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SEO, digital marketing and advertising agencies in Dhaka: the wholesale market, the trade fair and the neighbourhood search

How a Dhaka business should hire an SEO expert, a digital marketing company or an advertising agency, built on the Dhaka district portal's trade and commerce page (updated 18 September 2026), Google's local ranking rules, StatCounter figures and Google's Bangladesh tax rule.

Published by AI Knows Us · Updated 22 October 2026

To choose an SEO expert, a digital marketing company or an advertising agency in Dhaka, start with the kind of buyer you need to reach: a shopper a few streets away, a retailer from another district buying wholesale, or a customer abroad. A Gulshan restaurant, an Islampur cloth wholesaler and a Dhamrai brass maker all search for "digital marketing in Dhaka", and each needs a different plan. Ask any provider which of these jobs it does well, ask to see a live example of it, and keep your Business Profile, website, Facebook page and ad accounts in your own company's name.

Dhaka's trades and what each one needs from search

The Dhaka district portal (dhaka.gov.bd) lists the district's main trades and products on its trade and commerce page, last updated on 18 September 2026. We read it in Bangla on 22 October 2026. Each entry points to a different kind of marketing.

Trade, as the portal describes itWho buysWhat the marketing has to do
Islampur in Old Dhaka, one of the country's largest wholesale cloth markets, where retailers from all over Bangladesh buyShop owners from other districtsBe findable by retailers: a Business Profile, a clear product and price list, and a phone or WhatsApp number that answers
Dhakai Benarasi silk saris from Tantibazar and the Mirpur Benarasi Palli, in demand at home and abroad for weddingsFamilies buying for weddings, in Bangladesh and abroadProduct pages with real photos, Facebook and Instagram, and English pages for buyers overseas
Gold and silver jewellery made by hand in TantibazarWedding and festival shoppersA strong local profile, photos of real pieces and honest claims about purity and price
Brass and bronze ware from Dhamrai, sold at home and exportedGift buyers, collectors and importersEnglish export pages that show the craft, sizes, materials and shipping
The Shahbag flower market, busiest on 21 February, Victory Day and festivalsThe public, florists and event organisersAds and posts timed to those dates, and a profile that shows opening hours
Hotels in Gulshan, Banani and Tejgaon used by foreign visitors and business travellers, and restaurants from Old Dhaka biryani houses to fine dining in Gulshan, Banani and DhanmondiTravellers and diners searching near themMaps, reviews and photos; for hotels, English pages and a clear booking route

The same page also lists Ruhitpur lungis from Keraniganj, the conch shell crafts of Shankharibazar and the revival of Dhakai muslin. Name your row before you brief anyone.

Local SEO in a city of neighbourhoods

Google's help page on local ranking says local results are "mainly based on relevance, distance, and popularity", and that "There's no way to request or pay for a better local ranking on Google." In Dhaka, distance does a great deal of the work. A diner in Dhanmondi is shown restaurants near Dhanmondi, not the best one in Uttara. So a local SEO expert in Dhaka spends most of the time on four things:

  • One Business Profile for each real branch, each with its own address, hours, phone number and photos.
  • The category that matches what the branch actually sells, chosen from Google's list.
  • Reviews answered, and asked for in the same way from every customer, with nothing offered in return.
  • A page on your website for each branch, naming its area and the services it offers there.

A business that visits customers, such as a repair or cleaning service, can set a service area instead of showing an address. Google allows up to 20 service areas on a profile. Our field by field Business Profile audit shows what to check on each one.

The trade fair and other dated campaigns

Some of Dhaka's biggest selling moments have fixed dates. The portal records that the 30th Dhaka International Trade Fair, run by the Export Promotion Bureau and the Ministry of Commerce, opened on 3 January 2026 rather than the announced 1 January, at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Exhibition Centre in Purbachal. It runs for a month, and 324 stalls, pavilions and restaurants were allotted, to Bangladeshi and foreign companies.

