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Dutch SEO – Why it matters and how to do it

Why Does It Matter?

Getting your SEO strategy right in the Netherlands is important because even though around 90% of Dutch speakers speak English, over 90% of Google searches for eCommerce products are in the local language. Seventeen million people live in the Netherlands: so that’s a lot of searches!

Many companies that plan to operate in the Netherlands only take into consideration the number of English speakers and will say: “The Dutch all speak English; we should not focus on Dutch SEO.”

We will explore how Dutch SEO matters for your company and why you should focus on local SEO. We will also give you Google’s most relevant language based ranking factors to break into the fourth largest online economy in Europe.
 

The Dutch Online Marketplace Is Booming

In 2019, the Dutch spent €25.8 billion online. In total, 258 million purchases were made online. Anyone can see that this is a market that should not be ignored.

We looked at 25 eCommerce searches in the Netherlands with high search volumes, after filtering out words where the English and Dutch translations are identical. We then compared the same search volumes (again from the Netherlands) for the English translation of the keyword.

What we found is that at least 90% of searches were in Dutch (90,500 monthly searches for “jurken”, vs. 9,900 searches for “dresses”). In several cases less than 1% of searches were in English, as the table below shows.

Monthly search volume from the Netherlands

The above table is based on data from Semrush.

If you want to target the Dutch market through search engine optimization (SEO), you should not limit yourself to English only. English is widely understood and spoken fluently by most people. However, if you want to stand out as a company and tackle the Dutch market, your SEO should be optimized for both languages.
 

The Locals Are Still Number One

In the Netherlands, there is a strong sense of identity. So, while the Dutch have the highest English proficiency scores, the Dutch language is alive and well. This is also why we see Dutch companies doing well.

Although Amsterdam and The Hague are the central business and government areas in the Netherlands, most Dutch people live outside those areas.

The two largest consumer electronics e-commerce companies in the Netherlands, Bol.com and Coolblue.nl, are far more prominent in the Netherlands than Amazon in terms of business volume.

Why is this?

Simple, these websites are in Dutch, and their entire SEO profile and cultural presence is geared towards the Dutch language, while they also have an English presence. The fact that two relatively small companies can outrank a behemoth like Amazon is a testament to Dutch SEO’s importance.

These companies do have the edge over those that operate in English only. Part of this is trust, a company that operates in your language and which the consumer feels is closer by is more likely to be trusted. The biggest reason these companies are incredibly successful? They get the language right.
 

The Difficulty of Getting Dutch SEO Right

In general, Dutch isn’t very hard to learn, particularly if you speak English. It’s certainly easier than German, as grammar rules are much easier, and many words are the same in both languages.

A mistake commonly made by companies is to take the English keyword research that works for them, translate these into Dutch, and expect the same results. It could very well be that English keywords that give great search results will not rank in Dutch, and vice versa.

This is particularly true for longtail keywords, technological terms where there are multiple expressions for the same thing, or simply phrases that are popular in one language, but not the other.

Getting the language of the Netherlands right is one of the many factors that Google uses to determine where your site ranks on SERP. From your TLD domain to spelling and grammar, it all matters.
 

What Ranking Factors Are Most Important?

So, what are the Google SEO ranking factors that matter when it comes to building a solid SEO strategy for the Netherlands?

These are the six Google ranking factors that influence where you rank locally:

Google has more than 200 factors that matter on whether you rank high or not. Knowing which of these factors are most important and being able to implement these into your strategy is extremely important. This will not just help you with Google, but also with search engines like Bing, Yahoo, and more.

Even more important to someone who wants to break into a new market is how SEO strategy can be substantially different by country and region. Do you want to learn more about how your SEO strategy can build your business?

Indigoextra can help you with your Dutch SEO strategy from start to finish. With a dedicated team of SEO experts, SEO writers, link builders and strategists, there is no need to look elsewhere.

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