A few days ago, a café proprietor in Riyadh complained that his business wasn't showing up in Google results despite being well-reviewed by customers. This is a common issue I observe with regional companies throughout the Kingdom.
Initiate by mapping ALL your competitors – not just the obvious ones. In our investigation, we found that our most significant threat wasn't the established company we were tracking, but a recent company with an unique model.
Important methods included:
- Collaborating with Saudi native speakers to discover actual search behavior
- Analyzing local competitors for search term strategies
- Developing a Arabic-English search term structure to engage all potential consumers
- Applying local language variations instead of standard Arabic
Last year, I witnessed as three similar businesses spent significantly into growing their business on a specific social media platform. Their efforts were unsuccessful as the channel proved to be a bad match for our market.
I advise organizing competitors as:
- Primary competitors (offering very similar offerings)
- Peripheral competitors (with some resemblance)
- Emerging challengers (new companies with game-changing models)
When I started my e-commerce business three years ago, I was sure that our special products would stand out naturally. I overlooked competitor analysis as unnecessary – a choice that nearly ruined my entire business.
A few days ago, a entrepreneur expressed frustration that his platform strategy was consuming considerable sums of riyals with little performance. After analyzing his tactics, I identified several fundamental problems that are extremely typical among Saudi businesses.
For a hotel brand, we identified that direct translation of their international keywords generated exceptionally inefficient costs. After applying a culturally-appropriate search term approach, their cost per acquisition dropped by seventy-three percent.
I use a straightforward tracker to record our rivals' costs adjustments every week. This has enabled us to:
- Spot periodic promotion cycles
- Detect special offer tactics
- Understand their cost structure
Last month, a merchant contacted me after spending over 250,000 SAR on ineffective paid search initiatives. After redesigning their approach, we produced a five hundred thirty-seven percent improvement in return on ad spend.
Essential delivery findings included:
- Reduced bidding during worship moments with stable conversion rates
- Greater response on weekends notably after night prayers
- Periodic changes demanding budget adjustments during religious occasions
- Academic calendar influences on particular industries
Twelve months ago, my local business was fighting to find new customers. Our digital storefront was completely hidden in Google rankings. That's when I made the decision to explore specialized SEO services in Jeddah.
I now use several tools that have significantly enhanced our competitive landscape analysis research:
- Search analysis platforms to analyze other companies' SEO strategies
- Brand monitoring platforms to follow rivals' social activity
- Digital tracking tools to observe updates to their online presence
- Newsletter subscription to receive their marketing communications
I spend at least a substantial amount of time each regularly examining our competitors':
- Online structure and UX
- Content strategy and publishing frequency
- Social media activity
- Client testimonials and assessments
- Keyword tactics and rankings
Successful methods included:
- Emphasizing collective advantages rather than individual gains
- Incorporating subtle religious references where suitable
- Adapting deal phrasing to match Saudi cultural norms
- Developing different ad variations for diverse locations within the Kingdom
Half a year into our launch, Riyadh digital marketing services our conversions were underwhelming. It wasn't until I chanced upon a detailed report about our market sector that I understood how blind I'd been to the business environment around us.
Through comprehensive research for a food delivery company, we identified that advertisements delivered between 9-11 PM substantially surpassed those delivered during standard peak hours, generating substantially better sales.
Important components included:
- Mobile-first creative styles
- Touch-to-contact extensions for voice-preferred consumers
- Application advertising for suitable lookups
- Platform-tailored destination sites