There was a time when the DMT industry was doing well in Pakistan but today this industry has limited reach in Pakistan due to better performance in competing countries. Currently, India, Bangladesh, and the Philippines are implementing DMT outsourcing projects.
Conversely, outsourcing to other areas such as SEO, content writing, data entry, web development, and graphic design has grown rapidly in Pakistan. Most of this outsourcing is done through sites like Fiverr, Freelancer, and Upwork. Surprisingly, individual freelancers make up over 90% of this outsourcing industry, with the rest going to agencies. According to the Global Gig Economy Index by global payment platform Payoneer, Pakistan has the fourth highest freelance income.
SEO and its scope
Of all the outsourcing areas, I will be talking about SEO and its future.
First, let me explain what SEO is and how you can take advantage of the opportunities in this area.
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, which is the process of getting a website or page on the top pages of search engines like Google.
Better SEO efforts, better results on Google and other search engines.
Why is this important?
Any business can earn thousands of users every day if their website is on the first page of Google for a keyword people are searching for.
As you know, users are potential customers and customers are the heart of any business. Therefore, appearing at the top of the search results contributes to the success of any business.
With the rise of digital marketing, the scope of SEO is growing worldwide as Google dominates the online search and advertising market. Google has a 92% market share in the search engine industry.
With hundreds and thousands of websites being created every day, it's getting harder to rank on Google, making competition for new businesses fierce. After all, SEO is an integral part of your marketing strategy.
That's why most companies have started outsourcing their SEO services to countries like India, Pakistan, and China in an effort to cut costs.
This is certainly an interesting factor for most companies as they have to pay 50% less for the same work.
The rise of SEO outsourcing
To date, most of the SEO outsourcing market is dominated by India and Pakistan. The reason for this is that both countries have resources of well-written English talent that require SEO skills. While the Philippines, which are the leader in the DMT industry, cannot compete in the SEO market because they currently do not have the capability. With this advantage, India and Pakistan are the best choices for SEO outsourcing.
Potential in the SEO market
According to a recent study, the SEO Services in Lahore are expected to receive $79 billion in spending by 2022. This shows a huge opportunity for Pakistan to be gained by training more people in SEO.
Imagine if we could capture 1 to 5 percent of this $79 billion industry, it could definitely make a huge difference.
Currently, Pakistan lacks universities and training schools that offer SEO and digital marketing courses. It is very unfortunate and at the same time very interesting that freelancers have been able to acquire these skills through self-learning. This is because basic SEO services are easy to learn and require no technical skills. With these skills, you can transition into freelancing.
Given the above facts, I see two huge opportunities for Pakistan in this area.
First, we can train a large number of people in SEO in a short period of time, which can easily win a larger share of the freelance market.
By us, I mean that marketing companies, training academies or experts can offer courses that can help them earn money and train people to work as SEO freelancers and find jobs locally.
Recently, we've seen a big trend of international courses, which I think is the next big step. I highly recommend taking online courses if you are looking for a career in SEO. They are worth every penny.
The second option applies to Pakistani companies currently operating abroad. They can easily compete with the international market and become industry leaders by investing in SEO. This investment can generate a higher ROI than the competition.
