Bahrain Online Marketing Country Profile
Summary
With an Internet penetration rate of almost 100%, and one of the highest globally, Bahrain has a rapidly increasing demand for online goods and services. In addition to a high GDP per capita of $23,232.43, Bahrain has nearly 1.75 million Internet users from both the state itself and foreign nationals, making it an ideal market for diverse online marketing opportunities.
Basic Information on the Kingdom of Bahrain
As with any new online marketing campaign effort, it’s essential to understand the context of the country you’re targeting, so we will start with an introduction into the Kingdom before discussing Bahrain digital marketing.
The Kingdom of Bahrain has a small population of 1,848 million, and half of that population is non-native. Oil exports account for the vast majority of Bahrain’s income, followed by the export of aluminium, the finance industry, and construction. The Kingdom’s economy faltered in 2011 after social unrest amongst the local Shia population, but has since stabilised to a GDP of $38,870 billion. Additionally, Bahrainis enjoy generous subsidies from the state, meaning additional discretionary spending for local families.
The Kingdom of Bahrain is a constitutional monarchy ruled by the Al-Khalifa family, though roughly half the government are a member of the royal family. The country is predominantly Muslim, and though approximately 70% of Bahraini Muslims are Shia, the royal family is Sunni, which has caused unrest in recent years. It is also important to note the population of both native and foreign Christians, who account for approximately 15% of the population. It is critical that any marketing campaign in Bahrain respects the cultural traditions surrounding Islam, but this doesn’t mean a bit of creative marketing won’t be appreciated by the highly modernised and urban population.
Censorship
The royal family of Bahrain is notorious for its strict control of news and media. There is extensive filtering for pornographic, political, and religious content contra to the opinions of the royal family, which is performed under the guise of protecting the moral trajectory of Bahraini citizens.
Bahrain Internet Country Codes
The royal family’s Internet provider Baletco provides top-level domain names in English at various rates. However, .com, .org, and .net sites are far more commonly utilised, with the exception of google.com.bh. Additionally, the Kingdom currently only has an English extension, despite the popularity of Arabic extensions throughout the region.
Top Level Domains
.bh
Second-Tier Domains
.com.bh
.gov.bh
.org.bh
.edu.bh
Top Ranking Sites in Bahrain
This is a list of the most popular websites in Bahrain as of February 2022 from We are Social:
Google.com
Youtube.com
Office.com
Padlet.com
Facebook.com
Microsoft.com
Amazon.com
Bahrain.bh
Google.com.bh
Edunet.bh
Microsoftonline.com
Live.com
The top 15 most popular sites are a relatively unsurprising combination of search engines, social media, and online retailers, with the addition of a torrenting website, and a news website in English and Malayalam, a language from India.
Top Ranking Region-Specific Websites in Bahrain
Bahrain.bh
Google.com.bh
Edunet.bh
Lmra.gov.bh
Expatriates.com
Benefit-gateway.bh
Lmra.bh
Olx.com.bh
Ekey.bh
Sijilat.bh
Gdnonline.com
While the majority of these sites are related to news, government, or sports, it is also worth noting that there are popular users of local sites from specific regions of the world that correspond with the immigrant population of Bahrain, such as urdopoint.com, indiatimes.com, dailypakistan.com.pk, and manoramaonline.com.
E-Commerce in Bahrain
Amazon.com Ebay.com
Aliexpress.com
Myshopify.com
Olx.com.bh
Alibaba.com
Talabat.com
Apple.com ‘
Booking.com
Shopandship.com
The majority of these sites are familiar, international retailers, with the exception of Talabat.com, which is the most popular food delivery service in the GCC. In addition to these sites, online shopping at regional sites like dukakeen.com or eshopbahrain.com are popular sources for electronics, fashion, and appliances.
Search Engine Marketing in Bahrain
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Google is by far the most popular search engine in Bahrain, though specific statistics are unavailable. There are two versions of the www.google.com.bh site, in English that is left to right, and in Arabic that is right to left. Both are hosted on the same site, and are changeable with a button below the search bar. This means that both SEO and PPC marketing options are available in English, and in Arabic.
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State of SEO in Bahrain
Searches in Bahrain are in both English and Arabic, but barely over half the population is from the Arab region, meaning searches in Arabic and effectively equal to searches in English.
Below is a comparison of organic search metrics for the top ranking websites in Bahrain for the keywords “Hotels” and “Cars for Sale” on Google. These comparisons serve as an example of the differences in link authority for localized websites verses highly competitive international websites.
“Hotels” in the US vs. “Hotels” in Bahrain
“Cars for Sale” in the US vs. “Cars for Sale” in Bahrain
These two charts demonstrate how much easier Bahrain SEO is since it is less competitive for a website to rank on Google in Bahrain than on Google in the US. The Moz Page Authority rank is a measurement of predicted page ranking potential based off of all metrics, and the numbers indicate that it requires far fewer links to rank in Bahrain than for a site in the US, if the site in geo-targeted for Bahrain.
