Australia is the sixth-largest country in the world. It’s also one of the seven continents and an island at the same time. It’s definitely a highly developed and multicultural place. Thus, the requirements of society are also at a high level. Thanks to it, you can get the information about what kind of consumers Australians are, what they expect in everyday life or what they demand when it comes to products they purchase and the items they search for on the Internet. Let’s begin with some basic statistics.
According to data from 2017, Australia is inhabited by 24,641,662 people occupying an area of over 7,741,220 square kilometers so it’s quite densely populated. However, for us the most important and interesting data concern Internet users. Australia can proudly announce that as many as 92% of its inhabitants are active Internet users, whereas in the USA the number is only 78%.
Starting from the most important issue - although English is the official language of Australia, the situation isn’t so obvious and simple as there exists a separate variety called Australian English. It consists mainly of British English but there are also some loanwords from American English or various Aboriginal languages. This is a decisive factor when it comes to SEO activities because by knowing some of the Australian words or coinages you can easily show off while selecting appropriate keywords which are the basis of successful SEO.
Source: https://www.asendia.nl/application/files/3215/1688/2350/Australia_Ecommerce_Country_Report_2017_light_002.pdf[/caption]
It should be noted that product categories such as fashion and media are becoming more and more popular - this is a huge opportunity for new and aspiring business owners.
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Source: https://www.asendia.nl/application/files/3215/1688/2350/Australia_Ecommerce_Country_Report_2017_light_002.pdf[/caption]
When taking into consideration website construction and its optimization it’s very important to analyze which devices are most frequently used to finalize the purchase. In 2017, sales via laptops were at the top of the ranking, desktop computers were second and mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets were the third most commonly used medium for finalizing online transactions.
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Source: https://www.asendia.nl/application/files/3215/1688/2350/Australia_Ecommerce_Country_Report_2017_light_002.pdf[/caption]
When you finally decide to introduce your shop to the Australian market, try to find out what influences purchasing decisions. According to research, free delivery is the most appealing asset for Aussies. Remember about it to attract many customers.
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Source: https://www.asendia.nl/application/files/3215/1688/2350/Australia_Ecommerce_Country_Report_2017_light_002.pdf[/caption]
Source: https://www.asendia.nl/application/files/3215/1688/2350/Australia_Ecommerce_Country_Report_2017_light_002.pdf[/caption]
Our next source draws attention to the current changes, it’s mainly about the increasing popularity of Pinterest.
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Source: http://gs.statcounter.com/social-media-stats/all/australia[/caption]
Time zones are a key issue that should be taken into account when creating and publishing your content. We can distinguish three time zones in Australia: Australian Eastern Standard Time, Australian Central Standard Time and Australian Western Standard Time. However, there’s no need to worry - detailed information concerning every time zone in Australia can be found on the Internet, for example here: Australia - current local time.
SEO vs. Australian English
Before matching keywords to particular pages, it’s worth to familiarize yourself with the most common words in Australia. The most famous ones whose etymology dates back to the Aboriginal Times are kangaroo or boomerang. You should realize that despite the fact that Australian English strongly relies on the British variety of the Shakespearean language, numerous American words can also be found there. Instances of such words include: tap instead of faucet or truck instead of lorry. Spelling exceptions, meaning program instead of programme, harbor instead of harbour or Australian Labor, not Labour, Party are also important.Pay attention to diminutives
Diminutives are another meaningful factor and Australians simply love them. The most popular ones are: arvo (afternoon), bizzo (business), doco (documentary), evo (evening), journo (journalist), servo (service station/gas station), Aussie (Australian), barbie (barbeque), bikkie (biscuit), brekkie (breakfast), chokkie (chocolate), Chrissie (Christmas), exy (expensive), kindie (kindergarten), lippy (lipstick), oldies (parents), possie (position), prezzie (present), sunnies (sunglasses), vedgie (vegetable), nana (banana) and roo (kangaroo). Now it’s time for a few typical Australian words which aren’t used in other varieties of English, yet may be vital when it comes to SEO for online stores:- barrack (for sb) – cheer;
- daks – trousers, pants;
- dinkum – genuine, true;
- lolly – sweet, candy;
- Oz – Australia;
- snag – sausage.