This article is written by Katra Marketing founder & inspirer - Anastasia Ivanovskaya
Before having comments for this article, I'd like to say I wanted to write it from the foreign point of view, based on my personal experience I've had in Jordan, without any knowledge of Arabic language, and lack of connections.
The number of Arab Internet users has increased in the past years and it will grow more in 2015. Although of this significant growth, it is astonishing to realize that only 2% of worldwide content is written in Arabic. Only 5% of Fortune 500 websites have an Arabic language version. So, for companies placed in the Middle East, or focusing on Arabic-speaking market, it is the right time to start producing Arabic content and gaining profits.
Talk The Same Language
If your aim is to be successful in the Middle East, no matter what your target market is, it's a mistake to make your marketing campaigns only in English. Even your English content is informative enough, Arabic content is the best way for website optimization, especially by your page rank improvement when people make searches in Arabic.
Big Steps
Companies willing to expand their internet presence to Arabic audience, need to search for good bilingual editors and copywriters to write the content in an engaging way, matching well with the specifics of another language and optimized for search engines. It's hard, I can describe how it's hard to find people "feeling" the language and raise them to decent and skillful specialists, but it's the topic for a separated post. Anyway, if your competitors are not doing the same, multi-language content will make you ahead of them, giving you better SERP (Search Engine Results Pages). Whenever you start developing your online presence, it's essential to keep SEO in mind.
Draw It Right
As well as there are difficulties with finding good Arabic copywriters, web designers and printing industry a very challenging and difficult area regarding a professional level. Lack of Arabic fonts and gifted font designers, the necessity of changing all images with English signs in the Arabic version of your website, a serious difference in way of thinking and images aptitude - it can drive you crazy. But if you want to be successful, it's important to adapt and accustom to the specifics of the Middle Eastern audience.
Move Forward
The Middle East keeps investing more and more to take leading places in technology, digital marketing and ecommerce.
Companies that make well-planned websites, and place efforts, time and money in SEO and proper content will be different from their competitors and have a tangible profit in this rapidly growing market. So, if you're thinking of expanding, you may take the Middle East market into consideration. It definitely has its obstacles, but worth entering.
In Katra Marketing we are trying to create a special culture, all our employees have an opportunity to grow and self-educate yourselves. I regret about the lack of Arabic language, but at the same time I understand I will never speak Arabic fluently. So, in the company I prefer to rely on my bilingual specialists, covering the analytic and strategic fields. Business has its basic principles that are common, no matter which language you speak.
