SEO services for Belgium.
Made in Belgium, available round the corner
SEO web marketing in Belgium
- 10 Million internet users (88.5% of the population)
- E-commerce spending has grown by 14% YTY in 2016
- Flanders internet usage and spending grows faster than in Wallonia
Search Engines
| Belgium | Desktop | Smartphone |
|---|---|---|
| 89.06% | 99.09% | |
| Bing | 8.09% | 0.44% |
| Yahoo! | 1.98% | 0.26% |
Keyword research and SEO copywriting
In Belgium we speak 2 languages
Wrong! Actually there are three official languages, but the country is roughly divided in 2 main parts; a Dutch speaking part in the north, and a French speaking part in the south. There is however also a much smaller part of the population that actually speaks German. This multilingual aspect is our DNA at 0ptim1ze, because we are a Belgian company.
Keyword research in Belgium
Being a small region, which is even cut in half by the language border, there is not a lot of data available to do keyword research. Often keyword research tools will report no activity on keywords that probably do have some activity. By combining keyword research in France and Netherlands with a native Belgian’s expertise you can obtain the results that you need.
Copywriting for the web in Flemish
The Flemish language is a variation of the Dutch language. It differs mainly in terms of pronunciation, however some French and English loanwords are used, which would raise an eyebrow with Dutch natives. Depending on your resources, the art consists in using only common vocabulary, or make two distinct versions.
Copywriting for the web in Walloon
It might surprise you that doing SEO in Walloon (or any other online marketing activity) in this language does not make sense. This is simply because Walloon is no longer the primary language spoken in Wallonia. To reach the main part of southern Belgium, you just need to write in French. The French used in Wallonia is very similar to that of France or Switzerland, but some terms used in Belgium are considered archaic in France. Also, some loanwords from languages such as Walloon and Dutch are used in Belgium. Here again, the art consists in using only common vocabulary, or make two distinct versions, depending on your resources.
Mobile internet
Along with Netherlands and France, Belgium is one of the more expensive countries for mobile usage in Europe. Still, usage of mobile internet is growing and Belgians are using it more and more to buy online.
Social media
65% of all Belgians are active on social media platforms, 7.5 million users out of a population of 11.53 million. 94% of the Belgian population has an internet connection, 10.86 million in total.
The most active social media platforms in 2019 are, sorted by numbers of daily users:
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- Youtube
- FB Messenger
More details can be found here.
Link directories
Incoming links are an popularity signal that Search Engines analyse, so some SEO agencies in Belgium still focus a lot on linkbuilding, to “boost” how Google perceives the authority/popylarity. We recommend Content Marketing as a base to increase authority, rather than blunt linkbuilding. The multi-lingual aspect of Belgium makes that with the same quality content, we can immediately target Belgium and as well the Netherlands and France at the same time, which makes content marketing a particularly good tool to gather more traffic, which along with linking opportunities, also provides popularity signals to Google.
Which domain name in Belgium
The Belgium TLD, .be is common and appreciated, but it’s not as much of an asset as it can be in other countries. If you have a .nl or a .fr, you will have a slight disadvantage, but it’s quite common and quite accepted. Other solutions like domain.com/be-fr or be-nl.domain.com can be used. Each situation has their pro and contra, to be discussed!
Already conviced?
Does the principle of engaging local experts for international SEO sound logical to you? Then you might be interested in a conversation with SEO consultants who have made this their specialty. We are happy to tell you, without obligation, what we can do for your business.
There’s no SEO like local SEO
At Optimize we work for international brands on a daily basis. The more we know about targeted SEO for local markets, the more we realize that you can never beat local experts. That’s why we make use of them. In 28 countries on five continents we work closely together with local partners. Professionals who have a thorough knowledge and understanding of their home market.
Our combined expertise stands for effective en trouble-free global internet marketing: local SEO anywhere on this planet, available round the corner.
A sample of local SEO Expertise
The Netherlands
- Keyword research
- Seo Copywriting
- Social Media
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