SEO in North Macedonia

– what do you need to know?

SEO dla kraju North Macedonia
Pozycjonowanie dla kraju North Macedonia
SEO360® - North Macedonia

Slightly more than 2 million people live in North Macedonia. Over 85% of this small country’s population are internet users. Even though this number is not quite as impressive as the equivalent figures in European leaders such as Germany and the UK, it still presents us with considerable business opportunities.

 

The descendants of Alexander the Great put a premium on mobility. As such, the country’s most popular devices used to browse the web are smartphones. Some 2/3 of the users use them to explore the web! The complete breakdown is as follows:

  • Mobile devices (64%),
  • Desktops (35%),
  • Tablets (less than 1%).

 

As a consequence of such large percentage differences in various device types, you must pay particular attention to the requirements of each while optimising your store website. If you do that, both smartphone and laptop users will be able to navigate the website in a convenient manner.

 

When discussing the Macedonians’ online activities, we must mention their social media presence. It is estimated that, as of January 2022, some 1.35 million local users had a social media account. If this number is consistent with the number of genuine users (which, unfortunately, is difficult to verify) it would mean that almost 65% of the local internet users are present on social media outlets.

 

Facebook is the dominant social media platform in Macedonia. It completely outclasses the competition, as it controls as much as 95% of the market! The general social media breakdown is as follows:

  • Facebook (95.7%),
  • Instagram (1.7%),
  • Twitter (1%),
  • YouTube (0.6%),
  • Pinterest (0.6%),
  • Reddit (0.3%).

 

The greatest period of social media growth occurred in years 2021–2022. During this period, some 150,000 new users signed up!

 

The inhabitants of North Macedonia are not quite as eager to buy online as their Western European counterparts, but the situation continues to evolve yearly. Several factors contribute to this situation. First of all, local financial systems are underdeveloped. The problem is further compounded by the legal issues which apparently cannot keep up with the shifting commercial situation. However, this does not mean Macedonian consumers buy nothing online.

 

The above problems most acutely affect domestic sellers. This is confirmed by the data, since as much as 80% of e-commerce transactions is conducted by foreign sellers, especially those from EU member states (almost 21% of the total volume) and the rest of the world (especially China, which accounts for some 59%). This is good news for Polish companies, as the local market appreciates foreign products. Moreover, market development forecasts estimate that the overall e-commerce income in Macedonia for 2022 will be over USD 482 million.

2 million

Macedonia’s population

85 %

of the population enjoys internet access

1,7 million

internet users

95 %

of users use Google

    Search engines in Macedonia

    If you want to effectively position your business in North Macedonia, you should take a closer look at the most popular search engine ranking. This will give you an idea of which search engines the locals favour most, and which you should prioritise.

     

    Google is the dominant search engine in Macedonia. This is hardly surprising, given the general European statistics. It is so popular that it controls almost 96% of the local market. The overall breakdown is as follows:

    • Google (95.7%),
    • Bing (3.1%),
    • Yahoo! (0.5%),
    • DuckDuckGo (0.2%),
    • Petal Search (0.2%),
    • Najdi.si (0.2%).

     

    The absolute dominance of Google determines the first steps of any successful positioning strategy. Your basic objective should be to harness the power of Google. Only later (based on the most recent research) should you move on to the remaining search engines.

     

    Another important aspect of correct SEO optimisation is the breakdown of the most popular internet browsers. Evidently, Macedonians have taken a liking to Google’s products, as Chrome is the most popular browser, favoured by over 76% of the local users. The full ranking is as follows:

    • Google Chrome (76%),
    • Safari (12.6%),
    • Firefox (3%),
    • Samsung Internet (2.4%),
    • Edge (1.9%),
    • Opera (1.7%).

     

    Even though Chrome enjoys the dominant position in Macedonia, a substantial percentage of the local users favour Safari and Firefox. As such, you must keep them in mind while preparing SEO activities.

    E-commerce market in Macedonia

    As mentioned before, the e-commerce market in North Macedonia is not as impressive as its Western European equivalent. Several key factors contribute to this situation. They include the country’s population, economic situation, and purchasing power. Just as important are the local consumers’ shopping habits, their relationship with online banking, and the digitisation level of financial transactions.

     

    According to financial data related to Macedonians aged 15 years and older, over 76% of them own an account at a bank or another financial institution. Slightly over half of them use debit cards, but only 17% use credit cards. Compared to more prosperous countries, the local online financial activity indicators are nothing special. Only two Macedonians out of three made an electronic transfer last year or received money the same way. Moreover, less than 17% have made an online payment. 12% of Macedonian users have used online banking, and only 10% have paid bills online.

