Seo in the Netherlands | SEO Agency for the Netherlands

The Netherlands and the internet.

The Netherlands have a population of a little over 17 million.
97% of the Dutch use the internet.
E-commerce is developing rapidly. In 2015 already 93% of the internet users had made a purchase online. In 2016 the market share of online sales has grown to 9%.

Search engines

Google is by far the most popular search engine in The Netherlands, marginalizing its competitors. The continuing growth of mobile search will favour Google even more.

Mobile internet

The Netherlands count more mobile devices than inhabitants. On average, Dutch people spent 40 hours a month on the internet using their smartphone in 2016.

Nederland	Desktop	Smartphone	Tablet
Google	91.24%	98.48%	97.78%
Bing	6.55%	0.28%	0.80%
Yahoo!	1.49%	1.04%	0.92%

Dutch language

Dutch is spoken as a native language by 28 million people, mainly living in The Netherlands and Belgium. Some issues to consider when adapting content for Dutch speakers:

Though around 6 million people in Belgium are said to speak Dutch, their native language is really Flemish, and there are considerable differences in tone of voice and the words that are used, including the search terms.
Most Dutch people have a good command of English, and are used to English words for a lot of (internet-related) terms. Translating them into Dutch is a certain way to make a funny impression.

Both The Netherlands and Belgium are home countries for Optimize, so you can be sure that these differences are taken well into account.

Approaching the Dutch

The Dutch are generally considered open minded and pragmatic. They are used to be addressed in an informal and direct tone of voice. Also, Dutch people are among the most internationally oriented in the world and less hesitating to buy from foreign companies. They like their facts, though. In general, Dutch websites contain a lot of concrete information and relatively little in the way of testimonials and visual delights.

Keyword research and SEO copywriting

The syntax of the Dutch language offers good opportunities for attractive titles and meta descriptions. Putting the main keywords in front often results in natural language. A native Dutch SEO copywriter can make full profit of this feature. As in every country, there’s more to writing for the web than delivering flawless translations. The most effective keyword research and the most appealing online content ask for the special touch that only a copywriter who is totally immersed in his own culture can provide.

Social media

9 out of 10 Dutch are active on social media platforms. That’s quite a lot compared to other countries. The favourite hangouts in 2016 were:

- WhatsApp, 9.8 million users
- Facebook, 9.6 million users
- YouTube, 7.2 million users
- LinkedIn, 4,2 million users

Twitter continues to become less popular. With 0.9 million daily users in 2016, it was surpassed by Instagram ( 0.992 million daily users).Remarkable trends are the decrease in the daily use of LinkedIn from 0.4 million in 2015 to 0.3 million in 2016, and the growing popularity of Facebook with elderly people. In the 65+ category, the use of Facebook increased by 9%.

Link directories

Typical for the search behaviour of the Dutch has always been the use of link directories. The most important is called Startpagina.nl. Though more and more people have switched to using search engines instead, Startpagina.nl still claims a million visitors a day. This kind of linkbuilding looks spammy to you? Don’t worry, Google is well aware of the Dutch search behaviour, and considers links from the big directories as good links.

The best domain name

Both for visitors and companies, the most popular domain name extension in The Netherlands is .nl. The .nl extension scores the highest on trustworthiness: 82% in 2016. A good second is .com with 74%.

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.

Click to get in touch

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.