The Czech market has a decent level of digital maturity and is strategically positioned in the centre of Europe, making it very attractive to businesses wanting to expand internationally, particularly those with a physical presence in Europe. This guide will explore how best to approach digital marketing in the Czech Republic. From reading this guide, you will learn the current digital landscape in the country, including internet penetration rates, online trends and behaviours, device usage, and the dominant search engines and social networks. You will also learn about the complexities of language and culture in the Czech Republic and what this means in terms of digital marketing. Finally, you will learn how to approach e-commerce in order to achieve success in the Czech Republic.
Table of contents
- Introduction
- The typical Czech internet user
- Device usage in the Czech Republic
- Search engine marketing in the Czech Republic
- Social media marketing in the Czech Republic
- The local culture and language in the Czech Republic
- E-commerce in the Czech Republic
- Conclusion
Introduction
The Czech Republic is an attractive prospect to many businesses looking to expand internationally, and there are several reasons why.
The first reason is its strategic geographical location. A central European country, it is well-placed to do business with brands with a physical presence in Europe.
It also has a decent level of digital maturity, with some room for continued growth. The Czech Republic has a population of 10.6 million people. Of these people, around 86% are currently online.
However, it can be challenging to enter a new market. Never fear, this guide is here to shed light on how best to harness the power of digital marketing to succeed in the Czech Republic.
The typical Czech internet user
Let's begin by looking at who exactly the typical internet user is in the Czech Republic.
There is a fairly equal gender split, with 87% of males and 85% of females using the internet.
The table below shows internet usage by age group in the Czech Republic. As you can see, there are high levels of internet usage (over 90%) across the entire 15 to 74 age group, with this then dropping off dramatically over the age of 75:
Be aware there is a slight urban-rural digital divide in the Czech Republic, with 88% of people in urban areas using the internet, compared to 83% of people in rural areas. However, the country's government has pledged to address this issue in its National Plan for the Development of Very High Capacity Networks, so do not let this put you off.
The typical Czech internet user spends 6 hours and 13 minutes online every day. So, what are these people doing online? Research by Meltwater and We Are Social found that the top three reasons Czech users gave for using the internet were: finding information, researching how to do things, and staying in touch with friends and family.
Let's briefly turn our attention to some key concerns of Czech internet users. Online privacy is important to this group. According to recent research, 46% of Czech internet users decline cookies on websites, 35% worry about how companies might use their online data, 29% use ad blocking tools, and 24% use a VPN to access the internet.
Device usage in the Czech Republic
Looking at device usage, 59% of internet traffic in the Czech Republic comes from mobile phones, 39% comes from desktop computers, and 2% comes from tablets.
This means that it is extremely important to have a mobile-friendly website to meet the demands of internet users and provide them with a positive user experience when interacting with your brand and website. Mobile-friendliness is also an increasingly crucial ranking factor for search engines, so not optimising your website for mobile will prove detrimental to your organic traffic.
Given the dominance of mobile, it should come as no surprise that apps are popular in the Czech Republic. The popularity of apps presents a big opportunity for brands wanting to target the Czech market. If you create an app, make sure to localise the language, especially if you are B2C. Make sure your app functions correctly and is valuable for users, otherwise your brand might suffer not only from poor return-on-investment but also negative reviews.
Internet speeds are around the global median on mobile, but slower than the global median on broadband. The Czech Republic ranks 43rd in the world for mobile internet speed, with a median speed of 99.73 MB per second. It ranks 83rd for fixed broadband speed, with a median speed of 80.58 MB per second.
Given the variable internet speeds in the country, it is crucial to optimise your website for speed. If your website is too heavy and loads too slowly, this will result in higher bounce rates, meaning you could lose potential customers before they even have a chance to see what you have to offer. Google's PageSpeed Insights tool is very useful for diagnosing any speed problems with your website and suggesting what you can do to make it faster.
Search engine marketing in the Czech Republic
Unlike most other countries in the world where Google reigns supreme, the Czech Republic has a unique search engine landscape where Google shares the stage with a homegrown competitor: Seznam. This means you may need to slightly rethink your search marketing strategy when targeting the Czech market.
Google is the most popular search engine in the Czech Republic, with a market share of 82%. Seznam comes in second place with a respectable 11%, followed by Bing with 3% and Yandex with 3%.