     

    At a glance, these results do not seem particularly conducive to online trade. However, let us shift our perspective a little. In terms of e-commerce, Macedonia is very much a developing country. This means the short-term forecast is actually rather optimistic. It is estimated that the number of online consumers will increase to as many as 0.9 million by 2025. This means approximately 44% of the country’s population. This is a substantial percentage that will serve as the foundation of future market growth.

     

    Currently, Macedonians are most eager to buy the following online: articles of clothing, electronics, and home appliances/products. They put a premium on prices, so cheaper, more affordable products are the most popular ones.

     

    They most often pay for their purchases with credit cards, prepaid cards and mobile payment systems.

     

    An interesting side-note (which also matters in the context of marketing campaign planning) is that Macedonian online clients are particularly active during the build up to various holidays, such as Orthodox Christmas, Easter and Ramadan. You should also remember late June and early July, as this period marks the beginning of school vacations.

     

    The local consumers definitely favour local online shopping platforms, but the Chinese AliExpress giant has been making inroads as well. The ranking of the most powerful local e-commerce players is as follows:

    • Grouper.mk,
    • Anhoch.com,
    • Setec.mk,
    • Aliexpress.com.

    What domain should you choose?

    Online research suggests that North Macedonians use mostly international domains. Those contain the “.com” suffix in their names. However, the local “.mk” domain is present here as well, as is (curiously enough) the German one (“.de”).

     

    Nonetheless, the international “.com” domain is the dominant one, so that is where you should focus your efforts. Still, it is a good idea to provide the local language extension and add the national domain right after the international one. If you do that, the store address could look something like this: mypage.com/mk. Macedonian clients will appreciate this symbolic gesture, especially if it comes with a special, Macedonian-language website.

     

    Why should you begin to promote your business in Macedonia?

    North Macedonia’s e-commerce market is admittedly a developing one. However, it is still quite active in spite of the problems related to chronically obsolete technologies related to finance and payments. This activity is particularly notable within the context of international shopping, which presents Polish companies with an excellent opportunity.

     

    Internet sales are estimated to continue their upward trajectory. As a consequence, it is a good idea to start positioning your store in the country’s most popular search engines and win over the local clients. You should pay particular attention to the products’ prices and their variety. Also, keep in mind that the store website has to be properly optimised, both for the search engine bots and the users themselves. The latter will appreciate the local language version and the website’s adaptation to the devices used by the clients.

    Link building in Macedonia

    Since the Macedonian e-commerce market has a bright future, but still retains many traditional facets, you should adopt and conduct a link-gaining strategy following standard, proven directions.

     

    Intelligent Content Marketing activities will be valuable here. Publishing quality Macedonian-language content (containing key words) on respected websites will contribute to your ultimate success. It is important for the linking websites to be historically respectable and defined as safe by search engine bots. Thanks to this, you will be able to secure strong links that will consolidate your store’s position.

     

    Classic Buzz Marketing is an excellent complement to your Content Marketing activities. Essentially, it is based on securing thematically- and commercially-relevant links from dedicated forums.

     

    The website itself needs to be properly optimised as well. Providing it with product and category descriptions containing key words and internal links will greatly strengthen the website and improve its quality.

    The most comprehensive service

    SEO360® ensures the most comprehensive service among other similar on the market, such as SEO or SXO, which has been confirmed by research.

    Guaranteed sales increase

    The service provides a guarantee of the final effect, an increase traffic and revenue / leads.

    Hybrid settlements based on success fee

    Once 100% of the original target is achieved, any results above are based on a success fee.

    Guaranteed link maintenance

    We do not remove acquired links even after the end of cooperation.

    We work all over Europe

    Under one contract, we can carry out our work for all European countries with the support of a network of quality partners.

    Individual strategy

    We prepare a comprehensive, extensive strategy in which we examine the real needs of consumers (customer insights) before starting any actions.

    See how your website traffic and revenue will increase!

    Drag the slider to see the effects of positioning.

    SEO360®

    regular SEO

    How does the SEO process work in North Macedonia?

    1.

    Strategy

    It is the starting point for SEO360® actions, individually priced and created on the basis of the customer’s needs and expectations included earlier in the brief filled in by the customer. As part of our conceptual work, we establish the KPIs necessary for successful implementation of further stages of the project, in particular analysis, content marketing plan and estimations, which are the components of the strategy.

