Specifically for the Dutch out here... (and those targeting the Dutch market) To not alienate my other friends I'll keep it in English. I was wondering how clued up the Dutch webmaster scene is on SEO and SEM. I've got some ideas I think could work really will in Nederland but I was wondering; considering the relatively small market combined with the generally high technical standards in Nederland I'm expecting some tough competition. I know it depends on the theme of my ideas but I wanted your opinion on the industry wide status. How 'easy' would you say is it to rank well on G.nl and other large localized SE's and get in the relevant lucrative (startpagina etc. I guess) directories? Or is everything SEO'd to death in Holland? Everytime I did take a quick look at g.nl I noticed the lack of AdWords ads for some phrases that are advertised alot here in the UK so whilst expecting the worst, I have some hope for opportunities based on that finding. Let me know what you think please? Also about the professionalism of e-tailers. The small to medium online shops, are they particularly crap or are they using some fairly serious ecommerce packages to present their catalogue? Thanks!
Yup i got the feeling that it is death a bit at the moment. I have been thinking about starting a new webmaster community for dutch webmasters only, but failed to do so cause of this. Still i do think that it depends on what keywords your targetting, for example to have a top position using adwords, i still need to pay between the 1 to 1,5 euro's. About gaining a good position on google.nl im not so sure wether that is easy. I have noticed that on less competitive keywords it is like reading the newspapers, easy as hell, but on the more competitive keywords, i cant rank better then the second page of google. These are all single keywords.
Im doing SEO in the Netherlands, PM me and I can tell you everything about it. Google.nl is of course similar to Google.com. Basically in The Netherlands many people use Google.com. We have http://search.msn.nl and http://nl.yahoo.com and of course our national pride: www.ilse.nl. Startpagina is difficult because its rather big and many people charge a small amount of money per link. Startkabel is relatively easier. I have about 15 Startkabels under my control. Hmm. If you want to do e-commerce, perhaps you dont see much advertisers because we have a few BIG companies. www.ebay.com is active here, with www.marktplaats.nl and we have www.speurders.nl for second hand stuff. We have also www.bol.com a big store and some other big stores for CDs and stuff. If you are selling niches, then it might be very easy. Contact me with a private message, by e-mail or on MSN messenger, if you want to know more.
I've found various seo information about the dutch G at http://www.jeroen.com/jeroencom/content/google.html he also runs a page on startpagina. But I have to agree that things are moving slowly on G.nl lately. Maby if we all join together..
How's the nation's willingness nowadays to pay by credit card? I used to do telemarketing here in London ringing punters in Holland and it took comparatively loads of effort to get them to give me their card details. Are they less scared/more educated about online payment and safety? Do loads of people have credit cards there nowadays (I'm comparing with 2-4 years back when it was all PIN) or should e-tailers be looking into stuff like Rabobank's epayment systems, prepaid payment etc.? Can you pay online/phone etc. with your PIN card (debit card as oppose to credit card) just like we can here in the UK with Switch (now re-branded to Maestro). And how many punters seem to be buying from abroad? In other words, if I were to be opening a Dutch online shop amd I both facing a small target audience (16M poeple) combined with a global competition because the Hollanders buy perhaps from Belgium, Germany or even further as well? Just looking for your ideas/experiences/ballpark figures. Don't expect hard figures. Thanks!
Lots of people use creditcards in holland now, people even start to use paypal now. (manly because ebay bought marktplaats.nl) Overture has some great channels in the Netherlands, goudengids.nl, vinden.nl, msn.nl, altavista, ilse.nl, ixquick.nl, yahoo and more.. Great exposure, together with adwords. As of today even yahoo translated their site into dutch, the dutch market is growing! http://www.iab.nl/formats_pdf/SEMonitorapril2004.pdf this article shows that still about 70% of the dutch people use google.nl
I have found that using a CC isn't very popular yet in The Netherlands. Many people are still afraid of fraud (their CC number getting stolen). You can't get a debit card here either, it's impossible.
So what IS the alternative then? Cash On Delivery (never used here in UK, but seems popular in US)? Send in a cheque? Direct bank transfer? How about Rabobank's system etc.?
I have to disagree with that, if you have a steady job you can get a credit card in the Netherlands. It's not as easy as in some other countries but I think that's just a good thing. I do agree that some elderly people are still afraid of using a credit card online. T0PS3O you are talking about the Rabobank, but as far as I know they only offer Internet Banking. There are some payment procedures for internet in Holland, the new standard seem to be iDEAL a cooperation between Abnamro, Postbank and Rabobank (http://www.abnamro.nl/nl/zakelijk/betalen/iDEAL/introductie.html) also minitix offers internet payments in the Netherlands http://www.minitix.nl/
The banks have a new system, its called IDEAL, and it will be released pretty soon from now. Its from all national banks and all store owners I know are waiting for it. So I guess you should wait for that too. Its said that its fairly cheap as well.
Cool, is it possible for me to have a text link on all of these sites? And if so what would you be asking for it? Money, return links? PM? I do believe that people are still a bit (terughoudend=reluctant?) to use their CC. Lots of people who do buy online these days mostly pay what they have ordered as soon the mailman delivers the package at their door.
I don't really understand why they are so backwards. Credit card payment is actually one of the safest ways and puts the buyer in control. They can demand (and will always get) a charge back the moment they ring their bank. Customer Not Present environments as e-commerce is means their transaction is fully covered and guaranteed by their card issuer. You can always get your money back from your card issuer no matter what your problem is with the shop yuo bought from (or who stole money from you). All it takes is a bi-weekly look on your statements. Anyway... WhatIFind; Kings and I were talking about debit cards earlier. You refer to credit cards. Debit card is just your PIN pas in Nederlands. We can pay online with them here in the UK similar to the credit cards but without the credit 'buffer'. I thought the Rabobank used to have their own online payment facility but it sounds like that will be superceeded by that iDEAL effort. Pretty good brand name actually. Is that an international/European effort or limited to Netherlands? Thanks for input guys!
The rabobank has an online system, it was some betatest for IDEAL I guess? But it worked fine for many merchandisers. At the moment I dont want to sell links, I would like to talk to you on MSN messenger or something to see if we can find some way to help eachother out and combine some ideas?
I'm just researching really; wouldn't be ready to do anything until early next year. Busy enough here knocking out new shops. I'm not on MSN here @ the office but I'll be in touch if I need something or contact me if you have any ideas.
well, when you are going to hit the Dutch market, give me a sign? PS: Dutch aint THAT frightened to use their Credit Card. Problem just is that not many people here actually own one. Many people just have a credit card. More and more get one though, more and more use paypal, more and more start buying online. In a year from now online payments will be quite normal.