Since Google is in first place, it should be the focus of your SEO and PPC efforts. If you want more in-depth information on how to succeed at search marketing on Google, we have this guide to on-page optimisation for Google and this guide to search and display advertising on Google.
But, with Seznam also accounting for a sizeable chunk of searches done in the country, it is also worth considering Seznam as part of your search marketing efforts. (We will look more in-depth at Seznam in the next section of this guide.)
We cannot stress enough how vital it is to have a strong presence on the search engines. Recent research has found that search engines are the number one main channel for online brand research in the Czech Republic, as well as the number one source of brand discovery.
However, be aware that 29% of Czech internet users use an ad blocking tool. This means you do not want to rely completely on search advertising. Your organic SEO and content marketing efforts must also be given the attention they deserve in order to reach those internet users who have turned on an ad blocker.
A closer look at Seznam
The story of the Czech search engine, Seznam, started in 1996. Initially, its founder Ivo Lukačovič established Seznam as an online catalogue of the most popular webpages on the Czech web. By sorting the webpages into categories, he managed to build a very well-arranged portal, enabling users to find all kinds of services with the help of keywords. At this time, Seznam comprised of around 1,000 webpages of Czech businesses and services.
As the years went on, Seznam introduced more and more services, and the search engine attracted more and more Czech internet users. Seznam has developed massively since its early days, and nowadays offers a great array of features and services, including:
- search engine
- search advertising platform (Sklik)
- data analytics system (Seznam Reporter)
- maps
- news
- weather
- video
- online shopping
- catalogue of companies
- real estate
- lifestyle and celebrity news
- holidays
- TV guide
- podcasts
- games
- and more...
As it grew its portfolio of services, Seznam became very popular with Czech internet users, attracting millions of visits per day. Indeed, Seznam was the dominant search engine in the Czech Republic from 1996 all the way to around 2011, when Google finally overtook the homegrown search engine.
Since then, Google has been the dominant search engine in the Czech Republic, but with Seznam still maintaining a respectable 11% of the search engine market share, you cannot forget Seznam entirely when it comes to your search marketing strategy in the country.
So, why is Seznam still doing so well in the Czech Republic, when Google has all but flattened the competition in most other countries? Firstly, and most importantly, Seznam is tailored to the Czech people, the Czech market and the Czech language. On the homepage, everything is in Czech, and the search engine uses its knowledge of the country and its people to provide the most accurate results for a Czech audience.
A good example is Seznam's map service, Mapy.cz, which provides very detailed information about the countryside, mountains and woods (available in offline mode because of the often slow or absent internet connections in such places). This is great for Czechs, who are well-known for their interest in hiking. Google cannot provide as accurate results when it comes to maps for hiking trails, and it would not make sense for Google to provide such a service when it is so unique to the Czech population. However, Seznam knows Czech people and their interests, and it knows that this is something of great value to them. Seznam is the dominant search engine in the country when it comes to maps.
If we compare the search engines side by side, Seznam and Google present very different results for the same query. Below are a few results for the same word, searched for on the Czech version of Google in the Czech Republic, and on Seznam.cz.
For the word "kos", the Czech equivalent of "blackbird", Seznam correctly displays organic search results for the animal, including pictures. Google.cz, however, displays results for the Greek island of Kos. This is a good example of how Seznam has a better understanding of the Czech language.
However, Seznam is rarely better than Google when it comes to the quality of the results it provides. If we search for the Czech word "banán", which means "banana", we can see that Google.cz provides results with nutritional information about the fruit on the right-hand side of the search engine results page, whilst Seznam provides mixed results and no pictures:
Furthermore, when it comes to directions, Google is again a definite winner. If we search for the phrase "Praha Brno vlak", meaning "Prague Brno train", we are presented with the following results:
Google's results have the classic table we have become accustomed to, directly providing the information on the next available trains for this journey, together with the times and distance. Seznam, on the other hand, gives results that would require the user to click on the links, and take more time to find the answer they are looking for.
Both Google and Seznam offer services for paid search advertising: Google Ads and Seznam's Sklik. Let's compare how ads are displayed on the two search engines. Here, we have searched for "dámské boty nike", which means "women's shoes Nike":
As you can see, Seznam has more options when it comes to the position of the ads, and it displays more ads per page than Google does.
So, what is our advice regarding SEO and PPC on Seznam? Obviously, the focus of your SEO and PPC efforts should be on Google, but to what extent should you set aside time and budget for SEO and PPC on Seznam?
