SEO in Austria

The population of Austria is nearly 8.8 million. According to estimates, in 2023, the country located in Central Europe will be inhabited by over 9 million people. The largest city and the capital of Austria is Vienna (1.8 million inhabitants). Austrians boast a high standard of living, as evidenced by the Human Development Index, which examines well-being based on such factors as fertility rates, life expectancy and the literacy rate of the country.

Austria is an affluent country, with only minor exceptions during the eurozone crisis and the coronavirus pandemic. It is in the TOP 15 countries with the highest GDP per capita in the world and further growth is anticipated. 93% of Austrians have access to the Internet. As for the devices they use to surf the web, their distribution is as follows (data for February 2022):

• computer (57.81%),
• mobile phone (40.01%),
• tablet (2.19%).

Interestingly, unlike in many developed countries and markets, in Austria people still use their computers to browse the Internet. This is certainly important information from the point of view of SEO and optimisation of a website taking into account the habits and behaviour of the users, whose acquisition and favour we care about.

Social media are used by over 81% of Austrians. Year-on-year (2022 vs. 2021), their number increased by 2.2%. When it comes to social media popularity and app usage, the share of each for February 2022 is as follows:

• Facebook (73.69%),
• Pinterest (7.44%),
• Twitter (6.1%),
• Instagram (5.46%),
• YouTube (3.26%),
• Tumblr (2.21%).

As you can see, the clear leader is Facebook, where nearly 3 out of 4 Austrians have an account. Other social media do not have a significant share, which does not mean that they should be forgotten, especially from the perspective of possible performance marketing activities.

E-commerce market in Austria

The value of the e-commerce market in Austria in 2021 exceeded 9 billion US dollars! According to Statista Digital Market, it is expected to keep growing, with an assumed annual growth rate of around 5% until 2025. An extremely important statistic related to online shopping is that as many as 66% of Austrians put at least one product into a virtual shopping cart in 2021 (i.e. 76% of users with Internet access). According to the latest available data, this means no less than 6.41 million people in Austria have used e-commerce services! (year-on-year increase of 3.5%). Each of them spent on average 1,879 US dollars on online shopping.

The situation is similar when it comes to the gender of e-consumers. In fact, the distribution is 50/50, possibly with slight differences in favour of women.

What is extremely important, Austrians are fond of shopping abroad. On the online market, they spend considerably less money on domestic products. This is certainly a differentiator in comparison to other countries, and at the same time a hard argument for those thinking about developing their business in this part of Europe. This fact also has to do with a strong neighbour, i.e. Germany, where most large companies have their headquarters (e.g. Amazon) and serve Austrian clients from there. Other countries from where products are ordered include: Switzerland, Italy, China and the Czech Republic.

Austrian consumers tend not to return orders. This is definitely an advantage, although not necessarily only because of the buyers’ preferences, but also because of the available return time, which in Austria is usually only a week. Thus, they should definitely appreciate the extension of this type of opportunity to, for example, two weeks, which would be appreciated by potential clients.

The statistical Hans Meier (the Austrian equivalent of John Smith), when deciding to shop online, pays attention to quality at the expense of price, which is of secondary importance. If the product meets their expectations, they are prepared to pay proportionally more for it. They are also pro-environmental in their choices, appreciating solutions that are in harmony with the natural environment.

So what do Austrians buy? In other words, what is sold online in Austria? Let’s see:

• fashion (28%),
• electronics and media (28%),
• toys, hobbies and DIY (21%),
• furniture and household appliances (14%),
• food and personal care (9%).

When it comes to popular e-commerce shops, Germany’s Amazon (data for 2021) leads the way with revenues of US$1.5 billion per year:

• amazon.de (USD 1,477 million),
• zalando.at (USD 441 million),
• mediamarkt.at (USD 299 million),
• universal.at (USD 166 million),
• apple.com (USD 159 million).

Among goods suppliers, Österreichische Post is the leader (59%), followed by DHL (30%) and DPD (15%).

Why should you start promoting your business in Austria?

Austria is a small country with huge opportunities. In terms of revenue from the e-commerce market (9 billion US dollars), it ranks 23rd in the world, ahead of e.g.: the United Arab Emirates. By achieving growth of 14% in 2021, Austria made a significant contribution to the global growth rate, which reached 29%.

The online shopping market is set to continue to grow. This will undoubtedly have an impact on revenues from this source and the further development of e-commerce branches. It is therefore good to take at least a piece of this e-commerce pie, which is an extremely attractive treat.

Throughout the European Union, the Austrian market is considered to be one of the most stable and thus secure for its members. This is due to, for example, the inhibition of the growth of public debt and a low level of inflation.

When considering the expansion of one’s business to the west, including Germany, Austria can be considered as a kind of must-have in terms of finding reliable foreign clients.

Link building in Austria

If you want to conduct effective SEO activities in Austria, you need to remember about quality link building. As in most countries, in order to effectively position your website, you should pay attention to the links leading to it, namely their quality, and not necessarily their quantity. In Austria, this is particularly important and appreciated by Internet consumers. The DR index (domain rating) plays an important role here in the eyes of Google’s algorithms as well as potential customers.

Noteworthy is the fact that it is possible to operate an e-shop under the domain “.de”, which should be just as user-friendly as the native “.at”. More importantly, from an SEO point of view, links from local German sites will also add value to our site.

As in most countries, link diversification should not be forgotten in Austria. It is good if they come not only from quality sites, but also from thematic online forums and social media.

If you have a branch or representative office located in Austria or Germany, it is also worth noting this in your contact or company information from the perspective of local SEO and search results. This will give us additional points in terms of credibility, both for the users themselves and for Google’s algorithms. Also important are quality certificates (e.g. Trusted Shops) and guarantees of business reliability, the logo of which should also be placed in a visible place on the website.