Search Marketing in Italy

Search Laboratory have expertise in Italian search marketing. There are many important considerations when performing search engine optimisation and pay per click marketing in Italy that go beyond the language, character set and culture. This page provides an insight into some of the issues as well as some important information regarding search marketing in Italian.

If you would like further information on our Italian search marketing services and how they can directly help your business, please contact us now for advice.

When we find information related to Italy and search engine marketing we add it here. Some information is common accross all countries, but other useful information you may find about one country or language may not exist for another. Please keep checking back as we update these pages frequently.

Italian Online Market

Ecommerce B2C (Business to Consumer) numbers are on the rise with a 45% increase when compared to 2005, and an economic value of 4 billion Euros, still les than 1% of goods and services sold in Italy: Online purchasing is still a niche.

Tourism has shown significant increase and has reached maturity, now comparable with other major countries. Online reservations have significantly increased followed by electronics, online insurance, and groceries.

The analysis of recent data shows an increase in percentage of online sales of goods for the first time in 5 years.

Many Italian consumers are still concerned with credit card transactions and online security.

Important Italian Search Engines

Market figures change frequently, but at present the best figures we have on the relative importance of the search engines in Italy is as follows. Figures show the search reach:

Google - 59%
MSN - 25%
Virgilio - 24%
Adrianna Libero - 17%
Yahoo - 11%

PPC In Italy

The important PPC engine in Italy is therefore Google, which partners with Virgilio and Arianna. Yahoo partners with Lycos, MSN, Excite, AltaVista and Libera so it should not be overlooked. Other PPC engines that have much smaller penetration are Miva and Godado.

Other Information

For Italian SEO, you need an Italian language site and preferably an Italian domain name. You do not need an office in Italy to gain a Italian domain name. PPC is a low cost entry to the Italian market that can unlock valuable market analysis while winning sales at the same time.

Need Advice?

Search Laboratory can help you take your message to Italy. This can be using a fully localized site or a small subset of the site to test the market. Either way, with full search marketing to truly realise your on line potential. Please contact us for free advice. Taking the first steps into Italy is easier than you might think.