Regarding SEO, the good news is that Google's optimisation principles largely work for Seznam too. So, if you optimise for Google, the chances are you will also rank well on Seznam. Like Google, Seznam's search algorithm is all about the user and content, page titles, meta tags, backlinks, etc.
Regarding PPC, the answer is "it depends". You will have to check what type of audience and queries tend to be popular on Seznam, if you want to know whether it is worth advertising on Seznam or not. You may find that Seznam works better when it comes to local searches related to local businesses.
Preparing your website for the Czech Republic
Check that your geotargeting is correctly set up for your Czech website. This will vary depending on how you structure your domains, but you are likely to need hreflang tags correctly implemented to ensure that your Czech-targeted pages rank above your other country pages.
You should also check your website speed from within the Czech Republic, and if the loading speed is slow, consider hosting your website on a local server. You do not want to go through all the effort of creating, designing and localising your website, just to have those efforts undone by poor loading speeds and high bounce rates as a result.
If you sell products on your website, make sure to display prices in the local currency, use local weights and measurements, and accept local online payment methods.
It is also important to make the most of positive reviews and testimonials and to display these prominently on your website, since these are very important to Czech consumers.
And finally, make a point of creating and displaying local content, telling stories that are relatable and relevant to the local audience. This also includes the visuals and photos that accompany your written content.
Social media marketing in the Czech Republic
Social media is popular in the Czech Republic. Research by Meltwater and We Are Social found that amongst its sample of Czech internet users, 79% were social media users. The average internet user spends 1 hour and 49 minutes on social media every day and uses an average of 6 social platforms every month. The most common reasons for using social media are keeping in touch with friends and family, filling spare time, and reading news stories.
So, where are Czech social media users spending their time? As you can see in the graph below, Facebook is the most popular social platform in the Czech Republic, followed by WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Instagram. All these platforms are used by more than half of all Czech internet users every month.
With 79% of Czech internet users being social media users, it is vitally important for brands to have a social media presence when targeting the Czech Republic. You should use social media to communicate and engage with potential customers, and it is also a useful way of understanding and getting to know your target audience. You should aim to create content that triggers emotions in users by offering real value or a real connection with your brand. Although you will obviously need to post localised content on your Czech social media accounts that caters to your audience in the country, your social media strategy will not differ significantly for the Czech Republic compared to how you do it for other countries. For example:
- Facebook is a great platform to be on if you are a B2C brand. By posting regular, engaging content, you have a huge opportunity to engage with potential clients and drive sales. Not only that, but Facebook's highly specific targeting capabilities mean that you can use Facebook advertising to reach new users who fit your target audience profile perfectly. We have an in-depth guide to advertising on Facebook, if you want more detailed information about this.
- WhatsApp is a hugely popular messaging platform and could be used by your brand as a way of providing customer service. Depending on your sector, customers may welcome this as a convenient way to communicate with your business and ask you questions.
- Facebook Messenger can be used to support your Facebook marketing efforts. You can use it as a communication channel to message your prospective customers. It is also possible to run ads in Facebook Messenger, which will appear in the Chats tab of the user's Facebook Messenger app. When a user taps on an ad, they are shown a call-to-action of your choosing, which could take them to your website, your app, or start a chat with your company within Facebook Messenger.
- Instagram is a great platform for B2C brands to be on, particularly if your products are in a visually-appealing sector such as fashion, design, cosmetics or travel. The way the platform is used in the Czech Republic is very similar to other countries in the world, and the advertising options remain the same – but naturally, you would need to create a localised account that caters to your audience in the country and is relevant to them. We have an in-depth guide to marketing on Instagram, if you want more detailed information about this.
Of course, you do not need to be on every social media platform; you only need to be where your audience is. Research your industry and your audience before entering the market, see what platforms they prefer and prioritise them. Bear in mind that your audience will most likely be present on multiple platforms and interact with you across all of them, but they will not want to see the same things from you on all of them. Your content strategy should take into consideration both who your audience is and where they are interacting with you.
The local culture and language in the Czech Republic
Culture
When entering any new market, it is very important to be aware of the local culture and to adapt your marketing collateral appropriately. One way you can examine the Czech culture is through the lens of Hofstede's cultural dimensions.
The Czech Republic has a score of 57 for power distance, placing it around the middle of the spectrum. This means that:
- Whilst social hierarchies do exist, they are not extremely strict and people lower down in the hierarchy nevertheless still expect to have a voice.
