Effective Paid Search Strategies for the Saudi Market
For a travel brand, we identified that literal conversion of their foreign queries produced highly wasteful spending. After applying a regionally-specific query approach, ThreeSixty SEO Specialists their conversion expense dropped by seventy-three percent.
Not long ago, I observed as three competitors spent significantly into growing their presence on a particular social media platform. Their attempts were unsuccessful as the channel appeared to be a mismatch for our industry.
I use a basic document to record our competitors' rates adjustments on a regular basis. This has already allowed us to:
- Identify periodic price reductions
- Notice special offer approaches
- Understand their cost structure
Start by listing ALL your competition – not just the obvious ones. In our research, we found that our most significant rival wasn't the established company we were monitoring, but a recent startup with an novel approach.
A few weeks ago, a clothing brand approached me after using over 150,000 SAR on platform promotion with minimal results. After revamping their strategy, we produced a six hundred thirty-one percent improvement in advertising efficiency.
For a software business, we discovered that their international information was substantially higher quality than their local language material. After enhancing their native information excellence, they experienced a significant improvement in sales from Arabic-speaking users.
Last week, a eatery manager in Riyadh expressed frustration that his business wasn't showing up in Google results despite being highly rated by customers. This is a frequent problem I see with regional companies throughout the Kingdom.
For a doctor's office in Jeddah, we increased their map appearances by ninety-four percent by confirming their company details was thoroughly consistent in both Arabic and English throughout all directories.
Essential features included:
- Handheld-optimized creative styles
- Touch-to-contact enhancements for voice-preferred consumers
- Software marketing for suitable lookups
- Technology-adapted destination sites
I now employ several applications that have significantly enhanced our competitor analysis:
- Search analysis platforms to track other companies' search rankings
- Social listening platforms to monitor competition's digital footprint
- Site monitoring platforms to observe changes to their websites
- Newsletter subscription to obtain their marketing communications
Effective approaches included:
- Emphasizing family values rather than individual gains
- Including subtle religious references where appropriate
- Adjusting promotion language to match Saudi social expectations
- Producing distinct creative alternatives for various areas within the Kingdom
Half a year into operations, our revenue were disappointing. It wasn't until I accidentally a detailed report about our industry that I realized how ignorant I'd been to the competitive landscape around us.
I spend at least two hours each week examining our competitors':
- Online organization and UX
- Articles and posting schedule
- Online platforms activity
- Client testimonials and assessments
- Search tactics and performance
For a investment customer, we created a content series about household money management that incorporated Islamic financial principles. This content surpassed their previous standard money guidance by 417% in engagement.
When I started my e-commerce business three years ago, I was sure that our distinctive products would stand out naturally. I overlooked competitor analysis as a waste of time – a mistake that nearly destroyed my entire business.
A few weeks ago, a retail client contacted me after spending over 250,000 SAR on unsuccessful PPC initiatives. After restructuring their approach, we achieved a five hundred thirty-seven percent increase in advertising efficiency.
Through comprehensive research for a cuisine platform client, we found that promotions shown between night time dramatically surpassed those delivered during typical optimal periods, achieving 163% greater conversion rates.
Key approaches included:
- Consulting Saudi regional experts to identify real query patterns
- Analyzing Saudi competition for search term strategies
- Developing a bilingual search term structure to attract every possible users
- Applying Saudi Arabic dialect instead of formal language
Essential delivery findings included:
- Lower bidding during prayer times with consistent conversion custom website design rates
- Higher engagement on non-workdays especially after night prayers
- Temporal differences requiring budget adjustments during religious occasions
- Academic calendar impacts on particular industries