    2.

    Analysis

    In this step, we carry out all the activities verifying the current state of the selected website in terms of SEO and its potential in a given country when compared to the competition. At the same time, we analyse the full user path based on the customer journey. The result of the analysis is a large amount of data that can be used to implement further SEO360® steps.

    3.

    Content Marketing Plan

    Individually prepared for the industry represented by the Client and for the given markets where SEO360® activities will be conducted. It includes a scenario concerning the type of created content and the way of its distribution in order to reach the consumers with it precisely and to be one step ahead of the competition. Content Creators guarantee the successful implementation of this plan.

    4.

    Estimations

    An extremely valuable and final component of the strategy, where we estimate individual values related to the visibility of the website in the most popular search engine of a given country, taking into account the increase in traffic and, more importantly, the increase in conversions over a specified period of time.

    5.

    Technical SEO

    When starting proper SEO activities, one of the necessary steps to achieve final success is technical SEO, also called technical analysis or technical optimisation for SEO, i.e. the part of optimisation that does not concern content. It consists of all activities that affect the architecture and code of a website in such a way as to make it as friendly as possible to the most stringent search engine requirements and, at the same time, to stay one step ahead of the competition.

    6.

    Content optimisation

    Part of optimising a website for SEO, in addition to technical SEO, is content optimisation. Valuable content for the user is one of the key elements that will help to achieve high search engine visibility as well as increase conversions and thus revenue.

    7.

    UX + CRO

    As part of the SEO360® service, we provide analysis and optimisation of User Experience metrics with a particular focus on heuristic experiments and A/B testing as well as Conversion Rate Optimisation. In this way, we analyse consumer activity at each stage of their purchase process, increasing sales effectiveness.

    8.

    Link Building

    We conduct link building using the highest quality permanent links acquired from external sources or services, from reliable publishers with a guarantee of their maintenance even after the end of cooperation. As part of this process, we take care of the correct link profile, which brings end benefits.

    9.

    Ongoing Data Analysis

    In SEO360®, through advanced tools supervised by the Client Success Manager, we constantly measure the progress related to the evaluation of conducted activities, and on their basis, our customers have access to extensive reports 24/7.

    10.

    Increase in traffic and revenue

    The ultimate value of SEO360® is the increase in brand awareness, traffic, conversions and revenue generated from the service, which is significantly higher than in the case of ‘regular SEO’ and above all, it is long-lasting.

    Data source: 

    • https://gs.statcounter.com/
    • https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2022-north-macedonia
    • https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/north-macedonia-ecommerce
    • https://www.lloydsbanktrade.com/en/market-potential/north-macedonia/ecommerce
    • https://merchants.glopal.com/en-us/sell-online/macedonia
    • https://www.privacyshield.gov/article?id=North-Macedonia-eCommerce
    • https://www.statista.com/outlook/dmo/ecommerce/north-macedonia
    SEO360® kontakt formularz kontaktowy SEO360®

    Let’s stay in touch
    +48 500 050 939
    office@seogroup.pl

      FAQ

      Is it profitable to position Polish stores in Macedonia?

      rozwiń

      Many Polish entrepreneurs will likely think twice before entering the Macedonian market. This is hardly surprising, since it is not quite as large as its Italian or German equivalents. However, it also presents you with considerable possibilities and a chance to become the dominant player in the given industry. Since only 5% of Macedonian companies conducted online sales in 2016, and given that foreign brands are very popular, you can find a niche allowing you to successfully enter the local market. The GDP of countries like Macedonia, which are still developing their internal e-commerce markets, is estimated to grow in the short term. If you time your entry well, you can take part in this. It is notable that in 2018 the number of online transactions increased by as much as 21% compared to 2017!

      What do you need to successfully position an online store in Macedonia?

      rozwiń

      First of all, you should find an experienced SEO agency which, thanks to its know-how, will be able to meet the challenges of the Macedonian market. Marketing specialists will prepare the entire strategy, taking into consideration dedicated website condition and utility audits. They will create a positioning activity plan, focus on optimising the store website and prepare a Content Marketing strategy. To achieve the intended objectives, they will also cooperate with Macedonian language copywriters to ensure that the relevant content (both that published on the website proper and externally as a part of link building) are valuable and build client engagement, which is a must in the Macedonia.

      Oceń usługę
      SEO360® SEO360®