- When doing B2B marketing, target numerous personas – both senior and junior – as this will cover the multiple perspectives that may be taken into account during the decision-making process.
The Czech Republic has a fairly high score of 70 for individualism. This means that:
- The Czech Republic is an individualist society.
- In individualist societies, people tend to see themselves as standalone individuals, rather than as part of a group. People are expected to prioritise their own and their family's personal wellbeing, and to support themselves rather than expect support from wider society. Independence, self-reliance and initiative are desirable qualities.
- Emphasise how your product or service can personally benefit them as an individual.
The Czech Republic has a score of 57 for motivation towards achievement and success, placing it around the middle of the spectrum. This means that:
- Being successful is important, but so is having a good quality of life and having a work-life balance.
- Use a mix of messaging, mentioning how your products or services can help boost both success and wellbeing.
The Czech Republic has a fairly high score of 74 for uncertainty avoidance. This means that:
- People are uncomfortable with uncertainty.
- They want to see specific statements about products and services, rather than vague generalisations. Explain your offerings in terms of their detailed processes, not their vague potential results.
- They want to know in-depth about your product features, and for this reason product demos are popular.
- It is crucial to build brand trust in such a culture, and therefore brand awareness is important.
- Featuring quality assurance information and awards on your website will generate good results, as this will build brand trust.
The Czech Republic has a score of 51 for long-term orientation, placing it around the middle of the spectrum. This means that:
- People are interested in the past, present and future. Tradition is valued, but so is innovation.
- Use a mix of messaging to appeal to both short-term and long-term orientations. Talk about how your product or service can help the customer both immediately and in the future, since both quick, instant results and long-term benefits are valued.
The Czech Republic has a fairly low score of 29 for indulgence. This means that:
- The Czech Republic is quite a restrained society.
- People are good at controlling their impulses and desires – and may in fact see indulgence as a negative thing.
- When coming up with your marketing messaging, make sure not to come across as promoting something overly extravagant or gaudy, as this may be seen as distasteful.
From our experience helping global brands succeed in the Czech market, we can add that blog posts are a popular content type in the Czech Republic.
Furthermore, affiliate marketing can be a good strategy for building your brand awareness when you first enter the market.
Language
Whilst the EF English Proficiency Index ranks the Czech Republic as having "high" English proficiency, it is still preferable to create content in the local language, rather than English, if possible – particularly if you are a B2C brand. Using English could give the impression that you do not really care about the market, since you cannot be bothered to communicate with them in their language, which could give a poor impression of your brand.
The language you should use when targeting the Czech Republic is Czech. Czech is a West Slavic language. It uses the Latin alphabet, is written from left to right, and has three grammatical genders (masculine, feminine and neuter).
The Czech alphabet has 42 letters (all 26 letters of the English alphabet, plus the 16 Czech characters á, č, ď, é, ě, ch, í, ň, ó, ř, š, ť, ú, ů, ý and ž). The diacritical marks used over some characters either prolong the pronunciation of vowels or soften the consonant. There are many words in the Czech language where the usage of diacritical marks completely alters the meaning of a word. For example, the Czech word "plast" means plastic, whereas "plášť" means cloak. Similarly, whilst "Svatek" is a Czech surname, "svátek" is the Czech word for holiday.
You should also be aware that the Czech language has formal and informal forms. Formal forms of address are typically used to interact with other people as this shows respect and politeness, with informal language being reserved for family and friends. Czechs tend to respect the distinction between formal and informal forms.
Translation and copywriting should always be done by a professional native Czech speaker. Only a native will have a proper grasp of the local linguistic and cultural nuances and be able to create content that will truly resonate with your local Czech audience.
Be aware that people in the Czech Republic will think poorly of you if you have mistakes in your written Czech content. If your content contains linguistic errors or if a translation does not make sense, your brand image could be damaged, with the poor-quality content gaining you a reputation as an unprofessional company.
You should also be aware that the Czech language is on average 10% longer than English. Therefore, be prepared to provide guidance on character limits and the space available for content on your webpage, and be conscious of how this can have an impact on things like your calls-to-action and product descriptions.
Speaking of calls-to-action, do not directly translate your calls-to-action from English, as a direct translation is unlikely to resonate and work well in the Czech Republic. Instead, do some research to find out which calls-to-action are commonly used online in the Czech Republic in your sector. As a general rule, Czechs prefer straightforwardness, so do not be afraid to be direct in your language.
