SEO and Internet Marketing Services in Japan

The Internet came to Japan in the mid-1980 but as of today, the markets have not quite opened up and hence the country has a lot of potential that can be tapped into. In Japan, Internet was actually developed on an experimental basis by computer scientists for sharing various computer related resources including knowledge, information, and ideas. In Japan, this experimental project was called JUNET and it had linked 3 top universities of Tokyo and further inter-connected them to USENET in the United States.

Japan unlike the US has not widened the horizons nor has the SEO services expanded because of different factors. The two most prominent factors include language barrier and high cost of internet access. Most of the people in Japan access internet on their mobile instead of the PC. According to a report by Aun Consulting, the SEO market in Japan saw sales worth 9960 million yen in 2007, which is a jump of 25% from 2006 when the sales was worth 7970 million yen. The break-up of the total sales generated is as follows:

o "In-House" SEO marketing generated 5710 million yen

o Out-sourced SEO marketing generated 2600 million yen

o Use of SEO tools generated 1650 mil yen

According to the report by Aun Consulting, the SEO market in Japan will continue to grow steadily and yield 17.6 billion yen by 2011. Off late, the various strategies that have been implemented as a part of SEO and online marketing services in Japan include:

1. Email internet marketing

2. Website search engine optimization (SEO)

3. Google Adwords, Yahoo!, MSN and other search engine ad programs

4. Website development

5. Link campaigns and management

6. Cellular website development

7. Article writing and distribution

8. Search engine and directory submissions

9. Translation and localization

One of the most popular and advanced form of SEO and online marketing services in Japan is email internet marketing. An email marketing campaign will comprise of and consider various aspects like development of a website and integrating an email collector into the website so that a business is able to capture the email addresses of visitors to that site. This procedure will help businesses to have email addresses that can be utilized for sending newsletters about new products, services and activities.

Google AdWords and Yahoo offer advertising platforms for businesses selling their product or service over the web. The top search engines like Yahoo and Google offer businesses in Japan the opportunity to display an advertisement placed right next to organic search results. The important thing is that these capabilities will not only enhance the overall growth of a Japanese website on the Internet but also bring in targeted traffic from Japan and the rest of the world.

SEO is considered to be one of the most important factors of growth all across the world and now it is getting a lot of attention in Japan too. What the future of the SEO industry holds in Japan for Japan is something that everyone will have to wait and watch.

For further information, please visit SEO and Internet Marketing in Japan

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Global Online Marketing Profile 2010 Forecast - Japan

Market Opportunity

As a small island country, Japan has an overwhelming population of over 127,000,000. It is one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world. Of course, it doesn't come as a surprise that Japan's economy is the world's second largest, behind the United States.

Japan's economy is highly efficient and extremely competitive. It is ranked 19th among 111 countries on productivity. Japan's purchasing power parity in 2008 was $4.348 trillion.

Although the current recession has taken a big hit on Japan, IMF projects 2010 recovery; its outlook for Japan's economy growth for 2010 reached 1.7%. According to Japan Economy News, the average spending at households with two or more persons came to 266,044 yen (equivalent of $2794) in February of 2009. Disposable income of an average household was approximately 390,292 yen ($4099) in February. Based on a data release in Japan, retail sales increased 0.6% m/m in April of 2009. It was the first monthly increase since August of 2008. This suggests that there is still some stabilization in the Japanese economy.

Best Industry Segment

Although China still remains Japan's main import partner (20.5%), the United States is also becoming a key partner. United States trails behind China with 11.6% of Japan's import share.

The best industry segments for exporting to Japan, according to the CIA World Factbook, include machinery and equipment, fuels, food, chemicals, textiles, and raw materials.

Tariff and Regulation Landscape

According to FedEx, Japan's import duties usually range from 3 to 15 percent. Import taxes may vary according to product and content. For a complete list of tariffs on specific goods, one should refer to the tariff schedule on the Japan Customs website (customs.go.jp).

Japan also imposes restrictions on certain products including medical products, agricultural products, and chemicals. Many documents such as the Food Sanitation Act, Quarantine Act, Electrical Appliance and Material Safety Act, and Plant Protection Act are devoted to Japan's regulations regarding importing procedures. U.S. Exporters should familiarize themselves with such documents before exporting to Japan.

In addition, there are many customs clearance specialists and shipping agents who provide consulting on tariff issues. Many have offices in the United States.

Online Market Opportunity

Japan currently ranks third in terms of the number of Internet users in the world, following China and United States. According to Internet World Stats, there are approximately 94 million Internet users in Japan. This number was up by 99.7% since 2000. The online penetration rate is high at a 73.8%. It is predicted by eMarketer that by 2013, there will be 95.7 million Internet users.

According to comScore, in January of 2009, 6.8 billion searches that were conducted in Japan, which is up by 9% from last year. In addition to the prevalence of online searches, the Japanese online advertising market has boomed as well. The market was estimated to be worth around $4.1 billion, according to PricewaterCoopers. It is also predicted that in 2011, the online advertising market will be higher than $7 billion.

Online Language Preferences

The official language used in Japan is Japanese. Japanese is the 9>th most widely used language in the world. Other languages such as English, Korean, and local dialects are also used throughout the country. In many schools, English is taught to the students. Although this is the case, people are most comfortable using the Japanese language. Thus, Global eMarketer advises American companies to optimize their websites into Japanese in order to expand sales overseas.

Search Engine Profile

Unlike many other countries, the most popular search engine in Japan is not Google but Yahoo. The Yahoo sites led the ranking board with 3.5 billion searched in January of 2009. This number is up 13% from last year. With such extraordinary numbers, Yahoo sweeps the market with a market share of 51.3% while Goggle trails behind with 38.2%. Google sites received approximately 2.6 billion searches in January of 2009, which is up 5% from the previous year.

Additional search engines used in Japan include: Rakuten (2.2%), Microsoft (1.7%), and Others (4.6%)

Summary

With one of the world's strongest, economies and high online penetration rate, Japan provides many opportunities for companies to expand globally. For the above reasons, Global eMarketer rank Japan as a Tier 1 country for global online marketing opportunity.

Sussy Shi is a Global Market Research Analyst at Global eMarketer (GeM). GeM is an international business and marketing consulting firm that helps business expand globally from preparation, to implementaion through global online campaign management.

For more information, contact information[at]globalemarketer[dot]com, or visit our website at http://www.globalemarketer.com

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