The Importance of Online Marketing (Particularly SEO, SEM, and Social Media) in the Middle East
Before I came into this metropolitan bedazzling city of Dubai, I wanted to have an outlook of the online media in the Middle East particularly of search industry. Yes, there were notable companies and individuals who have demonstrated great skills & knowledge in SEO and SEM. I knew for a fact that the Middle East had a talent pool of experts, the technology with all its resources, and a growing market.
But I somehow felt there was not much awareness of SEO, SEM, or even Social Media in the region, or was I expecting too much? But Husam Jandal seems to have sustained my observation. Husam is an internet business consultant with WSI Internet Consulting.
In an article in TheNational.Ae – Searching for an online solution, Husam Jandal said:
“In general they [Middle East] are very ignorant about the fact that their potential clients and existing clients are using the internet, while they are not [doing so themselves].
I think we’re still behind when it comes to the business community recognising the importance of being in front of their potential clients.
With more than 90 per cent of all traffic generated on the internet coming from search engines, it is important for the local business community to identify various ways of utilising these internet tools to achieve the desired visibility for their businesses”
I couldn’t agree with him more. Well there are a lot of reasons to consider though in the Middle East market. I won’t dwell on them for now. But let me help in pointing you to the right direction as to why online media, particularly SEO, SEM and even Social Media will be a vital tool for Middle East businesses: