Bans and restrictions on some websites are posing challenges to Search Engine Optimization) specialists in Iran, a report shows.
Specialists use SEO to increase the rank of webpages in search engines like Google. It helps increase traffic from free, organic, editorial, or natural surfing in search engines.
According to the comprehensive SEO report, which has been published in cooperation with 541 SEO managers and specialists by Triboon, filtering poses the biggest challenge as it accounts for 78% of all problems in this field, Peivast reported.
Web filtering in Iran has been legitimized by the implementation of Internet Protection Plan (which limits the internet to domestic sites) and Internet Classification Plan (in which designated groups of people get access to some websites, while others do not).
The 20% update of Google algorithms and 18% lower efficiency for backlinks are other factors undermining domestic SEO.
Another problem is that the average income of female SEO specialists in Iran is 60% lower than that of male specialists.
Based on this report, 61% of SEO specialists have a monthly income ranging from 50 million rials ($109) to 180 million rials ($394). This is while the monthly income of female SEO specialists is between 50 million rials ($109) and 100 million rials ($219). In general, the average monthly income for women and men is 100 million rials ($219) and 160 million rials ($350), respectively.
Iranian SEO specialists name “creation of a useful and high-quality content” as the most effective factor in boosting a site’s ranking in the fiscal 2022-23. It was followed by “technical SEO”, “user experience” and “internal SEO”.
Improved keyword ranking, the rise in organic traffic and higher sales were among key factors used by SEO experts to measure the success of their initiatives. While employers and companies expect SEO schemes to increase online sales, it is the third factor measured by SEO specialists to check their effectiveness.
According to the report, while most SEO experts are employed as SEO specialist in companies, 26% are employed as SEO manager and 21% are employed as senior expert.
The report’s statistics indicate that the cost of content creation in the fiscal 2022-23 has increased compared with the previous fiscal.
SEO specialists claim that they spend most of their budget on "content creation", "fixing technical issues of the site" and "advertising".
Iran Internet Speed Downslides
The speed of the fixed wireless internet has increased in the first month of 2023 compared to the previous month, while that of mobile network has continued to decline further, according to the Speedtest web service’s latest survey on global internet speed.
Data released by Speedtest.net show Iran’s internet speed (according to the median index) declined two places for fixed wireless internet while that of mobile fell one spot from the previous month.
The website used to use two median and mean (average) indicators to measure the ranking and quality of internet worldwide. The mean index is the average, but the median is the middle point of statistical data. In this report, only median indicator. The website claims that global rankings are reported based on median download speed “to best reflect the speeds a user is likely to experience in a market”.
Iran’s fixed internet speed ranked 146th (out of 179 countries) while mobile internet speed was at 56th place (out of 138 countries) in January.
Median fixed internet download speed is currently 11.44 Mbps, upload speed is 1.84 Mbps and latency is 29 milliseconds. This is while the median mobile internet download speed is 35.87 Mbps, upload speed is 10.05 and latency is 29 milliseconds.
According to Speedtest, the median global mobile internet download speed is 37.98 Mbps, upload speed is 9.75 Mbps and latency is 28 milliseconds. On fixed internet, the download speed is 76.34 Mbps, upload speed is 33.36 Mbps and latency is 10 milliseconds.
The UAE median mobile internet download speed stood at 161.15 Mbps in January to rank first in the world. It was followed by Qatar with 155.51 Mbps, Norway with 128.14 Mbps, South Korea with 124.84 Mbps, Denmark with 117.83 Mbps, the Netherlands with 115.1 Mbps, Kuwait with 109.93 Mbps, China with 99.48 Mbps, Saudi Arabia with 97.9 Mbps and Bahrain with 95.83 Mbps.
For median fixed internet speed, Singapore ranked first with 234.55 Mbps. Chile with 224.84 Mbps, China with 211.34 Mbps, the UAE with 207.41 Mbps, Hong Kong with 206.71 Mbps, Thailand with 201.81 Mbps, the US Monaco with 200.7 Mbps, the US with 195.31 Mbps, Denmark with 195.26 Mbps and Spain with 172.67 Mbps came next.
The Iranian government has launched a fiber optic project to improve the quality of fixed internet and intends to eliminate the backlog of internet registration by expanding facilities for users and operators.
