The eSIM market is becoming increasingly competitive, which means eSIM companies need to put in a little extra effort to attract the right audiences, and that includes updating their SEO techniques, which in many cases are still stuck in the past.
A lot of brands continue to use the same old methods, despite the changing business landscape, and it shows, as this translates into missed opportunities and lower conversion rates. This doesn’t mean that the strategies that have carried them this far are no longer needed and should be removed from the equation; it simply means they are no longer enough, so eSIM companies should focus on what’s missing and adapt their SEO accordingly if they want to improve visibility.
Destination pages still matter
For the longest time, destination pages have been the bread and butter of SEO for eSIM brands and it worked like a charm. Building pages that responded to destination-based queries like best eSIM for Bali or Holafly eSIM option for Japan helped providers connect with travellers who were looking for the exact products they offered.
So, why is this approach losing its effectiveness, you may be wondering? Well, it’s precisely because this technique worked so well that every eSIM provider started adopting it. And when everyone does the same thing, it ceases to provide a competitive advantage. Because maintaining destination pages has become a universal strategy, it no longer functions as a differentiator that can set providers apart.
Nevertheless, these pages still play a key role in the SEO scheme because they serve a practical purpose: they offer people information about the locations that eSIM providers support, so it’s not something they should eliminate from their SEO strategy. If someone wants to know if the company provides eSIM plans for Turkey, a dedicated destination page will answer their questions regarding availability, compatibility, price, validity, plan features, and so on.
Old tactics, new ways
It’s pretty obvious that destination pages are a must, so companies don’t have to get rid of them, but of the erroneous belief that these pages alone can carry the entire SEO load. One of the first aspects that needs to be addressed is the fact that most eSIM companies use the same formula to create their destination pages. They cover the same aspects, focus on internal links, and include basic recommendations for each destination, so the pages end up looking almost identical, as if they’ve been copy-pasted.
Needless to say, Google doesn’t appreciate repetitive content that doesn’t bring anything new to the table. While this doesn’t necessarily mean that the search giant sees destination pages as spammy, it does serve as a reminder that following very similar approaches when creating pages doesn’t offer any advantage.
That’s why eSIM providers should strive to add a touch of originality when creating their destination pages. For instance, people don’t just want to know about the destinations that the company supports, but also about the advantages that their eSIM plans provide, something that most destination pages don’t touch upon, so making sure to mention the strong suits alongside the location may help brands build more authority, not only attract fleeting traffic.
Offering more detailed information about the plans, addressing regional quirks and factors like policies and restrictions or coverage quality that could impact their eSIM experience, and sharing tips and advice on how to ensure optimum connectivity can also make a notable difference. To sum things up, it’s a matter of quality over quantity.
What else should eSIM businesses add to the SEO mix?
Destination availability is the first aspect that travellers have in mind when searching for an eSIM, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Then other needs and requirements come into play, because not all eSIM users are looking for the same thing. Someone who’s going on a business trip has other needs than a person who’s planning a quick city break, or a digital nomad who wants to travel across several different countries.
Therefore, eSIM brands need to tailor their offering and their content around travellers’ personal needs. Many providers, including Holafly, have already adapted their services and rolled out dedicated plans for different types of travellers, moving beyond the destination-centric approach.
This shift should also be reflected in the SEO strategy and prompt eSIM businesses to build pages that respond to high-intent searches. Think queries like “best eSIM for business travel”, “data plan for students who study abroad”, “eSIM plan for Mediterranean cruise”, or “multi-country Europe travel data plan”. These are the types of services that travellers actually seek.
Some companies may be reluctant to include terms with lower search volume in their strategy and create entire pages around them, thinking it might cause them to lose traffic, but this niche approach could lead to more conversions than general content that caters to everyone and no one. Very specific intent pages offer clarity, relevance and attract backlinks from other sites like travel blogs, which also helps brands appear in AI searches, an increasingly important segment of the search journey.
Another smart SEO tactic is to have country pages link to intent pages. So, a page that targets eSIM plans for Japan can link to others that discuss business or leisure travel, or plans that provide coverage across multiple countries in the region.
Technical SEO is also something that eSIM companies shouldn’t forget about. This is crucial given that eSIM platforms have quite an intricate architecture that brings together a large number of pages and features, all of which should function flawlessly, otherwise users will waste no time in heading to a different provider. And it’s not just users that eSIM brands have to keep happy, but Google as well, by improving crawlability so the search engine can easily access and index pages.
In the end, SEO is not a fixed science, and eSIM companies have to keep up with the changes and update their strategies, so they can maintain their competitive edge.