State of PPC in Bahrain
The Pay Per Click market in Bahrain is dominated by Google Adwords, and there is far less competition for most markets than in the States. PPC is still growing in Bahrain, especially for geo-targeted campaigns. Despite the small market, Bahrain has unique opportunities to reach native Bahrainis, expatriates, and visitors from other GCC countries.
Analyzing the PPC Differences between the US and Bahrain
We performed a comparison between google.com.bh and google.com using two popular search queries for “Toyota” and “iPhone 6” to investigate the differences between PPC marketing in the US and in Bahrain. When searching for “Toyota” Arabic in Bahrain, there are no paid search results- it’s just organic search results and a map with retailers.
If we perform the same search in English in the States, we get very different results with at least 2 different Adwords ads, and only one organic search that shows up without scrolling down the page. This is a good indicator of the drastically different levels of competitiveness in the two markets, and the opportunities present in Bahrain to deliver a strong online marketing campaign.
Our second search for the iPhone 13 returned no paid search results again. For something as popular and marketable as Apple products, this is kind of surprising. However, it is a good demonstration of the open opportunities in the Bahraini market for PPC campaigns.
By contrast, when searching google.com in the States, we see seven different ads again, in addition to product listing ads, which we didn’t see in Bahrain.
Geo-Targeting Opportunities in Bahrain
Though Bahrain is the smallest country in the Middle East, there are still a few geo-targeting opportunities on the archipelago. Across the Kingdom, there are pockets of urbanized populaces with both expatriates and locals, but the most important is the capital of Manama.
Manama
The population is concentrated most heavily in the capital of Manama, with just under 150,000 people in the city proper. Manama is the centre of business activity in Bahrain, and is highly developed, with a diverse array of enterprises, malls, and construction. Since it is the hub of the country’s activities, it’s an important marketing opportunity.
Other Cities in Bahrain to Consider Targeting:
Muharraq
Al-Riffa
Day Kulayb
Madinat Hamad
Saudi Arabian Tourism
Bahrain is a popular destination for Saudi tourists thanks to the King Fahd Causeway that was built to branch the Western Saudi mainland with the island of Bahrain. In 2012, Saudis composed more than half of Bahrain’s eight million tourists. Generally, they come to vacation for short periods of time, spending large amounts of money on non-essential items such as hotels, entertainment, insurance, food, and accommodations. The influx of wealthy tourists into Bahrain from Saudi presents a unique and highly valuable marketing opportunity. As Saudis search for restaurants, cinemas, and hotels online and on their mobiles, there are many different platforms for a strategic online marketing campaign. It would be extremely beneficial to try and target this population as they escape to Bahrain for vacation.
Social Media in Bahrain
With the highest Internet penetration rate in the Middle East, it’s unsurprising that 26.1% of the population are Facebook users and 28.8% are on Twitter in 2022. LinkedIn is also quite popular with Bahrainis. The portion of the population using social media continues to grow, and in recent years Instagram has an uptake in users as well. However, Facebook still maintains its position as the most popular form of social media among Bahraini residents. Given the popularity of these social media sites, there are many opportunities to be found for creative online marketing campaigns integrated into Bahraini’s everyday activity.
Mobile Marketing in Bahrain
With an Internet penetration rate of nearly 100%, it’s unsurprising that mobile phones are quite popular in Bahrain. In 2021, the World Bank reported 103 mobile subscriptions per 100 people, only including lines with voice capability. Not all of these subscriptions are for smartphones, but between the residents of Bahrain and the tourism industry, it’s important to consider a mobile campaign. It is especially important to have a website that adapts to popular mobile devices, such as iPhone and Android. Since not all smartphones are created equally, adaptability is key. Internet penetration in Bahrain stood at 99.0% in 2022.
Online Display Advertising in Bahrain
Display- advertising on search engines is increasing in prevalence throughout the MENA region, and Bahrain is no different. This young population has a lot of consumer potential. Pay-per click advertising is a form of display advertising where businesses “bid” for ad space in a search query by offering a certain amount to pay for each “click” on their ad. Though this can be an excellent strategy to use for advertising in Bahrain, especially because of the country’s high smartphone penetration, it’s also a tricky gamble. Companies need the technical and cultural knowledge to carefully design ads and appropriate bids to guarantee revenues.
Seasonal Promotion Times
Public holidays in Bahrain are listed below. It should be noted that the dates of Islamic holidays change yearly based on the lunar calendar. These holidays serve as beneficial online marketing opportunities to connect with the local population, and take advantage of the festive spirit.
January 1: New Year’s Day
May 1: Public Holiday
Ramadan (Varies based on Lunar Calendar)
Eid al-Fitr (Varies based on Lunar Calendar)
Eid al-Adha (Varies based on Lunar Calendar)
Muharram (Varies based on Lunar Calendar)
Ashura (Varies based on Lunar Calendar)
December 16-17: National Day
Conclusion
The Kingdom of Bahrain is a highly modernised, urban society with many potential online opportunities for marketing and business. Despite the small population, the country has a high GDP per capita, a diverse demographic population, and interesting tourism activity. As of now, the online marketing of Bahrain is relatively underdeveloped, with both SEO and PPC opportunities that should be exploited for a significant expansion into the market.
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