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dammam, among others. Today, there is an increase in the use of keywords such as “best restaurants in Riyadh” or “service providers in Jeddah,” hence making local SEO very significant for every SEO strategy.
Digital marketing agencies are particularly going to have to concentrate on Google My Business and correct business listings. Due to the trends of consumers seeking local services more frequently online, it is essential for companies to work towards getting ranked for local SEO and ‘near me’ searches, and keywords.
2. Arabic Web Content Optimization Gain More Attention
Arabic has always been used in the Kingdom and is now being used specifically as the first language for digitized content. Given that the majority of the populace speaks and reads Arabic, companies that hope to gain increased traffic in Saudi Arabia, need to incorporate their Arabic SEO efforts. That is more then mere translation, it is about appreciating how Saudi consumers incorporate Arabic into their searches, including regional and informal language.
In the future, great attention should be paid to Arabic keyword research and optimization for digital marketing agencies. As the search engines enhance their capacity to analyze Arabic strings and contexts, then the corporations that incorporate the best Arabic quality content will have enhanced ranking easier. Further, Saudi Arabia based websites containing Arabic and English language will attract a rising population of expatriates and international organizations functioning in KSA.
3. Mobile-First Indexing and Experience
Flying towards reaching the 100% connective index, Saudi Arabia has over 90% of the citizenry already using mobile devices to connect to the internet. They are still rising, which means mobile-first indexing is one of the biggest drivers of SEO in the Kingdom. Google has already begun the mobile-first index, which, in simple terms, means that when assigning a site’s ranking, Google prefers its mobile version. Thus, it is high time businesses realized that their website needs to be fully optimized to work well on a mobile device.
In the future, digital marketing agencies in Saudi Arabia will have to give even more importance to mobile optimization and exit website optimization (UX). These results will favor websites that are quickly load-able, designed with mobile audiences in mind, and have easy-to-use navigation features. Mobile internet usage is predicted to be the most common; thereby, for businesses that do not undertake mobile search engine optimization, it will be harder and harder to rank on SERPs.
4. Voice Search In Saudi Arabia
The third shift that is defining the future SEO in Saudi Arabia is voice search. Since the penetration of smart hardware such as Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple’s Siri in KSA homes, consumers are also employing voice command to search for information on the internet. Voice search is shifting the user’s approach to data search and inputting h less formalized key phrases into the search bar.
The use of voice search optimization is another factor that SEO service providers need to factor in if they are to serve the needs of digital marketing agencies. Thus, there is concern about the long-tail keywords and the respective direct question-and-answer queries. For instance, instead of focusing on the keywords “Riyadh Hotels,” the agencies should look for conversational queries such as ‘Where can I get the best hotels in Riyadh?’ ‘which hotels close to the Riyadh airport are cheap?’
It is for this reason that every business will want to take advantage of this new search behavior and increase their SEO ranking as voice search is adopted more and more.
5. The Effects of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
AI and machine learning have now become an inherent part of the search algorithms and have rocked the SEO industry across the world and yes, Saudi Arabia included. Search engines are evolving to identifying the user intent, context and content. Modern system techniques such as Google’s RankBrain can understand the keywords and provide more relevant search results based on user’s activities and choices.
The future of search engine optimization for digital marketing agencies in Saudi Arabia will be determined by the ability to develop better content with the use of artificial intelligence. Forecasting, insights generation, and automating- these three techniques will help businesses to fine-tune content marketing in real time. Semantically related searches are also likely to emerge as a pressing issue to agencies as web content should have appropriate keywords but also offer as much information on the agreed topic as possible in an easily readable format.
6. The Emergence of E-commerce and SEO
The e-commerce sector in Saudi Arabia is rapidly advancing at an unrestrained pace due to the COVID pandemic and the Saudi Arabian government’s focus on encouraging a digital economy. With increased consumer uptake of internet-based shopping solutions, the need for e-Commerce SEO solutions is set to surge. Companies will have to ensure that their websites are properly indexed for products, reviews and easy check outs.
When it comes to planning for the future, important aspects will include product page optimisation, schema markup and most importantly, the creation of interesting and informative content to customers. Besides, utilizing voice search and mobile-first index would remain tactical for the eCommerce stores intending to become dominant in the local market.
Conclusion
The following trends will determine the future of SEO in Saudi Arabia; The Localization of SEO, Arabic content optimization, the mobile-first and the voice search. As the Vision 2030 directs its attentions toward the growth of digital marketing, digital marketing agencies will need to adapt to these trends to keep its clients relevant in the changing Saudi Arabia market.
Despite the relatively young age of internet usage in Saudi Arabia, the country’s businesses and internet users are already ready for local SEO, mobile-first websites, voice search, and artificial intelligence search engines. For this reason, more people will understand that those that change their SEO towards the Saudi Arabia market’s peculiarities will be the ones to reap the benefits of more traffic, higher rankings, and the eventual success online.
