Lumolink has asked the representatives of Orwo and Web-Arkhitektura, Russian web agencies, what a foreign company should know about SEO in Russian Internet.
How important is seo for website promotion in russia? can it actually help to increase the number of russian clients?
Irina Malshakova (Web-Arkhitektura): If we talk about foreign company promotion on Russian market I would not narrow it down to SEO. There has to be a complex promotional campaign in Runet (Russian Internet): organic listing, context advertising, social media marketing, media advertising and other tools. Besides, there has to be some works done on the website itself: conversion growth, usability improvement, introduction of CTAs. It is important to use Internet marketing as a whole.
Overall, SEO is vital because it provides a stable flow of clients. Once you have optimized your website you simply have to maintain it at a good level. This way you will ensure your business with a permanent traffic and continuous orders. Out of all Internet marketing tools SEO makes 50 – 70% depending on the case. SMM has the least impact on the number of orders.
Denis Lipka (Orwo): The results of the following survey (by Aori and Seonews.ru) can provide a good answer to this question. The representatives of 2000 Russian companies were asked about their marketing strategies for 2015. The top 5 marketing channels were: context advertising, media advertising, outdoor advertising, SEO and traditional media such as radio and newspapers/magazines. SEO represented 14% from all channels. So, as you can see, the importance of SEO in Russia is obvious.
Seo in russia: google.ru or yandex?
Irina: 60% of our clients use Yandex, 40% Google. By “use” I mean they order SEO for these search engines. What is interesting about the use of search engines in Russia is that if people search to buy or sell something they go to Yandex, if they look for some reference data or helpful information they go to Google.
Denis: The basic elements of search engine optimization work well for all the existing search engines. Of course each search engine has its own specificity. However, it is not that important to start SEO just for one search engine.
Is there any difference between seo for b2b and b2c in russia?
Irina: No, there is not so much difference because at the end the clients is always a person. But there is a technical difference of course in website interface design depending on the profile of a company and the tasks that a website should complete.
Denis: Yes, there is, but it concerns mostly the technical side. Otherwise, there are no crucial differences.
To your opinion, how a foreign company should deal with seo in russia: train their own professionals or hire russian specialists?
Irina: I believe that a foreign company is better to hire Russian professionals. First of all, there is a certain way of putting the search request information, a specialist has to understand the specificity of keywords in Russian and the use of synonyms as well. Besides, a Russian professional has a better experience in Russian online environment. They are aware of particular ways in which Russian users search for information online, how they act on websites, which CTA they will click and which won’t pay attention to.
Denis: The distinctive feature of SEO is that the most part of the work is done in the first 2–3 months. After that the process has to be maintained at the required level. So, a perfect solution would be to hire an experienced Russian specialist for a short period: from 6 to 12 months. At the same time the company’s own professional has to participate in the optimization process. This way, during the first 6 months he will get all the relevant knowledge and competence for the maintenance of the process. After that Russian specialists will be represented in the project as third-party consultants if necessary.