Another area of digital marketing that is impacted by the Czech language is dynamic keyword insertion. Czech does not always take dynamic keyword insertion kindly, due to grammatical gender issues. Dynamic keyword insertion puts you at risk of producing copy that is faulty and off-putting. If you must use dynamic keyword insertion, make sure to use several templates to adapt to as many cases as possible and limit errors.
It is also important to think about your keywords. Keywords should never be translated; instead, you should always conduct local keyword research. This is because a translation will probably not produce keywords that have the most impact in the target market. Only fresh keyword research conducted by a native speaker will reveal the best keywords to target. The video below explains in six minutes why you should never translate keywords:
When it comes to targeting keywords in your PPC campaigns, you might have a bit of doubt when it comes to diacritical marks, of which Czech has a few (á, č, ď, é, ě, í, ň, ó, ř, š, ť, ú, ů, ý and ž). Of course, when it comes to your content, you should always use them and make sure they are used correctly. But when deciding which keywords to target in your paid advertising campaigns, you may want to target keywords in their diacritic and non-diacritic forms. Many times, Czech-speaking users will make their search queries without any diacritical marks just to save time, so if you do not target these keywords, you might be losing some valuable search volume.
E-commerce in the Czech Republic
E-commerce is popular in the Czech Republic. 75% of Czechs have made a purchase using a mobile phone or the internet in the past year. The B2C e-commerce market in the Czech Republic is worth the equivalent of USD 7.24 billion annually. The average Czech B2C shopper spends the equivalent of USD 1,264 online per year.
So, what are people in the Czech Republic buying online? The consumer goods categories with the highest annual spend are fashion, electronics and food.
The main drivers of online purchases are key indicators as to what Czech users value most when making their online purchasing decisions, giving you an opportunity to understand what is best to highlight in your marketing collateral and calls-to-action, so that you can convert leads into customers. Free delivery is the top driver of online purchasing behaviour in the Czech Republic, with 60% saying this would encourage them to buy. This is followed by coupons and discounts with 47% and customer reviews with 41%.
Looking at e-commerce payment methods, bank transfers are the most popular option, accounting for 33% of online purchases. Cards come in second place with 25%, followed by e-wallets (22%) and cash-on-delivery (15%). It would therefore be wise to offer multiple payment options when targeting the Czech market, since various payment methods have significant popularity.
Another important thing to remember is to ensure you are selling in the correct currency: Czech koruna (Kč or CZK). This may sound obvious, but you would be surprised how many businesses see poor results simply because they have neglected to localise the currency on their website.
When creating your price labels, be aware that the Czech Republic is one of the countries that uses the comma as a decimal separator, and not the point. Furthermore, the comma is not used as a thousand separator; instead, groups of digits are typically separated by a space. This is different from how numbers are written in English-speaking countries. The bullet points below illustrate this by demonstrating how to write one hundred thousand pounds/koruna. When targeting the Czech Republic, make sure that your prices follow the Czech standard, to ensure clarity.
- In English: £100,000.00
- In Czech: 100 000,00 Kč
Alternatively, you could sell your products on an e-commerce marketplace. The most popular e-commerce marketplace in the Czech Republic is Temu, followed by Alza, Bazoš, Heureka and Zboží. If you want to sell your items on an online marketplace, Temu should therefore be your first choice when targeting the Czech Republic.
Once you have sold a product, you still need to get it to the customer. The most popular delivery methods for items bought online are delivery to a parcel locker (41%), delivery to a parcel shop (29%) and home delivery (25%), so it would be wise to offer these delivery options (if applicable).
Be aware that there are seasonal fluctuations in the Czech e-commerce calendar, when people are more likely to buy. There are several important events around which online sales increase in the Czech Republic: Valentine's Day (14 February), Marianne Days (April), Amazon Prime Day (July), Black Friday (late November), Cyber Monday (late November) and Christmas (25 December). Make sure you tap into this seasonality when selling your products and coming up with your marketing materials.
Conclusion
The Czech market is one that is strategically placed in the heart of Europe and has a decent level of digital maturity. It is a market that is rightfully drawing the attention of an increasing number of global brands. We hope this guide has given you a good starting point from which to build your Czech success story. If you localise your strategy effectively, your digital marketing and business expansion efforts in the country have the potential to go far. Good luck!
To learn more about digital marketing in the Czech Republic, click here.
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