For an exhibitor, the fair is a campaign with a start and an end. Publish a page with your stall details and fair offers before it opens, point Facebook and Google ads at that page, and collect enquiries in a way that records consent. Do the same for wedding season, Eid and the Shahbag flower dates if they drive your sales. Check in Keyword Planner, month by month with the location set to Dhaka, when searches for your products rise.

Advertising agencies in Dhaka, including newspaper advertising

An "advertising agency in Dhaka" can be a creative agency, a media buyer that books newspaper, TV and outdoor space, a digital agency running Facebook and Google ads, or a social media team. Many searches still ask for a newspaper advertising agency, and print can make sense for a public notice, a property launch or a recruitment drive. For any media booking, ask whether the price you are shown is the rate card or the negotiated rate, and ask for proof that the ad ran. Our guide to advertising and digital marketing agencies in Bangladesh explains the four kinds of agency and the laws they work under.

For digital work, two numbers set the plan. StatCounter's figures for September 2026 put Google at 98.04% of search in Bangladesh, and show Facebook sending 78.63% of the visits that social networks send to websites. So most Dhaka plans pair Google search with Facebook. If you run Google Ads, Google's tax help page says a 15% VAT applies to customers with Bangladesh billing addresses who have not added a 13-digit Business Identification Number (BIN), so add yours under "Bangladesh Tax Info".

How to choose an SEO expert or digital marketing company in Dhaka

  • Ask who will run your account day to day, and meet that person, not only the person who pitched.
  • Ask for one live example from your own row: a restaurant, a wholesaler, a hotel or an exporter.
  • Ask who writes your Bangla copy and who writes your English copy. They are often different people.
  • Keep the domain, hosting, Search Console, Business Profile, Facebook page and ad accounts in your company's name.
  • Ask how links will be earned. Google's spam policies treat bought links as spam, and the penalty falls on your site.
  • Check claims before they run. Section 44 of the Consumer Rights Protection Act 2009 makes false advertising an offence, and the Personal Data Protection Act 2026 governs every customer list.

Dhaka providers price work as a monthly retainer, a fixed project such as a website or an audit, a commission on media bought, or an hourly rate for a freelancer. Compare quotes against one written brief, and ask for hours, named people, line items and exclusions. Our page on hiring an SEO expert in Bangladesh covers the hire in more detail.

Questions about SEO and digital marketing in Dhaka

Is a local SEO expert different from an SEO agency in Dhaka?

Often, yes. A local SEO expert works mainly on Business Profiles, reviews and branch pages for customers nearby. An SEO agency may also handle content, technical fixes and links for buyers across Bangladesh or abroad. A business with branches in Gulshan and Dhanmondi needs the first. An exporter needs the second.

Should an Islampur wholesaler bother with Google?

Yes. A retailer in another district who has never visited the market will search before travelling or calling. A complete profile, a simple website with your fabric range and a phone number that answers turn that search into a call.

Do newspaper ads still belong in a Dhaka marketing plan?

For some jobs. Public notices, property launches and recruitment still use print. For a business that sells online, most of the budget usually goes to Google and Facebook, where results can be measured per enquiry.

Can a "best SEO expert in Dhaka" promise first place on Google?

No. Google's own page on hiring an SEO says "No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google." A provider who promises first place is the one to remove from your list.

When can we judge whether our Dhaka agency is delivering?

Judge it on what can be measured: the agreed work delivered, impressions and positions in Search Console, calls and direction requests in the Business Profile performance report, cost per enquiry in the ad accounts, and enquiries by page. The outcome depends on competition, your offer and your budget.

When a business traveller asks ChatGPT where to eat in Gulshan

A visitor staying in Banani, or a family abroad looking for a Benarasi shop, may now ask an assistant instead of searching. StatCounter's September 2026 figures for Bangladesh give ChatGPT 74.76% of AI chatbot use and Google Gemini 21.64%. The reply names a few places, picked from the review sites, directories and pages the assistant can read, and a restaurant or shop absent from those sources is absent from the answer. AI Knows Us puts those questions to ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude and Google AI Overviews, so a Dhaka business can see which names each answer gives and the sources it drew on.

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