Last week, a eatery manager in Riyadh lamented that his venue wasn't showing up in Google listings despite being well-reviewed by customers. This is a typical challenge I encounter with local businesses across the Kingdom.
A few days ago, a business owner expressed frustration that his online presence was burning through thousands of riyals with little return. After reviewing his approach, I pinpointed multiple serious mistakes that are surprisingly common among Saudi businesses.
For a healthcare center in Jeddah, we improved their local visibility by nearly one hundred percent by confirming their business information was perfectly identical in both Arabic and English throughout all directories.
With extensive testing for a shopping business, we identified that communications received between 8-11 PM significantly surpassed those sent during traditional business hours, achieving one hundred eighty-seven percent higher visibility.
Important components included:
- Arabic interface adaptation that preserved accessibility
- Language-specific typography
- Application enhancement for both verbal identities
- Seamless language switching without app restart
For a shopping brand, we created an application that skillfully combined international standards with regionally significant visual components. This approach improved their installation frequency by 127% and engagement by ninety-three percent.
Recently, a hotel owner found that their website was completely missing from spoken searches. After implementing the approaches I'm about to share, they're now being found in forty-seven percent of appropriate spoken questions.
Helping a hospital, we rewrote their material to feature entire queries that people would actually ask, such as "Where can I find a dermatologist in Riyadh?" This technique increased their spoken question discovery by seventy-three percent.
I currently utilize several resources that have substantially upgraded our competitive research:
- Search analysis platforms to analyze other companies' search rankings
- Mention tracking platforms to follow competitors' social activity
- Cost-effective Website solutions analysis platforms to observe updates to their digital properties
- Email capture to get their marketing communications
For a merchant, we identified that their audio query appearance was restricted because they had optimized mostly for non-Arabic questions. After incorporating tailored Arabic voice search enhancement, their discovery rate increased by two hundred seventeen percent.
Essential capabilities included:
- Non-connected content caching
- Seamless refreshing when internet available
- Clear indication of connection status
- Sensible limitations of specific capabilities when without connection
Not long ago, I witnessed as three similar businesses spent significantly into expanding their business on a particular social media platform. Their efforts flopped as the medium turned out to be a mismatch for our sector.
I advise categorizing competitors as:
- Main competitors (offering equivalent products/services)
- Indirect competitors (with limited overlap)
- Emerging disruptors (new businesses with innovative potential)
For a media software, we applied thorough speed improvement that decreased startup duration by 67% and in-app transitions by 43%. These enhancements improved consumer persistence by over two hundred percent.
After extended periods of mediocre adoption with their global app, their optimized locally-tailored application produced a two hundred forty-three percent increase in downloads and a 176% growth in active users.
I use a straightforward spreadsheet to record our competitors' pricing changes on a regular basis. This has enabled us to:
- Discover cyclical promotion cycles
- Detect product bundling approaches
- Grasp their value positioning
Half a year into our launch, our conversions were dismal. It wasn't until I accidentally a detailed analysis about our market sector that I realized how ignorant I'd been to the business environment around us.
For a banking customer, we implemented a advanced Arabic-English framework that intelligently adapted interface, menus, and information presentation based on the active language. This technique improved their user engagement by over one hundred eighty percent.
When I started my retail business three years ago, I was sure that our unique products would be enough. I overlooked competitor analysis as superfluous – a mistake that almost destroyed my entire business.
Begin by mapping ALL your rivals – not just the well-known ones. During our investigation, we discovered that our biggest competitor wasn't the well-known brand we were watching, but a emerging company with an novel strategy.
I dedicate at least two hours each regularly reviewing our competitors':
- Digital organization and user experience
- Blog posts and publishing frequency
- Online platforms engagement
- Client testimonials and evaluations
- Keyword tactics and positions