A comprehensive study by Google sheds light for the first time on the website promotion industry in Israel. The study, which "Globes" has obtained, shows that the market is worth NIS 400 million annually, and employs about 2,000 people.
The Israeli industry has developed in parallel to the industry globally, and falls under two main concepts: SEO (organic search engine optimization, i.e. promotion of sites in search engine results), and SEM (search engine marketing, i.e. the paid display of websites in search engine results). The idea is to assist individuals and companies to promote their Internet sites in the search results of engines such as Google, Bing, and Yahoo!, by various methods that are meant to improve the visibility of the website to the search algorithm, or to make the site appear in sponsored results for which it pays.
Research agency Millward Brown and financial consultant Halevi Dweck carried out the study for Google Israel in advance of the annual Google Engage event, which took place today at the Avenue conventions and events center in Airport City.
The study was carried out among 300 businesses and 80 website promotion agencies. The Engage program was launched in Israel in 2008, at the same time as in Turkey and Poland, with the aim of supporting marketing agencies for small businesses. Thousands of agencies from 42 countries currently participate in the program.
According to the research, the website promotion and marketing industry in Israel has grown very rapidly in the past decade. In 2011 alone, turnover in the industry jumped 80%, and the number of customers doubled, in comparison with 2010.
About 300 different website marketing and promotion agencies operate in Israel, each with a workforce of between one and 35 people, the average being 6.5. Their aggregate annual turnover is estimated at NIS 400 million, or NIS 1.33 million on average per agency. The study finds that the total breaks down into NIS 220 million (55%) for SEM, and NIS 180 million (45%) for SEO.
28% of the companies posted more than NIS 500,000 annual revenue from SEM activity, while only 11% posted similar revenue from SEO activity.
As to projections for the future, most of the website promotion companies are highly optimistic, and 72% of them plan to recruit additional employees in the coming year. The companies also see expansion of website promotion activity into mobile telephony, as smartphones take more of the market, alongside the popularity of social networks and the growth in video consumption online.
The survey finds 66% of the small business owners with Internet sites are aware of the existence of the marketing agencies, and of these, 72% believe that working with an agency brings effective results.
Yehuda Kogan, who manages marketing to businesses at Google Israel, and is responsible for the Engage program, said, "There is potential for growth and for the entry of more agencies into this field to reach more businesses for which it is very appropriate."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 22, 2012
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