Khobar SEO Guide
This detailed guide explains the ins and outs of Al Khobar SEO, the commerce capital and jewel of Eastern Saudi Arabia. An up and coming city with a high quality of life and population eager to spend, Khobar is the next greatest business locale you’ve probably never heard of.
Why Al Khobar is worth targeting with your SEO efforts
Though Khobar may not have the same international name recognition compared to fellow Saudi Arabian counterparts Jeddah and Riyadh, it is still a prominent city in the gulf for any savvy business person. The coastal city is located between Dammam and Dhahran, two major cities in Saudi, giving it significant domestic experience. Khobar is internationally significant, forming the Saudi border between the wealthy Gulf country of Bahrain. Khobar is known for being the kingdom’s heart for commerce and industry. The city is known throughout the Gulf for having the biggest and most luxurious mall in all of Saudi Arabia, and significant given the nation’s propensity towards shopping and spending. Al Khobar’s population cares about commerce, growth, and has money to spend.
What makes Khobar the most underrated city in the Middle East to target with quality SEO
Though comparatively smaller than other cities in the Kingdom, this seaside hub more than makes up for its size with its propensity towards commerce. Its immensely strategic location on the coast bestows it with tremendous resources. Additionally, it is the closest Saudi city to Bahrain, which means any visitor traveling between the two countries crosses through Khobar. The city also sits on the highway to Kuwait, making it a stopping point for many Kuwaitis heading South. For the convenience of travel and quality of experience, many business people (especially from the Gulf countries) make their way here.
Keys to ranking in Khobar
1. Khobar Keyword Research
As with any city, the population that lives in Al Khobar has specific content wants and needs. To create material that people will actually read, you first need to learn what they want to read! It is as simple as that. The first step before producing content is to identify the top keywords that people here are searching for. Keywords are a direct reflection of interest and will lead to clicks and engagement with your site.
2. Assigning keywords to the proper pages
Now that you have a list of keywords, congratulations! You’ve completed the most daunting task. For each keyword, you can make a list of related keywords. For example, “Best places to eat Khobar” is related to “restaurants Khobar”. Once you have mapped out these related keywords, you need to identify where they will show up on your site. In many cases, you may have to create new pages to ensure you capture the relevant topics.
3. Use your target keywords in the Title, URL, and Meta description
After identifying and mapping these keywords, you must place them in the DNA makeup of the article through the Title, the URL, and the Meta Description.
4. Content
Now that you have identified your keywords and the pages on which you will put them, you have to build out content for them. You captured their attention with your awesome SEO work, but now is what really matters… keeping their attention! You want to write engaging, professional words that expand upon your targeted keywords in an intriguing way.
5. Local Khobar backlinks
To signal credibility to local people, you want to have local businesses pointing to your site. To Khobaris, this is a critical step that proves your company’s worth. Also, building relationships through similar expertise and interest networks will drive traffic to your website that you know for certain will be interested in what you have to say. Depending on what market you are interested in reaching, you want to build a relationship with related sites. Agreeing to mutually drive traffic and interest will be beneficial for everyone involved! Get in contact with us today to help you build these critical relationships.
6. User experience for Khobar website visitors
Saudis are no different from any other global population in that their experience on your site can make or break your success. Engaging displays with clear font, text, colors, quality photographs, and graphics can all make your page stand out and set you apart from the crowd. Additionally, you have to integrate Arabic into your page. The following logos are excellent examples of English/ Arabic language integration in marketing.
Other key parts to your Khobar SEO strategy
The Arabic Language
As the motherland of Islam, Arabic is unilaterally spoken throughout the Kingdom. Any SEO strategy in Saudi Arabia you adopt needs to integrate Arabic SEO into it. Khobar, being a hub of trade and convergence of Gulf countries, is becoming exponentially more international. Depending on what population you intend to reach, a mix of English and Arabic would be your best bet.
Using the .sa Domain
Currently, there are two domains in Saudi Arabia, .sa and .com.sa. However, after analyzing the top ranking sites throughout the Kingdom, most of them have not adopted a Saudi specific domain. This proves it is not something your business needs to be successful. However, if your main focus is as much general Saudi business as possible, the domain could be the head start your business needs in a sea of competitors.
Regional Hosting
Unfortunately, as of now, Saudi Arabia does not have high quality hosting sites. Luckily, Al Khobar is on the border of one of the highest quality hosting sites in the entire Middle East, Bahrain. This means you can choose one of the excellent hosting sites here, like Amazon Web Services (AWS), and benefit from swift load times due to the proximity.
Geo-targeting parts of Khobar
Despite its relatively small size of 900,000, there are important location-specific nuances to understand to more effectively reach your targeted populations. Due to its pleasant coastal climate, liberal practices (foreign women do not need to wear a headscarf), and an array of modern conveniences and services, Al Khobar is also a very attractive Saudi city for expats.
Corniche: home to most of the fancy hotels, shopping malls, and entertainment centers, this stunning seaside neighborhood is one of the most popular areas of Al Khobar, both for residents and for tourists.
Independent compounds: Saudi Arabian business and their employees generally populate specific living compounds. Contact us today to learn more about how to reach the compound for your target market.
Conclusion
Though you may never have heard of Khobar before, it is a mistake to ignore this exponentially growing commerce hub. As the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia becomes increasingly internationalized, the world’s eyes will be on the wonders of Khobar. Contact us today with help for your SEO in Khobar so you can spread your business roots far and wide before the secret gets out.
Sources:
https://www.wtca.org/world-trade-center-al-khobar
